Independence- Smart Gen

8/13/2019 Independence- Smart Gen

1/15

Indian Independence 1857-1947

Background

European traders came to India seeking trade with the arrival of Vasco da Gama a

Portuguese sailor in 1498 at the port of Calicut !he East India Compan" was

esta#lished on $1st %ecem#er 1&'' !he Compan" did #usiness primaril" in cotton(

silk( saltpeter( indigo( d"e( tea and opium !he Compan" came to govern great

areas of India( implementing militar" command and assuming administrative

functions( to the e)clusion( slowl"( of its #usiness pursuits

!he *attle of Plasse"1 in 1+,+ was the start of the compan" rule in India -ere the

East India Compan" led #" .o#ert Clive con/uered the 0awa# of *engal andlaunched itself as a ke" pla"er in Indian politics fter the *attle of *u)ar2 in

1+&,( the compan" gained control over *engal( 3rissa and *ihar nd after the

death of !ipu ultan$ most of south India also came under direct or indirect

control of the compan" !he" defeated the 5aratha Empire4 in several wars and

also con/uered Pun6a# after the nglo7ikh, wars and the death of 5ahara6a

.an6it ingh ith this literall" all of India came under direct or indirect rule

of the East India

Compan"

1This battle took place near Palashi in Bengal on the banks of the river Bhagirathi between the Nawab

of Bengal Siraj ud Daulah and his French allies and the East ndia !o"pan#$ t was waged during the %#ears war in Europe &1%'()1%(*+ hence it reflected European rivalries between the French and theBritish$,

This one took place between the !o"pan# and the Nawab of Bengal- .ir /asi"- the Nawab of 0udh

and Shah

la" the .ughal

e"peror$* lso known as the tiger of "#sore- he was the son of h#der ali$ Between the" the# faced four wars

with the british before being finall# defeated$ Tipu died in srirangapattana in 1%22$3

0f the !hathrapathi Shivaji fa"e- The .aratha confederac# for"ed after 1%(1 consisted of the

Peshwas- the 4aekwads- the 5olkars- the Scindhia6s and the Bhonsales$ There were three nglo)

.aratha wars- in 1%%'- 178* and 1717'

The nglo sikh wars that took place in 173'&first nglo Sikh war+ and 1737&second nglo

Sikh war+

S"art)4en 9earning !entre %78-SST Nagar Patiala .: %'723(2*7*- 713(',2%7%

Page 1


2/15

In 18$, !homas *a##ington 5acaula" who was the first law mem#er of the

governor generals council persuaded the governor general to introduce reforms

relating to English education in India&ir illiam *entinck formall" #anned

sati in the *engal presidenc"+ !he *ritish also started printing presses in India

8 and gave the countr" its vast s"stem of railwa"s9what all this good work didwas that it created a feeling of oneness among the Indian masses 0ews of the

hardships caused #" the *ritish #egan to travel throughout the countr" and this ma"

have #een the reason for rise of nationalist movements against the *ritish hile

the composition and appearance if the Indian independence movement varied

sometimes stressing on secularism sometimes on ascism and other times on

socialism what can #e said is that all of these movements had a common #asic

ideolog" of anti colonialism1'

Rebellion of 1857

!he re#ellion of 18,+ took place in northern and central India !he soldiers of the

East India Compan" grew frustrated #" the compan":s treatment of them .acial

discrimination came into pla" when promotions or privileges were awarded

.umors spread that #eef and pork which were for#idden to the -indus and

5uslims respectivel" were used in the pattern 18,$ Enfield rifle cartridges which

the soldiers had to #ite off11 -umiliation of the

Peshwas and the 5ughals at the hands of the *ritish were other factors

(This chap was also responsible for the ndian penal code 17(8- the civil procedure code 1282

and cri"inal procedure code 17%,$%

lthough the s#ste" was first banned b# the british in 1%27 in !alcutta onl#$7

;a"es ugustus hicke#s the Bengal ga


3/15

which influenced the re#ellion12on march 29th 5angal Pande" a sepo" started

the re#ellion #" opening fire on an English officer at *arrackpore on 1' th ma"

the sepo"s #roke rank ( turned on their commanding officer and killed some of

them !he" approached *ahadur hah II( a dethroned 5ughal emperor and

persuaded him to reclaim his throne he was then proclaimed hehanshah e-industan #" the re#els1$revolts #roke out in ;hansi( Cawnpore and .ridula .ukherjee- dit#a .ukherjee- Sucheta .ahajan- ?$N$ Pannikar &1272+$ ndia@s

