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First
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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY

Hardcopy in July 2024

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PMF IAS Modern Indian History First Edition
Pathfinder Merit Fleet LLP / PMF IAS® Modern Indian History First Edition
© Vishwjeet Kawar / PMF IAS® / Pathfinder Merit Fleet LLP
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Acknowledgements
Team PMF IAS sincerely thanks all our contributors and readers. You remain our cornerstone, and we are very much
obliged and grateful to you. Thanks to Pratik Jadhav, Yogesh Chavan, Akshayraj, Anteshwar, Kedar, Amar and Anand
Parmar for their inputs. Special thanks to Manjunath sir. Without him, this book would have remained just a dream.

Dedicated to
My Family and My Mother, Minakshi
Vishwjeet Kawar

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Modern Indian History is a result of months of dedicated hard work. We hope you will thoroughly enjoy
reading it. Wishing you all success �

Study Guide
1. Analyze the past 5-6 years’ UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains ques�on papers to understand the patern and nature of
ques�ons asked from Indan Physical Geography.
2. First Reading: Cover only the first few paragraphs (mostly the introduc�on part) of each topic to get a broader
understanding of the scheme of things.
3. Reanalyse the past 5-6 years’ UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains ques�on papers.
4. Second Reading: Cover the en�re book thoroughly.
5. Take a good test series for Prelims and Mains to iden�fy your strengths and weaknesses.
6. Revise, rerevise, prac�se test series, and chart your plan based on your strengths and weaknesses.
Modern Indian History questions in the prelims are predominantly of two types: fact-based or those requiring in-depth
analysis of events. In Mains, the questions can be answered only if you have a clear understanding of the British rule
and national movement. Therefore, it is important to analyze the events in the context of that time period in addition
to reading them.

Colour Codes
We have used colour coding extensively to make it easier for you to identify the key concepts and focus areas. Multiple
colours are used for distinguishing keywords:
1. Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains
2. Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains
3. Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains and denotes something BAD/NEGATIVE
4. Very Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains and denotes something GOOD/POSITIVE
5. Very Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains (Neutral Colours)
6. Very Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains (Neutral Colours)
7. Very Important fact/point/keyword/phrase for Prelims/Mains and denotes something very BAD/NEGATIVE
8. Very Important point/keyword/phrase for Mains

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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY

PMF IAS
Modern Indian History (MIH)
Part I – Pre-1857

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PMF IAS Modern Indian History (MIH) – Part I – Pre-1857

MIH – Part I – Unit 1: India in the Eighteenth Century

1. Decline of the Mughal Empire .................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Brief Introduction of the Mughal Empire .........................................................................................1
Aurangzeb (Alamgir I) (1658-1707) ..................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Later Mughal Emperors and their Policies .......................................................................................3

Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam I) (1707-12) ................................................................................................ 3
Jahandar Shah (1712-13) ..................................................................................................................... 5
Farrukh Siyar (1713-19)........................................................................................................................ 6
Muhammad Shah (1719-48) ................................................................................................................ 7
Ahmad Shah (1748-1754) .................................................................................................................... 7
Alamgir II (1754-1759) ......................................................................................................................... 8
Shah Alam II (1759-1806) ..................................................................................................................... 8
Akbar Shah II (1806-1837) ................................................................................................................... 9
Bahadur Shah Zafar (1837-1857) ......................................................................................................... 9

1.3. Foreign Invasions ..........................................................................................................................10

Nadir Shah’s Invasion .........................................................................................................................10
Ahmed Shah Abdali’s invasions ..........................................................................................................10
Effect of invasions ...............................................................................................................................11

1.4. Decline of the Mughal Empire .......................................................................................................11

Causes of the Decline of the Mughal Empire .....................................................................................11

1.5. Mughal Emperors and Important Wazirs.......................................................................................15

1.6. Summary ......................................................................................................................................17

2. Rise and Fall of Regional Powers .............................................................................................. 21

2.1. Characteristics of Regional Powers ...............................................................................................21
Nature of Regional Polities .................................................................................................................21
Weaknesses of Regional Polities ........................................................................................................22

2.2. Successor states ............................................................................................................................23

i

Mughal Provinces ...............................................................................................................................24

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Hyderabad ..........................................................................................................................................25
Carnatic ..............................................................................................................................................26
Awadh ................................................................................................................................................28
Bengal ................................................................................................................................................30

2.3. New States (Insurgent States) .......................................................................................................32

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Rise and Fall of the Maratha Power ...................................................................................................32
The Sikhs.............................................................................................................................................41
The Jats...............................................................................................................................................43
Rohilkhand and Farrukhabad .............................................................................................................44

2.4. Independent Kingdoms .................................................................................................................44

Mysore ...............................................................................................................................................44
Kerala .................................................................................................................................................48
Rajput States ......................................................................................................................................49

2.5. Summary ......................................................................................................................................50

2.6. Timeline........................................................................................................................................53

3. Indian Society in the Eighteenth Century .................................................................................. 54

3.1. Economic Condition ......................................................................................................................54
Agriculture..........................................................................................................................................54
Trade ..................................................................................................................................................54
Industries ............................................................................................................................................56
Economic Decline ...............................................................................................................................56

3.2. Social and Cultural Life .................................................................................................................56

Social Backwardness ..........................................................................................................................56
Cultural Stagnation ............................................................................................................................59
Scientific Lag.......................................................................................................................................60

3.3. Summary ......................................................................................................................................60

MIH – Part I – Unit 2: European Penetration and the British Conquest of India

4. Beginning of European Settlement in India............................................................................... 61

Renaissance Period in Europe.............................................................................................................61

4.1. Europe’s Eastern Trade..................................................................................................................62

Search for New Sea Routes to India ...................................................................................................62
Navigational Discoveries and Trade Impetus .....................................................................................63
Reasons for the success of Portugal and Spain in Navigation ............................................................64
ii

4.2. Portuguese Rule in India ...............................................................................................................65

Important Portuguese Governors in India ..........................................................................................66
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Portuguese Trade ...............................................................................................................................68

Marakkars (Lord of the Arabian Sea) .................................................................................................71
Portugal's success in Settling in India .................................................................................................71
Decline of Portuguese rule .................................................................................................................72
Why could Portugal not maintain its trade monopoly in the East for a long time? ...........................73

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Significance of the Portuguese Rule ...................................................................................................73

4.3. The Rise of the Dutch ....................................................................................................................73

Dutch East India Company .................................................................................................................74
Trade Factories ...................................................................................................................................74
Decline of the Dutch ...........................................................................................................................76
Impact of the Dutch Empire on the Indian State ................................................................................76

4.4. British Rule in India .......................................................................................................................76

Foundation of British Trade in India ...................................................................................................77
Growth of the East India Company ....................................................................................................77
War Against Mughal Emperor ...........................................................................................................80
Trading Concessions After 1690 .........................................................................................................81
English Rivalry with the Portuguese and the Dutch ...........................................................................82
Luso-English treaty 1661 ....................................................................................................................82
Advantage of British Settlements .......................................................................................................84

4.5. French Colonial Ambitions ............................................................................................................84

Limitations of French East India Company .........................................................................................86
Other European Trading Companies ..................................................................................................86

4.6. The Anglo-French Struggle in South India (Expansion of the British in South India)........................87
First Anglo-French War (1746-48) ......................................................................................................87
Second Anglo-French War (1749-54) .................................................................................................89
Third Anglo-French War (1756-63).....................................................................................................90
The Aftermath ....................................................................................................................................93
Advantages of the English over the French ........................................................................................93
Causes of the English Success and the French Failure ........................................................................93

4.7. Trading Companies .......................................................................................................................93

Establishment .....................................................................................................................................93
Headquarters .....................................................................................................................................94

4.8. Summary ......................................................................................................................................94

4.9. Timeline........................................................................................................................................96

5. British Conquest of India .......................................................................................................... 98

iii

5.1. British Conquest of Bengal (1757-65) ............................................................................................99

Bengal Before the British Conquest ....................................................................................................99
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Battle of Plassey 1757 ..................................................................................................................... 100

After the Battle of Plassey ............................................................................................................... 104
Mir Qasim and the British ............................................................................................................... 104
Dual System of Administration of Bengal........................................................................................ 108

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5.2. British Intervention in the Mysore and Maratha ......................................................................... 109
Power Struggle among Indian States .............................................................................................. 109
British Quest for Commercial Dominance ....................................................................................... 110
Arguments by the British to Legitimise the Conquest ..................................................................... 110

5.3. Consolidation of British Rule in Mysore State .............................................................................. 110

First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) .................................................................................................. 111
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) ............................................................................................. 111
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92) ................................................................................................ 112
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99) .............................................................................................. 113

5.4. Consolidation of British Rule in the Maratha State ...................................................................... 115

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-1782) ........................................................................................... 115
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) ........................................................................................... 116
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19) .............................................................................................. 119
Causes of the Defeat of the Marathas ............................................................................................ 120

5.5. Reasons for the Failure of Indian States ...................................................................................... 121

5.6. Expansion of British in North India .............................................................................................. 122
Threat of Foreign Invasion .............................................................................................................. 122
The Conquest of Sindh (1843) ......................................................................................................... 123
Conquest of Punjab ......................................................................................................................... 125

5.7. Final Wave of Annexation ........................................................................................................... 129

Doctrine of Lapse Policy .................................................................................................................. 129
Annexation of Awadh (Oudh) .......................................................................................................... 129

5.8. Reasons for British Success in India ............................................................................................. 131

5.9. Lessons Learned by the English ................................................................................................... 132
5.10. Important Events and Governors-General ................................................................................... 132
5.11. Important Wars and Treaties ...................................................................................................... 133
5.12. Unsung Heroes ........................................................................................................................... 134
Rani Velu Nachiyar (1730-1796) ..................................................................................................... 134

5.13. Summary ....................................................................................................................................134

5.14. Timeline......................................................................................................................................135
iv

6. British Expansion Beyond Indian Frontiers .............................................................................. 137

MIH-I – Pre-1857

6.1. Foreign Policy of British India ...................................................................................................... 137

6.2. Relations With Nepal .................................................................................................................. 138
Gorkha’s Territorial Conquests in the West ..................................................................................... 138
Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) ............................................................................................................ 138

6.3. Conquest of Burma ..................................................................................................................... 141

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Burma Before the British Conquest ................................................................................................. 141
The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) ......................................................................................... 142
Northeast India ............................................................................................................................... 144
The Second Burmese War (1852-53) ............................................................................................... 144
Third Burmese War (1885) .............................................................................................................. 145
Independence .................................................................................................................................. 146

6.4. Relations with Afghanistan ......................................................................................................... 146

First Afghan War (1838-42)............................................................................................................. 147
Phase of Non-Interference .............................................................................................................. 148
The Second Afghan War (1878-80) ................................................................................................. 149
British Policy in Afghanistan ............................................................................................................ 150
Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919-21) ................................................................................................. 151

6.5. Relations with Bhutan ................................................................................................................ 151

6.6. Relations with Sikkim.................................................................................................................. 152
6.7. Relations with Tibet .................................................................................................................... 154
Nominal Suzerainty of the Chinese Empire ..................................................................................... 154
British interest in Tibet .................................................................................................................... 154

6.8. Important Events and Governors-General ................................................................................... 156

6.9. Important Wars and Treaties ...................................................................................................... 156
6.10. Summary ....................................................................................................................................157
6.11. Timeline......................................................................................................................................158

7. Role of Governors-General in the Consolidation and Expansion of British Power .................... 159
7.1. Administrative Policies of the British for the Expansion of the British Empire .............................. 160
7.2. Consolidation under Warren Hastings (1772-85) ......................................................................... 160
Warren Hasting's Ring Fence Policy ................................................................................................ 161
The Dark Period of British Power in India ........................................................................................ 162
Trial of Warren Hastings.................................................................................................................. 162

7.3. Consolidation under Lord Cornwallis (1786-93) ........................................................................... 162

7.4. Expansion under Richard Wellesley (1798-1805) ......................................................................... 163
Condition before Lord Wellesley ...................................................................................................... 163
v

System of Subsidiary Alliances ........................................................................................................ 164

MIH-I – Pre-1857

7.5. Expansion Under Lord Hastings (Lord Moira) (1813-23) ............................................................... 167
Policy of Paramountcy ..................................................................................................................... 167

7.6. Expansion Under William Bentinck (1828-35) .............................................................................. 168

7.7. Expansion Under Lord Auckland (1836-42) .................................................................................. 169
7.8. Expansion Under Lord Dalhousie (1848-56) ................................................................................. 169

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7.9. Summary ....................................................................................................................................172
Important Events and Governors-General ...................................................................................... 172

MIH – Part I – Unit 3: Structure of British Raj – 1

8. British Administration in India – I (1765-1858) ....................................................................... 174

8.1. English East India Company ........................................................................................................ 174
Relationship between EIC and the British Government................................................................... 174

8.2. The Structure of Government ...................................................................................................... 175

Dual System of Government ............................................................................................................ 176
Administration by Company’s Servants ........................................................................................... 176
British Control over Administration ................................................................................................. 176

8.3. Administrative Organisation ....................................................................................................... 182

The Civil Service ............................................................................................................................... 183
Army ................................................................................................................................................ 186
The Police ........................................................................................................................................ 187

8.4. Judicial Organisation .................................................................................................................. 188

The Judicial System .......................................................................................................................... 189
Reforms under Warren Hastings (Judicial Plan of 1772) ................................................................. 189
Reforms under Cornwallis (1786-93) ............................................................................................... 191
Reforms under William Bentinck ..................................................................................................... 192
Later developments ......................................................................................................................... 193
The rule of law and Equality before the law ................................................................................... 193
Issues of the Judicial System............................................................................................................ 193

8.5. Summary ....................................................................................................................................194

MIH – Part I – Unit 4: British Policies in India

9. Social and Cultural Policy of British ........................................................................................ 196

9.1. Orientalists vs Anglicists ............................................................................................................. 196
Orientalists ...................................................................................................................................... 196
vi

Anglicists ......................................................................................................................................... 198

Practical Pragmatism of Orientalists............................................................................................... 199
MIH-I – Pre-1857

9.2. School of Thoughts ..................................................................................................................... 200

Conservative Attitude ...................................................................................................................... 201
Imperialistic Attitude ....................................................................................................................... 201
Radical Attitude ............................................................................................................................... 201

9.3. Cautious Intervention in Social Institutions ................................................................................. 202

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Policy of Partial Modernisation ....................................................................................................... 203
British Retreat ................................................................................................................................. 203

9.4. Humanitarian Measures (State Intervention in Social Practices) .................................................. 204

Female infanticide ........................................................................................................................... 204
Abolition of Sati ............................................................................................................................... 205
Abolition of Slavery ......................................................................................................................... 205
Hindu Widow Remarriage ............................................................................................................... 206

9.5. An Assessment ............................................................................................................................ 206

10. Spread of English Education ................................................................................................... 208

10.1. Indigenous Education.................................................................................................................. 208
10.2. Development of Education under Colonial Rule ........................................................................... 209
Charter Act of 1813: Beginning of Western Education .................................................................... 209
Lord Macaulay’s Minute (1835) ...................................................................................................... 211
Initiatives by the Missionaries and Individuals to Promote Western Education ............................. 213
Wood's Educational Despatch ......................................................................................................... 214
Hunter Commission (1882) .............................................................................................................. 216
Indian Universities Commission (1902) ........................................................................................... 217
Resolution of 1913 .......................................................................................................................... 218
Sadler Commission (1917) ............................................................................................................... 219
Education Under Dyarchy ................................................................................................................ 220
Hartog Commission (1929) ............................................................................................................. 221
Sargent Plan (1944) ......................................................................................................................... 221
Critical Examination of the British Education Policy ........................................................................ 221

10.3. Role of Missionaries .................................................................................................................... 223

Serampore Mission.......................................................................................................................... 223

10.4. Education For Girls ...................................................................................................................... 224

Role of Women ................................................................................................................................ 225

10.5. Different Views on Education ...................................................................................................... 226

Sayajirao Gaekwad III ..................................................................................................................... 226
Mahatma Gandhi ............................................................................................................................ 226
vii

Rabindranath Tagore ...................................................................................................................... 228

Aurobindo Ghosh............................................................................................................................. 228
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan .......................................................................................................... 228

Lord Macaulay................................................................................................................................. 229

10.6. Educational Institutions .............................................................................................................. 229

10.7. Summary ....................................................................................................................................231

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11. Land Revenue Policy of British ................................................................................................ 233

11.1. System of Land Revenue Collection ............................................................................................. 233
Permanent Settlement System (1793) ............................................................................................. 233
Ryotwari system (1820) ................................................................................................................... 239
Mahalwari System (1822) ............................................................................................................... 243

11.2. Private Ownership of Land .......................................................................................................... 244

11.3. Debt-trap and Loss of Land ......................................................................................................... 245
Peasant Uprising ............................................................................................................................. 246

11.4. Summary ....................................................................................................................................247

12. British Economic Policies and Their Impacts............................................................................ 248

12.1. British Economic Policies ............................................................................................................. 248
Commercial Policy ........................................................................................................................... 248
Deindustrialisation in India ............................................................................................................. 250
Drain of Wealth ............................................................................................................................... 252
Development of Means of Transport and Communication ............................................................. 256

12.2. Economic Impact of the British rule ............................................................................................. 258

Ruin of Artisans and Craftsmen ....................................................................................................... 259
Impoverishment of Peasantry ......................................................................................................... 261
Ruin of Old Zamindars and Rise of New Landlordism ..................................................................... 262
Stagnation and Deterioration of Agriculture .................................................................................. 263
Poverty and Famine......................................................................................................................... 264
Commercialisation of agriculture .................................................................................................... 266
Limited Growth of Modern Industries ............................................................................................. 268

12.3. Colonialism ................................................................................................................................. 271

Stages of Colonialism ...................................................................................................................... 271

12.4. Development of Textile and Iron and Steel Industries .................................................................. 274
Destruction of India's Textile Industries ........................................................................................... 274
Iron and Steel industries in India ..................................................................................................... 276

12.5. Summary ....................................................................................................................................277

viii

MIH – Part I – Unit 5: India’s Response to the British Rule

MIH-I – Pre-1857

13. Tribal and Peasant Movements – I ......................................................................................... 279

13.1. Civil Rebellions............................................................................................................................ 279
Sanyasi Rebellion (1763-1800) ........................................................................................................ 280

13.2. Tribal uprisings ........................................................................................................................... 281

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Tribals Before the British ................................................................................................................. 281
Tribal People under the British Rule ................................................................................................ 282
Tribal Movements ........................................................................................................................... 283

13.3. Some Major Anti-Colonial Tribal Movements .............................................................................. 286

Tilka Manjhi Revolt .......................................................................................................................... 286
Paika Rebellion (1817) ..................................................................................................................... 287
Ramoshi Uprising (1824) ................................................................................................................. 287
Ahom Revolt (1828) ......................................................................................................................... 288
Santhal Hool/Uprising (1855-56) .................................................................................................... 288
Rampa Rebellion (1879-1880) ......................................................................................................... 290
Bhil Agitation (1883) ....................................................................................................................... 290
Munda Ulgulan (1899-1900) ........................................................................................................... 291

13.4. Impact of the Tribal Movements ................................................................................................. 292

13.5. Unsung Heroes ........................................................................................................................... 293
Tantia Bhil ........................................................................................................................................ 293

13.6. Peasant Movements ................................................................................................................... 293

13.7. Peasant Movements Before the 1857 Revolt ............................................................................... 295
Narkelberia Uprising (1831) ............................................................................................................ 295
Pagal Panthi Movement (1825-1833) ............................................................................................. 295
Faraizi Disturbance (1838-57) ......................................................................................................... 296
Mappila Uprisings (1836-54)........................................................................................................... 296

13.8. Peasant Movements After the 1857 Revolt (Peasant Movements and Early Nationalism) ............ 297
Role of Congress .............................................................................................................................. 297
Indigo Cultivation and Blue Rebellion ............................................................................................. 297
Pabna Agrarian Unrest (1873-1885) ............................................................................................... 302
Deccan Riot (1875) .......................................................................................................................... 304
Rebellion by Ramosi Peasant .......................................................................................................... 307
Moplah Uprising .............................................................................................................................. 307
No-Revenue Movement................................................................................................................... 308

14. The Revolt of 1857.................................................................................................................. 309

ix

14.1. Causes of the popular discontent against the British rule (Major Causes of the Revolt) ............... 309
Adverse effect of the British rule ..................................................................................................... 309
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Religious interference ...................................................................................................................... 312

Reforms ........................................................................................................................................... 312
Policies of the British ....................................................................................................................... 312
Foreign Nature of the British Rule ................................................................................................... 313
Annexation of Awadh ...................................................................................................................... 313

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Immediate Cause............................................................................................................................. 315

14.2. The Beginning and Spread of the Revolt ...................................................................................... 317

The Beginning of Revolt .................................................................................................................. 317
Spread of the Mutiny....................................................................................................................... 318
Mutiny to Rebellion ......................................................................................................................... 319
Leaders ............................................................................................................................................ 319
Spread of the Rebellion ................................................................................................................... 320
Repression ....................................................................................................................................... 322

14.3. Reasons for the Failure of the Revolt ........................................................................................... 326

Disunity Among Indians .................................................................................................................. 326
Weak Leadership of Emperor Bahadur Shah................................................................................... 327
Poor Organisation and Planning ..................................................................................................... 327
The absence of a forward-looking programme............................................................................... 327
Weak Leadership ............................................................................................................................. 328

14.4. The Nature of the Revolt ............................................................................................................. 328

1857 Revolt: Through the Lens of British Records ........................................................................... 328
Spontaneous or Planned ................................................................................................................. 328
Hindu-Muslim Unity ........................................................................................................................ 329
Against the Symbols of Oppression ................................................................................................. 331
The search for Alternative Power .................................................................................................... 331
National Struggle or Feudal Reaction?............................................................................................ 331
Elitist Movement or Popular Resistance? ........................................................................................ 332

14.5. Significance of the Revolt ............................................................................................................ 332

14.6. Aftermath of the Revolt .............................................................................................................. 332
14.7. Summary ....................................................................................................................................333

MIH – Part I – Unit 6: Reform Movements 1

15. Socio-Religious Reform Movements – I ................................................................................... 336

Causes of Socio-Religious Reforms .................................................................................................. 336
Evolution of the Reform Movement in 19th Century India ............................................................... 336
x

Methods of Reform ......................................................................................................................... 337

Scope of Reforms ............................................................................................................................. 337
MIH-I – Pre-1857

15.1. Reforms in Eastern India (Bengal) ............................................................................................... 338

Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833) .................................................................................................. 338
Brahmo Samaj ................................................................................................................................. 345
Young Bengal movement ................................................................................................................ 348
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) ....................................................................................... 348

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Ramakrishna Mission ...................................................................................................................... 349

15.2. Reforms in Western India ............................................................................................................ 351

Manav Dharma Sabha (1844) ......................................................................................................... 351
Student's Literary and Scientific Society (1848) .............................................................................. 351
Paramahansa Mandali (1849) ........................................................................................................ 352
Prarthana Samaj (1867) .................................................................................................................. 352
Intellectual Resistance to Colonial Rule ........................................................................................... 353

15.3. Reforms in North India ................................................................................................................ 360

Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) and Arya Samaj ............................................................ 360

15.4. Reforms in South India ................................................................................................................ 362

Veda Samaj (1864) .......................................................................................................................... 362
Theosophical Society (1875) ............................................................................................................ 362

15.5. Religious Reform among the Parsis ............................................................................................. 365

Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (1851) .......................................................................................... 365

15.6. Religious Reforms Among Muslims ............................................................................................. 365

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) and Aligarh Movement ............................................................ 365
Deobandi School (Darul Uloom) ...................................................................................................... 367

15.7. Emancipation of Women ............................................................................................................. 367

Sati Practice ..................................................................................................................................... 368
Female education ............................................................................................................................ 368
Widow Remarriage ......................................................................................................................... 369
Child Marriage ................................................................................................................................ 370

15.8. Summary ....................................................................................................................................372

xi
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY

PMF IAS
Modern Indian History (MIH)
Part II – Post-1857

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PMF IAS Modern Indian History (MIH) – Part II – Post-1857

MIH – Part II – Unit 1: Structure of British Raj – II

1. British Administration in India – II (1858-1947) .......................................................................... 1

1.1. Administrative Changes After 1858 ................................................................................................1
Queen's Proclamation (1858)............................................................................................................... 1
Government of India Act 1858 ............................................................................................................. 2
Central Administration ......................................................................................................................... 3
Provincial Administration ..................................................................................................................... 8
Local Bodies ........................................................................................................................................13

1.2. Administrative Organisation ........................................................................................................15

The Civil Service ..................................................................................................................................15
The Army ............................................................................................................................................19
The Police ...........................................................................................................................................20

1.3. Administrative Policies.................................................................................................................21

Divide and Rule...................................................................................................................................21
Hostility to Educated Indians ..............................................................................................................21
Attitude Towards the Zamindars ........................................................................................................22
Attitude towards Social Reforms ........................................................................................................22
Extreme Backwardness of Social Services ..........................................................................................22
Labour Legislation ..............................................................................................................................23
Restrictions on the Press ....................................................................................................................24
Racial Antagonism (White Racism) ....................................................................................................24
British Policy Towards Princely States ................................................................................................24

1.4. Summary .....................................................................................................................................26

MIH – Part II – Unit 2: The Nationalist Movement (1858-1905)

2. Indian Nationalism and Indian National Congress ....................................................................29

2.1. Birth of Indian Nationalism ..........................................................................................................29
i

Factors Contributing to National Consciousness ................................................................................29

MIH-II – Post-1857

2.2. Predecessors of the Indian National Congress ..............................................................................34

Before 1858 ........................................................................................................................................34
After 1858...........................................................................................................................................36

2.3. Indian National Congress .............................................................................................................38

Need for an All-India Organisation ....................................................................................................38

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Foundation of Indian National Congress ............................................................................................38
Controversies Relating to the Origin of INC........................................................................................40
Early Congress and Social Reforms.....................................................................................................41

2.4. Unsung Heroes ............................................................................................................................42

Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840–1911) .........................................................................................................42
Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (1828 - 1880)..................................................................................................42

2.5. Summary .....................................................................................................................................42

3. Moderate Nationalism (1885-1905) ..........................................................................................44

3.1. Moderate Nationalism.................................................................................................................44
Who were the Moderates? ................................................................................................................44
The Programme and Activities of the Early Nationalists ....................................................................44
Demands of Moderates ......................................................................................................................45
Methods of Political Work ..................................................................................................................47
Attitude of the Government ...............................................................................................................48
Evaluation of the Early National Movement ......................................................................................49

3.2. Indian Councils Act of 1892 ..........................................................................................................49

Composition of Legislative Councils ...................................................................................................50
Enlargement of Functions of Councils ................................................................................................51
Limitations ..........................................................................................................................................51
Appraisal ............................................................................................................................................51

3.3. Economic Critique of British Imperialism ......................................................................................51

Drain of Wealth ..................................................................................................................................52
De-industrialization ............................................................................................................................53
Agriculture..........................................................................................................................................53
The poverty of Indian People..............................................................................................................54
Public Finance.....................................................................................................................................54

3.4. Moderate Leaders .......................................................................................................................55

Dadabhai Naoroji ...............................................................................................................................55
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915) ..................................................................................................57
Surendranath Banerjee (1848-1925)..................................................................................................61
ii

Sir William Wedderburn (1838–1918)................................................................................................62

3.5. Summary .....................................................................................................................................63

MIH-II – Post-1857

MIH – Part II – Unit 3: Growth of Militant Nationalism

4. Nationalist Movement 1905-1918 .............................................................................................65

4.1. Militant Nationalism....................................................................................................................65

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Methods of Work................................................................................................................................65
Role of Masses ...................................................................................................................................65
Nationalism and Indian Religious Traditions ......................................................................................66
Reasons For the Rise of Militant Nationalism ....................................................................................67

4.2. Partition of Bengal.......................................................................................................................69

The Anti-Partition Movement (Swadeshi and Boycott Movement)....................................................70
Movement under Moderates (1903-05).............................................................................................70
Stand of the Congress ........................................................................................................................72
Movement under Extremists ..............................................................................................................72

4.3. Delhi Durbars (Coronation Durbars) .............................................................................................78

4.4. Indian National Congress (1905-14) .............................................................................................79
INC in 1906 .........................................................................................................................................79
INC in 1907 .........................................................................................................................................80
Aftermath of Surat Split .....................................................................................................................80
Policy of Carrot and Stick (policy of repression-conciliation-suppression) .........................................81

4.5. Indian Councils Act of 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms) ....................................................................81

Need for Constitutional Changes........................................................................................................81
Indian Councils Act of 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms) .......................................................................82

4.6. Growth of Revolutionary Nationalism ..........................................................................................85

Reasons for the Rise of Revolutionary Nationalism ...........................................................................85
Early Activities in Maharashtra ..........................................................................................................86
Revolutionary Activities in Bengal ......................................................................................................87
Revolutionary activities in Madras .....................................................................................................89
Revolutionary Activities Abroad .........................................................................................................90
Revolutionary Nationalism and Faith .................................................................................................91

4.7. All India Muslim League (AIML) ...................................................................................................92

Muslim League's Paradox ..................................................................................................................92
Strained Relations Between Muslims and the Government ...............................................................92
Religious Lens on Political Issues ........................................................................................................93
Syed Ameer Ali and the London Muslim League ................................................................................93
iii

4.8. The Growth of Communalism ......................................................................................................94

Communalism: A Modern Phenomenon ............................................................................................97
MIH-II – Post-1857

Communalism and Religious Diversity ...............................................................................................97

Role of Syed Ahmad Khan in the Rise of Communalism .....................................................................97
Role of INC to Mitigate the Fear of Minorities ...................................................................................98
Role of British Officials in Communalism............................................................................................98

4.9. Hindu communalism ....................................................................................................................98

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Punjab Hindu Sabha (1909)................................................................................................................98
All India Hindu Mahasabha (1915) ....................................................................................................99

4.10. The Nationalists and the First World War ................................................................................... 100
The Ghadar Movement ................................................................................................................... 101
Tilak's Return in 1914: A Changed Man .......................................................................................... 107
Lucknow Session of the Congress (1916) ........................................................................................ 108
Indian Home Rule Movement (1916-1918) ..................................................................................... 109

4.11. Great Personalities .................................................................................................................... 113

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) ............................................................................................................ 113
Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) ........................................................................................................ 115
Bipin Chandra Pal ............................................................................................................................ 117

4.12. Unsung Heroes .......................................................................................................................... 118

Vasudev Balwant Phadke (1845-1883) ........................................................................................... 118
Sister Nivedita (1867-1911) ............................................................................................................. 119
Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912)......................................................................................... 120
Sardar Ajit Singh (1881—1947)....................................................................................................... 121
Rash Behari Bose ............................................................................................................................. 121
Satyendranath Bose ........................................................................................................................ 121
Madan Lal Dhingra.......................................................................................................................... 122
G.D. Kumar ...................................................................................................................................... 122
Taraknath Das ................................................................................................................................. 122

4.13. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 123

MIH – Part II – Unit 4: Arrival of Gandhi

5. Gandhi's Formative Years and Early Activism .......................................................................... 127

5.1. Emergence of Gandhi................................................................................................................. 127
Gandhi in London (1888-91)............................................................................................................ 127
Gandhi in South Africa (1893-1914) ................................................................................................ 127
Gandhi's Evolution in South Africa .................................................................................................. 131

5.2. Arrival of Mahatma Gandhi ....................................................................................................... 132

iv

Entry into Indian Politics .................................................................................................................. 133

Champaran Satyagraha (1917) ....................................................................................................... 133
MIH-II – Post-1857

Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)......................................................................................................... 134

Kheda satyagraha (1918) ................................................................................................................ 136
Significance ..................................................................................................................................... 137

5.3. Gandhian Ideology .................................................................................................................... 138

Satyagraha ...................................................................................................................................... 138

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Non-Violence ................................................................................................................................... 138
Religious Perspective ....................................................................................................................... 139
Hind Swaraj ..................................................................................................................................... 139
Swadeshi and Economic Views ........................................................................................................ 140

5.4. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 140

MIH – Part II – Unit 5: Struggle for Swaraj – I (1919-1929)

6. Non-cooperation and Khilafat Movements ............................................................................. 142

6.1. Next Phase of National Movement ............................................................................................ 142
Impact of the First World War ......................................................................................................... 142
Betrayal by Allied Nations ............................................................................................................... 143
Half-hearted Constitutional Reform ................................................................................................ 143
Russian Revolution .......................................................................................................................... 143

6.2. Response of Government ........................................................................................................... 143

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms ........................................................................................................ 143
Government of India Act of 1919 .................................................................................................... 144
Rowlatt Act ...................................................................................................................................... 149
Rowlatt satyagraha ......................................................................................................................... 150
Aftermath of the Massacre ............................................................................................................. 152

6.3. Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-22) .................................................................. 154

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 154
Issue of Khilafat ............................................................................................................................... 155
Towards Non-Cooperation .............................................................................................................. 156
Spread of Movement ....................................................................................................................... 157
Government Response .................................................................................................................... 160
The Last Phase................................................................................................................................. 160
Gandhi’s Arrest ................................................................................................................................ 161
End of Khilafat ................................................................................................................................. 162
Contribution of Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement ............................................................. 162

6.4. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 163

v

7. The Nationalist Movement (1922-29) ...................................................................................... 166

MIH-II – Post-1857

7.1. Pro-changers (Swarajists) and No-Changers............................................................................... 166

Gaya Session (1922) ........................................................................................................................ 167
Collaborative Strategies .................................................................................................................. 167
Swarajists ........................................................................................................................................ 167
No-Changers.................................................................................................................................... 171

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7.2. Mahatma Gandhi's Release from Prison .................................................................................... 171
Belgaum Session of Congress (1924) .............................................................................................. 172

7.3. Communalism............................................................................................................................ 172

7.4. Emergence of New Forces In the 1920s ...................................................................................... 173
Rapid Spread of Socialist Ideas........................................................................................................ 173
Indian Youth Inspired by Left-wing Leaders..................................................................................... 174
Socialist Ideas among Workers and Peasants ................................................................................. 174
Trade Unions ................................................................................................................................... 174
Peasant Movement ......................................................................................................................... 174

7.5. Revolutionary Nationalism ........................................................................................................ 175

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 175
Hindustan Republican Association (Revolutionaries in Northern India).......................................... 176
Revolutionaries in Bengal ................................................................................................................ 181
Decline of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ...................................................................... 183

7.6. Unsung Heroes .......................................................................................................................... 183

Sachindranath Sanyal...................................................................................................................... 183
Rajendra Nath Lahiri ....................................................................................................................... 184
Bhagvati Charan Vohra ................................................................................................................... 184
Durgawati Devi/Durga Bhabhi (Agni of India) ................................................................................ 184
Manmath Nath Gupta (1908-2000) ................................................................................................ 185

7.7. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 185

8. Simon Commission to Poorna Swaraj ...................................................................................... 188

The Grim Situation of 1927 ............................................................................................................. 188

8.1. Boycott of Simon Commission .................................................................................................... 188

Simon Commission .......................................................................................................................... 188

8.2. Nehru Report ............................................................................................................................. 191

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 191
All Parties Conferences .................................................................................................................... 193
Nehru Report ................................................................................................................................... 194
Aftermath of the Nehru Report ....................................................................................................... 196
vi

Stand of Muslim League in 1929 ..................................................................................................... 197

MIH-II – Post-1857

8.3. Poorna Swaraj ........................................................................................................................... 198

Calcutta Session (1928) ................................................................................................................... 198
Lahore Session of Congress (1929) .................................................................................................. 199

8.4. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 201

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MIH – Part II – Unit 6: Struggle for Swaraj – II (1929-1947)

9. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34) ................................................................................. 203

9.1. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34) .................................................................................... 203
Gandhi’s Eleven Demands ............................................................................................................... 203
CWC Meeting (February 1930) ........................................................................................................ 204
Dandi March (Salt March) (12 March 1930 – 6 April 1930) ............................................................ 204
Suspension of Civil Disobedience (March-December 1931) ............................................................ 209
Revival of Civil Disobedience (1932-34)........................................................................................... 211
Assessment of the Civil Disobedience Movement ........................................................................... 211

9.2. Karachi Session of Congress (1931) ............................................................................................ 212

Highlights of the session ................................................................................................................. 212

9.3. Round Table Conferences (RTCs)................................................................................................. 214

First Round Table Conference (November 1930 to January 1931) .................................................. 214
Participation of INC ......................................................................................................................... 214
Second Round Table Conference (September to December 1931) .................................................. 215
Third Round Table Conference......................................................................................................... 216
Aftermath of the Round Table Conferences .................................................................................... 216

9.4. Gandhi, Ambedkar and British Policy on the Communal Award .................................................. 217
Communal award ............................................................................................................................ 217
Poona Pact ...................................................................................................................................... 219
Depressed Classes ........................................................................................................................... 220
Gandhi’s Efforts to Remove Untouchability ..................................................................................... 221

9.5. Gandhi and Ambedkar ............................................................................................................... 223

9.6. Unsung Heroes .......................................................................................................................... 223
Rani Gaidinliu .................................................................................................................................. 223

9.7. British Prime Ministers ............................................................................................................... 224

9.8. Viceroy and Governor-General of India ...................................................................................... 224
9.9. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 225

10. Nationalist Movement (1934-39) ............................................................................................ 228

vii

10.1. First Phase of Debate ................................................................................................................. 228

MIH-II – Post-1857

10.2. Government of India Act of 1935 ............................................................................................... 229

British Intention ............................................................................................................................... 230
Important Provisions ....................................................................................................................... 230
Nationalists’ Response .................................................................................................................... 236

10.3. Second Phase of Debate............................................................................................................. 236

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10.4. Provincial Elections of 1937 ....................................................................................................... 237
Congress’ Election Manifesto .......................................................................................................... 237
Performance of Congress ................................................................................................................ 238
Office Acceptance ............................................................................................................................ 239
Congress Ministries at Work ........................................................................................................... 239
End of the 28 months of Congress Rule........................................................................................... 243

10.5. Increasing interest of Congress in world affairs .......................................................................... 244

10.6. Growth of Communalism ........................................................................................................... 245
Role of Muslim League .................................................................................................................... 245
Role of Hindu Communalists ........................................................................................................... 245
Communal Groups: A Barrier in the Fight for Independence .......................................................... 246

10.7. Important Congress Sessions...................................................................................................... 246

Lucknow Session (April 1936) .......................................................................................................... 246
Faizpur Session (December 1936) ................................................................................................... 247
Haripura Session (Feb 1938) ........................................................................................................... 247
Crisis at Tripuri................................................................................................................................. 248
Aftermath of Tripuri Session ............................................................................................................ 249

10.8. Great Personalities .................................................................................................................... 250

Bose and Nehru ............................................................................................................................... 250

10.9. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 250

11. Growth of Left ......................................................................................................................... 253

11.1. Left, Right and Centre ................................................................................................................ 253
11.2. Socialist Ideas and Role of INC ................................................................................................... 253
Socialism and the Early National Movement .................................................................................. 253
Socialist ideologies among nationalists .......................................................................................... 254
Socialism after the Non-Cooperation Movement ............................................................................ 254
Jawaharlal Nehru and Socialism ..................................................................................................... 255

11.3. Growth of Leftist Movement in India.......................................................................................... 256

Formation of Communist Party of India and its early history ......................................................... 257
Peshawar Conspiracy Case (1922-23) ............................................................................................. 258
viii

Early Communist Groups in India and Abroad ................................................................................ 258

Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case (1924)....................................................................................... 259
MIH-II – Post-1857

Formation of the Indian Communist Party (1925) .......................................................................... 259

Formation of Workers' and Peasants' Parties (WPPs) ..................................................................... 260
Communist Influence on Trade Union ............................................................................................. 261
Government's Measures to Curb Communist Influence .................................................................. 262
Isolation of the Communists from the National Movement ........................................................... 263

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Communist Party after 1935 ........................................................................................................... 264

11.4. Formation of Congress Socialist Party ........................................................................................ 265

The Early Socialists .......................................................................................................................... 265
Towards an All India Congress Socialist Party ................................................................................. 265
Ideological currents within CSP ....................................................................................................... 267
Developing Alternate Leadership .................................................................................................... 267
Impact of Congress Socialist Party (Left-wing) ................................................................................ 268

11.5. Second World War and the Left Response .................................................................................. 269
Opposition to the War ..................................................................................................................... 269
Support to the War .......................................................................................................................... 270

12. National Movement During the Second World War ................................................................ 271
Debates in Wardha.......................................................................................................................... 271
Congress Resignation ...................................................................................................................... 272

12.1. Nationalist Movement in 1940 ................................................................................................... 272

Gandhi's Reservations on Civil Disobedience .................................................................................. 272
Ramgarh Session (March 1940) ...................................................................................................... 273
Anti-Compromise Conference (Ramgarh, 1940) ............................................................................. 273
August Offer (August 1940)............................................................................................................. 273
Individual Satyagraha (Individual Civil Disobedience) .................................................................... 274
Pakistan Resolution (Lahore Resolution) (1940).............................................................................. 275

12.2. Jawaharlal Nehru: Gandhi's Successor ....................................................................................... 275

12.3. Cripps Mission (March 1942) ...................................................................................................... 276
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 276
Cripps Proposals .............................................................................................................................. 276
Rejection of the Cripps Proposals .................................................................................................... 277

12.4. Quit India Movement (August Kranti) ........................................................................................ 279

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 279
Quit India Resolution ....................................................................................................................... 279
Gandhi's specific instructions for different sections ........................................................................ 280
The Movement ................................................................................................................................ 281
ix

Government’s Repression ................................................................................................................ 282

Underground Activities.................................................................................................................... 282
MIH-II – Post-1857

Parallel Governments ...................................................................................................................... 283

Participation .................................................................................................................................... 283
End of the Movement ...................................................................................................................... 284
Gandhi’s Fast (February 1943) ........................................................................................................ 285

12.5. Efforts to Bridge the Congress-League Divide ............................................................................. 286

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Rajaji’s Formula (C. R. Formula) ...................................................................................................... 286
Gandhi Jinnah Talks (September 1944) ........................................................................................... 286
Desai–Liaquat Pact (January 1945) ................................................................................................. 287

12.6. Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) ...................................................................................... 287

Subhas Chandra Bose ...................................................................................................................... 287
Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) ........................................................................................... 289
Impact of Indian National Army ...................................................................................................... 291

12.7. Unsung Heroes .......................................................................................................................... 292

Usha Mehta ..................................................................................................................................... 292
Aruna Asaf Ali .................................................................................................................................. 292
Lakshmi Sahgal................................................................................................................................ 293

12.8. Great Personalities .................................................................................................................... 293

C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) .............................................................................................................. 293
Bhulabhai Desai (1877-1946) .......................................................................................................... 294

12.9. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 295

13. Post-War Struggle ................................................................................................................... 298

13.1. Renewed Phase in India's Freedom Struggle .............................................................................. 298
13.2. Changed Attitude of the British Government .............................................................................. 298
13.3. Wavell Plan and Simla Conference (June 1945) .......................................................................... 299
Wavell Plan...................................................................................................................................... 299
Simla Conference ............................................................................................................................. 300

13.4. Popular Upsurges ...................................................................................................................... 301

Indian National Army Trial (INA Trial) ............................................................................................. 301
Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny (February 1946) ........................................................................... 303

13.5. Elections of 1945-46 ................................................................................................................... 305

Results ............................................................................................................................................. 305
Elections: The Watershed ................................................................................................................ 306

13.6. Cabinet Mission (March 1946) ................................................................................................... 306

Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 307
x

Acceptance of a Plan ....................................................................................................................... 310

Rejection of a Plan........................................................................................................................... 310
MIH-II – Post-1857

13.7. Election to the Constituent Assembly (July 1946) ........................................................................ 311

13.8. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 312

14. Freedom With Partition .......................................................................................................... 314

14.1. Direct Action Day (16 August 1946)............................................................................................ 314

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Inevitability of the Partition ............................................................................................................ 314

14.2. Interim Government (September 2, 1946 - August 15, 1947) ...................................................... 314
New Phase of Conflict ..................................................................................................................... 315
Threat of Breakdown ....................................................................................................................... 315
Members of the Interim Government ............................................................................................. 315

14.3. Meerut Congress Session (1946) ................................................................................................ 316

14.4. Clement Attlee's Announcement (February 1947) ....................................................................... 317
Response ......................................................................................................................................... 317
Significance ..................................................................................................................................... 318

14.5. Mountbatten Plan ..................................................................................................................... 318

Plan Balkan (Dickie Bird Plan) (April 1947) ..................................................................................... 318
Mountbatten Plan (3rd June Plan) (June 3, 1947) ............................................................................ 319
Acceptance of the Dominion Status ................................................................................................ 320

14.6. Boundary Commission ............................................................................................................... 321

14.7. Indian Independence Act of 1947 ............................................................................................... 321
Salient features ............................................................................................................................... 322

14.8. Independence with Partition ...................................................................................................... 323

Why Congress Accepted Partition ................................................................................................... 323
Day of Independence....................................................................................................................... 324
Partition or Holocaust ..................................................................................................................... 325

14.9. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 328

MIH – Part II – Unit 7: Princely States

15. Popular Struggle in the Princely States.................................................................................... 330

Autocratic Rule in the Princely States.............................................................................................. 331
Establishment of the Praja Mandals ............................................................................................... 331
British Response .............................................................................................................................. 331
All India States Peoples’ Conference (AISPC) ................................................................................... 331
Role of INC ....................................................................................................................................... 332
xi

Integration of Princely States .......................................................................................................... 333

Integration of Some Important Princely States ............................................................................... 334
MIH-II – Post-1857

15.1. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 336

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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY

PMF IAS
Modern Indian History (MIH)
Part I – Pre-1857

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1. Decline of the Mughal Empire

1.1. Brief Introduction of the Mughal Empire

• The Mughals were descendants of two great lineages of rulers. On their mother's side, they were related
to Genghis Khan, who ruled the Mongol tribes, China, and Central Asia. On their father's side, they were
the heirs of Timur, who ruled Iran, Iraq, and present-day Turkey.
• Babur, the first Mughal emperor (1526-1530), succeeded to the throne of Ferghana (Uzbekistan) in
1494 when he was only 12. He was forced to leave his ancestral throne due to the invasion of another
Mongol group, the Uzbegs.
• After years of wandering, Babur seized Kabul in 1504. In 1526, in the first battle of Panipat, he de-
feated the last ruler of the Delhi sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat and established the Mughal
Empire in India.
• The Mughal Empire under the Babur could not crush the Afghans and Rajputs completely but paved
the way for establishing an all-India empire.
• Akbar, the third ruler of the Mughal Empire, not only consolidated but also expanded the empire.
During his rule, the Mughal Empire became an important factor in Indian politics.
1

Aurangzeb (Alamgir I) (1658-1707)

Aurangzeb was the sixth emperor of the Mughal dynasty. He ruled from 1658 until his death in 1707.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
He followed a policy of religious intolerance and non-conciliation and didn’t try to make peace with
other rulers.
• Despite Aurangzeb’s many harmful policies, the Mughal administration was still quite efficient, and
the Mughal army was quite strong at the time of his death in 1707.

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

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• Aurangzeb inherited a vast empire, but he pursued a policy of expansion. He conquered new territories
in the south, such as Bijapur and Golkonda, as well as in the North-East. However, governing such a
vast empire from a central authority proved challenging, and the decline of the Mughal Empire began
during his reign.
• After his death, his successors were unable to maintain the unity of the vast empire, ultimately leading
to its downfall in 1857.

1.2. Later Mughal Emperors and their Policies

Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam I) (1707-12)

• On Aurangzeb’s death, his three sons fought among themselves for the throne, and Azam Shah became
the Mughal Emperor for three months. Finally, the 65-year-old Bahadur Shah emerged victorious and
became emperor from 1707-12.
• Bahadur Shah reversed some of the narrow-minded policies and measures adopted by Aurangzeb.
 He adopted a policy of religious tolerance. There was no destruction of temples in his reign.
 He followed a policy of compromise and conciliation with other rulers.
• During his reign, the administration was further deteriorated. The position of state finances worsened
because of his reckless grants of jagirs and promotions.
 Jagir was a piece of land assigned to Mughal officials (Jagirdar). The revenue from Jagir went to
the Jagirdar (not the state) for their services to the state.

Policy with Other Rulers

• Rajput: In the beginning, Bahadur Shah tried to gain greater control over the Rajput states but later
adopted a policy of conciliation.
• Sikh: Bahadur Shah had tried to conciliate the rebellious Sikhs by making peace with Guru Gobind
Singh and giving him a high Mansab (rank). After the Guru’s death, he took strong measures and led
a campaign against the rebel Banda Bahadur.

Guru Gobind Singh (1664-1708)

• Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. In the late seventeenth century, he
laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (army of the pure).
3

• After his death, the institution of Guruship came to an end, and the leadership of the Sikhs was
passed to his trusted disciple Banda Singh (Banda Bahadur).
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Maratha: Bahadur Shah’s policy towards the Maratha sardars (chiefs) was a half-hearted conciliation.
 He granted them the Sardeshmukhi (one-tenth of the revenue) of the Deccan but didn’t grant
the Chauth (one-fourth of the revenue).

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 He also did not recognise Shahu as the rightful Maratha King. Thus, he let Tara Bai and Shahu fight
for supremacy over the Maratha Kingdom.
• Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were two important sources of revenue for the Maratha.

Chauth (Chauthai)
• Chauth was a type of revenue collected from the external territories protected by the Maratha
rulers. It used to be one-fourth (Chauth) of the total income of the taxpayer.

Sardeshmukhi
• Sardeshmukhi was the 10% of the land revenue paid to the head revenue collector/zamindar
(Sardeshmukh) in the Deccan.
• It was collected from the district in which the Marathas had the hereditary rights of rule. Hence, it
was a tribute paid to the king.

Shahu
• Shahu (grandson of Shivaji) had been held as a prisoner by Aurangzeb since 1689. He was released
MIH-I – Pre-1857

in 1707 following Aurangzeb's death. Shortly after, a civil war broke out between Shahu (of Satara)
and his aunt Tara Bai (of Kolhapur).

Tarabai

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• Tarabai was the regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 until 1708. She carried out an anti-Mughal
struggle in the name of her son Shivaji II after the death of her husband, Rajaram.

Jahandar Shah (1712-13)

• After the death of Bahadur Shah in 1712, the Empire plunged into civil war again. During this time, a
new element entered in Mughal politics. Instead of just royal princes, ambitious nobles became the
direct contenders for power. They used princes as tools to seize authority.
• In the civil war following Bahadur Shah's death, Jahandar Shah won because he was supported by
Zulfiqar Khan, the most powerful noble of the time.
• During Jahandar Shah’s reign, the administration was virtually in the hands of Zulfiqar Khan, who had
become his wazir (Prime Minister).

Zulfiqar Khan
• Zulfiqar Khan rapidly reversed Aurangzeb’s policies.
 He abolished the Jizyah.
 He conciliated the Rajput rajas and the Maratha sardars. Only towards Banda Bahadur and the
Sikhs did he continue the old policy of suppression.
• During Zulfiqar Khan’s reign, the administration further deteriorated.
• He tried to improve the finances of the Empire:
 He checked the expansion of the Jagir system.
 He started the Ijarah system of land revenue collection.
 Jizyah was a tax levied on the non-Muslim population for their protection by Muslim rulers.
 It was abolished by the third Mughal emperor Akbar in 1579. However, in 1679, Aurangzeb re-
imposed jizya on non-Muslim subjects.

Ijarah system

• Under this system, the government contracted with revenue farmers or middlemen to collect the land
revenue. Revenue farmers paid a fixed amount to the government but were allowed to collect as much
as they wanted from peasants. In the long run, this system decreased the government's revenue and
increased peasants' oppression.
 The Ijarah System (a lease or contract for paying a fixed amount to the treasury) method of revenue
5

collection was used by Delhi sultans.

 It was abandoned by Sher Shah and Akbar but was revived during Jahangir's reign.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 It was widespread in 17th and 18th century polities and was initially even used by the "Company's"
administrators.

Policy with Maratha Rulers

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• In 1711, Daud Khan Panni (deputy governor of Deccan) concluded an agreement with Maratha King
Shahu, and Zulfiqar Khan confirmed the agreement. This agreement gave the Maratha ruler the right
to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of Deccan. However, Mughal officials would collect these taxes
and transfer them to the Marathas.

Farrukh Siyar (1713-19)

• In 1713, Jahandar Shah was defeated by his nephew, Farrukh Siyar. The victory was mainly due to the
support of the Saiyid brothers, Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan Baraha. Abdullah Khan (the elder
brother) was appointed as the Wazir, and Husain Ali Khan (the younger brother) was appointed as the
Mir Bakshi.
 Mir Bakshi (Bakhshi) was the head of the military department in the Mughal period.
• Farrukh Siyar defeated the Banda Bahadur in 1715 and was put to death in 1716. The Saiyid brothers
soon acquired dominant control over the affairs of the state, but Farrukh Siyar wanted to exercise
personal authority. Thus, there was a power struggle between the Farrukh Siyar and Saiyid brothers.
• In the end, in 1719, the Saiyid brothers deposed and killed the emperor with the help of Balaji
Vishwanath (Peshwa). This was the first time in Mughal history that an emperor was killed by a
noble.
• In Farrukh Siyar's place, the Saiyid brothers raised two young princes to the throne, who died of con-
sumption. The Saiyid brothers now made the 18-year-old Muhammad Shah the Emperor of India. The
three successors of Farrukh Siyar were mere puppets.

Farrukh Siyar’s Farmans

• In 1717, Farrukh Siyar issued three farmans, which granted the English East India Company (EIC)
the duty-free export and import of their goods.

Saiyid Brothers (King Makers) (1713-20)

• Saiyid brothers Adopted the policy of religious tolerance. Jizyah was abolished after Farrukh Siyar
acceded to the throne. The Pilgrim tax was abolished in several places. They conciliated with the Raj-
puts and the Marathas.
• Administration was further deteriorated and paralysed at all levels. Lawlessness and disorder spread
everywhere. The financial position of the state deteriorated rapidly. As a result, the salaries of the offi-
6

cials and soldiers could not be paid regularly.

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Policy with Maratha Rulers

• Saiyid brothers signed an agreement with King Shahu. Shahu was given:
 Swarajya (All the territories that were once part of Shivaji's kingdom).
 Right to collect the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the six provinces of the Deccan (Aurangabad,
Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, Hyderabad and Khandesh).

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• In return, Shahu agreed:

 To pay an annual tribute of 10 lakh rupees.
 To support them in the Deccan with 15,000 soldiers.
 To prevent rebellion and plundering in the Deccan.

End of King Makers

• A group of nobles headed by Nizam-ul-Mulk were jealous of the growing powers of the Saiyid brothers
and began to conspire against them. These nobles declared that the Saiyids were following anti-
Mughal and anti-Islamic policies.
• Emperor Muhammad Shah supported these nobles because he wanted to free himself from the control
of the two brothers. In 1720, they assassinated Husain Ali Khan, the younger of the two brothers. Ab-
dullah Khan tried to fight back but was defeated near Agra.

Muhammad Shah (1719-48)

• At the beginning of Muhammad Shah’s rule:
 The people still respected the Mughal rulers.
 The Mughal army, especially their artillery, was still strong.
 The administration in North India was getting worse but not completely collapsed.
 The Maratha leaders were still confined to the South, and the Rajput rulers were still loyal to the
Mughal dynasty.
• Muhammad Shah was named ‘Rangeela’ due to his luxurious lifestyle. His long rule of nearly thirty
years was the last chance to save the Empire. But he was not the man of the moment. Instead of
supporting able wazirs such as Nizam-ul-Mulk, he fell under the evil influence of corrupt and worthless
nobles.
• Nizam-ul-Mulk had become the wazir in 1722 and vigorously attempted to reform the administration.
As Muhammad Shah consistently obstructed his efforts, he gave up his office and established the state
of Hyderabad in the Deccan. His departure was symbolic of the flight of loyalty and virtue from the
Empire.
• With this, the physical break-up of the Mughal Empire had begun. Many strong nobles started creating
their own independent states, such as Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal; however, they still owed loy-
alty to the emperor in Delhi.
7

[Mains Practice – Unlocking Creativity] Imagine you were the emperor of the Mughal Empire in the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

1720s. What measures would you have taken to prevent the fall of the empire?

Ahmad Shah (1748-1754)

• Ahmad Shah Bahadur was the fourteenth Mughal emperor. He inherited a much weakened Mughal
state for six years (1748-54).

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• Ahmad Shah Bahadur was an ineffective ruler and was strongly influenced by his mother, Udham Bai
(Queen Mother). During his rule, the administration was in the hands of Udham Bai, who ruled the state
with the help of her paramour, Javed Khan.
 Javed Khan was an effective regent during the reign of Ahmad Shah Bahadur. He opposed the
authority of the Safdar Jang (Wazir from 1748-53), who killed him in 1752.
• Ahmad Shah’s administrative weakness led to the rise of the Wazir, Imad-ul-Mulk (1754-60).
• In 1754, Imad-ul-Mulk deposed Ahmad Shah Bahadur and later blinded him and his mother. Ahmad
Shah Bahadur spent the remaining years in prison and died in 1775.

Alamgir II (1754-1759)
• The 55-year-old prince, Aziz-ud-Din, had been in prison since 1714 when his father, emperor Jahandar
Shah, was overthrown by Farrukhsiyar. Imad-ul-Mulk released him from prison and crowned him em-
peror with the regnal name Alamgir II.
• Alamgir II had no experience in administration or warfare. He was a puppet Mughal emperor with all
power vested with Imad-ul-Mulk.
 From 1738 to 1767, Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded the Mughal Empire several times,
which ruined the empire's finances and the country’s economic life.
 The Battle of Plassey (1757) was fought during the reign of Alamgir II.

Shah Alam II (1759-1806)

• Shah Alam II ascended the throne in 1759. He was a man of some ability and ample courage. But after
the foreign invasions, the empire was beyond redemption.
• In 1764, Shah Alam II joined Mir Qasim (Nawab of Bengal) and Shuja-ud-Daula (Nawab of Avadh)
in declaring war upon the British East India Company (EIC). The British defeated Shah Alam II at the
Battle of Buxar.
 The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and the battle of Buxar (1764) were fought during the reign of
Shah Alam II.

Under the Maratha’s Protection

• According to the Treaty of Allahabad (1765), Shah Alam II lived for six years at Allahabad as a pen-
sioner of the EIC. He left Allahabad in May 1771 and returned to Delhi in 1772 under the protection of
8

Mahadji Scindia (Maratha Sardar).

MIH-I – Pre-1857

 An Afghan, Gulam Qader, during Mahadji Scindia’s temporary evacuation of Delhi, blinded Shah
Alam in 1788.

Under the Protection of the British

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• After the British defeated Daulat Rao Scindia (Maratha) in 1803, Shah Alam II again accepted British
protection. The Mughal emperor no longer possessed the military might to enforce his will, but he
commanded respect as a dignified member of the House of Timur throughout the country. The nawabs
and subahdars still sought formal sanction from the emperor on their accession. They struck coins and
read the Khutba (Friday sermons) in his name.
• The British, not yet strong enough to claim sovereignty on their own, kept Shah Alam as a puppet till
his death. From 1803 to 1857, the Mughal Emperors were reduced to mere pensioners of foreign
rule.
 After 1759, the Mughal monarchy didn't have military power. Still, it continued to exist due to the
strong influence of the Mughal dynasty on the minds of Indian people, who saw it as a symbol of
the country's political unity.

Akbar Shah II (1806-1837)

• Akbar Shah II was the nineteenth Mughal emperor from 1806 to 1837. He had limited real power due
to the growing influence of the British in India through the East India Company (EIC).
• During Akbar’s regime in 1835, the EIC discontinued calling itself a subject of the Mughal Emperor
and issuing coins in his name.
• Akbar II sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain and gave him the title of Raja.
• Akbar II started the Hindu–Muslim unity festival 'Phool Walon Ki Sair'.

Phool Waalon Ki Sair

• Phool Waalon Ki Sair, or the procession of the florists, is the flower festival celebrated in memory
of a Mughal prince, Mirza Jahangir (son of Akbar Shah II).
• It is a unique festival when Hindus and Muslims together offer the floral chaadar and pankha at the
Dargah of Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaaki (Muslim Sufi saint) in Mehrauli. The floral pankha and chhatra
(canopy) are also offered at the ancient temple of Devi Yogmaya in Mehrauli.
• The festival was started in 1812 by Akbar Shah II to fulfil the vow of his Begum Mumtaz Mahal.

Bahadur Shah Zafar (1837-1857)

• Bahadur Shah II (Bahadur Shah Zafar) was the twentieth and last Mughal emperor from 1837 to 1857.
For most of his rule, he remained a pensioner of the East India Company.
9

• After the outbreak of the revolt of 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar assumed the leadership of the Uprising
as the Emperor of Hindustan.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• When the Red Fort was captured by the British, Bahadur Shah Zafar was taken as a prisoner. Charged
with rebellion, treason and murder, Bahadur Zafar, along with his family, was transported to Rangoon,
where he died on 7 November 1862.
• With the British declaration of Queen Victoria on November 1, 1858, the Mughal Empire ended.

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1.3. Foreign Invasions

Nadir Shah’s Invasion

Nadir Shah

• Nadir Shah founded the Afsharid dynasty of Iran (Persia). He ruled Iran from 1736 to 1747.
• By 1736, Nadir Shah gained control of most of present-day Afghanistan. He was assassinated in 1747
and was succeeded by Ahmad Shah Durrani as the ruler of Afghanistan.
 Ahmad Shah Durrani is often regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan.

Invasion
• India’s wealth attracted Nadir Shah. Due to neglected defences on the northwest frontier of India,
Nadir Shah entered Indian territory without opposition in 1738.
• The armies of Nadir Shah and Muhammad Shah met at Karnal (Haryana) on 13 February 1739. Nadir
Shah defeated the Mughal army, captured the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah, and plundered
the rich of Delhi. He carried away the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne of Shahja-
han.
• Nadir Shah compelled Muhammad Shah to cede all the empire’s provinces west of the river Indus to
him. The loss of Kabul and the areas west of the Indus once again opened the empire to the threat
of invasions from the North-West.

Ahmed Shah Abdali’s invasions

• Ahmed Shah Abdali (Durrani) was one of the ablest generals of Nadir Shah. After the death of Nadir
Shah, Durrani established his rule over Afghanistan.
• Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded and plundered northern India eight times between 1748 and 1767. The
Mughals tried to buy peace in 1751-52 by ceding Punjab to him. Abdali captured Delhi in 1757 and
left behind an Afghan caretaker to watch over the Mughal emperor. Before his return, Abdali recog-
nised:
 Alamgir II as the Mughal emperor.
 Najib-ud-Daulah (Rohilla Chief), as Mir Bakshi of the empire, was to act as Abdali’s personal ‘su-
preme agent’.
10

• In 1758, Raghunath Rao (Maratha sardar):

 Expelled Najib-ud-Daulah from Delhi
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Captured Punjab.
• In 1759, Ahmad Shah Abdali returned to India to take revenge on the Marathas. In 1761, Abdali de-
feated the Marathas in the third Battle of Panipat and thus gave a big blow to their ambition of ruling
over the entire country. However, Abdali did not establish a new Afghan kingdom in India.

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Effect of invasions
 The foreign invasions caused immense damage to the Mughal Empire in terms of prestige and fi-
nance.
 It ruined the empire's finances and the country’s economic life.
 The administration was paralysed. The impoverished nobles began oppressing the peasantry to re-
cover their lost fortunes.
 By 1761, the Mughal Empire had practically ceased to exist as an all-India Empire. It only remained as
the Kingdom of Delhi.

1.4. Decline of the Mughal Empire

• During Aurangzeb's rule, the unity and stability of the empire experienced disruptions. However, by his
death in 1707:
 The Mughal administration remained efficient.
 The state's finances were better than the later period.
 The Mughal dynasty continued to hold respect within the country.
• After Aurangzeb’s death, the Mughal Empire started declining and disintegrating in the first half of
the 18th century.
 In 1724, the Wazir, Nizam-ul-Mulk, left his position and founded the state of Hyderabad.
 The physical break-up of the Mughal Empire began, and many strong nobles started creating their
own independent states; however, they still owed loyalty to the emperor in Delhi.
• In the second half of the 18th century, after the third battle of Panipat, the Mughal empire was
reduced to a few square miles around Delhi.
• At the beginning of the 19th century, Delhi was occupied by the British and the Mughal Emperor
was reduced to the status of a mere pensioner of a foreign power. Finally, in 1857, Mughal rule was
ended.

Causes of the Decline of the Mughal Empire

• The Mughal Empire ruled over a big part of India for nearly three centuries (1526-1857), but it was
significantly weakened by the first half of the 18th century. The decline of the Mughal empire was a
long-drawn-out process influenced by many factors. Some of the factors are:
11

Strong Rule of Aurangzeb

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Aurangzeb was a strong ruler with remarkable ability. However, he lacked the necessary social, eco-
nomic, and political insight. The decline of the Mughal Empire started during his reign.

Policy of expansion

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• Aurangzeb inherited a large empire, yet he adopted a policy of expansion. He did not accept Mara-
tha’s demand for regional autonomy, even when it was difficult to rule the country under central
political authority. The administrative inconvenience encouraged local officials to defy central author-
ity and dream of independence.
• Aurangzeb's successors were not strong rulers to maintain the vast empire and suppress the chal-
lenges posed by regional rulers. Hence, after the Aurangzeb’s death, many regional states emerged.

Campaign Against Maratha

• Aurangzeb's campaign against the Marathas extended over many years. This long campaign:
 Drained the resources of his Empire.
 Deteriorated the administration.
 Undermined the prestige of the Empire and its army.
 Led to his absence from northern India for over twenty-five years and the neglect of the northwest
12

frontier.
 Encouraged provincial and local officials to defy central authority.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Ruined the trade and industry of the Deccan.

 From 1698, Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns against the Maratha.

Religious Policy

• During the early Mughal rulers, the Mughal state was secular. Its stability was based on:

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 The policy of non-interference with the religious beliefs of the people

 Fostering friendly relations between Hindus and Muslims
 Opening the doors of the highest offices of the state to nobles and chiefs from different regions.
• Aurangzeb's religious policy towards the Hindu rulers seriously damaged the stability of the Mughal
Empire.
 Aurangzeb’s successors speedily revered the religious policy of Aurangzeb.

Wars of succession
• In the absence of any fixed rule of succession, the Mughal dynasty was plagued by a civil war after
the death of a king. This resulted in significant loss of life and property and caused the nobility to
transform into warring factions.
• Many of the local chiefs and officials utilised the conditions to:
 Consolidate their own position.
 Acquire greater autonomy.
 Make their offices hereditary.

Mughal Traditions of Succession

 The Mughals did not follow the rule of primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited his father’s
estate. Instead, Mughals followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary inheritance,
which involves dividing the inheritance among all the sons.

Personalities of Later Mughals

• In an autocratic, monarchical system of government, the character and personality of the ruler play
a crucial role.
• After Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperors were not very capable. They were more interested in luxury and
didn't have strong leadership qualities. As a result, they couldn't stop the gradual shifting of political
and economic authority into the hands of provincial governors.

Growing Selfishness of Nobles

• During the later Mughal period, the character of nobility declined. They became ease-loving and
fond of luxury. Their selfishness and lack of devotion to the states led to:
13

 Corruption in the administration.

 Forming groups and fighting each other to promote self-interest.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Monopolizing the office and making it hereditary: It closed the door of nobility to the able, efficient,
and strong person to rise to the ranks of nobility.

Competition among different groups of nobles

• Nobles were divided into two major factions, the Iranis and Turanis (nobles of Turkish descent).

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• For a long time, the later Mughal emperors were puppets in the hands of either one or the other of
these two powerful groups.

Collapse of Administration and Finance

• During the 18th century, the empire experienced a reduction in its territorial boundaries and wit-
nessed the collapse of its administrative structure. Corruption and bribery, indiscipline and ineffi-
ciency, disobedience and disloyalty prevailed on a large scale among officials at all levels. Unruly zamin-
dars openly defied central authority.
• Emperors tried to appease nobles by awarding them jagirs from khalisah lands (crown lands). The
reduced Khalisah land resulted in a decline in the empire's revenue.
• During the 18th century, the Central Government was often on the verge of bankruptcy. The lack of
finance ultimately affected the strength of the military. The weakened military could not curb the
ambitious nobles and defend the empire from foreign aggression.

Jagirdari Crisis
• Aurangzeb expanded the empire in Deccan. This led to a sudden increase in nobles (Jagirdars). This
increase in the number of jagirdars and shortage of jagir (land assigned to Mughal officials) led to a
crisis in the functioning of the Jagirdari system. The crisis in the Jagirdari system led to the erosion of
the political structure of the empire.

Consequences of the Jagirdari Crisis

 Nobles tried to maximise their jagir income, often at the expense of peasants.
 They attempted to make jagirs hereditary.
 They took Khalisah (crown lands) to cover their expenses, worsening the government's financial crisis.
 They reduced military spending by not maintaining their full quota of troops and thus weakened the
Empire's armed forces.

Jagirdari System
• It is a system of giving land to the Mughal officers in lieu of cash payment.
• During the Mughals, the land was divided in two groups:
1. Khalisah (Crown’s land): The revenue from Khalisah land went to the state treasury.
14

2. Jagir: It was a piece of land assigned to mughal officials (Jagirdar). The revenue from Jagir went
to the Jagirdar for their services to the state.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Agrarian Crisis
• The revenue collection system developed by the Mughals was fundamentally flawed. It harmed the
peasants and destroyed the revenue-paying capacity of the region.
• Because nobles' jagirs could transfer frequently, nobles:

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 Didn't see the need for long-term agricultural planning.

 Aimed to extract as much as they could.
• Because of this, peasants had to protest against the exploitation. They did this in various ways.
 In many areas, the peasants left the land to avoid paying taxes.
 Sometimes, their discontent led to uprisings by groups like the Satnamies, Jats, and Sikhs. These
revolts weakened the stability and strength of the empire.

External Challenges
• A series of foreign invasions gave the final blow to the Mughal Empire. Attacks by Nadir Shah and
Ahmad Shah Abdali:
 Drained the wealth of the Empire.
 Ruined its trade and industry in the North.
 Destroyed its military power.

Emergence of British
• The emergence of the British challenge took away the last hope of the revival of the Mughal Empire.
The British who arrived in India had an advantage because they came from societies with more advanced
economic systems and greater progress in science and technology.

Different interpretations
• According to Irfan Habib, as pressure on limited resources increased, the agrarian system became
more exploitative. This led to peasant revolts that disrupted the stability of the empire.
• According to Satish Chandra, the crisis in Jagirdari system was the basic reason for the downfall of
Mughal Empire.
• The New Cambridge History of India disagrees with Habib's view. It sees the Mughal decline as a
result of the Mughal system's success, not its failure. It argues that the zamindars, who rebelled
against the Mughals and led to their downfall, were wealthy landowners, not poor farmers.
• After the collapse of the Mughal Empire, several independent states emerged in all parts of the Em-
pire. The Mughal Empire did not survive, but its institutions and traditions continued in the regional
states and British provinces.
15

[Mains Practice – Opinions Explored] According to you, which factor contributed the most to the
decline of the Mughals?
MIH-I – Pre-1857

1.5. Mughal Emperors and Important Wazirs

Mughal Emperors Wazirs

Aurangzeb (1658-1707) Asad Khan (1675-1707)
Bahadur Shah (1707-12) Munim Khan (1707-11)

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Jahandar Shah (1712-13) Zulfiqar Khan (1712-13)

Farrukhsiyar (1713-19) Abdullah Khan (1713-20)
Muhammad Shah (1719-48) Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah (1722-24)
Ahmad Shah (1748-54) Safdar Jang (1748-53)
Alamgir II (1754-59) Imad-ul-Mulk (1754-60)
Shah Alam II (1760-1806) Shuja-ud-Daula (1760-75)

Safdar Jang (1748-53)

• Safdar Jang was the second Nawab of Awadh and a major figure at the Mughal court during the
declining years of the Mughal Empire. He provided valuable assistance to the weakened Emperor Mu-
hammad Shah, who gave him the title of Safdar Jang.
• When Ahmad Shah Bahadur ascended the throne at Delhi in 1748, Safdar Jang became his Wazir-ul-
Malik-i-Hindustan. However, court politics eventually overtook him, and he was dismissed in 1753. He
died in October 1754 in Sultanpur near Faizabad.

Imad-ul-Mulk (1754-60)
• Imad-ul-Mulk, a grandson of Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I, was recommended by Nawab Safdar Jung to
be appointed as Mir Bakshi in 1752.
• Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur selected Imad-ul-Mulk to counter the influence of the powerful
Safdar Jang.
• With the help of Maratha, Imad-ul-Mulk emerged as the de facto ruler of Delhi. He had collected
1,500,000 dams but refused to pay salaries to the Mughal army and imperial officials, estranging him
from the emperor.
• Ahmad Shah Bahadur declared the reinstatement of Safdar Jang as his Grand Wazir and tried to
remove Imad-ul-Mulk from the imperial court. This caused Imad-ul-Mulk to fight against the Mughal
emperor.

Currency System

• The Mughal currency system may be termed as trimetallic. Coins were made up of three metals:
1. Silver (Rupaya): The silver coin was the base of the currency.
2. Gold (Muhr/Mohur): It was mainly used for hoarding and giving gifts.
16

3. Copper (Dam): The most common coin used for small transactions.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Imad-ul-Mulk vs Mughal Emperor

• With the help of Maratha, Imad-ul-Mulk defeated Ahmad Shah Bahadur's army at Sikandrabad in
May 1754 and captured members of the emperor's household, including 8,000 women. Ahmad Shah
Bahadur fled toward Delhi while the ailing Safdar Jang fled to Awadh.

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• Imad-ul-Mulk, with the support of Raghunath Rao, proceeded to Delhi, deposed Ahmad Shah Bahadur
on 2 June 1754 and was imprisoned at the Salimgarh Fort (Delhi) in December. Imad-ul-Mulk released
Prince Aziz-ud-Din from prison and crowned him emperor with the regnal name Alamgir II.

Afghan Invasion

• Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India in 1756 on the invitation of Mughlani Begum
(who ruled Punjab as regent of his infant son) to defeat Sikh rebels in Punjab. Durrani occupied Delhi
in January 1757 and imprisoned Emperor Alamgir II.
• In April 1757, Durrani reinstalled Alamgir II as the titular emperor and began his return to Afghanistan.
However, the actual control of Delhi was given to Najib-ud-Daula (Rohilla Chief), the Mir Bakshi of the
Mughal army who had defected to support Ahmad Shah's invasion.
• After the departure of the Afghans from Delhi, Imad-ul-Mulk, who had been paying the Marathas a
tribute, invited them to remove the Rohilas (the inhabitants of Rohilkhand) from Delhi. In the ensuing
Battle of Delhi, a 40,000-strong Maratha army led by Raghunath Rao expelled Najib-ud-Daulah.
• The Marathas, now the de facto rulers of Delhi, appointed Antaji Mankeshwar (Maratha Sardar) as the
governor and retained Alamgir II as the emperor.

1.6. Summary

• Babur, the first Mughal emperor, defeated Ibrahim Lodi (the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate) and
established Mughal rule in India in 1526. Successive rulers consolidated and expanded the empire.
• Aurangabad inherited a large empire but still followed a policy of expansion. Controlling a vast empire
from a single centre became a challenge, and the decline of the Mughal empire started during his
reign.
• Aurangzeb's successors were not able administrators and strong rulers. They could not hold the unity
of a vast empire, which ended in 1857.

Policies of Mughal Emperors

Ruler Religious Policy Policy with other Rulers Administration Finance

Aurangzeb Intolerance Non-conciliation Efficient Strong

(1658-1707)
17

Bahadur Shah Tolerance  Compromise & con- Deteriorated Worsened

MIH-I – Pre-1857

(1707-12) ciliation.
 Granted Sardeshmu-
khi to Marathas
Jahandar Tolerance  Conciliation Deteriorated Tried to improve
Shah by checking the

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(1712-13)  Granted Sardeshmu- expansion of ja-

khi and Chauth to gir.
Marathas.
Farrukh Siyar Tolerance  Conciliation Deteriorated Deteriorated
(1713-19)  Granted Sardeshmu-
khi and Chauth to
Marathas.
 Given Swarajya to
Marathas.

Foreign Invasions
• Nadir Shah, the Persian ruler, invaded India in 1738. In the Battle of Karnal in 1739, he defeated the
armies of the Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah. He looted Delhi and carried away the Koh-i-Noor
diamond and the Peacock Throne of Shahjahan. He also compelled Muhammad Shah to cede to him
all the empire’s provinces west of the river Indus.
• After the death of Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah Abdali (Durrani) established his rule over Afghanistan. He
invaded and plundered northern India eight times between 1748 and 1767. In 1761, he defeated the
Marathas in the third Battle of Panipat and thus gave a big blow to their ambition of ruling over the
entire country. However, he did not establish a new Afghan kingdom in India.
• After these invasions, the Mughal Empire practically ceased to exist as an all-India Empire. It only
remained as the Kingdom of Delhi.
• Many regional rulers took advantage of the collapse of the Mughal Empire and established their in-
dependent states in all parts of the Empire.

Causes of the Decline of the Mughal Empire

• The decline of the Mughal empire was a long, drawn-out process influenced by many factors. Some
of the factors are:

Strong Rule of Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb inherited a large empire, yet he adopted a policy of expansion. He did not accept Mara-
tha’s demand for regional autonomy, even when ruling the country under central political authority
18

was difficult. The administrative inconvenience encouraged local officials to defy central authority and
dream of independence. Aurangzeb's successors were not strong rulers to maintain the vast empire
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and suppress the challenges posed by regional rulers.

Wars of succession

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• Due to the absence of a fixed rule of succession, the Mughal dynasty faced a civil war after the death
of a king. This led to significant loss of life and property and caused the nobility to split into warring
factions.

Personalities of Later Mughals

• After Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperors were not very capable. They were more interested in luxury
and didn't have strong leadership qualities. As a result, they couldn't stop the gradual shifting of
political and economic authority into the hands of provincial governors.

Growing Selfishness of Nobles

• During the later Mughal period, the character of nobility declined. They became ease-loving and fond
of luxury.

Collapse of Administration and Finance

• During the eighteenth century, the empire experienced a reduction in its territorial boundaries and
witnessed the collapse of its administrative structure. Corruption and bribery, indiscipline and ineffi-
ciency, disobedience and disloyalty prevailed on a large scale among officials at all levels. Unruly
zamindars openly defied central authority.

Jagirdari Crisis

• Aurangzeb expanded the empire in Deccan. This led to a sudden increase in nobles (Jagirdars). This
increase in the number of jagirdars and shortage of jagir led to a crisis in the functioning of the
Jagirdari system. The crisis in the Jagirdari system led to the erosion of the empire's political structure.

Agrarian Crisis

• The revenue collection system developed by the Mughals was fundamentally flawed. It harmed the
peasants and destroyed the revenue-paying capacity of the region. The peasants protested against
their exploitation, which weakened the stability and strength of the empire.

External Challenges

• A series of foreign invasions gave the final blow to the Mughal Empire. Attacks by Nadir Shah and
Ahmad Shah Abdali drained the wealth of the Empire and destroyed its military power. 19

Emergence of British

• The emergence of the British challenge took away the last hope of the revival of the Mughal Empire.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

The British who arrived in India had an advantage because they came from societies with more ad-
vanced economic systems and greater progress in science and technology.

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

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2. Rise and Fall of Regional Powers

• With the decline of the Mughal Empire during the first half of the 18th century, many independent
and semi-independent states emerged, such as Bengal, Avadh, Hyderabad, Mysore, and Maratha. In the
second half of the 18th century, these states challenged British rule in India.
• These newly emerged states can be classified into three broad categories:
1. Successor States: The states which broke away from the Mughal Empire.
2. New States (Insurgent States): The new states set up by the rebels against the Mughals.
3. Independent Kingdoms: These states emerged by taking advantage of the destabilisation of im-
perial control over the provinces.
 The rise of independent states (regional powers) was one of the dominant characteristics of the 18th
century Indian polity.

2.1. Characteristics of Regional Powers

Nature of Regional Polities

1. Nominal supremacy of the Mughal Emperor:
 After the Battle of Panipat, the Mughal Empire had largely lost its practical authority and influ-
21

ence, existing primarily as a symbolic entity. Despite its diminished power, the Mughal Emperor still
held considerable prestige as the 'king of kings'.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Regional rulers continued to seek the emperor's approval when they wished to acquire territory,
ascend to a throne, or establish an empire. They tried to legitimise their position by acknowledging
the nominal supremacy of the Mughal Emperor.
2. Continuity of Mughal Traditions:

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 Each state reorganised its administrative set-up. However, nearly all adopted the Mughal admin-
istration (especially land revenue practices). It was natural for the successor states to continue
the old Mughal practice. Other states copied the Mughal administration methods.
3. These states established law and order and viable economic and administrative structures.
4. The politics of these states were non-communal or secular.
5. These states prevented the breakdown of internal trade and even promoted foreign trade.

22
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Weaknesses of Regional Polities

1. Regional Character:

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 During the 18th century, though some Mughal institutions had continuity, the Mughal political sys-
tem did not survive.
 These states were regional in character and function. They were strong enough to destroy Mughal
power, but none could replace the Mughals with a political system at the all-India level.
2. Constant Wars:
 The regional powers constantly fought with neighbouring states. For example, the Marathas,
ruler of Mysore, and Nizam fought against each other. Disunity among the regional powers paved
the way for the British to establish dominance over India.
3. Decentralised Political Authority:
 Many of these states have decentralised political authority, where chiefs, Jagirdars, and Zamin-
dars have gained economic and political influence. The provincial rulers had to manage various
local interests to maintain themselves.
 There were exceptions; for instance, in Mysore, rulers did not recognise the local chieftains.
4. Jagirdari Crisis:
 As income from agriculture declined and the number of jagirdars multiplied:
 The Jagirdari crisis intensified.
 The condition of the peasantry continued to deteriorate.
5. The regional states could not stop the economic crisis and failed to develop a system based on sound
financial, administrative, and military organisation.
6. They were backwards in science and technology and did nothing to modernise the basic industrial and
commercial structure of their states.

2.2. Successor states

• Successor states of the Mughal Empire, including Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal, were once directly
under the control of the Mughal administration. However, with the decline of the Mughal Empire,
these states broke away from it.
• By the late 17th and early 18th century:
 The governors of the various Mughal provinces asserted their independence and established inde-
pendent states.
 The governors attempted to establish their own dynastic rules.
23

 The relationship between the central authority (Mughal) and the provincial administration was
reduced to collecting tribute from the provincial governor.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Successor states were characterised by two phases:

1. Autonomy: Transition from Mughal Subahs (provinces) into autonomous states.
2. Subjugation: Subordination to the British imperial system.

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Mughal Provinces
• As the vast Mughal Empire was difficult to rule from Delhi, Akbar divided the Mughal Empire into
several provinces called Subahs during his administrative reform.
• The emperor appointed a governor for each Subah to administer the region, and these governors
were called "Subahdars." Thus, the emperor indirectly controlled the provincial administration by
controlling appointments.
• There were 22 Subahs during Aurangzeb's rule. Some important Subahs include:
 Golkonda (Hyderabad)
 Carnatic
 Bengal
 Avadh
24

The Mughal provincial administration

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Mughal Provincial administration had two main heads:

1. Nizamat: Administration of law and order and criminal justice.
 The provincial Subadar (governor) was responsible for Nizamat function and was referred
to as the Nazim.

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2. Diwani: Revenue administration.

 The Diwan was the head of revenue administration in the province.
 Diwan was also appointed by the Mughal emperor to keep control over Nazim (provincial
governor).

Imperial control over the provinces

• There were two important forms of imperial control over the province:
1. Appointment of higher provincial officials by the emperor: The emperor appointed the higher
officials of provinces, such as Diwan and Nazim. Through these appointments, they maintained
their control over provinces.
2. Payment of annual tribute to the emperor: Provincial governors regularly paid tributes to
the emperor.

System of Checks and Balances

• Diwan was appointed in the provinces mainly to keep control over the governor of the provinces.
• During the 18th century, the governors attempted to abolish the separate office of Diwan, indicating
the creation of an independent state.

Hyderabad
Important Nizams of Hyderabad (1724-1948)
Nizams Rule Significant Events
Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I 1724-48 Establishment of Hyderabad State
Nasir Jung 1748-50
Muzaffar Jung 1750-51
Salabat Jung 1751-62
Osman Ali Khan 1911-48 Last Nizam of Hyderabad
• The state of Hyderabad was founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah in 1724.

Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf (1724-48)

• Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah was one of the leading nobles of the post-Aurangzeb era. He assisted Moham-
med Shah in removing the Saiyid brothers, and as a reward, he was appointed as the Subadar (gover-
25

nor) of the Deccan region.

From 1720 to 1722, he consolidated his hold over the Deccan by:
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
 Suppressing all opposition to his viceroy role
 Organising the administration efficiently

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• Nizam-ul-Mulk became the Wazir of the Mughal Empire in 1722 and vigorously attempted to reform
the administration. Muhammad Shah consistently obstructed his efforts. So, he returned to the Deccan
to maintain his supremacy and in 1724, he founded the Hyderabad State.
• Nizam never openly declared his independence from the Central Government, but in practice, he acted
like an independent ruler. He:
 Followed a tolerant policy towards the Hindus.
 Controlled the zamindars.
 Reformed the revenue system.
 Established an orderly administration.
• Nizam’s death in 1748 marked the end of a remarkable first chapter in Hyderabad's history.
• Nizam’s successors faced tough challenges from the Marathas and the European Companies and failed
to maintain the state’s autonomy for long. His son, Nasir Jang, and grandson, Muzaffar Jang, entered
a war of succession. This made Hyderabad vulnerable to attacks from Maratha and, later, foreign com-
panies.
• The French under Dupleix (French governor in India) used this opportunity to fight one group against
another. Dupleix supported Muzaffar Jang, who gave them handsome monetary and territorial re-
wards.

Carnatic
Important Nawabs of Carnatic (Arcot)
Appointed by the Mughal Emperor

Nawabs Rule
Zulfiqar Khan 1692-1703
Daud Khan Panni 1703-1710
Saadatullah khan 1710-1732

Independent Nawabs

Nawabs Rule
Saadatullah khan 1710-1732
Dost Ali Khan 1732-1740
26

Anwar-ud-din Khan 1744-1749

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Nawabs under European Influence

Nawabs Rule
Chanda Sahib 1749-1752
Muhammad Ali Khan 1752-1795

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Umdat-ul-Umara 1795-1801

Nawabs as British Protectorate

Nawabs Rule
Azim-ud-Daula 1801-19
Azam Jah 1819-25
Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan 1825-55
• The Carnatic was a part of the Mughal Deccan and came under the authority of the Nizam of Hyder-
abad. Over time, the Nawab of Carnatic (Deputy Governor of Carnatic) became independent of the
Nizam and made his office hereditary.
 Nawab Saadatullah Khan made his nephew Dost Ali his successor without the approval of the Nizam.
• After 1740, the affairs of the Carnatic deteriorated because of the repeated struggles for its Nawab-
ship. This allowed the European trading companies to interfere in Indian politics directly.
• Chanda Sahib, the son-in-law of Dost Ali Khan, conspired against Nawab Anwar-ud-din. Chanda Sa-
hib secretly concluded a treaty with the Dupleix, who defeated and killed Anwar-ud-din in a battle at
Ambur.
• After the death of Anwar-ud-din, a power struggle arose between Chanda Sahib and Muhammad Ali,
the son of Anwar-ud-din.
 In 1749, Chanda Sahib was appointed as the Nawab of Carnatic with the support of the French.
 Later, in 1752, Muhammad Ali became the Nawab of Carnatic after receiving assistance from the
British.

Muhammad Ali Khan (1752-95)

• Muhammad Ali was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1752 until he died in 1795. He was an ally of
the British EIC. During his rule, the Carnatic region saw stronger ties with the British. This also limited
French Influence in the region.
• Muhammad Ali constructed Chepauk Palace in 1768 and moved the capital from Arcot to Chepauk (a
locality in Chennai).

Umdat ul-Umara (1795-1801)

• Umdat-ul-Umara was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1795 to 1801. Many members of the EIC be-
27

lieved that he had secretly helped Tipu Sultan (ruler of Mysore) during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore
War.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• On the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the British demanded the entire administration of the kingdom as
indemnity, but he resisted the demand.

Azim-ud-Daula (1801-1819)
• After the death of Umdat ul-Umara, Azim-ud-Daula became the Nawab.

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• When Azim-ud-Daula ascended the throne on 31 July 1801, Lord Wellesley compelled him to sign a
Carnatic Treaty. Accordingly, the entire military and civil administration of the Carnatic came under
the British.
• Based on the terms of the Carnatic treaty, the Nawab of Arcot ceded all his lands to British rule and,
in return, was entitled to one-fifth of the revenues of the state. The treaty reduced the Nawab to a
mere titular ruler.

Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan (1825-55)

• Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan was the last Nawab of the Carnatic, who ruled from 1825 to 1855.
He died in 1855 without any male heir (son). The British used this opportunity and annexed the Carnatic
by applying the doctrine of lapse.
 The doctrine of lapse was a policy devised by the British to annex Indian states. Under this policy,
if the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir (son), their kingdom would become part
of the company’s territory.

Awadh
Important Nawabs of Awadh
Nawabs Rule Important Events
Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk 1722-39 Establishment of Awadh
Safdar Jang 1739-54 Agreement with Peshwa
Shuja-ud-Daula 1754-75 Battle of Buxar
Saadat Ali Khan II 1798-1814 Subsidiary Alliance Treaty (1801)
Wajid Ali Shah 1847-56 Annexation of Awadh

Saadat Khan (1722-39)

• Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk was appointed Governor (Subahdar) of Avadh in 1722. He established
the autonomous kingdom of Avadh.
• Saadat Khan suppressed the lawlessness and rebellious zamindars and increased the financial re-
sources of his government. His administration was efficient. His troops were well-paid, well-armed, and
well-trained.
28

• Saadat Khan carried out a fresh revenue settlement in 1723. He improved the condition of peasants
by:
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Levying equitable land revenue.

 Protecting peasants from oppressive zamindars.
• Before Saadat Khan died in 1739, he had become virtually independent and had made the province a
hereditary possession. After his death, he was succeeded by his nephew, Safdar Jang.

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Safdar Jang (1739-54)

• Safdar Jang was appointed as Nawab of Avadh in 1739. He suppressed rebellious zamindars and made
an alliance with the Maratha sardars so that his dominion was saved from their incursions. Thus, he
gave a long period of peace to the people of Avadh and Allahabad.
• Safdar Jang expanded his rule to the Gangetic plains by capturing the forts of Rohtas and Chunar, along
with the Subadari of Allahabad.
• Between 1739 and 1764, Awadh reached its peak prosperity and enjoyed the greatest autonomy.

Wazir of the Mughal Empire (1748-53)

• Safdar Jang was simultaneously appointed the Wazir of the Empire in 1748 and was granted the
province of Allahabad. As a wazir of the Empire, he made an agreement with the Peshwa in 1752 by
which:
 The Peshwa would help the Mughal Empire against Ahmad Shah Abdali and protect it from rebel
groups like the Indian Pathans and Rajput Rajas.
 In return, the Peshwa was supposed to get:
 Fifty lakh rupees
 Right to collect the Chauth of the Punjab, Sindh, Multan, Rajputana and Rohilkhand.
 Governorship of Ajmer and Agra.
• Unfortunately, the agreement failed because the Peshwa switched sides to support Safdar Jang's ene-
mies in Delhi.

Shuja-ud-Daula
• After the death of Safdar Jang in 1753, his son, Shuja-ud-Daula, was appointed Nawab of Awadh. He
was also appointed as Wazir of the Mughal Empire in 1760.

Battle of Panipat

• In the Battle of Panipat in 1761, Shuja-ud-Daula supported Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan leader,
and helped to prevent the Maratha threat from spreading into northern India.

Battle of Buxar

• Shuja-ud-Daula was defeated by the English EIC in 1764 in the Battle of Buxar. This forced him to sign
29

a defence alliance, which made him dependent on English EIC.

Wajid Ali Shah (1847-56)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Wajid Ali Shah was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, ruling from 1847 to 1856.
• The British annexed Awadh in 1856, claiming to free the people from the "misgovernment" of the
Nawab.

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Lucknow Culture
• The prolonged peace and economic prosperity of the nobles under the Nawabs resulted in the
growth of a distinct Lucknow culture around the Avadh court.
• Lucknow rivalled Delhi in its patronage of arts and literature and developed as an important centre
of handicrafts.

Prosperity of Awadh
• The emergence of Awadh as a regional political system was influenced by both economic and ge-
ographic factors.
 Economically, Awadh prospered in the 18th century due to trade and agriculture.
 Geographically, Awadh was strategically located between the north bank of the Ganges and the
Himalayan mountains, with added importance due to its proximity to the imperial power cen-
tre of Delhi.

[UPSC Prelims 2008] The ruler of which one of the following states was removed from
power by the British on the pretext of misgovernance?
(a) Awadh
(b) Jhansi
(c) French
(d) Satara

Bengal
Important Nawabs of Bengal
Nawabs of Bengal Rule Important Events
Murshid Quli Khan 1717-27 Granted agricultural loans (taccavi) to the poor
cultivators.
Sarfaraz khan 1727 (for few days)
Shuja-ud-din 1727-39
Sarfaraz khan 1739-40 (second time)
Alivardi Khan 1740-56 Peace agreement with Maratha.
30

Ceded Orissa to Maratha.

Siraj-ud-Daulah 1756-57 Lost the Battle of Plassey
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Mir Jafar 1757-60 Granted EIC the right to free trade in Bengal, Bi-
har, and Orissa.
Mir Qasim 1760-63 Battle of Buxar
Mir Jafar 1763-65 (second time)

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Nizam-ud-Daulah 1765-66 Signed a treaty with the British

Murshid Quli Khan

• Murshid Quli Khan was appointed Diwan of Bengal in 1700 and became Governor of Bengal in 1717.
He soon freed himself from central control, though he sent regular tributes to the emperor.
• Murshid Quli Khan was the last governor of Bengal, directly appointed by the emperor. He established
the dynastic rule in Bengal and nominated his daughter's son, Sarfaraz, as his successor.

Measures taken by Murshid Quli to Increase the Resources of the Bengal Government

1. Murshid Quli Khan reorganised the finances of Bengal by:

 Transferring large parts of jagir lands into khalisah lands (Land owned by the king).
 Introducing the system of revenue farming, which increased economic pressure on the peasants.
2. He granted agricultural loans (taccavi) to the poor cultivators to relieve their distress and enable them
to pay land revenue in time.
3. He expelled rebellious zamindars and encouraged the big zamindars who assumed the responsibilities
of revenue collection.

Shuja-ud-din
• Sarfaraz, who was nominated by Murshid Quli as his successor, was deposed by his father Shuja-ud-din
Muhammad Khan.
• Shuja-ud-din managed the affairs of the provincial government in his own way but sent regular tribute
to the Mughal Court.

Alivardi Khan
• In 1740, Alivardi Khan killed the Sarfaraz Khan, the legitimate successor of Shuja-ud-din, and seized
power.
• Two important changes during Alivardi’s rule showed the virtual end of relations between the Mughal
authority and the Bengal government.
1. Alivardi made the major appointments in the provincial administration without any reference to
the Mughal emperor.
2. There was an abrupt end in the flow of regular tribute to Delhi.
31

Alivardi Khan vs Maratha

• From 1742 to 1751, Alivardi faced a strong external threat from the Marathas, who attacked Bengal
MIH-I – Pre-1857

three to four times.

• In 1751, Alivardi decided to make peace with the Marathas. As a part of the peace agreement:
 Alivardi agreed to pay 12 lakhs rupees to Maratha instead of the Chauth of Bengal and Bihar.

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 Orissa was given to the Marathas on the condition that they would not invade Alivardi's territory
again.

Bengal under Independent Rulers

• Murshid Quli Khan, Shuja-ud-din, and Alivardi Khan made Bengal virtually independent. Under the
rule of these rulers, Bengal made unprecedented progress. These three Nawabs:
 Gave Bengal a long period of peace and orderly administration.
 Gave equal opportunities for employment to Hindus and Muslims.
 Promoted trade and industry.
 Did not permit the English and the French to fortify their factories in Calcutta and Chandernagore.
 Upheld the sovereignty of the ruler despite the British EIC’s threats to use force to achieve their
goals.
 Maintained strict control over foreign trading companies and their servants. Compelled the serv-
ants of the English EIC to obey the laws of the land and to pay the same customs duties as were
being paid by other merchants.

Short-sightedness of Nawabs of Bengal

1. The Nawabs of Bengal didn't effectively counter the growing use of military force or threats by the
English EIC for their demands.
2. The Nawabs of Bengal neglected to build a strong army and paid a heavy price.
 Alivardi Khan was constantly troubled by the repeated invasions of the Marathas (Balaji Baji Rao),
and in 1751, he had to cede a large part of Orissa to them.
 The absence of a strong army contributed to the defeat of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey.

2.3. New States (Insurgent States)

• The states such as Maratha, Afghan, Jat, and Punjab were the product of rebellion against Mughal
authority. Maratha, Afghan, and Jat states began as a popular movement of peasant insurgency.

Rise and Fall of the Maratha Power

• The most important challenge to the decaying Mughal power came from the Maratha Kingdom. It
alone possessed the strength to fill the political vacuum created by the disintegration of the Mughal
32

Empire.
• However, the Maratha sardars lacked unity, outlook, and programme, which were necessary for founding
MIH-I – Pre-1857

an all-India empire. So, they failed to replace the Mughals.

• The rise of the Marathas was both:
 A regional reaction against Mughal centralisation.

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 A manifestation of the upward mobility of certain classes and castes (peasant castes wanted to
achieve Kshatriya status).
• During the rule of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, the Maratha state became a dominant expansionist state.
• During the rule of Balaji Bajirao, the Maratha power reached its zenith:
 The Marathas spread everywhere: South, East, North and Central India.
 No part of India escaped from their attacks and disruptions.
• The defeat in the third battle of Panipat in 1761 was a major setback for the Marathas. It ended the
Marathas' ambition of replacing the Mughals as the imperial power.
• After 1761, Madhav Rao recovered the lost territories and acquired new ones. However, the early
demise of the Madhav Rao in 1772 finally ended the dream of the Maratha to replace the Mughals.

33
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Period of Peshwa Domination

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• Shahu Maharaj (grandson of Shivaji) had been held as a prisoner by Aurangzeb since 1689. He was
released in 1707 following Aurangzeb's death. Shortly after, a civil war broke out between Shahu (Sa-
tara) and his aunt Tara Bai (Kolhapur).
• Balaji Vishwanath (assistant of Shahu) convinced many Sardars that Shahu Maharaj was the real heir
of the Maratha empire and made them join hands with him. Because of the loyal and useful service
provided by Balaji Vishwanath in suppressing Shahu’s enemies, King Shahu appointed Balaji
Vishwanath his Peshwa (Mukhya Pradhan/Chief Minister).
• Initially, the post of Peshwa was not hereditary. When Baji Rao, Balaji Vishwanath's son, became
Peshwa in 1720, the office became hereditary.
• Till Shahu's death in 1749, Peshwa was still under the control of the King. Thereafter, Peshwa virtually
dislodged the King from sovereign power.

Balaji Vishwanath (1713-20)

• In 1713, Shahu made Balaji Vishwanath his Peshwa. Balaji Vishwanath and his son, Baji Rao I, made
Peshwa the de facto ruler of the Maratha Empire.
• Balaji Vishwanath took full advantage of the internal conflicts of the Mughal officials to increase Ma-
ratha’s power.
 He convinced Zulfiqar Khan to pay the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the Deccan.
 He signed a pact with the Saiyid brothers, who gave him:
 The Swarajya (All the territories that were once part of Shivaji's kingdom).
 Right to collect the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the six provinces of the Deccan.
 He helped the Saiyid brothers in overthrowing Farrukh Siyar.

Assignment of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi

• For the efficient collection of the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the Deccan, Balaji Vishwanath
assigned separate areas to Maratha sardars.
• Balaji Vishwanath made a division of the collection of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi between Shahu
(King / Raja) and his sardars. Out of these collections a fixed share was to be paid to the Raja (Sar-
deshmukhi + 34% of Chauth). Thus the Raja became largely dependent on his sardars for his fi-
nances.
This system of assignment of the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi enabled the Peshwa:
34

•
 To increase his personal power through patronage.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 To conquer the areas outside their original kingdom by sardars with their own private armies.
• In the long run, this system of assigning Chauth and Sardeshmukhi was a major source of weakness
to the Maratha Empire. Because:
 Maratha sardars kept the greater part of the collection for their expenses.

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 Maratha sardars gradually became strong, autonomous, and jealous of central power. If the cen-
tral authority tried to control them too strictly, they were willing to join hands with enemies.

Baji Rao I (1720-40)

• Balaji Vishwanath died in 1720. He was succeeded by his 20-year-old son, Baji Rao I as Peshwa.
• Baji Rao is considered the greatest of all the Peshwas and “the greatest exponent of guerrilla tactics
after Shivaji".

Campaigns of Baji Rao

• Baji Rao waged numerous campaigns against the Mughal Empire.
• Nizam: Baji Rao met Nizam on the battlefield twice, and he defeated the Nizam both times.
1. Nizam’s defeat at Palkhed (1728): Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar granted the Maratha the right
to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi. Nizam was against it. After defeating the Nizam at Palkhed
near Aurangabad in 1728, the Marathas were granted the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the Deccan
provinces.
2. Battle of Bhopal (1737): Maratha defeated the Mughal forces led by Nizam and got the territory
of Malwa.
• Portuguese: Chimaji Appa (brother of Bajirao) defeated the Portuguese and captured Bassein and
Salsette (the areas around Mumbai).
• By 1740, when Baji Rao died, the Maratha had won control over Malwa, Gujarat and parts of Bundel-
khand. He turned the Maratha state from the Kingdom of Maharashtra into a Maratha empire stretch-
ing north in just twenty years.
• However, Baji Rao failed to lay a firm foundation for an empire. New territories were conquered and
occupied; however, little attention was paid to their administration.
• Unfortunately, Baji Rao was involved in conflict with the Nizam-ul-Mulk. An alliance would have bene-
fited both. British used the rivalry between these two leaders to their advantage.
 Learning from the mistakes of Balaji Vishwanath, Baji Rao himself led military campaigns.
 The Maratha families of Gaekwad, Holkar, Sindhia (Scindia), and Bhonsle became prominent during
the period of Baji Rao.

Balaji Baji Rao (1740-61)

35

• Balaji Baji Rao (Nana Saheb) was the Peshwa from 1740 to 1761.
• King Shahu died in 1749 and, by his will, left all management of state affairs in the Peshwa’s hands. Now,
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Peshwa has become the official head of the administration and has shifted the government to Poona,
his headquarters.

Campaigns of Balaji Baji Rao

• Balaji Baji Rao extended the Empire in different directions, taking Maratha’s power to its height.

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• East: Bengal was repeatedly invaded, and in 1751, the Alivardi Khan ceded Orissa to Maratha.
• South: The state of Mysore and other minor states were forced to pay tribute. In 1760, the Nizam of
Hyderabad was defeated at Udgir and was compelled to cede vast territories that yield an annual rev-
enue of Rs. 62 lakhs.
• North: After Nadir Shah invaded Delhi, there was a period of instability. The Marathas saw this as an
opportunity to gain power and influence, and they soon became the dominant force behind the
Mughal throne.
 In 1752, they helped Imad-ul-Mulk become the wazir, who became a puppet in their hands. For
all practical purposes, the Marathas were the rulers.

Conflict with Afghans and Mughals

• India's riches attracted Ahmad Shah Abdali, who invaded and plundered northern India several
times between 1748 and 1767. He invaded the Punjab in 1751. The Mughals tried to buy peace in
1751-52 by ceding Punjab to him.
• The Mughals faced a huge threat from Abdali's invasion. They sought protection from the Maratha,
as no other power was strong enough to defend Delhi.
• In April 1752, the Emperor of India entered into a treaty with the Marathas, according to which:
 The Marathas agreed to protect the Mughal power from enemies like the Rohillas, the Jats,
the Rajputs, and the Afghans.
 In return, the Peshwa was supposed to get:
 Fifty lakh rupees
 Right to collect the Chauth of the Punjab, Sindh, Multan, Rajputana and Rohilkhand.
 Governorship of Ajmer and Agra.
• Raghunath Rao, brother of the Peshwa Nana Saheb, undertook the campaign of North India to
combat Abdali. In 1758, He expelled Najib-ud-Daulah from Delhi and captured Punjab.
• Najib-ud-Daulah, a Rohilla chief, requested Abdali to invade India due to his inability to tolerate
Maratha supremacy in the North.

Third Battle of Panipat

• In 1759, Ahmad Shah Abdali again marched into India to settle accounts with the Maratha power.
He formed an alliance with Najib-ud-Daulah of Rohilkhand and Shuja-ud-Daulah of Avadh, both of
36

whom had suffered at the hands of the Maratha sardars.

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Peshwa dispatched a powerful army to the north under Sadashiv Rao Bhau (cousin brother of
Peshwa) and Vishwas Rao (son of Peshwa), the nominal commander.
• The Marathas tried to find allies among the northern powers, but nobody helped them. So, they had
to fight their enemies alone, with only limited help from Imad-ul-Mulk.
• Most rulers didn’t support the Maratha, and some even joined with Abdali. This was because:

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 In the process of conquering and administering the area of the empire, the Marathas acquired
many enemies.
 The Jat and Rajput chiefs were completely alienated by their conquests.
 The Mughal nobles (except Imad-ul-Mulk) were defeated by them in the power game.
 The local rulers in the north saw the Marathas from the South as their competitors.
 The local rulers did not like the Maratha supremacy and interventions in the Delhi court.
• The forces of the Maratha and Abdali met at Panipat on 14 January 1761. Nearly 28,000 soldiers died,
including Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bhau.
• The Maratha defeat at Panipat was a disaster for them because:
 They lost the cream of their army.
 Their political prestige suffered a big blow.
 It allowed the English EIC to consolidate its power.
• After losing the third Battle of Panipat, the Marathas' dream of ruling the entire country was shat-
tered. The Afghans also didn’t benefit from their win. It was not easy for Abdali to rule Delhi, and he
soon returned home.
• The Maratha opposition was so fierce that neither Abdali nor his successors ever returned to India.
They could not even hold the Punjab. In fact, the Third Battle of Panipat did not decide who was to
rule India but who was not.
• The Peshwa, Balaji Baji Rao, marching north to help Sadashiv Rao Bhau, was stunned by the tragic
news of the defeat. He did not survive for long and died in June 1761.

The Broad Perspective of Marathas

• The Marathas fought at Panipat with the broad perspective that India is for Indians. They believed
an outsider like Abdali had no moral right to rule over India.
• Sadashiv Rao Bhau tried to explain to northern rulers that the Marathas were all native to the land
while Abdali was an enemy from a foreign country. However, the rulers in the North did not re-
spond positively to his message and maintained a neutral stance. As a result, the Marathas had to
bear the responsibility of protecting India.

[Mains Practice – Opinions Explored] Do you think the Marathas could have replaced the
Mughals as an all-India empire if they had not been defeated in the Third Battle of Panipat?
37

Shaping Destiny: The Role of Panipat in Empire-Shaking Conflicts

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Panipat is a historic city in Haryana. It is 90 km north of Delhi. The town witnessed three decisive
battles in Indian history in 1526, 1556, and 1761. These battles were fought at Panipat due to the
following factors:

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 Invasion Routes: The northwest region, including modern-day Afghanistan, was often a starting
point for invasions. Invaders had difficulty fighting in the deserts of Rajasthan or forested areas of
north India. Hence, the flat terrain of Panipat, which lay along invasion routes, served as a natural
battleground.
 Proximity to Delhi: Panipat is close to Delhi, which is historically a significant political and cultural
centre. This proximity made it easy for the ruler of Delhi to get weapons, military aid and food
supplies.
 Military Considerations: The flat terrain around Panipat provided an ideal battlefield for large-
scale cavalry warfare, a dominant feature of military strategies in the region during those times.
 Agricultural Richness: The fertile plains around Panipat are conducive to agriculture, providing
resources for sustaining armies. The control of this region was crucial for the economic sustenance
of any power in northern India.
Battles Year Participants Result Significance
First Battle of 1526 Babur (Timurid ruler) Babur defeated Establishment of the
Panipat and Ibrahim Lodhi (Sul- Ibrahim Mughal Empire
tan of Delhi).
Second Battle of 1556 Akbar and Samrat Hem Akbar defeated Continuation of the Mughal
Panipat Chandra Vikramaditya the king Hemu Empire
(Hemu)
Third Battle of 1761 Ahmad Shah Abdali Abdali defeated Ended the Marathas' dream
Panipat (Afghan invader) and the Marathas of ruling the entire country.
Sadashiv Rao Bhau (the Created an opportunity for
Marathas) the British conquest of In-
dia.

Madhav Rao (1761-72)

• The 17-year-old Madhav Rao became the Peshwa in 1761. Within a short period of eleven years, he
restored the lost fortunes of the Maratha Empire.
• Madhav Rao defeated the Nizam, made successful expeditions against Haidar Ali in 1764-65 and
1769-72, compelled him to pay tribute, and reasserted control over North India.
38

• During the rule of the Madhav Rao, Marathas returned Emperor Shah Alam to Delhi under their own
protection. Thus, it seemed like the Maratha had regained power in the northern region.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Power struggle
• Madhav Rao died of consumption in 1772. After his death, there was a struggle for power between
Raghunath Rao (the younger brother of Balaji Baji Rao) and Narayan Rao (the younger brother of
Madhav Rao). Narayan Rao succeeded to the throne.

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• Narayan Rao was killed in 1773. He was succeeded by his posthumous son, Sawai Madhav Rao
(Madhav Rao II). During the rule of Sawai Madhav Rao, the administration was in the hands of Nana
Phadnis (Phadanavis).

Nana Phadanvis
• He was a well-known administrator of the Peshwas. He restored the state affairs of the state with the
assistance of Mahadji (Maratha Sardar).
• Frustrated, Raghunath Rao approached the British and tried to capture power with their help. This
resulted in the First Anglo-Maratha War. Power struggles within the Marathas:
 Led to their defeat by the British.
 Weakened the authority of the Peshwa.

[UPSC Mains 2014] The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many
empire-shaking battles fought at Panipat? (2014)

Sawai Madhav Rao (1774-95)

• Peshwa Madhava Rao died in 1772. He was succeeded by his brother Narayana Rao. Raghunath Rao
killed the Narayan Rao and became the Peshwa.
• In the meantime, the widow of the late Narayana Rao gave birth to a male child. The child, Sawai
Madhav Rao, was supported by the Maratha chiefs and became the Peshwa.
• During the rule of Sawai Madhav Rao, the administration was in the hands of Nana Phadnis (Phada-
navis).

Battle of Kharda (1795)

• In the Battle of Kharda in 1795, the combined Maratha forces of Peshwa, Sindhia, Holkar, Bhosale,
and Gaikwad defeated the Nizam. This was the last occasion when all Maratha Chiefs acted in concert
under the authority of Peshwa.
• The Nizam took refuge in the Kharda fort but surrendered after two days of cannon fire. Nizam was
forced to sign a treaty giving up vast territories, including the fortress of Daulatabad.
 Governor-General John Shore followed a policy of non-intervention in the Battle of Kharda despite
having Nizam under his protection.
39

• The Nizam was so afraid of the Maratha that on 1 September 1798, Nizam of Hyderabad, Nizam Ali
Khan (Asaf Jah II), accepted the Subsidiary Alliance of the British in Hyderabad.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Semi-independent Maratha Houses

• The big Maratha sardars took advantage of weakened central authority and carved out semi-inde-
pendent states in the North. The most important were:
 Gaekwad at Baroda

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 Bhonsle at Nagpur
 Holkar at Indore
 Sindhia at Gwalior
• The Maratha Sardars established regular administration on the pattern of Mughal administration
and possessed their separate army. Their loyalty to the Peshwas became symbolic, and they started
plotting with the enemies of the Maratha Empire.

Mahadji Sindhia

• Mahadji Sindhia was a prominent Maratha ruler (Sardar) in the North. He escorted the Shah Alam
from Allahabad Fort and was a mediator in the Treaty of Salbai.
• Mahadji Sindhia organised a powerful army with the help of French officers and established control
over Emperor Shah Alam. In 1784, emperor gave him the management of Delhi and Agra in return
of monthly allowance.
• Mahadji Sindhia became the de facto ruler of Hindustan by securing the appointment of the Peshwa
as the Emperor’s Deputy (Naib-i-Munaib) from Shah Alam, with the condition that Mahadji would
act on behalf of the Peshwa.

Restoration of Power
• The Marathas overcame the great defeat at Panipat and successfully revived their supremacy in the
politics of the North. While Mahadji (Sardar) was busy restoring the Maratha supremacy in the North,
Nana managed the affairs of the South.
• After the death of Mahadji Shinde (1794) and Nana Phadanavis (1800), the Maratha power began to
decline.

Baji Rao II (1795-1818)

• Sawai Madhav Rao died in 1795 and was succeeded by the worthless Baji Rao II, son of Raghunath
Rao.
• Baji Rao II lacked leadership qualities and had many vices. He could not unite the Maratha Sardars,
and their internal strife weakened their power.
• During the reign of Baji Rao II, the Maratha's influence both in the North and South gradually dimin-
ished, ultimately leading to their replacement by the British.
40

End of Maratha Rule

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The British divided the Maratha sardars through clever diplomacy and defeated the Maratha sardars in
separate battles during the second (1803-1805) and third Maratha wars (1817- 1819).
• While other Maratha states were permitted to remain subsidiary states, the house of the Peshwas was
extinguished. Thus, the Maratha dream of controlling the Mughal Empire and establishing their own
Empire over large parts of the country could not be realised.

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Reasons for the end of Maratha rule

1. The Maratha Empire had the same weaknesses as the Mughal Empire. The Maratha Sardars:
 Didn’t try to develop a new economy.
 Didn’t take much interest in trade and industry.
 Failed to encourage science and technology.
 Were mainly interested in raising revenue from the helpless peasantry.
2. They lost nearly all their wise and experienced leaders towards the end of the eighteenth century.
 Mahadji Sindhia and Nana Phadnis died in 1794 and 1800, respectively. These were the last great
soldiers and statesmen who had raised the Maratha power to its height in the eighteenth century.
3. They failed to provide good administration to areas beyond Maharashtra.

The Sikhs
• The disintegration of the Mughal Empire in the first half of the 18th century was followed by the
establishment of independent political authority in various provinces.
• In Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad, the provincial governors successfully carried out their independent
dominions. However, the development in Punjab was different.
• In Punjab, it was not the Mughal provincial governor but a group of the local people, the Sikhs, es-
tablished an independent political authority in the province.

Emergence of the Sikh State

• Baba Guru Nanak founded the religion of Sikhism in the late 15th century. Under the leadership of
Guru Gobind Singh, they became a political and military force.

Baba Guru Nanak (1469-1539)

• Baba Guru Nanak was born in Talwandi (Nankana Sahib in Pakistan). He founded Sikhism and was
the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
• Guru Nanak didn't mean to start a new religion. However, his followers later created their own prac-
tices.
• Sikhs demanded independent rule and were unwilling to compromise with the Mughals. Mughals
ruthlessly suppressed the revolt as Punjab was strategically crucial.
From 1699, Guru Gobind Singh and Aurangzeb constantly fought against each other. After the death
41

•
of Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah made peace with Guru Gobind Singh, who joined his camp as a noble.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• After Guru Gobind Singh's death, the institution of Guruship ended, and the leadership of the Sikhs
passed to his trusted disciple Banda Singh (Banda Bahadur).
• Banda Bahadur fought against the Mughal army for eight years. He was defeated by Farrukhsiyar in
1715 and put to death in 1716. His death gave a setback to the territorial ambitions of the Sikhs, and
their power declined.

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• The foreign invasion, the Martha incursion, and internal rivalry in the provincial administration made
the situation difficult for the Mughal governors to establish independent political authority in the Pun-
jab. The Sikhs took full advantage of the prevailing political instability and ultimately established an
autonomous state in the Punjab.
• In the second half of the 18th century, the different Sikh groups were organised into twelve misls
(confederacies) operating in various provinces. Between 1765 and 1800, they brought the Punjab and
Jammu under their control.

Misl (equal or alike)

• Misls were the military brotherhoods with a democratic set-up.

• They were originally based on the principle of equality, with all members having an equal voice in
deciding the affairs of a misl. Gradually, the democratic character of the misls disappeared, and
powerful feudal chiefs and zamindars dominated them.
• At the beginning of the 19th century, Ranjit Singh took control of all the Sikh Misls to the West of
Sutlej and established the autonomous state of Punjab in 1801.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

• Ranjit Singh was the son of the Sukerchakia Misl Chief, Sardar Mahan Singh. Ranjit Singh was only
ten years of age when his father died in 1790, and he became the chief. During that time, the Sikh
confederacies were fighting among themselves for supremacy. Ranjit Singh curbed the power of the
independent Sikh principalities and brought them under a single political authority.
• Ranjit Singh was a strong, courageous soldier, efficient administrator, and skillful diplomat.
• Ranjit Singh built up a powerful, disciplined, and well-equipped army along European lines with the
help of European instructors. He had the second most powerful army in Asia (best among the Indian
rulers), with the English EIC having the most powerful army in the region.
• Ranjit Singh was secular in temperament and supported both Hindu and Muslim spiritual leaders. Peo-
ple from all religions held high offices in his regime.
• In 1801, Ranjit Singh established an independent state of Punjab by bringing all the Sikh Misls west
of Sutlej and was honoured with the title ‘Maharaja”. He was famously called ‘Sher-e-Panjab’ (lion of
Panjab) due to his fierce attitude.
42

Jean Francois Allard

• To keep his combat techniques updated, Maharaja Ranjit Singh employed a Frenchman called Jean
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Francois Allard as his Army Chief.

• Allard was given the task of modernising Ranjit Singh’s army and commanding Singh’s special
regiment called Fauj-i-Khas, who were known to be fearless. Allard accomplished this along with his
colleague General Ventura who was an Italian.

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Rise and Fall of the Sikh State

• After establishing his complete control over the affairs at home, Ranjit Singh launched his expeditions
against the various chiefs of the Sikh confederacies. By 1820, he conquered the neighbouring princi-
palities and was acknowledged as the ruler of the whole Punjab, from the Sutlej to the Indus.
 Ranjit Singh conquered Lahore in 1799, Amritsar in 1802, Kashmir in 1819, Hazara in 1820 and
Peshawar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1834.
• At the time of the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh empire ranged over modern Panjab, Hima-
chal Pradesh, Kashmir, Gilgit (now in Pakistan), Peshawar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (now in Pakistan).
• Till his death, Ranjit Singh ruled the Sikh state as an independent ruler. After his death, his successors
could not maintain the territorial integrity. Finally, in 1849, the British annexed it.

Golden Temple

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh visited Harmandir Sahib to seek blessings. He vowed to cover the Gurud-
wara Sahib in gold, and this is the reason why the Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara is also known as
the ‘Golden Temple’.
• Interestingly, on learning about the Gurudwara’s reconstruction, the Nizam of Hyderabad, Asaf Jah
VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, sent donations for the same purpose.

The Jats
• The Jats were an agriculturist caste who lived around Delhi, Agra, and Mathura.

Jat Revolts
• In the latter half of the 17th century, Jat peasants around Mathura revolted under the leadership of
Jat Zamindars in 1669 and 1688. These revolts shook the stability of the core area of the Mughal
Empire.
• The Jat revolt, which began as a peasant uprising, later became a predatory movement led by zamin-
dars. They engaged in widespread plunder, targeting both the wealthy and the impoverished, jagirdars
and peasants, Hindus and Muslims alike.
• The Jats actively participated in political intrigues at the Delhi Court, frequently switching allegiances for
their own benefit.
43

The Jat State

• As Mughal power declined, the Jats tried to establish an autonomous zone of their control.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Churaman and Badan (Jat chieftains) set up the Jat state of Bharatpur. It reached its highest glory
under Suraj Mal, who ruled from 1756 to 1763.
• Suraj Mal was an extremely able administrator and soldier. He extended his authority over a large area,
from the Ganga in the east to the Agra in the west, Chambal in the south, and Delhi in the north.

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• Despite originating as a peasant rebellion, the Jat state remained feudal, with zamindars holding both
administrative and revenue powers.
• After the death of Suraj Mal in 1763, the Jat state declined and was split up among petty zamindars,
most of whom lived by plunder.

Rohilkhand and Farrukhabad

Rohilkhand
• With the decline of the Mughal Empire, Ali Muhammad Khan (adopted son of Sardar Daud Khan of
Rohilla) set up the Rohilkhand Kingdom in 1721 at the foothills of the Himalayas between the Ganga
in the south and the Kumaon Hill in the north.
• The Rohilas (the inhabitants of Rohilkhand) constantly clashed with the Jats, the Awadh rulers, the
Marathas, and the British.
• The Kingdom of Rohilkhand continued to exist until 1774, when the Awadh defeated it. In 1774, the
British transformed it into the princely state of Rampur.

Farrukhabad
• Muhammad Khan Bangash, an Afghan, established an independent Kingdom east of Delhi around
Farrukhabad in 1714.

2.4. Independent Kingdoms

• There was a third type of state, which was neither the result of a breakaway from nor a rebellion
against Delhi. These states emerged by taking advantage of the destabilisation of imperial control
over the provinces.
• Mysore, the Rajput states, and Kerala fall in the category of Independent Kingdoms.

Mysore
• In 1399, the Mysore kingdom was founded by Yaduraya Wodeyar. Initially, Mysore was subordinate
to the Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1646). However, by 1612-13, the Wodeyars gained substantial in-
dependence.
• Chikka Krishnaraja Wodeyar II ruled Mysore from 1734 to 1766. He was reduced to a mere puppet
44

by his ministers Nanjaraj and Devraj, who had seized power.

• In 1761, Haidar Ali overthrew Nanjaraj and established his authority over the Mysore state.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Chikka Krishnaraja Wodeyar II was a monarch throughout his reign, first under Nanjaraj and De-
varaj and later under Haidar Ali.

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Emergence of Haidar Ali

• Haidar Ali was born in 1721. He started his career as a junior officer in the Mysore and became its
brilliant commander.
• Haidar Ali realised that only a modern army could be the basis of a powerful state. Consequently, with
the help of French experts, he trained the troops along Western lines and established a modern arsenal
in Dindigul (City in Tamil Nadu) in 1755.
• By 1761, Haidar Ali had overthrown Nanjaraj, the real power behind the Mysore throne.

Haidar Ali’s rule (1761-82)

• Though uneducated and illiterate, Haidar Ali was an efficient administrator.
 He followed a policy of religious tolerance.
 He introduced the Mughal administrative and revenue system in Mysore.
 He extended complete control over the rebellious poligars (zamindars).
• Haidar Ali was engaged in wars with the Maratha sardars, the Nizam, and the British throughout his
rule.
 In 1769, Haidar Ali defeated the British near Madras in the First Anglo-Mysore War.
 During Madhavrao's time (Maratha Sardar), he lost some territories and paid tribute to him. After
Madhavrao's death, he regained the lost territories and captured new ones.
• Haidar Ali died in 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War and was succeeded by his son Tipu.
45

Tipu sultan (1782-99)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Tipu Sultan ruled Mysore from 1782 till his death in 1799. He was exceptionally brave but often im-
pulsive in his actions and unstable in nature.
• Tipu Sultan was a man of complex character. He introduced a new calendar, a new system of coinage,
and new scales of weights and measures.

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• Tipu’s library contained books on diverse subjects such as religion, history, military science, medicine,
and mathematics.
• Tipu showed a keen interest in the French Revolution and became a member of the Jacobin Club. He
also planted the ‘Tree of Liberty’ at Seringapatam.

Foreign Relations

• Tipu Sultan sent many diplomatic missions to France, the Ottoman Empire, the Sultanate of Oman,
the Zand Dynasty (in Persia) and the Durrani Empire (Afghanistan).
• In 1788, three ambassadors sent by Tipu Sultan of Mysore arrived in Paris (France) to ask Louis XVI
(king of France) to form an alliance against British forces in India.

[UPSC Prelims 2001] Who among the following Indian rules established embassies in for-
eign countries on modern lines?
(a) Hyder Ali
(b) Mir Qasim
(c) Shah Alam II
(d) Tipu Sultan

Military Might

• Haidar Ali and Tipu prioritised war and increased military capacity. They knew that they could not
defeat the British with their traditional arms. Hence, they modernised their army.
• Haidar Ali and Tipu introduced stronger organisational discipline along European lines. French sol-
diers were recruited to train the infantry and the artillery.
• Tipu’s infantry was armed with muskets and bayonets manufactured in Mysore.
• After 1796, Tipu tried to develop a modern navy. To achieve this goal, he established two dockyards
and personally provided the ship models for construction.

Mysorean Rockets
• Following the invention of gunpowder, the Chinese and Europeans tested rockets using bamboo
tubes. As they lacked the range and stability required for long-range weapons, cannons soon replaced
them.
• Tipu replaced bamboo tubes with iron tubes, increasing the rocket's speed and range.
46

 Haider Ali deployed as many as 1,200 specialised troops in his army to operate rocket launchers.
 Although rockets were used in other parts of the world, Tipu was able to take rocket technology to
MIH-I – Pre-1857

the next level.

• Iron-casing rockets were used for the first time by the Mysore army and became popular as Mysorean
rockets. Using metal casing gave the rockets higher thrust, longer range, and an enhanced bursting
intensity.

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• One of the first mentions of the effective use of metal rockets was during the battle of Pollilur (be-
tween Tipu Sultan and a British EIC) during the Second Anglo-Mysore War in 1780. The Mysore
rockets used during the battle were much more advanced than the British EIC had previously seen,
chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant.
• The British accounts also describe the use of the rockets during the third and fourth wars.

[Prelims Practice] Among the options below, who was the first to use iron-casing rockets
in the world?
a) Portuguese
b) British EIC
c) Mysore army
d) Sikh army

Land Revenue

• Haidar Ali and Tipu augmented their financial resources to sustain the increased military capacity. To
maximise revenue for the state:
 They removed the intermediaries and established a direct link between the state and the peasantry.
 They nationalised tobacco and sandalwood.
• The land was categorised and assessed differently based on its classification.
 Ijara land: It was leased on fixed rents to the peasants.
 Hissa land: The rent was assessed as a share of the produce.
 Rent was paid in the form of a portion of produce produced on watered land and in money on
dry land.
• Tipu increased the state's income by:
 Reducing the hereditary holdings of the poligars
 Preventing unlawful tax collections
 Eliminating the practice of granting jagirs.

Condition of Peasants

• Mysore flourished economically under Haidar Ali and Tipu, especially compared to its immediate past
or with the rest of the country. Mysore peasants were much more prosperous than the peasants in
47

British-occupied Madras.

Industrialisation
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Tipu recognised that a strong economy was essential for a strong military. He tried to start industries
in India with the help of foreign experts. He also attempted to create a trading company similar to
European companies.

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Tipu: A Religious Fanatic?

• Some British historians called Tipu a religious extremist, but that's not entirely accurate.
• Despite having strong religious beliefs, Tipu was tolerant and supportive of other religions. For
instance, he donated money to repair a temple after it was damaged, and he regularly gave gifts to
various temples.

End of Independent Mysore Rule

• Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan fought four wars against the British. The basic cause of these wars remained
the same – to undermine the independent authority of Mysore rulers.
• From time to time, the Marathas, the Nawab of Carnatic and the Nizam aligned with the British to
defeat the Mysore rulers.
• Tipu Sultan died in the battle of Seringapatam in 1799, and the British took control of Mysore terri-
tory.

Kerala
• At the beginning of the 18th century, Kerala was divided among several feudal chiefs and Rajas. The
four most important were:
1. Calicut
2. Chirakkal
3. Cochin
4. Travancore
• However, by 1763, only three major states remained: Calicut, Cochin, and Travancore. These three
states had absorbed or controlled all the smaller regions in Kerala.

Martanda Varma
• King Martanda Varma became the ruler in 1729. During his reign, the Kingdom of Travancore gained
significant prominence.
• He organised a strong army on the Western model with the help of European officers and armed it
with modern weapons. He also constructed a modern arsenal.
• He undertook many irrigation works, built roads and canals for communication, and actively encour-
48

aged foreign trade.

• He adopted an expansionist policy and conquered small states. He defeated the Dutch and thus
MIH-I – Pre-1857

ended their political power in Kerala.

Battle of Colachel

• The Battle of Colachel took place in 1741 between the Travancore kingdom and the Dutch East India
Company in Colachel (Kanyakumari district).

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• Travancore forces led by King Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company's forces
led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy and ended the political power of the Dutch in Kerala.
• After the victory, Dutch soldiers were imprisoned. Several European prisoners, including Eustachius De
Lannoy, accepted the offer and served Marthanda Varma.
• The battle is celebrated as the first victory of Asians over the Europeans.

Background
• The Dutch East India Company procured the spices from the smaller states of Kerala and had a prof-
itable spice trade in Malabar.
• Martanda Varma conquered these states and refused to honour the monopoly contracts of the Dutch
with these states. This adversely affected the Dutch trade in Malabar.
• The Dutch believed that the English influenced Marthanda Varma to act against Dutch interests.
Hence, in 1739, the Dutch command at Malabar declared war on Travancore.

Eustachius de Lannoy
• After the surrender of Eustachius De Lannoy, he trained the Travancore army in modern warfare
and arms. He served the Travancore kingdom for the two decades and was promoted to the post of
the Valia Kappitan (Senior Admiral) of the Travancore forces.

Rama Varma
• In 1758, Martanda Varma was succeeded by Rama Varma, who was a poet, a scholar, a musician, a
renowned actor, and a man of great culture.
• Rama Varma spoke English fluently, took a keen interest in European affairs, and regularly read news-
papers and journals.
• Haidar Ali began his invasion of Kerala in 1766 and, in the end, annexed northern Kerala up to
Cochin, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut. However, Travancore escaped from his
invasion.

Revival of Malayalam Literature

• The 18th century witnessed a revival in Malayalam literature. This was partly due to the support of
the rulers and chiefs of Kerala, who were great patrons of literature.
49

• In the second half of the 18th century, Trivandrum (capital of Travancore) became a famous center
of Sanskrit scholarship.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Rajput States
• Rajputs participated in the power struggle in the Delhi court and gained governorships from the
Mughal emperors.

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• With the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Rajputs slowly loosened their ties with Delhi and
functioned as independent states.
• All Rajput states pursued expansion by absorbing weaker neighbours, but none were large enough
to challenge the Marathas or British for supremacy.
• Jai Singh of Amber, the most well-known Rajput ruler, ruled Jaipur from 1699 to 1743.
• Most of the larger Rajput states were constantly involved in petty quarrels and civil wars. The internal
politics of these states were often characterised by the same type of corruption, intrigue, and betrayal
as prevailed at the Mughal court.

Raja Sawai Jai Singh (1699-1743)

• Raja Sawai jai Singh became the ruler of Amber in 1699 and ruled Jaipur for 44 years till 1743.
• Raja Sawai jai Singh was a man of science. He established the city of Jaipur strictly based on scientific
principles and made it a centre of science and art.
• He was a great astronomer. He erected five observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, and Ma-
thura. He created timetables named Zij Muhammadshahi for astronomical observations.
• He was a social reformer. He attempted to introduce a law to reduce the lavish expenditure that a
Rajput had to incur on a daughter’s wedding, which often led to infanticide. He also promoted a widow
remarriage.
 Raja Sawai jai Singh translated Euclid's (Greek Mathematician) 'Elements of Geometry' into San-
skrit and worked on trigonometry.

2.5. Summary

• With the decline of the Mughal Empire during the first half of the 18th century, many independent
and semi-independent states emerged. These states can be classified into three broad categories:
1. Successor States, such as Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal, broke away from the Mughal Empire.
2. New States were set up by the rebels against the Mughals. These states include Maratha, Afghan,
Jat, and Punjab.
3. Independent Kingdoms emerged by taking advantage of the destabilisation of imperial control
over the provinces. These states include the Mysore, the Rajput states, and Kerala.

Characteristics of Regional Powers

50

• The regional states accepted the nominal supremacy of the Mughal Emperor and continued the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Mughal traditions.
• These states established law and order and viable economic and administrative structures.
• The politics of these states were non-communal or secular.
• These states prevented the breakdown of internal trade and even promoted foreign trade.
• These states were regional in character and constantly fought with neighbouring states.

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Successor states
• Successor states of the Mughal Empire, including Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal, were once directly
under the control of the Mughal administration. However, with the decline of the Mughal Empire,
these states broke away from it.

Hyderabad

• The state of Hyderabad was founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah in 1724. After Nizam died in 1748,
his successors faced tough challenges from the Marathas and the European Companies and failed to
maintain the state’s autonomy.

Carnatic

• The Carnatic was a part of the Mughal Deccan and came under the authority of the Nizam of Hyder-
abad. Over time, the Nawab of Carnatic became independent of the Nizam and made his office he-
reditary.
• After 1740, the affairs of the Carnatic deteriorated because of the repeated struggles for its Nawab-
ship. This allowed the European trading companies to interfere in Indian politics directly.
• After the death of Nawab Anwar-ud-din, a power struggle arose between Chanda Sahib and Muham-
mad Ali, the son of Anwar-ud-din. The French and the British used this opportunity to consolidate
their power in the region.
• Azim-ud-Daula, Nawab of Carnatic from 1801-19, signed a Carnatic Treaty with the British. Accord-
ingly, the entire military and civil administration of the Carnatic came under the British.

Awadh

• Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk, who was appointed Governor of Avadh in 1722, established the auton-
omous kingdom of Avadh. After his death, he was succeeded by his nephew, Safdar Jang.
• Safdar Jang was simultaneously appointed the Wazir of the Empire in 1748 and was granted the prov-
ince of Allahabad. He expanded his rule to the Gangetic plains by capturing the forts of Rohtas and
Chunar.
• Shuja-ud-Daula was appointed as Nawab of Awadh in 1753. The Battle of Panipat and the Battle of
Buxar were fought during his rule.
51

Bengal

• Murshid Quli Khan was appointed Diwan of Bengal in 1700 and became Governor of Bengal in 1717.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

He established the dynastic rule in Bengal.

• Murshid Quli Khan, Shuja-ud-din, and Alivardi Khan made Bengal virtually independent. Under the
rule of these rulers, Bengal made unprecedented progress.

New States (Insurgent States)

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• The states such as Maratha, Afghan, Jat, and Punjab were the product of rebellion against Mughal
authority.

The Maratha State

• Balaji Vishwanath was the first Peshwa of the Maratha state. During his rule, the Maratha state became
a dominant expansionist state.
• Baji Rao I succeeded Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa in 1720. Baji Rao is considered the greatest of all
the Peshwas and “the greatest exponent of guerrilla tactics after Shivaji".
• Balaji Baji Rao (Nana Saheb) was the Peshwa from 1740 to 1761. During his rule, the Maratha power
reached its zenith.
• Till Shahu's death in 1749, Peshwa was still under the control of the King. Thereafter, Peshwa virtually
dislodged the King from sovereign power.
• The defeat in the third battle of Panipat in 1761 was a major setback for the Marathas. It ended the
Marathas' ambition of replacing the Mughals as the imperial power.
• The British divided the Maratha sardars through clever diplomacy and defeated the Maratha sardars
in separate battles during the second (1803-1805) and third Maratha wars (1817- 1819). While other
Maratha states were permitted to remain subsidiary states, the house of the Peshwas was abolished.

The Sikhs

• In 1801, Ranjit Singh established an independent state of Punjab by bringing all the Sikh Misls west
of Sutlej. At his death in 1839, the Sikh empire ranged over modern Panjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kash-
mir, Gilgit (now in Pakistan), Peshawar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (now in Pakistan).
• After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, his successors could not maintain the territorial integrity.
Finally, in 1849, the British annexed the Punjab.

Independent Kingdoms
• Independent states such as Mysore, the Rajput states, and Kerala emerged by taking advantage of
reduced imperial control over the provinces.

Mysore

• Haidar Ali was the ruler of Mysore from 1761 to 1782. In 1769, he defeated the British near Madras in
the First Anglo-Mysore War. He died in 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
52

• Tipu Sultan ruled Mysore from 1782 till his death in 1799. Tipu Sultan died in the battle of Seringapa-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

tam during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799, and the British took control of Mysore territory.

Kerala

• King Martanda Varma was the ruler of Kerala from 1729 to 1758. He adopted an expansionist policy
and conquered small states. He defeated the Dutch and ended their political power in Kerala.

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Rajput States

• Raja Sawai jai Singh ruled Jaipur for 44 years, from 1699 to 1743. He established the city of Jaipur
strictly based on scientific principles.
• Raja Sawai jai Singh was a social reformer. He attempted to introduce a law to reduce the lavish
expenditure that a Rajput had to incur on a daughter’s wedding, which often led to infanticide. He
also promoted a widow remarriage.

2.6. Timeline

53

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3. Indian Society in the Eighteenth Century

• In the 18th century, India failed to make progress economically, socially, or culturally at an ade-
quate pace. It was a land of contrasts. Extreme poverty existed side by side with extreme riches and
luxury. There were the rich and powerful nobles steeped in luxury and comfort. On the other hand,
backwards, oppressed, and impoverished peasants live at the bare subsistence level and have to bear
all sorts of injustices and inequities.
• Despite these disparities, the overall condition of the Indian masses was better at this time than it had
been after over a hundred years of British rule at the end of the 19th century.

3.1. Economic Condition

Agriculture
• During the 18th century, there was no shortage of land for agriculture. Still, agriculture suffered due
to the following factors:
 Agriculture was technologically backward and stagnant.
 The state, the zamindars, the jagirdars, and the revenue farmers tried to extract the maximum
amount from him. Due to their oppression, peasants seldom reaped the fruits of their work. Although
peasants supported the rest of society with their produce, their reward was miserably inadequate.
 Indian villages were largely self-sufficient and imported little from the outside.

Trade
• The extensive trade within the country and between India and other countries of Asia and Europe
54

was carried on under the Mughals. According to historians, at the beginning of the 18th century, India
had some 23% of the world’s economy.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Indian trade suffered due to the following factors:

1. Backward means of communication.
2. Constant Warfare among the regional rulers
3. Disruption of Law and Order: Traders were regularly looted by the organised bands of robbers.

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4. High customs duties: Every local chief imposed heavy customs duties on goods entering or pass-
ing through his territories.
5. The impoverishment of nobles: Nobles were the largest consumers of luxury products. Their
impoverishment led to a decline in the demand for luxurious goods.
6. Political factors: Many rulers sacked and devastated the cities, affecting the urban industries.
 Nadir Shah plundered Delhi.
 Ahmad Shah Abdali plundered Lahore, Delhi, and Mathura.
 The Jats plundered Agra.
 Maratha chiefs plundered Surat and other cities of Gujarat and the Deccan.
• However, the situation was not bleak everywhere. In some parts of the country, trade expanded due
to the activities of European trading companies. The emergence of new cities such as Faizabad,
Lucknow, Varanasi, and Patna by nobility and local zamindars led to the recovery of artisanal produc-
tion to some extent.

India: A Sink of Precious Metals

• India was self-sufficient in handicrafts and agricultural products. Hence, it did not import foreign
goods on a large scale.
• On the other hand, India's industrial and agricultural products had a steady market abroad. Conse-
quently, India exported more than it imported. This led to the high import of silver and gold. Hence,
India was known as a sink of precious metals.

India's Import
• Persian Gulf Region: Pearls, raw silk, wool, dates, dried fruits, and rose water.
• Arabia: Coffee, gold, drugs, and honey.
• China: Tea, sugar, porcelain, and silk.
• Tibet: Gold, musk, and woolen cloth.
• Singapore: Tin.
• Indonesian islands: Spices, perfumes, arrack, and sugar.
• Africa: Ivory and drugs.
• Europe: Woolen cloth, metals such as copper, iron, lead, and paper.
55

India's Export
• India exported cotton textiles, raw silk, silk fabrics, hardware, indigo, saltpetre, opium, rice, wheat,
MIH-I – Pre-1857

sugar, pepper, spices, precious stones, and drugs.

• India's cotton textiles were famous worldwide for their excellence and were in demand everywhere.
• During the 18th century, while sea trade expanded, overland trade through Afghanistan and Persia was
disrupted.

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Industries
• At the dawn of the 18th century, India was one of the leading centres of world trade and industry.
India was a land of extensive manufactures. Indian artisans enjoyed fame all over the world for their
skill. India was a large-scale manufacturer of cotton and silk fabrics, sugar, jute, dye-stuffs, mineral
and metallic products like arms, metal wares, saltpetre and oils.
• The shipbuilding industry flourished in Maharashtra, Andhra, and Bengal. The European companies
bought many Indian-made ships for their use.
 Writing about the great skill of Indians in shipbuilding industry, an English observer wrote: "in ship-
building Indians probably taught the English far more than they learnt from them".
• The important centres of textile industry were Dacca and Murshidabad in Bengal, Patna in Bihar,
Surat, Ahmedabad, and Broach (Bharuch) in Gujarat, Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh, Burhanpur in Maha-
rashtra, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, and Agra in U.P., Multan and Lahore in the Punjab, Masulipatnam,
Aurangabad, Chicacole and Vishakhapatnam in Andhra, Bangalore in Karnataka, and Coimbatore and
Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Kashmir was a centre of woolen manufactures.

Economic Decline
• The Indian economy was quite resilient, and there was a certain continuity in economic life, but it was
declining. However, there was less economic distress or decline in agricultural and handicraft produc-
tion in the Indian states of the 18th century than was to result from the impact of British colonialism
in the 18th and 19th centuries.

3.2. Social and Cultural Life

• Social life and culture in the 18th century were marked by stagnation and dependence on the past.
The people were divided by religion, region, tribe, language, and caste.

Social Backwardness
Hindus
• Among Hindus, the caste (jati) was a major divisive force and element of disintegration. Besides the
four varnas, Hindus were divided into numerous castes. The caste rules were extremely rigid, and they
permanently fixed the people's place on the social scale.
56

• The following restrictions were placed because of the caste system:

MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Inter-caste marriages were forbidden.

 Inter-dining among members of different castes was prohibited.
 In some cases, persons belonging to higher castes would not take food touched by persons of
the lower castes.
 The caste often determined the choice of profession, though exceptions occurred on a large scale.

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• Caste regulations were strictly enforced by caste councils, panchayats, and caste chiefs through fines,
penances (prayaschitya) and expulsion from the caste.

Muslims
• Muslims were also divided by caste, race, tribe, & status, even though Islam promotes social equality.
 The nobles of Shia and Sunni factions often disagreed due to their religious differences.
 The Irani, Afghan, Turani, and Hindustani Muslim nobles and officials often stood apart.
 The Sharif Muslims, including nobles, scholars, priests, and army officers, tended to look down
on lower-class Muslims (Ajlaf Muslims), much like the way higher-caste Hindus treated lower-
caste Hindus.

Hindu-Muslim Unity in 18th Century India

• In 18th century India, Hindus and Muslims lived together harmoniously. There was little communal
bitterness or religious intolerance. People respected each other's beliefs, and a spirit of tolerance
prevailed.
• In the religious realm, the influence and mutual respect that had developed due to the Bhakti Move-
ment among Hindus and Sufism among Muslims continued to thrive. Many Hindus revered Muslim
saints, and vice versa. Examples:
 The Marathas supported the shrine of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.
 The Raja of Tanjore supported the shrine of Shaikh Shahul Hamid of Nagore.
 Tipu Sultan provided financial support to the Shringeri Temple.

Shringeri Temple

• Shringeri temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Sharadamba (Saraswati) in Sringeri,
Karnataka.
• Sri Adi Shankaracharya (Vedic scholar) founded the temple in the 8th century.
• The cooperation among Hindus and Muslims extended beyond religious contexts to social and cul-
tural aspects. Hindu writers often wrote in Persian, while Muslim writers wrote in Hindi, Bengali, and
other vernaculars.

[Mains Practice – Opinions Explored] Do you believe that the Hindu-Muslim unity was better before
the British arrived than under British rule? Why?
57

Condition of Women
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Outside Kerala, women were subjected to nearly complete male control. Despite being honoured,
they were supposed to confine themselves to the roles of a mother and a wife.
• The women possessed little individuality of their own.
• The following social evils were prevalent:

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1. Dowry System: The evil of dowry was especially widespread in Bengal and Rajputana. In Maha-
rashtra, it was curbed to some extent by the energetic steps taken by the Peshwas.
2. Heavy expenses of marriage: The evil customs of incurring heavy expenses on marriages pre-
vailed among the upper classes.
3. Purdah system: The purdah was most common among the higher classes in the North. It was not
practised in the South.
4. Polygamy: Men were permitted to have multiple wives. On the other hand, women were expected
to only marry once in their lifetime.
5. Sati practice: The custom of sati was mostly prevalent in Rajputana, Bengal and other parts of
northern India. In the South, it was uncommon, and the Marathas did not encourage it. Even in
Rajputana and Bengal, it was practised only by the families of rajas, chiefs, big zamindars and
upper castes.
6. Prohibition of widow remarriage: Widow remarriage was uncommon. Widows belonging to the
higher classes and higher castes could not remarry. Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber and the Maratha
General Parshuram Bhau tried to promote widow remarriage but failed.
7. Child marriage
8. Patriarchal Family: The family system was primarily patriarchal and Patrilineal. However, in Ker-
ala, the family among Nairs (Nayars) was matrilineal.

[Mains Practice – Unlocking Creativity] Imagine you were the ruler of the regional state in the 18th
century. What measures would you have taken to improve the condition of women?

Education
• During the 18th century, education was traditional. It was confined to literature, law, religion, philoso-
phy, and logic. It excluded the study of physical and natural sciences, technology, and geography.
The teachers enjoyed high prestige in the community.
• Literacy: The average literacy was greater than what it was under the British later.
• Girls’ Education: Most girls did not receive an education; however, some women from wealthier fam-
ilies were exceptions to this.
• Elementary Education: Elementary education was quite widespread, mainly among the higher
castes, but many individuals from lower castes also often received it.
58

• Higher Education: The higher education centres were spread all over the country and were usually
financed by nawabs, rajas, and rich zamindars.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Sanskrit Learning: Higher education among the Hindus was based on Sanskrit learning and was
mostly confined to Brahmins.
 Persian Education: Persian, being the official language of the Mughals, was equally popular
among the Hindus and the Muslims.