Struggle for ndependence$ New Delhi: Penguin Books pp$ *31*

bid pp*113Founded b# Swa"i Da#anand Saraswati in 17%'


Page *


4/15

ama61, #ecame more and more important in the socio7religious scenario in India

5en like .a#indranath !agore( .amakrishna Paramahamsa( wami Vivekananda (

*ankim Chandra Chatter6ee and "ed hmed >han e)horted the Indian "outh

to take up the cause of freedom !he rediscover" of indias glorious past was

another source of pride and nationalism for the countr":s "oungsters %ada#hai0aoro6i formed the east India association in 18&+ and urendranath *anner6ee1&

formed the Indian national association in 18+& ir "ed hmed >han in a move to

emphasi?e the compati#ilit" of Islamic thought and modern western knowledge

started the ligarh 5uslim universit" earlier known as muhammadan anglo

oriental college in 18+, Inspired #" the suggestions of a certain llan

3ctavian -ume( +$ Indian delegates met in 5um#ai in 188, and formed a part"

which is relevant till toda" @the Indian 0ational Congress t its inception the

congress had no particular ideolog" or much of mass support t #est it could#e descri#ed as a de#ating societ" for rich law"ers and 6ournalists of *om#a"(

%elhi( Calcutta and ma"#e


5/15

Commons( the first Indian to do so !he first session of the I0C was in *om#a"

and the president was omesh Chandra *anner6ee few "ears down the line

constant opposition from the government and other factors led to radical elements

gaining voice in the congress *" 19'+ the part" was split into two halves the

garam dal18 and the naram dal19 this split #ecame open in the urat session of thecongress and !ilak and others were forced to leave the congress third kind of

freedom fighter the revolutionaries also #ecame prominent #ut more on them later

Partition of Bengal 1!5

In 19', the vicero" and governor general lord Cur?on divided *engal purportedl"

to improve efficienc" in administration -owever most Indian viewed this as an

attempt to stop the revolutionar" activities in *engal and to divide the countr" on

communal lines widespread protests were taken up throughout the countr" and theswadeshi movements started !he congress advocated #o"cotting of *ritish goods

Protests of such nature and e)tent were unprecedented in colonial India and the

*ritish were taken a#ack the" announced the 19'9 reforms and also appointed

a few moderates to the imperial and provincial councilsthe muslims alarmed #"

!ilaks emphasis on -induism started the all India muslim league in

19'+the" considered the congress completel" unsuita#le for the muslims

"orld "ar I

hen the #ritish entered the Indian arm" in the world war there was an

unprecedented nationwide political de#ate calling for independence !he

divided congress reunited in lucknow in 191& !ilak moderated his views

175ot faction - consisting of leaders such as Bal 4angadhar Tilak of the swaraj is "# birthright and

shall have itG fa"e$this faction advocated overthrow of the british govern"ent and direct revolution$9ala9ajpat =ai and Bipin !handra Pal for"ed other i"portant "e"bers - together this triu"virate wereknown as 9al Bal and PalG$12

The soft faction - this group was headed b# the likes of Dadabhai Naoroji who wanted refor"s within the

britishgovern"ent$


Page '


6/15

and shared a stage with gokhale -e along with gokhale and a "oung ;innah

formed the home rule movement with nnie *easant India contri#uted largel" to

the #ritish war effort giving up its men and resources in the war -owever

revolutionar" activities were carried on in *engal and Pun6a# from the #eginning

of the war( e)patriate Indian population( nota#l" from Anited tates( Canada(and German"( headed #" the #erlin committee and the ghadar part" attempted to

trigger insurrections in India on the lines of the 18,+ mutin" with irish repu#lican