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Cultural Stagnation
• In the 18th century, Culturally, India showed some signs of exhaustion. The Royal Court, rulers, nobles,
chiefs, and zamindars used to primarily finance cultural activities. However, their impoverishment
resulted in the gradual neglect of cultural activities. The decline of art occurred rapidly in the
branches that relied on the patronage of kings, princes, and nobles.
• However, the 18th century was not a dark age.
 Many artists migrated to provincial courts and flourished there. This was true of most Mughal
architecture and painting.
 Many painters migrated to provincial courts and flourished in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kashmir, and
Patna.

Music
• Music continued to develop and flourish in the 18th century both in the North and the South. Signifi-
cant progress was made in this field during the reign of Muhammad Shah.

Tanjore

• Music, poetry, and dance flourished under the patronage of the Tanjore court in the first half of the
18th century.

Tayaumanavar

• Tayaumanavar (1706-44) was one of Tamil's best exponents of sittar poetry. In line with other sittar
poets, he protested the abuses of temple rule and the caste system.

Literature
• Urdu: During the 18th century, the Urdu language spread rapidly, leading to the vigorous growth of
Urdu poetry. Urdu gradually became the medium of social interaction among the upper classes of
northern India.
• Malayalam Literature: Malayalam Literature was revived under the patronage of the Travancore
rulers Martanda Varma and Rama Varma.
• Assamese Literature: Assamese literature was developed under the patronage of the Ahom kings.
• Gujarati Literature: Dayaram, one of the great lyricists of Gujarat, wrote during the second half of the
59

18th century.
• Punjabi Literature: Heer Ranjha, the famous romantic epic in Punjabi, was composed at this time by
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Waris Shah.
• Sindhi Literature: Shah Abdul Latif composed his famous collection of poems, Risalo. Sachal and Sami
were the other great Sindhi poets of the century.

Kerala

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• In the 18th century, Kerala witnessed the full development of Kathakali literature, drama, and dance.
• The Padmanabhapuram Palace, with its remarkable architecture and mural paintings, was also con-
structed in the 18th century.

Scientific Lag
• The main weakness of Indian culture lies in the field of science. While Western Europe experienced a
scientific and economic revolution, India remained tied to tradition and superstition.
• Despite earlier contributions in math and natural sciences, Indians neglected science for centuries.
• The Indians remained almost wholly ignorant of the scientific, cultural, political, and economic
achievements of the West. Except for Tipu, Indian rulers showed little interest in Western knowledge.
• This weakness in science played a significant role in the total subjugation of India by the British
(the most advanced country of the time).

3.3. Summary

60
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4. Beginning of European Settlement in India

• The arrival of Vasco da Gama of Portugal at Calicut in 1498 marked the beginning of a new era in the
trade between Europe and Asia.
• Initially, the Portuguese took control of the trade activity between India and Europe. Thereafter, the
Dutch, English, and French trading companies came to India and established their trading centres.
• These commercial empires were backed by the naval supremacy of their nations and aimed to mo-
nopolise trade.
• The activities of the trading companies were limited to coastal port cities in India and did not signifi-
cantly affect the sovereignty of the native polities. They exchanged Indian goods for bullion (precious
metals), which favoured India's foreign trade balance and spurred economic growth. Due to this, In-
dian rulers adopted a tolerant attitude towards trading companies.
• Conflicts emerged between European powers competing for trade monopolies and territorial control.
The French were the first to try to establish a territorial empire in India on a large scale. The British
East India Company (EIC) later followed their methods and eventually succeeded in taking over India.

Renaissance Period in Europe

• During the end of the Medieval Period in Europe, various advancements were made in different fields.
These advancements included the discovery of new lands and the emergence of religious refor-
mation movements. The foundations of the ‘Modern Period’ were laid in this period. Hence, this period
61

is called ‘Renaissance’, which means rebirth.

• The European Renaissance began in the 14th century C.E. and reached its zenith in the 15th-16th century
MIH-I – Pre-1857

C.E. This period gave a new direction to human intellect, genius and way of life.
• The people got more interested in unfolding the mysteries of the universe by adopting a scientific
approach. In the pre-renaissance times, the thought about the existence of the universe revolved
around the concept of ‘God’. Now, humans formed the centre of this thought.

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• The European rulers of the Renaissance period encouraged adventurous seafarers to explore distant
lands.

4.1. Europe’s Eastern Trade

• During the Middle Ages, there were three primary trade routes between Europe and India and South-
east Asia:
1. The first route involved travelling by sea along the Persian Gulf, then overland through Iraq and
Turkey, and finally by sea to Venice and Genoa in Italy.
2. The second route went via the Red Sea, then overland to Alexandria in Egypt, and from there by sea
to Venice and Genoa.
3. The third route, which was less popular, followed an overland path through the passes of the North-
West frontier of India, across Central Asia, and Russia to the Baltic.
• In Asia, the trade was carried on mostly by Arab merchants and sailors, while Italians had a virtual mo-
nopoly on Mediterranean and European trade.
• Each state charged tolls and duties, yet the trade remained highly profitable. This was primarily due
to the high demand for Eastern spices in European markets.

Search for New Sea Routes to India

• The highly profitable eastern trade attracted other West European states and merchants to trade with
the East. However, the Italian merchants monopolised the trade, denying Western European countries,
especially Spain and Portugal, access to these traditional routes.
• After capturing Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire gained control of the old trade routes, but
they were not favourable for trade.
• Hence, the West European states and merchants began to search for new and safer sea routes to
India and the Spice Islands of Indonesia (Maluku Islands):
 To break the Arab and Venetian trade monopolies.
 To bypass Turkish hostility.
 To open direct trade relations with the East.

The Fall of Constantinople

62

• The trade and commerce between Asia and Europe took place through the city of Constantinople
(Istanbul, Turkey).
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured the city of Constantinople. As a result, all the trade routes
connecting the city of Constantinople came under the control of the Turks.
• The Turks started levying too many taxes on the goods passing through these routes. As a result,
trade became unprofitable.

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Navigational Discoveries and Trade Impetus

 In 1487, the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and
sailed up the eastern coast.
 In 1492, Columbus of Spain set out to reach India but discovered America instead.
 Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer, participated in at least two voyages, first on behalf of Spain
(1499–1500) and then for Portugal (1501–1502) between 1497 and 1504. It is believed that America
was named after Amerigo.

 In 1498, Vasco da Gama of Portugal discovered a new and all-sea route from Europe to India.
 In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe and became the
first European to cross the Pacific Ocean.
 During this voyage, he discovered the interoceanic passage named after him (Strait of Magellan).
 In 1521, before the completion of the circumnavigation, he was killed in the Philippines. However,
his companions completed the circumnavigation.
• These navigational discoveries led to a significant expansion of global trade in the 17th and 18th
centuries in two ways:
63

1. The influx of precious metals, including gold and silver, from America into Europe stimulated trade
by providing the capital needed for European manufacturers.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. The discovery of the Cape route to India and highly profitable eastern trade prompted others to
trade with the East.
 According to Adam Smith, the discovery of America and the Cape route to India were the two most
important events in the history of mankind.

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Reasons for the success of Portugal and Spain in Navigation

 The Renaissance generated a great spirit of adventure among Western European people.
 Portugal and Spain were advanced in shipbuilding and the science of navigation.
 Seamen of Portugal and Spain are sponsored and controlled by their governments.
 Prince Henry of Portugal was keen to find a safer route to India to bypass Turkish hostility. This idea had
become an obsession, earning him the epithet "the Navigator".

Henry the Navigator

• Prince Henry (1394 –1460) was the son of John I, King of Portugal from 1385 to 1433.
• He encouraged people to go on expeditions and search for lands which were not known till then.
• In 1454, Pope Nicholas V granted Prince Henry the right to invade, conquer, and subjugate non-
Christian lands. This provided religious authority for Christian empires to invade and subjugate non-
Christian lands to fight Islamic influence and spread the Christian faith.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) set the stage for the Portuguese invasions into the Indian waters.

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Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

• The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, was an agreement between
Spain and Portugal. It aimed to settle conflicts over newly discovered or explored lands by Chris-
topher Columbus and other voyagers.
• A north-to-south line of demarcation was drawn in the Atlantic Ocean. The line was about 100
leagues (555 kilometres or 345 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands or about 46°30′ W of Green-
wich.
• According to the treaty:
1. Spain was given exclusive rights to all newly discovered and undiscovered lands west of the line.
2. Portugal could claim and occupy land to the east of the line.
3. Neither Portugal nor Spain was to occupy any territory already in the hands of a Christian ruler.

4.2. Portuguese Rule in India

• During the 16th century, European traders and soldiers gradually started to enter and eventually con-
quer Asian territories. The Portuguese were at the forefront of this effort.
• The Portuguese wanted to find a direct sea route to India mainly for trade, but they often portrayed it
as part of their Christian mission to spread their religion.
• The basic aim of the Portuguese was to establish their monopoly over the spice trade with Europe.
They used military force to achieve this aim. They engaged in acts of piracy, plunder, and inhumane
cruelties.
• Within fifteen years of their arrival in Indian waters, the Portuguese destroyed Arab navigation. They
established trade settlements at Cochin, Goa, Diu, and Daman and secured their monopoly. Over a pe-
riod, they fortify their factories to consolidate and strengthen their power.
• By the end of the 16th century, the Dutch and English merchant companies entered the arena and
started challenging the Portuguese monopoly. The French East India Company soon followed them.

Vasco da Gama
• In 1498, the three ships under Vasco da Gama, led by a Gujarati pilot, Abdul Majid, reached Calicut
(Kozhikode).
65

• At that time, trade in the Indian Ocean was a monopoly of Arab merchants. The ruler of Calicut, the
Zamorin, did not like the monopoly and welcomed Vasco Da Gama.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Vasco da Gama stayed for three months and returned with goods that sold for sixty times the cost of
his journey. This highly profitable trade attracted many traders to trade with the East.
• The Arab traders who had a good business on the Malabar coast were apprehensive of the Portuguese.
In the following years, there was continuous conflict between the Arabs and the Portuguese.

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• Vasco da Gama once again came to India in 1502. He wanted to exclude the Arabs and establish a
trade monopoly. But Zamorin declined to exclude the Arab merchants.

Did You Know?

• In 1869, a Suez Canal was built in Egypt to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Until
then, the sea route discovered by Vasco da Gama was used for trade between India and Europe.

Trade Monopoly

• Till the 15th century, merchants from different parts of the world traded on the Indian coasts, but none
demanded exclusive trading rights.
• In 1502, the Portuguese demanded exclusive trading rights in Calicut, but the Zamorin refused. As a
result, Vasco da Gama declared war on all ships sailing in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Pedro Alvarez Cabral

• In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral travelled to Calicut to trade for spices and set up a factory. This was the
first factory established by the Portuguese in India.
• During the stay of Cabral, the Portuguese factory at Calicut was attacked by the locals, resulting in
the death of several Portuguese. In retaliation, Cabral seized several Arab merchant ships, killed hun-
dreds of their crew, and confiscated their cargo before burning the ships.
 In 1501, the Portuguese king, Manual I, claimed a title that asserted his ownership of Indian Ocean
regions. The title proclaimed him Lord of Navigation, Conquest and trade with Ethiopia, Arabia,
Persia, and India.

Important Portuguese Governors in India

1. Francisco De Almeida (1505-09)
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509-15)
3. Nino da Cunha (1529-38)

Francisco De Almeida (1505-09)

• In 1505, Francisco de Almeida was appointed as the first governor and viceroy of the Portuguese
State of India. He was tasked with consolidating the Portuguese presence in India and disrupting Muslim
trade by capturing Aden, Ormuz, and Malacca.
66

• In 1509, in the Battle of Diu, he defeated the joint fleets of rulers of Egypt, Calicut, and Gujarat. After
the victory of the Portuguese, the Ottomans and Egyptians left the Indian Ocean, enabling a Portu-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

guese trade monopoly over Indian waters for over 100 years.
• Although his Blue Water Policy aimed to make Portugal the master of the Indian Ocean, he was not
very successful in advancing their commercial and territorial interests in India.

Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509-15)

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• Alfonso de Albuquerque succeeded Almeida as the Portuguese governor in India in 1509. He was the
real founder of the Portuguese empire in India.
• With the help of the emperor of Vijayanagar, Albuquerque attacked and captured Goa from the
Sultan of Bijapur in 1510. In the same year, Albuquerque established the factory at Panji.
• Albuquerque encouraged the Portuguese men in India to take local wives. He banned the sati practice
in Goa.
• Albuquerque established Portuguese domination over the entire Asian coast from Hormuz in the
Persian Gulf to Malacca in Malaya and the Spice Islands in Indonesia. He used a permit system (Cartaze
System) for other ships and exercised control over the major shipbuilding centres in the region.
 Albuquerque quickly occupied several port cities in India and islands in the Indian Ocean.
 Goa, Malacca, and Hurmuz (at the mouth of the Persian Gulf) were acquired in 1510, 1511 and 1515,
respectively.

Cartaze System

• The Cartaze system was an instrument of trade control introduced by Vasco da Gama in 1502. It was
aimed to control and tax the trade carried on by the other traders in the Indian Ocean.
• Under this system, captains of Indian ships were required to buy licenses (passes) from the Portuguese
authorities if they were travelling to destinations not controlled by the Portuguese. Any ship without a
pass was confiscated, and its crew was severely punished.
• When issuing passes, it was explicitly stated that items such as pepper, horses, ginger, coir, ship pitch,
sulphur, lead, and cinnamon were not allowed to be loaded on the ships. These were all considered
monopoly items of the Portuguese.

Cafila

• The Cafila was another instrument of trade control introduced by the Portuguese.
• It was a group of small local merchant ships protected by a Portuguese naval fleet.
• It generated revenue for the Portuguese customs houses and provided security for local traders.

Nino da Cunha (1529-38)

• Nino da Cunha became the governor of Portuguese in India in 1529.
• In 1530, he shifted the headquarters of the Portuguese government from Cochin to Goa.
67

Relations with Bahadur Shah

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Bahadur Shah was a sultan of Gujarat from 1526 to 1535 and again from 1536 to 1537.
• In 1532, Gujarat came under attack by the Mughal Emperor Humayun and fell. Bahadur Shah sought
Portuguese assistance in regaining control over Gujarat and, in exchange, ceded Bassein, Diu, Daman,
and Bombay to the Portuguese in 1534.

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• Bahadur Shah regained the kingdom in 1536, but the relationship between Bahadur Shah and the
Portuguese worsened. Finally, he was assassinated by the Portuguese aboard a ship while negotiating
with them.

Bassein (now the suburb of Vasai)

Under Portuguese (1534-1739)

• In 1526, the Portuguese established a small factory at Bassein. During this time, Bassein was con-
trolled by the Sultan of Gujrat.
• On 23rd December 1534, the Sultan of Gujrat signed a treaty of peace and commerce with the
Portuguese. The treaty ceded Bassein to the Portuguese. Additionally, it reaffirmed Portuguese pos-
session of Thana, Salsette, and Bombay, territories that had been recently secured.

Under the Maratha (1739-1802)

• In 1739, during the reign of Baji Rao I, Chimaji Appa defeated the Portuguese and captured Salsette
and Bassein.

Under the British (After 1802)

• The English took the Bassein in 1774 and 1780, but each time, they gave it back again.
• Finally, during the reign of Bajirao II, under the Treaty of Bassein in 1802, Bassein became a British
possession. In 1818, it was incorporated into the Bombay Presidency.

Siege of Hooghly

• Da Cunha attempted to increase Portuguese influence in Bengal. During his rule, the Portuguese were
committing acts of piracy, smuggling, kidnapping, and the slave trade in Bengal.
• Shah Jahan, the emperor of the Mughal Empire, resolved to curb the Portuguese acts and ordered
Qasim Khan (Governor of Bengal) in 1632 to attack the Portuguese and expel them.
• In June 1632, the Mughal Army arrived and besieged the fort. As a result, the Portuguese fled from
Hooghly.

[UPSC 2023] Who among the following rulers of medieval Gujarat surrendered Diu to the
Portuguese?
a) Ahmad Shah
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b) Mahmud Begarha
c) Bahadur Shah
MIH-I – Pre-1857

d) Muhammad Shah

Answer: Option c

Portuguese Trade

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Trade Factories

• Factories (warehouses) were important to carry on trade and commerce. Portuguese established their
factories in the coastal regions of India and certain other places in Asia.
• The Portuguese established their first factory in the Malabar region in 1500 at Calicut. However, their
69

presence there was short-lived because the Zamorins did not allow the Portuguese to fortify their fac-
tories there. As a result, the Portuguese abandoned their construction at Calicut in 1525.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Portuguese established their factories in different parts of the country in the following years.
 Malabar Coast: The factories were established at Cochin, Cannanore, and Quilon.
 Konkan: In 1516, the Portuguese built a factory at Chaul (Maharashtra) after obtaining permission
from Burhan Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar (second ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate).

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 North-west: The factories were established at Cambay, Diu, Bassein, Surat, Daman, and Bhavnagar.
 Eastern Coast: The Portuguese established their factories at Masulipatnam, Pulicat, Nagapattinam,
San Thome and Pulicat.
• The Portuguese established their factories in Bengal at Chittagong, Satgaon, Hugli, and Bandel.
 In 1528, Portuguese established their first factory in Bengal at Chittagong after getting permission
from the Bengal's Sultan, Mahmud Shah.
 The Portuguese founded the town of Hugli in 1579 after obtaining permission from the Mughal
emperor Akbar.
Important Portuguese Factories in India
Calicut (1500)
Cochin (1501)
Panaji (1510)
Chittagong (1528)

Trade Commodities
• Portuguese participated in Indo-European trade as well as intra-Asian trade (India-Southeast Asia).
• The trading commodities include spices, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, indigo, textiles, ivory, and tur-
meric.
 Portuguese exported spices, especially pepper, from Asia to Europe.
 Intra-Asian trade mainly includes textile exports from India to Southeast Asia.
• The Portuguese did not have enough commodities for the procurement of pepper and other goods.
Hence, precious (west African gold and rials coined from American silver) and non-precious metals
were brought from West to East for trade.

[UPSC 2003] With reference to the entry of European powers into India which of the fol-
lowing is not correct?
a) The Portuguese captured Goa in 1499.
b) The English opened their first factory in south Indian at Masulipatnam.
c) In Eastern India, the English company opened its first factory in Orissa in 1633.
d) Under the leadership of Dupleix, the French occupied Madras in 1746.
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Answer: Option a

Alphonso Mango
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Alphonso Mango derives its name from a Portuguese man named Afonso. There are different the-
ories regarding which Afonso it specifically refers to, with one attributing it to Afonso de Albuquer-
que and another linking it to the priest Nicolau Afonso.

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• By the mid-1700s, Scottish voyager Alexander Hamilton declared Alphonso Mango the "whole-
somest and best-tasting of any fruit in the world."
• In 1937, to commemorate the coronation of King George VI, India's colonial administrators sent
baskets of Alphonso mangoes from Bombay's Crawford Market to London.

Marakkars (Lord of the Arabian Sea)

• Marakkars were a powerful trading community of rich merchants on the Malabar coast.
• The Portuguese frequently collaborated with the Marakkars in their trading interests.
• Things changed in the middle of the 1520s when the Portuguese tried to establish a trade monopoly,
which the Marakkars resisted. The Portuguese labelled them as pirates to eliminate Marakkars from
the world of commerce.
• The Marakkars also established themselves as admirals of the Zamorin in his fight against the Portu-
guese.

Kunjali Marakkar
• Kunjali Marakkar was the title inherited by the Admiral of the fleet of the Zamorin, the king of Calicut.
• There were four Marakkars whose war tactics defended against the Portuguese invasion from 1520 to
1600. The Kunjali Marakkars are credited with organising the first naval defence of the Indian coast.
 In the late 16th century, the fourth and last Kunjali Marakkar was captured and executed by the
Portuguese with the support of the Zamorin of Calicut.

Portugal's success in Settling in India

• Despite their barbaric behaviour, Portugal monopolised the highly profitable Eastern trade for nearly a
century. It was because of the following reasons:
 Control over the high seas: The Naval supremacy of the Portuguese and the superiority of their
armed ships enabled them to dominate the seas.
 Combined the use of force with trade: The Portuguese challenged the monopoly of Arabs by
attacking and destroying their ships. The Portuguese secured many trading concessions from the
Mughal emperors by threatening their shipping.
 Exemption from Mughal Might: The Portuguese did not have to face the might of the Mughal
Empire as South India was outside the Mughal influence.
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 Weak navy of the Mughals: The Portuguese succeeded at sea mainly because the Mughals didn't
MIH-I – Pre-1857

focus on building a powerful navy.

 Mutual rivalries of the Indian princes: The Portuguese built the first fort on Malabar territory by
taking advantage of the mutual rivalry between the Raja of Cochin and Zamorin of Calicut.
 The strict discipline of soldiers and administrators

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Decline of Portuguese rule

• In the second half of the 16th century, England, Holland, and later France fought against Spain and
Portugal for control of world trade.
• Portugal became a Spanish dependency in 1580. In 1588, the English defeated the Spanish fleet,
Armada, and shattered Spanish naval supremacy forever. This enabled the English and Dutch merchants
to use the Cape of Good Hope route to India and join the race for empire in the East.

Rivalry Among Europeans

• Soon after the arrival of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese monopolised the eastern trade. During the
17th century, Dutch and English traders arrived, followed by French traders.
• All the companies wanted to buy the same things, such as cotton, silk, Pepper, cloves, cardamom,
and cinnamon, which had a big market in Europe.
• Competition amongst European companies raised the prices of goods and lowered profits. To survive,
trading companies had to eliminate rivals, leading to intense battles.
• Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, European companies frequently sank each other’s ships,
blockaded routes, and prevented rival ships from transporting goods. For protection, the trade was
carried on with arms, and trading posts were fortified.

Portuguese vs English

• In the early 17th century, the Portuguese and the British competed for trade and influence in India.
The Portuguese were already established in the region and opposed the establishment of British facto-
ries in India.
• In 1612, the Portuguese lost Surat to the English. In 1615, Thomas Roe (British) obtained an Imperial
Farman to trade and establish British factories throughout the Mughal Empire. This angered the
Portuguese and led to a fierce naval battle between the two in 1620, which ended with a British victory
in 1630.
• In 1662, the Portuguese gave the Island of Bombay to King Charles II of England as a dowry for
marrying a Portuguese Princess.

Portuguese vs Dutch

• In 1663, the Dutch won all Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast and expelled the Portuguese.
72

Eventually, the Portuguese lost all their possessions in India except Goa, Diu, and Daman.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

End of the Portuguese Rule

• Ultimately, the Portuguese empire collapsed and was replaced by the Dutch and the British. The Dutch
took over Indonesia, while the British gained control over India, Ceylon, and Malaya.

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• Even after the collapse, the Portuguese retained Goa, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli,
collectively known as Estado da India. In 1961, the Indian government reclaimed control of these ter-
ritories through Operation Vijay.
• Interestingly, the Portuguese, the first Europeans to arrive in India, were also the last to depart.
 The collapse of the Portuguese benefitted the Dutch, the English, and the Marathas.
 In 1739, the Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein from the Portuguese.

Why could Portugal not maintain its trade monopoly in the East for a long time?
 The Portuguese followed a policy of religious intolerance and resorted to forcible conversions. This was
hated in India, where religious tolerance was the norm.
 Their dishonest trade practices evoked a strong reaction.
 Its merchants enjoyed much less power and prestige than its landed aristocrats in shaping state policy
to their interests.
 It lagged behind in the development of shipping, which was crucial for having control over the seas.
 It lacked adequate manpower to keep the trade monopoly for long (human resources) as its population
was less than a million.
 Its court was autocratic and decadent.
 Deterioration of the state finance in the second half of the 16th century.

Significance of the Portuguese Rule

 This was the first time in Indian history that a group of merchants demanded the exclusive rights
to trade.
 For the first time in the history of international trade, commercial treaties with Indian rulers were
concluded.
 Agricultural production became market-oriented, with an eye to international trade.
 Contribution to the military: Their system of drilling infantry groups was adopted by the French,
English, Marathas, and Sikhs.

4.3. The Rise of the Dutch

• In the 15th century, the Portuguese took control of the trade activity between India and Europe. Other
73

European nations, such as the Dutch, English, and French, were also interested in the Eastern trade, but
their trading activities were on a much smaller scale.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• During the 15th century, the Dutch traded Eastern goods acquired from Portugal and sold them
throughout Northern Europe. This led them to develop better ships, scientific sailing techniques, effi-
cient business methods and organisation.

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• During the 17th century, Dutch shipbuilders created the fluyt. The fluyt was a lighter ship, requiring
a smaller crew and reducing operational costs. This design proved superior to the bulkier and slower
Portuguese ships, ultimately allowing the Dutch to rival the Portuguese in the spice trade of the East.

Dutch East India Company

• In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed. Dutch parliament gave it a Charter, empowering
it to make war, conclude treaties, acquire territories, and build fortresses.
• The Dutch were primarily interested in the spice trade. Therefore, they paid more attention to the In-
donesian archipelago and the Spice Islands, not India. India was just a trading depot for them.
• However, they soon discovered that Indian trade was necessary to carry on trade with Southeast Asia
since there was a good demand for Indian cloth in that region. They traded Indian textiles in exchange
for pepper and spices from the Spice Islands (Malaku islands of Indonesian Archipelago).
 The Gujarat region in Western India and Coromandel coast in the East produced a large variety of
cotton cloth.
• By 1680, the Dutch and English East India Companies had virtually monopolised the trade business. The
Dutch East India Company was dominant in this trade (especially intra-Asian trade), while the English
East India Company started catching up, especially in Euro-Asian trade.
 Dutch East India Company exported indigo, raw silk, cotton textiles, saltpetre, and opium from India.

‘Bullion for Goods' model

• For the Europeans, the profits from trade were almost entirely derived from the sale of Asian goods
in Europe rather than from the sale of European goods in Asia. The Dutch did not have enough com-
modities to procure goods from India, so they used bullion (precious metals) to pay.

Trade Factories
• The Dutch East India Company established its first factory at Masulipatnam (Andhra) in 1605. An-
other factory was established in 1606 at Petapuli (Andhra).
• In 1609, the Dutch established a factory at Pulicat (Near Chennai), which became the headquarters of
their Coromandel directorate in 1616.
• The Dutch also established their trading depots at Nagapatinam (Madras), Cochin (Kerala), Surat (1616),
Chinsura (Bengal), Agra, and Patna (1632).
74

• In 1690, the headquarters of the Dutch shifted from Pulicat to Nagapatinam on the Southern Coro-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

mandel Coast.
• From the Portuguese, the Dutch conquered:
 Malacca in 1641
 Ceylon in 1658
 Cochin in 1663

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[UPSC 2022] With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:
1. The Dutch established their factories/ warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by the
Gajapati rulers.
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.
3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a rep-
resentative of the Vijayanagara empire.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: Option b
Explanation: The Dutch established their factories in India in the seventeenth century. Gajapati rulers
lasted till the 16th century.

Pulicat
• In 1609, the Dutch landed in Pulicat. With permission from Queen Eraivi, wife of Venkata II (the Vija-
yanagar King), they established a factory and began trading, mainly in textiles and diamonds.
• The Dutch established a fort in 1613 — Fort Geldria — to protect themselves from the other local kings
and the Portuguese.
• The Dutch and the British waged several wars over Pulicat. Finally, the British captured Pulicat in 1825
and made it an integral part of the Madras Presidency.

Masulipatnam
• The Portuguese were the first to establish themselves in Masulipatnam, followed by the Dutch, English,
and finally the French.
• In the year 1611, the English founded their settlement at Masulipatnam, which was their headquarters
until they finally moved to Madras in 1641.

[UPSC 2003] In India, among the following locations, the Dutch established their earliest
75

factory at
a) Surat
MIH-I – Pre-1857

b) Pulicat
c) Cochin
d) Cossimbazar

Answer: Option b

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Important Dutch Factories in India

Masulipatnam (1605)
Pulicat (1609)
Surat (1616)
Patna (1632)
Nagapatinam (1658)

Decline of the Dutch

• The English established a factory at Masulipatam and opened trade at Petapuli. However, the Dutch did
not want to share the Pulicat trade with the English, leading to conflicts of interest.
• These conflicts resulted in intermittent wars between the Dutch and the English, which ended in 1667
when the English gave up all claims to Indonesia while the Dutch agreed to withdraw from India.
• In 1759, the English defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Chinsurah, which weakened the Dutch op-
position in India greatly. By 1795, the English successfully expelled the Dutch from their Indian pos-
sessions.

Battle of Bidara or Hooghly or Chinsurah (1759)

• Battle of Chinsurah took place near Chinsurah (Bengal) in 1759 between the British East India Com-
pany and the Dutch East India Company, which had been invited by the Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar
to help him expel the British.

Impact of the Dutch Empire on the Indian State

• During the expansion of trade by the Dutch and English, the ports became autonomous centres of
power. However, their activities were limited to the coastal regions and did not significantly affect
the sovereignty of the local authorities. Although conflicts occasionally arose between Indian rulers
and the Dutch, armed tactics were avoided.
• Although the Dutch did not attempt to create a territorial empire in India, they had already prepared
the ground for the French and English companies by establishing a strong territorial base in Java and
the Spice Islands.

4.4. British Rule in India

76

• The British were eager to participate in the highly profitable eastern trade, but till the end of the 16th
MIH-I – Pre-1857

century, they were too weak to challenge the naval might of Portugal and Spain. In 1588, the defeat
of the Spanish Armada (naval fleet) by the English led to the opening of the sea passage to the East.
• In 1599, a group of English merchants formed an association called the Merchant Adventurers to trade
with the East. On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted the company a Royal Charter. As a
result, the association became known as the East India Company (EIC).

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• The Royal Charter gave the company the exclusive right to trade in the East beyond the Cape of
Good Hope. Initially, a monopoly of fifteen years was granted, which in 1609 was extended indefi-
nitely.
• Due to the Royal Charter, no other trading group in England could compete with the East India Com-
pany. However, it did not prevent other European powers from entering the Eastern markets.
• From the beginning, EIC was linked with the monarchy; Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was one of the
shareholders of the company.
 The Royal Charter was aimed to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in Indonesia. How-
ever, by the 1630s, the English EIC abandoned its spice trade in Indonesia almost entirely to con-
centrate on its lucrative trade of Indian textiles and Chinese tea.

Foundation of British Trade in India

• In its early voyages, the EIC concentrated on the spice trade, mainly pepper, with Indonesia and the
Spice Islands. However, the English soon realised the importance of Indian goods, especially textiles.
• To establish trade relations with India, in 1608, the company attempted to establish a factory at Surat
(but failed due to Portuguese opposition) and sent Captain Hawkins to the court of the Mughal Em-
peror Jahangir to secure trading concessions.
• Jahangir welcomed Captain Hawkins, granted him a mansab of 400 zat, and permitted him to trade in
Surat in 1611. However, Jahangir later expelled Hawkins from Agra due to Portuguese intrigue. This
incident convinced the English to overcome Portuguese influence at the Mughal Court to gain con-
cessions from the Imperial Government.
• The English, under the leadership of Captain Thomas Best, defeated a Portuguese naval squadron at
Swally, near Surat, in 1612 and again in 1614. Consequently, in 1613, the English Company was given
permission by a Royal Farman to open factories at several places on the West Coast (Surat, Cambay,
Ahmedabad, Goga). In the same year, the British established their first permanent factory at Surat.
• The English were not satisfied with the concessions they had received. In 1615, their ambassador, Sir
Thomas Roe, reached the Mughal Court to obtain more concessions.
• Sir Thomas Roe successfully obtained an Imperial Farman that allowed them to trade and establish
factories throughout the Mughal Empire.
• The Mughal Empire granted various concessions to the British for the following reasons:
77

 The Mughals recognised the naval strength of the British and hoped that they could use their
power to counter the Portuguese on the sea.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The Mughals wanted competition between the foreign merchants to gain better profits.
 The British exerted pressure on the Mughal authorities by taking advantage of India's naval weak-
nesses, harassing Indian traders, and shipping to the Red Sea and to Mecca.

Growth of the East India Company

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EIC in south
• For the British, conditions were more favourable to establish a factory in the South as:
 They did not have to face a strong Mughal rule.
 Absence of strong regional rule: The great Vijayanagar Kingdom was overthrown in 1565 and
replaced by several small and weak states.
• In 1611, the English started trading at Masulipatnam and later established a factory there in 1616.
 The English opened their first factory in the South at Masulipatam in 1611 (Temporary).
• In 1632, the English Company’s position was improved by the Golden Farman issued to them by the
Sultan of Golconda. According to this, the English were allowed to trade freely in the ports of the
Kingdom of Golkonda on an annual payment of 500 pagodas.
• The British soon shifted the centre of their activity to Madras (from Masulipatnam) after receiving a
lease from the local Raja in 1639. The Raja (Ruler of Chandragiri) authorised them:
 To fortify the place: The English built a small fort around their factory called Fort St. George, which
replaced the Masulipatnam as the headquarters of the English settlement in south India.
 To administer the place
 To coin money.
• In return, the company promised to give half of the customs revenue to the Raja.
• By the end of the 17th century, the EIC claimed full sovereignty over Madras and was ready to fight
to defend the claim.

Chennai

• Chennai, originally known as Madras Patnam, was located in the province of Tondaimandalam, be-
tween the Pennar river of Nellore and the Pennar river of Cuddalore. Historically, the region was part
of the Chola, Pandya, and Pallava kingdoms during various eras.
• In 1361, Kumara Kampana II, the son of Vijayanagar King Bukka I, conquered and established Vijaya-
nagar rule in Tondaimandalam.
• Vijayanagar ruler appointed Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak as in charge of the area of present-day
Chennai.
• Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak gave the grant of a piece of land in 1639 to the British, who founded
Fort St. George for business considerations.
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• In honour of Chennappa Nayak, father of Venkatapathy Nayak, the settlement which had grown up
around Fort St. George was named after Chennapatanam.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Fort St. George

• In 1639, two representatives of the British EIC, Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, purchased the land to
construct a new fort. The fort was completed on St George’s Day, April 23, 1644, and named St George
Fort after the Patron Saint of England.

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• It was the first fort constructed by the British in India.

Other Forts of the British

1. Bengal: In 1696, a fort was built around the settlement. It was named Fort William in 1700.
2. Bombay: In 1769, Fort George was built as an extension of the fortifications of Bombay.

[UPSC 2008] Which of the following was the first fort constructed by the British in India?
a) Fort William
b) Fort St. George
c) Fort St. David
d) Fort St. Angelo

Answer: Option b

EIC in West
• The Island of Bombay was acquired by the EIC from King Charles II of England in 1668 on an annual
payment of ten pounds and was immediately fortified.
• In 1687, Bombay was made the headquarters by shifting the seat of the Western Presidency from
Surat to Bombay.

Surat

• Surat was an important trading city of the Mughal Empire on the river Tapi.
• The Portuguese started their trade in the early 16th century (around 1540). In the early 17th century,
Portuguese traders were displaced by English and Dutch traders.
• In 1759, the British rulers took control of Surat from the Mughals. Hence, between 1759 and 1800,
Surat was under the ultimate rule of the English East India Company.
• In 1800, the Britishers subjugated the entire Surat during the rule of Nasiruddin.

EIC in East
• In Eastern India, the English Company opened its first factory at Balasore in Orissa in 1633 and Hugli
in Bengal in 1651.
• Through a series of farmans in 1651, 1656 and 1672, the English were exempted from payment of
79

custom duties in return for an annual payment.

Important British Factories in India
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Surat (1613)
Masulipatnam (1616)
Patna (1620)
Broach (1623)
Balasore (1633)

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Madras (1639)
Hugli (1651)
Bombay (1668)

[UPSC 2021] In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, in which of the following was/
were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located? (2021)
1. Broach
2. Chicacole
3. Trichinopoly
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2
c) 3 only
d) 2 and 3

Answer: Option a

War Against Mughal Emperor

• The English EIC had very humble beginnings in India. Surat was the centre of its trade till 1687.
Throughout this period, the English remained petitioners before the Mughal authorities.
 In 1625, the Company’s authorities at Surat tried to fortify their factory, but the chiefs of the
English factory were immediately imprisoned. This attempt to fortify the settlement reflects the
territorial and imperial ambitions of the English.
• During Aurangzeb's reign, there were some changes in the Mughal-English Company's relations.
By this time, the English Company, with fortified settlements at Madras and Bombay, felt stronger.
They were planning to establish a trade monopoly by gradually driving out all other European powers
from competition.
• The British sacked Hugli and declared war on the emperor in 1686. The British abandoned their role
as humble petitioners because of the following reasons:
 EIC’s easy success in trade
 Easy success in establishing the fortified settlements at Madras and Bombay
80

 The preoccupation of Aurangzeb with the anti-Maratha campaigns

• However, the English underestimated the Mughal’s strength. The Mughal Empire was more than a
MIH-I – Pre-1857

match for the petty forces of the EIC.

• The war ended disastrously for the EIC. They were driven out of their factories in Bengal and compelled
to seek refuge on the island at the mouth of the Ganga. Their factories at Surat, Masulipatam and
Vishakhapatnam were seized, and their fort at Bombay was besieged.

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• The English once again became humble petitioners and expressed their willingness to trade under the
protection of the Indian rulers. The Mughal authorities readily pardoned the English.
• In 1690, Aurangzeb permitted the EIC to resume trade on payment of Rs. 1,50,000 as compensation.
This was because:
 The foreign trade carried on by the Company benefited Indian artisans and merchants and
thereby enriched the State treasury.
 They did not anticipate that these foreign traders would become a serious threat to the country.
 English naval supremacy was capable of completely ruining Indian trade and shipping to Iran,
West Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa and East Asia.

Trading Concessions After 1690

• In 1691, the Company was granted exemption from the payment of custom duties in Bengal in return
for an annual payment of Rs. 3,000.
• As trade expanded, the Company persuaded merchants and traders to come and settle near the fac-
tory. In 1696, a fort was built around the settlement. The fortified settlement was named Fort William
in 1700 when it also became the seat of the eastern presidency (Calcutta). [Sir Charles Eyre was the
first president of the eastern presidency].
• In 1698, the company bribed Mughal officials and acquired the zamindari of the three villages, Su-
tanati, Kalikata, and Govindpur. Kalikata later grew into the city of Calcutta or Kolkata, as it is known
today.

Farrukh Siyar’s Farmans

• In 1717, Emperor Farrukh Siyar issued three farmans confirming the privileges granted in 1691 and
extending them to Gujarat and the Deccan. Their important terms were:
1. The company was allowed to trade freely in Bengal without any duties in return for an annual
payment of Rs. 3,000.
2. In Surat, the EIC was exempted from the levy of all duties in return for an annual payment of Rs.
10,000.
3. The company was exempted from dues (retained its old privilege) in Hyderabad and paid existing
rent for Madras.
81

4. The company’s coins minted in Bombay were allowed currency throughout the Mughal Empire.
5. The company was allowed to rent more territory around Calcutta.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Magna Carta of the Company

• Three farmans issued by Farrukh Siyar were regarded as the Magna Carta of the Company.
• The imperial farmans had a significant impact on the subsequent history of the subcontinent. It not only
expanded the company's trade in Bengal but also increased English influence in politics.

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• The farmans granted undue advantages to the English over other traders. It also proved to be a
serious drain upon imperial revenue. Despite the rapid increase in the volume of the company's trade,
the state revenue did not increase.
 The term "Magna Carta" refers to a historical document that holds great significance in developing
constitutional law and individual rights.
 The most famous Magna Carta, also known as the "Great Charter," was issued in England in 1215
during the reign of King John.
 In the context of EIC, the term "Magna Carta" is used metaphorically to describe the imperial orders
of 1717, suggesting that these orders played a crucial role in shaping the rules and advantages for
English trade in Bengal, like how the original Magna Carta influenced the governance and liberties
in medieval England.

English Rivalry with the Portuguese and the Dutch

English Vs Portuguese
• Thomas Roe's success in getting an Imperial Farman to trade and establish factories in all parts of
the Mughal Empire angered the Portuguese, and a fierce naval battle between the two countries began
in 1620, which ended with a British victory in 1630.
• In 1662, Portugal’s king, John IV, gave the Island of Bombay to King Charles II of England as a dowry
for marrying a Portuguese Princess. In 1668, Charles II leased Bombay and adjacent islets to the East
India Company on an annual payment of ten pounds.

Luso-English treaty 1661

• The Luso-English treaty sealed the union of King Charles II of England and the Portuguese Prin-
cess.
• Under the treaty, England secured:
 Seven islands of Bombay
 Tangier in Morocco
 Trading rights in Brazil and the East Indies
 Religious and commercial freedom in Portugal
 Two million Portuguese crowns (about £300,000).
82

• In return, Portugal obtained British military and naval support (which would prove to be decisive)
in her fight against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Seven Islands of Bombay

1. Bombay
2. Colaba

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3. Old Woman’s Island (Little Colaba)

4. Mazagaon
5. Parel
6. Worli
7. Mahim

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

English vs Dutch

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• The intermittent war in India between the Dutch and English, which had begun in 1654, ended in
1667, when the English gave up all claims to Indonesia while the Dutch agreed to leave alone the
English settlements in India.
• In the end, the Dutch gained control over Indonesia, and the British gained control over India,
Ceylon, and Malaya.
• However, the English continued their efforts to drive out the Dutch from the Indian trade and by 1795
they had expelled the Dutch from their possessions in India.

Advantage of British Settlements

• British settlements in Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta became the nuclei for the development of pros-
perous cities. These three cities contained fortified English settlements and had direct access to the
sea, where the English navy was much stronger than the Indians.
• In case of conflict with any Indian authority, the English could always escape from these cities to the
sea. When the political situation in the country was unstable, they could use these strategic cities as
bases for the conquest of India.

4.5. French Colonial Ambitions

• The French were latecomers to the Eastern trade. The French East India Company was founded in
1664. Their first factory was set up in Surat in 1668, and it soon became the Company's headquarters
in India.
 During the reign of Louis XIV, the King of France (1643-1715), the French EIC was established by
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Minister of State).
• In 1669, the French established their second factory in Masulipatam, and in 1673, they secured Pon-
dicherry, which they fortified and made their new headquarters.
• In 1674, Shaista Khan, the Subedar of Bengal, granted the French a site near Calcutta where, in 1690-
92, they built the town of Chandernagore.

Mughal-English Armed Clash at Hugli (1686)

• Mughal-English Armed Clash at Hugli caused a serious setback to the English possessions and
trade in India.
84

• It provided an opportunity for the French to strike roots in India.

• The French had to face the rivalry of the Dutch and English at an early stage.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 In 1693, the Dutch captured Pondicherry from the French.

 By 1720, the French had lost control of Bantam, Surat, and Masulipatam and even started selling
their licenses to others.

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• The French made rapid progress after it was reorganised in the 1720s and established some other
factories at several ports on the East and the West coasts. They opened their factory at Mahe (on the
Malabar coast) in 1725 and Karikal in 1739.
 The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah granted the French permission to mint gold and silver coins
with the Mughal Emperor's stamp and the place of minting.
 In 1721, the French acquired control over the islands of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean,
which enhanced their naval power, enabling them to rival the English in their designs.
Important French Factories in India
Surat (1668)
Masulipatnam (1669)
Pondicherry
Chandernagore

Pondicherry Under Europeans

• The Portuguese established a factory in Puducherry in 1523 but were compelled to leave a century
later by the ruler of Gingee. After that, the Danes shortly set up an establishment.
• The foundation of Pondicherry was laid in 1673 after the French EIC obtained farman from the Qiladar
of Valikondapurarm under the Sultan of Bijapur.
• In 1674, the French Company transformed Pondicherry from a small fishing village into a flourishing
port town.
Year Event Controller
1523 Portuguese set up a factory Portuguese
1618 Dutch buy textiles Dutch
1624 Danes set up a factory Danes
1674 Trading Centre established by François Martin French
1693 Captured by the Dutch Dutch
1699 Returned to French control by Treaty of Ryswick French
1761 Captured by the British EIC British
1763 Restored to French control by Treaty of Paris French
1793 British EIC takes control British
85

Late 1850s British EIC controls whole of India French settlements retained by French
EIC at Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanam,
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Karaikal, and Chandernagore

[UPSC 2010] With reference to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), consider the following
statements:

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1. The first European power to occupy Pondicherry were the Portuguese.

2. The second European power to occupy Pondicherry were the French.
3. The English never occupied Pondicherry.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: Option a

Limitations of French East India Company

 The French East India Company was heavily dependent on and controlled by the French Govern-
ment. At that time, the French government was autocratic, semi-feudal, and unpopular and suffered
from corruption, inefficiency, and instability. This kind of state control was not well-suited for the
trading company and ended up causing more harm than good.
 Big shares in the Company were held by the nobles, who were more interested in quick dividends
than in making the Company a lasting commercial success.
 Constant quarrels and jealousies of the French officials in India
 Weak organisation and inadequate capital

Other European Trading Companies

• The Danes entered as traders in 1616 but had no ambition to establish an empire. They managed to
secure the Tranquebar port (Tamil Nadu) from the Nayak of Tanjore in 1620 and built a fort there.
Their success was limited, and ultimately, they sold off their factories to the English and finally quit India
in 1845.
• The Swedish East India Company was formed in 1731, but its activities were directed exclusively to-
wards China rather than India.

[UPSC 2008] Who among the following Europeans were the last to come to pre-Independ-
ence of India as traders?
86

a) Dutch
b) English
MIH-I – Pre-1857

c) French
d) Portuguese
Answer: Option c

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4.6. The Anglo-French Struggle in South India (Expansion of the British in

South India)

• By the end of the 17th century, the British had defeated its Portuguese and Dutch rivals, while France
emerged as a new rival.
• There was fierce rivalry between the English and the French. Clashes in India began with the outbreak
of the Austrian War of Succession in 1742 and ended with the conclusion of the Paris Treaty in 1763.
• The Treaty of Paris reduced the French company to a pure trading body without any political privi-
leges. However, the French had shown the British the ways and means of establishing a territorial colo-
nial empire.
 From 1744 to 1763, the Anglo-French conflict in India lasted nearly twenty years, ultimately leading
to the establishment of British power in India.

Political Instability in South India

• After the 1740s, political instability prevailed in Carnatic and Hyderabad.
 In Carnatic, there was an ongoing power struggle for the position of nawab.
 In Hyderabad, a civil war erupted following the death of the Nizam.
• This political turmoil provided an opportunity for European companies to interfere in Indian politics.

First Anglo-French War (1746-48)

87

• The primary causes of the war between France and England were their competition over colonies in
MIH-I – Pre-1857

America and trade in India.

• The French trading activities in India were primarily focused on the southern region. To maximise profits,
the English EIC sought to establish a monopoly by eliminating competition.
• The opportunity was provided by the outbreak of the Austrian Succession War in Europe, where the
English and the French were in opposite camps.

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• In 1742, war broke out between France and England in Europe and soon spread to India, where the
two East India Companies clashed.
The First Carnatic War (1746–1748) was the Indian theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession.
• In 1745, the English navy captured French ships off the South-east coast of India and threatened
Pondicherry.
• The French, having no fleet in India, had to wait until the arrival of the fleet from Mauritius. Immediately
on its arrival, Dupleix, the French Governor-General at Pondicherry at this time, retaliated and occu-
pied Madras in 1746 and thus began the First Carnatic War (Anglo-French War) (1746-48).

Role of the Nawab of Carnatic

• The British appealed to the Nawab of Carnatic (Anwar-ud-din), in whose territory Madras was situ-
ated, to save their settlement from the French.
• Since the Nawab had no naval fleet, he was not in a position to intervene effectively. Yet he agreed to
intervene as he wanted to convince the foreign merchants that he was still the master of his territories.

Battle of Adyar (Battle of St. Thome) (1746)

• Nawab dispatched his son, Mahfuz Khan, along with the entire Mughal army of Carnatic, which com-
prised 10,000 soldiers, to engage the French.
• The French force, numbering 230 Europeans and 700 Indian soldiers, who were trained along Western
lines, confronted the Nawab's army at St. Thome on the banks of Adyar River. In the end, the Nawab's
army suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the French.
 According to British historian William Dalrymple, the Battle of Adyar established the supremacy
of European warfare. He also explained how it was immediately clear that Mughal’s techniques
couldn't match those of 18th-century European warfare.

Treaty of Aix-La-Chappelle (1748)

• In 1748, the general war between England and France ended with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-La-
Chappelle between Great Britain, France, and the Dutch. As a part of the peace settlement:
 English possessions were restored to them (Madras was restored to the English).
 The French possessions in North America were also returned to them. 88

Significance of the First Carnatic War

 For the first time, techniques of 18th-century European warfare were tried out in India.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The war revealed the superiority of Western armies over Indian armies because of their better equip-
ment and organisation.
 It showed that even a small, disciplined European force could easily defeat a larger Indian army.
 It exposed the weaknesses of the Indian government and armies, thereby arousing the greed of both
companies for territorial expansion in India.

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 Though the first war ended in 1748, the rivalry in trade and over the possessions in India continued.
The English and French continued to take opposite sides in the internal politics of India.

Second Anglo-French War (1749-54)

 The French Governors Dumas (1735-1741) and Dupleix (1742-1754) wanted to establish a territo-
rial colony in India so that the revenues raised from such a territorial empire could be used to pro-
cure the exportable goods.
• After the first Carnatic war, Dupleix was convinced that, in any quarrel between the Indian princes,
his disciplined army would be very useful. He formulated a strategy to intervene in their mutual disputes
by supporting one prince against the other, thus securing commercial, territorial, or monetary benefits
from the victor.
• The opportunity to interfere in internal politics was given by the war of succession in the Carnatic and
Hyderabad.
1. In the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib conspired against Nawab Anwaruddin.
2. In Hyderabad, a civil war broke out between Asaf Jah's son, Nasir Jang, and his grandson, Muzaffar
Jang, after Asaf Jah's (Nizam-uI-Mulk) death.
• Taking advantage of the circumstances, Dupleix concluded a secret treaty with Chanda Sahib and Mu-
zaffar Jang to help them with his well-trained French and Indian forces. In 1749, the three allies defeated
89

and killed Anwaruddin in a battle at Ambur.

Nawab’s son, Muhammad Ali, fled to Trichinopoly. Chanda Sahib was then appointed as the Nawab
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
of Carnatic, who rewarded the French with a grant of 80 villages around Pondicherry.
• In Hyderabad, too, the French were successful. Nasir Jang was killed, and Muzaffar Jang became the
Nizam of the Deccan. As a token of gratitude, Muzaffar Jang amply rewarded the French.
 Dupleix was appointed Governor of all the Mughal dominions south of the river Krishna.

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 Territories near Pondicherry and the town of Masulipatam were ceded to the French.

Entry of British
• While the French were succeeding, the English were not idle. The English worked to counter French
influence by supporting Nasir Jang (Son of Nizam) and Muhammad Ali (son of Nawab Anwaruddin).
• Robert Clive suggested a plan to protect Trichinopoly by launching an expedition against Arcot, the
capital of Carnatic. By diverting a significant portion of his army to protect the capital, Chanda Sahib
would be unable to attack Trichinopoly.

Siege of Arcot

• With the assistance of a small British force, Clive successfully occupied Arcot. The Nawab was then
forced to send relieving forces from Trichy. The French forces were repeatedly defeated. Chanda Sahib
was soon captured and killed.
• Pratapsingh, raja of Thanjavur (Maratha Kingdom), aided Robert Clive and Muhammad Ali to defeat
Chanda Sahib.

Recall of Dupleix
• The French Government was tired of the high expenses of the war in India and was afraid of losing
its American colonies. To avoid this, they decided to initiate peace negotiations with the English.
• The English demanded the recall of Dupleix from India, and on August 1, 1754, Godeheu replaced
Dupleix as Governor-General in India.
• In a complete reversal of Dupleix's policy, Godeheu reopened negotiations with the British and con-
cluded the Treaty of Pondicherry (1754), which ended the Second Carnatic War. By the terms of a
treaty:
 The English and the French agreed not to interfere in the quarrels of native princes.
 Each party was left in possession of the territories they were occupying at the time of the treaty.
 Muhammad Ali was recognised as the Nawab of the Carnatic.
 However, the recall of Dupleix proved to be a significant setback for the fortunes of the French
Company in India.

Third Anglo-French War (1756-63)

90

• The outbreak of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in Europe led to the Third Carnatic War (1756-
1763). The French Government sent a strong force headed by Count de Lally. The French fleet was
MIH-I – Pre-1857

driven off Indian waters, and the French forces in the Carnatic were defeated.
• The English replaced the French as the Nizam’s protectors and secured Masulipatam and the Northern
Sarkars from Nizam.
• The decisive Battle of Wandiwash was fought on 22 January 1760, where the English General Eyre
Coote defeated Lally.

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• In 1761, the French capital of Pondicherry was captured and destroyed by the British. By 1761, the
French had lost almost all their possessions in India.

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

 After the Battle of Plassey (1757), the revenue of the Bengal enabled the British to organise a strong
army, which played an important role in the Third Carnatic War.

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• The Seven Years War ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which also ended the Third Carnatic War.
According to the treaty, the French factories in India were restored but could no longer be fortified.
They could serve only as centres of trade.
• Now, the French lived in India under British protection. On the other hand, the English became the
supreme European power in the Indian subcontinent.

The Aftermath
• The Anglo-French conflict in India lasted for almost twenty years between 1744 and 1763. When the
conflict ended, the English emerged as the supreme European power with no European rival in India.
The English, free of all European rivals, could now focus on conquering India.

Advantages of the English over the French

 The English Company was the wealthier because of its superiority in trade. It also possessed naval
superiority.
 English Company was a great private corporation, founded and maintained by individual enterprise
and not dependent on the state.
 The possessions of English EIC in India had been held longer and were better fortified and more
prosperous.

Causes of the English Success and the French Failure

1. Commercial and naval superiority of the English.
2. Lack of support to the French EIC from the French government.
3. English had three important ports, namely, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras but French had only Pon-
dicherry.
4. British had superior commanders such as Sir Eyre Coote and Robert Clive, while French had only
Dupleix.
5. Recall of Dupleix
Wars Associated Battles Associated Treaties
First Carnatic War (1746-48) Battle of St. Thome Treaty of Aix-La-Chappelle (1748)
Second Carnatic War (1749-54) Battle of Ambur Treaty of Pondicherry (1754)
Third Carnatic War (1758-63) Battle of Wandiwash Treaty of Paris (1763)
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4.7. Trading Companies

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Establishment
Establishment of Trading Companies
English EIC 1600 CE

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Dutch EIC 1602 CE

French EIC 1664 CE

Headquarters
Headquarters of Europeans
Portuguese Cochin (1503-1530)
Goa (1530 onwards)
Dutch Pulicat (1616-1690)
Nagapatinam (1690 onwards)
British Southern Presidency Masulipatnam (1611-1641)
Madras (1641 onwards)
Western Presidency Surat (1613-87)
Bombay (1687 onwards)
Eastern Presidency Calcutta (1700 onwards)

4.8. Summary

• The arrival of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498 marked the beginning of a new era in the trade
between Europe and Asia. Initially, the Portuguese took control of the trade activity between India
and Europe. Thereafter, the Dutch, English, and French trading companies came to India and estab-
lished their trading centres.

Portuguese Rule in India

• The basic aim of the Portuguese was to establish their monopoly over the spice trade with Europe.
They used military force to achieve this aim.
• In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral travelled to Calicut to trade for spices and set up a factory.
• Within fifteen years of their arrival in Indian waters, the Portuguese destroyed Arab navigation. They
established trade settlements at Cochin, Goa, Diu, and Daman and secured their monopoly. Over a
period, they fortify their factories to consolidate and strengthen their power.
• The Portuguese Governors Francisco De Almeida (1505-09), Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509-15) and
Nino da Cunha (1529-38) consolidated the Portuguese power in India.
94

Francisco De Almeida (1505-09)

In 1505, Francisco de Almeida was appointed as the first governor and viceroy of the Portuguese State
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
of India.
• In 1509, in the Battle of Diu, he defeated the joint fleets of rulers of Egypt, Calicut, and Gujarat.
• He formulated a Blue Water Policy to make Portugal the master of the Indian Ocean.

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Alfonso de Albuquerque

• Alfonso de Albuquerque is considered as the real founder of the Portuguese empire in India. With the
help of the emperor of Vijayanagar, Albuquerque attacked and captured Goa from the Sultan of Bija-
pur in 1510.
• Albuquerque encouraged the Portuguese men in India to take local wives. He banned the sati practice
in Goa.

Decline of Portuguese rule

• During the 17th century, Dutch and English traders arrived in India and started challenging the Por-
tuguese monopoly.
• The naval battle between the Dutch and the English ended with a British victory in 1630.
• In 1663, the Dutch won all Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast and expelled the Portuguese. Even-
tually, the Portuguese lost all their possessions in India except Goa, Diu, and Daman.

Dutch East India Company

• The Dutch were primarily interested in the spice trade. Therefore, they paid more attention to the
Indonesian archipelago and the Spice Islands, not India.
• The Dutch East India Company established its first factory at Masulipatnam (Andhra) in 1605.
• The conflicts between the Dutch and the British resulted in intermittent wars between them, which
ended in 1667 when the English gave up all claims to Indonesia while the Dutch agreed to withdraw
from India.
• In 1759, the English defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Chinsurah, which weakened the Dutch oppo-
sition in India.

British Rule in India

• In 1613, the British established their first permanent factory at Surat.

English EIC in South

• The English opened their first factory in the South at Masulipatam in 1611.
• In 1632, the English were allowed to trade freely in the ports of the Kingdom of Golkonda on an
annual payment of 500 pagodas.
95

• After receiving a lease from the local Raja in 1639, the British built a small fort around their factory,
Fort St. George.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

English EIC in West

• The English EIC acquired the Island of Bombay from King Charles II of England in 1668 on an annual
payment of ten pounds and was immediately fortified.

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English EIC in East

• In Eastern India, the English Company opened its first factory at Balasore in Orissa in 1633 and Hugli
in Bengal in 1651.
• In 1691, the Company was granted exemption from the payment of custom duties in Bengal in return
for an annual fee of Rs. 3,000.
• In 1696, a fort was built around the settlement, which was named Fort William in 1700.
• In 1717, Emperor Farrukh Siyar issued three farmans to the English EIC. The farmans granted undue
advantages to the English over other traders.

The French
• The French were latecomers to the Eastern trade. The French East India Company was founded in
1664. Their first factory was set up in Surat in 1668.

Anglo-French conflict
• By the end of the 17th century, the British had defeated its Portuguese and Dutch rivals, while France
emerged as a new rival.
• The Anglo-French conflict in India lasted almost twenty years between 1744 and 1763. It began with
the outbreak of the Austrian War of Succession in 1742 and ended with the conclusion of the Paris
Treaty in 1763.
• When the conflict ended, the English emerged as the supreme European power with no European
rival in India. The English, free of all European rivals, could now focus on conquering India.

4.9. Timeline

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

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5. British Conquest of India

• The British defeated their Portuguese and Dutch rivals in the late 17th century. However, France
emerged as a new competitor.
• Following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the central authority weakened, leading to the emergence
of many small independent states in the 18th century.
• The English and French companies saw this as an opportunity to gain political and territorial power in
India. Their rivalry began in the 1740s and ended with the English victory. This victory paved the way
for the British conquest of India, which began in Bengal with the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
• The expansion of the company's power from 1757 to 1857 mainly occurred in two ways:
1. Annexation of Indian states by the war
2. Annexation of Indian states by diplomacy
• The East India Company (EIC) rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory when
annexing Indian states. Instead, it used the following political, economic, and diplomatic methods to
extend its influence before annexing an Indian kingdom.
1. Warren Hastings’ ring-fence policy
98

2. Lord Hasting’s policy of paramountcy

3. Wellesley’s system of subsidiary alliance
MIH-I – Pre-1857

4. Lord Dalhousie’s doctrine of lapse

 By the mid-18th century, the regional independent states emerged, and the British eliminated
their foreign rivals.

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 In the late 18th and early 19th century, the Indian regional states and the British fought against
each other for political supremacy in India.

5.1. British Conquest of Bengal (1757-65)

• During the 1750s, the growing commercial interest of the English EIC and its officials led to a direct
confrontation with the Bengal Nawabs. The conflict ultimately led to the establishment of British
power in Bengal.
• From 1757 to 1765, power gradually shifted from the Nawabs to the British. During this short eight-
year period, three nawabs, Siraj-ud-Daula, Mir Jafar, and Mir Qasim, ruled over Bengal, but they failed
to uphold the sovereignty of the nawab, and ultimately, the reign of control passed into the hands of
the British.
• Although the personal failure of individual Nawabs did not have a major impact on this development,
the decline in administrative efficiency in the 18th century contributed to the collapse of the inde-
99

pendent Bengal polity.

Bengal Before the British Conquest

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Bengal was the most fertile and richest province in India. Its rich resources and profitable trade at-
tracted various foreign companies, including Dutch, French, and English.

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• Bengal was an important province for the British. From Bengal, the English EIC primarily exported cot-
ton textiles, silk, indigo, and saltpetre, which constituted the majority of the British exports from
India.
• Because of the various farmans, English EIC and its servants had a profitable trade in Bengal. While
the trade between India and Europe was exclusively reserved for the Company, the employees
were allowed to conduct private trade within the country.
• Even though the Company's employees were paid very low salaries, they earned a considerable income
from their private trade. That’s why they were so keen to take service in India.

Farrukh Siyar’s farman of 1717

• Royal Farman of 1717 granted the EIC:
 The freedom to export and import their goods in Bengal without paying taxes.
 The right to issue passes (dastaks) for the movement of such goods.
• Valuable privileges were granted to the Company’s foreign trade, not to the private internal trade
of its servants. The Company’s servants were required to pay the same taxes as Indian merchants.

Royal Farman: A Source of Conflict

• The provincial governors were not in favour of a privilege granted to the Company under the royal
farman of 1717. This was because:
 It led to the loss of revenue for the state: The company was allowed to trade freely in Bengal
without any duties in return for an annual payment of Rs. 3,000. However, the Company's exports
from Bengal were worth more than £50,000 annually.
 Misuse of Dastaks by the Company’s servants
1. The dastaks were misused by the Company’s servants to evade taxes on their private trade.
2. The company's servants illegally sold the dastaks to Indian merchants, causing unfair com-
petition and depriving the Nawab of revenue.
• Hence, the royal farman of 1717 was a perpetual source of conflict between the EIC and the Nawabs
of Bengal.

Battle of Plassey 1757

All the Nawabs of Bengal, from Murshid Quli Khan to Alivardi Khan, had objected to the English in-
100
•
terpretation of the farman of 1717. They had compelled the Company to pay lump sums to their
treasury and firmly suppressed the misuse of dastaks.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Siraj-ud-Daulah succeeded Alivardi Khan as Nawab of Bengal in 1756. During his reign, the English
refused to trade on the same basis as in the times of Murshid Quli Khan. This was because:
 The English felt strong after their victory over the French in the Second Carnatic War (1749-54).
 The English recognised the political and military weakness of Indian states.

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• There was a strained relationship between the British and the Nawab due to the following reasons:
 The misuse of the Company's trade privilege by its officials for their private trade.
 The fortification around Calcutta by the English Company without the permission of the Na-
wab.
 The English Company in Calcutta provided refuge to Krishna Das, son of Raj Ballabh, who had fled
with immense riches against the wishes of the Nawab.
 Nawab refused to allow the Company to mint coins.
 The Nawab accused the Company of:
 Refusing to pay taxes
 Writing disrespectful letters and trying to humiliate the Nawab and his officials.
• The breaking point came when, without Nawab’s permission, the Company began fortifying Cal-
cutta in anticipation of the upcoming conflict with the French (Third Carnatic War).
• Siraj feared that if he permitted the English and the French to fight each other on the soil of Bengal,
he, too, would suffer the same fate as the Carnatic Nawabs. Therefore, Siraj ordered the English and
the French to demolish their fortifications at Calcutta (English) and Chandernagore (French) and
refrain from fighting.
• The French Company obeyed the order, but the English Company refused. Siraj interpreted this action
as an attack upon his sovereignty and seized the English factory at Kasimbazar. Siraj then marched to
Calcutta and occupied Fort William on June 20, 1756.

Black Hole Incident

• According to John Holwell, a surgeon at the EIC, after the fall of Fort William, 146 prisoners of
war were confined in a small room measuring 18 feet by 14 feet.
• The prisoners were held overnight in crowded conditions. When the door opened the next morning,
123 of the prisoners had died due to suffocation and dehydration. This incident is called the ‘Black
Hole Tragedy’.
 J. H. Little has argued that the Black Hole tragedy is a "gigantic hoax," exaggerated beyond all
proportions. In his opinion, only a few men were confined in the Black Hole, and of them, only those
who had received severe wounds during the actual fighting died.
After winning easily, the Nawab left Calcutta to celebrate, giving the English a chance to escape with
101
•
their ships.
• The English officials took refuge at Fulta near the sea. While waiting for aid from Madras, they secretly
MIH-I – Pre-1857

allied with the Nawab's traitors to organise a conspiracy against Nawab. So, the English victory on
the battlefield of Plassey was decided before the battle was fought.

Leading Men of Nawab’s Court

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 Mir Jafar (Mir Bakshi)

 Rai Durlabh
 Manick Chand (the Officer-in-Charge of Calcutta)
 Amir Chand (rich merchant)
 Jagat Seth (the biggest banker in Bengal)
 Khadim Khan
 The disaffected notables of Siraj's court, such as the Jagat Seth, Rai Durlabh, and Amir Chand,
joined hands with the English to expel Siraj and replace him with their preferred candidate.
 Robert Clive (English official) promised Mir Jafar the Nawabship as a reward for supporting the
British against Siraj.
• From Madras came a strong naval and military force under Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive. A
surprise attack by the Company forces under Clive defeated the Nawab’s forces and reconquered Cal-
cutta at the beginning of 1757.
• This compelled the Nawab to sign the Treaty of Alinagar on February 9, 1757. By the terms of the
treaty, the Nawab conceded all the English demands.

Treaty of Alinagar

• The Treaty of Alinagar was signed on February 9, 1757, between Bengal’s Nawab Siraj ud Daula and
the English EIC.
• Though the treaty ostensibly maintained the sovereignty of the Nawab of Bengal, its terms were highly
favourable to the Company. The treaty:
 Restored all the privileges that Farrukhsiyar's 1717 farman had granted to the EIC
 Allowed the EIC to carry out duty-free trade
 Allowed the EIC to build further fortifications and operate a mint.
• The Treaty of Alinagar strengthened the British position in Bengal and laid the foundations for the
Battle of Plassey a few months later.

Battle of Plassey

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• The English were not satisfied with the Treaty of Alinagar; they were aiming high. The Company had
decided to install a more pliant tool in Siraj-ud-Daulah’s place (nawab).
• To place Mir Jafar on the throne of Bengal, the English presented the Nawab with an impossible set
of demands.
• The British attacked the Siraj ud Daula on the pretext of not implementing the terms of the Alinagar
treaty. Both sides realised that a war to the finish would have to be fought between them. They met for
battle on the field of Plassey on 23 June 1757.
• The fateful battle of Plassey was a battle only in name. English victory on the battlefield was decided
before the battle was fought.
 A major part of the Nawab’s army, led by the traitors Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh, took no part
in the fighting.
 Only a small group of the Nawab’s soldiers led by Mir Madan and Mohanlal fought bravely and
well.
• The Nawab was forced to flee and was captured and put to death by Mir Jafar’s son, Miran. The
English won the battle due to the conspiracy of the Nawab's officials, not their military superiority.

Aftermath of the Battle

• The English proclaimed Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal. An agreement was concluded wherein:
 The Nawab (Mir Jafar) guaranteed and, in some cases, extended the commercial privileges of the
English.
 The Company agreed not to interfere in the Nawab’s government.
• As a reward for placing Mir Jafar on the throne:
 The Company was granted the right to free trade in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa (present day: West
Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha).
 The Company received the zamindari of the 24 Parganas near Calcutta.
 Mir Jafar paid a sum of Rs 17,700,000 to the Company as compensation for the attack on Cal-
cutta.

Significance of the Battle of Plassey

 The Battle of Plassey marked the foundation of British rule in India.
103

 After this victory, the English EIC became a proper colonial enterprise, interested not just in trade but
territorial control that would serve its economic interests.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The victory of the British undermined the position of the Nawab in Bengal.
 The Nawab became dependent on the Company, who began to interfere in appointing Nawab's offi-
cials.
 British prestige was elevated in a single stroke, making them a major contender for the Indian Empire.
 The Battle of Plassey showed the depth of factionalism in the Nawab's court.

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 The victory of Plassey enabled the Company and its servants to accumulate immense wealth by ex-
ploiting the vulnerable people of Bengal.
 Control over Bengal played a decisive role in the Anglo-French struggle.
 The rich revenues of Bengal enabled the British to organise a strong army.
 The rich resources of the Bengal were used to conquer the rest of India.

After the Battle of Plassey

• The relative weakness of Nawab's armed forces gave the English the scope to interfere in the affairs
of the province.
• The company used Mir Jafar's growing dependence on their military support to extract greater fi-
nancial resources and other privileges from the Nawab.
• The company aimed to use its control over the Nawab of Bengal to drain the wealth of the province.
The Directors of the Company ordered the Bengal to pay out of its revenue:
 The expenses of the Bombay and Madras Presidencies
 The Company's exports from India.
• However, Nawab Mir Jafar was not in a position to meet the company's growing financial demands. He
soon discovered that it was impossible to meet the Company’s full demands.
• Mir Jafar conspired with the Dutch at Chinsura. However, the Dutch were defeated by the English
forces at Bedara in November 1759 (Battle of Hooghly).
• The English were annoyed by Mir Jafar's betrayal and failure to make the payments due to the Com-
pany. In October 1760, the Company forced Mir Jafar to abdicate in favour of his son-in-law, Mir Qasim
(Mir Kasim).

Mir Qasim and the British

• After becoming the Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim:
 Agreed to pay off the outstanding dues to the Company.
 Rewarded the Company the zamindari of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong districts.
 Presented generous gifts of 29 lakhs of rupees to the high-ranking English officials.
• Mir Qasim was an able, efficient, and strong ruler, determined to free himself from foreign control.
He disappointed the English hope and soon emerged as a threat to their position and designs in
104

Bengal.
• The first years of Mir Kasim's reign saw a deliberate effort to reconstruct the independent state of
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Bengal.
 Mir Qasim shifted the capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr (Munger) in Bihar to keep a safe
distance from the Company at Calcutta.
 He organised the bureaucracy by the men of his own choice.
 He remodelled the army to enhance its skill and efficiency.

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 He established a firearms factory.

 Non-essential expenditure was curbed, and the position of Zamindars and of all those who de-
pended on assignments was ruthlessly undermined.
 Rebel Zamindars were dispossessed, and revenue farmers were appointed in their stead.

Abolishing the Duties on Internal Trade

• The Company servants misused the Dastaks and paid no duty on their goods. As a result, local mer-
chants faced unequal competition with the company merchants.
• Mir Qasim realised that the abuses of dastaks ruined honest Indian traders through unfair competi-
tion and deprived the state of a significant source of revenue.
• Mir Qasim attempted to prevent the misuse of the farman by the Company’s servants. When he could
not do so, he abolished all duties on internal trade for two years. This single step by the Nawab gave
his people the same benefit that the English had obtained by force.
• This measure resulted in the British private traders losing the advantageous position that they had
created for themselves. They could not compete with Indian traders on equal terms and demanded the
reintroduction of duties on Indian traders.

Battle of Buxar
• Mir Qasim paid the Company and its employees enough to put him on the throne, and he believed that
they should allow him to govern Bengal without interference. However, the English insisted that he
should be a mere tool in their hands.

105

• When the British found that Mir Kasim had failed to fulfil their expectation, they started searching
for a suitable replacement for him. But Mir Kasim was not ready to surrender so easily, unlike his prede-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

cessor.
• The abuse of dastaks by the company servants for their private trade was the immediate cause of the
War of 1764. The English's surprise attack on Patna led to a full-scale war between the English and
Mir Kasim.

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• Mir Qasim was defeated in a series of battles in 1763 by the British army under Major Adams, and
Mir Kasim eventually fled to Avadh.
• In Awadh, Mir Kasim formed an alliance with Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Avadh, and Shah Alam
II, the Mughal Emperor. The three allies clashed with the Company’s army at Buxar on 22 October
1764 and were thoroughly defeated by the English force under Major Hector Munro.
• The Battle of Buxar was one of the most decisive battles of Indian history. It demonstrated the superi-
ority of English arms over the combined army of two of the major Indian powers.
• The Battle of Buxar firmly established the British as rulers of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. As a result, Avadh
was at their mercy and subject to British control.

After the Battle

• With the outbreak of war between the English and Mir Qasim in 1763, the English restored Mir Jafar
as a Nawab.
• Mir Jafar agreed to hand over three districts, namely Midnapore, Burdwan, and Chittagong, to the
English to maintain their army and to permit duty-free trade in Bengal (except a duty of 2% on salt),
but Mir Jafar was in bad health and died shortly after this.
• After Mir Jafar's death, the company placed his son Nizam-ud-Daulah on the throne. As a reward,
Nizam-ud-Daulah (nawab) signed a new treaty on 20 February 1765. By this treaty, Nawab was to:
 Disband most of his army.
 Administer Bengal through a Deputy Subedar who was to be nominated by the Company and
could not be dismissed without its approval.
• On 30 September 1765, the Company signed another agreement with Nizam-ud-Daulah to pay the
nawab 53 lakhs of rupees (Rs. 53,86,131) annually for Nizamat administration and his household
expenses.

British Resident

• After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the Company appointed Residents in Indian states.
• Residents were political or commercial agents whose job was to serve and further the Company's
interests.
• Through the Residents, Company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of Indian states.
106

They tried to decide who would be the successor to the throne and who would be appointed to ad-
ministrative posts.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Treaty of Allahabad 1765

• The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 16 August 1765 between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II
and Robert Clive of the EIC.

With Nawab of Awadh

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• The Nawab of Avadh, Shuja-ud-Daulah, paid the Company a fifty lakh (five million) rupees war in-
demnity.
• Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-Daula, but Allahabad and Kora were taken by company.
• Shuja-ud-Daula signed a defensive alliance with the Company. The Company promised to support Na-
wab against an outside attack, but he had to pay for the troops they sent to his aid. This alliance made
the Nawab dependent on the Company.
• For the British, Awadh became a buffer between their possessions and the Marathas.
 Clive chose not to take over Awadh to avoid defending the border from Maratha and Afghan inva-
sions. Instead, a treaty made the Nawab an ally, making Awadh a protective buffer for the Company.

With Emperor Shah Alam II

• From Shah Alam II, the Company secured the Diwani (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar,
and Orissa. In return, the Company gave him a subsidy of 26 lakh (2.6 million) rupees annually.
 The Emperor issued a Farman on August 12, 1765, granting the Company the Diwani of Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa in return for an annual payment of Rs. 26,00,000 and bearing the expenses of the
Nizamat.
• The British gave emperor Shah Alam II possession of Kara and Allahabad.

Did You Know?

• The emperor, Shah Alam II, resided in Allahabad for six years as a virtual prisoner of the English.
• Warren Hastings, the Governor of Bengal, in 1772, discontinued the tribute of twenty-six lakhs
and also made over the districts of Allahabad and Kora to the nawab of Oudh (Awadh).

Condition at the end of 1765

• The Nawabs of Bengal retained the office of Nazim with formal responsibility for defence, law and
order and the administration of justice.
• The British gained complete control over Bengal’s revenues.

Significance of the Battle of Buxar

 The Battle of Buxar gave the British the complete political control over Bengal. The process of polit-
ical transformation started with the Battle of Plassey and culminated in the Battle of Buxar.
107

 With the formal grants of Diwani, revenue collected in Bengal was used to purchase the goods for
export.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 It sealed the fate of the Bengal Nawabs, and the British emerged as the ruling power in Bengal.
 The British victory indicated the inevitable establishment of British rule in other parts of India.

[UPSC 2005] Which of the following is the correct chronological order of the battles fought
in India in the 18th Century?

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a) Battle of Wandiwash, Battle of Buxar, Battle of Ambur, Battle of Plassey

b) Battle of Ambur, Battle of Plassey, Battle of Wandiwash, Battle of Buxar
c) Battle of Wandiwash, Battle of Plassey, Battle of Ambur, Battle of Buxar
d) Battle of Ambur, Battle of Buxar, Battle of Wandiwash, Battle of Plassey

Dual System of Administration of Bengal

• Robert Clive, who became the governor of Bengal in 1765, introduced the dual system of govern-
ment, i.e. the rule of the two, the Company and the Nawab.
• Under the dual government system:
 As the Diwan, the Company directly collected its revenues.
 Through the right to nominate the Deputy Subahdar (Deputy Nazim), the Company controlled
the Nizamat.
• The two branches were virtually connected. The same person acted in Bengal as the Deputy Diwan
on behalf of the Company and Deputy Subahdar on behalf of the Nawab. This arrangement is known
as the Dual or Double Government.
• The dual system of administration held a great advantage for the British:
 The British had power without responsibility.
 The Nawab and his officials had the responsibility of administration but not the power to dis-
charge it. Thus, the Nawab had to take all responsibility for bad governance.
108

• The company’s rule under the Dual Government was unjust and corrupt. Neither the Company nor the
Nawab cared for the welfare of the people.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The administrative abuses were so great that, in 1772, Warren Hastings ended the Dual Government
and began direct administration of Bengal through the Company's servants.

Consequences of Dual System of Administration

• The consequences of the Dual Government for the people of Bengal were disastrous.

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 The abuses of the Dual Government and the drain of wealth led to the impoverishment of Ben-
gal.
 The Company’s authorities stopped sending money from England to purchase Indian goods. In-
stead, they purchased these goods from Bengal's revenues and sold them abroad.
 In 1770, Bengal experienced a devastating famine that proved to be one of the most catastrophic
famines in human history. The famine resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, and almost
one-third of Bengal's population was affected. While a lack of rainfall primarily caused the fam-
ine, the dual administration system exacerbated its impact.

Company Officials become Nabobs

• After the Battle of Plassey, the nawabs of Bengal were forced to give vast sums of money as personal
gifts to Company officials. EIC's servant began to have visions of living like nawabs.
• Those officials who managed to return to Britain with wealth led flashy lives and flaunted their riches.
They were called nabobs (an anglicised version of the Indian word nawab).

Robert Clive

• Robert Clive joined the EIC in 1743 as a clerk. He played a decisive role in the Carnatic wars, par-
ticularly in the siege of Arcot (Second Carnatic War) in south and the Battle of Plassey (1757) in
Bengal.
• Clive was the Governor of Bengal from 1757-60 and 1765-67 and laid the firm foundation of Brit-
ish power in India. On his return to England, he became a Member of Parliament.
• Clive amassed immense wealth. When in 1767 he left India, his Indian fortune was worth £401,102.
• In 1772, Clive was cross-examined by the British Parliament, which was suspicious of his vast
wealth. Although he was acquitted, he committed suicide in 1774.

5.2. British Intervention in the Mysore and Maratha

Power Struggle among Indian States

• India witnessed a significant power struggle during the 18th century. There was a struggle not only
between the colonial power and the Indian states but also among the Indian powers themselves to
establish political supremacy.
109

• The Indian states, including Mysore, Marathas, Carnatic, and Hyderabad, fought against each other,
primarily driven by their desire for territorial expansion and revenue extraction.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Baji Rao (Peshwa) defeated the Nizam twice in 1728 and 1739. Balaji Baji Rao defeated Nizam at
Udgir in 1760.
 Madhav Rao defeated Nizam and Haidar Ali and compelled them to pay tribute to him.
 After Madhavrao's death, Haidar Ali defeated Maratha and regained the lost territories.

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• The conflict and hostility among Indian powers allowed the British to intervene and ultimately es-
tablish dominance. When one Indian state fought against the British, others supported the British.
 The Marathas and the Nizam allied with the British to defeat Mysore.
 Nizam cooperated with the British against the Marathas.

British Quest for Commercial Dominance

• Commercial gain was the primary reason for British intervention in the Mysore and Maratha states.
The government of Britain needed finance and favoured a more aggressive expansionist polity to
protect its commercial interest.
• The existing rivalry among the local powers and the volatile political situation in the region provided
a favourable ground for political intervention by the British.
• The British fought several wars against the local rulers. Ultimately, they defeated Mysore and the Ma-
rathas, laying the foundation of British rule in India.
• Other reasons for British interventions in Mysore:
1. Haidar and Tipu's control over the trade of the Malabar coast was a threat to the British trade.
2. Mysore rulers were seen as a threat to the British control over Madras.
3. Mysore rulers’ alliance with the French was seen as a threat to the British dominance in this
region.
4. After 1784, there was a sudden increase in the cotton trade between the English EIC and China
through Bombay from Gujarat. This prompted the British authorities to take a more active role in
the region.

Arguments by the British to Legitimise the Conquest

• The British contended that many Indian rulers of their time were oppressive leaders who had seized
power from legitimate dynasties and rightful owners. Therefore, these rulers could be replaced to re-
store the Indian people to their full religious and civil rights.
• In the case of Mysore, the British argued that their policy aimed to restore the Hindu Wodeyar house,
which Haidar Ali overthrew.

5.3. Consolidation of British Rule in Mysore State 110

• Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan fought four wars against the British before the final surrender of Mysore
to the British Authorities.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Anglo-Mysore Wars Governor-General

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) Warren Hastings
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92) Lord (Earl/Marquess) Cornwallis
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99) Lord (Richard) Wellesley

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First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69)

• The British, Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad formed a triple alliance against Haidar Ali due to his
increasing prominence in the South. However, Haider Ali neutralised the Marathas and Nizam through
diplomacy.

• Meanwhile, political disturbances emerged in Arcot. In 1767, Haidar Ali and the Nizam of Hyderabad
attacked Arcot. The Nawab of Arcot had an alliance with the British, so they came to his aid and fought
against Haidar.
• Haidar Ali was more than a match for the Company’s armies. He organised lightening attacks in
these battles and threatened Madras in 1769. This forced the Madras Council (English) to sign a treaty
on his terms.

Treaty of Madras (1769)

• The Treaty of Madras ended the First Anglo-Mysore War.
• By the terms of the treaty, both sides restored each other’s conquests and promised mutual help in
case of attack by a third party.

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)

111
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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• Under the Treaty of Madras, Haidar Ali and the British agreed to help each other in case of an attack
by a third party. However, when the Marathas attacked Haidar Ali in 1771, the English did not come
to his aid.
• Haidar realised the British were his real enemies and awaited an opportunity. The opportunity came to
him when the British attacked Mahe, a French territory under Haidar's protection. Haidar declared
war on the British in 1780.
• Haidar Ali inflicted defeat after defeat on the British armies in the Carnatic and forced them to sur-
render in larger numbers. He soon occupied almost the whole of the Carnatic.
• But once again, British arms and diplomacy saved the day. They detached both Maratha and Nizam
from Haider’s side.
 Warren Hastings bribed the Nizam with the cession of the Guntur district and gained his with-
drawal from the anti-British alliance.
 Through the Treaty of Salbai (1782), the British made peace with the Marathas, which allowed
them to free up a large portion of their army to be used against Mysore.
• In July 1781, the British army under Eyre Coote defeated Haidar Ali at Porto Novo and saved Madras.
• In 1782, during the war, Haidar died of cancer. Tipu, son and successor of Haidar, continued the war
against the British. Tipu did not favour the continuation of war with the British at this stage because
he needed time to strengthen his administration immediately after accession.
• Since neither side could overpower the other, the war ended with the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784.
According to the treaty, both parties agreed to restore conquered territories and release the prison-
ers of war.

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92)

112
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The political situation of Travancore was the main reason for the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
• A dispute arose between Tipu and the state of Travancore. The war broke out with Tipu's attack on
Travancore in 1789. Travancore was in alliance with the Company, so the British declared war on
Tipu.

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• Through his diplomatic skill, Lord Cornwallis brought the Maratha and the Nizam to the British side.
Tipu suffered a severe setback and signed the Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, which ended the Third
Anglo-Mysore War. By the Treaty of Seringapatam:
 Tipu ceded half of his territories to the British and their allies.
 Tipu Paid 330 lakhs of rupees as an indemnity. Tipu’s two sons were taken as hostages by the
English till he paid the war indemnity.
 Both sides agreed to release the prisoners of war.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99)

• Tipu fulfilled all the terms of the Treaty of Seringapatam and got his sons released. He decided to
avenge his humiliating defeat and the terms put forth by the Treaty of Seringapatam.
• Tipu was trying to get help to expel the British from India. He sent missions to Afghanistan, Arabia,
and Turkey to forge an anti-British alliance. Tipu’s attempt to form an alliance of local rulers and his
closeness with the French angered Lord Wellesley.
• Lord Wellesley forced Tipu to sign the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty, but Tipu refused. His refusal started
the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
• As planned:
 The Bombay army under General Stuart invaded Mysore from the west.
 The Madras army, led by the Governor-General’s brother, Arthur Wellesley, forced Tipu to retreat
to his capital, Seringapatam.
113

• The war was short and decisive. In 1799, the British army attacked and defeated Tipu in a brief but
fierce war before French help could reach him.
The Marathas and the Nizam again helped the English.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
• Although severely wounded, Tipu refused to beg for peace on humiliating terms. He met a hero's end
on May 4, 1799, while defending his capital, Seringapatam.

Aftermath of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War

• After the death of Tipu:

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1. Nearly half of his territories were divided between the British, the Marathas and the Nizam.
2. A small portion of his kingdom was given to the Wodeyars of Mysore.
• A five-year-old boy, Krishnaraja III, was made the king of Mysore.
 Krishnaraja III was the descendant of the original raja from whom Haidar Ali had seized power.
• A British resident was stationed at Mysore.
• A special treaty of Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on the new Raja by which the Governor-General
was authorised to take over the administration of the state in case of necessity.
 The Subsidiary Alliance was a system of helping an Indian ruler with a paid British force. Under
this system, the British promised Indian rulers to protect them from domestic and foreign enemies.
 It was one of the methods used by the British to extend its influence and ultimately annex the
Indian states. Under this system, the ruler of the allying Indian state was compelled to accept the
permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its mainte-
nance. The ruler, unable to pay the expenses, had to cede a part of his kingdom to the British.

Significance of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War

• The rule of Tipu’s dynasty came to an end, and the Wodeyars were restored to Mysore Kingdom.
• Mysore became the dependency of the English.
• It eliminated the French threat to British Supremacy in India.

Mysore under the British

• In 1799, by the treaty of Subsidiary Alliance, Mysore became the complete dependency of the
Company.
• In 1831, William Bentinck took control of Mysore on grounds of misgovernance.
• In 1881, Lord Ripon restored the kingdom to its ruler.
Anglo-Mysore Wars Associated Treaties
First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) Treaty of Madras (1769)
 Restore conquered territories
 Mutual help in case of attack by a third party
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) Treaty of Mangalore (1784)
 Restore conquered territories
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 Release the prisoners of war

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92) Treaty of Seringapatam (1792)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 War indemnity of 330 lakh rupees to be paid by Tipu.

 Release the prisoners of war

[UPSC 2004] Consider the following statements:

1. In the Third Battle of Panipat, Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated Ibrahim Lodi.

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2. Tipu Sultan was killed in the Third Anglo-Mysore War.

3. Mir Jafar entered in a conspiracy with the English for the defeat of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah in the Battle
of Plassey.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) None

5.4. Consolidation of British Rule in the Maratha State

• The defeat of the Marathas at Panipat in 1761 was a significant setback for them. Additionally, the
death of their leader, Peshwa Madhav Rao (1772), weakened his control over the confederacy.
• During this time, the British exploited the internal conflict among the Marathas to further their ex-
pansionist policy.
Anglo-Maratha Wars Governor-General
First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82) Warren Hastings
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) Lord (Richard) Wellesley
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19) Lord Hastings (Lord Moira)

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-1782)

• In 1775, there was an intense struggle for power between the supporters of the infant Peshwa
Madhav Rao II (Sawai Madhav Rao), led by Nana Phadnis and Raghunath Rao.
• Raghunath Rao failed to capture power and appealed to the British to help.
• The British officials in Bombay decided to take advantage of this struggle. In 1775, Elphinstone, the
governor of Bombay, signed the Treaty of Surat with Raghunath Rao.

Treaty of Surat (1775)

• Under the Treaty of Surat:

 Raghunathrao decided to cede the territories of Bassein and Salsette to the English, along with a 115

portion of the revenues from the Bharuch and Surat districts.

 The English promised to provide Raghunathrao with 2,500 soldiers.
However, Warren Hastings (Governor-General) was against direct action against the Marathas. He
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
sent Colonel Upton to settle the issue.
• Warren Hastings cancelled the Treaty of Surat and concluded the Treaty of Purandhar in 1776 with
Nana Fadnavis (Maratha Minister).

Treaty of Purandhar (1776)

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• According to the Treaty of Purandhar:

1. Madhava Rao II was accepted as the new Peshwa.
2. The British agreed to withdraw their support to Raghunath Rao.
3. Raghunath Rao was given a monthly pension of Rs. 25000/- from the Peshwa Government.
4. The British retained Salsette along with a heavy war indemnity.

End of the First Anglo-Maratha War

• The Treaty of Purandhar was not accepted by Elphinstone, who re-opened the war.
• The Marathas defeated the British forces at Talegaon-Wadgaon (near Pune) and forced them to sign
the Convention of Wadgaon, by which the English had to surrender all the territories they had ac-
quired since 1773 and give up the cause of Raghunath Rao.
• Warren Hastings rejected the Treaty of Wadgaon because the Bombay officials had no legal power
to sign it and ordered Goddard to secure British interests.
• The British forces under Goddard defeated the Marathas in several battles and finally captured Ah-
medabad in 1780. Neither side won the war, and with the mediation of Mahadji Scindia (Maratha
Sardar), peace was concluded in 1782 by the Treaty of Salbai.

Treaty of Salbai (1782)

1. Madhav Rao was recognised as the rightful Peshwa.

2. Raghunath Rao was pensioned off.
3. The British possession of Salsette was confirmed.
4. Both parties agreed to restore the captured territories. Bassein was restored to the Marathas.
5. Maratha promised to help the British recover their territories from Haidar Ali.

Significance of the Treaty of Salbai

• The Treaty of Salbai gave the British twenty years of peace with the Marathas, the strongest Indian
power of the day. The British utilised this period to consolidate their rule over the Bengal Presidency.
• The Treaty saved the British from the combined opposition of Indian powers, as the British also had
conflicts with major regional powers simultaneously.
• It allowed the British to exert pressure on Mysore as the Marathas promised to help them recover
their territories from Haidar All.
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• The British succeeded in dividing the Indian powers.

Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• After the death of Tipu Sultan (1799), Marathas were the only major Indian power left outside British
control. Lord Wellesley now turned his attention towards Marathas and began aggressive interference
in their internal affairs.

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• Richard Wellesley repeatedly offered a subsidiary alliance to the Peshwa and Sindhia, but Nana
Phadnis, who had kept the Maratha confederacy together for the last 30 years, refused to fall into the
trap.
• The death of Nana Phadanvis in 1800 allowed the British to intervene in Maratha's internal conflicts.
• The Maratha chiefs were engaged in a bitter conflict, with Yashwant Rao Holkar on one side and
Daulat Rao Sindhia and Peshwa Baji Rao II on the other.
• On 25 October 1802, Holkar defeated the combined armies of the Peshwa and Sindhia.
• The cowardly Peshwa Baji Rao II rushed into the arms of the English and, on 31 December 1802, signed
the Treaty of Bassein. By signing the Treaty of Bassein, Peshwa entered a Subsidiary alliance.

Treaty of Bassein (1802)

1. The Company agreed to give the Peshwa a subsidiary force of six thousand regular Native Infantry.
2. The Peshwa surrendered to the Company, a territory yielding an annual revenue of 26 lakhs of rupees.
3. The Company obtained control over the Peshwa’s foreign relations and was to act as arbitrator in his
disputes with the Nizam and Gaikwad.
4. The Peshwa agreed not to employ Europeans without the British Government's permission.

Scindia and Bhosale

• Under the Subsidiary Alliance, the British took control of the Marathas' foreign policy, thus effectively
preventing any action of the Maratha chiefs against the British. The Marathas considered the treaty to
be a document of surrendering their independence.
• Scindia and Bhosale took the Treaty of Bassein as an insult to the honour of the Marathas. Soon,
the forces of both chieftains were united to fight against the British. Wellesley seized this opportunity
and declared war in August 1803.
• In the South, Arthur Wellesley captured Ahmadnagar in August 1803 and defeated the combined
forces of Scindia and Bhonsle near Aurangabad.
• Subsequently, Arthur Wellesley carried the war into Bhonsle’s territory and defeated the Maratha
forces. As a result, the Treaty of Deogaon (December 1803) was signed between Bhonsle and Welles-
ley. According to the treaty:
 The Bhosale ceded Balasore and Cuttack (Odisha) to the Company.
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 The Bhosale accepted the subsidiary alliance.

• In the North, Lord Lake entered the historic city of Delhi and took Shah Alam under British protection.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

The British defeated the Sindhia’s army and signed the Treaty of Surji-Arjunagaon on December 30,
1803.
• As a result of the Treaty of Surji-Arjunagaon:
 Mughal emperor Shah Alam II came under British protection.

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 The EIC gained control over the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundel-
khand, Broach, and some districts of Gujarat.
• The Treaty of Burhanpur was signed on 27 February 1804, in which Scindia agreed to enter into a
subsidiary alliance with the British.

Holkar
• During the war against Bhonsle and Scindia, Holkar remained aloof because he was Scindia’s enemy.
• After defeating the Bhonsle and Sindhia, Wellesley turned his attention towards Holkar, but Yashwant
Rao Holkar proved more than a match for the British.
• The company's shareholders discovered that its policy of expansion through war was proving costly
and reducing its profits. British statesmen and the company's Directors felt that the time had come to
check further expansion.
• Therefore, Lord Wellesley was recalled from India, and the Company made peace with Holkar in
January 1806 by the Treaty of Rajghat, giving back to the latter the greater part of his territories. The
recall of Lord Wellesley brought temporary peace in the region.
• The Treaty of Rajghat was signed between the Holkar and EIC on 24 December 1805 and ratified by
the Governor General in Council in January 1806.

Richard Wellesley (Lord Wellesley)

• Richard Wellesley was the Governor-General of Bengal from 1798-1805.

Arthur Wellesley

• Arthur Wellesley, brother of Richard Wellesley, was the Major General in the British EIC's Army
in India.
• He played an important role in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99) and Second Anglo- Ma-
ratha War (1803-05).
• In the Battle of Waterloo (1815), he led the British Army and defeated Napoleon.
• He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1828-30 and again from 1834.

At the End of the War

1. Both Scindia and Bhonsle became subsidiary allies of the Company. They ceded part of their territories
118

to the British, admitted British Residents to their Courts and promised not to employ any Europeans
without British approval.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. The British gained complete control over the Orissa coast and the territories between the Ganga and
the Jamuna.
3. The Peshwa became a puppet in the hands of the British.
Marathas Treaties

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Peshwa Baji Rao II Treaty of Bassein (1802)

Bhonsle Treaty of Deogaon (1803)
Scindia Treaty of Surji-Arjunagaon (1803)
Treaty of Burhanpur (1804)
Holkar Treaty of Rajghat (1806)

Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19)

• When the Peshwa signed the Treaty of Bassein in 1802, he did not fully understand its significance. He
believed that his restoration to the Peshwaship would give him complete control over his feudatories
with the help of English forces. However, he was mistaken, as he had no real authority over his subjects.
• After the first few years of post-war Peshwaship, there was a strained relationship between Baji Rao II
and the British.
• The English also accused the Marathas of providing refuge to the Pindaris (irregular military plunder-
ers).
• The following two incidences showed the serious rift between the Peshwa and the English:
1. Settlement with Southern Jagirdars (1812):
 From the signing of the Treaty of Bassein, the Peshwa urged the use of the Subsidiary force
to end the troubles created by the Southern Jagirdars.
 However, the British signed the Treaty of Pandharpur in 1812 and extended the British guar-
antee of protection to the Jagirdars. This pledge of security by the British Resident to the
Jagirdars made a mockery of the authority of Peshwa over his subjects.
2. Mission of Gangadhar Shastri (1814):
 On the advice of the Company, the Gaekwad sent his Prime Minister Gangadhar Shastri to
negotiate with the Peshwa. On his way back, Gangadhar Shastri was murdered at Nasik in
July 1815, at the instance of Trimbakji (minister).
 This caused a lot of anger among the British, who asked the Peshwa to hand over Trimbakji to
them. Peshwa handed over his Minister to the British, who lodged him in Thana jail, from
where he escaped.
 The Resident knew that the Peshwa was engaged in a conspiracy to stir up a war against
119

the British Government. He informed the Governor General and asked him to crush his power.
 Consequently, on 13 June 1817, the British Resident Elphinstone forced the Peshwa to sign
the Treaty of Poona. Baji Rao II gave up his desire to become the supreme head of the Ma-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

rathas.

Attack by the Peshwa

• Peshwa Baji Rao II wanted freedom from British control to regain his independence and old prestige.

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• On 5 November 1817, the Peshwa attacked the British Residency at Poona. Appa Sahib of Nagpur
attacked the Residency at Nagpur, and Madhav Rao Holkar made preparations for war.
• The Governor-General, Lord Hastings, responded with characteristic vigour. In a series of battles, he
defeated the armies of the Peshwa, Bhonsle, and Holkar.
 The year 1818 was a significant year for the British as they achieved major political victories. They
completely destroyed the Maratha dream of becoming the dominant power in India, which was the
last obstacle to British supremacy in the region.

At the end of the War

1. The Peshwaship was abolished, and the Peshwa was sent to Bithur near Kanpur with an annual pension
of eight lakh rupees.
2. Territories belonging to the Peshwa were annexed, leading to the creation of an enlarged Presidency
of Bombay.
3. To satisfy Maratha pride, the small Kingdom of Satara was founded out of the Peshwa’s lands and given
to Pratap Singh, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, who ruled it as a complete dependent of the
British.
4. All the Maratha Chieftains accepted the Subsidiary Alliance. The Holkar was the last Maratha con-
federation to do so in 1818.
5. In 1818, Scindia was also forced to sign a new treaty with the British and accept the British suzerainty.

Pratap Singh Bhosale

• Pratap Singh Bhosale was the eighth and last Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire from 1808 to
1819. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the British gave him a small kingdom of Satara, which
he ruled until 1839.
• In 1839, Pratap Singh was dethroned and sent to Kashi and granted an allowance for his mainte-
nance. He died in 1847.
• In 1839, Pratap Singh was replaced by his brother, Appa Saheb (Shahaji) by the British.
• Appa Saheb died without a natural heir in 1848. The British questioned the irregularity of his adop-
tion and refused to recognise the succession. Under the doctrine of lapse, the British annexed the
state of Satara to the Bombay Presidency.
120

Causes of the Defeat of the Marathas

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• There were several reasons for the defeat of the Marathas in the Anglo-Maratha Wars. The main
reasons were:
1. Lack of capable leadership: Later Peshwas and Maratha Chiefs, such as Baji Rao II, lacked lead-
ership qualities. Baji Rao II could not unite the Maratha Sardars, and their internal infighting weakened
their power.

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2. Powerful Maratha Families: The Maratha chiefs gradually became strong, autonomous, and jeal-
ous of central power. If the central authority tried to control them too strictly, they were willing to
join hands with enemies.
 Whenever central authority weakened, they tried to establish their autonomy.
3. Economic Backwardness: The Maratha rulers were mainly interested in raising revenue from the
helpless peasantry. They did not take much interest in trade and industry and developing a new
economy. They were primarily dependent on resources from outside, like Chauth and Sardeshmukhi.
4. Military weakness of the Marathas.
5. Mutual bitterness and lack of cooperation among the Maratha chiefs.
6. The Marathas hardly left any positive impact on the conquered territories.
7. The Marathas did not have cordial relations with other princes and Nawabs of India.
8. The Marathas failed to estimate correctly the political and diplomatic strength of the British.
9. They failed to give sound administration to the people outside Maharashtra.
10. Their dominion depended on force and force alone.
11. They failed to encourage science and technology.
Anglo-Maratha Wars Associated Treaties
First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82) Treaty of Surat (1775)
Treaty of Purandhar (1776)
Treaty of Salbai (1782)
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) Treaty of Bassein (1802)
Treaty of Surji-Arjunagaon (1803)
Treaty of Rajghat (1806)

5.5. Reasons for the Failure of Indian States

1. Constant intrigue and warfare among the Indian states:

 The frequent warfare and growing rivalry among the Indian states weakened the internal stability
of the state and made it easy for foreigners to intervene in internal politics.
 In the Mysore and the Marathas, the British used the disputes between these two states to use one
against the other to establish British hegemony over both states.
121

2. Lack of coordination and growing factionalism in the administration:

 Administration based on personal favouritism and loyalty, and in accordance with caste and other
MIH-I – Pre-1857

social divisions, led to the emergence of various factions who were in opposition to each other.
This proved to be fatal in a scenario where an external attack was possible.
 In the case of the Marathas:
 The Maratha Chiefs in different regions, such as Sindhia, Bhonsle, Holkar, and Gaikwad, lost
their energy in mutual fighting and intrigue.

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 The Maratha Chiefs tried to establish their independent authority, which weakened the central
Maratha authority.
3. Failure of resource mobilisation: The lack of resources was a major constraint for the Indian states to
fight against the British, who were already in control of one of the most productive parts of the country,
Bengal and had the backing of their home Government.

Pindari War (1817-18)

• The Maratha army consisted of:

1. Regular Force paid by the Marathas.
2. Pindaris: They were unpaid and instead relied entirely on the loot they plundered during wars.
• The Marathas, after accepting the Subsidiary Alliance system, disbanded the Pindaris.
• In 1812 and 1813, the Pindaris conducted successful plundering raids on Mirzapur and Surat, which
were located in British-controlled areas. These raids not only ruined the finances but challenged
the British Paramountcy.
• Ultimately, the British EIC, under the governorship of Lord Hasting, launched a campaign against the
Pindaris. By 1818, most Pindari leaders surrendered, and their followers dispersed.

5.6. Expansion of British in North India

• By 1818, the entire Indian sub-continent, except the Punjab and Sindh, had been brought under
British control. Part of it was ruled directly by the British, and the rest by a host of Indian rulers over
whom the British exercised paramount power.
• From 1818 to 1857, the British conquered Sindh and Punjab and annexed the Avadh, the Central
Provinces, and many other petty states. With this, the British completed the task of conquering the
whole of India.

Threat of Foreign Invasion

• Napoleon Bonaparte, a French military commander, wanted to establish relations with the Indian
princes and, together with them, attack the British in their possessions. In particular, he was keen on
joining the forces of Tipu Sultan and helping him drive the British out of India.
• Napoleon’s interest in India emerged around 1798 when he took the expedition to Egypt.
122

• In 1801, the Russian Tsar Paul I (Emperor of Russia) sent a secret proposition to Napoleon to carry out
a joint invasion of India and drive out the English and the EIC. Napoleon was apprehensive of the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Tsar’s suggestion and refused to join hands with him.

• In 1807, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I signed the Treaty of Tilsit. They agreed to invade India
through Turkey with Persia's support.
• When the news of the Treaty of Tilsit reached the British through a spy, the British signed an Anglo-
Persian treaty (1809) with the Persians. Under this treaty:

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 The Persian ruler agreed not to allow a foreign army to pass across their country to India.
 In return, the British promised aid to Persia in case she came under attack by a foreign power.
• Anglo-Persian treaty ended the possibility of the French invasion.
 From Napoleon’s first expedition to Egypt in 1798 to his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the British
feared Napoleon might attack India through the North-Western frontier of India.

The Great Game (Anglo-Russian Rivalry)

• Throughout the 19th century, the British rulers feared that Russia would launch an attack on India.
• The Russians believed that the British could potentially become a threat to them through alliances with
other countries on the continent. To counter this, they established a strong military presence in Central
Asia to keep England in check by the threat of intervention in India.

The Conquest of Sindh (1843)

Reasons of the Annexation of Sindh
1. Growing Anglo-Russian Rivalry: The conquest of Sindh occurred due to the growing Anglo-Russian
rivalry in Europe and Asia.
 The British were afraid that Russia might attack India through Afghanistan or Persia. To counter
this threat, the British government decided to expand its influence in these regions. However, the
British believed this policy could be successfully pursued only if Sindh was brought under British
control.
2. The commercial potential of the river Sindh.
• Historians have different viewpoints about the annexation of Sindh.
1. Some believe that the rulers of Sindh had turned hostile to the British after the First Anglo-
Afghan War (1838-42), which prompted the British to annex Sindh.
2. Others believe that the British were concerned that setbacks in Afghanistan might encourage
other rulers to fight against the British, which influenced their decision to annex Sindh as a stra-
tegic move.
3. For some scholars, the annexation of Sindh was because of Sir Charles Napier’s willingness to
annex this region to get prestige among British authorities.
4. Some believe that the economic aspect of the opium trade was behind the British annexation
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of Sindh. Sindh's strategic location was crucial for the opium trade, particularly the exportation of
Malwa opium to China through Sindh's routes. The British, aiming to control and halt this opium
MIH-I – Pre-1857

trade, saw the annexation of Sindh to cut off these routes and suppress the exportation of Malwa
opium.

Treaty of Friendship (1809)

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• The growing Anglo-Russian rivalry compelled the British to create a barrier between Russia and Brit-
ish India.
• In 1809, the British signed the Treaty of Friendship with the Amir of Sindh. Under this treaty, both
sides agreed to exclude the French from Sindh and to exchange agents at each other’s court.

Treaty of 1832
• In 1832, William Bentinck sent Colonel Pottinger to Sindh to sign a treaty with the Amir. The treaty
opened the roads and rivers of Sindh to British trade. It prohibited the movement of English troops
in Sindh by land or river.

Sindh became a British protectorate (1838)

• Lord Auckland decided to consolidate the British position in Sindh to save India from a possible
Russian invasion.
• When Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab captured a frontier town of Sindh, the British used the oppor-
tunity to consolidate their position in Sindh.
• Lord Auckland offered protection to the Amirs but compelled them to sign a new treaty in 1838.
Under this treaty, the Sindh became a British protectorate and Company troops were stationed in
Sindh at the Amir's cost.

Sindh Accepts Subsidiary Alliance (1839)

• In 1839, the Amirs agreed to a treaty with the British. As per the treaty:
 A British subsidiary force was to be stationed in Sindh.
 The Amirs of Sindh were required to pay Rs 3 lakh annually for the maintenance of the Company's
troops.
• In the 1840s, the Sindh was divided into three separate principalities:
1. Hyderabad (Lower Sind)
2. Khairpur
3. Mirpur

Annexation of Sindh (1843)

• Lord Auckland was the Governor General of India from March 4, 1836, to February 28, 1842. During
124

his time, the British EIC clashed with Dost Muhammad of Afghanistan, which proved fatal for the British
and marred British prestige.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Lord Ellenborough, who became the Governor General of India in 1842, wanted to secure the western
boundaries of British India.
• On 17 February 1843, in the Battle of Miani, the British forces under Sir Charles Napier defeated the
Amir and conquered the Sindh.

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• Finally, despite previous assurances that its territorial integrity would be respected, Sindh was annexed.
The British made Sindh part of the Bombay Presidency.
• In 1936, Sindh was separated from the Bombay Presidency.

Sir Charles Napier

• Sir Charles Napier was the Commander-in-Chief of British EIC's army and was duly awarded after
the conquest.
• After the conquest, he was appointed as the First Chief Commissioner and Governor of Sindh and
also received seven lakhs of rupees as prize money.

Conquest of Punjab
• Until the middle of 1808, the British authorities believed that Napoleon would invade India through
the North-West frontier. Hence, they favoured establishing closer contact with the ruler of Lahore so
that he could serve as a buffer against foreign invasion.
• However, after the Anglo-Persian treaty in 1809, which ended the possibility of a French invasion, the
British changed their attitude.
• In 1809, the British asked Ranjit Singh to withdraw his army from the Cis-Sutlej areas. Recognising the
superiority of British military power, Ranjit Singh abandoned his claim over the Cis-Sutlej Sikh
States.
 Cis-Sutlej: Territories east of river Sutlej.
 Trans-Sutlej: Territories west of river Sutlej.

The Treaty of Amritsar or Minto-Metcalfe Treaty (1809)

• Charles Theophilus Metcalfe of the British EIC and Maharaja Ranjit Singh signed a pact in 1809,
signifying their friendship. It accepted the Sutlej River as a boundary line for the dominions of Sikh
(Trans-Sutlej) and EIC (Cis-Sutlej).
• Although the treaty restricted Ranjit Singh from expanding his rule to the Cis-Sutlej states, it allowed
him to conquer places in the Trans-Sutlej states, like Kashmir and Peshawar.

Immediate Effects

Sikhs
125

• The Treaty of Amritsar prevented Ranjit Singh from establishing Sikh supremacy over the territories
between the Yamuna and Sutlej rivers.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Treaty allowed Ranjit Singh to bring the Cis-Sutlej states under his dominion and conquer places
like Kashmir and Peshawar.

British

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• The British gained Ranjit Singh's support and secured the northwest border from a possible French
invasion.
Anglo-Sikh Wars Governor-General
First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) Henry Hardinge
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) Lord Dalhousie

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)

• From the Treaty of Amritsar in 1809 until Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, there was no major tension
between the Sikhs and the British EIC. The British did not allow Ranjit Singh to establish his control in
the Cis-Sutlej areas but did not interfere in his domain.
• Since the 1830s, the British have been interested in Punjab. British officials were discussing the need to
launch a campaign in the Punjab region. In October 1843, Governor General Ellenborough discussed
the possibility of the military occupation of Punjab with the British government.
• After Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death in June 1839, the Punjab region was plagued by political insta-
bility, corruption, and general indiscipline in the army.
• After the Maharaja's death, there wasn't a strong and capable successor, so the Sikh state experienced
turbulence and anarchy. The period saw a series of disputed successions till 1843 when Duleep Singh
(youngest son of the late Maharaja Ranjit Singh) was crowned.
• This led to rapid changes in government and allowed selfish and corrupt leaders to come to power.
Eventually, the undisciplined but patriotic army took control, allowing the British to establish their rule
over Punjab.
• The Sikh army crossed the River Sutlej on December 11, 1845. Lord Hardinge, the Governor-General
of India (1842-44), accused the Sikhs of violating the Treaty of Friendship of 1809 and declared war
on 13 December 1845.
• The threat posed by foreigners united the Hindus, the Muslims, and the Sikhs. The Punjab army fought
heroically and with exemplary courage. However, some of its leaders had already turned traitors. The
Prime Minister, Raja Lal Singh, and the Commander-in-Chief, Misar Tej Singh, secretly corresponded
with the enemy.
• Because of such a failure of leadership, the formidable Punjab army was defeated in a series of en-
counters and was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Lahore on March 9, 1846.
126

Treaty of Lahore (March 9, 1846)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The British annexed the Jalandhar Doab (region of Punjab between Beas and Sutlej)
 War indemnity of more than one crore rupees was imposed on the Sikh.
 The Punjab army was reduced to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry.
 With a strong British force, the British resident was stationed at Lahore.

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Treaty of Amritsar (March 16, 1846)

• Since the Sikhs could not pay the entire war indemnity, the British ceded the territories of Jammu,
Kashmir, and Ladakh to Maharaja Gulab Singh for seventy-five lakh rupees.
• On March 16, 1846, the Treaty of Amritsar was signed between the British EIC and Maharaja Gulab
Singh, which formalised the transfer of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh to Gulab Singh.

Treaty of Bhairowal

• On 16 December 1846, the Treaty of Bhairowal was signed, by which:

 Maharani Jind Kaur was removed from Lahore Darbar and sent to Sheikhupura and then Bana-
ras.
 The British Resident at Lahore was given full authority over all matters in every state department.
 The British were permitted to station their troops in any part of the state.
• This made the British Resident the real ruler of the Punjab, and Punjab became a dependent state of
the British.

Consequences of the First Anglo-Sikh War

 The Punjab became a British dependency.

 The Sikh Empire lost Kashmir to the British.
 The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state with a Hindu Dogra ruler, was
formed on March 16, 1846,

Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)

• The British were not satisfied with their indirect rule in Punjab and were waiting for an opportunity to
establish a direct rule in Punjab.
• Their opportunity came in 1848 when the Punjabis rose in numerous local revolts. Two prominent
revolts were led by Mulraj at Multan and Sardar Chatter (Chattur) Singh Attariwala near Lahore.
• Diwan Mulraj Chopra was the governor of Multan. In a dispute over taxation, the British ordered his
replacement with Sirdar Khan Singh and Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew, a British political agent.
• However, when Agnew arrived at Multan in April 1848, he and his associate, Lieutenant William An-
derson, were murdered by an angry mob. These murders sparked widespread rebellion and triggered
the Second Sikh War (1848-49).
127

• In 1849, the Sikh forces were defeated, and Lord Dalhousie annexed the Punjab to the British Empire
in India. Thus, the British swallowed up the kingdom they were supposed to protect.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Duleep Singh
• Duleep Singh was the last ruler of the Sikh Empire and the youngest son of Ranjit Singh and
Maharani Jinda.

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• When Duleep Singh was five years old, he was proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab in 1843 with his
mother, Maharani Jind Kaur, as his Regent.
• After the defeat of Punjab in the First Anglo-Sikh war of 1845-46, he signed the Lahore treaty.
• British Governor General Lord Hardinge accepted him as the Maharaja of Lahore, and his mother, Jind
Kaur, was made his guardian. But in the Treaty Bhairowal, the British sent her to Banaras.
• After losing the Second Anglo-Sikh War, both Duleep Singh and his mother were exiled to Churnar
in 1848.
• Eventually, Duleep Singh was separated from his mother and was raised by a Missionary in England
and converted to Christianity. Later, he abandoned the Christian religion imposed by the British and
embraced Sikhism.
• The British authorities did not allow Duleep Singh to come to India.
• Duleep Singh wrote a letter to Alexander III of Russia, asking for his military assistance in liberating
Punjab. However, Alexander III of Russia was considered a peace-loving ruler and did not favour
fighting any major power then.

Administration of Punjab
• After the annexation of Punjab, it was governed by a three-member Board of Administration.
• In 1853, the Board of Administration was abolished and replaced by the office of chief commis-
sioner.
• Following the transfer of power from EIC to the Crown in 1859, the office of chief commissioner was
replaced by the lieutenant governor.

Lawrence Brothers
John Lawrence

• John Lawrence was a member of the Board of Administration of Punjab from 1849 to 1853.
• From 1853 to 1858, he was the chief commissioner of Punjab.
• In 1859, he became the first lieutenant governor of Punjab.
• From 1864 to 1869, he was the Governor-General of India.

Henry Lawrence 128

• After the First Anglo-Sikh War, Henry was appointed a British resident at Lahore.
• After the Second Anglo-Sikh War, he was appointed head of the Board of Administration. He was
assisted on the board by his brothers, John, and Charles Grenville Mansel.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Anglo-Sikh Wars Associated Treaties

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) Treaty of Lahore (1846)
Treaty of Amritsar (1846)
Treaty of Bhairowal (1846)

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5.7. Final Wave of Annexation

Doctrine of Lapse Policy

• Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. He was determined to extend
direct British rule over a vast area. He used the Policy of Doctrine of Lapse to annex Indian princely
states.
• According to the Doctrine of Lapse, when the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir
(son), his kingdom would lapse, that is, become part of the company’s territory. The state would pass
to an adopted child only if the British authorities approved the adoption. That is, the adopted
children had no legal right over the throne.
• Satara became the first state to be annexed under this policy by Dalhousie in 1848. Appa Sahib, the
king of Satara, died without a natural heir (son) in 1848. Just before death, he had adopted a child but
did not seek permission from the company.

States Annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse

State Year
Satara 1848
Sambalpur 1850
Udaipur 1852
Nagpur 1854
Jhansi 1854
Tanjore 1855
Carnatic 1855

[UPSC 2003] Consider the following Princely states of the British rule in India
1. Jhansi
2. Sambalpur
3. Satara

The correct chronological order in which they were annexed by the British is:
129

a) 1-2-3
b) 1-3-2.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

c) 3-2-1
d) 3-1-2

Annexation of Awadh (Oudh)

Nawab’s Cordial Relations with the Company (1765-1801)

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• After defeating the Nawab of Awadh in the Battle of Buxar, the Company forced a subsidiary alliance
on the Nawab. Under the subsidiary alliance, the Nawab:
 Agreed to the permanent stationing of a contingent of the British force in his territory.
 Agreed to the posting of a British Resident at his court.
 Gave assurance that Nawab would not employ any European in his service without the consent
of the British.
• With the signing of this treaty, the Nawab virtually threw away its independence. Over the period, the
British Resident dominated the administration and exercised an indirect rule.
• In the following decade and a half, the Awadh regime continued to function as a semi-autonomous
regional power loyal to the British.

New Era in Anglo-Awadh Relations (1801-56)

• Until 1801, Awadh was conceived as a buffer state protecting Bengal against the Marathas, and the
question of encroachment and annexation did not arise.
• With the arrival of Lord Wellesley in 1798, the relationship between the Company and Nawab changed.
• Lord Wellesley forced the Nawab to sign a new treaty in 1801 (subsidiary alliance), according to which:
 The Company took responsibility for defending the Awadh territories against all foreign and do-
mestic enemies.
 The Awadh army was drastically reduced to less than one-tenth of its previous size.
 The Nawab had to cede the Doab, Gorakhpur and Rohilkhand to the Company.
 The Awadh ruler had to set up a system to protect people and property. He was supposed to
work with the officers of the Company to make decisions.
• The last clause formed the primary basis for the annexation of Awadh in 1856.
• After the treaty of 1801, Awadh ceased to function as an independent state.

Fall of the Awadh (1856)

• The Company accused Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of misgoverning his state and advised him to introduce
the reforms, which he refused. The company cited this as violating the 1801 treaty, and Lord Dalhou-
sie annexed the Awadh on the grounds of misgovernment in 1856.
• The British argued that they were “obliged by duty” to take over Awadh to free the people from the
130

“misgovernment” of the Nawab.

• The Company took over the administration of Avadh and granted Nawab Wajid Ali an annual pension
MIH-I – Pre-1857

of 12 lakh rupees.
• It was challenging for the British to annex the kingdom of Avadh because:
1. The Nawabs had been British allies since the Battle of Buxar
2. The Nawabs had been most obedient to the British over the years.
3. The Nawab had many heirs and, therefore, could not be covered by the Doctrine of Lapse.

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Justification of Annexation of Avadh

• Undoubtedly, the degeneration of the Avadh administration was a painful reality for its people. Many
Governors-General advised the Nawabs to improve the administration, but misrule persisted.
• Like other princes of their time, the Nawabs of Avadh were selfish rulers who cared little about good
administration or the welfare of their people.
• Wajid Ali Shah, who became the Nawab of Awadh in 1847, showed no interest in public affairs and
neglected his duties and responsibilities. Instead, he preferred to spend time with fiddlers, courtiers,
and women and rarely interacted with anyone else.
• British used this portrait of Nawabs and Wajid Ali Shah to justify the annexation of Avadh. But, the British
were also responsible for the state of affairs because, since 1801, they had controlled and indirectly
governed Avadh.
• In reality, Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh to exploit its potential as a market for Manchester goods
and to satisfy Britain’s demand for raw cotton.

[UPSC 2008] The ruler of which one of the following states was removed from power by
the British on the pretext of misgovernance? (2008)
a) Awadh
b) Jhansi
c) French
d) Satara

5.8. Reasons for British Success in India

• In less than a century, the British not only established but also consolidated their power over India.
Here are some important factors responsible for their success in the conquest of India:
• Lack of Unity among Indian States: Regional Indian states like Marathas, Mysore, and Punjab did
possess the ability to challenge the British. However, they were busy fighting among themselves.
This conflict and hostility among Indian powers allowed the British to intervene and ultimately estab-
lish dominance.
• Diplomatic Policies: From 1757 to 1857, the British used not only the war but also various diplomatic
policies to consolidate and expand their rule over India. In fact, the English EIC rarely launched a
131

direct military attack on an unknown territory when annexing Indian states. Instead, it used the fol-
lowing political, economic, and diplomatic methods to extend its influence before annexing an Indian
MIH-I – Pre-1857

kingdom.
 Ring-fence policy
 Policy of paramountcy
 System of Subsidiary Alliance

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 Doctrine of lapse
• Strong Finance: The Indian states lacked resources and failed to develop sound financial, adminis-
trative, and military systems, which hindered their ability to fight against the British. On the other hand,
the British controlled one of the most productive parts of the country, Bengal, and had the backing
of their home Government. This gave the British an advantage in financing the wars in India.
• Superior Warfare: The British had better weapons, like muskets and cannons. They were much better
than their Indian counterparts.
• Brilliant Leadership: The English had brilliant leaders like Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Cornwallis,
Munro, Dalhousie and others. They were good at planning and leading. They also had second-line
leaders like Sir Eyre Coote, Lord Lake, and Arthur Wellesley.
 Indian leaders such as Haidar Ali, Tipu Sultan, Nana Phadnis, and Mahadji Scindia were talented
but often lacked support from their second-line commanders. Additionally, these leaders fought
among themselves instead of uniting against the English.
• Strong Military: The English EIC paid their officers and soldiers regularly, which fostered loyalty
among them. On the other hand, Indian rulers struggled to pay salaries regularly. Indian rulers often
relied on mercenaries who could easily switch sides in tough times.
• Lack of Nationalism among Indians: The concept of nation and nationalism was not developed in
eighteenth-century India. Hence, a soldier from Bihar or Avadh did not think of helping the Company
defeat the Marathas or the Punjabis. They did possess regional and local patriotism but lacked the all-
India feeling.

5.9. Lessons Learned by the English

• During their struggle with the French and their Indian allies, the English learnt a few important and
valuable lessons.
1. Advantage of rivalry among the local powers: In the absence of nationalism in the country, the
English could advance their political schemes by taking advantage of the mutual quarrels of the
Indian rulers.
2. Modern arms and ammunition: The Western-trained infantry, European or Indian, armed with
modern weapons and backed by artillery, could defeat the old-style Indian armies with ease in
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pitched battles.
3. Lack of Nationalism in India: The Indian soldier, if trained and armed in a European manner,
could become just as effective as a European soldier. Additionally, since the Indian soldiers did
MIH-I – Pre-1857

not possess a strong sense of nationalism, they could be hired and employed by anyone willing to
offer them good pay.

5.10. Important Events and Governors-General

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Governors-General of Bengal
Governor-General In Office Wars/Battles
Warren Hastings 1773-85 First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)
Lord (Earl/Marquess) Cornwallis 1786-1793 Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92)
Lord (Richard) Wellesley 1798-1805 Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99)
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05)
Lord Hastings (Lord Moira) 1813-1823 Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19)
Governors-General of India
Governor-General In Office Wars/Battles
Lord Ellenborough 1842-1844 Conquest of Sindh 1843
Henry Hardinge 1844-1848 First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)
Lord Dalhousie 1848-1856 Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)

5.11. Important Wars and Treaties

Wars Associated Treaties

133

First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) Treaty of Madras (1769)

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) Treaty of Mangalore (1784)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92) Treaty of Seringapatam (1792)

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82) Treaty of Surat (1775)
Treaty of Salbai (1782)
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) Treaty of Bassein (1802)

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Treaty of Rajghat (1806)

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) Treaty of Lahore (1846)
Treaty of Bhairowal (1846)

5.12. Unsung Heroes

Rani Velu Nachiyar (1730-1796)

• Rani Velu Nachiyar was the Queen of Sivagangai estate (Tamil Nadu). She is known by Tamils as
Veeramangai (the brave one).

First Queen to Actively Opposed the British Rule

• After Rani’s husband died in a battle against the combined forces of EIC and the son of the Nawab of
Arcot, she escaped with her daughter.
• Rani lived under Haider Ali's protection near Dindigul for eight years and established the first army of
trained women soldiers.
• In 1780, Rani waged a war against the British in collaboration with Haider Ali and Gopala Nayaker
and emerged victorious.

Suicide Bombing
• When Velu Nachiyar found the place where the Company stored some of their ammunition, she ar-
ranged a suicide attack on the location, blowing it up.
• This was the first-ever instance of suicide bombing in India.

5.13. Summary

British Conquest of Bengal

• During the 1750s, the growing commercial interest of the English EIC and its officials led to a con-
frontation with the Bengal Nawabs. The conflict ultimately led to the establishment of British power
in Bengal.
• A strained relationship between the British and the Nawab existed during the 1750s. This ultimately
led to the Battle of Plassey, in which the British defeated the Siraj-ud-Daulah (nawab) and marked the
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foundation of British rule in India.

• After the battle, the English proclaimed Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal and gained many trade privi-
leges from him.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Mir Jafar could not meet the company's growing financial demands. Hence, in October 1760, the
Company forced Mir Jafar to abdicate the throne and made Mir Qasim the Nawab of Bengal.

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• Mir Qasim was an able, efficient, and strong ruler. He soon emerged as a threat to the British position
and designs in Bengal. The British defeated him in the Battle of Buxar in 1764 and completed political
control over Bengal.

British Rule in Mysore State

• The British fought four wars against Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. The Marathas and the Nizam helped
the English to defeat the Mysore.
• In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, in 1799, the British army defeated and killed Tipu and established
control over Mysore.

British Rule in the Maratha State

• The defeat of the Marathas at Panipat in 1761 was a significant setback for them. After 1770, the
British exploited the internal conflict among the Marathas to further their expansionist policy.
• From 1775 to 1819, the British fought four Anglo-Maratha Wars.
• The British defeated the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1819 and established their rule
in the Maratha states. After the war, the Peshwaship was abolished, and the Kingdom of Satara was
founded and given to the descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
• By 1818, the entire Indian sub-continent, except the Punjab and Sindh, had been brought under British
control. Part of it was ruled directly by the British, and the rest by a host of Indian rulers over whom
the British exercised paramount power.

Conquest of Sindh
• In 1843, the British forces under Sir Charles Napier defeated the Amir and conquered the Sindh.
• Finally, despite previous assurances that its territorial integrity would be respected, Sindh was an-
nexed. The British made Sindh part of the Bombay Presidency.

Conquest of Punjab
• From 1845 to 1849, the British fought two Anglo-Sikh Wars and annexed the state of Punjab in 1849.

Annexation of states under the doctrine of lapse policy

• When Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, he used the Policy of
135

Doctrine of Lapse to annex Indian princely states.

• Satara became the first state to be annexed under this policy in 1848
MIH-I – Pre-1857

5.14. Timeline

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136
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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6. British Expansion Beyond Indian Frontiers

6.1. Foreign Policy of British India

• During the period of British domination, India’s relations with its neighbours were ultimately deter-
mined by the needs of British imperialism. The foreign policy of India (ruled by the British) was de-
signed to serve the interests of the British.
• The British Government had two major aims in Asia and Africa:
1. Strategic: To defend the Indian Empire and keep the European powers at arm's length from India.
2. Economic: To promote British economic interests.
• These aims led to British expansion and territorial conquests outside India’s natural frontiers. This
often resulted in border clashes and conflicts with neighbouring states.
• The foreign policy guided by British imperialism helped the British to promote their commercial and
economic interest. However, the cost of its implementation was borne by India:
 Indian soldiers had to shed their blood.
137

 Indian taxpayers had to bear the heavy cost. In 1904, for example, over half of India’s revenue was
spent on the army.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Expansion Outside India

• The British came to India as traders. Gradually, they started to interfere in India's political function-
ing and gained control over the subcontinent by following the policy of annexation.
• With India under control, the British shifted their focus to expansion outside India.

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6.2. Relations With Nepal

Gorkha’s Territorial Conquests in the West

• In 1767, Raja Prithvi Narayan Shah led the Gorkha army to attack the Kathmandu Valley (ruled by
the Malla dynasty) to take over Nepal's reign. This resulted in the disruption of trade between Nepal
and Patna (EIC).
 Raja Prithvi Narayan Shah was the last King of the Gorkha Kingdom and the first King of the
Kingdom of Nepal.
 Gorkha: The term is derived from a town in central Nepal and does not denote an ethnic group.
• The kings of the Malla dynasty in the Kathmandu Valley urgently requested assistance from Calcutta
(British). The EIC ordered Captain Kinloch of Patna to attack Prithvi Narayan Shah, but the Gorkhas
could defend themselves successfully.
• In the following years, the Gorkhas defeated the Malla rulers of Nepal, and Prithvi Narayan Shah be-
came king. They gradually built a powerful army and extended their sway from Bhutan in the East to
the river Sutlej in the West.

Nepal-Sikh War
• In 1805, the ruler of Kangra State (Himachal Pradesh), Sansar Chand, attacked Bilaspur. Bilaspur
sought help from the Gurkhas, who crossed the Sutlej River and attacked the Kangra State.
• In 1809, Sansar Chand invited Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab to fight against Gorkha and offered
him a Kangra fort in return.
• Knowing that he would have to fight against Gorkha in the future to conquer the territory east of the
Sutlej, Ranjit Singh agreed to help Sansar Chand.
• In 1809, After a long and furious contest, Ranjit Singh’s Sikh troops defeated the Gorkha army,
and the Gurkhas abandoned their conquests beyond the Sutlej.
• Except for the Kangra fort and 66 villages (allotted for the support of the garrison), Ranjit Singh
gave the remaining territory to Sansar Chand.
• In 1828, Ranjit Singh conquered the entire territory of Kangra, and the last portion of the once-
powerful Kangra State finally came under the control of the Sikhs. 138

Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16)

• In 1801, Sadat Ali Khan, the Nawab of Awadh, handed over the Gorakhpur to British EIC. This brought
MIH-I – Pre-1857

the two expanding powers (the Gorkhas and the British) face to face across an ill-defined border.
• In 1804, Amar Singh Thapa (a military general of the Gorkha army) conquered the Palpa and demanded
rent from Butwal near Gorakhpur.

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• The generals of the EIC warned the Gorkha kingdom to stay out of their land. The dispute over the
land border continued for a decade, and in 1814, Lord Hastings formally declared war on the Gorkha
kingdom.
• The British officials expected an easy victory, but the Gurkhas bravely defended their territory and re-
peatedly defeated the British armies. However, in the long run, the Gurkhas could not withstand the
superior British forces in terms of manpower, money, and materials.

Battle at Malaun (1815)

• The battle at Malaun lasted from 14 April to 15 May 1815 and was one of the bloodiest months of the
Anglo-Gorkha war. In the end, the British defeated the Gurkhas, and on 15th May, the Gurkha Com-
mander Amar Singh Thapa surrendered.
• On May 15, 1815, the treaty was signed between Amar Singh Thapa and Gen Ochterlony.
 The Gorkha territory west of the Mahakali River was ceded to the British, and all forts surren-
dered.
 Nepali soldiers were allowed to enter into the British Army.
• The Government of Nepal did not accept the British demand for the stationing of a Resident at Kath-
mandu, Nepal's capital. Hence, the peace negotiations broke down, and fighting resumed early in
1816.

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

Treaty of Sugauli (1816)

• The British forces won important victories and reached within 50 miles of Kathmandu. Finally, in 1816,
the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli between the Nepal Government and the British.

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• By the terms of the Treaty, the Nepal Government:

1. Accepted a British Resident at Kathmandu.
2. Ceded the districts of Garhwal and Kumaon.
3. Abandoned claims to Tarai.
4. Withdrew from Sikkim.
5. Gave up all territories west of Kali and east of its present-day borders.
• As a result of the Treaty of Sugauli, Nepal lost one-third of its territory to the EIC.

Advantages for the British

 The British gained greater trade facilities with Central Asia.

 The British acquired hill stations, including Shimla and Mussoorie.
 Gorkhas joined the British Army, increasing its strength.
 The Nepali soldiers who stayed back after the Anglo-Nepal war and their descendants often identify
themselves as 'Gorkhalis' rather than Nepalis.
 Similarly, those agitating for greater autonomy in Darjeeling called their territory 'Gorkhaland'. This
is because when the Gorkhalis crossed the Mahakali River to annex the hill states, the region was not
yet known as 'Nepal'.

Recruitment of Nepalis into the British Army

• The British EIC was impressed by the fighting spirit of Nepali soldiers and recruited them into the
British Army after the Battle of Malaun in 1815.
• After the Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16), more Nepali soldiers were recruited in the Gorkha regiments
of the British Army. Indian citizens were also allowed to join the Gorkha regiments, but only after
1947.
• After the end of colonial rule in 1947, a tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Britain was
signed. The tripartite agreement allowed India and Britain to continue to recruit Gurkhas to their
military.
• There are currently more than 20,000 Nepali nationals in the seven Gurkha regiments of the Indian
Army. Every year, some 1,400 Nepali youth are selected to join the Indian Army.
• The Gorkha troops of the Indian Army are highly respected for their bravery in battle. Former chief of
140

the Indian Army Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once said, “If a man says he is not afraid of dying,
he is either lying or he’s a Gurkha.”
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Ram Chand Thakur (1914-2002)

• Ram Chand Thakur was a soldier from the Gorkha Rifles from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.
• He joined the Netaji’s Indian National Army and composed many martial songs, including Kadam
Kadam Badaye Ja (which is sung in the Indian military) and the INA National Anthem.

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Gurkha Recruitment on Pause

• In 2022, the Indian government announced the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of its sol-
diers.
• The rules of the Agnipath scheme also apply to the Gurkha soldiers. The Nepal government objected
to the new scheme and blocked the recruitment of Nepalese Gorkhas.
• The Nepal government claimed that the new scheme went against the 1947 Tripartite Agreement,
which stated that any modifications to the agreement should be made through a political consensus.

6.3. Conquest of Burma

• With India under control, the British shifted focus to expansion in South East Asia. The British could
control Nepal and China easily, but Burma (now Myanmar) posed many threats to the British.

Burma Before the British Conquest

• Before the British conquest, Burma was under the rule of the Konbaung dynasty, which ruled from
1752 to 1885. The Konbaung dynasty was an expansionist who was always looking for expansion.
• King Bodawpaya conquered Tenasserim (1776), Pegu, and Arakan (1784) and led the foundation of
modern-day Burma.
• The Burmese rulers conquered Manipur and Assam in 1813 and 1822, respectively, bringing their
boundary line to touch the border of British India. This posed a threat to the British and led to the
Anglo-Burmese Wars.
• The conflict between Burma and British India was initially caused by border clashes and was further
escalated by expansionist desires.
• Following the three wars between the two expansionist powers, the British emerged victorious and con-
quered Burma.
Burmese Ruler (Konbaung dynasty) Reign
Alaungpaya (Founder) 1752-60
Bodawpaya 1782-1819
Pagan 1846-53
Mindon 1853-78
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Thibaw 1878-85

Causes of the Anglo-Burmese Wars

MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The expansionist urges of the British and the Burmese rulers and border clashes along the ill-defined
border.
 The British urge to exploit Burma's forest resources.
 To promote exports of British goods to the Burmese population.

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 To check the spread of French commercial and political influence in Burma.

Anglo-Burmese Wars Governor-General

First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) Lord Amherst
Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53) Lord Dalhousie
Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) Lord Dufferin

The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)

• The First Burmese War was the result of border clashes. Burmese occupation of Manipur and Assam
provided the source of conflict between the two.
• The British authorities looked upon the Burmese occupation of Manipur and Assam as a serious threat
to their position in India. British authorities sent troops to Cachar and Jaintia to counter the Burmese
threat to India. This angered Burmese Commander-in-Chief Maha Bandula, who marched their troops
into Cachar.
• In February 1824, British authorities declared war on Burma after the Burmese invaded and captured
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Shalpuri island near Chittagong, which was a part of EIC.

• After an initial setback, the British forces drove the Burmese out of Assam, Cachar, Manipur and Arakan.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The British decided to take amphibious action (through land and sea) to take over the Rangoon. In
1824, a naval force of 10,000 British and Indian troops led by Sir Archibald Campbell arrived in Ran-
goon. On April 1, Maha Bandula was killed.

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• By February 1826, the Anglo-Indian army had advanced to Yandabo (a town), just eighty kilometres
from the then-capital Ava (Inwa). However, the Burmese resistance was strong and determined, and the
war had become financially highly costly.
• Therefore, the British, who were winning the war, and the Burmese, who were losing it, were willing to
make peace. This led to the Treaty of Yandabo, signed on 26 February 1826, ending the war.

Treaty of Yandabo (1826)

• The Treaty of Yandabo is the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War, with the British
emerging victorious.
• The treaty was signed on 24 February 1826 by General Sir Archibald Campbell on the British side and
on the Burmese side by the Governor of Legaing Maha Min Hla Kyaw Htin.
• By the terms of the Treaty of Yandabo, the Government of Burma agreed:
1. To cede the coastal provinces of Arakan (now Rakhine) and Tenasserim (now Tanintharyi) to the
British.
2. To abandon all claims to Assam, Cachar, and Jaintia
3. To recognise Manipur as an independent state.
4. To accept a British Resident at Ava while posting a Burmese envoy at Calcutta.
5. To pay one million sterling pounds as war compensation
6. To negotiate a commercial treaty with Britain
• After the Treaty of Yandabo:
 Assam, Arakan and Tenasserim became a part of British India.
 Cachar, Jaintia and Manipur became the British Protectorate (under British Control).

[Prelims Practice] The Treaty of Yandabo was concluded as part of which one of the fol-
lowing wars?
a) First Anglo-Burmese War
b) Second Anglo-Burmese War
c) Anglo-Kuki War
d) Anglo-Maratha War
Answer: Option A
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Importance of the Treaty of Yandabo

 The Treaty of Yandabo enabled the British to annex Burma and consolidate their position in South East
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Asia.
 It put an end to one of the most expensive wars in British Indian history.
 It marked the beginning of the end of Burmese independence.
 The powerful Burmese empire that posed a threat to the British was finally conquered and crippled.

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Aftermath of the Treaty of Yandabo

• The War and indemnity left Burma weak economically and politically.
• The battle cost the British five to thirteen million pounds sterling, thus leading to a severe economic
crisis in British India in 1833.
• Due to the heavy economic loss, the EIC had to give up its privileges and lost its trade monopoly with
China.

Northeast India
• The North Eastern states were always a part of India, geographically, culturally, and politically.
• In North East states, dynasties rule the states for a long period of time. The Mughals, as well as the
Delhi Sultans, were never able to conquer the North Eastern states. Thus, the region of the North
East was partially isolated from the rest of the country.
• When Burma invaded Manipur and Assam, the British feared the loss of territory and, therefore,
shifted focus to Northeast India to consolidate their hold on the Indian territory.
• After the First Anglo-Burmese War, the Treaty of Yandabo (1826) was signed without the consent
of the rulers of the territories covered under the treaty, including:
1. Assam (Ahom Kingdom)
2. Cachar (Kachari Kingdom)
3. Jaintia (Jaintia Kingdom)
4. Manipur (Manipuri Kingdom)
• After the Treaty of Yandabo:
1. Assam: The Ahom Kingdom was terminated, and the control of Assam passed into the British
hands.
2. Manipur: Manipur became a British Protectorate.
3. Cachar and Jaintia: Initially, the British allowed the local rulers to rule the territory, but later, they
annexed them.
 British annexed the Southern Cachar in 1832 and Northern Cachar in 1854.
 British annexed the Jaintia in 1835. The main reason for the annexation of Jaintia was the
practice of human sacrifice. The Jaintias abducted the British subjects and sacrificed them to
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the goddess Kali.

The Second Burmese War (1852-53)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Second Burmese War, which broke out in 1852, was almost wholly the result of British commercial
greed.

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• British timber firms had begun to take an interest in the timber resources of Upper Burma. Moreover,
the large population of Burma appeared to the British to be a vast market for the sale of British cotton
goods and other manufactured goods.
• The British, already occupying Burma's two coastal provinces (Arakan and Tenasserim), now wanted
to establish commercial relations with the rest of the country.
• The aggressive Lord Dalhousie became the Governor-General of India in 1948. He was determined to
advance British interests in Burma and was waiting for a reason for armed intervention in Burma.
• A complaint from two British sea captains that the Governor of Rangoon had extorted 1,000 rupees
from them was used as the pretext for the war. A British expedition was sent to Burma in April 1852.
They quickly captured Rangoon, Bassein, and Pegu.
• During this time, Burma was undergoing a power struggle. In February 1853, the Burmese King, Min-
don, removed his half-brother, King Pagan.
• Mindon found himself in a difficult situation. He was not in a position to fight the British, and he
could not openly agree to surrender Burmese territory either. Consequently, there were no official
negotiations for peace, and the war ended without a treaty.
• With the annexation of Pegu, the British gained control over Burma's entire coastline and sea trade.
After three years of fighting against local guerrilla resistance, the British also gained control of Lower
Burma.

Third Burmese War (1885)

Causes of the Third Burmese War
Commercial Greed of the British

1. The possibility of trade with China through Burma attracted British merchants and industrialists.
2. Many merchants demanded the British conquest of Upper Burma to open more markets.
 In 1862, Burma signed a commercial treaty with the British allowing British merchants to settle in
any part of Burma and navigate the Irrawaddy River to China.
 However, the Burmese king held a trade monopoly on several goods, such as cotton, wheat, and
ivory. This did not satisfy the British merchants and the king finally abolished all monopolies in Feb-
ruary 1882.
145

Growing French Influence in Burma

• King Mindon died in 1878 and was succeeded by King Thibaw. In 1885, Thibaw signed a purely com-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

mercial treaty with France, providing for trade.

• The British merchants feared that:
 French and American rivals would capture the rich Burmese market.
 An alliance with France might lead to the founding of French dominion in Burma.

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 The French had already emerged as a major rival of Britain in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Trade dispute: Justification of War

• The British wanted to annex Upper Burma. Only a pretext for war was needed, and the Scottish-run
Bombay-Burmah Trading Corporation (BBTC) case provided this.
• The Burmese Government accused the Company of extracting more than double the quantity of teak
contracted by bribing local officials and demanded compensation.
• Lord Dufferin, Governor General of India, seized this opportunity and put forward many claims on the
Burmese Government.
• The British government demanded that Burma's foreign relations be placed under the control of the
Viceroy of India. The Burmese Government didn’t accept such demands. Its rejection was followed by a
British invasion on 13 November 1885.
• The Burmese Government was unable to effectively resist the British forces. King Thibaw surrendered
on 28 November 1885.
• The kingdom was annexed and officially became British Burma, a province of India, on January 1,
1886.

Independence
• After the First World War (1914-18), a vigorous modern nationalist movement arose in Burma. A wide
campaign of boycotting British goods was organised, and the demand for Home Rule was put forward.
The Burmese nationalists soon joined hands with the Indian National Congress.
• In 1935, the British separated Burma from India in the hope of weakening the Burmese struggle for
freedom. The Burmese nationalists opposed this step.
• The Burmese nationalist movement reached new heights under the leadership of U Aung San during
the Second World War (1939-45). Finally, Burma won its independence on 4 January 1948.

6.4. Relations with Afghanistan

Ruler of Afghanistan Reign

Ahmad Shah Durrani 1747-72
Dost Mohammad Khan 1826-39 & 1843-63
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Shah Shuja Durrani 1803-09 & 1839-42

Sher Ali Khan 1868-79
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Mohammad Yaqub Khan 1879

Ayub Khan 1879-80
Abdur Rahman Khan 1880-1901
Habibullah Khan 1901-1919

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Amanullah Khan 1919-26

• The rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for influence in Central Asia started in 1830 and
continued throughout the 19th century. The British rulers of India feared that Russia would launch an
attack on India through Afghanistan and the North Western frontier of India.
• The British wanted to keep Russia at a safe distance From the Indian frontier:
 To promote British commercial interests in Central Asia.
 To protect British India from a Russian invasion.
• The British concern about the Russian influence on Afghanistan led to the First Anglo-Afghan War
(1838-1842) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).
Afghan Wars Governor-General
First Afghan War (1838-42) Lord Auckland
Second Afghan War (1878-80) Lord Lytton
Third Afghan War (1919-21) Lord Chelmsford

First Afghan War (1838-42)

• Dost Mohammad Khan became the ruler of Afghanistan in 1826. This period was marked by geopo-
litical rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for influence in Central Asia.
• The British were concerned about Russian advances and wanted to use Afghanistan as a buffer state
to protect British India from a Russian invasion.
• Lord Auckland became the Governor-General of India in 1836. He proposed an alliance with Dost
Muhammed based on the subsidiary system. Dost Muhammed wanted to be an ally of the British
Indian Government based on complete equality and not as one of its puppets or subsidiary allies.
• Lord Auckland decided to replace Dost Muhammed with a friendly ruler in Afghanistan. On 26 June
1838, the Indian Government, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and Shah Shuja (ex-ruler of Afghanistan) signed
a Tripartite Treaty at Lahore. According to this treaty:
 The Indian Government and Ranjit Singh agreed to assist Shah Shuja in capturing power in Af-
ghanistan.
 Shah Shuja promised not to negotiate with foreign states without the consent of the British and
the Punjab Government.
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 Shah Shuja recognised Maharaja Ranjit Singh's (the Sikh ruler) claims over the Afghan territories
on the right bank of the River Indus.
The three allies attacked Afghanistan in February 1839. They defeated the Dost Mohammad and
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
placed Shah Shuja on the throne. Thus, the British Government interfered in Afghanistan's internal
affairs without reason or excuse.

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• However, Afghans did not like a foreign occupation or a king imposed by a foreign power. Shah Shuja
was disliked and hated by the people of Afghanistan. Gradually, the patriotic, freedom-loving Afghans
began to rise in anger.
• In 1840, during the conflict, Dost Mohammad Khan was captured by the British and sent to India.
• On November 2, 1841, an uprising broke out in Kabul, and the sturdy Afghans fell upon the British
forces. On 11 December 1841, the British were compelled to sign a treaty with the Afghan chiefs by
which they agreed to evacuate Afghanistan and restore Dost Muhammed.
• In January 1842, as the British forces withdrew, they were attacked all along the way. Out of 16,000
men, only one reached the frontier alive, while a few others survived as prisoners. Shah Shuja was
killed after the British left Kabul. Thus, the entire Afghan adventure ended in total failure.
• The British Indian Government reoccupied Kabul on 16 September 1842.
• The new governor-general of India, Lord Ellenborough, decided to evacuate Afghanistan. He negoti-
ated a settlement with Dost Muhammed, which recognised Dost Muhammed as the independent ruler
of Afghanistan. Consequently, in 1843, Dost Muhammed returned to Kabul and was restored to the
throne.
• The First Anglo-Afghan War was a major failure for the British, resulting in significant economic and
human losses—around one and a half crores rupees and nearly 20,000 men.