German and !urkish help in a massive conspirac" that has since come to #e called

the -indu German conspirac" !he" also attempted to rall" fghanistan against the

*ritish a num#er of failed attempts were made at mutin" among which the

e#ruar" mutin" plan and the ingapore mutin" are the most well known

%raconian laws and massive counter intelligence operations suppressed the

movement fter the war to mollif" the Indians the *ritish came up with themantague Chelmsford reforms of 1919*ut then came Gandhi

The #andhi $ears

!he rest of the Indian movement for independence is mostl" centered on Gandhi

0ot #ecause there were no other freedom fighters at the time #ut #ecause Gandhi

was the most popular and loud one among them Gandhi entered India well known

#ecause of his struggles in south frica where he fought for the rights of outh

frican Indianshis struggles in champaran and kheda also were well known andgave him the #asic ground on which his later politics was #uilt#ut he was seen to

have reall" arrived with the non cooperation movement of 192'

1%! non coo&eration 'o(e'ent

!he #ritish government in 1919 e)ecuted the 6allianwallah #agh massacre where

thousands of non7violent civilians were killed !his traged" shook up the entire

nation in 1919 gandhi6i was elected as the president of the


Page (


7/15

indian national congress and the all India home rule league In march 1919

!he #ritish government passed though the #ar#aric rowlatt #ills which gave

emergenc" powers to the government and tried to stop revolutionar" activities2'

!ill now Gandhi6i had pondered a future sat"agraha to o#tain what the montague7chelmsford scheme lacked *ut the Bdeadl" rowlatt acts ( he felt demanded an

immediate response

Gandhi6i knew that neither the congress not the Gu6arat sa#ha was read" to

organi?e a mass movement so he started a new #od" the sat"agraha sa#ha with

himself as the president and sardar patel as the secretar" to organi?e the protest -e

travelled through out the countr" to gather support and drafted an appeal for non7

violent sat"agraha starting from $'th march( for wider participation the date was

later changed to &th april *ut protestors in delhi felt the" should stick to the earlierdate

In delhi on $'th march and elsewhere a week later hindus and muslims 6oined

hands and o#served a #lack unda" against the #lack acts It was the first

nationwide protest in indias long histor"21

Gandhi6i called for nationwide #o"cott of #ritish goods22 councils 2$and #ritish

schools 24 Protestors would refuse to #u" *ritish goods( adopt the use of local

handicrafts( picket li/uor shops( and tr" to uphold the values of Indian honor andintegrit"


8/15

!he #ritish government was taken unawares and it was a state of anarch" for a

while nd then on e#ruar" 4 th 1922( !he chauri chaura incident happened

Protestors in chauri chaura in lucknow set a police station on fire and killed

twent" three English policemen

Gandhi6i was shaken #" the violence -e feared that the violence would spread

!hat the Indian masses had not understood his non7violence was evident

-e went on a fast to end the movement and the protests stopped -owever he was

later arrested #" the same government he had saved and put in prison for two

"ears2,

fter the non cooperation movement man" new voices and parties came into the

picture and the field of Indian politics #roadened Doung leaders like ;awaharlal

0ehru( u#hash Chandra *ose( C .a6agopalachari were #eing heard and new

parties such as the communist part"( the -indu 5ahasa#ha ( !he wara6 Part"

and the . came into e)istence

!he rowlatt #ills continued to #e on the rolls #ut were never used s an aside it is

amusing to note that the #ritishers got into so much of trou#le for #ringing in #ills

that the" would enforce not even once

Purna s)ara* and +andi 'arch

!he recommendations of the simon commission were unaccepta#le to all

Indians

t midnight %ecem#er $1st 1929( the Indian national congress headed #"

Gandhi6i and 0ehru issued a declaration of independence or purna swara6 on 2&th

march 19$'

,'$ =aj"ohan 4andhi -.ohandas the true stor# of a "an his people and an e"pire- penguin- newdelhi-,88(- pg,38),(%


Page 7


9/15

Gandhi6i was chosen to oversee the protests -e chose( most interestingl"( salt as

his weapon !he 1882 salt act gave the #ritish government monopol" over salt 0o

one could manufacture it e)cept the #ritish government It was not a great

contri#utor to her ma6est":s treasur" #ut was one of the s"m#ols of #ritish rule in