Phase of Non-Interference
• The British were concerned about Russia's growing sphere of influence. As the Russians continued to
advance southward, the British resumed relations with Dost Mohammad in 1854.
• A new period of Anglo-Afghan friendship was started in 1855 with the signing of a Treaty of Friend-
ship (Treaty of Peshawar) between Dost Muhammed and the Government of India. Under the Treaty of
Peshawar, both agreed:
 To maintain friendly and peaceful relations
 To respect each other’s territories
 To abstain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs
 To be friends of each other's friends and enemies of each other's enemies.
 Dost Muhammed remained loyal to the Treaty of Friendship. He maintained absolute neutrality
when:
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 England was fighting against Russia in the Crimean War (1854-56)

 England was facing the Revolt of 1857 in India.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• After 1864, the policy of non-interference was vigorously pursued by Lord Lawrence and his two
successors. The British also gave the Amir of Kabul aid and assistance to help him discipline his rivals
internally and maintain his independence from foreign enemies.

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• Thus, by a policy of non-interference and occasional help, the Amir was prevented from aligning him-
self with Russia.

The Second Afghan War (1878-80)

• The policy of non-interference did not last very long.
• After the defeat in the Crimean War (1853-56), Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. From 1870
onwards, the Anglo-Russian rivalry intensified. The hysterical fear of a Russian invasion of India again
haunted British officials and public opinion.
• Lord Lytton became Governor-General of India in 1876. He was asked to counter Russian influence in
Afghanistan or secure a strong frontier by force.
• The Afghan ruler (Amir), Sher Ali, was aware of the Russian threat to his independence. Therefore, he
was willing to cooperate with the British to eliminate any danger from the North.
• Sher Ali asked for the promise of military aid in case of need against internal or foreign enemies. The
Indian Government refused to enter into any such reciprocal and unconditional commitment.
• In July 1878, King Sher Ali allowed a Russian delegate to enter Kabul. Wanting to retain the British
influence, Viceroy Lord Lytton ordered a diplomatic mission to Kabul in August.
• Sher Ali refused to meet with the British mission. The British viewed this as confirmation of Sher Ali
Khan's inclination towards Russia and launched the Second Anglo-Afghan War on November 21, 1878.
• Sher Ali Khan opted to leave Kabul to seek political and military aid from the Russian Empire. He
died in Mazar-e Sharif (a city in Afghanistan), leaving the throne to his son Mohammad Yaqub Khan.
• In November 1878, approximately 40,000 British soldiers entered Afghanistan and occupied Kabul. In
May 1879, peace was achieved when Yakub Khan signed the Treaty of Gandamak.
• By the Treaty of Gandamak, the British recognised the Yaqub Khan as Amir (ruler) and secured:
 The right to keep a Resident in Kabul.
 Control over Afghanistan's foreign policy: Yaqub Khan agreed to conduct his foreign relations
with other states in accordance “with the wishes and advice” of the British government.
• However, this British triumph was short-lived. On September 3, 1879, the British envoy, Sir Louis
Cavagnari, and his escort were murdered in Kabul. British forces were again dispatched, and before
the end of October, they occupied Kabul.
• Unpopular for signing the ‘Treaty of Gandamak’ with the British, Yakub Khan abdicated the throne in
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1879. It remained vacant until July 1880, when Abdur Rahman, a grandson of Dost Muhammed, became
Amir.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1880, Lytton Was replaced by a new Viceroy, Lord Ripon. Ripon rapidly reversed Lytton’s aggressive
policy and returned to the policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

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• Lord Ripon recognised Abdur Rahman as the new ruler of Afghanistan. The demand for the mainte-
nance of a British Resident in Afghanistan was withdrawn. In return, Abdur Rahman agreed not to
maintain political relations with any power except the British.
• Thus, the Amir of Afghanistan lost control of his foreign policy but retained the power to administer
the country's internal affairs.

Abdur Rahman Khan

• Abdur Rahman Khan ruled Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.

Northern Boundary

• During the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan, a joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission was
formed after Russia and Great Britain agreed to work together to mark the northern boundary of
Afghanistan.
• The commission delineated a permanent boundary along the Amu Darya River.

Durand Line

• In 1893, Abdur Rahman Khan and British Civil Servant Sir Henry Mortimer Durand agreed to mark
the boundary between Afghanistan and British India. The boundary is known as the Durand Line.
• The Durand Line cut through Pashtun villages and has been the cause of continuing conflict between
Afghanistan and Pakistan.

British Policy in Afghanistan

• Throughout the 19th century, the British rulers feared that Russia would launch an attack on India
through Afghanistan or Persia (now Iran). The British reaction to the Russian threat was two-fold:
1. Forward Policy
2. Policy of Masterly Inactivity (Non-Interference)

Forward Policy
• A Forward Policy is a foreign strategy focused on gaining control of specific territories through inva-
sion, annexation, or the establishment of cooperative buffer states.
• Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India (1836-42), advocated the Forward Policy to protect
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India from the perceived Russian threat. This policy advocated establishing British control over Afghan-
istan to check the Russian advance.
Lord Auckland believed that the British Indian government should go forward to establish its control
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
over Afghanistan and check the Russian advance beyond the Indo-Afghan border to avoid danger-
ous repercussions on the disaffected Indian people.

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• This Forward Policy led to the First Afghan War, which sought to replace the Amir with a more favour-
able successor to achieve India's defence. The intent was not to colonise but to prevent the Russian
advance by controlling Afghanistan's foreign policy.
• In 1874, the new Government in Britain (Conservative Party) believed in the 'Forward Policy' and
gradually forced the Indian Government into the Second Afghan War.
• The members of the Conservative Party of Britain generally supported the Forward Policy.

Policy of Masterly Inactivity

• Sir John Lawrence, the Governor-General of India (1864-69), advocated the Policy of Masterly Inac-
tivity.
• The Policy of Masterly Inactivity aimed to reach a diplomatic understanding with Russia and adopt
a policy of watchful non-intervention in Afghanistan.
• In the case of the Russian attack, the Government of India preferred to meet the danger on the Indian
frontier itself since it was dangerous to strive for political domination over Afghanistan.
• The Policy of masterly inactivity arose out of disillusionment with the expense of forward policies,
emphasising observation, consolidation, and negotiation to establish British influence.
• The Liberals of Britain generally supported the Policy of Masterly Inactivity.

Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919-21)

• The First World War (1914-18) and the Russian Revolution of 1917 created a new situation in Anglo-
Afghan relations.
 The war gave rise to strong anti-British feelings in Muslim countries.
 The Russian Revolution inspired new anti-imperialist sentiments all over the world.
• The Afghans now demanded full independence from British control. Habibullah (ruler of Afghanistan)
was assassinated on 20 February 1919, and his son Amanullah, the new Amir, declared open war on
British India.
• By the treaty in 1921, Afghanistan recovered its independence in foreign affairs.
 In 1919, Amanullah established diplomatic relations with Russia, making Afghanistan one of the
first countries to recognize the Soviet government. As a result, a "special relationship" was developed
between the two governments, which lasted until December 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded
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Afghanistan.

6.5. Relations with Bhutan

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• At the beginning of the Company’s rule, the relationship between India and Bhutan was hostile. There
were frequent attacks by the Bhutanese in the Duars plains of British territory.

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• Warren Hastings signed an Anglo-Bhutanese Treaty on April 25, 1774, to end the hostilities and es-
tablish friendly relations with Bhutan. This treaty permitted EIC to trade with Tibet through Bhutan's
territory.
• The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) handed over Assam to the British, bringing them into close contact with
Bhutan.
• The Bhutanese took advantage of political instability in Northeast India after the Anglo-Burmese War
(1824-26). They committed various acts of aggression, leading to encroachments and adding to their
possessions of the Dooars. This led to an estranged relationship between the British India and Bhutan.
• The intermittent raids by the Bhutiyas on the Bengal side of the border further strained relations between
India and Bhutan
 The EIC’s engagement with Bhutan started in 1772 after the Bhutanese invaded Cooch Behar (a city
in West Bengal), which was a dependency of the EIC.

Duar War and Treaty of Sinchula (Ten Article Treaty of Rawa Pani) (1865)
• In 1863, a brief war broke out between the British and Bhutan. In 1864, the British launched the Duar
War. Bhutan was defeated, and peace was concluded by the Treaty of Sinchula, signed in 1865, by
which:
 Bhutan ceded all the Bengal and Assam Duars
 The British agreed to pay Bhutan an annual payment of Rs.50,000.
 The relations of the Bhutan with Great Britain started growing to the extent that the Bhutanese king
accompanied Col. Younghusband to visit Lhasa (Tibet) to sign a convention in 1904 through which
Tibet agreed to end its special ties with Bhutan in favour of the Britishers.

Treaty of Punakha (Treaty of Friendship) (1910)

• A fresh treaty, the Treaty of Punakha, was concluded in 1910, by which:
 Bhutan surrendered her foreign relations to British India and accepted the latter as arbiter in her
disputes with Cooch Behar and Sikkim.
 Britain increased the annual subsidy to Bhutan to Rs.100,000 and assured that they would not
interfere in Bhutan's internal affairs.
• After India's independence, a new treaty was signed in 1949, and the government of India further in-
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creased the allotted payment to Bhutan to Rs 500,000 a year.

6.6. Relations with Sikkim

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• By the end of the 18th century, the Gorkhas took control of Sikkim. However, after the Anglo-Nepal
War (1814-16), the British restored Sikkim's independence.
 The Treaty of Sugauli (1816) (between the British and Nepal): The British annexed the territories
of the Sikkim captured by Nepal.

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 The Treaty of Titalia (1817) (between the British and Sikkim): The British restored the territory of
Sikkim to the Kingdom of Sikkim, ruled by Chogyal monarchs.

Treaty of Titalia
• The Treaty of Titalia was signed between the Chogyal (monarch) of the Kingdom of Sikkim and the
British EIC.
• It returned Sikkimese land annexed by the Nepalese over the centuries and guaranteed the security
of Sikkim by the British.
• The British had their vested interests in befriending Sikkim, including:
 To open a direct trade route through Sikkim to Tibet as an alternative to the route through Nepal.
 To counter increasing Russian intrusion into Tibet.
• The Anglo-Sikkimese ties began to deteriorate in 1835 when Sikkim had to give Darjeeling to the
British in return for an annual subsidy of Rs.3000.
• Relations between Sikkim and the British soured further in 1849 when a minor quarrel led Dalhousie
to send troops into Sikkim. This resulted in the British annexation of Darjeeling and a major portion
of the Sikkimese Morang (terai) territory. Another clash occurred in 1860.
• In 1861, the Treaty of Tumlong reduced Sikkim to the status of a virtual protectorate.
• 1886, fresh trouble arose when the Tibetans tried to bring Sikkim under their control. The Government
of India carried out military operations against the Tibetans in Sikkim in 1888. The final settlement came
in 1890 with the signing of an Anglo-Chinese agreement.

Anglo-Chinese Agreement or Convention of Calcutta (1890)

• Anglo-Chinese Agreement was a treaty between Britain and China relating to Tibet and the Kingdom
of Sikkim. The Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne, and the Chinese Amban in Tibet, Sheng Tai, signed
the treaty on 17 March 1890 in Calcutta, India.
• The treaty recognised that Sikkim was a British protectorate over whose internal administration and
foreign relations the Government of India had the right to exorcise exclusive control. It also demarcated
the Sikkim–Tibet border.
 British protected states represented a more loose form of British suzerainty, where the local rulers
retained control over the states' internal affairs, and the British exercised control over defence and
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foreign affairs.
• China is said to have negotiated the treaty without consulting Tibet, and the Tibetans refused to recog-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

nise it.

Sikkim’s merger

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• In 1950, Sikkim became a protectorate of India through a treaty signed between the then-Sikkim
monarch, Tashi Namgyal, and the Indian government. This meant that while Sikkim was not part of
India, it was also not a fully sovereign country.
• The Indian government managed Sikkim's defence and foreign relations, while the Chogyal, as
the monarchy, controlled the internal administration.
• From the 1950s to the 1970s, the discontent against the monarchy in Sikkim grew because of growing
inequality and feudal control.
• Thousands of protesters surrounded the royal palace during the 1973 anti-monarchy protests. Finally,
in the same year, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Chogyal, the Indian government,
and three major political parties to introduce major political reforms.
• In 1974, elections were held, and the Sikkim State Congress, which advocated greater integration
with India, won.
• The assembly first sought the status of ‘associate state’ and then, in April 1975, passed a resolution
asking for full integration with India. This was followed by a referendum that put a stamp of popular
approval on the assembly’s request.
• The Indian Parliament immediately accepted this request, and Sikkim became the 22nd State of the
Indian Union in 1975.

6.7. Relations with Tibet

Nominal Suzerainty of the Chinese Empire

• Tibet is located to the north of India and is separated from India by the Himalayan mountain range.
• Tibet was ruled by a Buddhist religious aristocracy (the lamas). The chief political authority was exer-
cised by the Dalai Lama, who claimed to be the living incarnation of the power of the Buddha.
• The lamas wanted to isolate Tibet from the rest of the world. They acknowledged the nominal suze-
rainty of the Chinese Empire to repel foreign threats.
• With no threat from Tibet and China being militarily weak, the British interest in Tibet was purely com-
mercial in the beginning.
• Warren Hastings showed keen commercial interest in the region and sent two missions, one in 1774
and another in 1783. However, the isolationist and suspicious Dalai Lama (the ruler) declined the offer
154

to establish trade relations with the British EIC.

British interest in Tibet

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Both Britain and Russia were keen to promote relations with Tibet. British policy towards Tibet was
governed by economic and political considerations.
 Economically, the British wanted to develop the Indo-Tibetan trade and exploit its rich mineral
resources.

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 Politically, they wanted to safeguard the northern frontier of India.

• However, until the end of the 19th century, the Tibetan authorities blocked all British efforts to penetrate
it.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian influence in Tibet increased. The British government
perceived this as threatening India's security from the northern side.
• Under Lord Curzon, the British government decided to take immediate action to counter Russian moves
and bring Tibet under its system of protected border states.
 According to some historians, the Russian danger was not real and was merely used as an excuse
by Curzon to intervene in Tibet.

Expedition to Lhasa
• In March 1904, Curzon sent a military expedition to Lhasa, the Capital of Tibet, under Francis Young-
husbdnd. Younghusbdnd started his march into Tibet through Sikkim. During this expedition, 700 Ti-
betans were killed.
• Younghusbdnd reached Lhasa in August 1904, and after prolonged negotiations, a Treaty of Lhasa was
signed, by which:
 Tibet was reduced to the status of a protectorate of the British.
 Tibet was to pay Rs. 25 lakhs as indemnity
 The Chumbi Valley was to be occupied by the British for three years.
 A British trade mission was to be stationed at Gyantse (a town in Tibet).
• The British agreed not to interfere in Tibet’s internal affairs. On their part, the Tibetans agreed not to
admit the representatives of any foreign power into Tibet.
• The British accomplished little during the Tibetan expedition. Although it led to Russia's withdrawal
from Tibet, it confirmed China's suzerainty in 1906.

Anglo-Chinese Convention (1906)

• Anglo-Chinese Convention was a treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty of China and the British
Empire in 1906.
• This treaty, which was signed in the absence of Tibet, reaffirmed the Chinese suzerainty over Tibet. By
the terms of the treaty:
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 The British agreed not to annex or interfere in Tibet in return for indemnity from the Chinese
government.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 China agreed not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with Tibet's territory or internal
administration.

Shimla Conference 1913

• After the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the. Dalai Lama announced his independence.

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• Instead of recognising Tibet as an independent state, the British invited representatives of China and
Tibet to a tripartite conference in Shimla in May 1913. At the conference:
1. The Tibetans sought to acknowledge their independence, repudiate the Anglo-Chinese Conven-
tion of 1906, and the revision of the trade regulations.
2. The Chinese Government wanted that their sovereignty over Tibet should be recognised and their
right to control foreign and military affairs of the country should be accepted.
3. The British were more interested in the Indo-Tibetan border than Tibet's internal problems.
• On 27 April 1914, two agreements were concluded.
1. Tibet was divided into two zones, 'Outer Tibet' and 'Inner Tibet'. Chinese suzerainty over the whole
of Tibet was recognised.
 Outer Tibet would remain in the hands of the Tibetan Government at Lhasa under Chinese su-
zerainty, but China would not interfere in its administration.
 Inner Tibet would be under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government.
2. It was decided to draw a boundary between Tibet and British India (McMahon line)
• However, China refused to ratify the conference’s agreement (including the demarcated border) and
did not accept Tibet as an independent nation.

6.8. Important Events and Governors-General

Governors-General of Bengal
Governor-General In Office Events
Lord Hastings (Lord Moira) 1813-1823 Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16)
Lord Amherst 1823-28 First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)
Governors-General of India
Governor-General In Office Events
Lord Auckland 1836–1842 First Afghan War (1838-42)
Lord Dalhousie 1848-1856 Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53)
John Lawrence 1864-69 Duar War (1864)
Governors-General and Viceroys
Governor-General In Office Events
156

Lord Lytton 1876-1880 Second Afghan War (1878-80)

Lord Dufferin 1884-1888 Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Lord Curzon 1899-05 British Invasion of Tibet (1904)

Lord Chelmsford 1916-21 Third Afghan War (1919-21)

6.9. Important Wars and Treaties

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Wars Associated Treaties

Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) Treaty of Sugauli (1816)
First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) Treaty of Yandabo (1826)
Second Afghan War (1878-80) Treaty of Gandamak (1879)
Duar War (1864-65) Treaty of Sinchula (1865)

6.10. Summary

• During the period of British domination, India’s relations with its neighbours were ultimately deter-
mined by the needs of British imperialism. The foreign policy guided by British imperialism helped
the British promote their commercial and economic interests. However, India has borne the cost of
its implementation.

Relations With Nepal

• In 1801, the Nawab of Awadh handed over the Gorakhpur to British EIC. This brought the two ex-
panding powers (the Gorkhas and the British) face to face across an ill-defined border.
• The generals of the EIC warned the Gorkha kingdom to stay out of their land. The dispute over the
land border continued for a decade, and in 1814, Lord Hastings formally declared war on the Gorkha
kingdom.
• Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli (1816), according to which
the British got the regions of Kumaon-Garhwal west of the river Kali.

Conquest of Burma
• The First Burmese War (1824-26) resulted from border clashes. Burmese occupation of Manipur and
Assam provided the source of conflict. The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) ended the First Anglo-Burmese
War. After the Treaty of Yandabo, the Assam, Arakan, and Tenasserim became a part of British India.
• The Second Burmese War, which broke out in 1852, was almost wholly the result of British commercial
greed. It was ended in 1853 without a treaty. After the Second Burmese War, the British gained control
over Burma's entire coastline and sea trade.
• The British defeated the Burmese in the Third Burmese War (1885) and annexed Burma.

Relations with Afghanistan

157

• The British concern about the Russian influence on Afghanistan led to the First Anglo-Afghan War
MIH-I – Pre-1857

(1838-1842) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).

• In the First Anglo-Afghan War, the Indian Government, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and Shah Shuja at-
tacked Afghanistan in February 1839. They defeated the Dost Mohammad and placed Shah Shuja on
the throne. Thus, the British Government interfered in Afghanistan's internal affairs without reason or
excuse.

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• The First Anglo-Afghan War was a major failure for the British, resulting in significant economic and
human losses—around one and a half crores rupees and nearly 20,000 men.
• The British launched the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878. In May 1879, peace was achieved by
signing the Treaty of Gandamak.

Bengal and Assam Duars

• The British defeated Bhutan in the Duar War (1864). The Treaty of Sinchula concluded a peace by
which Bhutan ceded all the Bengal and Assam Duars to the British.

Sikkim
• By the treaty of Tumlong (1861), Sikkim became a British protectorate.

6.11. Timeline

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

158
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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7. Role of Governors-General in the Consolidation and Expan-

sion of British Power

• Robert Clive was the Governor of Bengal from 1757-60 and 1765-67. He played a decisive role in
the Battle of Plassey (1757) in Bengal, laying the foundation of British power in India.
• The Regulating Act of 1773 raised the status of Governor of Bengal to Governor-General of Bengal.
Warren Hastings was the last Governor of Bengal (1772-73) and the first Governor-General of Ben-
gal from 1773 to 1785.
• By the Charter Act of 1833, the Governor General of Bengal became the Governor General of India.
Lord William Bentinck was the last Governor-General of Bengal and the first Governor-General of
India.
• The Government of India Act 1858 gave the title of Viceroy or Crown's representative to the Gov-
159

ernor-General of India. Hence, from 1858 to 1947, the Governor-General of India was also called the
Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to the Viceroy of India. Lord Canning
became the first Viceroy of India in 1858.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

[UPSC 2008] Consider the following statements:

1. Robert Clive was the first Governor-General of Bengal.
2. William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India.

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Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: b)
[UPSC 2023] By which one of the following Acts was the Governor General of Bengal des-
ignated as the Governor General of India?
a) The Regulating Act
b) The Pitt's India Act
c) The Charter Act of 1793
d) The Charter Act of 1833

Answer: d)

7.1. Administrative Policies of the British for the Expansion of the British Em-
pire

• The expansion of the company's power from 1757 to 1857 mainly occurred in two ways:
3. Annexation of Indian states by the war
4. Annexation of Indian states by diplomacy
• The East India Company (EIC) rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory when
annexing Indian states. Instead, it used the following political, economic, and diplomatic methods to
extend its influence before annexing an Indian kingdom.
5. Warren Hastings’ ring-fence policy
6. Lord Hasting’s policy of paramountcy
7. Wellesley’s system of subsidiary alliance
8. Lord Dalhousie’s doctrine of lapse

7.2. Consolidation under Warren Hastings (1772-85) 160

• Warren Hastings was the Governor-General of Bengal from 1773 to 1785. During this time, the British
fought two important wars in the South.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

1. First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)

2. Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)
• Although the British could not defeat the Marathas or Mysore, they had demonstrated their capacity to
hold their own in India. They not only managed to survive in the South but also emerged from the recent
wars as one of the three dominant powers in India.

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First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)

• The First Anglo-Maratha War did not end in victory for either side. The Treaty of Salbai, signed in
1782, ended the war.
• The Treaty of Salbai gave the British twenty years of peace with the Marathas. The British utilised this
period to consolidate their rule over the Bengal Presidency.

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)

• The Second Anglo-Mysore War did not end in victory for either side. It came to an end with the Treaty
of Mangalore in 1783. Accordingly, all conquests were mutually restored, and the prisoners on both
sides were liberated.

Rohilla War (1774)

• Ali Muhammad Khan established the Rohilkhand Kingdom in 1721 at the foothills of the Himalayas.
It was situated between the Awadh and the Marathas.
• Fearing an attack by the Marathas, Hafiz Rahmat Khan (regent) signed a defensive treaty with the
Nawab of Awadh in 1772. However, no Maratha attack occurred, but the Nawab demanded money.
• When Rahmat Khan avoided payment, the Nawab, with British assistance, invaded Rohilkand. Colo-
nel Alexander Champion defeated the Rohillas under Hafiz Rahmat Ali Khan in April 1774 at the Battle
of Miranpur Katra.
• Warren Hastings, who dispatched British troops against Rohilkand, was severely criticised for han-
dling the Rohilla affair.

Warren Hasting's Ring Fence Policy

• Warren Hasting's Ring Fence Policy is a system designed by the company to protect their territories
by defending their neighbour’s border at the neighbour’s expense.
• The basic principle of the Ring Fence Policy was to defend the Company's territory at the expense of
the neighbouring state.

Defend Bengal from the Maratha by protecting Awadh

• In 1772, the possessions of the Company were confined to:
 A few scattered settlements along the Coast.
161

 The Northern Circars (acquired on lease from the Nizam)

 The provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• North India, except Punjab, was under Maratha rule, which posed a threat to Bengal. However, the
Company was not powerful enough to fight against the Marathas, and hence, it prevented any direct
confrontation.

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• Instead, the company allied with the Nawab of Awadh to defend Awadh against any aggression. The
Company assured the Nawab of military assistance against external aggression but at Nawab’s own
expense. Thus, by protecting the Nawab’s border, the company was also defending its territory in Bengal.

The Dark Period of British Power in India

• The 1770s were a dark period for the British power in India. This was because:
 The major southern Indian powers declared war against the Company. Thus, the British faced the
powerful combination of the Marathas, Mysore, and Hyderabad.
 The British were waging a losing war in their colonies in America, where the people had rebelled
in 1776.
 The British had to counter the French threat in Europe.
• However, The British in India were led at this time by their brilliant, energetic, and experienced Govern
General, Warren Hastings. He retrieved the vanishing British power and prestige with firm resolve and
determination.
• In 1782, Warren Hastings signed the Treaty of Salbai, which saved the British from the combined
opposition of Indian powers. It also gave the British twenty years of peace with the Marathas.
• During the Second Anglo-Mysore War, he bribed the Nizam with the cession of the Guntur district
and gained his withdrawal from the anti-British alliance.

Trial of Warren Hastings

• When Warren Hastings returned to England in 1785, Edmund Burke (a British Member of Parliament)
accused him of being personally responsible for the misgovernment of Bengal. This led to an im-
peachment proceeding in the British Parliament in 1787. The trial lasted for seven years, and in 1795,
he was acquitted.

7.3. Consolidation under Lord Cornwallis (1786-93)

• Lord Cornwallis was the Governor-General of Bengal from 1786 to 1793.

• Lord Cornwallis defeated Tipu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92) and concluded the
Treaty of Seringapatam (1792). The Third Anglo-Mysore War destroyed Tipu’s dominant position in
the South and firmly established British supremacy there.
162

Lord Cornwallis
Lord Cornwallis belonged to an influential and aristocratic family with wide political connections. He
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
was also a close friend of Prime Minister Pitt and Dundas (an influential member of the Board of
Control).

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• Cornwallis was the commander of the British forces during the American War of Independence.
Although he surrendered at York Town in 1781 before the American troops, his reputation was not
spoiled.

7.4. Expansion under Richard Wellesley (1798-1805)

• During Lord Wellesley’s reign as Governor-General, the British fought two important wars in the south:
1. Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99)
2. Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05)
• Lord Wellesley reversed the non-intervention policy of his predecessor, Sir John Shore. He expanded
British territory by using a subsidiary alliance system.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99)

• In the Battle of Seringapatam, the British defeated and killed the Tipu. After the victory, Mysore was
placed under the former ruling dynasty of Wodeyars. A subsidiary alliance was imposed on the new
Raja, which made Mysore a complete dependency of the Company.

Second Anglo-Maratha War

• The Second Anglo-Maratha War was fought on different fronts. The British defeated the Bhosale and
Scindia, but Holkar remained undefeated.
• In the end, the British gained complete control over the Orissa coast and the territories between the
Ganga and the Yamuna. The Peshwa became a disgruntled puppet in their hands.

Condition before Lord Wellesley

• Till 1797, the British followed a policy of consolidating their gains and resources in India. They made
territorial gains only when they could do it safely without provoking major Indian powers.
• The trading and industrial classes of Britain favoured a policy of peace, believing that war was injurious
to trade.

Arrival of Lord Wellesley

• Richard Wellesley (Lord Wellesley) was the Governor-General of Bengal from 1798-1805.
• By the time of his arrival, the two strongest Indian powers, Mysore and the Marathas, had declined in
163

power. Hence, the political conditions in India were favourable for a policy of expansion.
 The Third Anglo-Mysore War had reduced Mysore to a shadow of its recent greatness.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The Marathas were weakening themselves by engaging in internal conflicts and warfare.
• Lord Wellesley decided to follow the policy of expansion and bring as many Indian states as possible
under British control. The expansion of the British Empire took place at a faster pace after his arrival.
• To achieve his political aims, Wellesley relied on three methods:
1. The system of Subsidiary Alliances

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2. Outright wars
3. Assumption of the territories of previously subordinated rulers.

Reasons for the Policy of Expansion

• By the end of the 18th century:
1. The British traders and industrialists believed that British goods would be sold in India on a large
scale only when the entire country had come under British control.
2. The company favoured a policy of expansion as long as it didn't harm profits.
3. The British in India aimed to prevent French influence from entering India and, therefore, sup-
pressed any Indian state that tried to establish relations with France.
4. The British were determined to crush the threat of invasion by Zaman Shah, ruler of Kabul.

Shah Zaman

• Shah Zaman was the grandson of Ahmed Shah Durrani, who became the king of Kabul in 1783.
• Shah Zaman was invited by the Tipu to join in a concerted effort to oust the British from this
country.
• Shah Zaman attempted to invade India in 1793, 1795 and 1796. After failing in all three attacks, he
invaded India for the fourth time in 1798 and occupied Lahore. He eventually faced defeat and went
back to his country, Afghanistan.

System of Subsidiary Alliances

• The Subsidiary Alliance was a system of helping an Indian ruler with a paid British force. Under this
system, the British promised Indian rulers to protect them from domestic and foreign enemies.
Though the system was quite old, Lord Wellesley gave it a definite shape.

Evolution
• The system of subsidiary alliances was pioneered by the French EIC governor, Joseph Dupleix. In the
late 1740s, he established treaties with the Nizam of Hyderabad and Indian princes in the Carnatic
region to provide the paid French force.
• The system was subsequently adopted by the British EIC. Robert Clive negotiated a series of condi-
tions after his victory in the 1757 Battle of Plassey.
164

• Under the System of Subsidiary Alliances, the ruler of the allying Indian state was compelled to accept
the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its mainte-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

nance. The ruler, unable to pay the expenses, had to cede a part of his kingdom to the British.
• The British agreed to defend the ruler from his enemies. They also controlled the defence and foreign
relations of the protected ally. In return:
1. Indian ruler of the protected state should keep a British Resident at his court and disband his own
army.

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2. Indian rulers should not employ Europeans in their service without the approval of the British.
3. Indian rulers should not negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the Governor-
General.
• The British also promised non-interference in the internal affairs of the allied states. However, the
British Resident interfered in the day-to-day administration of the state. All this was done allegedly
for the ruler's protection, but in fact, it was a form of tribute paid by the Indian ruler to the Company.
 The System of Subsidiary Alliance was also aimed to prevent French influence from entering India.

Defects of Subsidiary System

 Indian states became subordinate to the Company and subservient to the British Resident.
 Indian rules lost their independence. They lost the:
 Right of self-defence
 Right to maintain diplomatic relations
 Right to employ foreign experts
 Right to settle disputes with its neighbours
 The Indian ruler lost all the sovereignty in external matters.
 The cost of the subsidiary force provided by the British was very high and, in fact, much beyond the
paying capacity of the state. Sometimes, the ruler ceded part of his territory instead of paying an annual
subsidy. Example: In 1800, the Nizam gave up part of his territories to the Company instead of paying
cash.

Adverse Effects on the People

1. Unemployment of Soldiers: The system of Subsidiary Alliances led to the disbandment of armies of
protected states, depriving lakhs of soldiers and officers of their hereditary livelihoods. Many of the
deprived soldiers and officers joined the roaming bands of Pindarees, which ravaged central India dur-
ing the first two decades of the 19th century.
2. Misgovernment: The rulers of the protected states neglected their administration and the interests
of their people as they no longer feared them, being fully protected by the British.

Benefits to the British 165

 The system of Subsidiary Alliances increased the military strength of the Company in India at the
expense of the protected states.
 It allowed the British to wage wars on distant lands while their own territories remained safe from the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

ravages of war.
 Through the British force and a British Resident, the British could overthrow the ruler and annex his
territories by declaring him inefficient.
 The British received tribute from the Indian rulers in exchange for the subsidiary force.

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 It made the British the paramount power in India.

 The expansion of British power became easy.

Enforcement of the Subsidiary System

• Hyderabad was the first state to sign the Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance. Later, the treaty was signed
by Mysore, Awadh, Surat, Tanjore, Carnatic, Maratha, and other states.
Protected State/Ruler Year of Signing the Treaty
Nizam of Hyderabad 1798
Ruler of Mysore 1799
Ruler of Tanjore 1799
Nawab of Awadh 1801
Peshwa 1802
Bhosale 1803
Scindia 1804
Holkar 1818
Chief of Sindh (Amir) 1839

Nizam of Hyderabad

• Lord Wellesley signed his first Subsidiary Treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798. By the treaty:
 All the French troops in Hyderabad were disbanded and replaced by a subsidiary British force.
 Nizam had to pay 24 lakh rupees yearly to maintain a subsidiary force of six battalions.
• In return, the British guaranteed the state of Hyderabad against Maratha encroachments.
• The treaty concluded in 1798 was an ad hoc measure; hence, a new treaty was concluded in 1800. The
new treaty increased the subsidiary force, and instead of cash payment, the Nizam ceded part of his
territories to the Company.

Raja of Mysore

• After the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, Krishnaraja III was made the king of Mysore. A special treaty of
Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on the new Raja, and the Governor-General was authorised to take
over the administration of the state in case of necessity.
166

Nawab of Awadh

• The threat of invasion by Zaman Shah of Afghanistan was the pretext for Wellesley to force the Nawab
MIH-I – Pre-1857

of Awadh to enter into a subsidiary treaty.

• The Nawab of Avadh signed a Subsidiary Treaty in 1801. In return for a larger subsidiary force, the
Nawab was made to surrender to the British nearly half of his kingdom consisting of Rohilkhand,
Gorakhpur and the territory between the Ganga and the Jamuna (Lower doab).

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• Moreover, the Nawab was no longer to be independent. He must accept any advice or order from the
British authorities regarding the internal administration of his state.

Attitude towards Tanjore, Surat and Carnatic

• Wellesley assumed the administration of Tanjore, Surat, and the Carnatic by concluding treaties with
their respective rulers.

Tanjore

• The Maratha state of Tanjore witnessed a succession dispute. In 1799, Wellesley concluded a treaty
with Serfoji. By this treaty:
 The British took over the administration of the state.
 Serfoji was allowed to retain the title of Raja and given a pension of four lakh rupees.

Surat

• The Nawab of Surat died in 1799, and his brother succeeded him. The change of succession provided
Wellesley an opportunity to take over the administration of Surat.
• Wellesley took over the administration of Surat in 1800, and the Nawab was allowed to retain the
title and was given a pension of one lakh rupees.

Carnatic

• Wellesley signed a treaty with Azim-ud Daulah (the nawab of Carnatic) in 1801. Accordingly, the entire
military and civil administration of Carnatic came under the British.

7.5. Expansion Under Lord Hastings (Lord Moira) (1813-23)

• Lord Hastings became Governor-General in 1813. He adopted a vigorous forward policy and waged
wars extensively. His aggressive and imperialist policies paved the way for the general expansion of
the British Empire.
• Lord Hastings defeated the Gorkhas in the Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) and secured the territories of
Shimla.
• In the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19), Lord Hastings crushed the Maratha power and removed
the last hurdle in the way of British paramountcy.
167

Policy of Paramountcy
• Lord Hastings started a new policy of paramountcy. According to the policy, the Company claimed
MIH-I – Pre-1857

that its authority was paramount or supreme; hence, its power was greater than that of Indian states.
To protect its interests, it was justified to annex or threaten to annex any Indian kingdom.

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• However, the process of annexation did not go unchallenged. When the British tried to annex the small
state of Kitoor/Kittur/Kitturu, Rani Chennamma took arms and led an anti-British resistance move-
ment.

Rani Chennamma (Queen of Kittur)

• Chennamma was born in Kakati (in the Belagavi district of Karnataka). She became queen of Kitturu
(now in Karnataka) when she married Raja Mallasarja of the Desai family. They had one son, who died
in 1824.
• After her son's death, Chennamma adopted another child, Shivalingappa, and made him heir to the
throne. However, the British EIC did not accept this under the Doctrine of Lapse and annexed the
Kitturu.
• The British ordered Rani Chennamma to exile the adopted child, Shivalingappa, using the policy of par-
amountcy and complete authority. But Chennamma defied the order.
• In defiance of the Paramountcy, Rani Chennamma led an armed resistance against the British East
India Company in 1824 to retain control over her dominion. She defeated the Company in the first
revolt in October 1824. During the second time, she was captured and imprisoned at Bailhongal Fort,
where she died on 21 February 1829.
• As one of the first female rulers to lead rebel forces against British colonisation, Rani Chennamma
continues to be remembered as a folk hero in Karnataka.
• After the arrest of Chennamma, Rayanna, a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor, carried on the re-
sistance. He was caught and hanged by the British in 1830.

7.6. Expansion Under William Bentinck (1828-35)

• William Bentinck adopted a policy of non-intervention and non-aggression with Indian states. He
annexed a few states because of the misgovernment of local rulers.

Mysore
• In Mysore, Wellesley restored Hindu rule under Krishnaraja III. In the beginning, the young Raja
functioned well with his able minister, Puranaiya. Later, when the young Raja assumed full control of the
government, he proved to be incompetent.
168

• In 1831, William Bentinck took over the administration of Mysore State and placed it under the
control of a commissioner. The Raja was given a pension.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The British controlled Mysore from 1831 to 1881, and in 1881, power was transferred back to the
Wodeyars.

Sir Mark Cubbon

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• Sir Mark Cubbon was the chief commissioner and de facto ruler of Mysore from 1834 to 1861. His
administration was beneficial to the people. He moved the capital from Mysore to Bangalore.
• Sir Mark Cubbon streamlined the administration, simplified revenue collection, and implemented im-
portant infrastructure projects to improve the state’s economy.
• The famous Cubbon Park in Bangalore city has been named after him to remind his services to Mysore.

Coorg
• Lord William Bentinck deposed the Raja of Coorg in 1834 and annexed the State. Sir Mark Cubbon
was concurrently appointed as the Chief Commissioner of Coorg in 1834.
• In sharp contrast to the chaotic rule of the last raja of Coorg, Sir Mark tried to improve the people's
standard of living. He provided timely assistance in establishing schools and helped German mission-
aries upgrade the standard of education.

Cachar and Jaintia

• After the Treaty of Yandabo (1826), Cachar and Jaintia became the British Protectorate. William
Bentinck annexed them to improve the administration.

7.7. Expansion Under Lord Auckland (1836-42)

• Lord Auckland (1836-42) became the Governor-General in 1836. He supported the forward policy,
which advocated an aggressive British intervention in Afghanistan to seize territory and assert influ-
ence to prevent threats to their Indian Empire.
• Auckland’s Forward Policy led to the First Afghan War (1836-42). Due to his failure in Afghanistan,
he was recalled in 1842. Lord Ellenborough succeeded him and ended the Afghan War.

7.8. Expansion Under Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)

• Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. He was determined to extend
direct British rule over a vast area. He annexed the Indian states using various means and policies.
• During the administration of Dalhousie, the British waged wars against the Sikhs and Burmese, ulti-
mately annexing the Punjab and Lower Burma.
• Lord Dalhousie applied the Policy of Doctrine of Lapse to annex Indian princely states such as Satara,
169

Sambalpur, Udaipur, Nagpur, and Jhansi. His strict policy implementation was one of the causes of the
Revolt of 1857.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1856, Dalhousie annexed the Awadh and argued that he was “obliged by duty” to take over Awadh
to free the people from the “misgovernment” of the Nawab.

Doctrine of Lapse Policy

• Lord Dalhousie used the Policy of Doctrine of Lapse to annex Indian princely states.

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• According to the Doctrine of Lapse, when the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir
(son), his kingdom would lapse, that is, become part of the company’s territory. The state would pass
to an adopted child only if the British authorities approved the adoption. That is, the adopted
children had no legal right over the throne.
• The introduction of this policy was the British EIC's final attempt to integrate Indian princely states
with the British Empire.
• Satara became the first state to be annexed under this policy by Dalhousie in 1848. Appa Sahib, the
king of Satara, died without a natural heir (son) in 1848. Just before death, he had adopted a child but
did not seek permission from the company.
 Lord Dalhousie is often associated with the Doctrine of Lapse policy. However, he did not create
the policy himself. It was already in existence before he assumed office. However, Dalhousie imple-
mented it more stringently than his predecessors.
 The British EIC took over the princely state of Kitturu in 1824 using the 'doctrine of lapse', which
was likely the first time the doctrine was applied.

States Annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse

State Year
Satara 1848
Sambalpur 1850
Udaipur 1852
Nagpur 1854
Jhansi 1854
Tanjore 1855
Carnatic 1855
• In 1857, many Indian rulers from whom the states were annexed under this policy fought against the
British. As a matter of policy, after the Mutiny of 1857, the doctrine of lapse was withdrawn.
• Dalhousie's annexations and the doctrine of lapse caused great anger among the ruling princes in India,
making it one of the causes of the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
 Due to the strict implementation of the policy of doctrine of lapse, not only the royal families but also
170

ordinary citizens who sympathized with these kings revolted against the Company in 1857.

Reasons for the Policy of Annexation

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Many British historians believe that Dalhousie’s main objective was to end misrule in the annexed states.
However, his policy's underlying motive was the expansion of British exports to India.
• Dalhousie believed that the maladministration of Indian rulers in the native states of India was nega-
tively affecting British exports to India. Therefore, his annexation policy in India was primarily driven by

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British interests, specifically the desire to expand exports to India. It was not motivated by any noble
intention to improve the maladministration of Indian rulers.

[UPSC 2003] Consider the following Princely states of the British rule in India
4. Jhansi
5. Sambalpur
171

6. Satara

The correct chronological order in which they were annexed by the British is:
MIH-I – Pre-1857

e) 1-2-3
f) 1-3-2.
g) 3-2-1
h) 3-1-2

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7.9. Summary

Important Events and Governors-General

Governors-General of Bengal
Governor-General In Office Events
Warren Hastings 1773-1785 Rohilla War (1774)
First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)
Abolished the system of Dual Government
Lord (Earl/Marquess) Cornwallis 1786-1793 Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-92)
Sir John Shore 1793-1798 Followed the policy of non-intervention in
the Battle of Kharda between Nizam and Ma-
rathas.
Lord (Richard) Wellesley 1798-1805 Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-99)
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05)
Policy of Subsidiary Alliance System
Took over the administration of Tanjore
(1799), Surat (1800) and Carnatic (1801)
Lord Minto I 1807-1813 Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Ranjit Singh
Lord Hastings (Lord Moira) 1813-1823 Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16)
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-19)
Pindari War (1817-18)
Lord Amherst 1823-1828 First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)
Lord William Bentinck 1828-1834
Governors-General of India
Governor-General In Office Events
Lord William Bentinck 1834-1835 Annexation of Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834),
central Cachar (1834) and Jaintia (1835)
Lord Auckland 1836–1842 First Afghan War (1838-42)
172

Forward Policy
Lord Ellenborough 1842-1844 Conquest of Sindh 1843
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Henry Hardinge 1844-1848 First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)

Lord Dalhousie 1848-1856 Policy of Doctrine of Lapse
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)
Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53)

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Annexation of Awadh (1856)

Governors-General and Viceroys
Governor-General In Office Events
Sir John Lawrence 1864-1869 Policy of Masterly Inactivity
Duar War or Anglo-Bhutan War (1864-65)
Lord Lytton 1876-1880 Second Afghan War (1878-80)
Lord Dufferin 1884-1888 Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885)
Lord Curzon 1899-1905 British Invasion of Tibet (1904)
Lord Chelmsford 1916-1921 Third Afghan War (1919-21)

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

173
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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8. British Administration in India – I (1765-1858)

8.1. English East India Company

• The English East India Company (EIC) was founded in 1600. In India, it established its first factory in
Surat in 1612.
• Between 1612 and 1757, the EIC set up "factories" in several locations, mostly in coastal India. By the
mid-18th century, three Presidency towns, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, had grown. The British ad-
ministered these presidencies with the help of Governors.
• The Court of Directors was the executive body of the company, situated in London. They recruited
all the officials and controlled the Indian administration. The directors were elected by the company's
shareholders (Court of Proprietors).

Relationship between EIC and the British Government

• The East India Company (EIC) was a commercial body designed to trade with the East. Its monopoly
kept the other merchants out of the eastern trade. The higher authority of the Company, the Court of
Directors, was situated far away from India in Britain.
• After 1765, the EIC held political power over a large section of India's population. It became clear that
the power and sovereignty of the Indian empire was vested in the Company.
174

• Due to this situation and relationship, the British government faced many problems, including:
1. To define the relationship between EIC and its possessions with the British Government.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. To determine how the Company's authorities in Britain were to control officials and soldiers work-
ing in India.
• Many sections of British society criticised the EIC for various reasons:

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1. Merchants, Manufacturers, and Enterprises: They wanted a share in the profitable Indian trade.
They worked hard to destroy the Company’s trade monopoly, and to achieve this, they attacked the
company’s administration of Bengal.
2. Ministers and MPs: They sought to win popular support by forcing the Company to pay tribute
to the British Government so that Indian revenues could be used to reduce taxation or the public
debt of England. In 1767, the Parliament passed an act obliging the Company to pay the British
treasury £ 400,000 annually.
3. Political Thinkers and Statesmen: They wanted the British Government to control the activities of
the Company. They feared that if the Company and its vast empire were not controlled, then the
Company would control British administration and destroy the liberties of the British people.
4. New School of Economists: Those advocating free trade condemned exclusive companies. Adam
Smith, in his book Wealth of Nations, wrote that exclusive companies were causing harm both to
the countries that established them and the countries they govern.
• The company’s rule from 1765 to 1772 proved a complete failure. Although the Company's servants
collected wealth, the Company faced a serious financial crisis. Thus, reorganising the relations between
the British state and the Company’s authorities became necessary.
• In 1772, the EIC asked the Government for a loan of £ 1,000,000. This gave Parliament a long-awaited
chance to assert its right to control the political affairs of the Company.
• The EIC had King George III as its patron, so it fought back. In the end, Parliament worked out a com-
promise that delicately balanced the interests of the Company and the various influential sections of
British society.
• It was decided that:
1. The British Government would control the basic policies of the Company’s Indian administration
so that British rule in India was carried on in the interests of the British upper classes.
2. The Company would retain:
 Its monopoly of Eastern trade and the valuable right of appointing its officials in India.
 Managing the Indian administration by the Directors of the Company.
• In 1773, the British Parliament passed its first Act to control the Company's Administration, the Regu-
lating Act. The Act made changes in the constitution of the Company at home; all of the territories in
175

India were subjected to some degree of control.

 Many British society members, who were excluded from the East by the EIC's monopoly, criticised the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Company officials for oppressing Indians and amassing great wealth. They gave these officials the
title of 'nabobs'. Their two main targets were Robert Clive and Warren Hastings.

8.2. The Structure of Government

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• After the Battles of Plassey and Buxar, the English EIC emerged as a powerful commercial and military
power in Bengal. In the latter half of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the British Company transformed
from trader-conquerors to rulers.
• The transition from being a trader to becoming a ruler necessitated the formation of an institution and
a set of rules to govern the people under their authority. This procedure initially depended on the pre-
colonial institutions and methods of governance, which were subsequently modified on an ad hoc
basis and eventually led to a reorganisation of governmental institutions.

Dual System of Government

• In 1765, when the officials of the EIC gained control over Bengal, they had no plans to introduce any
changes in its administration. Their sole objective was to continue their profitable trade and collect
taxes for remission to England.
• From 1765 to 1772, in the Dual system of Government, Indian officials were allowed to function as
before but under the overall control of the British Governor and officials.
• The company’s rule under the Dual Government was unjust and corrupt. The proprietors of the Com-
pany benefitted from raising the dividends to 10% in 1767. The servants of the Company made quick
gains, but the Company faced a serious financial crisis.
 The Company's English servants took advantage of their position to make quick fortunes. Robert
Clive returned to England at the age of 34 with wealth and property yielding £ 40,000 a year.

Administration by Company’s Servants

• After realising that the old administration methods were not adequately serving British aims, the Com-
pany (Warren Hastings) ended the Dual Government in 1772.
• In 1772, the company took over all aspects of administration. However, it retained the same servants
who previously handled trade to manage administrative duties.
• The flaws inherent in the administration of a country by a purely commercial company are soon
revealed. The servants amassed untold wealth through corruption, indulging in illegal private trade,
extorting bribes and gifts from rajas and nawabs, and oppressing local weavers and artisans, merchants,
and zamindars. While the company's employees prospered, the company went bankrupt.

British Control over Administration

176

• Starting from 1773, the various acts of Parliament completely subordinated the Company and its
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Indian administration to the British Government.

• In 1773, it was recognised that the day-to-day administration of India could not be run or even super-
intended from London. Therefore, the supreme authority in India was delegated to the Governor-Gen-
eral in the Council.

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• The Governor-General, having the authority to overrule his Council in important questions, became
the real ruler of India, functioning under the superintendence, control, and direction of the British
Government.
• Indians were allowed no share in their own administration. The three seats of authority, as far as India
was concerned, were:
1. The Court of Directors of the Company
2. The Board of Control representing the British Government
3. The Governor-General
However, no Indian had any association with any of the three authorities.

Regulating Act 1773

• In 1773, the British Parliament decided to control the Company's Administration and passed the Regu-
lating Act. It was the British Parliament's first act to regulate the Company's affairs in India.

Court of Director

• The Act made changes in the constitution of the Court of Directors. The Court of Proprietors would
now elect twenty-four members every four years, with six directors retiring annually instead of all
directors being elected yearly.
• The actions of the Directors were subjected to the supervision of the British Government. The Direc-
tors of the Company were required to submit all communications about the civil and military affairs
of Bengal (administration of Bengal) and the revenues of India to the British Government.

Executive Government

• Governor-General of Bengal: The status of Governor of Bengal was raised to the Governor-General
of Bengal, and Governors of other provinces in India were subordinate to him.
 Warren Hastings was the last Governor of Bengal (1772-73) and the first Governor-General of Ben-
gal from 1773 to 1785.
• Governor General in Council: The Governor-General was to be assisted by a council of four members.
Decisions were to be made by majority vote, and the Governor-General had a casting vote.
 The Governor General in Council was given the power:
1. To administer the Bengal Presidency (civil and military administration)
177

2. To superintend and control the presidencies of Madras and Bombay in matters of war and
peace.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The Governor-General did not possess the power of veto.

• Subordination of Madras and Bombay: The Governors of Madras and Bombay were required to reg-
ularly send information to the Governor-General regarding the Company's government revenues and
interests.

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 Before the Regulating Act of 1773, the three EIC presidencies were independent, and no one was
subordinate to another.
• Final Authority: The Governor General was directly controlled by the Court of Directors and kept it
fully informed of the Company's affairs.

Judiciary

• The Act established a Supreme Court of Justice at Calcutta with the Chief Justice and three judges
to give justice to Europeans, their employees and the citizens of Calcutta.

Effects of the Regulating Act

 The Regulating Act laid the foundation of a Central administration and instituted a system of Parlia-
mentary control. It created a centralised administration in India, making the Bombay and Madras Gov-
ernors subordinate to the Governor-General of Bengal.
 It introduced a system of checks and balances. It made the Governors subordinate to the Governor-
General, the Governor-General subordinate to his Council, and the Supreme Court effective in its control
over the Governor-General in Council.
 It recognised the political and administrative functions of the company in addition to its commercial
function (trade).

Defects of the Regulating Act

 The Governor-General was placed at the mercy of his Council. Three Councillors could combine and
outvote the Governor-General on any matter, often creating deadlocks in the administration. The Gov-
ernor-General had no power to override the council.
 The Governor-General’s control over the other two Presidencies proved inadequate in practice.
 The supervision of the British government was ineffective.

Pitt’s India Act 1784

• Pitt’s Act gave the British Government supreme control over the Company’s affairs and administration
in India.
• The Act established a Board of Control consisting of six commissioners, including two Cabinet min-
isters. The Board of Control was established:
178

 To guide and control the work of the Court of Directors and the Government of India.
 To control all matters of civil and military affairs and revenue of the British territories in India.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In important and urgent matters, the Board of Control had the power to send direct orders to India
through a secret committee of Directors.
• Pitt’s Act reduced the number of members of the Governor-General's Council to three. One of them
was to be the Commander-in-Chief. This enabled the Governor-General to get a majority even if he
could get the support of only one member.

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• The Governor-General and Council were made subordinate to the British Government. They were
forbidden to declare war and enter into any treaty without the sanction of the directors or the secret
committee.
• The Company's possessions in India came under the supremacy of the British Parliament and were
called British possessions.
 The Government of India was to be carried on till 1857 according to the framework given in the
Pitt's Act. However, later enactments gradually diminished the powers and privileges of the Company.

Amending Act of 1786

• In 1786, the Governor-General or Governor was given the authority to overrule his Council in matters
of importance affecting peace (tranquillity), safety, or the interests of the Empire in India.
• The offices of the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief were to be united in the same
person.

Background

• Lord Cornwallis became the Governor-General of Bengal in 1786. He demanded the overriding
power and also to be the Commander-in-Chief.
• The Amending Act of 1786 conceded both of his demands.

Declaratory Act of 1788

• The Declaratory Act of 1788 gave full powers and supremacy to the Board of Control. This was a
step towards transferring the Company's powers to the Crown.

Charter Act of 1813

• The Charter Act of 1813 renewed the Company's Charter for 20 years, but it asserted the sovereignty
of the British Crown over the Indian territories held by the Company. The company was allowed to
have territorial possessions for another 20 years.
• It directed to maintain separate accounts of the Company's territorial and commercial revenues.
• The local government in India was granted the authority to levy taxes on individuals.
• Abolition of Trade Monopoly: The Charter Act of 1813 ended the company’s trade monopoly in
India, and trade with India was thrown open to all British subjects. Trade in tea and opium and trade
179

with China were still exclusive to the Company.

• Education: The Act of 1813 required the Governor-General in Council to allocate at least one lakh ru-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

pees annually for education.

 It permitted the Christian missionaries to conduct religious and educational activities in India.

[UPSC 2019] Consider the following statements about 'the Charter Act of 1813':

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1. It ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company in India except for trade in tea and trade with
China.
2. It asserted the sovereignty of the British Crown over the Indian territories held by the Company.
3. The revenues of India were now controlled by the British Parliament.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: a

Charter Act of 1833

• The Governor-General of Bengal became the Governor-General of India.
 Lord William Bentinck was the last Governor-General of Bengal and the first Governor-General of
India.

Governor-General in Council

• The Governor General's Executive Council was expanded to include the Law Member, bringing the total
number of members to four. (Pitt’s Act of 1784 reduced it to three)
 Lord Macaulay was the first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council. He influenced the
government's educational policy for many years.
• The Governor-General in Council was given the power to legislate for all British territories in India.
Hence, the Governors of Bombay and Madras were deprived of their legislative power.
• The Council was given the power to control, superintend, and direct the Company's civil and military
affairs.
• The Bombay, Bengal, Madras and other regions were subjected to complete control of the Governor
General in Council.

Law Commission

• The Governor-General was empowered to appoint the Law Commission to study, collect and codify
180

various rules and regulations prevalent in India.

 The first Law Commission was appointed in India in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 and was
MIH-I – Pre-1857

presided over by Lord Macaulay.

Civil Service

• The Act declared that no Indians should be disqualified for any place in the company's service. How-
ever, nothing was done, and Indians remained excluded from higher posts in civil and military service.

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Trade

• The Charter Act of 1833 ended the Company's monopoly of tea trade and trade with China.
• The Company was to have only political functions (deprived of commercial function). Thus, the Act
ended the Company as a commercial body.

Slavery

• The Charter Act of 1833 instructed the government to abolish slavery.

 1807: Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing the trans-Atlantic slave trade
(British Atlantic slave trade).
 1833: Britain passed the Abolition of Slavery Act, ordering gradual abolition of slavery in all British
colonies.
 1843: The Indian government abolished slavery.

Other Provisions

• The number of members of the Presidency Councils was reduced to two.

• The Indian possessions of the Company were to be held in trust for the British Crown.
• India was to pay the Company's debts. The company’s shareholders were guaranteed a dividend of
10.5% per annum.

Charter Act of 1853

Background

• Politically conscious Indians made efforts to bring to an end the reactionary government of the East
India Company. They favoured the renewal of the Charter.
• Raja Rammohan Roy went to Britain and represented India's case before the Parliamentary Select Com-
mittee. The Bombay Association and the Madras Native Association sent petitions on similar lines.
However, it was strongly opposed by leaders of different parties, ministers, the president of the Board
of Control, and the Company's Directors.
• The educated Indians' efforts influenced the Charter Act of 1853.

Indian/Central Legislative Council

• The Charter Act of 1853 separated the council's executive and legislative functions. In its legislative
181

capacity, the Council was to consist of 12 members. These included:

 The Governor-General of India
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Commander-in-Chief
 Four members of the Governor-General’s Council
 Six legislative members, including four representatives from the local government of Bombay,
Bengal, Madras and North Western provinces (local representation)
• The consent of the Governor-General was made necessary for all legislative proposals.

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• For the first time, legislation was treated as a special function of the government, requiring special ma-
chinery and procedures.
 No Indian was associated with the Legislative Councils.

Civil Service

• The Act provided for appointing members of the covenanted civil service of India based on a suitable
competitive examination. Thus, Indians were allowed to enter the civil service.
• The committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Service) headed by Lord Macaulay was appointed
to advise on the measures to be adopted to give effect to the Act of 1853.

Law Member

• The Law Member was made a full member of the Executive Council of the Governor General.

Number of Directors

• The number of Directors was reduced from 24 to 18. Six of them were to be nominated by the Crown.
• The people in Britain criticised the Company for:
 The monopoly of Eastern trade
 Appointment of the officials by the Directors.
• People demanded that trade monopoly be abolished and all the people get a chance to participate
in eastern trade. People also demanded that the doors of civil services be opened to all.
• Finally, the Charter Act of 1833 abolished the trade monopoly, and the Charter Act of 1853 in-
troduced competitive examinations for the recruitment of civil services.

8.3. Administrative Organisation

• When the EIC acquired control over Bengal in 1765, the Company left the administration in Indian
hands, confining its activities to supervision. Later, when the Company found that British aims were not
adequately served by following old methods of administration, it took all aspects of administration into
its own hands.
• Warren Hastings and Cornwallis completely overhauled the administration of Bengal and laid the
foundations of a new system based on the English model.
• The main aim of the British administration in India was the maintenance of law and order and the
182

perpetuation of British rule. To achieve these goals, the British relied on three key institutions:
1. The Civil Service
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. The Army
3. The Police
• The British, being foreigners, could not hope to win the affection of the Indian people. Therefore, they
relied on superior force rather than public support to maintain their control over India.

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 The administrative policy of the Company underwent frequent changes during the long period
between 1757 and 1857. However, it never lost sight of its main objects, which were:
1. To increase the Company’s profits.
2. To enhance the profitability of its Indian possessions.
3. To maintain and strengthen the British hold over India.
 The Government of India designed and developed administrative machinery to serve these ends.

The Civil Service

• From the beginning, the East India Company conducted its trade in the East through servants. Servants
were paid low wages but were allowed to trade privately. Later, when the Company became a territorial
power, the same servants assumed administrative functions. But they were extremely corrupt.
• Robert Clive and Warren Hastings attempted to stop their corruption but were only partially suc-
cessful.
• In 1786, Lord Cornwallis arrived in India as the Governor-General and attempted to reform the admin-
istration. He started the system of civil service in India.
• The main job of the civil service was to implement laws and collect revenue. Initially, it was a commer-
cial venture, but later, it became a public service.

Efforts by Lord Cornwallis to improve the Administration

1. Cornwallis raised the salaries of the Company's servants to ensure honest and efficient service. The
Company's Civil Service became the highest-paid service in the world. The district collector was entitled
to a monthly salary of 1500 rupees and a one per cent commission on the revenue collected from
their district.
2. Cornwallis strictly enforced rules against private trade and officials accepting presents or bribes.
3. Cornwallis established a seniority-based promotion system within the Civil Service to maintain its in-
dependence from external influences.
• However, Cornwallis failed to solve the twin problems of corruption and inefficiency.
 The Regulating Act of 1773 prohibited the Company's servants from accepting gifts or presents
and engaging in private trade.

Training for Civil Servants

183

• In 1800, Lord Wellesley, the Governor-General, observed that despite ruling over vast areas, civil serv-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

ants were sent to India at a young age without proper training, leading to a lack of necessary skills and
knowledge of Indian languages.
• Therefore, on 24 November 1800, Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta to
educate young recruits to the Civil Service. The college provided two years of training in literature,
science, and languages in India.

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• The Directors of the Company disapproved of the action of Wellesley and, in 1806, replaced the Col-
lege of Fort William with their own East Indian College at Haileybury in England.
• The East Indian College provided training in oriental language, literature, and history.

[UPSC 2020] Wellesley established the Fort William College Calcutta because (2020)
a) He was asked by the Board of Directors in London to do so.
b) He wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India.
c) He wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment.
d) He wanted to train British civilians for administrative purposes in India.
Answer: d

Covenanted and Uncovenanted Services

• Based on the nature of work, pay scales and appointing authority, the Civil Services in British India were
classified as:
1. Covenanted services: Higher posts in the administration. The Indians were allowed only after the
Charter Act of 1853.
2. Uncovenanted services: Lower posts in the administration. Indians were recruited in large num-
bers.

A policy of Complete Europeanisation

• From the beginning, Indians were excluded from the Indian Civil Service (ICS). All high-level posts
were reserved for the British, and the Company's British covenanted servants filled all higher posi-
tions in government service.
• However, Indians were recruited in large numbers to fill subordinate posts as they were cheaper and
much more readily available than Englishmen.
 According to the Charter Act of 1793, all higher administrative posts worth more than £ 500 a
year salary were to be held by Englishmen. This policy was also applied to other branches of Gov-
ernment, such as the army, police, judiciary, and engineering.

Appointment of Officials
• From the beginning, all appointments to the Civil Service were made by the Directors of the Company.
184

They would often nominate their sons and nephews for the services.
• Gradually, people started demanding open public competition. The Charter Act of 1853 ultimately took
MIH-I – Pre-1857

away the power of the Court of Directors to make nominations and made a provision for open compe-
tition. Now, Indians could also sit in this examination.

Charter Act of 1853

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• The Charter Act of 1853 provided for the appointment of members of the covenanted civil service of
India based on a suitable competitive examination to be held in London.
• The President of the Board of ControI, Sir Charles Wood, appointed a five-member Committee (Indian
Civil Service Committee) headed by Lord Macaulay to advise on the measures to be adopted to give
effect to the Act of 1853, which, at least in theory, threw open appointments in the Indian Civil Service
to competition without any discrimination.
• The committee's report recommended that the patronage-based system of EIC be replaced by a per-
manent civil service based on a merit-based system with entry through competitive examinations.
• A committee was responsible for regulating age, qualifications, and subjects for the competitive exam-
ination. The committee recommended that:
 The examination should be held annually in England.
 The candidates must be between the ages of 18 and 23.
 The examination should be on subjects of liberal study.
• The Civil Service Commission was set up in 1854 in London, and competitive examinations were
started in 1855.
• Subsequently, the college at Haileybury was abolished in 1858, and the competitive examinations
became the sole responsibility of the Civil Service Commission.

Indian Civil Service: The product of Haileybury College

• From 1806, the Company trained its young recruits at Haileybury College. However, the Appoint-
ments were still based on patronage. Each Company's Directors could nominate one candidate, while
Chairman and Deputy Chairman could nominate two.
• The idea of 'competition' for recruitment was introduced for the first time by the Charter Act of
1833. But it was a very limited competition and could be termed nomination-cum-competition for
recruitment.
• Under the Charter Act of 1833, the Court of Directors were the first to nominate four times the
number of civil servants required. These nominated candidates had to go through a competitive ex-
amination, through which one-fourth could ultimately be selected to join the coveted Civil Services.
• In 1837, an arrangement was made for the preliminary examinations at Haileybury College. 185

Exclusion of Indians
• One noticeable feature of the judicial and administrative reforms introduced by the British was the ab-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

sence of Indians from responsible offices (racial discrimination).

• All the superior, strategic, and highly paid administrative posts were reserved for British citizens.
This policy of exclusion of Indians was not accidental but deliberate. They believed it was essential to
maintain British supremacy in India.

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Reasons for the Exclusion

• The British were convinced that an administration based on British ideas, institutions and practices
could be firmly established only by English personnel.
• The British did not trust the ability and integrity of the Indians. Cornwallis believed that “every native
of Hindustan is corrupt."
• These services were required to establish and consolidate British rule in India. The task could not be left
to Indians who did not possess the same sympathy for the British interests as Englishmen.
• The influential classes of British society were keen to preserve the monopoly of lucrative appointments
in the Indian Civil Service and other services for their sons.
 After 1813, under Lord Hastings, the lower branches of services, mainly the judiciary, were grad-
ually Indianized due to the financial crisis caused by the Anglo-Burmese war. Extending the cove-
nanted services (services held by the Englishmen) was virtually impossible due to its high cost. Hence,
Indians were recruited in large numbers to fill subordinate posts.

Challenges Faced by Indians

• In 1864, Shri Satyendranath Tagore, brother of Rabindranath Tagore, became the first Indian to clear
an exam. Three years later, four other Indians also succeeded.
• Every year, only one or two Indians could join the coveted civil service. This was because, in practice,
Indians were barred from the civil service due to the following reasons:
 The competitive examination was held in London, which is far away.
 It was conducted through the medium of the alien English language.
 It was based on Classical Greek and Latin learning (Indians had little background in these lan-
guages)
 Lord Salisbury's 1878 reform lowered the maximum age for entry into the Civil Service to 19.

Open Competition
• Lord Grenville first mooted the proposal for open competition in 1813, but it never materialised.
• The Charter Act of 1833 proposed the introduction of a limited competitive examination.
• The Charter Act of 1853 provided for the appointment of members of the covenanted civil service of
India based on a suitable competitive examination to be held in London.
186

Army
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The army was an important pillar of the British regime to maintain its paramountcy in India.
• The establishment of the Bengal army under the Calcutta Presidency marked the emergence of the
Company’s army. Later, the Company’s army consisted of the armies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras
Presidencies.
• The company’s monopoly over the trade and Diwani over Bengal enabled it to modernise its army.

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• The army fulfilled three important functions:

1. It was used to conquer the Indian powers.
2. It defended the British Empire in India from external aggression and internal rebellion.
3. It was a primary tool for expanding and safeguarding the British Empire in Asia and Africa.
• The bulk of the Company’s army consisted of Indian soldiers. In 1857, the Indian constituted about
86% of the total strength of the Company's army. This was because:
 British troops were expensive.
 The population of Britain was too small to provide the large soldiery needed for the conquest.
• The Company relied on the Army, which was largely Indian because the Army officers were exclusively
British. The highest Indian officer was a subedar.
• A handful of foreigners conquered and controlled India with a predominantly Indian army. This was
possible because of two factors:
1. Absence of modern nationalism: Modern nationalism was absent in the country at that time. A
soldier from Bihar or Avadh did not think of helping the Company defeat the Marathas or the Pun-
jabis.
2. Loyalty to the salt: The Indian soldier had a long tradition of loyally serving those who paid his
salary.

[UPSC 2022] Why did the armies of the British East India Company - mostly comprising of
Indian soldiers - win consistently against the more numerous and better equipped armies
of the then Indian rulers? Give reasons.
Approach
 Briefly introduce the British Indian army - more Indians and fewer Europeans and the reasons for that.
 Discuss how the British consolidated and expanded their power in India. Explain the diplomatic poli-
cies that helped the British annexe Indian states.
 Explain, despite being an Indian, why Indian soldiers fought against Indian states. Mention the ab-
sence of nationalism and loyalty to salt.
 Mention other reasons for the success of the British in India.
 In the end, briefly explain the changes in the army after the 1857 revolt.

The Police
187

• Lord Cornwallis established a regular police force to maintain law and order. Earlier, the function of
MIH-I – Pre-1857

the Police was performed by:

 Zamindar, through their armed retainer.
 Village-watchmen in the villages.

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• Cornwallis modernised the old Indian system of Thanas, putting India ahead of Britain, which had not
yet developed a police system. Cornwallis grouped the police forces into Thanas, headed by a Daroga,
who was an Indian.
• Initially, these thanas were under the general supervision of the District Judge. Later, the post of the
District Superintendent of Police (headed by Europeans) was created to head the police organisation
in a district.
• Cornwallis relieved the zamindars of their police functions. However, in the villages, the duties of the
police continued to be performed by village watchmen who were maintained by the villagers.
 In 1814, by an order of the Court of Directors, the appointment of Darogas and their subordinates
was abolished in all possessions of the Company except in Bengal.
 William Bentinck (Governor-General from 1828 to 1835) abolished the office of District Superin-
tendent of Police, making the collector the head of the police force in their jurisdiction. This resulted
in heavy pressure on the collector.

Effectiveness of the Police System

• The police succeeded in:
 Reducing major crimes such as dacoity.
 Suppressing the thugs who robbed and killed travellers on the highways, particularly in Central
India.
 Preventing the large-scale conspiracy against the British.
 Suppressing the national movement.
• In its dealings with the people, the Indian police adopted an unsympathetic attitude.

8.4. Judicial Organisation

• In India, the traditional system of justice was largely based on:

 Customary laws based on traditions and social practices
 Religious laws based on Shastras and Sharia
 Laws flowing from the will and authority of the rulers.
• The indigenous judicial system inherited a legal inequality in which criminals were punished according
to their caste status. As against this, the British established a new hierarchy of civil and criminal courts
188

to administer justice. It was started by Warren Hastings and stabilised by Cornwallis in 1793.
• The new judicial system was formally based on the rule of law and equality before the law. However, in
MIH-I – Pre-1857

practice, racial prejudices and commercial principles guided its operations.

• Under the judicial system established by the British, legal inequality inherent in the earlier system was
removed, but the racial distinctions were preserved as a privilege for the British subjects. The

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Europeans and their descendants had separate courts and even laws. Hence, the legal equality adopted
by the colonial state was limited in scope and ambiguous in its nature.

The Judicial System

• In the 1770s, the EIC was not in a position to completely change the existing system. Hence, it only
attempted a partial modification and continued to observe customary laws.
• Under the new system of justice, enough tolerance was displayed toward the existing traditional and
religious laws. The criminal courts used Muslim criminal law in a modified and less severe way.
Similarly, the civil courts used the customary laws that the local people had followed.
• The traditional Indian legal interpreters, the Pandits and the Maulvis, were seen as the upholders and
interpreters of the legal tradition. Hence, they were associated with the courts as experts in this area.

Early Attempts to Codify the Laws

• The British believed that knowledge of Indian laws from traditional texts was essential for develop-
ing the judicial system. To interpret these laws, they sought the assistance of Pandits and Maulvi.
• However, due to their own racial ideology, the British did not fully trust their Indian subordinates.
They aimed to gain comprehensive knowledge of the canons and authoritative legal texts, hoping to
reduce their dependence on Indian subordinates in the future.
• N.B. Halhed's "A Code of Gentoo Law" (1776) and H.T. Colebrooke's "The Digest of Hindu Law
on Contracts and Succession" (l798) were early attempts to codify the laws concerning property,
inheritance, marriages, castes and succession, etc.

Reforms under Warren Hastings (Judicial Plan of 1772)

• Warren Hastings established two types of courts at the district level:
1. District Diwani Adalat (civil court)
2. District Fauzdari Adalat (court for criminal cases)
• The Sadar Diwani Adalat and Sadar Nizamat Adalat, the chief courts of appeal, were at the apex.

Civil Courts
District Diwani Adalat

District Diwani Adalat was established in each district to decide civil cases. In this court, the collector
189

•
served as the judge, while Pandits and Qazis provided assistance.
• The Hindu laws applied to the Hindus, while the Muslim laws applied to Muslims.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Sadar Diwani Adalat

• Sadar Diwani Adalat heard the appeals from District Diwani Adalat. It was presided over by the governor
and his council.
• This court was comprised of the governor as its president and at least two members of the council.

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Criminal Courts
District Fauzdari Adalat

• A District Fauzdari Adalat was established in each district to try criminal disputes. It was presided over
by an Indian officer (Muslim law officer) assisted by the Qazis and Muftis. The Collector had general
supervision over the court.
• It applied Muslim Criminal Law in a modified and less harsh form. 190

 The District Fauzdari Adalat had full power to decide and punish all criminal cases, though they were
not empowered to award death sentences. In such cases, the court’s decision was submitted to Sadar
Nizamat Adalat for confirmation and finally to the Nawab for his sentence.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Sadar Nizamat Adalat

• Sadar Nizamat Adalat heard the appeals from District Fauzdari Adalat. It was presided over by an Indian
judge known as Daroga-i-Adalat, who was to be assisted by the chief Qazi and chief Mufti.

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Supreme Court at Fort William

• The Regulating Act of 1773 established a Supreme Court of Justice at Calcutta with the Chief Justice
and three judges to give justice to Europeans, their employees and the citizens of Calcutta.

Conflict between Supreme Court and Supreme Council

• The Regulating Act of 1773 entrusted the entire civil and military administration of the Diwani prov-
inces to the Governor-General and Council (Supreme Council).
• The Act also established a Supreme Court at Fort William, which was authorised to take cognisance
of cases not only against the British but also against native employees of the Company.
• Supreme Court could punish all persons who committed acts of oppression either in the exercise of
civil jurisdiction or in the collection of revenue. However, the Act did not specify whose authority
would be final in case of a conflict between the Council and the Court.
• The Act did not clearly specify which law had to be applied while trying cases. The Court applied
English law in all cases even where Indians were charged with offences.

The Amending Act of 1781

• This Act amended the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and ended the conflict between the Su-
preme Court and the Governor-General-in-Council.
• It prohibited the Supreme Court from taking any action that may arise in collecting revenue. Land-
holders, farmers or other persons connected to land revenue work were exempted from the jurisdic-
tion of the Supreme Court.
• It recognised the appellate jurisdiction of the Governor-General and Council and confirmed that
appeal from the provincial court could be taken to the Governor-General and Council and not to the
Supreme Court.
• The act cleared that the Supreme Court had to consider the personal laws of Hindus and the Quranic
law of Muslims in their respective cases.

Reforms under Cornwallis (1786-93)

• Two important changes during the Cornwallis's Governor Generalship were:
1. The separation of justice and revenue administration: The collector, who previously held judicial
191

and revenue responsibilities, was now solely responsible for the revenue collection. A Judge Mag-
istrate was responsible for judicial functions.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. Multiplication of judicial courts: Circuit courts in Calcutta, Dacca, Murshidabad, and Patna re-
placed the Fauzdari Courts in the District. These circuit courts were presided over by European
judges and functioned as appellate courts for both civil and criminal cases. When hearing appeals
for civil cases, they were referred to as Provincial Courts of Appeal.

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Civil Courts
• Below the District Court, there were Registrars Courts, headed by Europeans, and several subordinate
courts, headed by Indian judges known as Munsifs and Amins.
• In each district, a Diwani Adalat was established. It was headed by a District Judge (A Judge Magistrate)
from the Civil Service. Cornwallis separated the posts of the Civil Judge and the Collector.
• Appeal from the District Court lay first to four Provincial Courts of Civil Appeal and then finally to the
Sadar Diwani Adalat.
• Civil courts applied customary laws that prevailed in the area or among a section of people.

Criminal Courts
• Cornwallis divided the Presidency of Bengal into four divisions and established a Court of Circuit in
each presided over by civil servants.
• Below the court of circuit came many Indian magistrates to try petty cases.
Appeals from the Courts of Circuit lay with the Sardar Nizamat Adalat.
192
•
• The criminal courts applied Muslim Criminal Law in a modified and less harsh form.

Reforms under William Bentinck

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1831, William Bentinck abolished the Provincial Courts of Appeal and Circuit Courts. Their work
was assigned first to Commissions and later to District Judges and District Collectors.
• Bentinck also raised the status and powers of Indians in the judicial service and appointed them as
Deputy Magistrates, Subordinate Judges and Principal Sadar Amins.

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• In 1833, a Law Commission was set up under Macaulay to codify Indian laws. As a result, Civil Pro-
cedure Code (1859), Indian Penal Code (1860) and Criminal Procedure Code (1861) were prepared. Now,
the same laws prevailed all over the country and were enforced by a uniform system of courts. Thus,
the country's legal system was unified by a consistent set of laws and courts.

Later developments
• The High Courts were established in 1862 at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay and later at Lahore and
Allahabad, with original and appellate jurisdiction.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for a Federal Court (set up in 1937) that could settle
disputes between governments and hear limited appeals from the High Courts.

The rule of law and Equality before the law

• The legal system was formally based on the rule of law and equality before the law.

Rule of law
• The rule of law meant that their administration was to be carried out according to laws, which defined
the rights, privileges, and obligations of the subjects and not according to the personal discretion of
the ruler.
• It also meant that nobody was above the law. Even the officials were accountable to the same laws
and could be brought to court for violating any law.
• However, in practice:
 Laws were made not by the people through a democratic process but autocratically by foreign
rulers.
 The laws were often defective, which left a great deal of power in the hands of the civil servants
and the police for the oppression of people.
 The bureaucracy and the police enjoyed arbitrary powers and interfered with the rights and lib-
erties of the people.
• In fact, under the Rule of Law, legality itself became an instrument of power and oppression.

Equality before Law

• Equality before the law meant that, in the eyes of the law, all men were equal. The same law applies to
193

all persons irrespective of caste, religion, or class. However, it did not include Europeans in its fold.
Separate courts and laws were set up for them. In criminal cases, they could be tried only by the Euro-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

pean Judges.
• After 1836, the British subjects could be tried in the same courts as the Indians in civil matters, but an
Indian judge could still not try them in criminal cases.

Issues of the Judicial System

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• The legal system was out of reach for most of the people, this was because of following reasons:
 Justice became expensive: The mere threat of legal action could force poor people to comply
due to fear of financial ruin.
 New laws were complicated: Most people could not understand or interpret them.
 Prevalence of corruption in the administrative machinery: Led to the denial of justice.
 Lawsuits dragged on for years.
 Officials often favoured the rich.
• In contrast, the system of justice that had prevailed in pre-British times was comparatively informal,
speedy, and inexpensive.

Legal Injustice
• The new legal system greatly helped the moneylenders, landlords and merchants. These groups
often manipulated complex laws to get justice in their favour. Moreover, the legal system was costly,
and it tended to support the wealthy. As a result, the new legal system did not assist the peasants
when they were oppressed by the British and their allies.

8.5. Summary

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MIH-I – Pre-1857

The Structure of Government (1765-1858)

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• 1765 to 1772: Under the Dual System of Government, Indian officials were allowed to function as
before but under the overall control of the British Governor and officials.
• 1772-73: Administration by Company’s Servants
• After 1773: Indian administration functioned under the direction of the British Government.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

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9. Social and Cultural Policy of British

9.1. Orientalists vs Anglicists

Orientalists
• People who possess extensive knowledge of the language and culture of Asia are known as Oriental-
ists. Warren Hastings, Jonathan Duncan, William Jones, Henry Thomas Colebrooke, and Nathaniel
Halhed were representatives of Orientalists.
• Orientalists deeply respected ancient cultures, both of India and the West. They believed that Indian
civilisation had attained its glory in the ancient past but had subsequently declined.
• They felt a need to discover the ancient sacred and legal texts to reveal the real ideas and laws of the
Hindus and Muslims. They took initiatives for:
 Studying ancient Indian texts
 Mastering Indian languages
 Translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English
 Discovering the ancient Indian heritage

Views on Reforms
• Orientalists believed that:
196

 Ancient customs and traditions should be the basis of British rule in India.
 The British authorities in India should promote Indian learning rather than Western.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Institutions should be set up to encourage the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit
and Persian literature and poetry.
• Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madrassa in 1781 for the teaching of Muslim law.
• Jonathan Duncan established a Sanskrit College at Varanasi in 1791 for the study of Hindu philoso-
phy and laws.

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Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765-1837)

• H. T. Colebrooke was a Sanskrit scholar and orientalist. He is considered as the first great Sanskrit
scholar in Europe.
• In 1782, Colebrooke was appointed to a writership in India. Later, he held administrative, legal, and
academic posts and learned Sanskrit.
• In 1805, Lord Wellesley appointed him an honorary professor of Hindu law and Sanskrit at the Col-
lege of Fort William.

Works
• Colebrooke wrote “A Digest of Hindu Law on Contracts and Succession,” a compilation of Indian
law translated from Sanskrit.
• He translated the two treatises, the Mitakshara of Vijnaneshwara and the Dayabhaga of Jimutava-
hana, under the title “Law of Inheritance”.
• He also wrote "Sanskrit Grammar" and "Essay on the Vedas".

[UPSC CDS 2019] Henry T. Colebrooke was a Professor of Sanskrit in which one of the
following institutions?
a) Fort William College
b) Serampore Mission
c) Kashi Vidyapith
d) Asiatic Society
Answer: a)

Nathaniel Halhed
• Nathaniel Halhed was an English Orientalist and grammarian. He is credited with being the first
grammarian to write a Bangla grammar using Bangla texts and letters for illustration.
• Nathaniel joined the EIC as a writer in 1772 and soon became a friend of Governor Warren Hastings.
• At Hastings' request, he translated the Hindu legal code from a Persian version of the original Sanskrit
and published "A Code of Gentoo Laws" in 1776.
• In 1778, Nathaniel published A Grammar of the Bengal Language, a Bengali grammar. 197

A Code of Gentoo Laws

• A Code of Gentoo Laws was a digest of Hindu law books compiled originally in Sanskrit by eleven
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Brahmin pundits who worked daily. A munshi first translated it into Persian and then Halhed translated
it into English.

[Prelims Practice] William James, Henry Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed had which of
the following common among them?

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a) They were critics of Indian culture and civilisation

b) They were judges at the courts of the East India Company
c) They were professors teaching the history and society of South Asia
d) They were linguists who tried to interpret the culture of South Asia to the East India Company
Answer: d)

Asiatic Society of Bengal

• In 1784, with other orientalists, William Jones (junior judge at the Supreme Court) founded the Asiatic
Society of Bengal and started a journal called Asiatick Researches.
• The Asiatic Society of Bengal was established to encourage oriental studies. Its primary task was to
collect old Indian manuscripts and translate Sanskrit and Persian works into English.
 Manusmriti and Abhijnana Shakuntalam were translated into English by Sir William Jones.
 Bhagavad Gita was translated into English by Wilkins.

Jonathan Duncan

• Jonathan Duncan was a Resident at Benares in 1788 and then the Governor of Bombay from 1795
to 1811. He was one of the charter members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Anglicists
• The Anglicists, such as James Mills and Thomas Macaulay, attacked the Orientalists. They believed
that the knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought.
• Anglicists argued that Indians should be familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the
West had made rather than the poetry and sacred literature of the East.

James Mill (1773 – 1836)

• James Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He is counted among
the founders of the Ricardian school of economics.
• In 1817, James Mill wrote "A History of British India". He divided Indian history into three periods -
Hindu, Muslim and British.
• Mill's division of Indian history based on the religion of the rulers of the time was incorrect because,
irrespective of the ruler's religion, many faiths existed simultaneously in these periods.
198

Eurocentric Lens of James Mill

Mill thought that all Asian societies, including India, were at a lower level of civilisation compared to
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
Europe. His historical narrative suggests that before the British arrived, India was under the rule of Hindu
and Muslim despots, with social life dominated by religious intolerance, caste taboos, and supersti-
tious practices.

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• Mill thought that British rule could civilise India by introducing European manners, arts, institutions,
and laws. Mill even suggested conquering all Indian territories to ensure the enlightenment and hap-
piness of the Indian people, as he believed India couldn't progress without British assistance.
• In Mill's view of history, British rule was portrayed as a progressive and civilised force, while the pre-
British period was considered a dark age.

[UPSC NDA 2019] Who was the author of the book 'History of British India'?
a) Charles Grant
b) John Stuart Mill
c) James Mill
d) William Jones
Answer: c)

Thomas Macaulay
• Macaulay was the first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council in 1834. He was primarily
responsible for introducing Western institutional education to India.

Colonial Perceptions of Indian Civilization

• Macaulay saw India as an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised. According to him, "A single
shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia"?
• Macaulay emphasised the need to teach the English language. He urged the British government in
India to stop wasting public money on promoting Oriental learning, which was of no practical use.
• Macaulay believed that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature
the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and phi-
losophy.

Practical Pragmatism of Orientalists

• It is widely believed that the ideology of British Orientalism influenced the cultural and social policies
implemented during Warren Hasting's governor generalship. However, it's important to note that
Hasting's ideology of promoting oriental learning or non-interference in social practices reflected
a combination of Orientalist ideas and aspects of political pragmatism.
199

• Although orientalists genuinely desired to acquire and promote oriental learning, their decisions were
based on practical considerations. They wanted to teach the British officials the local language and
MIH-I – Pre-1857

culture so that the British officials would:

 Perform their job more effectively.
 Develop friendly relations with the elites.
 Acquire knowledge about the people, their social customs, and codes, which would assist them in
ruling over India.

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[Prelims Practice] Which of the following is/are characteristic (s) of the debate between
"Anglicists" and "Orientalists" in the 1830s?
1. The Anglicists wanted to cut the money being spent on printing Sanskrit and Arabic texts
2. The Anglicists wanted to cut the money spent on printing Sanskrit texts but wished to continue to
print in Persian
3. The Orientalists wanted stipends for the students of Arabic and Sanskrit
4. The Orientalists started a new Sanskrit College in Delhi
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1, 3 and 4
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 2, 3 and 4
Answer: c)

9.2. School of Thoughts

• There were three schools of thought among those who determined Indian policy. These were:
1. Older/ Conservative/Traditional Attitude
2. Imperialistic Attitude
3. Radical Attitude

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Conservative Attitude
• The conservatives respected the Indian philosophy and culture. They believed that Indian civilisation
differed from European civilisation but was not necessarily inferior to it.
• conservatives suggested slowly and cautiously introducing certain Western ideas and practices.
They opposed any programme of rapid modernisation for fear of violent backlash.
• Conservatives were ardent champions of paternalism, which would treat the Indian people as children
and keep them out of the administration.
• The conservative outlook remained influential in England and India up to the very end of British rule.
The representatives of this attitude were:
 Warren Hastings (Governor-Generals)
 Edmund Burke (a famous writer and parliamentarian)
 Thomas Munro, Malcolm, Elphinstone, and Metcalfe (Governors)

Imperialistic Attitude
• By 1800, the conservative attitude was fast giving way to an imperialistic attitude, sharply critical of
Indian society and culture. According to imperialists:
 Indian civilisation was static.
 Indian customs were uncivilised.
 Indian institutions were corrupt and decadent.
 Indian thought was narrow and unscientific.
• This critical approach was used by most of the officials and writers to justify the political and economic
enslavement of India.

Radical Attitude
• Some officials who came to India in the 1820s and after were deeply influenced by the radical outlook.
They applied Western humanistic and rational thought to India. They believed in:
 Doctrine of Reason: Led them to think that India could progress because all societies can improve
by embracing reason and science.
 Doctrine of Humanism: Motivated them to improve the lives of the Indian people.
 Doctrine of Progress: Led them to believe that Indians were destined to improve.
201

• Radicals believed that the solution to India's problems lay in introducing modern Western sciences,
philosophy, and literature and in the complete and rapid modernisation of the country.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and John Stuart Mill were representatives of this attitude. However,
such honest and philanthropic Englishmen were few, and their influence was never decisive.
• The Radicals, who advocated democratic government in Britain, deviated from their beliefs when it
came to Indian policy. They demanded a more authoritarian regime instead of working towards a

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democratic system. This put radicals in agreement with the conservatives, who also championed pater-
nalism, to treat the Indian people as children and keep them out of the administration.

9.3. Cautious Intervention in Social Institutions

• Warren Hastings wanted to establish British rule in India based on India's customs and traditions.
As a result, during his reign, the British refrained from interfering in Indian social institutions or
practices to a large extent.
• Till 1813, the British followed a policy of non-interference in the religious, social, and cultural life of
the country, but after 1813, they took active steps to transform Indian society and culture. This was
because of the following reasons:
1. Industrialisation in Britain
2. Emergence of New Thought
3. Christian Missionaries
4. Indian Social Reformers
5. Industrial Revolution
6. French Revolution

Industrialisation in Britain and Modernisation in India

• Rising industrial interests wanted to make India a big market for their goods. This could not be accom-
plished merely by adhering to the policy of keeping peace; it required the partial transformation and
modernisation of Indian society.
• British officials believed that the modernisation of Indian society would change the tastes and desires
of Indians and create a demand for British goods.
• The Charter Act of 1813 ended the company’s trade monopoly in India, and trade with India was
thrown open to all British subjects. Trade in tea and opium and trade with China were still exclusive
to the Company.

Emergence of New Thought

• From the early 19th century, the Radicals, headed by Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and John Stuart Mill,
criticised the orientalism of Warren Hastings and advocated a modernisation and westernisation
202

of Indian society.

Christian Missionaries
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The policy of modernising Indian society and culture was also encouraged by Christian missionaries
and religious-minded persons who wanted to spread Christianity in India.
• Christian missionaries adopted a critical attitude towards Indian society but on religious grounds. They
supported a programme of Westernization, hoping that Western knowledge would destroy people's

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faith in their own religions and eventually lead to the country's conversion to Christianity. Therefore,
they opened modern schools, colleges, and hospitals in the country.
• The missionaries supported paternalistic imperialistic policies because they considered law and order
and British supremacy essential for their work of religious propaganda.
• The missionaries sought the support of British merchants and manufacturers, hoping that Christian
converts would be better customers of their goods.
• However, the missionaries were often the most unwilling allies of the rationalist Radicals, whose sci-
entific approach undermined not only Hindu or Muslim mythology but Christian mythology as well.

Social Reformers
• Raja Rammohun Roy and other social reformers were aware of the deteriorating condition of the coun-
try and society. They believed that science and humanism were the keys to its revival. They fought for
social reforms and modernisation.

Policy of Partial Modernisation

• The Indian Government followed a policy of cautious, gradual, and partial modernisation instead of
full modernisation. This was because of the following reasons:
1. Prevalence of the conservative outlook among the British officials in India.
2. Fear of Backlash: The fear was that interfering with Indian religious beliefs and customs might
produce a revolutionary reaction. Even the most ardent Radicals desired most of all the safety and
perpetuation of British rule in India.
3. Colonial Interest: The British administrators in India faced a dilemma. They realised that some mod-
ernisation was necessary to serve British interests in India. However, they also knew that complete
modernisation would be detrimental to their interests and could eventually lead to a loss of British
supremacy in the country.
 Therefore, British administrators chose to adopt a policy of partial modernisation. This meant
they introduced modernisation in some areas while actively blocking and preventing it in
others.
 They were willing to accept new ideas and reforms if they did not conflict with commercial in-
terests and profit motives. Thus, many English officials accepted the modernisation of India
203

because they believed it would make Indians better customers of British goods and help rec-
oncile them to foreign rule.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

British Retreat
• After 1858, the policy of modernisation was gradually abandoned. This was because Indians quickly
shifted towards modernising their society and demanded to be ruled in accordance with the modern
principles of liberty, equality, and nationality.

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• The British increasingly withdrew their support from the reformers and gradually came to side with
the socially orthodox and conservative elements of society. They also encouraged casteism and com-
munalism. Now, enlightened people have made efforts to modernise the society.

9.4. Humanitarian Measures (State Intervention in Social Practices)

Female infanticide
• Female infanticide (the practice of killing female children at the time of their birth) was prevalent
among some of the Rajput clans and other castes. It was because of:
 The prevalence of the evil custom of dowry
 The difficulty and expenses incurred in marrying girls

British Efforts to Stop Female Infanticide

• Jonathan Duncan was the first official who tried to curb female infanticide. He met the local Rajku-
mars and convinced them that the killing of female infants went against the tenets of Hindu scriptures.
• Jonathan Duncan obtained written agreements signed by Rajkumar Rajputs in 1789 and Jadeja Raj-
puts in 1808. The agreements stated that the signatories would thenceforth desist from killing their
204

female children.
• William Carey, a missionary in the College of Fort William, argued for abolishing these customs.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The regulations prohibiting infanticide had been passed in 1795, 1802, and 1804, but they were
sternly enforced only by William Bentinck (Governor-General from 1828-1835) and Henry Hardinge
(Governor-General from 1844-1848).
 Henry Hardinge also suppressed the practice of making human sacrifices that had prevailed among
the primitive tribe of Gonds.

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• Despite the regulations banning it, female infanticide continued. Hence, under the pressure of Chris-
tian missionaries and social reformers, the Indian government enacted the Female Infanticide Preven-
tion Act of 1870.
• The abolition of infanticide was effective in Bengal. However, in other parts of India, it continued even
after its prohibition.
• In the case of suppression of infanticide, the initiative for change came from local-level officials and
missionaries and not from the British Parliament or the Company’s authorities in England.

Abolition of Sati
• The practice of sati (widow burning) was widespread in all three Presidencies.
• In 1795, H. T. Colebrook demonstrated that the practice of sati constituted a departure from the
authentic Vedic tradition.
• In 1813, the government fixed the minimum age for a widow to become Sati at sixteen years. It
declared that a mother of a child under three years could not become Sati unless another person
undertook to look after the child.
• Rammohun Roy actively agitated for the abolition of Sati. He used his journal, Samwad Kaumudi, to
further his campaign and argued with proponents of Sati, including Kasinath Tarkavagish, in 1819.
• Finally, in 1829, under the pressure of enlightened Indians and missionaries, William Bentick abol-
ished the practice of sati by the Bengal Sati Regulation 1829.
 Indian rulers, including Akbar, Jahangir, the Peshwas, the King of Tanjore and the Portuguese in
Goa, tried to discourage the practice of sati.
• As in the case of infanticide, the initiative for banning widow burning came mainly from the Western-
educated Indian intelligentsia, Christian missionaries and individual administrators.

India’s last known case of sati

• Roop Kanwar was a Rajput woman who was allegedly forced to immolate herself in an act of Sati
at Deorala village in Rajasthan in 1987.
• According to villagers, on September 4, 1987, Roop Kanwar recited the Gayatri Mantra and dressed
up in solah shringaar (16 adornments). Thousands of villagers from neighbouring villages participated
in her shobha yatra and then sati.
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• The death quickly produced a public outcry across various parts of the country. It led first to state-
level laws to prevent such horrors, then the central government's Commission of Sati (Prevention)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Act.
• The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 provide for the more effective prevention of the
commission of sati and its glorification.

Abolition of Slavery

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• Slavery as a system of labour exploitation was prevalent in India till its abolition in 1843. The extent
and economic significance of the slave labour varied greatly from region to region.
 In Bombay and Calcutta, slaves constituted an article of trade; Arab traders brought slaves from
Arabia and Africa for sale.
 In Madras, predial slavery (individuals were enslaved for agricultural labour) was very important.
This form of slavery was very significant in the region's agricultural production.
• In 1807, Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing the trans-Atlantic slave
trade (British Atlantic slave trade).
• The Indian government's response to ending slavery was marked by significant delay and procrastina-
tion. Though Britain passed the Abolition of Slavery Act (1833) ordering the gradual abolition of slav-
ery in all British colonies, the company in India acknowledged the legality of slavery on the grounds that
it was a traditional practice with religious sanction.
• Finally, the Indian Government passed Act V of 1843, abolishing slavery in India. However, the impact
of the Act on suppressing slavery was limited.
• The more important factor in the decline of slavery was the generation of sources of alternate em-
ployment in the later 19th century in plantation and public works.
 1792: France abolished slavery in its colonies.
 1807: Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing the trans-Atlantic slave trade
(British Atlantic slave trade).
 1833: Britain passed the Abolition of Slavery Act, ordering gradual abolition of slavery in all British
colonies.
 1843: The Indian government abolished slavery.
 1865: By the 13th Amendment, the United States abolished slavery in 1865.

Hindu Widow Remarriage

• Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, along with other reformers, conducted a prolonged agitation in
support of allowing widow remarriage. Vidyasagar used the ancient texts to advocate for women's
right to remarry.
• After a long struggle, the Government of India passed the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856, which
enabled Hindu widows to remarry.
206

9.5. An Assessment
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• British attempts to reform Indian society were limited due to practical concerns about avoiding wide-
spread resentment and revolt. As a result, these efforts achieved minimal success.
• The reforms had little impact on the lives of most of the population, barely reaching the edges of the
Indian social system. Their immediate effects were negligible.

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• The initiative for reforms came from Western-educated Indian intelligentsia, individual administra-
tors, and missionaries, not from the British Parliament or the Company’s authorities in England.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

207
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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10. Spread of English Education

• The British came to India for commercial purposes, so its basic objectives were trade and profit.
• Before the acquisition of territorial power, the Company had no role in education. In the second half
of the 18th century, the EIC was transformed from a trading company to the ruling power in Bengal.
In the process of colonisation, they adopted an educational policy that aimed at cultural conquest
and contributed to the political subjugation of the country.

10.1. Indigenous Education

• Before the arrival of the British, two types of educational systems existed in India:
1. Madrasas and Maktabs for the Muslims
2. Tols and Pathshalas for the Hindus
• Common features in the indigenous system of education:
 Schools were generally funded by local wealthy individuals, with little or no involvement from the
state.
208

 The main emphasis was on classical languages like Sanskrit, Arabic or Persian and subjects of clas-
sical Hindu or Islamic tradition.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Women were generally barred from the formal education system.

Report of William Adam

• In the 1830s, William Adam, a Scottish missionary, was appointed by William Bentinck to report on
the progress of education in vernacular schools.

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• Adam found that there were over one lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar. These were small institu-
tions with no more than 20 students each.
• The system of education was flexible. There were:
 No fixed fee: The fee depends on the parent’s income.
 No fixed syllabus: The guru decided what to teach in accordance with the needs of the students.
 No separate school building: The classes were held under a banyan tree or in a temple, or at the
guru's home.
 No printed books, no annual examinations, no regular timetable, no roll call registers.
• Adam discovered that this flexible system was suited to local needs. For instance, classes were not
held during harvest time when rural children often worked in the fields, allowing even children of peas-
ant families to pursue their education.
• Adam had favoured the revival of the indigenous educational system. He proposed that the medium
of instruction should be the vernaculars and not English. The Bentinck rejected his proposal.

10.2. Development of Education under Colonial Rule

• Immediately after acquiring political power in India, company officials maintained neutrality or non-
intervention in the religion and culture of indigenous society. However, there were some minor ex-
ceptions to this policy.
1. Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madrassa in 1781 for the teaching of Muslim law.
2. Jonathan Duncan established a Sanskrit College at Varanasi in 1791 for the study of Hindu phi-
losophy and laws.
3. Lord Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta in 1800.
• The first two institutions were created to provide qualified Indians to assist in administering law in the
Company's courts, while the third was established to educate young civil service recruits.

Role of Missionaries
• The missionaries believed that modern education would destroy the faith of the people in their own
religions and lead them to adopt Christianity. They urged the company to introduce Christianity and
English Education in India. Serampore missionaries were enthusiastic about the spread of education.
• Fearing that their missionary activities would provoke a negative reaction. An Act of Parliament banned
209

them from entering India without a license in 1783.

Charter Act of 1813: Beginning of Western Education

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The constant pressure from Christian missionaries, humanitarians, and enlightened Indians com-
pelled the company to abandon its policy of neutrality and assume responsibility for promoting
learning.
• The Charter Act of 1813 marked the real beginning of Western education in India.

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1. It required the Governor-General in Council to allocate at least one lakh rupees annually for ed-
ucation. This was the first time the Company acknowledged state responsibility for promoting
education in India. Despite the parliamentary sanction, the money remained unspent.
2. It permitted missionaries to conduct religious and educational activities.

 The Charter Act of 1813 enacted a provision of Rupees one lakh annually "for the revival and
improvement of literature and the introduction and promotion of knowledge of the sciences."

Anglo-Oriental Controversy
• The Charter Act of 1813 defined the educational policy but did not make any reference to the medium
of instruction or the type of educational institutions to be established. Hence, for years, the opinions
were sharply divided on whether the company should promote Western or oriental learning.
• Orientalists advocated the promotion of Sanskrit and Arabic literature. They argued that while West-
ern sciences and literature should be taught to prepare students for jobs, emphasis should also be
210

placed on expanding traditional Indian learning. In the initial stage, the company officials patronised
oriental learning.
Anglicists advocated the spread of Western knowledge through the medium of English.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Perspective of Educated Indians

• The most advanced Indians of the time, led by Raja Rammohun Roy, advocated the study of Western
knowledge because the existing Indian knowledge, which, though advanced at one time, had stagnated
too long and lost touch with reality.

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• Educated Indians realised that the salvation of the country lay in going forward and not in looking
backwards. No prominent Indian of the 19th and 20th centuries deviated from this approach.
• These various schools of thought led to educational experiments between 1823 and 1853 in the
Presidencies and Provinces of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, North-Western, and Punjab.

General Committee of Public Instruction

• In 1823, a General Committee of Public Instruction was established to oversee the development of
education in India. Most of the committee's members belonged to the Orientalist group and advocated
promoting oriental learning.
• However, different sections in England and India pressured the Company to encourage Western ed-
ucation. Macaulay, the President of the General Committee of Public Instruction and Lord Bentinck,
the Governor General, took the side of the Anglicists and decided to promote European literature and
science.
 The Despatch of the Court of Directors in 1824 favoured Western education. By 1829, it was de-
clared that the British Government's policy was to gradually and eventually make English the lan-
guage for conducting public activities all over the country.

[Prelims Practice] The real beginning of Western education in India can be dated from
a) the Charter Act of 1813
b) the Charter Act of 1793
c) the Sarda Act of 1929
d) the Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education, 1835
Answer: a)

[UPSC 2018] Which of the following led to the introduction of English Education in India?
(2018)
1. Charter Act of 1813
2. General Committee of Public Instruction, 1823
3. Orientalist and Anglicist Controversy
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 and 2 only
211

b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
MIH-I – Pre-1857

d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: d)

Lord Macaulay’s Minute (1835)

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• Lord Macaulay's minute in 1835 settled the controversies regarding the type of education and me-
dium of instruction.
• Lord Macaulay was highly critical of Indian culture and religion. He questioned the usefulness of
oriental languages and literature and considered expenditure on them as wasteful.
• Macaulay argued that the teaching of English would civilise the Indian people and change their
taste, values, and culture. He did not forget the commercial interest of the British Empire.
• In Macaulay’s eyes, eastern literature lacked practical benefits. He emphasised the practical benefits
of European learning and recommended teaching Western science and literature through the Eng-
lish language.
• Bentinck approved Macaulay's Minute and decided:
 To promote European literature and Science through the medium of English.
 To stop the promotion of oriental institutions like Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College.
 Macaulay's true intentions behind making English the medium of instruction are revealed in the
following statement: “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters be-
tween us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but
English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. We can entrust this class to refine the vernac-
ular dialects of the country, enrich them with scientific terms borrowed from the Western nomencla-
ture, and gradually make them suitable for conveying knowledge to the masses.”

Government’s Action
• The Indian Government acted quickly on Macaulay's minute, particularly in Bengal. It made English
the medium of instruction in its schools and colleges, opening a few English schools and colleges
instead of a large number of elementary schools.
• In 1837, English replaced Persian as the official language of the Government.
• In 1841, a Council of Education replaced the General Committee of Public Instruction.
• In 1844, Governor General Lord Hardinge declared that only candidates educated in Western
knowledge would be inducted into government jobs, making knowledge of English a prerequisite for
seeking employment.
 1835: William Bentinck announced the abolition of Persian as the court language and replaced it
with English.
212

 1837: English replaced Persian as the language used for administration and higher law courts in
Bengal.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Downward Filtration Theory

• It is a hierarchical model of education in which education is imparted to a select few, who then pass
it on to the rest of society. This way, education will filter down from the elites to the masses.

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• Since the allocated funds could educate only a handful of Indians, the British decided to spend them on
educating a few persons from the upper and middle classes who were expected to carry forward the
task of educating the masses and spreading modem ideas among them. Education and modern ideas
were thus supposed to filter or radiate downward from the upper classes.
• Downward Filtration Theory was abandoned in 1854 for two reasons:
1. The persons who had acquired an English education could get government jobs easily; hence,
they did not make any effort to educate their countrymen.
2. The new education had created a separate caste of English scholars who lacked sympathy with
their countrymen.
• This policy was criticised for neglecting mass education. Despite being officially abandoned in 1854, it
continued until the end of British rule.

Initiatives by the Missionaries and Individuals to Promote Western Education

• Along with this official initiative to promote Western learning in India, missionaries and some individ-
uals also started promoting Western education.

Bengal
• The establishment of Hindu College (later Presidency College) in Calcutta by David Hare and the Ben-
gali elite promoted secular education among Indians. Hindu College was India’s first Western-style
secular college.
 David Hare, a Scottish watchmaker and philanthropist, was against the teaching of religious ideas and
Sanskrit and Arabid languages.
• J.E.D. Bethune, an ardent advocate of women's education, founded a girls' school in Calcutta in 1849.
Among the Bengalis, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar supported women's education.

Bombay and Madras

• Missionary schools were also established in Bombay and Madras.
 In Bombay, the Native Education Society and the Elphinstone Institution played roles similar to
those of the Hindu College of Calcutta.
 In Madras, the Christian College was founded in 1837, and the Presidency College in 1853.
213

• Thus, by the 1850s, the British had laid down the basis of modern education in most of India's prov-
inces.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Mountstuart Elphinstone

• Mountstuart Elphinstone was the Governor of Bombay from 1819 to 1827.

• Elphinstone promoted education in India at a time when opinion in Britain was against educating the
"natives". Along with educated Indians, he started the 'Native School and School Book Committee' to
raise funds.

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• Motivated by Elphinstone's views, the enlightened citizens of Bombay collected Rs. 2,29,636 to teach
the English Language, the Arts, and the Literature of Europe. They founded Elphinstone College in 1827
in his honour.

Judiciary

• Elphinstone considered the prevailing justice system unfair. The written laws of the Hindus and
Muslims were based on beliefs and customs, often influenced by the Kazi or Pandit and the ruling
class. The crimes and their punishments were assessed based on the caste system.
• Elphinstone was the first Governor of Bombay to codify civil and criminal procedures of law.
• Elphinstone introduced the Code of Regulations, effective from 1 January 1827, in the Bombay Pres-
idency. It popularly came to be known as the 'Elphinstone Code'.

Ryotwari System

• Elphinstone introduced the Ryotwari System in Bombay based on the pattern of madras.

Bombay Native Education Society

• On August 21, 1822, the Bombay Native School Book and School Society was formed as the first
non-official body to promote education among Indians in the Bombay Presidency. It was established
by Elphinstone (Governor of Bombay) with the help of some eminent Indians such as Jagannath Shan-
karseth, Jamshetji Jejeebhoy and others. Later, it was renamed as Bombay Native Education Society.
• The Bombay Native Education Society established an English school in 1824 to meet the demand
for the study of the English language. The method of instruction here was through translations of Ma-
rathi and Gujarati. Consequently, the school was divided into Marathi and Gujarati sections.
• In 1827, a resolution was passed that an institution for the promotion of education should be estab-
lished under the Bombay Native Education Society and be designated as "Elphinstone College" (distinct
from High School). This was named after Mountstuart Elphinstone, the departing Governor of the
Bombay Presidency, who was responsible for beginning higher education in the city.
• Elphinstone College was formally constituted in 1835. It became a distinct institution, separated from
the high school, on 1 April 1856. This year is officially considered to be the year of its establishment.
• The schools of the Bombay Native Education Society were incorporated with the Elphinstone College
following its establishment and came to be designated "The Elphinstone Native Education Institu-
214

tion."

Wood's Educational Despatch

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1854, the Court of Directors of the EIC in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-
General of India. Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company, issued it.
• The Despatch outlined the educational policy for the future. It emphasised the practical benefits of a
system of European learning, as opposed to oriental knowledge.

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• The Despatch is considered as the Magna Carta of English Education in India.

Major Recommendations of the Despatch

1. The government should assume direct responsibility for educating the masses and women.
 Thus, it rejected the Downward Filtration Theory, at least on paper. In practice, the Government
did little to spread education and spent little on it.
2. Universities in the three presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay should be set up based
on the model of London University.
 In 1857, three universities were established in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee, the famous Bengali novelist, became one of the first two graduates of Calcutta University
in 1858.
3. The Departments of Education should be set up in each of the five provinces for systematic supervi-
sion of the education system.
4. A system of grants-in-aid should be introduced to encourage and foster private enterprise in edu-
cation.
 It was believed that the government would not be able to fund all the educational needs of the
country, so private organisations would have to establish most educational institutions.
5. Vocational education should be promoted, and technical schools and colleges should be set up.
6. Teachers' training institutions should be set up based on the model prevalent in England.
7. The Despatch laid down the principles of a graded educational system all over the country - Indige-
nous Primary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, and Universities.
8. The government should promote vernacular schools for the expansion of elementary education.
9. Medium of instruction:
 English should be used as the medium of instruction in the higher branches, i.e. at the collegiate
stage.
 Both English and modern Indian languages should be used to provide secondary education.
 Vernacular languages should be used as the medium of instruction in the school (elementary ed-
ucation).
10. Modern Indian languages should be encouraged to make them the medium of instruction for imparting
higher education over time.
215

[UPSC 2018] Regarding Wood's Dispatch, which of the following statements are true?
(2018)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduced.

2. Establishment of universities was recommended.
3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: a)

Motive Behind the Wood's Despatch

Economic (expansion of the market for British manufacturers in India)

• British officials believed that European learning would change the tastes and desires of Indians and
create a demand for British goods.

Administrative

• Wood argued that European learning would improve the moral character of Indians, making them
truthful and honest. Thus, it would help economise the administration cost by getting a cheap sup-
ply of educated Indians who could be trusted and depended upon. These educated Indians were em-
ployed in lower positions in the administration instead of expensive Englishmen.

Political

• The British believed that English education would help reconcile the people of India to British rule
since it glorified British conquerors and their administration.

Demand for Moral Education

• The Christian missionaries in India strongly criticised the argument for practical education. They be-
lieved that education should aim to enhance individuals' moral character, which could only be achieved
through Christian education.
 After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British government was hesitant to directly support mis-
sionary education because they feared it might offend native customs and beliefs.

Hunter Commission (1882)

• In 1882, the Government appointed the first education commission under the Chairmanship of W.W.
Hunter. It was appointed:
216

 To review the progress of education in the country since the Despatch of 1854.
 To recommend necessary measures for further progress.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• There were eight Indian members in the commission. The Commission mostly confined its recommen-
dations to primary and secondary education. Its main recommendations were:

Primary education
• The State has a special responsibility to extend and improve primary education.

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• Primary education should be regarded as the instruction of the masses through the vernacular.
• Primary education should be made available to all children irrespective of the availability of local sup-
port.
• The control of primary education should be transferred to the District and Municipal Boards. These
boards were empowered to impose cess for educational purposes.

Secondary education
• Secondary education should have two divisions:
1. Literary: Leading up to Entrance Examination of the University
2. Vocational: For commercial and non-literary purposes.
• Local co-operations should support Secondary Schools.
• Private enterprise should be welcomed at all stages of education. The government's duty was to
establish one high school in every district, but the expansion of secondary education in that district
should be left to private enterprises.
• The Commission did not make any recommendations to promote the study of modern Indian lan-
guages and favoured English as the medium of instruction for secondary education.
• The Commission highlighted the inadequate facilities for female education outside the Presidency
towns and made recommendations for its spread.

Promoting Private Enterprise

• An all-out effort was proposed to encourage private enterprise in education. To achieve this objective,
it recommended the extension and liberalisation of the grants-in-aid system and the recognition of
aided schools as equal to government institutions in terms of status and privileges, etc.

[Prelims Practice] The Hunter Commission (1882) appointed to survey the state of educa-
tion in India.
a) deprecated University education
b) overruled the Despatch of 1854
c) endorsed the Despatch of 1854 with greater emphasis on primary education
d) criticised the grants-in-aid system of schooling
Answer: c)
217

Indian Universities Commission (1902)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1902, Lord Curzon appointed the Indian Universities Commission (Raleigh Commission) with Sir
Thomas Raleigh as its head. It was appointed:
 To enquire about the condition and prospects of universities in India
 To recommend proposals for improving the constitution and working of universities
• The recommendation led to the passing of the Indian Universities Act of 1904.

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Important changes by the Indian Universities Act of 1904

• The government was given additional powers and was required to approve regulations framed by
the Senate. If the Senate failed to frame regulations within a specified period, the government was
authorised to do so.
• The size of the university Senate was reduced.
• The universities were granted expanded functions, allowing them to appoint their own professors and
lecturers, carry out research, manage educational endowments, and maintain libraries and museums.
• The Act empowered the Government of India to sanction the grants to Indian universities.
 Before 1904, the government did not provide any grants-in-aid to any university other than Punjab
University, which received an annual grant of about Rs 30,000 for conducting oriental and law
courses.
 After implementing this Act, the Government of India announced an annual grant of Rs 5,00,000 for
five years to advance collegiate and university education.

Opposition by Indians
• Several private colleges and institutions in India were affiliated with major universities in Calcutta,
Bombay, and Madras, and they developed their own curricula. Hence, the recommendations were seen
as measures to control the indigenous institutions.
• Indians strongly opposed the act because the provisions were aimed:
 To abolish and control indigenous institutions.
 To control the political unrest that had taken place after the partition of Bengal.
 At the reduction of educational facilities in the name of efficiency.
 To concentrate powers in the hands of European educationists

Compulsory Primary Education

• In 1906, the State of Baroda introduced compulsory primary education throughout its territories.
• During 1910-13, G.K. Gokhale made efforts in the Imperial Legislative Council to urge the govern-
ment to accept the responsibility for compulsory primary education. However, the bill for introducing
compulsory elementary education moved by Gokhale was defeated by the majority in 1911. 218

Resolution of 1913
• In its resolution of February 1913, the Government of India refused to recognise the principle of com-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

pulsory education. However, it asked the provincial governments to provide free elementary edu-
cation to poorer and more backward sections.
• The resolution declared that a university should be established for each province, and teaching activ-
ities of the universities should be encouraged. Efforts were made to establish new universities while the
existing ones continued to expand.

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Bombay Primary Education Act of 1918

• The Bombay Legislative Council accepted Vithalbhai J Patel's bill to introduce compulsory primary
education in municipal areas. This eventually became the Bombay Primary Education Act of 1918
and served as a model for subsequent enactments.

Growth of Universities
• The growth of regional and communal tendencies led to the establishment of Universities at different
centres. In 1916, the Benaras Hindu University was established due to Madan Mohan Malaviya's
initiative. In the following years, universities were established in Mysore, Patna, and Hyderabad.

[Prelims Practice] In 1911, who among the following introduced a bill in the Imperial Leg-
islative Council for the introduction of compulsory and free primary education in India?
a) Dadabhai Naoroji
b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
c) Sir Harcourt Butler
d) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Answer: d)

Sadler Commission (1917)

• In 1917, the Indian Government appointed the Calcutta University Commission to inquire into the
workings and needs of Calcutta University. Dr Michael Sadler was appointed its Chairman. The Com-
mission included two Indian members, namely Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and Dr Zia-ud-din Ahmad.
• The Commission took into consideration the work of other universities and submitted a comprehen-
sive report in 1919.
• Though its primary objective centred on the University of Calcutta, its findings and proposals had an
all-India significance.
• The Commission expressed concern about:
 The rapid increase in university students
 The neglect of professional and vocational courses
 The poor condition of universities and colleges.
219

• The Commission noted that, due to the Act of 1904, Indian Universities were among the most gov-
ernment-controlled universities in the world.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Recommendations
• The Sadler Commission recommended:
 The establishment of a Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education for administering sec-
ondary and intermediate education

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 The establishment of intermediate colleges with two-year courses

 The provision of a three-year degree course after the intermediate stage at the University.
(school – College – University)
 Institution of Honours courses at degree level as distinct from pass courses
 A greater emphasis on the study of sciences, on tutorial systems, and research work.
 Minimum government interference in academic affairs
 Sound principles of appointments to teaching posts in universities through Selection Committees
 Great attention to student welfare
 Departments of Education were to be created at the universities of Dhaka and Calcutta.

Female Education

 The commission suggested that purdah (veil) schools could be set up for Hindu and Muslim girls
whose parents would be willing to extend their education up to the age of 15 or 16.
 The commission proposed forming a special board of women's education under the aegis of Cal-
cutta University.

Government’s Action
• In January 1920, the Indian Government issued a resolution highlighting certain points.
1. High schools fail to provide adequate training for the country's development and new employment
opportunities.
2. The intermediate section of university education should be recognised as part of school education
and should be separated from the University organisation
3. The defects of the present system of affiliated colleges may be mitigated by:
 The establishment of a strong central teaching system
 The modification of the administrative machinery which would give a better representation to
local interests
 Supervision of different categories of institutions by several constituted bodies.

Education Under Dyarchy

• The Government of India Act of 1919 introduced the Dyarchy (a system of double government). Un-
der dyarchy, the Department of Education was transferred to the Indian Ministries in 1921.
220

• The provincial governments were free to adopt and implement educational expansion programmes.
• A number of Compulsory Education Acts were passed in most provinces, leading to a noticeable
MIH-I – Pre-1857

growth in the spread of education after 1921. However, limitations of financial resources soon re-
stricted this growth.

Growth of Universities
• S.N.D.T. Women's University was established by Karve in 1916

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• Gujarat Vidyapith was established in 1920

• Jamia Millia was established in 1920
• Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapith was established in 1921
• Vishwa-Bharati started by poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1921
• Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921

Hartog Commission (1929)

• After the 1920s, the educational standard deteriorated due to the increase in a large number of
schools and colleges.
• In 1928, the Simon Commission appointed a sub-committee under Sir Philip Hartog to review the
state of education in India. The Hartog Committee recommended the Government to concentrate on
consolidation rather than diffusion of primary education.

Sargent Plan (1944)

• Sir John Sargeant was the educational adviser to the Government of India. In 1944, the Central Advisory
Board of Education (CABE) drew up a “Post-War Plan for Educational Development in India”, also known
as the Sargent Plan, under the leadership of Sir John Sargeant.
• The Sargent Plan was a plan to Indianise education, universalise primary education, and improve the
quality of education so that our education system would become comparable with that of industrialised
nations.

Recommendations
 Free and compulsory primary education for children between the ages of six and eleven.
 High school education for the 11-17 year age group.
 High schools should be of two types:
1. Academics schools
2. Technical and Vocational schools
 The intermediate course was to be replaced with an extra year, one at the higher school stage and
another at the college stage.
 University course of three years.
221

Critical Examination of the British Education Policy

• Political, administrative, and economic factors necessitated the British to introduce modern educa-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

tion. The education was designed by the British to legitimise their domination and to serve their own
economic needs.
• The ultimate outcome of the education policy might be different, but the desired objective was the
perpetuation of foreign rule.

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• Despite the weaknesses of the official educational policy, the limited spread of modern education led
to the propagation of modern ideas in India and thus helped in its modernisation.
• The educated Indians, or the intellectuals, used the recently acquired knowledge to spread ideas of
democracy, nationalism, anti-imperialism and social and economic equality and justice among the
rural and urban masses.

Positive Contributions
 The new education broadened the horizon of knowledge.
 The establishment of the printing press and the easy availability of books removed the traditional
barriers and made education accessible to more people.
 The ideas of the Western thinkers influenced the younger generation of the indigenous society, and
they began to question the existing traditional values.
 A new spirit of rationalism developed.

Drawbacks
1. Neglect of Mass Education: The following reasons were responsible for this:
 The reluctance of the government and lack of finance
 The emphasis on english as the medium of instruction
 The costly nature of higher education
2. Gulf between Educated Indians and the masses: Although Wood's Despatch rejected the Down-
ward Filtration Theory, it remained in practice until the end of British rule. By educating the elite and
neglecting mass education, the education system strengthens the barrier between the upper classes
and the masses.
3. Decline of Traditional Indian Education System: It was because of:
 Lack of official support
 Official Declaration of 1844: It made English knowledge compulsory for the applicants for gov-
ernment employment.
4. Neglect of Women's Education: Wood's Despatch asked the government to support women's edu-
cation and provide financial assistance for the opening of girls’ schools, but the Department of Educa-
tion did not take active measures. It was because of two reasons:
222

 Female education lacked immediate usefulness in the eyes of British officials since women could
not be employed as clerks in the Government.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Female education might upset the traditional beliefs and values of the Indian Orthodox commu-
nity.
5. Literary Bias: In schools, there was little focus on vocational training. Colleges had more students in
humanities than in sciences or technical courses. As a result, the education system produced unskilled
graduates.

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6. Inadequate Expenditure on Education: The government's spending on education was insufficient.

They allocated a meagre amount for education, and a disproportionate amount was spent on higher
education.
7. Neglect of Scientific and Technical Education: By 1857, there were only three medical colleges in
the country - Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras - and only one good engineering college in Roorkee for
higher technical education.
Colleges Establishment
Calcutta Medical College 1835
Madras Medical College 1835
Grant Medical College, Bombay 1845
Roorkee Engineering College, Uttarakhand 1847

10.3. Role of Missionaries

• Missionaries’ support for modern education: The missionaries believed that modern education
would destroy the people's faith in their own religions and lead them to adopt Christianity. They urged
the company to introduce Christianity and English Education in India. Serampore missionaries were
enthusiastic about the spread of education.
• A Shift from Restriction to Permission: Fearing that their missionary activities would provoke a nega-
tive reaction. An Act of Parliament banned them from entering India without a license in 1783.
 The Charter Act of 1813 permitted missionaries to conduct religious and educational activities.
• Opposition to practical education: The Christian missionaries strongly criticised the argument for
practical education. They believed that education should aim to enhance individuals' moral character,
which could only be achieved through Christian education.
• Post-1857 Hesitation: After the revolt of 1857, the British government hesitated to support mis-
sionary education directly because they feared it might offend native customs and beliefs.

Serampore Mission
• Until 1813, the EIC opposed missionary activities in India. To avoid expulsion by the English Govern-
ment, William Carey (Scottish missionary) and his two associates established the mission in 1800 at
Serampore in an area under the control of the Danish EIC.
223

• Under the Serampore mission, a printing press was set up in 1800, and a college was established in
1818 to impart religious teaching to the local people.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

William Carey
• In 1801, William Carey was appointed head of the Bengali department at Fort William College. With
the help of native scholars, Carey soon produced some Bengali textbooks for classroom use.

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• William Carey learned several Indian languages and wrote the grammar of Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi,
Telugu, and Kannada. He translated the Hindu classic, the Ramayana, into English and the Bible into
Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit.
• Carey's essay, “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of
the Heathens,” led to the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792.
• Carey's social work extended beyond education to urge the government to outlaw practices such as
infanticide.

10.4. Education For Girls

• The Government neglected female education, though Wood's Despatch asked the Government to
support it. Many Indian reformers felt the need for girls' education and established schools and col-
leges.
 Mumtaz Ali reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue for women's education.

India’s first school for girls (1848)

• On January 1, 1848, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule started India’s first school for
girls at Bhide Wada in Pune. Along with Fatima Sheikh, they spread education among the downtrodden
communities.
• Jagannath Shankar Seth and Bhau Daji supported the school at Bhide Wada.

Fatima Sheikh

• Fatima Sheikh was an Indian educator and social reformer, a colleague of the social reformers Jyotirao
Phule and Savitribai Phule.
• She is widely considered to be India’s first female Muslim teacher.

Bethune School (1849)

• The Bethune School was founded as the Calcutta Female School in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater
Bethune with the financial support of Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. The school started in Mukherjee's
home with 21 girls enrolled.
• The Bethune School was the Second (the first being in Bhidewada Pune, by Jyotirao Phule) women's
school in India.
224

• In December 1850, Bethune appointed Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar as the school's secretary. This
appointment encouraged many Hindu families to send their girls to Bethune's school.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Bethune School was taken over by the government in 1856 and renamed in 1862-63 to honour its
founder.
• In 1879, Bethune School was developed into Bethune College, India's first women's college.

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• Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu graduated from Bethune College in 1883, making them
the first two female graduates in the Indian subcontinent.

John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune

• Bethune arrived in India in 1848 as a legal member of the Governor-General's Council. He was ap-
pointed president of the Council of Education.
• He was a proponent of female education. In 1849, he started the Calcutta Female School.
• He died in August 1851.

Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya (1873)

• Annette Akroyd (British Orientalist ) founded the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya in 1873 in Kolkata.
• Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya was one of the first institutions to provide girls with the kind of learning
that was usual for boys at the time.

[UPSC 2021] Who among the following was associated as Secretary with Hindu Female
School which later came to be known as Bethune Female School?
a) Annie Besant
b) Debendranath Tagore
c) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
d) Sarojini Naidu
Answer: c)

Role of Women
Begum Sultan Jahan
• Begum Sultan Jahan was the last Begum of Bhopal from 1909 to 1926. She established many schools
and educational institutes for girls in Aligarh. She authored a book, Dars-e-Hayat, about the education
and parenting of young girls.
• Despite being a small princely estate, Bhopal had an education budget of one lakh rupees. Many
renowned colleges in Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta received generous grants from Begum.

Begum Rokeya
225

• Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was a Bengali feminist thinker, writer, educator, and political activist.
She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in South Asia.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Begum Rokeya started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta.
• Begum Rokeya was a fearless critic of conservative ideas, arguing that religious leaders of every faith
accorded an inferior place to women.
• Her notable works include:

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1. Sultana's Dream: It is an early example of feminist science fiction in India, portraying a world
where women are in charge while men are confined indoors.
2. Padmarag - Essence of the Lotus: It highlighted the struggles of Bengali wives.
3. Abarodhbasini - The Confined Women: It criticised extreme forms of purdah affecting women's
lives and self-image.
• In 1916, she established the Muslim Women's Association, which was dedicated to advancing wom-
en's education and employment.
• Begum Rokeya also presided over the 1926 Bengal Women's Education Conference in Kolkata, a pi-
oneering effort to unite women to support education rights.

10.5. Different Views on Education

Sayajirao Gaekwad III

• Sayajirao Gaekwad III was the Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda from 1875 to 1939. He
belonged to the royal Gaekwad dynasty of the Marathas, which ruled parts of present-day Gujarat.
• Sayajirao Gaekwad introduced several educational and social reforms.

Free and Compulsory Education

• In 1893, Sayajirao Gaekwad started an experiment of providing free and compulsory primary educa-
tion to all the children in the age group of 6-14 in ten selected villages of Amreli Mahal.
• Based on the success of this pilot project, in 1906, it was extended to the entire Baroda State. This
made Sayajirao Gaekwad the first Indian Ruler to introduce compulsory and free primary educa-
tion, placing his territory far ahead of contemporary British India.
• Sayajirao Gaekwad set up more than 1,500 libraries across the State.

Other Reforms
• Sayajirao Gaekwad introduced reforms in governance, education, water supply, sanitation, health ser-
vices, judiciary and transportation, including railways. His notable reform measures included:
 Ban on female infanticide.
 Prohibition of child marriage.
 Facilitating widow remarriage.
226

Mahatma Gandhi
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Mahatma Gandhi criticised Western education. He said Western education focused on reading and
writing rather than oral knowledge. It valued textbooks rather than lived experience and practical
knowledge.

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• Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians. It made
them see Western civilisation as superior and destroyed their pride in their own culture. Gandhi
wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect.
• During the national movement, Gandhi urged students to leave educational institutions to show the
British that Indians were no longer willing to be enslaved.
• Gandhi argued that true education should go beyond mere literacy (learning to read and write), focus-
ing on developing an individual's mind and soul.
• In Gandhi's vision, a child's education should begin by teaching it a useful handicraft and enabling it
to produce from the moment it begins its training. This would develop their mind and prepare them to
differentiate between good and bad.
• Gandhi strongly emphasised the use of Indian languages as the medium of teaching. He thought
English education made Indians feel like outsiders in their own country, distancing them from their
culture.

Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (Nai Talim)

• In 1937, Gandhiji published a series of articles about his ideas of education in his weekly paper Harijan.
• Many Congress candidates mentioned free and compulsory education in the election manifesto
1937.
• After winning the election, Congress decided to advance Gandhi’s educational scheme and organised
a National Conference on Education in Wardha in October 1937, the Wardha Educational Conference.
Gandhi himself was the president of this conference.
• After the discussion, the conference passed the following resolution:
1. Free and compulsory education to be provided for the first seven years of schooling.
2. Emphasis on Vocational and Manual Training: For the first seven years of schooling, education
should revolve around manual and productive work (Including a basic handicraft in the syllabus).
3. The mother tongue should be the medium of instruction.
• Based upon the meeting at Wardha, a committee under the chairmanship of Dr Zakir Hussain was
formed. The Committee submitted the first extensive National Basic Education Scheme in its report in
March 1938, known as the Wardha scheme of basic education.
• According to the committee:
227

 English should not be part of the curriculum.

 Religious education should not be included in this program.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• However, the recommendations were not accepted by the Muslim League, as religious education was
of utmost importance for the Muslim League.
• In February 1938, at the Haripura Session of the Congress, a resolution supporting the new policy
called Nai Talim or Basic Education (Buniyadi Shiksha) recommended by Dr Zakir Hussain Commit-
tee was adopted.

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• This idea of Basic Education was not developed much due to the start of the Second World War and
the resignation of the Congress ministries in October 1939.

[UPSC 2023] What was the difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
in their approach towards education and nationalism?

Rabindranath Tagore
• According to Tagore, the existing schools killed the natural desire of the child to be creative and did
not promote the child's own thoughts and desires.
• Tagore believed that childhood ought to be a time of self-learning outside the rigid and restricting
discipline of the schooling system set up by the British. Teachers had to be imaginative, understand
the child, and help the child develop her curiosity.
• Tagore believed that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment.
Hence, he established his school, Santiniketan, 100 km from Calcutta, in a rural setting. He imagined it
as a peaceful place where children could live in harmony with nature, fostering their natural creativity.
• Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi shared similar views on education, but there were differences too. Gandhi
criticised Western civilisation and its reliance on machines, while Tagore aimed to blend aspects of
modern Western civilisation with the best of Indian tradition.
• Tagore advocated teaching science and technology at Santiniketan alongside art, music, and dance.

Aurobindo Ghosh
• Aurobindo Ghosh believed that the purpose of national education was to awaken the spirit of na-
tionality among the students. He advocated teaching in the vernacular to reach the most people.
• Aurobindo Ghosh emphasised that students should take advantage of modern scientific discoveries
and Western experiments in popular governments. He stressed that the students should learn useful
crafts to find moderately remunerative employment after leaving their schools.

Bengal National College (National Council of Education – Bengal)

• Bengal National College was founded by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and other Indian nationalists
in Bengal in 1906 as part of a Swadeshi movement.
• It started its operations on August 15, 1906, under the leadership of Sri Aurobindo as its inaugural
228

Principal.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan served as the first Vice President of India (1952-1962) and the second
President of India (1962-1967).
• Radhakrishnan’s philosophy was based on Advaita Vedanta (a school of Hindu philosophy). According
to him, education should not only train the mind but also nurture the heart and spirit.

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• Radhakrishnan emphasised that education must focus on developing wisdom and truth, not just ac-
quiring facts.
• After the Independence in 1948, the Government of India appointed a University Education Commis-
sion under the chairmanship of Dr. Radhakrishnan.
 Teachers’ Day is celebrated in India to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radha-
krishnan.

Lord Macaulay
• Macaulay believed that Indian literature was full of errors and unscientific thought. He saw India as
an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised.
• Macaulay emphasised the need to teach the English language. He felt that knowledge of English would
allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced. Thus, teaching English could
be a way of civilising people, changing their tastes (Increasing the import of British goods), values
(Moral Character) and culture.

10.6. Educational Institutions

School/College Year Founder Objective

Calcutta Madrassa 1781 Warren Hastings To teach Muslim laws
Asiatic Society of Ben- 1784 William Jones To encourage oriental studies
gal
Sanskrit College 1791 Jonathan Duncan To study Hindu philosophy and laws
College of Fort William 1800 Lord Wellesley For the education of young recruits to
the Civil Service
Hindu College 1817 David Hare To promote of modern education
English school 1817 Raja Rammohun Roy
Vedanta College 1825 Raja Rammohun Roy
School at Bhide Wada 1848 Mahatma Phule and Girls Education
Savitribai Phule
Bethune School 1849 Bethune Girls Education
229

Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya 1873 Annette Akroyd Girls Education

Bengal National College 1906 Satish Chandra Mukherjee National Education
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and other Indian national-

ists

Deccan Education Society

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• In 1880, Shri Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, with Lokmanya Tilak and M. B. Namjoshi, started a ‘New
English School’ in Pune with the objective of ‘cheapening and facilitating education’. Over time, many
intellectuals, including Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Vaman Apte, etc., joined them.
• This was a revolutionary step because Government Institutions and Christian missionaries were the
only agencies involved in educating the masses, and the education provided failed to generate lead-
ership for the industrial regeneration of a self-governing nation.
• Deccan Education Society was founded in 1884 by Lokmanya Tilak, G. G. Agarkar, Vishnushastri
Chiplunkar, Mahadeo Ballal Namjoshi and Vamanrao Apte. New English School was placed under its
management.
• Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj was president of the Deccan Education Society from 1885 till his
death in 1922.
• Fergusson College was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Congress party leader
Gopal Krishna Gokhale and social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve were life members of the society
and taught at the college in 1890.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)

• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), popularly known as Pusa Institute, was established in
1905 at Pusa (Bihar) with a generous grant of 30,000 pounds from an American philanthropist, Mr. Henry
Phipps.
• Lord Curzon, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, laid the foundation of the Agricultural Re-
search Institute on 1 April 1904.
• Following a devastating earthquake on 15th January 1934, the institute was shifted to Delhi on 29th
July 1936.

[UPSC 2018] With reference to educational institutions during colonial rule in India, con-
sider the following pairs: (2018)

Institution Founder
Sanskrit College at Benaras William Jones
Calcutta Madrasa Warren Hastings
Fort William College Arthur Wellesley
230

Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only
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b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 3 only
Answer: b)

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10.7. Summary

Indigenous Education
• Before the arrival of the British, two types of educational systems existed in India - Madrasas and
Maktabs for the Muslims and Tols and Pathshalas for the Hindus.
• William Adam, a Scottish missionary appointed by William Bentinck to report on the progress of ed-
ucation in vernacular schools, favoured the revival of the indigenous educational system. He proposed
that the medium of instruction should be the vernaculars, not English. Bentinck rejected his proposal.

Development of Education under Colonial Rule

• Immediately after acquiring political power in India, company officials maintained neutrality or non-
intervention in the religion and culture of indigenous society.
• After 1813, the Company abandoned its policy of neutrality and assumed responsibility for promoting
learning. The Charter Act of 1813 marked the beginning of Western education in India. It asked the
Governor-General to allocate at least one lakh rupees annually for education.

Orientalists vs Anglicists
• For years, the opinions were sharply divided on whether the company should promote Western or
oriental learning. Orientalists advocated the promotion of Sanskrit and Arabic literature, while Angli-
cists advocated spreading Western knowledge through English.
• Lord Macaulay's minute in 1835 settled these controversies and recommended promoting European
literature and Science through the medium of English.
• Since the allocated funds could educate only a handful of Indians, the government followed the
Downward Filtration Theory. Accordingly, the British decided to educate a few people from the upper
and middle classes, who were expected to carry forward the task of educating the masses.

Wood's Educational Despatch

• In 1854, the Court of Directors of the EIC in London sent an educational despatch outlining the future
educational policy. It emphasised the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed
to oriental knowledge.
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• It asked the government to assume direct responsibility for educating the masses and women. It is
considered as the Magna Carta of English Education in India.
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232
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11. Land Revenue Policy of British

11.1. System of Land Revenue Collection

• On 12 August 1765, the Mughal emperor appointed the EIC as the Diwan of Bengal, Bihar, and
Orissa. The company became a Diwan, but it mostly considered itself a trader. It wanted a large revenue
income but did not set up a regular system of assessment and collection.
• The British retained the administration established by the Nawabs of Bengal to collect land revenue.
However, the corruption of the Company's employees and their constant interference in the admin-
istration led to complete disorganisation. This, in turn, contributed to the devastating famine of 1769-
70, during which an estimated one-third of the people of Bengal died. Therefore, in 1772, the Company
started an auction-based revenue collection system as the first experiment.
 Initially, the Company followed the traditional land assessment system. However, over time, they
gradually modified the existing land settlement to maximise the collection of land revenue.

Revenue Collection Rights by Auction

• Warren Hastings auctioned the right to collect revenue to the highest bidders (contractors). However,
his experiment failed due to two reasons:
233

1. Instability in the Company's Revenues: Although the land revenue was frequently bid high by
zamindars and speculators, the actual collection varied from year to year and often fell short of
MIH-I – Pre-1857

official expectations.
2. No Agricultural Improvement: Neither the cultivator nor the zamindar knew the assessment for
the next year, so they did not invest in improving cultivation.

Permanent Settlement System (1793)

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• By the 1770s, the rural economy in Bengal was in crisis, with recurrent famines and declining agricul-
tural output. Most Company officials felt that investment in land had to be encouraged and agricul-
ture had to be improved. They believed this could be achieved by:
1. Securing property rights
2. Establishing fixed rates for revenue demand.

Evolution of Permanent Settlement System

234

• Warren Hastings established the Five-Year Settlement system in 1772, which granted the highest
bidder the authority to collect taxes. This system was not successful, and Hastings resorted to an annual
MIH-I – Pre-1857

system.
• After a prolonged discussion with colleagues like Sir John Shore and James Grant, Cornwallis abol-
ished the annual lease system and introduced a decennial (Ten years) settlement in 1789.

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• The Decennial settlement was declared permanent in 1793. Under the permanent settlement, the
government fixed the land revenue and promised not to increase it in future.
 The Permanent Settlement was designed by John Shore, the Governor-General of Bengal (1793-
1798), while he was serving as the revenue official during the Governor-Generalship of Lord Corn-
wallis.
• The officials believed that if the revenue demand of the state was permanently fixed, then the Com-
pany could get a regular flow of revenue. At the same time, Zamindar would invest in improving the
land, knowing that the revenue demand of the state would not be increased, and Zamindar would ben-
efit from increased production.
• Hence, the Permanent Settlement (zamindari settlement) was introduced:
 To ensure a regular flow of revenue to the Company.
 To encourage the zamindars to invest in improving the land.
• Lord Cornwallis started the Permanent Settlement (Cornwallis System) in Bengal and Bihar in 1793.
Later, it was extended to Orissa, the northern districts of Madras, and the district of Varanasi.

Temporary Zamindari Settlement

• In parts of Central India and Avadh, the British introduced a temporary zamindari settlement un-
der which the zamindars were made owners of land, but the revenue they had to pay was revised
periodically.

Features of the Permanent Settlement System

Fixed Land Revenue

• The rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars. They were asked to collect rent from the peas-
ants and pay revenue to the Company. The amount to be paid was fixed permanently; that is, it was
not to be increased in future.
• If the rental of a zamindar’s estate increased due to the extension of cultivation and improvement
in agriculture or if he extracted more from tenants, he would keep the entire increase. The British
officials believed this would encourage the Zamindar to invest in improving the land.
 Zamindars owned multiple villages that formed one revenue estate. The Company set the total de-
mand for the estate, and the zamindar contracted to pay it.
235

 The zamindars collected rent from the different villages, paid 10/11th (89%) of the rental to the
Company, and kept only 1/11th (11%) for themselves. However, the sums they paid as land revenue
MIH-I – Pre-1857

were fixed perpetually.

Ownership of Land

• The zamindars and revenue collectors were recognised as landowners. Their right of ownership was
made hereditary and transferable.

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• Cultivators, who had long-standing rights to the soil and other customary rights, were reduced to mere
tenants.
 Earlier, the zamindars were only collectors of revenue and had no ownership rights over land.

Sunset Clause

• The zamindar was required to pay his revenue on the due date, even if the crop had failed. According
to the Sunset Law, if payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, his lands would be
sold.

Benefits of Permanent Settlement

• For the Company:
 Dealing with a few zamindars was much easier than lakhs of cultivators.
 It ensured the stability of income required for the maintenance of the army.

Key Issues
Problem Faced by Zamindars

 The initial fixation of revenue was made arbitrarily and without consultation with the zamindars.
 The revenue rates were fixed so high that the zamindars found it difficult to pay. Anyone who failed to
pay the revenue lost his zamindari.
 Numerous zamindaris were auctioned off by the Company, resulting in the displacement of original
zamindars. By 1815, nearly half of the landed property of Bengal had been transferred from the old
zamindars to merchants and other moneyed classes.

Jotedars

• Jotedars were the rich peasants, who also controlled local trade as well as money lending. They
were also called haoladars, gantidars or mandals in some places.
• Within the villages, the power of Jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars. They pre-
vented zamindari officials from executing their duties and deliberately delayed payments of revenue
to the zamindar. Their rise inevitably weakened Zamindari authority.
• When the estates of the zamindars were auctioned for failure to make revenue payments, Jotedars
were often the purchasers.
236

Jama

Estimated revenue (revenue demand of the village by Zamindar)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Amlah

• An officer of the zamindar who used to collect the revenue.

Problem Faced by Cultivators

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• The cultivator found the system extremely oppressive.

 High Rent: The rent the cultivator paid to the Zamindar was high (higher than what was fixed by
the company).
 Right on the land was insecure: To pay the rent, the cultivator had to take a loan from the mon-
eylender often, and when the cultivator failed to pay the rent, he was evicted from the land.

The Legal method of harassment

• Under the permanent settlement, the land tax fixed was very high. Such oppressive taxes could only
be collected by oppressive methods.
• To meet the demands imposed by the state, the 1793, 1799, and 1812 regulations allowed zamindars
to seize tenants' property if rent wasn't paid. Zamindars did not need permission from any court
of law to do this.

Problem Faced by the Company

 Although the Company initially gained financially, it suffered a financial loss in the long run. In the
early 1800s, market prices started to rise, leading to the expansion of cultivation. While this resulted
in higher income for the zamindars, the Company did not benefit as it could not increase the revenue
demand that had been fixed permanently.
 Despite their ownership, the zamindars showed no interest in improving the land. Some had lost
their lands during the settlement's early years, while others saw the possibility of earning without the
trouble and risk of investment.

Zamindar: A Landowner
• Before 1793, the zamindars of Bengal and Bihar did not enjoy proprietary rights over most of the
land. The question then arises: why did the British recognise them as such?
• One explanation is that this was partly the result of a misunderstanding. In England, the central figure
in agriculture at the time was the landlord, and the British officials made the mistake of thinking that
the zamindar was his Indian counterpart.
• Other historians think that the decision to recognise the zamindars as the proprietors of land was de-
termined by political, financial, and administrative reasons.
1. Political (need to create political allies)
237

 The British officials realised that as they were foreigners in India, their rule would be unstable
unless they acquired local supporters who would act as a buffer between them and the people
MIH-I – Pre-1857

of India.
 This expectation was, in fact, fully justified later when the zamindars as a class supported the
foreign government in opposition to the rising movement for freedom.
2. Financial security (stability of income):

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 Before 1793, the Company was troubled by fluctuations in its chief source of income, the land
revenue. The Permanent Settlement guaranteed the stability of income. The newly created
property of the zamindars acted as security for this.
 The Permanent Settlement enabled the Company to maximise its income as land revenue was
now fixed higher than ever.
3. Administrative: Revenue collection through a few zamindars was much simpler and cheaper than
dealing with lakh cultivators.

Alternative to Permanent Settlement

• After 1810, agricultural prices rose, which increased the income of the Bengal zamindars, but the
company could not claim any share of this enhanced income.
• As a result, the Permanent Settlement was rarely extended to any region beyond Bengal. In the
territories annexed in the 19th century, temporary revenue settlements were made.
238

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Permanent Settle-
ment?
MIH-I – Pre-1857

a) The Permanent Settlement vested landownership rights in the Zamindar

b) The Permanent Settlement continued to pay attention to the customary occupancy rights of peasants
c) The burden of the high revenue assessment was shifted to the peasants under the Permanent Settle-
ment

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d) The condition of the actual cultivators of the land declined under the Permanent Settlement.
Answer: B

[Prelims Practice] What was the consequence of the Permanent Settlement on rural society
in Bengal?
a) The zamindars invested capital and enterprise to improve agriculture along the lines of British yeoman
farmers.
b) A group of rich peasants known as jotedars succeeded in consolidating their position in the villages
c) The ryots prospered as a result of the fixed revenue levy imposed on them
d) The system of Collectorate introduced by the Company for exercising supervisory control on zamin-
dars failed to take off
Answer: B

[Prelims Practice] The following question consists of two statements, Statement I and
Statement II. Examine these two statements carefully and select the correct answer using
the code below.
Code:
a) Both statements are individually true, and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I
b) Both statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I
c) Statement I is true but Statement II is false
d) Statement I is false but Statement Il is true.
Statement I: The Permanent Settlement was rarely extended to any region beyond Bengal.
Statement II: After 1810, the agricultural prices declined affecting adversely the income of the Bengal
Zamindars.
Answer: C

Ryotwari system (1820)

• The establishment of British rule in South and South-Western India brought new problems of land
settlement. The officials believed that there were no inherent zamindars with large estates with whom
land revenue could be settled.
• The British officials also believed that the introduction of the Zamindari system would upset the
239

existing situation. Therefore, many Madras officials, including Alexander Reed and Thomas Munro,
recommended making settlements directly with the cultivators (ryots). They also pointed out that
MIH-I – Pre-1857

under the Permanent Settlement, the Company could not claim a share of the growing income from
land.
• Ryotwari Settlement was tried on a small scale by Captain Alexander Reed in some areas where the
Company took over after the wars with Tipu Sultan. Later, Thomas Munro (Governor of Madras) de-
veloped this system and gradually expanded it to cover South India.

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• Under the Ryotwari Settlement (Munro System):

 The cultivator (ryot) was recognised as the owner of his land, subject to paying land revenue.
 The cultivators were registered and issued pattas. They were permitted to sell, lease, mortgage or
transfer the right over land.
 Revenue settlement was directly made with ryot.
 The land was surveyed carefully and separately before determining the revenue assessment.
 The settlement was revised periodically after 20 to 30 years when the revenue demand was usually
raised after considering the changes in grain prices, marketing opportunities, irrigation facilities,
etc.
• Ryotwari Settlement was introduced in parts of the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, Assam, and
Burma.