India Ever"one in India( no matter how poor( used salt Gandhi6i chose this sothat he could involve even the poorest man in his struggle It was a masterstroke

Gandhi6i also laid #efore the vicero" a list of seven demands hich ( !he vicero"

chose not to respond to Gandhi6i announced that he would march from his ashram

in a#armati to dandi in Gu6arat and make salt 0on7 violent protests were

organi?ed from 12th march onwards

5ass civil diso#edience spread over India with people making and selling salts

illegall"2& In reaction the #ritish government 6ailed over &'(''' people #efore themonth end2+ oon the movement went #e"ond 6ust salt and #ritish clothes were

#o"cootted( forest laws diso#e"ed(land revenues not paid(the #ritish responded with

more laws and censorship #ut the movement would not slow down

Gandhi6i #egan his march from a#armati on march 12th and reached dandi and

made salt on pril &th ( a s"m#olic date as precisel" two "ears #efore innocents

had #een slaughtered at 6allianwallah #agh !hroughout Gandhi6i issued

statements to the press and kept the whole world involved or the first time man"

women took part in a mass diso#edience movement in India 28

*ut his non7violence was not "et learned !here were out#reaks of violence in

Calcutta Anlike in 192' this time gandhi6i was unmoved -e asked for

2&%alton(selected political writings(-ackett pu#lishing compan"( 199&( p +2

2+-omer 6ack(the Gandhi reader a source#ook of his life and writings(grove press(1994( p 2$872$9

,7.a6mohan Gandhi ( 5ohandas a true stor" of a man his people and an empire( penguin( newdelhi(

2''&( pg $2,7$4+


Page 2


10/15

the violence to end ( #ut congratulated the parents of the #o"s killed in

Chittagong as he thought their sons had #ehave as warriors( with #raver"29

!his civil diso#edience continued until 19$1 when gandhi6i was released from

prison and called to England to hold talks with lord Irwin on an e/ual footingthese

talks would later lead to round ta#le conferences held in England$'

Ci(il disobedience and after

In 5arch 19$1( the Gandhi Irwin pact was signed( and the government agreed to

set all political prisoners free Flthough( some of the ke" revolutionaries were not

set free and the death sentence for *hagat ingh and his two comrades was not

taken #ack which further intensified the agitation against Congress not onl"

outside it #ut within the Congress itself In return( Gandhi agreed to discontinue

the civil diso#edience movement and participate as the sole representative of theCongress in the second .ound !a#le Conference( which was held in


11/15

!he government of India act 19$,( the final constitutional effort at

governing *ritish India( articulated three ma6or goals esta#lishing a loose federal

structure( achieving provincial autonom"( and safeguarding minorit" interests

through separate electorates !he federal provisions( intended to unite princel"

states and *ritish India at the centre( were not implemented #ecause ofam#iguities in safeguarding the e)isting privileges of princes In e#ruar" 19$+(

however( provincial autonom" #ecame a realit" when elections were held the

Congress emerged as the dominant part" with a clear ma6orit" in five provinces

and held an upper hand in two( while the 5uslim


12/15

had the guise of a fitness clu# !he" recruited "oung men and women throughout

the countr" and especiall" in *engal and looting and murders were done man"

revolutionaries were captured and imprisonedamong the more nota#le incidents of

revolutionar" activities were the alipre #om#ing and the mu??affarpur killings

where several people were tried and >hudiram *ose was hangedin 1912 .ash*ehari *ose took part in what was called the %elhi7lahore conspirac" where he

planned to kill the vicero" of India Charles -ardinge

fter the first world war in 192':s some revolutionar" activit" took place with the