The Reality of Land Ownership

• The Ryotwari Settlement did not establish a system of peasant ownership. The peasant soon dis-
covered that the large number of zamindars had been replaced by one giant zamindar (Government).
• The high revenue demand of the government forced the ryot to borrow from a moneylender. How-
ever, once the loan was taken, the ryot struggled to repay, leading the moneylender to seize the land.
• Three other factors also negated the ryot’s rights of ownership of his land:
1. In most areas, the land revenue was very high, and the ryot was hardly left with bare maintenance
even in the best of seasons.
2. The Government retained the right to enhance land revenue at will.
3. The ryot had to pay revenue even when drought or floods partially or wholly destroyed his pro-
duce.

Ryotwari Settlement: Theory and Practice

In Theory

• Assessment: Under the ryotwari system, the officials assessed each cultivator or ryot separately and
fixed the tax.
• Choice of Cultivation: The cultivator had the choice of cultivating that field and paying that amount
or not cultivating it. If no other cultivator could be found, the field would not be cultivated; it would
240

lie fallow.

In Practice
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• No Assessment: After 1820, ryotwari was extended to most of the Madras Presidency. The system was
extended to many districts where no surveys had ever been carried out. The land tax was fixed arbi-
trarily, usually by looking at what the cultivator had paid in earlier years. This was known as a 'putcut'
assessment.

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• Compulsion of Cultivation: In theory, the ryotwari allowed the ryot to give up any field he chose. But
it soon became clear that the State's tax revenue would fall if this were permitted. As a result, govern-
ment officials compelled cultivators to retain land even if they did not want to cultivate it.
 It has been argued that the Ryotwari Settlement led to social upheaval, harmed village headmen's
status, and resulted in the Deccan riots.

Effects of the Ryotwari System

 The effects of the Ryotwari System on the rural economy were distinctly harmful. The peasants were
impoverished and lacked the resources to cultivate new lands.
 During the first half of the 19th century, land in most districts of Madras had no value. This was
because whoever purchased the land would be obligated to pay an extremely high land revenue.
After paying this revenue, the new owner would not receive any income from the land. As a result,
nobody wanted to buy land under such unfavourable circumstances.
 In 1855, the Government of Madras noted that only 14.5 million acres of ryotwari land were cul-
tivated, while 18 million acres were wasted.

Ryotwari Settlement in Bombay

• When the English EIC conquered the Peshwa's territory in 1818, the ryotwari system on the Madras
pattern was also introduced there, under the supervision of Munro's disciple Elphinstone (Governor of
Bombay).
• A regular measurement and classification of the land was commenced under the supervision of an
officer named Pringle. This survey was supposed to be founded upon the theory of rent developed by
the English economist Ricardo which was hardly applicable to Indian conditions.
• Pringle's calculations were full of errors, and the assessment was far too high. When the government
tried to collect the amounts fixed by Pringle in the Pune district, many of the cultivators gave up their
lands and fled into the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Thus, this assessment had to be aban-
doned after some years.
 According to Ricardo, rent is nothing but the producer’s surplus or differential gain, and it is found
in land only. He favoured the rise in land rent if the grain price rose (Increase in profit).
• The earlier system was replaced by a reformed system devised by two officers named Wingate and
241

Goldsmid. Their system did not try to apply any theoretical rules; instead, it aimed at moderating the
demand to a level where it could be regularly paid.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Under the new system, the actual assessment of each field depended upon its soil and location. This
new assessment began in 1836 and covered most of the Deccan by 1865. The implementation of the
new system proved advantageous, leading to the expansion of the cultivated area.

Thomas Munro

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• Thomas Munro came to Madras in 1789 as a soldier and fought against the ruler of Mysore in the
second and third Anglo-Mysore wars.

Administrator of Baramahal (1792-1799)

• After the third Anglo-Mysore War in 1792, Tipu ceded some territory to the British.
• Cornwallis, the Governor-General, gave the responsibility of administering the new territory of Bara-
mahal (present-day Salem and its environs) to Captain Alexander Reed and his lieutenant, Thomas
Munro. Both men embarked on the task of assessing the revenue of the area.
• After conducting a thorough survey of the land, Munro concluded that the 'King's share of revenue'
was too high. He demanded that the rent be reduced. His argument was that any losses incurred by
reducing the rents would be compensated by better collection methods and accounting practices
that reduced corruption.
 There was no intermediary present in Baramahal between the collector and the cultivator.

Administrator of Kanara

• Following Tipu's defeat and death in 1799, Munro was put in charge of West Kanara.

Collector (1801-07)

• For seven years (1801-07), Munro was a collector of areas (Northern Circars) ceded by the Nizam
in 1801. During this time, he subjugated the poligars, the hereditary estate-holders under the Nizam.
• It was during this period that Munro conceived the idea of Ryotwari Settlement. Thus, when Corn-
wallis decided that the Zamindari system (Permanent Settlement) being followed in Bengal ought
to be replicated all over India, Munro was among the first to protest.
• Munro argued that there were no zamindars in the South and the new system would need to create
this new class by simply auctioning lands to the best bidders. He argued for a contract between the
cultivator and the Government without the interference of the landlord.

Governor of Madras (1820-27)

• In 1820, Munro became Governor of the Madras Presidency and officially enforced the Ryotwari
System in Madras. During his governorship, Munro paid attention to education and emphasised the
need for the Indianization of the services.
242

• Munro died of Cholera at Pattikonda (Kurnool district) in July 1827.

[UPSC 2017] Who among the following was/were associated with the introduction of the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Ryotwari Settlement in India during British rule?

1. Lord Cornwallis
2. Alexander Read
3. Thomas Munro

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Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 only
b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: C

[UPSC 2012] With reference to Ryotwari Settlement, consider the following statements
1. The rent was paid directly by the peasants to the government.
2. The government gave the Pattas to the Ryots.
3. The lands were surveyed and assessed before being taxed.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1, 2 and 3
d) None of the above
Answer: C

[UPSC CAPF 2016] Which of the following is/are characteristic(s) of the Ryotwari system?
1. It was the brainchild of Thomas Munro
2. It was meant to reduce intermediaries
3. Cultivating peasants were gradually impoverished by the system
4. It was introduced in parts of Madras and Bengal Presidency
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1, 2 and 3
c) 2 and 4 only
d) 2, 3 and 4
Answer: B

Mahalwari System (1822)

243

• By the early 19th century, many Company officials believed the revenue system needed to be changed.
The officials argued that the Company required more funds to cover its expenses, so the revenue
MIH-I – Pre-1857

could not be fixed permanently.

• In 1822, Holt Mackenzie introduced the Mahalwari System in the North Western Provinces of the
Bengal Presidency (most of this area is now in Uttar Pradesh). Later, the Mahalwari System was intro-
duced in the Punjab, the Gangetic Valley, and parts of Central India.

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• The Mahalwari System was a modified version of the Zamindari Settlement. Under Mackenzie’s di-
rections, collectors went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields, and re-
cording the customs and rights of different groups.
• The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added to calculate the revenue that each village
(mahal) had to pay. This demand was to be revised periodically, not permanently fixed.
• The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the Company was given to the village headman
rather than the zamindar.
 Mahal: It was a revenue estate which may be a village or a group of villages.
 In the Punjab, a modified Mahalwari System known as the village system was introduced.
• In Mahalwari System:
 The land was surveyed carefully and separately before determining the revenue assessment.
 The land revenue was revised periodically.
 The revenue settlement was made:
 Village by village or estate by estate (mahal)
 With village headman (landlords of the village or heads of families)
 The village community collectively owns the land and pays the land revenue.
 In 1833, William Bentinck made some changes and made the Mahalwari system more flexible.

11.2. Private Ownership of Land

• The British created a new form of private property in the form of land. Now, land has become salea-
ble, mortgageable, and alienable. The land became a commodity that could be bought and sold.
• There were two reasons for introducing private ownership of land:
1. To protect the government's revenue: Peasants who struggled to pay revenue could mortgage
their land to borrow from moneylenders. If a cultivator refused to pay, the government could
auction their land to collect the owed amount.
2. To improve the land: The British believed that only ownership rights would motivate landlords or
ryots to improve the land.
• The transferability of land enabled:
 The ryot to borrow money from moneylenders and pay the revenue.
244

 The moneylender to take possession of the land in case of default.

• If land had not been made transferable or saleable, it would have become very difficult for the gov-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

ernment to collect revenue from cultivators who had no savings.

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11.3. Debt-trap and Loss of Land

• Whenever peasants found it difficult to pay the revenue, they borrowed money from the moneylender
at high-interest rates on the security of the land. Once in debt, it was almost impossible for the peas-
ants to get out of it. The moneylender would continue to extend the debt and eventually take posses-
sion of the land.
• The moneylender used deceitful measures such as false accounting and forged signatures to trap
the peasant in debt, ultimately losing his land. 245

• The transfer of land from cultivators intensified during periods of scarcity and famines. The Indian
peasant hardly had any savings for critical times. Whenever crops failed, he relied on the money-
lender to pay land revenue and feed himself and his family.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• By the end of the 19th century, moneylenders had become a major problem in the countryside and an
important cause of the growing poverty of rural people.

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• However, the farmers often failed to understand that the moneylender was a crucial part of the impe-
rialist exploitation mechanism, and they directed their anger towards the moneylender as he ap-
peared to be the visible cause of their impoverishment. For instance:
 During the Revolt of 1857, wherever the peasants rose in rebellion, they often attacked the mon-
eylender and his account books as their first target.
 In 1875, the peasants revolted against moneylenders in Deccan.

Pre-Colonial Conditions
• In pre-British times, moneylenders were subordinate to the village community. They could not
seize debtors' land; they could only take possession of personal effects like jewellery or parts of his
standing crop.
• By introducing the transferability of land, the British revenue system enabled the moneylender
or the rich peasant to take possession of the land.

Peasant Uprising
• A common issue among all settlements was over-assessment, leading to arrears of payment, increasing
debt, increasing land sales and scarcity. These changes had different effects in different regions. Those
who were severely affected by these issues rebelled, leading to agrarian disruptions in the 19th century.
• By commodifying land, the British transformed India's traditional land systems and disrupted the sta-
bility of Indian villages. The oppression of poor peasants and attempts by the British to penetrate
deeper into the economy and society provoked several peasant uprisings.

[Prelims Practice] The Permanent Settlement was rarely extended to other regions be-
cause:
a) An increase in agricultural prices after 1810 increased the value of the harvest, while the Permanent
Settlement disallowed an increase in the State's share.
b) The economic theories of Ricardo influenced the policymakers.
c) The state found it expedient to settle directly with the ryot.
d) all of the above
Answer: D 246

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. Permanent Settlement: Lord Cornwallis
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. Ryotwari Settlement: Thomas Munro

3. Mahalwari Settlement: Holt Mackenzie
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1 only

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b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: D

11.4. Summary

Features Permanent Settlement Ryotwari System Mahalwari System

Year of Introduction 1793 1820 1822
Introduced by Lord Cornwallis Alexander Reed Holt Mackenzie
Thomas Munro
Regions Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Va- Parts of the Madras and North-West Provinces of
ranasi, and northern dis- Bombay Presidencies, the Bengal Presidency,
tricts of Madras Assam, Burma the Punjab, the Gangetic
(around 19% of the total (around 51% of the total Valley, and parts of Cen-
area under British rule) area under British rule) tral India
(around 30% of the total
area under British rule)
Land Revenue Permanently Fixed Revised Periodically Revised Periodically
Revenue Collector Zamindar Ryot Village Headman
Owner of Land Zamindar Ryot Village Community
Land for Revenue As- Not Surveyed Surveyed Surveyed
sessment

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

247
MIH-I – Pre-1857

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12. British Economic Policies and Their Impacts

12.1. British Economic Policies

Commercial Policy
Policy Before 1757
• Between 1600 and 1757, the East India Company (EIC) was a trading corporation that brought goods
and precious metals into India and exchanged them for Indian goods, such as textiles and spices,
which it sold in other countries.
• The company primarily made profits from selling Indian goods abroad. As a result, it constantly sought
out new markets for these goods in Britain and other countries. Thereby, it increased the export of
Indian products and encouraged their production. This is why the Indian rulers tolerated and even
encouraged the establishment of the Company’s factories in India.

British Reaction to the Popularity of Indian Textiles

• From the beginning, British manufacturers were jealous of the popularity of Indian textiles in Britain.
Therefore, they pressured their government to restrict and prohibit the sale of Indian goods in England.
• As a result, in 1720, England passed laws prohibiting the use of printed or dyed cotton cloth and
248

imposing heavy duties on plain cloth imports.

• Similarly, most European countries, except for Holland, prohibited the import of Indian cloth or
MIH-I – Pre-1857

imposed heavy import duties on it.

• Despite these laws, Indian silk and cotton textiles still held their own in foreign markets until the mid-
18th century.

Policy After 1757

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• Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Company’s commercial relationship with India underwent
a qualitative change. In 1765, the Company took over the Diwani of Bengal and started using the
revenue generated from Bengal to buy Indian goods for export.
• The company's activity (buying goods from Bengal's revenue) should have encouraged Indian manufac-
turers, but this did not happen due to the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
• During the second half of the 18th century and the first few decades of the 19th century, British
industry developed and expanded rapidly because of modern machines, the factory system, and cap-
italism. This led to the mass production of machine-made goods on a large scale.
• To protect its industries in Britain, the Indian government made every attempt to eliminate the
Indian manufacturers. To reduce manufacturing in India:
 The servants of the Company forced the weavers of Bengal to:
 Buy the raw cotton at a very high price.
 Sell their products at a cheaper and dictated price, even at a loss.
 Many workers were forced to work for the Company for low wages and were prohibited from
working for Indian merchants.
• The measures taken by the British compelled a large number of craftsmen and artisans to abandon their
profession and look for alternate employment.

EIC's directions to the Bengal Government

• The EIC's Court of Directors sent a letter to the Bengal Government on March 17, 1769, directing
the discouragement of silk manufacturing in Bengal.
• The letter recommended that the silk winders be forced to work in the companies’ factories and
prohibited from working elsewhere. This was done to eliminate competition for British silk manufac-
turers from Bengal.

Policy after 1813

• The rise of a powerful class of manufacturers significantly impacted the Indian administration and
its policies. As this class grew in number, strength, and political influence, it began challenging the
Company's trade monopoly.
• Since manufacturers' profits came from manufacturing and not trade, they aimed to promote exports
249

of their products to India and increase imports of raw materials like raw cotton from India.
• The manufacturers launched a powerful campaign against the Company and its commercial privileges,
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and finally, in 1813, they succeeded in abolishing its monopoly of Indian trade.
• After 1813, the Indian market was open to all British manufacturers. Indian manufacturers have lost
not only their foreign markets but also their markets in India. This event started a new phase in
Britain’s economic relations with India. Agricultural India was to be made an economic colony of
industrial England.

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• The Government of India now followed a policy of one-way free trade:

1. Favourable to imports: India allowed British goods free or at nominal tariff rates.
2. Hostile to exports: Indian textiles had to pay heavy duties on entering England.
• While India opened its doors to foreign goods, high import duties were imposed on Indian goods
in Britain and Europe. As a result of prohibitive import duties and the development of machine indus-
tries, Indian exports to foreign countries fell rapidly.
• Due to the unrestricted entry of British goods, cheap imported machine-made products from Britain
flooded the Indian market, making Indian hand-made goods uncompetitive and facing extinction.
• Instead of exporting manufactures, India was now forced to export raw materials like raw cotton and
raw silk, which British industries needed urgently, or plantation products like indigo and tea, or food
grains, which were in short supply in Britain.
• The Government of India also tried to increase the number of purchasers of British goods by following
a policy of:
 Fresh conquests and direct occupation of protected states like Avadh.
 Modernisation of India so that more and more Indians might develop a taste for Western goods.
• Many British officials, political leaders, and businessmen advocated reducing land revenue so that the
Indian peasant might be in a better position to buy foreign goods.
• Thus, the East India Company's commercial policy after 1813 was guided by the needs of British in-
dustry. Its main aim was to transform India into a consumer of British manufactured goods and a
supplier of raw materials.

Deindustrialisation in India
Industrialisation in Britain
• During the second half of the 18th century and the first few decades of the 19th century, British in-
dustry experienced rapid growth and expansion, driven by modern machines, the factory system, and
capitalism. Several factors contributed to this development:
1. Capital Accumulation: Merchants and industrialists accumulated sufficient capital to invest in
new machinery and the factory system. The immense wealth drawn from Africa, Asia, the West
Indies, and Latin America, including that drawn from India by the EIC and its servants after the Battle
250

of Plassey, played an important role in financing industrial expansion.

2. Colonial Markets: The colonies served as markets. Britain monopolised many foreign markets
through war and colonialism. The colonies and underdeveloped countries exported agricultural
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and mineral raw materials to Britain while the latter sold them its manufactures.
3. Increased Production: Adopting modern machines and the factory system allowed for a signifi-
cant increase in production efficiency, contributing to industrial growth.

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4. Population Growth: The rapid increase in population provided both a larger workforce and a
domestic market for manufactured goods.
5. Government Support: The government, influenced by commercial and manufacturing inter-
ests, played a supportive role. Policies and regulations were often shaped to favour industrial devel-
opment.

Industrial Revolution and Inventions

• The following inventions played an important role in increasing production during the Industrial Revo-
lution.
Invention Inventor Contribution
Water frame Richard Arkwright Advancement in cotton textile spinning
Spinning Jenny James Hargreaves Enabling a single worker to operate multiple spindles sim-
ultaneously and greatly increasing the productivity of spin-
ning.
Flying shuttle John Kay Enhancing the efficiency of the weaving process
(weaving shuttle)
Steam engine James Watt Providing a more efficient and reliable source of power.
• The Industrial Revolution was not a result of these inventions. This happened because manufacturers
wanted to increase production rapidly to expand markets. They invested money and encouraged new
inventions to boost production.

Effect of Industrialization in Britain

• The Industrial Revolution fundamentally transformed British society. It led to rapid economic de-
velopment, which is the foundation of today’s high standard of living in Britain and Europe, the
Soviet Union, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and Japan.
• Until the beginning of the 19th century, the difference in the standards of living of today's econom-
ically advanced and backward countries was very slight. The absence of the Industrial Revolution in
the latter group of countries has led to the immense income gap that we see today.

Deindustrialisation in India 251

• The Industrial Revolution in Britain completely transformed Britain’s economy and economic rela-
tions with India. India was made an importer of manufactured goods and an exporter of raw ma-
terials.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Indian government pursued a policy of increasing the market for British-manufactured goods in
India while reducing local manufacturing. As a result, modern machine industries were not developed
in India. The destruction of India's textile industries is a glaring example of deindustrialisation.

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• A thriving shipbuilding industry was crushed. Surat, Malabar, Bengal and Masulipatnam were known
for their shipbuilding industries.
 In 1813, a law by the British parliament prohibited ships below 350 tonnes from sailing between
India and Britain; this effectively put a large proportion of Bengal-built ships out of commission on
the Indo-British trade routes.
 In 1814, another law was passed under which Indian-built ships were refused to be considered
‘British-registered vessels’ that could trade with America and the European continent. So, the de-
cline of the Indian shipping industry was ensured.
• The British did not allow the Indian steel industry to grow. Britain placed restrictions on Indian steel
imports.

Drain of Wealth

• The British conquest differed from all previous foreign conquests in two respects:
1. Disruption of self-sufficient village economy
252

2. Drain of Wealth
• The Drain of Wealth refers to a portion of India's wealth and resources exported by the British to
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Britain, for which India received no adequate economic or material return.

• The Economic Drain was peculiar to British rule. Unlike previous Indian governments, the British
extracted revenue from the country but did not reinvest it into the economy.

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• Even the worst of previous Indian governments spent revenue on various expenditures such as irriga-
tion canals, trunk roads, palaces, temples, mosques, wars, conquests, and personal luxury, which ulti-
mately helped Indian trade and industry and provided employment to Indians.
• Even foreign rulers like the Mughals settled in India and made it their home. However, the British al-
ways remained foreigners. They never became an integral part of Indian life and always exploited
Indian resources, carrying away India's wealth as tribute.
• Major components of the economic drain were:
1. Salaries, pensions and other incomes of English officials and the trading fortunes of English mer-
chants
2. Investments of the Company: In 1765, the Company acquired the Diwani of Bengal and thus
gained control over its revenues. It began to purchase Indian goods out of Bengal's revenue and
export them. These purchases were known as Investments. Thus, through Investments, Bengal’s
revenue was sent to England.
3. Profit on the foreign investment in India.
4. Interest on loans taken by the Indian government from abroad.
5. Payments made for shipping, banking, and insurance services (owned by Europeans).
 The term 'investment' referred to the money spent on buying goods for export to Europe.
• By the end of the 18th century, economic drain constituted nearly 9% of India's national income. The
drain increased after 1858, though the British administrators and imperialist writers began denying its
existence. By the end of the 19th century, it constituted nearly 6% of India's national income.
Visible forms of drain Invisible forms of drain
• Till the 18th century, the drain was in the form • A part of the salaries and allowances of the Eng-
of visible tribute. It started after the Battle of lish employees in Indian government services.
Plassey. It constituted: • Pensions and savings of the English employees
 Gift or bribe taken from the ruler of Bengal. in Indian government services.
 Profit earned through trade in Bengal by the • Salary, allowances, and pension of the Secretary
misuse of Dastak of State and his junior officials in London.
 Profit earned by the employees of the Com- • Interest on loans taken by the Indian govern-
pany through unfair trade practices. ment from abroad.
253

• Profit on the foreign investment in India.

• Payments made for shipping, banking, and in-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

surance services

Colonial economy from nationalists’ perspective

• The critique of the drain of wealth from India was the most popular sentiment in the anti-colonial
nationalist narrative, as most peasants in the country could quickly understand it. The idea of money

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being taken from one place to another was the most straightforward of all the theories of economic
exploitation.
• In his book “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India,” Dadabhai Naoroji proposed the “drain theory”
to explain the British exploitation of India. He showed how India’s wealth was being transferred to
England through salaries, savings, pensions, payments to British troops in India, and profits of British
companies.
• William Digby’s Prosperous British India, G.S. Iyer’s Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India
and R.C. Dutt’s Economic History of India were some books critical of the imperialist drain of India’s
resources.
• Justice Mahadeo Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjee, and Prithwishchandra
Ray also attacked the British economic policy.

Forerunners of the Economic Drain Theory

• Dadabhai Naoroji delivered his opening lecture on the economic drain, "England's Duties to India,"
before the East India Association in London on May 2, 1867. He exposed the true nature of British rule
and explained the economic drain.
• However, much before Dadabhai Naoroji, a small band of Maharashtrian intellectuals such as Bhaskar
Pandurang Tarkhadkar, Govind Vitthal Kunte (Bhau Mahajan), and Ramkrishna Vishwanath made
the economic drain the principal target of their bitter attack on British colonial rule in the early 1840s.
They criticised the British rule for:
 Destroying the indigenous handicrafts industry
 No-tariff policy
 Limiting the growth of modern industry in India
 Waging wars and charging them on the Indian treasury
• In 1843, Ramkrishna Vishwanath wrote the first book on economics in Marathi, 'Thoughts on In-
dia's Past, Its Present Condition, and Their Impact on the Future'. Vishwanath severely critiqued the
economic drain created by British political dominion and blamed it for India’s impoverishment.

Books on the British Economic policies

Early Leaders of the National Movement

254

Books Authors
Thoughts on India's Past, Its Present Condition, Ramkrishna Vishwanath
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and Their Impact on the Future

Poverty and un-British rule in India Dadabhai Naoroji
The Economic History of India R.C. Dutt
Some Economic Aspects of British rule in India G Subramania Iyer

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Essay on Indian economics M. G. Ranade (Compilation of his speeches)

The poverty problem in India Prithwis Chandra Ray
Indian historians
Books Authors
Economics of British India Jadunath Sarkar
Indian economy under early British rule Irfan Habib
How British Rule Changed India's Economy Tirthankar Roy
The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism Bipin Chandra
in India

Impact of Economic Drain

 Less Money for Indian Industries: The wealth drained from India slowed down India's ability to save
money and invest in its own industries.
 Britain Benefits: The money drained from India was used as capital by Britain to grow its industries
in Britain.
 Cycle of Loss: Surplus money from Britain returned to India as loans, continuing the drain of wealth
from India.

[UPSC 2015] Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?
1. Dadabhai Naoroji
2. G. Subramania Iyer
3. R. C. Dutt
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: D

[UPSC 2012] Consider the following statements:

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The most effective contribution made by Dadabhai Naoroji to the cause of the Indian National
Movement was that
MIH-I – Pre-1857

1. Exposed the economic exploitation of India by the British.

2. Interpreted the ancient Indian texts and restored the self-confidence of Indians.
3. Stressed the need for eradication of all the social evils before anything else.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only

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b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: A

[Prelims Practice] "The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India" was written by
a) Partha Sarthi Gupta
b) S Gopal
c) B. R. Nanda
d) Bipin Chandra
Answer: D

Development of Means of Transport and Communication

• Until the mid-19th century, transportation in India was backward. It was confined to bullock-cart,
camel, and packhorse.
• The British rulers realised that a cheap and efficient transport system was necessary for British man-
ufacturers to expand into India and secure raw materials for British industries.
• To improve transportation, the British introduced steamships on rivers and started upgrading roads.
The construction of the Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta to Delhi began in 1839 and finished in the
1850s.

Operation of Railways
• George Stephenson designed the first railway engine in England in 1814. Railways developed rapidly
in England during the 1830s and 1840s. This led to growing pressure for the speedy construction of
railways in India.
• British manufacturers hoped that the construction of railways in India would open the vast and pre-
viously untapped market in the interior of India and make it easier to export Indian raw materials.
• Lord Dalhousie (Governor-General of India) was an ardent advocate of rapid railway construction.
He proposed building four major railway lines that would connect the country's interior with the big
ports and interlink different parts of the nation.
256

• In India, the first railway line from Bombay to Thana was opened to traffic in 1853.

Reasons for the Development of Railways in India

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• During the planning, construction, and management of Indian railways, the primary focus was to serve
the economic, political, and military needs of the British Empire in India.
• Railway rates were fixed to favour imports and exports and to discriminate against the internal
movement of goods.
• The major reasons responsible for the development of railways in India were:

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 To facilitate the export of raw materials and foodstuffs from India

 To expand the market for British manufacturers
 To secure investment opportunities for British bankers and investors to invest their surplus cap-
ital
 To provide the market for British capital goods like rails, engines, wagons, and other machinery.
 To safeguard the British regime from internal rebellion or external aggression by enabling more
rapid mobilisation and movement of troops.
• Three important aspects of the development of Indian railways were:
1. Nearly the entire amount of over 350 crore rupees invested in them was provided by British
investors, with Indian capital contributing only a negligible share of it.
2. During their first fifty years of operation, they were not financially successful and could not pay
interest on the capital invested in them. However, the Government of India guaranteed a fixed
return of 5%. Even in Britain, the interest rate was only 3%.
3. The economic and political development of India and its people were not considered at the fore-
front of the planning, construction, and management of the Indian railway.

Construction of Indian Railways

• Initially, the Indian railways were constructed and operated by private companies that were guaranteed
a minimum five per cent return on their capital by the Indian government. By the end of 1869, more
than 4,000 miles of railways had been built by the guaranteed companies, but this system proved very
slow and also imposed a huge fiscal burden on states.
• From 1869, the Government of India built new railways as state enterprises. However, the speed of
railway extension still did not satisfy officials in India and businessmen in Britain.
• After 1880, railways were built through private enterprise and state agencies.

Private Enterprise At Public Risk

• The private companies were guaranteed a minimum return of 5% on their paid-up capital by the
state. The colonial state also arranged land on long leases for railways and gave several other incentives
to private capital in this field.
• Indians bore the cost of the incentives and the risks of private investments through government
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taxes.

[Prelims Practice] Which one of the following was NOT a feature of railways in colonial
MIH-I – Pre-1857

India?
a) The main purpose of the setting up of railways in India was to serve the interest of the empire
b) British capital investments were invited with 15% guaranteed interest to be paid if necessary from In-
dian revenues

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c) The construction work disturbed ecology

d) The construction of the railways was planned, in such a way that it connected the internal markets
with the ports, but provided no inter- connection between internal market cities
Answer: B

Modern postal system

• The British established an efficient and modern postal system.
• Lord Dalhousie introduced postage stamps. He also cut down postal rates and charged a uniform
rate of half an anna for a letter all over the land. Before the reforms, postage on a letter was based on
its distance. Sometimes, sending a letter costs as much as four days' wages for a skilled Indian worker.

Telegraph
• Lord Dalhousie established the telegraph system. The first telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra was
opened in 1853.

William O'Shaughnessy

• Dr William O'Shaughnessy (an official in the Public Works Department) pioneered the telegraph and
telephone in India. He started the first experimental electric telegraph line between Calcutta (now Kol-
kata) and Diamond Harbour (South 24 Parganas) in November 1850. In 1851, the line was completed
and opened for the East India Company's traffic.

Telegraphic Connection

 The first India-Ceylon cable was laid in 1858.

 The first Indo-European telegraph communication was established in 1865.
 In 1873, Duplex telegraphy was introduced between Bombay and Calcutta.

[Prelims Practice] In which one of the following years was the first telegraphic connection
established between Europe and India?
a) 1851
b) 1854
c) 1865
d) 1871
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Answer: C
MIH-I – Pre-1857

12.2. Economic Impact of the British rule

• According to historians, at the beginning of the 18th century, India had some 23% of the world’s
economy. This share came down to some 3% when India gained independence.

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• The economic policies followed by the British led to the rapid transformation of India's economy
into a colonial economy whose nature and structure were determined by the needs of the British
economy. This subordination of the Indian economy to the interests of British trade and industry led to:
1. Ruin of artisans and craftsmen
2. Impoverishment of peasantry
3. Ruin of old zamindars and rise of new landlordism
4. Stagnation and deterioration of agriculture
5. Poverty and Famine
6. Commercialisation of agriculture
7. Limited growth of modern industries

Ruin of Artisans and Craftsmen

259

• During British rule, Indian goods made with primitive techniques could not compete with goods pro-
duced on a large scale by powerful steam-operated machines (British goods).
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• After 1813, the British followed a policy of one-way free trade. This unequal competition ultimately
led to the sudden and quick collapse of urban handicrafts.
• The collapse became more rapid once the railways were built. The railways enabled British manufactur-
ers to reach and uproot the traditional industries in the remotest villages of the country.

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Factors Responsible for the Collapse of Indian Industries

Policy of One-Way Free Trade

• After 1813, the Indian Government followed a policy of one-way free trade. Cheap and imported
machine goods from Britain flooded the Indian market and eliminated the Indian goods.
• The development of modern manufacturing industries in Britain, combined with the high import
duties imposed on Indian goods in Britain and Europe, closed the European markets to Indian manu-
facturers after 1820.

Oppressive Policies Practised by the EIC and its Servants

• The company's servants forced the weavers of Bengal to buy raw cotton at a very high price and sell
their goods below the market price, which compelled many weavers to abandon their profession.

Disappearance of Indian Rulers

• Indian rulers were the main customers of handicrafts. During British rule, they were replaced by Brit-
ish officials and military officers who patronised their own products. Hence, the gradual disappearance
of Indian rulers gave a big blow to these industries.

Export of Raw Material

• The British policy of exporting raw materials harmed Indian handicrafts by raising the prices of raw
materials, which increased the cost of handicrafts and reduced their ability to compete with foreign
goods.

Consequences
Increased Dependence on Agriculture

• The decay of the traditional industries was not accompanied by the growth of modern machine
industries. This left the craftsmen and artisans without alternative employment options. Consequently,
many of them had to resort to agriculture. They became agricultural labourers or tenants and added
general pressure on land (over-crowding of land).
• Thus, the British conquest led to the deindustrialisation of the country and increased people's de-
pendence on agriculture. This increasing pressure on agriculture was one of the major causes of the
extreme poverty of India under British rule.
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Destruction of Self-sufficient Village Economy

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In pre-British times, many peasants supplemented their income by part-time spinning and weaving.
There was also the union between agriculture and domestic industry in the countryside.
• The British economic policies destroyed rural crafts, leading to the separation of agriculture and
domestic industry, and ultimately destroying the self-sufficient economy of villages.

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[UPSC 2017] Examine how the decline of traditional artisanal industry in colonial India
crippled the rural economy.

Impoverishment of Peasantry
• The peasants were progressively impoverished under British rule. Their condition deteriorated, and they
steadily sank into poverty due to the following reasons:

High Revenue Demand

• Heavy land assessment was one of the main causes of the growth of poverty and the deterioration
of agriculture in the 19th century.
• At the very beginning of British rule in Bengal, the policy of Clive and Warren Hastings of extracting the
largest possible land revenue led to devastation.
• In both the Permanent and the Temporary Zamindari settlements, cultivators were left to the mercies
of the Zamindars, who raised rents to unbearable limits and compelled them to pay illegal dues and
perform forced labour.
• In the Ryotwari and Mahalwari system, the government replaced the zamindars and levied excessive
land revenue, which was fixed at a rate as high as one-third to one-half of produce.

Rigid manner of revenue collection

• The rigid manner of collection further heightened the harmful effects of excessive land revenue. Land
revenue had to be paid promptly on the dates even if the harvest had been below normal or had failed.
• Whenever the peasants failed to pay land revenue, the government put their land up for sale to
collect the arrears of revenue. But in most cases, the peasant took this step and sold part of his land to
meet the government's demand. In either case, he lost his land.

Over-Crowding of Land
• The overcrowding of land caused by deindustrialisation and the lack of modern industry compelled
the ruined artisans and handicraftsmen to become either tenants of the moneylenders and zamindars
by paying rent or agricultural labourers at starvation wages.
• The peasantry was oppressed by the government, the landlords, and the moneylenders, leaving little
261

for the cultivator and family to survive. As a result, the peasantry continued to be impoverished, and
famines became more frequent. Millions of people died whenever droughts or floods caused crop fail-
ures and scarcity.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Even though the demand for land revenue increased yearly, the proportion of the total produce
taken as land revenue tended to decline as prices rose and production increased. But now, the pop-
ulation pressure on agriculture had increased to such an extent that the lesser revenue demand of

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later years weighed on the peasants as heavily as the higher revenue demand of the earlier years of the
Company’s administration.

Commercialisation of Agriculture
• The commercialisation of agriculture helped the moneylender-cum-merchant to exploit the cultiva-
tor. The poor peasants were forced to sell the produce immediately after the harvest, at any price,
to fulfil the demands of the government, landlord, and moneylender.
• This placed the cultivator at the mercy of the grain merchant, who purchased the produce at a much
lower price than the market price.
• As a result, the merchant, often also the village moneylender, reaped a significant portion of the ben-
efits of the growing trade in agricultural products.

[UPSC 2018] Economically one of the results of the British rule in India in the 19th century
was the:
a) Increase in the export of Indian handicrafts
b) Growth in the number of Indian-owned factories
c) Commercialisation of Indian agriculture
d) The rapid increase in the urban population
Answer: C

Ruin of Old Zamindars and Rise of New Landlordism

Under Zamindari System

• The old zamindars suffered greatly during the first few decades of British rule in Bengal and Madras.
• By 1815, nearly half of the zamindari of Bengal was transferred from the old zamindars to merchants
and other moneyed classes (landlords). This was mainly due to the high land revenue and the rigid
method of revenue collection.
• These new landlords lived in towns, had little sympathy for tenants, and were ruthless in collecting rev-
enue.

Under the Ryotwari System

• In the Ryotwari areas, the ryots were considered as landowners. However, the land revenue was ex-
262

ceedingly high, which led to the ryots borrowing money from moneylenders.
• When the ryots could not repay the borrowed amount, more and more land was transferred from them
MIH-I – Pre-1857

to the moneylenders, merchants, and wealthy peasants.

 The lack of investment opportunities in the industry forced moneyed classes to purchase land
and become landlords.

Landlordism through Subletting

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• Many landowners found it more profitable to lease out their land rather than cultivating it themselves.
They often sublet the land to tenants at a high rent.

Growth of Intermediaries
• A remarkable feature of the spread of landlordism was the growth of subinfeudation or intermediar-
ies.
• The zamindars and the new landlords found it convenient to sublet their right to collect rent to other
individuals on profitable terms. However, as rents increased, sub-leasers of land, in turn, sublet their
rights in land to others. As a result, many rent-receiving intermediaries between the actual cultivator
and the government arose through a chain process.
• The cultivating tenants, who had to bear the burden of maintaining these superior landlords, had too
little to survive. The landlords took a significant portion of the benefits while the cultivators suffered a
lot.
• An increase in the number of intermediaries also gave rise to absentee landlordism.

Landlords and National Movement

• The zamindars and landlords understood that their existence was dependent on British rule, and
they made great efforts to maintain and perpetuate it.
• Along with the princes of protected states, many of them became the chief political supporters of
the foreign rulers and opposed the rising national movement.

Stagnation and Deterioration of Agriculture

• At a time when agriculture all over the world was being modernised and revolutionised, Indian agricul-
ture was technologically stagnating due to the following reasons:
1. The cultivator had neither the means nor any incentive to invest in agriculture.
2. Absentee landlords were mere rent receivers.
3. The government was reluctant to spend on agriculture.
• Heavy land revenue demand, rigid collection methods, overcrowding of agriculture, increasing
indebtedness and growing impoverishment of the cultivators, and fragmentation of land due to sub-
infeudation made it difficult to introduce modern technology, which caused a perpetually low level of
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productivity.

Cultivators
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The extreme poverty of most peasants left them without any resources to improve agriculture. The
cultivator had no incentive to improve their land as any benefits would likely go to absentee land-
lords and moneylenders.

Absentee Landlords

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• Absentee landlords were only interested in collecting rent and did not care about improving their
land. They chose to increase their income by squeezing their tenants instead of making productive
investments in their land.

Neglect of Agriculture by the Government

• The government could have helped improve and modernise agriculture. Unfortunately, they declined
to take any such responsibility. During British India, the main burden of taxation fell on the shoulders
of the peasants, yet the government spent only a small part of it on him.
• The agricultural education was completely neglected. In 1939, there were only six agriculture col-
leges.

Poverty and Famine

• The prevalence of extreme poverty among Indians was a major characteristic of British rule in India.
Throughout the British rule, most Indians always lived on the verge of starvation. This was due to:
 British economic exploitation
 Deindustrialisation in India
 The drain of wealth to Britain
 The exploitation of the poor peasants by the zamindars, landlords, princes, moneylenders
 High taxation
 A backward agrarian structure
• The poverty of the people found its culmination in a series of famines. During the famines, people died
in lakhs, and sometimes, one-fourth to one-third of the population was wiped out because of famine.

Poverty: A Product of British Colonialism

• India’s economic backwardness and poverty were not natural but rather man-made. India's natural
resources were abundant and could yield a high degree of prosperity to the people. But, because of
foreign rule and exploitation, India presented the paradox of poor people living in a rich country.
• The poverty in India resulted from British rule and not because of its geography, lack of natural re-
sources, or the people's abilities. It was not a remnant of the Mughal period or the pre-British era.
• Before British rule, India was not less advanced than Western Europe or other countries. While Western
countries experienced growth and prosperity, India was subjected to modern colonialism, which hin-
264

dered its development.

• Most developed countries today achieved their development during the period in which India was un-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

der British rule.

• Britain subordinated the Indian economy to its own economy and determined the basic social trends
in India according to her own needs. The result was the stagnation of India's agriculture and indus-
tries, exploitation of its peasants and workers by the zamindars, landlords, princes, moneylenders,

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merchants, capitalists, and the foreign government and its officials, and the spread of poverty, disease,
and semi-starvation.

Famine
• Famine is a situation in which food available to the people is extremely scarce, leading to hunger and
starvation.
• The drought and famine are not the same. Famine can occur due to mismanagement even when there
is no drought. On the other hand, a drought, if managed well, will not turn into famine.
• The link between drought and famine can be broken through good drought management and en-
hancement of the purchasing power of the economically weaker sections of society.

Famines during the British rule

• The regular recurrence of famines became a common feature of daily life during British rule. Between
1850 and 1900, about 2.8 crore people died in famine.
• The Bengal Famine of 1770 was the first major famine under the East India Company's rule. It killed
ten million people in Bengal, and about one-third of the population was wiped out.
• The famines were caused by both uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies.
Colonial policies such as high land revenue, free trade policies, commercialisation of agriculture,
the expansion of export agriculture, and neglect of agricultural investment were responsible for
the famines.
• The factors that contributed to famines were
 Stagnation in agricultural technology
 Failure of investment to raise yield per acre.
 High land revenue demand
 The inflexibility of revenue policy: The British refused to reduce revenue to farmers in a bad
season.
 The forced cultivation of commercial crops for export in place of food grains.
 The British neglected to maintain or expand the pre-British irrigation works.
 The drain of the agriculturists’ resources into the hands of the revenue intermediaries, money
lenders and dealers in agricultural commodities
265

 The sparseness of government investments in irrigation and other developmental investments

 The rapid rise in population from the 1920’s
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Increase in the export of food grains.

Year Region Affected by Famine Lives Lost
1860-61 Uttar Pradesh Over 2 lakh people
1865-66 Orissa, Bengal, Bihar and Madras 20 lakh people
1868-70 Western Uttar Pradesh, Bombay, and Punjab. 14 lakh people

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1876-78 Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Maharashtra lost eight lakh people
western Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab. Madras lost 35 lakh people
Uttar Pradesh lost 12 lakh people
Mysore lost 20% of its population
1896-97 Entire Country 45 lakh people

1943 Bengal Nearly three million people

• The Bengal famine of 1943 was the last major famine during British rule. Within a few months, over
three million people died of starvation.
• These famines and the high losses of life caused by them indicate the extent to which poverty and
starvation had taken root in India.
 From the middle of the 19th century, the newly established Public Works Department began to
pay some attention to irrigation requirements in British India. The revenue policy also became more
flexible, and from 1880, famine relief measures were systematised.

Divided Opinions on the Causes of Famines

• According to Amartya Sen, the famines in the British era were not due to a lack of food but to inequal-
ities in food distribution.
• According to Mike Davis, export crops displaced millions of acres that could have been used for do-
mestic subsistence and increased the vulnerability of Indians to food crises.
• Florence Nightingale identified two types of famine:
1. Grain famine
2. Money famine
• According to Nightingale, Money was drained from the peasant to the landlord, making it impossible
for the peasant to procure food. Nightingale pointed out that money needed to combat famine was
diverted towards paying for the British military effort in Afghanistan in 1878–80.

 Lord Lyton appointed a famine commission headed by Richard Strachey in 1878. The recommen-
dation of this commission became the basis of the Famine Code of 1883. 266

[UPSC 2022] Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the mid-
eighteenth century? Give reasons.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Commercialisation of agriculture
• The East India Company (EIC) was a trading company. Initially, it focused on selling Indian goods,
such as textiles, to the West. However, when the British cotton mill industry faced challenges in

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competing with Indian products, they complained that the EIC was harming their business by importing
Indian fabric.
• The company realised that it needed to export other items from India, such as agricultural products,
which could not compete with British products and might serve as raw materials for British industry.
• The British also imported large quantities of tea from China and paid silver for it in, as the Chinese did
not want Western goods. However, the Chinese bought Indian products like ivory, raw cotton and (later)
opium. The British realised that if they controlled this trade, they could get tea from China in exchange
for Indian products.
• Hence, the company was interested in commercial crops that would provide commodities for either
the Chinese or Western markets.
• The crops the company concentrated on were indigo, cotton, raw silk, opium, pepper, tobacco, and,
in the 19th century, tea and sugar. None of these things competed with or replaced any British product.
All of them were valuable to their bulk, i.e. their price per kilogram was high.
Crops Uses
Raw silk Used by British weavers
Cotton Used by British weavers
Sold to the Chinese
Indigo Used as textile dye in the West
Opium Smuggled into China
• The British introduced tea cultivation in Assam in the 1840s so that Britain could control its supply and
not have to depend on China for it.

Effect of Commercialisation
Impoverishment

• India received no imports in return for exporting commercial crops. The export of commercial crops
helped the company and British traders drain India's wealth. Thus, it served to impoverish rather than
enrich India.
• Commercial crops were more remunerative than food grains. However, actual cultivators did not
benefit from this. It helped moneylenders, merchants, and Europeans.
267

Instability

• Agriculture in India was exposed to many hazards, such as drought, floods, and other calamities. The
MIH-I – Pre-1857

commercialisation added a fresh element of instability to the rural economy.

• The crops were now going to distant markets. Hence, the prices in the international markets affected
the Indian cultivators. The falling prices in London came to ruin cultivators in India.

Rebellions

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• Commercialisation linked Indian agriculture with the international market. When the prices in the
international market rose, merchants and traders prospered while the peasants suffered. However,
when prices were slashed, the peasants suffered more.
• A fall in cotton prices and, hence, cotton exports in the late 1860s worsened the condition of peasants
in Deccan, which was partly responsible for the Deccan riot.

Limited Growth of Modern Industries

• The Industrial Revolution in Britain had a significant impact on India's economy. The Indian govern-
ment pursued a policy to increase the market for British-manufactured goods in India while reducing
local manufacturing. As a result, modern machine industries were not developed in India.
• However, industrial development, though limited, started during the second half of the 19th cen-
tury.
• The machine age in India started when the cotton textile, jute and coal mining industries were started
in the 1850s. Large-scale machine-based industries started developing in India during the second half
of the 19th century.
• The first textile mill was started in Bombay by Cowsajee Nanabhoy in 1853. The cotton mill industry
developed rapidly in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Sholapur, and Nagpur. The Indians mostly
owned it.
• George Auckland (British entrepreneur) and a Bengali partner, Shyamsunder Sen, established the
first jute mill at Rishra on the river Hooghly in 1855.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, sugar mills, iron and steel industries, and mineral industries
were developed. Glass, Matches and Cement industries developed during the 1930s.

Characteristics
Dominance of British Capitalists

• Most modern Indian industries were owned or controlled by British capital. However, the cotton
textile industry was an exception, as Indians had a considerable share of ownership from the start.
Furthermore, in the 1930s, the sugar industry was developed by the Indians.
• Foreign capitalists were attracted to Indian industry by:
 Extremely cheap labour
268

 Easy availability of raw materials

 Ready market in India and neighbouring countries.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Fever investment opportunities at home

 Favour of colonial government and officials
• Indian capitalists failed to dominate in Indian industries due to the following factors:
1. The government consciously favoured foreign capital as against Indian capital.

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2. The government's railway policy discriminated against Indian enterprises. Railway freight rates
encouraged imports at the cost of trade in domestic products.
3. Most Indians struggled to obtain credit from banks, most of which were dominated by British
financiers.

Lack of Basic Industries

• One major weakness of India's industrial effort was the lack of heavy or capital goods industries.
Without these, independent industrial development is difficult.
• India had no big plants to produce iron and steel or to manufacture machinery. The first steel in India
was made only in 1913.

Stunted Growth of Industries

• Industrial progress in India had stunted growth. In terms of production and employment, India's
modern industrial development was inadequate compared to the economic progress of other coun-
tries.
• India's modern industrial development did not even compensate for the loss of indigenous handi-
crafts and had little impact on the problems of poverty and overcrowding of land.
• The following factors were responsible for the stunted growth:

Government Policy
• British manufacturers compelled the Indian government to discourage industrial development in
India. Thus, British policy artificially restricted and slowed down the growth of Indian industries.

Lack of Government Support

• Indian industries were still in their infancy and needed protection. They developed when Britain,
France, Germany, and the United States had already established powerful industries and could not com-
pete with them.
• The Indian government should have protected the Indian industries by imposing heavy customs
duties on the imports of foreign manufactures. But it refused to do so in the interests of British indus-
trialists.
• Finally, in the 1920s and I930s, under the pressure of the rising nationalist movement and the Indian
capitalist class, the Indian government was forced to grant some tariff protection to Indian industries.
269

However, once again, the government discriminated against Indian-owned industries.

 The Indian-owned industries such as cement, iron and steel, and glass were denied or given inad-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

equate protection.
 Foreign-dominated industries, such as the match industry, were given the protection they de-
sired.

Lack of Technical Education

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• Until 1951, the country did not make adequate arrangements for technical education, which further
contributed to industrial backwardness. In 1939, there were only seven engineering colleges in the coun-
try.

Plantation Industries

• Europeans exclusively owned plantation industries such as indigo, tea, and coffee.

Assam Tea Company

• The Assam Tea Company (a British company) was established in 1839 to set up tea gardens in Assam.
It was the first tea plantation company in the world, the first to establish tea estates, and the first to
ever brand and export Indian tea to the world.
• In 1845, Assam Company was awarded the Royal Charter by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Queen of
England and Empress of India.
• Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore, was one of the founding directors.

Indigo Plantation

• Indigo was used as a dye in textile manufacture. Indigo manufacture was introduced in India at the
end of the 18th century and flourished in Bengal and Bihar.
• Indigo planters oppressed the peasants and compelled them to cultivate indigo. This oppression
was vividly portrayed by the famous Bengali writer Dinbandhu Mitra in his play Neel Darpan in
1860.
• The invention of a synthetic dye gave a big blow to the indigo industry, and it gradually declined.

Issues of Workers
 Harsh conditions of working
 Long working hours
 Extremely low payment

Disadvantage to the Indian people

 These industries purchased most of their equipment abroad.
 Most of their technical staff was foreign.
 Most of their products were sold in foreign markets.
270

 Britain utilised the foreign exchange earned.

Regional Disparity
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The development of Indian industries was extremely lop-sided regionally. Indian industries were
concentrated only in a few regions and cities, and large parts of the country remained underdevel-
oped.

New Social Classes

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• An important social consequence of even limited industrial development in India was the birth of two
new social classes.
1. The industrial capitalist class.
2. The modern working class.
• These two classes were entirely new in Indian history because modern mines, industries, and means of
transport were new.
• Even though these classes formed a very small part of the Indian population, they represented new
technology, a new system of economic organisation, new social relations, new ideas, and a new out-
look. They were not weighed down by the burden of old traditions, customs, and styles of life.
• Furthermore, both classes were vitally interested in the industrial development of the nation. Hence,
their economic and political significance and roles were disproportionate to their numbers.

12.3. Colonialism

• Colonialism is a relationship between two countries, a metropolitan capitalist country (an imperialist
power) and a colony. It is a relationship of domination and subordination, a relationship of political
control exercised by one country over another.
• A country subjugated by a metropolitan capitalist country is described as a colony, and what happens
in a colony is colonialism.
• Though colonialism is seen as the political control of a capitalist country over the colony, it is more
than just political control. The aim of this political control is to subordinate a colony. This subordination
is not just economic but a much larger subordination of society, polity, culture, institutions, ideas,
and even the minds of the people.
• Subordination means that the basic issues of the colony's economy and social and political develop-
ment are not determined by the colony's own needs but by the needs and interests of the metropol-
itan economy and the capitalist class.
• Two basic features of colonialism are:
1. Complete subordination of the colony to the needs of the metropolis or the imperialist power.
2. Economic exploitation of the colony or the appropriation of the colony's economic surplus by the
metropolis.
271

Stages of Colonialism
• Colonialism can be divided into three stages representing distinct forms of exploitation or surplus
MIH-I – Pre-1857

appropriation.
• Regarding the stages of colonialism, a few points must be remembered.
 Appropriation of the surplus of the colony by the metropolis was the central feature of colonial-
ism. Each stage was characterised by a new method of surplus appropriation.

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 There was no sharp break between one stage and the other. As one stage evolved and grew into
the other, features of the earlier stage (e.g., the method of surplus appropriation) continued into the
later stage as well. At the same time, some more features (e.g., new methods of surplus appropria-
tion) entered the later stages to distinguish them from the previous stage.
 Some forms of surplus appropriation might be very marked in one colony but totally absent in an-
other. In other words, all the stages of colonialism need not occur in all colonies.

First Stage: The Period of Monopoly Trade and Revenue Appropriation

• The Period of the EIC’s dominance from 1757 to 1813 is considered the first stage of colonialism.
During this stage, the company had two basic objectives:
1. To acquire a monopoly of trade vis-a-vis other European merchants and Indian traders and pro-
ducers.
 English traders were eliminated by acquiring a charter from the crown.
 European merchants or trading companies were eliminated by war.
 Indian traders were eliminated by using increasing political power in different parts of the country.
2. To directly appropriate or take over governmental revenues through control over state power.
• At this stage:
 There was no large-scale import of British manufactures into India; rather, the reverse occurred,
that is, there was an increase in the export of Indian textiles, etc. The weavers were not ruined by
British imports but by the Company's monopoly and exploitation, which involved being forced to
produce for the Company under uneconomic conditions.
 No basic changes were introduced in the colony in terms of administration, judicial system,
transport and communication, methods of agricultural or industrial production, forms of business
management or economic organisation, education or intellectual fields, culture, and social or-
ganisation.
 The only changes made were in:
1. Military organisation and technology, which contemporary independent chieftains and rulers in
the colonies were also trying to introduce,
2. In administration at the top of the structure of revenue collection to make it more efficient. 272

Second Stage: Exploitation through trade

• After 1750, with the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the newly developing industrial capitalists at-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

tacked the EIC and the forms of its exploitation of India.

• They demanded that colonial administration and policy in India should now serve their interests, which
were very different from those of the EIC. They wanted India to serve as a market for their ever-increas-
ing output of manufactured goods, especially textiles.

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• Moreover, India could buy more British goods only if it earned foreign exchange by increasing its ex-
ports. However, the British were unwilling to import India's textiles for years. As a result, India's exports
could only consist of agricultural raw materials, especially cotton and food grains, which were in high
demand by British industrial capitalists.
• The essence of the second stage of colonialism was making the colony a subordinate trading part-
ner of Britain, which would export raw materials and import manufactured goods.
• As India could not be exploited in a new way within its existing economic, political, administrative, social,
cultural and ideological system, the task of transforming its existing systems was started all along the
line after 1813. This transformation was actively undertaken under the slogan of development and
modernisation.
• Economic field: India's colonial economy integrated with the British and world capitalist economy.
 Free trade was introduced, and import duties in India were either totally removed or drastically
reduced to nominal rates. Thus, India was thrown open to British manufacturers.
 British capitalists were now given free entry to develop tea, coffee, and indigo plantations, as well
as trade, transport, mining, and modern industries in India.
• Administrative field: Major changes occurred in the administrative field, which became more elab-
orate and comprehensive. It reached down to the villages so that British goods could reach, and
agricultural products drawn from, its interior villages and remotest parts.
 English replaced Persian as the official language in India.
 The judicial structure of India was overhauled to promote capitalist commercial relations and
maintain law and order.
• Education: Modern education was introduced mainly:
 To get a cheap supply of educated Indians for the new, vastly expanded administrative machinery
 To transform the colony's society and culture.
• The second stage of colonialism generated a liberal imperialist ideology among many British states-
men and administrators. They talked of training the Indian people in the arts of democracy and self-
government.

Third Stage: Era of Foreign Investments and International Competition for Colonies
• A new stage of colonialism was ushered in India in about the 1860s. This was the result of the following
273

major changes in the world economy:

 Spread of industrialisation to several countries in Europe, North America and Japan
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Intensification of industrialisation as a result of the application of scientific knowledge to industry.

 Further unification of the world market because of the revolution in the means of international
transport.
• During this stage, rival capitalistic countries constantly challenged and weakened Britain's position in
the world.

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• Britain now vigorously sought to consolidate its control over India. Reactionary imperialist policies
replaced liberal imperialist policies, which was reflected in the viceroyalties of Lytton, Dufferin, Lans-
downe, and Curzon.
• The third stage of colonialism meant more intensive political and administrative control over the
colony. The administration became more bureaucratically tight, efficient, and extensive than earlier.
Railways were built at an even faster rate.
• A major change now occurred in the ideology of colonialism. The talk of training the colonial people
for independence died out.
• Efforts at the transformation of India continued during this stage, though once again with meagre
results. Colonial administration increasingly assumed a neutral stance on social and cultural questions
and then began to support social and cultural reactions in the name of preserving indigenous insti-
tutions.

12.4. Development of Textile and Iron and Steel Industries

Destruction of India's Textile Industries

Production of cotton cloths
• During the 18th century, the handmade cotton cloths were produced in India in two stages:
1. Spinning: The thread was spun on the charkha and rolled on the takli. It was mostly done by
women.
2. Weaving: When the spinning was over, the weaver woven the thread into cloth. It was mostly done
by men.

Words and history of Indian textiles

• Muslim: European traders first encountered fine cotton cloth from India carried by Arab merchants
in Mosul (Iraq). So, they referred to finely woven textiles as "muslin".
• Calico: The Portuguese came to India for spices and landed in Calicut. The cotton textiles which they
took back to Europe came to be called "calico", and subsequently, calico became the general name
for all cotton textiles.
• Chintz: Printed cotton cloths.
274

• Bandanna: Any brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head.
• Rangrez (Dyer): For coloured textiles, the thread was dyed by the dyer, known as rangrez.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Chhipigar (Printer) For printed cloth, the weavers needed the help of specialist block printers known
as chhipigars.
• Aurang - Warehouse where goods are collected before being sold.

Decline of Indian textiles

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• During the early 18th century, India was the world's largest producer of cotton textiles. Indian textiles
were renowned both for their fine quality and exquisite craftsmanship. The European trading compa-
nies made a profit by selling Indian textiles in Europe.
• In the early 18th century, the textile industries began to develop in England. Unable to compete with
Indian textiles, English producers wanted a secure market within the country by preventing the entry of
Indian textiles.
• In 1720, the British government enacted the Calico Act to protect the British textile industries in
their infancy and banned the use of printed cotton textiles (chintz) in England.
• However, Indian textiles continued to dominate world trade till the end of the 18th century.
• During the second half of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution increased the production of
cotton textiles in England. As a result, Indian textiles had to compete with European textiles in foreign
markets.
• By the beginning of the 19th century, English-made cotton textiles successfully replaced Indian
goods in their traditional markets in Africa, America, and Europe.
• During the 19th century, to protect their industries in Britain, the British discouraged industrialisation
in India and followed a policy of one-way free trade, which was favourable to import and hostile to
export.
• By the 1830s, British cotton cloth flooded Indian markets. By the 1880s, two-thirds of all the cotton
clothes worn by Indians were made of cloth produced in Britain.

Cotton Mills in India

• From the early 19th century, Bombay had grown as an important port for exporting raw cotton from
India to England and China. It was located near the vast black soil tract of western India, which made
it easy for the cotton textile mills to obtain raw materials.
• The first cotton mill in India was set up as a spinning mill in Bombay in 1854. The first mill in Ah-
medabad was started in 1861. A year later, a mill was established in Kanpur, in the United Provinces. By
1900, over 84 mills started operating in Bombay.
• Problems faced by the textile factory industry in India:
 Difficult to compete with the cheap textiles imported from Britain.
 Lack of government support: In most countries, governments supported industrialisation by im-
275

posing heavy import duties. This eliminated competition and protected infant industries. The colo-
nial government in India usually refused to protect local industries.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Growth of Indian Textiles

• The development of Indian cotton factories received a major boost during World War I when textile
imports from Britain declined. The Indian factories produced the cloth for military supplies.

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• During the national movement, Mahatma Gandhi urged people to boycott imported textiles and use
hand-spun and hand-woven cloth.
• In the case of cotton textiles, industrial expansion occurred only when British imports into India
declined, and the market for Indian industrial goods increased. This happened:
1. During the First World War
2. During the nationalist movement

Iron and Steel industries in India

• Smelting: Extraction of minerals from ore (by heating in furnaces, etc.)
• Steel: An alloy of Iron and carbon.
 Source of Iron ores: Rocks
 Source of carbon: Charcoal (Indirectly - Wood)
• Iron smelting in India was extremely common till the end of the 19th century. In Bihar and Central
India, every district had smelters that used local ore deposits to produce iron, which was widely used to
manufacture implements and tools for daily use.
• Wootz is an anglicised version of the Kannada word ukku, meaning steel. It is a special type of high-
carbon steel. It was produced all over South India.
• Wootz was used to make a sword. Wootz steel produced a very sharp edge with a flowing water
pattern. This pattern came from very small carbon crystals embedded in the iron. Example: Tipu Sultan’s
swords.
 Indian Wootz steel fascinated European scientists. Michael Faraday, the scientist and discoverer of
electricity and electromagnetism, spent four years studying the properties of Indian Wootz (1818-
22).

Declining of Iron smelting

• By the late 19th century, iron smelting was in decline because of two reasons:
1. New forest laws: New forest laws prevented people from entering reserved forests, making it
difficult for iron smelters to find wood for charcoal.
2. Import of iron and steel from Britain: In the late 19th century, the expansion of the railways in India
provided a huge market, but India was importing steel manufactured in Britain.
276

Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) set up the factory in Jamshedpur in 1907. It began producing
steel in 1912.
• In 1914, the outbreak of World War I led to an increase in demand for Indian steel. This was because:
1. Steel produced in Britain now had to meet the demands of war in Europe. So imports of British
steel into India declined dramatically, and the Indian Railways turned to TISCO for rail supply.

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2. As the war dragged on for several years, TISCO had to produce shells and carriage wheels for the
war. By 1919, the colonial government was buying 90% of the steel manufactured by TISCO.
• In the case of iron and steel, industrial expansion occurred only when British imports into India
declined, and the market for Indian industrial goods increased. This happened during and after the
First World War.

12.5. Summary

British Economic Policies in India

Commercial Policy

• Between 1600 and 1757, the East India Company (EIC) was a trading corporation that profited from
selling Indian goods abroad. As a result, it increased the export of Indian products and encouraged
their production.
• British industry developed and expanded rapidly during the second half of the 18th century and the
first few decades of the 19th century. To protect its industries in Britain, the Indian government made
every attempt to eliminate Indian manufacturers.
• After 1813, the Government of India followed a policy of one-way free trade that was favourable to
imports and hostile to exports. As a result, India became a consumer of British manufactures and a
supplier of raw materials.

Deindustrialisation in India

• The Industrial Revolution in Britain completely transformed Britain’s economy and economic relations
with India. India was made an importer of manufactured goods and an exporter of raw materials.
• The Indian government pursued a policy of increasing the market for British-manufactured goods in
India while reducing local manufacturing. As a result, modern machine industries were not developed
in India.

Drain of Wealth

• The Economic Drain was peculiar to British rule. Unlike previous Indian governments, the British ex-
tracted revenue from the country but did not reinvest it into the economy. 277

Development of Means of Transport and Communication

• British introduced railways, the modern postal system and the telegraph in India. This was done pri-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

marily:
1. To facilitate the export of raw materials and foodstuffs from India
2. To expand the market for the British manufacturers

Economic Impact of the British rule

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 Ruin of Artisans and Craftsmen

 Impoverishment of Peasantry
 Ruin of Old Zamindars and Rise of New Landlordism
 Stagnation and Deterioration of Agriculture
 Poverty and Famine
 Commercialisation of Agriculture
 Limited Growth of Modern Industrialisation

Development of Textile and Iron and Steel Industries

• Destruction of India's Textile Industries
• Iron and Steel industries in India

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

278
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13. Tribal and Peasant Movements – I

• The establishment of British power in India was a prolonged process. This process produced discon-
tent, resentment, and resistance at every stage. The discontent of the people broke out into popular
uprisings in different parts of India at different points in time in the first hundred years of British rule.
• The popular resistance against the British power manifested in three main ways:
1. Civil rebellions
2. Tribal uprisings
3. Peasant movements

13.1. Civil Rebellions

• Civil rebellions were common during British rule. Almost every year, there was armed opposition,
and every decade saw a significant armed rebellion in some part of the country.
• In the first hundred years of British rule, the civil rebellions were usually led by dethroned rajas,
nawabs, displaced zamindars, and former officials of conquered Indian states. The backbone of these
rebellions consisted of heavily taxed peasants, struggling artisans, and soldiers.
• Whatever may be the immediate cause of each uprising, by and large, these protest movements were
shaped by a shared experience of oppression in various forms, including colonial oppression. The fol-
279

lowing factors were responsible for the civil rebellions:

1. High land revenue demand
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. Rigid method of collection

3. Loss of land
4. Impoverishment of peasants
5. Ruin of artisans and craftsmen
6. Loss of zamindari right of old Zamindars

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7. New legal system

8. The prevalence of corruption at the lower levels of administration
9. Impoverishment of scholarly and priestly classes
10. The foreign character of British rule

Sanyasi Rebellion (1763-1800)

• The Sanyasi Rebellion was a series of conflicts in the late 18th century between the English East India
Company and a group of sannyasis and fakirs. Although the then Governor General Warren Hastings
(1773-85) was able to control the Sanyasi raids, the uprisings continued until 1800.
• The establishment of British rule in Bengal after 1757 resulted in devastating conditions for zamin-
dars, peasants, and artisans due to the economic policies enforced. In 1770, Bengal experienced a
severe famine. Despite this, the British continued to collect taxes.
• The British government thought that Sannyasis were plunderers and thugs and imposed restrictions
on visiting holy places. The sannyasis were enraged by the British's brutal policy and resolved to pro-
test.
• The growing hardship of the peasantry, increasing revenue demand, and the Bengal famine of 1770
brought many dispossessed small Zamindars, disbanded soldiers and rural poor into the bands of
Sanyasis and Fakirs.
• Nomadic Sanyasis and Fakirs in northern Bengal attacked food stores, the property of the local
richmen and government officials. They looted government treasuries and sometimes shared the
wealth with the poor. They even established their government in places like Bogra and Mymensingh.
• Some of the important leaders of these movements were Manju Shah, Musa Shah, Bhawani Pathak, and
Debi Chaudhurani. There was equal participation of Hindus and Muslims, who unitedly defeated the
British several times.
• Under their brave leader, Manju Shah Fakir, the Sanyasis defeated a company's sepoys and killed the
commander. In 1773, the British suffered another disastrous defeat at the hands of Sanyasis.
• To control the Sanyasi raids, the then Governor-General Warren Hastings (1773-85) issued a proclama-
tion banishing all sannyasis from Bengal and Bihar. Although Hastings successfully controlled these
raids after a prolonged military campaign, encounters between the Sanyasis-Fakirs and British forces
continued to occur frequently throughout Bengal and Bihar until the year 1800.
280

• Anandmath, a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, is based on the Sanyasi Rebellion.

Vande Mataram
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The song Vande Mataram was composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji in his novel
Anand Math (1882).
• The Indian National Congress sang it for the first time during their 1896 session.

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• On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted the song Vande Mataram as national
song. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was referred to as "the sage of nationalism" by Aurobindo Ghosh for
his brilliant compositions, such as Vande Mataram.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following is/are the characteristics of the Sannyasi and
Fakir uprisings?
1. These uprisings refer to a series of skirmishes between the English East India Company and a group
of sannyasis and fakirs.
2. One reason for the uprising was the ban on the free movement of the sannyasis along pilgrimage
routes.
3. During the uprisings in 1773, Waren Hastings issued a proclamation banishing all sannyasis from
Bengal and Bihar.
4. Are contemporaneous with the Non-Cooperation Movement
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 3 only
c) 1,2 and 3
d) 2 and 4 only
Answer: C

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following statements about the Sanyasi and Faqir disturb-
ances/rebellions are correct?
1. Governor-General Warren Hastings faced the persistent Sanyasi and Faqir disturbances in Bengal and
Bihar.
2. There were a number of Shaivite Naga Sanyasis who formed into armed bands.
3. Majnu Shah, who led bands into Bengal from 1771, was their prominent leader.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 1,2 and 3
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c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1 and 3 only
Answer: B
MIH-I – Pre-1857

13.2. Tribal uprisings

Tribals Before the British

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Importance of Land and Forest

• Forests were of great significance for tribals all over India. They had customary rights to use minor
forest products. They were engaged in jhum cultivation, hunting and gathering, animal rearing, settled
cultivation (rarely), tea plantations, and mines. Hence, tribals' lives were intimately connected to the
forest.
• Tribal groups saw forests as essential for survival. They only resorted to working as labourers when
the supplies of forest produce diminished. However, some, like the Baigas from central India, hesitated
to work for others. It was below the dignity of a Baiga to become a labourer.
• Tribal groups considered the entire region their land. The land was not just a source of livelihood but
also a spiritual source. It was the basis of their identity and survival.

Relative Isolation
• The tribal communities lived in relative isolation for centuries. In spite of their contact with the non-
tribals, they maintained their separate identity. Each tribal community maintained its own socio-religious
and cultural life and its political and economic organisations.

Tribal Authority
• The tribal communities had their respective chiefs to look after them and manage their social, religious,
economic and political affairs. They had the right to administer and control their territories.

Tribal People under the British Rule

• The term "tribe" was originally introduced by colonial authorities in the 19th century as a way to de-
scribe all communities in India. However, in the latter half of the 19th century, this concept was
refined and narrowed down to describe only the primitive groups, which were seen as distinct from
castes.

Colonial Perspectives
• British officials saw settled tribal groups as more civilised than hunter-gatherers or shifting cultiva-
tors. British wanted the tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators. As:
 Settled peasants were easier to control and administer.
 The British wanted a regular revenue source for the state.
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Impact of the British Rule on Tribal Lives

MIH-I – Pre-1857

Forest Laws and Their Impact

• The life of tribal groups was connected to the forest. So, changes in forest laws had a considerable
effect on tribal lives.

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• Till the middle of the 19th century, the tribals had customary rights in the forest. Their right to use the
forest products was recognised. However, the forest policy (1884) curtailed the tribal rights to use
the forest produce.
• British classified some forests as Reserved Forests. In these forests, people could not move freely,
practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. As a result, many tribal groups could not sur-
vive and were forced to move to other areas in search of work and livelihood.
• Many tribal groups reacted against the colonial forest laws. They disobeyed the new rules and con-
tinued with practices that were declared illegal.

Tribal Economy

• The development of the communication system, i.e. telegraphic, roadways and railway services, ru-
ined the natural economy of the forests. The isolated tribal communities were connected with the
outside world, and the self-sufficient tribal economy was converted into a market economy.

Disruption of Traditional Tribal Systems

• The British introduced the zamindars, moneylenders, merchants and petty government officials in the
tribal areas.
 Zamindars were assigned the zamindari rights on the land, and the tribals were reduced to ten-
ants.
 The moneylenders exploited the tribals by charging them high-interest rates.
• Therefore, tribals saw them as evil outsiders (dikus) and the cause of their misery.

Decline of Tribal Authority

• Under British rule, tribal chiefs lost much of their administrative power and were forced to follow laws
made by British officials in India. They also had to pay tribute to the British and discipline the tribal
groups on behalf of the British.

Struggles Faced by Tribal Laborers

• When supplies of forest produce shrank, tribal people worked as labourers. They were recruited in
large numbers to work the tea plantations of Assam and the coal mines of Jharkhand. They faced many
problems, such as low wages, miserable living conditions, long working hours, working in deep
283

suffocating mines, etc.

Problem of Settled Cultivation

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Plough cultivation is difficult in dry areas with scarce water. The jhum cultivators who took to plough
cultivation often suffered since their fields did not produce good yields.

Tribal Movements

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• The British rule and their policies affected the lives of tribals. The socio-economic policies of the
British led to the encroachment of tribal lands by moneylenders, high taxation, and loss of land to
moneylenders. These policies created deep resentment and dissatisfaction among the tribal communi-
ties, ultimately leading to various tribal revolts.
• Essentially, the tribal movements were a result of resentment and discontent against British imperial
policies that disrupted the old agrarian order of tribal communities.
 Although the tribal revolts were caused by local grievances, when taken as a whole, their causes
were:
 The land revenue system of the British
 Economic exploitation by the British and moneylenders
 Encroachment on their land
 Transfer of the land to tiller
 Intrusion of the British in tribal polity
 Forest laws of the British
Revolt Period/Year Region Leader
Tilka Manjhi Revolt 1784 Rajmahal Hills Tilka Manjhi
Paika Rebellion 1817 Odisha Bakshi Bidyadhar
Kol Rebellion 1831-32 Jharkhand Bindrai Manki
Bundu Bhagat
Larka Rebellion 1832 Jharkhand Budhu Bhagat
Khasi Rebellion 1833 Meghalaya Tirot Singh
Santhals Revolt 1855 Jharkhand Sidhu Manjhi and Kanhu
Revolt against the EIC, 1857 Jharkhand Nilamber and Pitamber
Palamu
Kol Revolt 1858 Jharkhand Raja Arjun Singh of Porhat
Bhil Agitation 1883 Rajasthan Guru Govindgiri
(Bhagat Movement)
Munda Revolt 1899-1900 Jharkhand Birsa Munda
Songram Sangma Revolt 1906 Assam Songram Sangma
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Bastar Rebellion 1910 Chhatisgarh Gunda Dhur

(Bhumkal Movement)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Rampa Rebellion 1922-24 Andhra Pradesh Alluri Seetarama Raju

(Manyam Rebellion)
Forest Satyagraha 1930 Jharkhand
Koraput Revolt 1942 Odisha Laxman Nayak

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Warli Adivasi Revolt 1945-46 Maharashtra Godavari Parulekar

Salient Features of the Tribal Movements

• Attack against outsiders: The tribals identified their enemies in the outsiders (dikus). Hence, many
tribal revolts started with attacks on outsiders, namely landlords, traders and government officers.
• Negative Consciousness: Most tribal uprisings were characterised by a negative consciousness, where
an identification of the enemy plays a more vital role than their own consciousness as a class or
social group.
• Emergence of messiah: These movements were launched under the leadership of their respective
chiefs, who often claimed to derive their authority from God. In some cases, religious beliefs have
been combined with calls for resistance against enemies.
• Unequal Conflict: The conflict between the tribal rebels and the British armed forces was extremely
unequal. While the British armed forces were equipped with modern weapons, the tribal groups had
to rely on primitive weapons such as stones, axes, spears, and bows and arrows.
• Nationwide Tribal Movements: The various tribal movements, occurring at different times and places,
were not limited to just a few areas but were spread throughout the entire country.