-industan socialist repu#lican association formed #" #hagat singh(

Chandrashekhar ?ad and *atukeshwar %utt !he" threw a #om# inside the

legislative assem#l" on 8th april 1929 ollowing the trial *hagat ingh ( ukhdev

and .a6guru were hanged in 19$1$1

llama 5ashiri/i formed the >haksar tehreek to direct muslims toward

revolutionar" activities

ur"a sen along with others raided the Chittagong armor" in 19$' to destro"

the government communication s"stem and capture arms and ammunition$2

mong others pritilata waddedar led an attack on the European clu# in Chittagong

in 19$2 and #ina das tried to kill tanle" ;ackson( the governor of *engal in the

convocation hall of the Calcutta universit"

ollowing trial sur"a sen was hanged and others were deported for life to the

cellular 6ail in andamans

*1The legend of bhagath singh- rang de basanti $$#ou all know the stor#$

*,

?helein hu" jee jaan ke is based on this a" told$


Page 1,


13/15

!he *engal volunteers started operating in 1928 In %ecem#er 19$' the #eno"

#adal dinesh trio of the part" killed Col 0impson the inspector general of

prisons in the secretariat writers #uilding in Calcutta

In 194' Adham singh shot 5ichael d d"er in


14/15

war in e)change for self7government *ut the mission failed as demands for time

frame toward self government and definition of powers was not met$$

3n 6ul" 14th 1942 the congress passed resolutions demanding independence at the

cost of massive civil diso#edience *ut not all were happ" within the part"( man"felt that the movement was too premature( others wanted to #argain with the

#ritish like the hindu mahasa#ha or the muslim league 3n august 8th the /uit

India resolution was passed at the *om#a" session of the congress

!his time the #ritish acted more swiftl" and imprisoned gandhi6i at the aga khan

palace the ne)t da" ll prominent congress men were arrested and put in

ahmednagar fort 6ail !he movement lost direction as all the leaders were in 6ail

!he congress part" was itself #anned

Violence #roke out in a #ig wa" #om#s were e)ploded( #uildings set on fire(

telegraph lines cut 3ver one lakh arrests were made nationwide Protestors were

pu#licl" flogged -undreds were killed in police firing$4

Gandhi6i went on a 21 da" fast against the violence -is health petered out and he

was a#out to die in 1944 when the scared #ritish government released him

-owever the movement was soon suppressed #" the #ritish government

feeling of hopelessness spread among the nationalist leaders *" the end of 1944

the movement had died out$,

Indian national ar'$$$

Barkawi- Tarak$ !ulture and !o"bat in the !olonies$ The ndian r"# in the Second Morld Mar$ ;conte"pt5istor#$ Pg *,')*''*3

D- Fisher D> =ead &1227+$ The Proudest Da#: ndia@s 9ong =oad to ndependence$ MM Norton$ pg$

**8$*'

$ =aj"ohan 4andhi -.ohandas the true stor# of a "an his people and an e"pire- penguin- new

delhi-,88(- pg3'8)'12


Page 13


15/15

*ose was against the wa" the *ritish had included India in the war -e had #een

the president of the I0C in 19$8 and in 19$9 fter lo##"ing against the war in

19$9 he resigned from the part" and started the forward #loc#ose was put

under house arrest #" the *ritish government when the war #roke out #ut he

escaped and made his wa" to fghanistan through german" to seek )is help toraise an arm" to fight the .a6he raised the free India legion*ose made his wa"

to ;apanese south asia and formed the a?ad hind government and started the Indian

national arm" with Indian prisoners of war with the help of the 6apanesethe I0

saw action against the allies in rakan *urma and in assam during the war the

ndaman and nico#ar islands were captured #" the ;apanese and handed over to

the I0 #ose renamed them shahid and swara6

!he I0 would ultimatel" fail #ecause of disrupted logistics( poor arms and

supplies and lack of support and trainingfollowing the surrender of 6apan I0

troops were #rought into India and charged with treason #ut #ose had captured the

pu#lic:s imagination and turned the inclination of native soldiers of the *ritish

Indian forces from one of lo"alt" to the crown to support for the soldiers that the ra6

deemed as colla#orators

!hese were the ma6or movements in what can #roadl" #e called the Indian national

struggle for independence

fter the second world war ended the Indians won their freedom and

India #ecame a free countr" on 1,th august 194+( Pakistan #ecame free on

14th augustand what happened laterJall that:s another stor"

CG


Page 1'

Independence- Smart Gen

Documents

Transcript of Independence- Smart Gen