Three Phases of Anti-colonial Tribal Movements

• The tribal movements during the colonial period can be classified into three phases:

First Phase (1795-1860)

• The first phase of tribal uprisings coincided with the rise and establishment of British rule. These
were primary resistance movements directed against the oppressors, i.e. moneylenders, zamindars,
landlords and government officials.

Second Phase (1860-1920)

• The second phase of tribal uprisings coincided with the onset of the intensive period of colonialism.
These were far more complex and represented agrarian, religious and political issues.

Third Phase (1920-1947)

• Three trends are visible in the third phase of tribal movements.

1. The impact of the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi: Several movements of this phase
285

were integrated with the national movement. Example - The tribals' forest agitation of Andhra
Pradesh merged with Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. The movements were focused on land and forest revival and reform of tribal society.
3. There was a rise in movements led by the tribal middle class seeking autonomy, statehood, sep-
aration, and independence.

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[Prelims Practice] Which of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?

Rebellion Year
a) Santhal 1855
b) Kol 1831
c) Paika 1817
d) Ahom 1815
Answer: D

13.3. Some Major Anti-Colonial Tribal Movements

Tilka Manjhi Revolt

Pahadia Tribes
• For centuries, the Paharias/Pahadias (hill folks) lived an untroubled and peaceful life around the Rajma-
hal hills. Their lives as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers, and silkworm
rearers were intimately connected to the forest.

Impact of EIC Rule on Pahadia Tribes

• Many invaders came to India, ruled, and left, but the Pahadia tribes of these mountains were never
disturbed. This changed when the EIC became the virtual rulers of Bengal. The Company began levying
heavy taxes on the tribals, which were impossible to pay.

Santhal Hool
• In 1770, there was a severe famine in the Bengal. People were starving to death, but the company
didn't exempt the region from paying the taxes.
• Tilka Manjhi and his men raided the company's treasury in Jabalpur and distributed it among the
Adivasis. Inspired by this noble act, many other tribals joined the rebellion, which began the “Santhal
Hool” (the revolt of the Santhals).
• From 1771 to 1784, Tilka continued to attack the British and never surrendered.

First Armed Rebellion Against the British

286

• In 1784, Tilka Majhi attacked Augustus Cleveland, an EIC administrator and fatally wounded him. As
a result of this injury, Cleveland passed away a few months later. This is considered the first armed
MIH-I – Pre-1857

rebellion against the British.

• The root cause of this rebellion was the famine in 1770 and the consequences of Court of Directors
orders (ten-year settlement), which resulted in minimal chances to negotiate between local Zamindars
and Santhal villagers.

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• In retaliation, the British sent a force to squash the rebellion. They laid siege to the jungle where Tilka
was hiding. When Tilka was finally caught in 1784, he was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged all
the way to the Collector's residence at Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. There, his lacerated body was hung
from a Banyan tree.

Paika Rebellion (1817)

• Paikas were the peasant militias of the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who offered military service to the
king during times of war while taking up cultivation during times of peace. In return, the paikas re-
ceived hereditary rent-free land and titles.
• Odisha was under Maratha rule until 1803. However, after the Second Anglo-Maratha war, the Ma-
rathas were forced to cede most of the territory to the British EIC.
• The establishment of British rule in Odisha brought new land revenue settlements, which led to the
Paikas losing their estates. The British also followed a policy of repression against the Paikas. The con-
tinuous interference in the economy and revenue systems led to the exploitation and oppression of the
peasants.
• In 1817, a large number of Paikas were mobilised against the oppressive policies of the British under
the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, the hereditary chief of the militia army of the
Gajapati King of Khurda.
• The Paikas attacked British symbols of power; police stations and administrative offices were set on
fire, and the treasury was looted.
• The Britishers were initially taken aback, but eventually, they defeated the paikas. Bakshi
Jagabandhu surrendered to the British in 1825 and lived as a prisoner in Cuttack till his death in 1829.
 Since 2017, Odisha has demanded that the Paika rebellion be declared the first war of Independ-
ence.

Ramoshi Uprising (1824)

• The Ramoshi are a nomadic tribal community present in central India.
• Before the establishment of East India Company (EIC) rule over much of Maharashtra, the Ramoshis
worked for the Maratha rulers, who entrusted them with night patrolling and guarding of forts. In
return, Ramoshis were allowed to collect taxes from specific villages. But when the EIC replaced the
287

Marathas, this right was denied, leading to the Ramoshi uprising.

• Ramoshi united under the leadership of Umaji Naik and started an armed revolt against the Company
MIH-I – Pre-1857

in 1824. The Ramoshi army caused severe blows to the Company by plundering attacks on the imperial
institutions and all those who sided with the colonialists.
• The uprising continued for nearly eight years and subsided only when Umaji was arrested in 1831. On
3rd February 1832, Umaji was executed by hanging.

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Ahom Revolt (1828)

• The British promised to leave Assam after the end of the Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), but they
continued to occupy Assam even after the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. This made the Ahom nobility
suspicious and dissatisfied.
• Gomadhar Konwar, an Ahom Prince, started a rebellion with the support of Dhanjay Borgohain and
Jairam Khargharia Phukan.
• Gomadhar Konwar declared himself the Svargadev (lord of the heavens) and interfered with revenue
collection. Under his leadership, the rebels advanced towards the British stronghold in Rangpur. How-
ever, their plans were revealed, and the British captured and quelled the rebellion.

Santhal Hool/Uprising (1855-56)

• British wanted to clear the forest and extend the settled agriculture:
 To enlarge the sources of land revenue
 To produce crops for export
 To establish the basis of a settled, ordered society.
• In the late 18th century, Paharias lived around the Rajmahal hills. The British tried to transform them
into settled agriculturists but failed.
• The Santhals began to arrive in Bengal around the 1780s. Zamindars hired them to reclaim land and
expand cultivation.
• Having failed to subdue the Paharias and transform them into settled agriculturists, the British turned
to the Santhals. British officials invited them to settle in the Rajmahal hills.
• Santhal moved into the Rajmahal hills area around 1800, displaced the hill folk who lived on these
lower slopes, cleared the forests, and settled the land. By 1832, a large land area was demarcated as
Damin-i-Koh (land of Santhals). This was declared to be the land of the Santhals.
• When the Santhals started cultivating this area, the neighbouring Rajas of Maheshpur and Pakur
leased the Santhal villages to zamindars and moneylenders.
• The gradual penetration by outsiders (dikus) into the territory of the Santhals brought misery and
oppression to the simple-living Santhals. The Santhals soon realised they were being oppressed by
outsiders, namely moneylenders, merchants, zamindars and government officials.
288

• In 1855, the Santhals gathered in the Bhaganidihi Village under the leadership of the brothers - Sidhu
and Kanhu Murmu. They declared themselves free from the colonial rule. They decided to regain
control of their lands and set up their own government.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Sidhu and Kanhu claimed that Thakur (God) had communicated with them and told them to take up
arms and fight for independence. The idea that their God would himself fight along with them gave the
rebellion legitimacy and, in popular tribal perception, labelled it as a struggle of 'good' against 'evil'.

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• The Santhals fought against the British with their traditional weapons of bows, arrows, and axes. With
their superior arms, the British crushed the rebellion ruthlessly.

Aftermath of the Revolt

• The Santhal rebellion forced the government to change its policy towards them.
1. Around 5500 sq. miles of the area was carved out from Bhagalpur and Birbhum districts, which
came to be known as "Santhal Parganas". The British hoped that by creating a new territory for the
Santhals and imposing some special laws within it, the Santhals could be conciliated.
2. The government enacted the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act in 1876 to protect the tribals against
exploitation. The Act prohibits the sale of Adivasi land to non-Adivasis in the Santhal Pargana
region.

[Practice Question] The Damin-i-Koh was created by the British Government to settle
which one of the following communities?
a) Santhals
b) Mundas
c) Oraons
d) Saoras
Answer: A

[UPSC 2018] After the Santhal Uprising subsided, what were the measure/measures taken
by the colonial government?
1. The territories called ‘Santhal Parganas’ were created.
2. It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non-Santhal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: C

[Practice Question] Consider the following statements about the Santhal Hool of 1855-56:
289

1. The Santhals were in a desperate situation as tribal lands were leased out
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. The Santhal rebels were treated very leniently by British officials

3. Santhal inhabited areas were eventually constituted into separate administrative units called Santhal
Parganas
4. The Santhal rebellion was the only major rebellion in mid 19th century India
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3
c) 1,3 and 4
d) 1 and 3 only
Answer: D

Rampa Rebellion (1879-1880)

• The Koya and Konda Reddi tribes inhabited the Rampa region in the Eastern Ghats (Andhra Pradesh).
• In 1879, the tribals attacked the police stations and Mansabdars under the leadership of Thamman-
Dora in Andhra Pradesh and some portions of the Malkangiri region of Orissa.
• The Koyas hailed Tomma Dora as the 'King' of Malkangiri.

[Prelims Practice] In which one of the following revolts did the Koya and Konda tribal
chiefs rise against the local overlord from a Mansabdar family?
a) The Rampa Rebellion, 1879-1880
b) The Gudem Uprising, 1886
c) The Rampa Rebellion, 1922-1924
d) The Telangana Armed Struggle, 1946-1951
Answer: A

Bhil Agitation (1883)

• The Bhil tribe resides in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh states.

First Bhil Agitation

• Guru Govindgiri led the First Bhil Agitation (Bhagat movement) in Rajasthan in 1883. The main
grievance was against the bonded labour system of the British Raj implemented by the princely states.

Mangarh Massacre

• On 17 November 1913, a large force of the British army and the army of the princely states opened fire
on a large gathering of Bhils in the Mangarh hills, which is located on the border of Rajasthan and
Gujarat.
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• Hundreds of Bhils were massacred in this tragedy. Govind Guru was leading the agitation when the
firing took place.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Second Bhil Agitation

• The Second Bhil Agitation took place from 1921-23 and was led by Motilal Tejawat.

Motilal Tejawat

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• Motilal Tejawat was born in 1886 in southern Rajasthan. He saw massive oppression of tribals by the
Thakur community, which led him to work for the cause of tribal upliftment. He was greatly influenced
by the idea of Gandhi-Raj.
• Eki Movement brought him to the spotlight. He ran this movement under the name of Maharana
Pratap.

Munda Ulgulan (1899-1900)

• Birsa was born on November 15, 1875, into a poor Munda tribal family.
 The Government of India has declared 15th November as the ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.’

Influence of Christianity and Vaishnavism

• Birsa passed the lower primary examination from the German Mission school, where he was forced
to convert to Christianity and renamed Birsa David. After studying for a few years, Birsa left the Mis-
sion School.
• In 1891, Birsa went to Bandgaon, where he met Anand Paure, a prominent Vaishnav preacher. Influ-
enced by him, Birsa wore a sacred thread, advocated the prohibition of cow slaughter, and began to
value the importance of purity and piety.

Bhagwan Birsa

• In 1895, Birsa declared that God had appointed him to save his people from trouble and free them
from the slavery of dikus (outsiders). Soon, thousands began following Birsa, believing he was
Bhagwan (God) and had come to solve all their problems.
• Later, Birsa declared himself a god or Bhagwan and started his religion, Birsait, among Mundas, San-
thals and Oraons. His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society. He urged his followers to give
up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. He also turned
against missionaries and Hindu landlords.

Munda Rebellion

• Birsa Munda wanted to drive out outsiders (dikus) such as missionaries, moneylenders, landlords,
and the government and set up a Munda Raj with Birsa at its head. He identified all these forces as
the cause of the misery of the Mundas.
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• On Christmas Eve, 1899, Birsa proclaimed a rebellion (Ulgulan) to establish Munda rule in the land.
He urged his followers to destroy "Ravana" (dikus and the Europeans) and establish a kingdom under
MIH-I – Pre-1857

his leadership.
• Birsa's followers, armed with swords, spears, battle axes, and bows and arrows, began targeting the
symbols of dikus and European power. They attacked police stations and churches and raided the
property of moneylenders and zamindars. They raised the white flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.

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• Birsa Munda was captured at the beginning of February 1900. He died of cholera while in jail in June,
causing the movement to fade out.

Impact of the Movement

1. Change in the Government’s Attitude:
 Between 1902 and 1910, the government conducted surveys and settlement operations for the
tribes to prepare land records and safeguard tribal interests.
 The rebellion forced the colonial government to introduce laws to prevent the dikus from easily
taking over the land of the tribals.
 The government passed the Tenancy Act of 1903, which recognised the Mundari Khuntkatti sys-
tem and the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act in 1908.
 The government abolished the compulsory begar system.
2. The rebellion showed that the tribal people could protest against injustice and express their anger
against colonial rule.
3. The movement also inspired the future social, religious and political movements of tribals.

[UPSC 2020] With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the
description of which of the following events?
a) The Revolt of 1857
b) The Mappila Rebellion of 1921
c) The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60
d) Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900
Answer: D

13.4. Impact of the Tribal Movements

• Most of the tribal movements were ruthlessly suppressed by the government, and the tribals had to
comply with British policies detrimental to their interests.
• However, the government also took measures to protect tribal interests and address tribal concerns.
 The government thought normal laws could not be applied in tribal areas and passed the Sched-
uled District Act (1874).
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 The government categorised the tribal areas as excluded areas in the Govt. of India Act of 1935.
• In the long term, the colonial policy built up a framework to institutionalise the isolation of tribals.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

[UPSC 2023] How did colonial rule affect the tribals in India, and what was the tribal re-
sponse to the colonial oppression?
Approach
 Briefly introduce the tribal way of life before the British came to India.

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 Explain the effect of colonial rule on tribals, particularly the disruption of their traditional tribal system.
 Tribal response: Briefly explain how British policies adversely affected the Tribals. Tribal revolts
emerged as a response to the various British policies which eroded the tribal way of life.
 Lastly, mention the impact of tribal revolts in short.

[UPSC 2011] Which amongst the following provided a common factor for tribal insurrec-
tion in India in the 19th century?
a) Introduction of a new system of land revenue and taxation of tribal products
b) Influence of foreign religious missionaries in tribal areas
c) Rise of a large number of money lenders, traders and revenue farmers as middlemen in tribal areas
d) The complete disruption of the old agrarian order of the tribal communities
Answer: D

13.5. Unsung Heroes

Tantia Bhil
• Tantia Bhil (or Tantia Mama) was born in an Indian tribal Bhil community in 1842 in Nagpur. He was
one of the greatest revolutionaries.
• Tantia started his career after the strict actions the British took in response to the Indian Rebellion of
1857. He waged an armed struggle against British rule for twelve years from 1878-89. He raided British
government treasuries and distributed the wealth among the poor and needy.
• Tantia was arrested and taken to Jabalpur jail, where he was tried and hanged on 4 December 1889.
The news of his arrest was prominently published in the New York Times. This news described him as
the "Robin Hood of India".

13.6. Peasant Movements

• The peasants were progressively impoverished under British rule. Their condition deteriorated, and
they steadily sank into poverty due to the following reasons:
1. High revenue demand:
 In the early period of British rule, the Indian peasants were exploited by high land revenue
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taxation, which at times was twice the rates imposed by the Mughal rulers.
 In the later years, the nature of exploitation changed, and the rates were reduced. However,
the moneylenders, landlords, and other intermediaries took much of the peasant surplus.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. Rigid manner of revenue collection: Whenever the peasants failed to pay land revenue, the gov-
ernment put up their land on sale to collect the arrears of revenue.
3. Deprived of ownership: Under the Zamindari system, Zamindars were recognised as the land
owners. This deprived the actual cultivators of their traditional right over land.

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4. Over-crowding of land: De-industrialisation and lack of modern industry compelled the ruined
artisans and handicraftsmen to become agricultural labourers or tenants.
5. Growth of intermediaries: The cultivating tenants with the burden of maintaining these superior
landlords had too little to survive.
6. Commercialisation of agriculture: It helped the moneylender-cum-merchant to exploit the cul-
tivator.
7. Oppression by moneylenders: Whenever peasants found it difficult to pay the revenue, they bor-
rowed money from the moneylender at high-interest rates on the security of the land. Once in
debt, it was almost impossible for the peasants to get out of it. The moneylender would continue
to extend the debt and eventually take possession of the land.
• Most of the time, the peasants tolerated and adjusted to these unfavourable conditions, but some-
times, they joined together and organised movements to revolt against colonial oppression.
• The peasants often failed to understand that the moneylender was a crucial part of the imperialist
exploitation mechanism, and they directed their anger towards the moneylender as he appeared to
be the visible cause of their impoverishment. For instance, in 1875, the peasants revolted against mon-
eylenders in Deccan.
• The caste system and religious affiliations often helped the peasants organise and rally against their
oppressors. However, these revolts were not religious. The colonial government labelled some of
these legitimate peasant movements as religious or caste-based to deny the peasants' just demands.
Peasant Movements
Before 1857 Revolt Narkelberia Uprising (1831)
Pagal Panthi Movement (1825-33)
Mappila Uprising (1836-54)
Faraizi Disturbance (1838-57)
After 1857 Revolt Indigo Revolt (1859)
Pabna Movement (1873-85)
Deccan Revolt (1875)
Rebellion by Ramosi Peasant (1879-83)
Moplah Uprising (1850-1900)
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No-revenue Movement
Peasant Movements in the 20th Century Kisan Movement (1918)
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Eka Movement (1921)

Moplah Uprising (1921)
Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)
Tebhaga Movement (1946)
Telangana Movement (1946)

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Punnapra-Vayalar Movement (1946)

13.7. Peasant Movements Before the 1857 Revolt

• The important peasant movements before the 1857 Revolt include:

1. Narkelberia Uprising (1831)
2. Pagal Panthi Movement (1825-33)
3. Mappila Uprising (1836-54)
4. Faraizi Disturbance (1838-57)

Narkelberia Uprising (1831)

• Syed Mir Nisar Ali, or Titu Mir, was a peasant leader who led the Narkelberia Uprising in 1831. It is
often considered the first armed peasant uprising against the British.
• Titu Mir refused to pay the enhanced tax imposed on poor peasants in North 24 Paraganas district.
He organised and led protests against the zamindars, both Hindus and Muslims.
• Eventually, the zamindars and British administrators jointly mobilised forces against Titu and Killed
him in November 1831.

Religious Tinge
• Titu Mir adopted Wahhabism and advocated Sharia laws bypassing the “tradition of folkish Islam in
Bengal”. He instructed his followers to follow pure and simple Islamic practices.
• The peasant and artisan classes who were against the zamindars (mainly Hindus) were Muslims.
Hence, peasant-landlord conflicts acquired a religious colour.

Pagal Panthi Movement (1825-1833)

• Pagal Panthi Movement was a peasant movement guided by religious mendicants, Pagal Panthis.
Initially, it was directed against the zamindars and later assumed the character of an anti-British move-
ment.

Pagal Panthi Sect

• Karim Shah was the founder of the Pagal Panthi sect. His teachings attracted people irrespective of
race and religion. Many Hindus and Muslims of the Mymensingh area were his disciples.
295

• Karim taught that God created mankind, so they are all equal and brothers to each other. His followers,
therefore, addressed each other as 'Bhai-Saheb’.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The people living in the plains found the behaviour and lifestyle of the Bhai-Sahebs unusual and called
them "Pagals" (mad-caps). The activities and propagations of Karim Shah and his followers came to be
known as the 'Pagal Panthi Movement'.

Pagal Panthis under Tipu Shah

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• After the death of Karim Shah in 1813, Tipu Shah succeeded to the throne. Under him, the character
of the movement changed. It took the form of a peasant movement.
• The Pagals and their associates fought against the zamindars and the company's forces to protect
the peasants from the oppressions and undue claims of the zamindars. Tipu Shah and some of his
insurgent followers were captured in 1833 and tried.
• The government addressed many of the demands of the resisting peasants, including the reduction
of the rent rate. Consequently, the movement was subdivided and peace was restored in the area.

Faraizi Disturbance (1838-57)

• The Faraizi sect was founded by Haji Shariatullah of Faridpur.
• The Faraizis under Dudu Miyan, the son of Haji Shariatullah, became united as a religious sect with
an egalitarian ideology. His simple teaching and belief that all men are equal, the land belongs to
god, and no one has the right to levy tax on it appealed to the common peasants.
• The Faraizis set up a parallel administration in some parts of Eastern Bengal and established village
courts to settle the peasants' disputes. They protected cultivators from Zamindar's excesses and
asked the peasants not to pay taxes to the Zamindars.
• They raided the Zamindars' houses and burnt the indigo factory. The government and Zamindars
forces crushed the movement, and Dudu Miyan was imprisoned.
• In the early 19th century, two religious groups called Pagal Panthi and Feraizis emerged among
the local tribes in Mymensingh and Faridpur, now part of Bangladesh. Both sects believed in the idea
of treating everyone equally.
1. The Pagal Panthis rebelled against the British and the local zamindars supported by the British in
1825 and 1833.
2. The Feraizis, claiming that land was God’s gift and no one had the right to impose tax or rent
on land, launched a peasant’s movement in 1838-57 against extortion by zamindars and the
British indigo planters.

Mappila Uprisings (1836-54)

• Mappilas (Muslims), the descendants of Arab settlers and converted Hindus, comprised cultivating
tenants, landless labourers, traders, and fishermen. They faced hardship due to changes introduced by
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the British in land revenue administration.

• Amidst this hardship, religious leaders played an important role in strengthening the solidarity of the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Mappilas through socio-religious reforms. They also contributed to fostering an anti-British con-
sciousness among the Mappilas.
• As discontent simmered, it erupted into open insurrections against the state and landlords. Between
1836 and 1854, Malabar witnessed around twenty-two uprisings, predominantly led by rebels from

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the poorer sections of the population. The rebels directed their grievances towards British officials and
their dependents.

13.8. Peasant Movements After the 1857 Revolt (Peasant Movements and Early
Nationalism)

• During the second half of the 19th century, after the Revolt of 1857, the middle-class involvement
in peasants’ problems and agitations was noticeable. These individuals served as important intermedi-
aries between the peasants and the colonial administration. They also occasionally played the role of
leaders in peasant movements. Examples:
 Bengal: Middle-class nationalist-minded intelligentsia was involved in the Indigo Rebellion. The
Bengali intelligentsia exposed the plight of indigo cultivators to the Indian public.
 Bombay: The peasants sought help and guidance from leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
 Punjab: Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh supported the peasant cause.

Role of Congress
• In the early period, the nationalist leaders and the Congress were fully aware of the peasantry's
problems and held the colonial administration responsible for them.
• They criticised the British for burdening the peasants with high revenues. They asked the government
to lower the revenue demands on the peasants and pleaded that the revenue demands should be
fixed permanently and not be increased periodically.
• However, the Congress did not take a strong anti-landlord and pro-peasant stand. In Bengal, the
peasant movements in several parts, representing the majority Muslim peasantry, were gradually
alienated from the middle-class nationalists who took a pro-landlord position.
• Thus, although the earlier nationalists felt quite concerned about the peasants, they were not partic-
ularly interested in involving them in the nationalist movement.
• The important peasant movements after the 1857 Revolt include:
1. Indigo Revolt (1859)
2. Pabna Agrarian Unrest (1873-85)
3. Deccan Revolt (1875)
4. Rebellion by Ramosi Peasant (1879-83)
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5. Moplah Uprising (1850-1900)

6. No-revenue Movement
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Indigo Cultivation and Blue Rebellion

Indigo Plant Woad Plant
Colour Production (Dye) Produces a rich blue colour Produces a pale and dull blue col-
our

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Geographical Region Primarily grows in the tropics Thrives in temperate zones

Availability Easily available in India More readily available in Euro-
pean regions
Preference by European cloth More preferred Less preferred
dyers

Rising Demand for Indigo

• By the end of the 18thcentury, the demand for Indian indigo in Britain increased. This was because
of the following reasons:
1. Industrialisation in Britain expanded cotton production and created a huge demand for cloth
dyes.
2. The collapse of existing supply from the West Indies and America.
• From 1783 to 1789, the global production of indigo dropped by 50%. Faced with the rising demand
for indigo in Britain, the British authorities in various parts of India forced cultivators to grow indigo.
• In the last decades of the 18th century, indigo cultivation in Bengal expanded rapidly, and Bengal
indigo began to dominate the world market. In 1810, about 95% of the indigo imported into Britain
was from India.

Indigo Cultivation
• As the indigo trade grew, commercial agents and company officials began investing in indigo pro-
duction. Many Englishmen came to India and became planters.

Why Bengal?

 The abundant yields of the fertile lands and the readily available water for rotting the plants at-
tracted indigo planters to Bengal.
• There were two main systems of indigo cultivation:
1. Nij cultivation
2. Ryoti cultivation

Nij Cultivation (cultivation on the own land)

• The planter produced indigo in lands that he directly controlled. He bought the land or rented it
298

from other zamindars and produced indigo by directly employing hired labourers.
• Less than 25% of the land producing indigo was under Nij cultivation.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Disadvantages for the Planters

 Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands, which were already densely populated. Hence, the
planters found it difficult to expand the area under nij cultivation.
 A plantation required many workers, but they were needed during the rice cultivation season.

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 A large plantation also required many ploughs and bullocks, and investing in the purchase and mainte-
nance of ploughs was a major problem.

Ryoti Cultivation (cultivation on the land of ryots)

• Under the ryoti system, the planters forced the ryots to sign a contract. They sometimes pressured
the village headmen to sign the contract on behalf of the ryots.
• Those who signed the contract got cash advances from the planters at low-interest rates to produce
indigo. But the loan committed the ryot to cultivate indigo on at least 25% of the area under his
holding.
• 75% of the land producing indigo was under ryoti cultivation.

Contract System and Debt-trap

• The ryots sowed indigo under a contract system lasting one, three to five, or ten years.
• At the start of the contract, the planter made an advance payment to the ryot to meet the expenses
of cultivation. After harvesting, the farmer got paid the profit above the advance. If the profit was
less, the farmer owed money.
• Despite the debt, a fresh advance was given to him for the next season. However, the debt was
subtracted, and the farmer only received the remaining amount for the next farming season.

Legalized Exploitation

• At the request of the Indigo Planters Association, Act XI of 1860 (Eleventh Law) was passed, which
criminalised the ‘Breach of Contract’ by the ryots. The planters used this law to oppress the peas-
ants.
• The planters were above the law and often favoured by the European magistrates.

Disadvantages for the Cultivators

• After the harvest, when the crop was delivered to the planter, the ryot received a very low price. As
a result, they were given a new loan, perpetuating the cycle of indebtedness.
• The planters would demand that indigo be grown on the best soils, which were usually preferred by
peasants for cultivating rice. The deep roots of indigo quickly exhaust the soil, making it unsuitable
for rice farming after the harvest.
299

Blue Rebellion (Indigo Revolt/Neel Bidroha) (1859-60)

• The indigo system was inherently oppressive. In Bengal, the indigo planters, nearly all Europeans,
MIH-I – Pre-1857

terrorised the cultivators and forced them to cultivate all farmland with indigo instead of paddy.
• Peasants who refused to grow indigo were captured, caged and subjected to cruelty. The planters
also intimidated the peasants through kidnapping of men, attacks on women and children, seizure of
cattle, and destruction of crops.

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• In March 1859, the peasants in the Nadia district of Bengal, under the leadership of Digambar Biswas
and Bishnu Biswas, refused to grow indigo. As the rebellion spread to other parts of the Bengal:
 The ryots refused to pay rent to the planters.
 The ryot refused to take advances and enter into contracts.
 The peasants attacked indigo factories with spears and swords.
 Agents of planters (Gomasthas) who demanded rent were beaten.
 Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted
 Even women participated by fighting with pots and pans.
• They ryots gradually learned to use the legal machinery to enforce their rights. They joined together
and raised funds to fight court cases filed against them, and they initiated legal action on their own
against the planters.
• The united resistance of the ryots forced the planters to close their factories gradually. The cultivation
of indigo was virtually eliminated from Bengal by the end of 1860.

Role of Educated Indians

• The Bengali intellectuals brought this issue to the notice of the Indian public. They wrote of the misery
of the ryots, the tyranny of the planters, and the horrors of the indigo system.
• Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neel Darpan (Mirror of Indigo), a Bengali play in 1860 that depicted the
oppression of indigo farmers. The play was translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Dutta.
 Indigo rebellion is one of the early peasant agitations with some involvement of middle-class
nationalist-minded intelligentsia.

Attitude of Zamindars

• The local zamindars and village headmen were unhappy with the increasing power of the planters and
supported the rebellion. Missionaries also extended active support to the indigo ryots.

Indigo Commission (1860)

• After the Revolt of 1857, the British government was particularly worried about the possibility of an-
other popular rebellion. The government brought in the military to protect the planters from assault
and set up the Indigo Commission in March 1860 to investigate the evils of the Indigo Cultivation
system.
300

• The Commission asked the ryots to fulfil their existing contracts but also told them that they could
refuse to produce indigo in future.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Findings of the Commission

• The indigo cultivation system was oppressive in nature, especially because of the system of ad-
vances.
• The ryots did not have any say in the choice of lands.

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Suggested Reforms
 The ryot should sow indigo according to his wishes and terms.
 The selection of land for indigo should be negotiated equally by both parties.
 The contract should be simple in nature, extending not more than one year, and there shouldn’t be
any renewal if the peasant fails to meet his engagements to avoid the accumulation of debt.
 The factories should pay for the stamp paper, not the ryots.
 The factories, not the ryots should bear the expense of delivering the plant by cart or boat to facto-
ries.
 Shishir Kumar Ghosh, the founder of Amrit Bazar Patrika (journal), called Indigo rebellion the Blue
Rebellion - "the blueprint for India's national liberty movement".

Aftermath of the Revolt

• After the rebellion, indigo production collapsed in Bengal. But the planters now shifted their operation
to Bihar. With the discovery of synthetic dyes in the late 19th century, their business was severely
affected.
• At the annual session of the Congress, held in Lucknow in December 1916, a peasant from Bihar
persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran and see the plight of the indigo cultivators there. Mahatma
Gandhi’s visit in 1917 marked the beginning of the Champaran movement against the indigo plant-
ers.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt

• Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a Bengali poet and playwright.

Literary Work

• Dutt published two books of English poems under the pseudonym 'Timothy Penpoem':
1. The Captive Ladie
2. Visions of the Past
• In 1858, he wrote the Western-style play Sharmistha based on the Mahabharata story of Devayani
and Yayati. This was the first original play in Bangla, making Madhusudan the first Bangla play-
wright.
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• In 1860, he was the first to use blank verse in the play Padmavati, based on a Greek myth.
• In 1861, Madhusudan wrote the epic Meghnadbadh Kavya. Written in blank verse, it was based on
the Ramayana, but inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost, Madhusudan transformed the villainous
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Ravana into a hero.

• Madhusudan also translated Dinabandhu Mitra's play Nildarpan into English.

English Translation of Nildarpan

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• Nil Darpan was a Bengali play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858-59. It was first published in
1860.
• In 1861, Mitra sent a copy of his play to Reverend James Long, an Anglo-Irish priest who had run
the Church Missionary Society school in Calcutta, where Mitra was educated.
• Long mentioned the play to the Secretary of the Government of Bengal, who introduced the play to
Lieutenant Governor Sir John Peter Grant. Grant requested an English translation of Nil Darpan,
which Long arranged and most likely done by Michael Madhusudan Dutt. Long edited the transla-
tion and also provided his introduction.
• The indigo planters and the pro-planter press felt that the play had defamed them, so they took Long
to court. Long was found guilty and sentenced to one month in jail, fined 1,000 rupees.

[UPSC 2020] Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century be-
cause of:
a) peasant resistance to the oppressive conduct of planters
b) its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions
c) national leaders’ opposition to the cultivation of indigo
d) Government control over the planters
Answer: B

[Prelims Practice] Dinabandhu Mitra published a play in Bengali titled Neel Darpan (Blue
Mirror), which depicted the atrocities on the indigo planters. The play was translated into
English by :
a) Reverend James Long
b) Dwarkanath Tagore
c) Michael Madhusudan Dutta
d) Rabindranath Tagore
Answer: C

Pabna Agrarian Unrest (1873-1885)

• The Act of 1859 granted occupancy rights to many peasants and protected them against arbitrary
eviction by landlords.
302

• The zamindars used crafty methods to deprive the ryots of their occupancy rights.
 They enhanced rents beyond legal limits.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 They forcibly evicted the tenants.

 They converted occupancy tenants into tenants-at-will through forcible written agreements.
 Coercion was used against those who resisted.

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• In May 1873, the peasants of the Yusufshahi paragana in Pabna (a relatively prosperous district in East
Bengal) formed an agrarian league to resist the unjust demands of the zamindars. Soon, the move-
ment spread to other areas in the district.
• The Pabna league raised funds to fight a legal battle against the zamindars and organised a non-
payment of rent campaign.
• The overall objective of this league was that the resistance should be legal and peaceful. Most of the
time, the protests were in the form of litigations, and the protesters rarely used violence.
• The aims of the peasant movement were limited to abolishing the increased rent and preventing
zamindari excesses. They did not demand structural changes like the end of the Zamindari system.
• The peasants often stressed their loyalty towards the colonial rulers. They emphasised that they
wanted to be the 'Queen's Rvots' to secure the redressal of their grievances.
• Given the fact that a majority of the peasant activists were Muslims (more than 2/3rd of the peasants
and about 70% of Pabna's population were Muslims), they painted it as a communal movement. How-
ever, the two prominent leaders of the Pabna peasants - Kesab Chandra Roy and Sambhunath Pal
were Hindus.

Role of Educated Indians

• Like the Indigo revolt, most intellectuals of Bengal supported the peasant cause.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and later Surendranath Banerjee, Anand Mohan Bose, and Dwarkanath
Ganguli, campaigned for the peasants and supported the tenancy bill. They wanted the legislation
fixing the rate of the tenant's rent and occupancy rights for the cultivator on his land.
• Some landlord-based organisations opposed the movement.

Attitude of Government

• The government's attitude towards the peasants was restraint and sometimes even support.
• The peasants were penalised only if they became violent or destroyed public property. Otherwise, the
government adopted the role of a mediator between the peasants and the zamindars.

Effect of the Movement

1. Many disputes between the peasants and the zamindars were settled due to government pressure,
which feared that the growth of the peasant movement would lead to a law and order problem. Further,
303

the zamindars feared the radicalisation of the movement and the increasing litigations from the peas-
ants. They had limited options and were forced to compromise.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. In response to the peasants' demands to regulate the tenancy system, the government passed the Ben-
gal Tenancy Act in 1885, which protected the tenants.

Noteworthy Features

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1. The movement provided a sound platform to the peasants when there was no kisan sabha or political
party to organise them.
2. There was complete unity between the Hindu and Muslim communities even though the majority
of the zamindars were Hindus while most peasants were Muslims.
3. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 did not fully protect the tenants from the zamindari oppression. It
gave rise to powerful jotedar groups, some of whom turned out to be as exploitative as the zamindars.

Deccan Riot (1875)

Plight of Peasants of Deccan
• Ryotwari settlement of land revenue system was introduced in Deccan (Bombay region). Revenue
was directly settled with the ryot (cultivator). Lands were surveyed every thirty years to decide the
revenue.
• The first revenue settlement was made in the 1820s. The demand for revenue was so high that in
many places, peasants deserted their villages and migrated to new regions.
• Ryot borrowed a loan from a moneylender and paid the revenue. But once a loan was taken, the ryot
found it difficult to repay. As debt mounted and loans remained unpaid, peasants’ dependence on
moneylenders increased.
 Sahukar: A person who used to work as both a moneylender and a trader.
 Marwari: Gujarati Moneylender.

Cotton Boom
• Before the 1860s, three-fourths of raw cotton imports into Britain came from America.
• When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, raw cotton imports from America fell to less than
3% of the normal. To compensate for this shortage, the British turned to India for imports.
• Attracted by the high prices, most peasants of Deccan switched to cotton farming. With the rise in
cotton prices, moneylenders easily extended credit to peasants.
• While the American crisis continued, cotton production in the Bombay Deccan expanded. By 1862, over
90% of cotton imports into Britain came from India.

Period of Crisis
304

• By 1865, as the Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived, and Indian cotton exports to
Britain steadily declined. Moneylenders were no longer interested in extending long-term credit to
MIH-I – Pre-1857

the ryot. A fall in cotton exports and a series of bad harvests over the next several years made the
situation worse.

Immediate Cause: Revision of Land Revenue Demand

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• In 1867, the land revenue was revised and increased by over 50%. The government increased the
demand when prices were falling. This forced the ryot to borrow from moneylenders. But the money-
lenders now refused loans. They no longer had confidence in the ryots capacity to repay.
• The refusal of moneylenders to extend loans enraged the ryots as they had already fallen deep into
debt and were entirely dependent on the moneylenders for their survival.
• The riots began spontaneously on 12 May 1875 in Supa, Pune. The peasantry, which had gathered
for the weekly bazaar, attacked the moneylenders, burnt account books (bahi khatas), and destroyed
the debt contracts and bonds.
• From Poona, the revolt spread to Ahmednagar. Then, over the next two months, it spread even further.
Everywhere, the pattern was the same:
 Sahukars were attacked.
 Account books (bahi khatas) were burnt.
 Debt bonds destroyed.
• Very little violence was reported in the course of the “riots” aside from a few instances of burning
shops and looting of the houses of moneylenders.
• As the uprising began to spread, British officials became increasingly afraid of another revolt similar
to the one in 1857. They quickly took action and suppressed the uprising. However, it took several
months for the authorities to restore order in the rural areas.

Role of Educated Indians

• In the Bombay Presidency, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was the first organisation to associate itself
with peasant grievances. During the Deccan riot, it supported the peasantry and actively campaigned
for relief to struggling farmers.

The Deccan Riots Commission

• The Government of Bombay set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the riots.
The commission's report was presented to the British Parliament in 1878.
• Following the recommendations of the Commission to placate the peasants, in 1879, the Deccan Ag-
riculturists’ Relief Act was passed to prevent the imprisonment of peasants in case of failure in
debt payment.
305

Deccan Riots Report: A source for the study of the riot

• The commission conducted enquiries in the districts where the riots spread, recorded statements
MIH-I – Pre-1857

of ryots, Sahukars, and eyewitnesses, compiled statistical data on revenue rates, prices, and interest
rates in different regions, and collated the reports sent by district collectors. It provides historians with
a range of sources for studying the riot.

Official Perspectives

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• The commission reported that the moneylenders and not the government were responsible for
the indebtedness of the peasants and riot.
• This indicates that the colonial administration persistently denied responsibility for popular dis-
content.

[UPSC CAPF 2014] The Deccan Riots Commission was concerned with
a) indebtedness of the peasant
b) lack of law and order in the Deccan
c) problems with the Ryotwari system
d) communal riots in the Deccan
Answer: A

[UPSC NDA 2021] Which of the following statements about the Deccan Riots Commission
is/are correct?
1. The Commission did not hold enquiries in the districts which were not affected.
2. The Commission did record the statements of ryots, sahukars and eye-witnesses
Select the correct answer using the code given below
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: C

[UPSC CDS 2022] Consider the following statements:

1. In the 19th century, peasants in various parts of India rose in revolt against moneylenders and grain
dealers.
2. In May 1875, at village Supa in Poona District in the Bombay Deccan, peasants attacked shopkeepers,
burnt the bahi khatas (account books), looted grain shops and set fire to the houses of Sahukars.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
306

c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Answer: C

[UPSC CDS 2019] The Deccan Agriculturalists' Relief Act of 1879 was enacted with which
one of the following objectives?
a) Restore lands to the dispossessed peasants

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b) Ensure financial assistance to peasants during social and religious occasions

c) Restrict the sale of land for indebtedness to outsiders
d) Give legal aid to insolvent peasants
Answer: C

The immediate cause of the Deccan Riots of 1875 was

a) the shadow of a famine
b) high interest rates charged by Mahajans
c) high land revenue rates
d) protest against imposition of religious reforms
Answer: C

Rebellion by Ramosi Peasant

• With the help of the Koli, Bhil and Dhangar communities, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, an educated
clerk, raised a Ramosi peasant force in Maharashtra.
• The group started an armed struggle to overthrow the British Raj, launching raids on rich English
businessmen to obtain funds for the purpose.
• Phadke controlled the city of Pune for a few days. He was captured and transported to jail at Aden
but escaped on 13 February 1883. He was soon recaptured and went on a hunger strike, dying on 17
February 1883.

[Prelims Practice] Why was Vasudeo Balwant Phadke known in history?

a) He led a violent struggle against the British during the revolt of 1857
b) He was a critic of Gandhian struggle
c) He led an armed uprising against the British in the 1870s
d) He was a radical leader of the Indian National Congress
Answer: C

Moplah Uprising
• Between 1850 and 1900, multiple Moplah Uprisings took place in Malabar. As the Jenmi landlords,
backed by the police, law courts and revenue officials, tightened their grip over the Moplah peasants,
307

the latter rebelled against the landlords and the British.

• As the landlords were Hindus and the peasants were Muslims, the colonial state gave a rich-poor
MIH-I – Pre-1857

conflict between the Jenmi landlords and the Moplah peasants, a distinct communal colour.
• Between 1882 and 1885, the peasants 'looted' the property and burned the houses of landlords, as
well as defiled Hindu temples. These acts gave an anti-Hindu turn to what was essentially a class

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conflict between peasants and the landlords. By 1896, the Moplah peasants' struggle assumed an
aggressively communal orientation.

No-Revenue Movement
Assam
• The British tried to raise land revenue by 50 to 70 per cent in temporarily settled areas of the districts
of Kamrup and Darrang. Village assemblies resisted this. They enforced non-payment of revenue and
organised a social boycott of those who decided to pay. Finally, they gained some concession in land
revenue from the administration.

Maharashtra
• A no-revenue campaign was launched in Maharashtra after the outbreaks of the famines of 1896-97
and 1899-1900 under the auspices of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. These campaigns spread to Surat, Nasik,
Khera, and Ahmedabad.

Punjab
• In the late 19th century, there was a peasant revolt in Punjab. The peasants rebelled because money-
lenders threatened them with losing their land, which led to the peasants assaulting and murdering
moneylenders.
• The revolt resulted in the enactment of the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1902, which prohibited for
twenty years the transfer of land from peasants to moneylenders and mortgages.
Peasant Re- Indigo Revolt (1859-60) Pabna Agrarian Unrest Deccan Riot (1875)
volts (1873-85)
Immediate Peasants refused to grow Peasants protested against Grievances against
Cause indigo and protested the unjust demands of the moneylenders (Sahu-
against Indigo planters. zamindars. kar)
Support of Ed- Bengali intellectuals sup- Bengali intellectuals sup- Educated Indians from
ucated Indians ported the peasants. ported the peasants. the Bombay Presidency
supported the peasantry
Victory of the The government declared The Bengal Tenancy Act Deccan Agriculturists’
308

Peasants that the ryots could not be was passed in 1885, which Relief Act was passed to
compelled to grow indigo protected the tenants. prevent the imprison-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and would ensure that all ment of peasants in case

disputes were settled legally. of failure in debt pay-
ment.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

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14. The Revolt of 1857

• The Revolt of 1857 began with a mutiny of the sepoys but soon engulfed wide regions and people.
Millions of peasants, artisans, and soldiers fought heroically for over a year, threatening the Company's
presence in India.
• Though it started with the sepoys’ mutiny, the Revolt of 1857 was much more than a mere product
of sepoy discontent. It was, in fact, a product of the accumulated grievances of the people against the
Company's administration.
• For more than a century, as the British had been steadily acquiring control of the country, popular dis-
content and hatred against foreign rule had been growing among different sections of Indian society.
This discontent finally erupted into a massive popular revolt.
• The Revolt of 1857 came as the culmination of popular discontent with British policies and imperialist
exploitation. But it was no sudden occurrence; the discontent had been accumulating for a long time,
and many times, different sections of people revolted against the authorities.

14.1. Causes of the popular discontent against the British rule (Major Causes of
the Revolt)

Adverse effect of the British rule

• Over a hundred years of British rule affected the interests of almost all sections of society, such as
peasants, artisans, sepoys, local rulers, nawabs, taluqdars, traditional zamindars, religious leaders,
and tribals.

Rulers of native states (Nawabs or Rajas)

• Since the mid-18th century, the British devised various administrative policies and gradually reduced
the authority and honour of the native rulers.
• Residents had been stationed in many courts, the rulers' freedom was reduced, their armed forces
disbanded, and their revenues and territories were gradually taken away.
• The policy of annexation was directly responsible for making Nana Sahib, the Rani of Jhansi, and
Bahadur Shah their staunch enemies.
309

Nana Saheb
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Nana Saheb was the adopted son of the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II. He pleaded that he be given his
father's pension when the latter died. However, the Company, confident of its superiority and military
powers, refused to grant the pension.

Rani Lakshmibai

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• Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi wanted the Company to recognise her adopted son as the heir to the king-
dom after her husband's death. Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General, did not concede the demand
and annexed the state by applying the Doctrine of Lapse.

Nawab of Awadh

• Lord Dalhousie expelled the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and annexed Awadh. Dalhousie's excuse for annex-
ing Avadh was that he wanted to free the people from the Nawabs' and Taluqdars' oppression.

Mughal Emperor

• From the beginning of the British rule in Bengal in 1765, the Company tried to reduce the authority of
the Mughal emperor. After the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the Mughal emperor was reduced to a
mere pensioner of the Company. The British, not yet strong enough to claim sovereignty on their own,
kept the Mughal emperor on the throne as a puppet.
• In the 19th century, as the Company's authority increasing, the Company began a plan to bring the
Mughal dynasty to an end.
 The name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.
 In 1849, Governor-General Dalhousie announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the
king's family would be shifted out of the Red Fort and given another place to reside in Delhi.
 In 1856, Governor-General Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal
king, and after his death, none of his descendants would be recognised as kings. They would just
be called princes.

Peasants
• Under British rule, the peasants became progressively impoverished due to high revenue demand,
rigid revenue collection methods, overcrowding of land, and the commercialisation of agriculture.

Taluqdars
• During the first few decades of British rule in Bengal and Madras, the old zamindars suffered. By
1815, nearly half of the zamindari of Bengal was transferred from the old zamindars to merchants and
other moneyed classes (landlords).
• After the annexation of Awadh, the British confiscated the estates of a majority of the taluqdars or
310

zamindars. These dispossessed taluqdars became the most dangerous opponents of British rule.

Artisans and Handicraftsmen

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Artisans and Handicraftsmen were impoverished during the British rule due to two reasons:
1. The British policy of one-way free trade discouraged Indian manufacturing and promoted British
goods.

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2. Indian rulers were the main customers of handicrafts. The gradual disappearance of Indian rulers
under British rule gave a big blow to artisans and handicraftsmen.

Religious Preachers
• The Indian rulers had supported the religious preachers. The displacement of these rulers by the
Company led to the sudden withdrawal of this patronage and the impoverishment of the religious
preachers.
• Religious preachers, pandits and maulavis, who felt that their entire future was threatened, played an
important role in spreading hatred against the foreign rule.

Sepoys
Military

• The Indian sepoys employed by the Company were dissatisfied with their pay, allowances, and work-
ing conditions. In matters of payment, privileges, and promotions, Sepoys faced discrimination in
comparison to British soldiers:
 Even though a sepoy was as good a soldier as his British counterpart, he was paid much less.
 Indian sepoys could not rise higher than a subedar.
• The recent order stating that sepoys would not be given the foreign service allowance (batta) when
serving in Sindh or the Punjab increased their dissatisfaction with the British.

Religion

• Sepoys were affected by the general belief that the British were interfering in their religions and were
determined to convert Indians to Christianity. Their own experience predisposed them to such a belief.
• The Indians of those days were very strict in observing caste rules, etc. However, the military authorities
forbade the sepoys to wear caste and sectarian marks, beards, or turbans.
• In 1856, an Act was passed stating that every new person who took up employment in the Company's
army had to agree to serve overseas if required. This hurt the sepoys' sentiments as, in those days,
many people in the country believed that if they crossed the sea, they would lose their religion and
caste.
• In the beginning, the British allowed the sepoys to live according to the dictates of their caste and
religion. However, with the extension of British rule, this was no longer possible. The division based
311

on caste and religion was not conducive to the fighting unit. When British authorities tried to prevent
any caste segregation in the army, the sepoys began to feel that the British were determined to convert
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Indians to Christianity.

General discontent of people

• Many sepoys were peasants and had families living in the villages. So, the anger of the peasants
quickly spread among the sepoys.

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• The sepoys were part of Indian society, and therefore, they felt and suffered to some extent what other
Indians did. The Hopes, desires, and despairs of the other sections of society were reflected in them. If
their near and dear ones suffered from the destructive economic consequences of British rule, they,
in turn, felt this suffering.
History of sepoys' dissatisfaction
• The sepoys were dissatisfied and mutinied several times before the 1857 revolt.
• The dissatisfaction among the sepoys was so widespread that Fredrick Halliday, Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal in 1858, remarked that the Bengal Army was "more or less mutinous, always on the verge of
revolt and certain to have mutinied at one time or another as soon as provocation might combine with
opportunity.
 1764: A sepoy mutiny in Bengal
 1806: A sepoy mutiny in Vellore
 1824: The 47th Regiment of sepoys at Barrackpore were told to go to Burma by the sea route to
fight for the Company. As crossing the sea meant the loss of caste in those days, the sepoys re-
fused to follow the order, though they agreed to go by the land route. The Regiment was dis-
banded, its unarmed men were fired upon by artillery, and the leaders of the sepoys were hanged.
 1844: Seven battalions revolted on the question of salaries and battas.

Religious interference
• There was a general belief that the British were interfering in their religions and were determined to
convert Indians to Christianity. The activities of the Christian missionaries aggravated this perception.
• The Christian missionaries tried to convert people and made violent and vulgar public attacks on
Hinduism and Islam. They openly ridiculed and denounced the long-cherished customs and traditions
of the people.
• In 1850, a new law was passed to make conversion to Christianity easier. This law allowed an Indian
who had converted to Christianity to inherit the property of his ancestors.

Reforms
• The British believed that Indian society had to be reformed. Laws were passed to stop the practice of
sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows.
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• Under the leadership of Governor General Lord William Bentinck, the British adopted policies aimed
at "reforming" Indian society by introducing Western education, ideas, and institutions.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Many Indians believed that an alien Christian government had no right to interfere with their reli-
gion. They began to feel that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their
traditional way of life.

Policies of the British

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Economic Policy
• The economic exploitation of the country by the British and the destruction of its traditional eco-
nomic fabric led to the impoverishment of the peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen and traditional za-
mindars.

Land Revenue Policies

• Due to the land revenue policies of the British, a large number of peasant proprietors lost their lands
to traders and moneylenders and found themselves hopelessly in debt.

System of Law and Administration

• The oppressive administration added dissatisfaction against the government.
 The common people were hard hit by the prevalence of corruption at the lower levels of admin-
istration.
 The complex judicial system enabled the rich (moneylenders) to oppress the poor (peasants).

Foreign Nature of the British Rule

• The British remained perpetual foreigners in the country. They did not mix socially even with the
upper classes of Indians; instead, they had a feeling of racial superiority and treated Indians with con-
tempt and arrogance.
• The people of India were aware of the British's foreign character. They refused to recognise the British
as their benefactors and looked with suspicion upon every act of theirs.
• Thus, the people had a vague sort of anti-British feeling, which had been expressed even earlier than
the Revolt in numerous popular uprisings against the British.

Annexation of Awadh
• The British imposed the Subsidiary Alliance on Awadh in 1801. Under this alliance, the Nawab had to
disband his military force, allow the British to position their troops within the kingdom, and act in
accordance with the advice of the British Resident.
• Deprived of his armed forces, the Nawab became increasingly dependent on the British to maintain
law and order within the kingdom. He could no longer assert control over the rebellious chiefs and
taluqdars.
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• The British annexed Awadh in 1856, accusing the Nawab of failing to control rebellious chiefs and
Taluqdars. As a result, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie created disaffection in all the areas, particularly in
Awadh. The British government wrongly assumed that Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler. On the
contrary, he was widely loved, and when he left his beloved Lucknow, many followed him all the way
to Kanpur, singing songs of lament.

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• The removal of the Nawab led to the dissolution of the court and its culture. Thus, musicians, dancers,
poets, artisans, cooks, retainers, administrative officials, and others lost their livelihoods.

Interconnected Grievances of Prince, Taluqdars, Peasants, and Sepoys in Awadh

• In Awadh, a chain of grievances connected the prince, taluqdars, peasants, and sepoys. Each of them
saw the British rule (firangi raj) as the downfall of their world, causing the loss of things they cherished
and respected.
• In Awadh, where resistance during 1857 was intense and long-lasting, the fighting was carried out
by taluqdars and their peasants. Many of these taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh, and they
joined Begum Hazrat Mahal (the wife of the Nawab) in Lucknow to fight the British.

Taluqdars

• The annexation displaced not just the Nawab. It also dispossessed the taluqdars of the region.
• In Awadh, many estates and forts were owned by taluqdars, who, for many generations, had controlled
land and power in the countryside.
• Before the coming of the British, taluqdars maintained armed retainers and built forts. They enjoyed a
degree of autonomy as long as they accepted the suzerainty of the Nawab and paid the revenue of
their taluqs.
• The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of the taluqdars, so immediately after the annexation,
the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed.

Summary Settlement
• In 1856, the British introduced the Summary Settlement, which was based on the assumption that the
taluqdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in the land: they had established their hold over
land through force and fraud.
• Under the Summary Settlement, the British confiscated the estates of most taluqdars or zamindars.
Figures show that in pre-British times, taluqdars held 67 per cent of the total number of villages in
Awadh; by the Summary Settlement, this number had fallen to 38 per cent.

Peasants

• In pre-British times, the taluqdars were oppressors, but many of them also appeared to be generous
314

father figures: They exacted various dues from the peasants but were often considerate in times of
need. Now, under the British, the peasant was directly exposed to overassessment of revenue and
inflexible methods of collection.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In the past, the taluqdars used to provide loans to the peasants during festive times. They also post-
poned revenue collection or reduced state revenue demand during times of hardship or crop failure.
However, now, there was no guarantee that the peasants will receive such aid from the taluqdars.

Sepoys

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• The large majority of the sepoys of the Bengal Army were recruited from the Awadh and North West-
ern Provinces (eastern Uttar Pradesh). Awadh was called the "nursery of the Bengal Army."
• Dalhousie's annexation of Awadh angered the Company's sepoys. The annexation also adversely af-
fected their purses. They had to pay higher taxes on the land their families held in Awadh.
• Lacking an all-India feeling, these sepoys had helped the British conquer the rest of India. However,
they did possess regional and local patriotism and did not like that their home lands should come under
the foreigner's sway.

Other rulers

• The annexation of Avadh, along with the other annexations of Dalhousie, created panic among rulers
of the native states. They now discovered that their most grovelling loyalty to the British had failed to
satisfy their greed for territory.

[Mains Practice] Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted
the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?

Immediate Cause
• By 1857, the stage was set for a mass upheaval, awaiting only a spark to ignite it. That spark came in
the form of greased cartridges.

Rumours of Greased Cartridges and Bone Dust in Atta

Greased Cartridges

• Henry Hardinge, the Governor-General of India, attempted to modernise the army and introduced
the Enfield rifle.
• The cartridges (bullets) of the Enfield rifle had to be bitten off before loading. They were covered by
grease, which was reportedly composed of pig and cow fat (beef).
• The sepoys believed that the biting of those bullets would corrupt their caste and religion. Hence,
they refused to drill using new cartridges.

Bone Dust in Atta

• There was also a rumour that the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour
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sold in the market. In towns and cantonments, sepoys and the common people refused to touch the
atta.
The rumours about the greased cartridges and mixing of bone dust in atta fuelled the suspicion that
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. Many sepoys believed that the Government was
deliberately trying to destroy their religion, and the time had come to rebel.

Why did people believe in the rumours?

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• Rumours circulate only when they resonate with people's deeper fears and suspicions. The rumours
in 1857 begin to make sense when seen in the context of the policies the British pursued from the
late 1820s.
• After the 1820s, the British introduced Western education, ideas, and institutions. They established
laws to abolish customs like sati (1829) and permit the remarriage of Hindu widows.
• The British annexed the various Indian states and introduced their own system of administration,
their laws and their methods of land settlement and land revenue collection.
• It seemed to the people that all that they cherished and held sacred - from kings and socio-religious
customs to patterns of landholding and revenue payment- was being destroyed and replaced by a
more impersonal, alien and oppressive system. The activities of Christian missionaries aggravated
this perception. In such a situation of uncertainty, rumours spread with remarkable swiftness.

Prophecies

• The rumours and prophecies played an important role in the outbreak and spread of revolt.
• A prophecy predicted that British rule would end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey, oc-
curring on 23 June 1857.
• Ahmadullah Shah, a maulvi from Faizabad, prophesied that the British rule would end soon.

Why Did the Sepoys Revolt?

• During a time when employment in companies was considered prestigious and provided economic
stability, the sepoys revolted. This was because having a job in a company wasn't enough to hold a
position in society - religion and caste were more powerful than any prestigious post.
• After returning from the Second Afghan War, many sepoys were outcast by the villagers who accused
them of not following the caste stipulations.

[Mains Practice - Opinions Explored] In addition to religious interference by the British,

what do you consider the single most significant factor contributing to the revolt of 1857?

[Prelims Practice] Which one of the following was NOT a cause of the Revolt of 1857?
a) The rumour that the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour being sold
in the market
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b) The prophecy that British rule would come to an end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey on
23rd June, 1857
MIH-I – Pre-1857

c) Popular discontent with British rule

d) The prophecy that the end of British rule would lead to the end of the Kali Yuga and the return of
Ram Rajya
Answer: D

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Confidence to overthrow the British rule

• People do not revolt simply because they desire to overthrow their rulers; they must also be confident
that they can do so successfully.
• The period of the growth of discontent among the people coincided with certain events which shat-
tered the general belief in the invincibility of British arms and encouraged the people to believe that
the days of the British regime were numbered.
• The British army suffered major reverses in:
1. The First Afghan War (1838-42)
2. The Punjab Wars (1845-49)
3. The Crimean War (1854-56): It was fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia
against Russia. It was the only major European conflict the Army engaged in between 1816 and
1914.
4. The Santhal rebellion (1855-56): The tribesmen of Bihar and Bengal rose up armed with axes, bows,
and arrows and revealed the potentialities of a popular uprising by temporarily sweeping away Brit-
ish rule from their area.
• Though the British ultimately won these wars and suppressed the Santhal uprising, the disasters they
suffered in major battles revealed that the British army could be defeated by determined fighting,
even by an Asian army. In fact, the Indians made here a serious error of political judgment by under-
estimating British strength. This error was to cost the rebels of 1857 dear.

[UPSC 2019] The 1857 Uprising was the culmination the recurrent big and small local re-
bellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. Elucidate.

14.2. The Beginning and Spread of the Revolt

The Beginning of Revolt

• On 10 May 1857, the sepoys in the cantonment of Meerut mutinied. The mutiny began in the lines of
the native infantry and spread very swiftly to the cavalry and then to the city.
• Even before the outbreak at Meerut, Mangat Pande, a young soldier, was hanged to death on 29
March for attacking his officer at Barrackpur.
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• On 24 April, 90 men of the 3rd Native Cavalry refused to do the army drill using the new cartridges,
suspected of being coated with cow and pig fat. On 9 May, 85 sepoys were dismissed from service and
MIH-I – Pre-1857

sentenced to ten years in jail for disobeying their officers. This sparked a general mutiny among the
Indian soldiers stationed at Meerut.
• The very next day, on 10 May, the sepoys released their imprisoned comrades and unfurled the ban-
ner of revolt. The sepoys captured the guns and ammunition, killed their European officers and burned

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the buildings and properties of the British. The sepoys also destroyed and plundered the government
buildings - the record office, jail, court, post office, treasury, etc.
• The ordinary people of the town and surrounding villages joined the sepoys.

Legitimacy to the Revolt

• The sepoys of Meerut rode all night of 10 May to reach Delhi in the early hours of the next morning.
• As news of the arrival of the sepoys spread, the regiments stationed in Delhi also rose in rebellion;
again, British officers were killed, arms and ammunition seized, and buildings set on fire.
• Triumphant soldiers gathered around the walls of the Red Fort where the Badshah lived, demanding
to meet him. The emperor, Bahadur Shah, was unwilling to challenge the mighty British power, but
the soldiers persisted. Surrounded by the sepoys, Bahadur Shah had no option but to comply.
• The rebellious soldiers proclaimed the aged and powerless Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of
India (Shahenshah-e-Hindustan). This proclamation gave the rebellion a sense of legitimacy, as it could
now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor. With this single act, the sepoys had transformed
a mutiny of soldiers into a revolutionary war.
 The rebellious sepoys from all over the country automatically turned their steps towards Delhi.
 All Indian chiefs who participated in the Revolt proclaimed their loyalty to the Mughal Emperor.
• The Bahadur Shah wrote letters to all the chiefs and rulers of the country to come forward and or-
ganise a confederacy of Indian states to fight and replace British rule.
 Mutiny: a collective disobedience of rules and regulations within the armed forces
 Revolt: a rebellion of people against established authority and power. The terms 'revolt' and 'rebel-
lion' can be used synonymously.
 In the context of the 1857 revolt, the term revolt refers primarily to the uprising of the civilian
population (peasants, zamindars, rajas, jagirdars), while the mutiny was of the sepoys.

Why did the rulers of smaller states join the rebellion?

• The Mughal dynasty had ruled over a very large part of the country. Most smaller rulers and chieftains
controlled different territories on behalf of the Mughal ruler.
• Threatened by the expansion of British rule, many of the smaller rulers felt that if the Mughal emperor
could rule again, they, too, would be able to rule their territories once more under Mughal authority.
318

Spread of the Mutiny

Through 12 and 13 May, North India remained quiet. Once word spread that Delhi had fallen to the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
rebels and Bahadur Shah had blessed the rebellion, events moved swiftly. Almost every cantonment in
Bengal and a few in Bombay rose in revolt. Only the Madras army remained loyal.
• In many princely states, rulers remained loyal to their British overlord, but the soldiers revolted or
remained on the brink of revolt. Example:

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 Sindhia of Gwalior supported the British, but over 20,000 of Gwalior's troops went to Tantia Tope
and the Rani of Jhansi to fight against the British.
 The Holkar of Indore supported the British, but many of Indore's troops rebelled and joined the
sepoys.

Mutiny to Rebellion
• Everywhere in Northern and Central India, the mutiny of the sepoys was followed by popular revolts
of the civilian population. This was particularly true for the North Western Provinces of Bengal Presi-
dency and Awadh, where the sepoys were recruited in large numbers by the Bengal army.
• After the sepoys had destroyed British authority, the common people rose up in arms, often fighting
with spears and axes, bows and arrows, lathis and scythes, and crude muskets.
• When ordinary people began joining the revolt, the rebellion against the British widened into an
attack on all those who were seen as allies of the British or local oppressors.
• In major towns like Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly, peasants and zamindars expressed their grievances
"by attacking the money-lenders and new zamindars who had displaced them from the land. Peasants
not only saw them as oppressors but also as allies of the British.
• In many places, peasants destroyed the money lenders' account books and records of debts. They
also attacked the British-established law courts, revenue offices (tehsils), revenue records, and thanas.
• The wide participation of the peasantry and artisans in the revolt gave it real strength and the char-
acter of a popular revolt. There was a general defiance of all kinds of authority and hierarchy. The mutiny
in the sepoy ranks quickly became a rebellion.

Link between the sepoys and the rural world

• The large majority of the sepoys of the Bengal Army were recruited from the Awadh and North
Western Provinces (eastern Uttar Pradesh).
• The changes that the families of the sepoys saw around them and the threats they perceived were
quickly transmitted to the sepoy lines. In turn, the fears of the sepoys about the new cartridge,
their grievances about leave, and racial abuse on the part of their white officers were communicated
back to the villages.
• This link between the sepoys and the rural world had important implications during the uprising.
319

When the sepoys defied their superior officers and took up arms, they were joined by their brethren
in the villages. Everywhere, peasants poured into towns and joined the soldiers and the ordinary
MIH-I – Pre-1857

people of the towns in collective acts of rebellion.

Leaders

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• To fight the British, leadership and organisation were required. These rebels sometimes turned to those
who had been leaders before the British conquest, such as nawabs, rajas (kings), ranis (queens), ta-
luqdars, zamindar, etc.
 One of the first acts of the sepoys of Meerut was to rush to Delhi and appeal to the old Mughal
emperor to accept the leadership of the revolt.
• However, traditional leaders were not always the leaders of the revolt. Sometimes, ordinary men
and women, religious leaders, and local leaders led the revolt.

Spread of the Rebellion

• The rebel forces greatly outnumbered the British and defeated them in several battles. This convinced
the people that British rule had collapsed for good and gave them the confidence to take the plunge
and join the rebellion. A situation of widespread rebellion developed in the Awadh region in particular.
 On 6 August 1857, Lieutenant Colonel Tytler sent a telegram to his Commander-in-Chief expressing
the fear felt by the British: "Our men are cowed by the numbers opposed to them and the endless
fighting. Every village is held against us, and the zamindars have risen to oppose us."

Storm Centres of the Revolt

• Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, and Arrah (Bihar) became the storm centres of the revolt,
where mutinied regiments joined other troops. However, the rebels' first instinct was always to go to
Delhi, whether they were in Meerut, Kanpur, or Jhansi.

Delhi

• At Delhi, emperor Bahadur Shah held nominal and symbolic leadership, but the real command lay
with a Court of Soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan.
• Bakht Khan had led the revolt of the Bareilly troops and brought them to Delhi. After the British oc-
cupation of Delhi in September 1857, he went to Lucknow and continued to fight the British until he
died in a battle on 13 May 1859.

Kanpur

• At Kanpur, the Revolt was led by Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II.
• With the help of the sepoys, Nana Sahib expelled the English from Kanpur and proclaimed himself
320

the Peshwa. Nana Sahib acknowledged Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India and declared himself
his Governor.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Nana Sahib was greatly helped by Tantia Tope and Azimullah Khan:
 Tantia Tope, the general of Nana Saheb, fought on behalf of Nana Sahib from Bithur (a town in the
Kanpur district) and carried the chief burden of fighting.
 Azimullah Khan was a loyal servant of the Nana Sahib. He was chief advisor to the Nana Sahib,
whose role in the revolt was political rather than military.

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Lucknow

• At Lucknow (the capital of Awadh), the revolt was led by the Begum Hazrat Mahal (the Begum of
Avadh), who had proclaimed her young son, Birjis Qadir, as the Nawab of Avadh.
• With the help of the sepoys in Lucknow and the zamindars and peasants of Avadh, the Begum organ-
ised an all-out attack on the British.

Jhansi

• In Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai joined the rebel sepoys and fought the British along with Tantia Tope, the
general of Nana Saheb.
• Rani Lakshmibai captured Gwalior with the help of Tantia Tope and her Afghan guards. Maharaja
Sindhia, loyal to the British, tried to fight against the Rani, but many of his troops sided with her. Sindhia
then sought refuge with the English in Agra.

Madhya Pradesh

• In the Mandla region of Madhya Pradesh, Rani Avantibai Lodhi of Ramgarh raised and led an army
of four thousand against the British who had taken over the administration of her state.

Maharani Avantibai Lodhi

• Maharani Avantibai Lodhi was the queen of the Ramgarh (present-day Dindori) in Madhya Pradesh.
When the king fell ill, and her sons were still minors, she efficiently administered state affairs. Then,
the British appointed the administrator of the state administration.
• Amidst this, the king died, and the whole responsibility fell on the queen. Maharani Avantibai ordered
the state's farmers not to obey the British instructions.

Bareilly

• At Bareilly, the revolt was led by Khan Bahadur, the grandson of Hafiz Rahmat Khan, who was the
Nawab of Rohilkhand.
• Khan Bahadur formed his government in Bareilly, organised an army and fought against the British.

Bihar

• In Bihar, the revolt was led by Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of Jagdishpur near
Arrah (Bihar). Though nearly 80 years old, he was perhaps the most outstanding military leader and
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strategist of the revolt.

• Kunwar Singh fought the British in Bihar and later joined Nana Sahib's forces. He also campaigned in
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Avadh and Central India.

Local Leaders of the Revolt

Ahmadullah Shah

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• Ahmadullah Shah, a maulvi from Faizabad, moved from village to village preaching jehad (religious
war) against the British and urging people to rebel. He moved in a palanquin, with drumbeaters in
front and followers at the rear. Hence, he was popularly called Danka Shah - the maulvi with the drum
(danka).
• Ahmadullah fought in the Battle of Chinhat, where the British forces under Henry Lawrence were
defeated.

Battle of Chinhat
• The Battle of Chinhat was fought on 30 June 1857 between British forces and Indian rebels near
Chinhat (near Awad). The British forces led by the Chief Commissioner of Awadh, Sir Henry Lawrence,
were defeated by Indian rebels led by Barkat Ahmad.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following statements about Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, who
played an important part in the Revolt of 1857, is/are correct?
1. He was popularly known as Danka Shah or the Maulvi with a drum.
2. He fought the famous Battle of Chinhat.
3. He was killed by British troops under the command of Henry Lawrence.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 3
c) 2 and 3
d) 1 and 2
Answer: Option D

Shah Mal

• Shah Mal was an ordinary peasant from Baraut Pargana (earlier in Meerut) of Uttar Pradesh. He mo-
bilised the cultivators of the Chaurassee des (84 villages) against the British.
• The revolt against the British turned into a general rebellion against all signs of oppression and injus-
tice. Cultivators plundered the houses of moneylenders and traders, and displaced proprietors took
possession of the lands they had lost.
• Shah Mal's men destroyed the bridge of boats over the Yamuna in Baghpat and disrupted the English
322

lines of communication to Meerut. They sent supplies to the sepoys who had mutinied in Delhi.
• Shah Mal took over and transformed the bungalow of an English officer into a “hall of justice” where
MIH-I – Pre-1857

he settled local disputes and delivered justice. He also set up an effective network of intelligence. For
a period, the people of the area felt that the British raj was over and their raj had come.

Repression

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• The Company got scared by the big rebellion and decided to crush it hard. It brought reinforcements
from England and passed new laws to help them quell the insurgency.

Recapture of Delhi
• Like the rebels, the British recognised Delhi's symbolic value and began suppressing the revolt by
reconquering it. After the prolonged and bitter fighting, the British recaptured Delhi from the rebel
forces on 20 September 1857.
• The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was taken prisoner. The Royal Princes were captured
and butchered on the spot.
• The Emperor was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He and his wife, Begum Zinat
Mahal, were sent to prison in Rangoon in October 1858. Bahadur Shah Zafar died in the Rangoon
jail in November 1862. Thus, the great House of the Mughals was finally and completely extinguished.
• However, the recapture of Delhi did not end the rebellion. The people continued to resist and fight
against the British. Over the next two years, the British defeated each of the major leaders of the revolt
one after another, ultimately ending the rebellion.

Rani Avantibai
• On March 20, 1858, Rani Avantibai chose to embrace death when surrounded by the British on all
sides.

Kunwar Singh
• Kunwar Singh defeated the British forces near Arrah. But had sustained a fatal wound in the fighting.
He died on 27 April 1858 in his ancestral house in the village of Jagdishpur.

Rani Lakshmibai
• Rani Lakshmibai died on the field of battle on 17 June 1858.

Tantia Tope
• Tantia Tope escaped to the jungles of central India and continued to fight a guerrilla war with the
support of many tribal and peasant leaders. He was betrayed by a Zamindar friend and captured while
asleep. He was tried and hanged on 15 April 1859.
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[UPSC 2006] With reference to the Revolt of the year 1857, who among the following was
betrayed by a friend, captured and put to death by the British?
MIH-I – Pre-1857

a) Nana Sahib
b) Kunwar Singh
c) Khan Bahadur Khan
d) Tantia Tope

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Answer: D

Begum Hazrat Mahal

• After the British recaptured Lucknow in March 1858, Begum Hazrat Mahal was compelled to hide in
Nepal.

Nana Sahib
• Nana Sahib was defeated at Kanpur. He escaped to Nepal in early 1859.

Rewards for Landlords

• During the revolt, the British employed various methods to quell the uprising. In addition to using
military force on a massive scale, the British also attempted to weaken the unity of the resistance.
• In large parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh, where big landholders and peasants had offered united
resistance, the British tried to break up the unity by promising to give back to the big landholders
their estates.
• The British announced that loyal landholders would be allowed to continue to enjoy traditional
rights over their lands if they submitted to the British. This was done to divide the united resistance and
make it easier for the British to suppress the revolt. After this, many taluqdars of Awadh abandoned the
revolt and joined the British.

Important British Army Officers

• John Lawrence, Sir James Outram, John Nicholson, Sir Henry Havelock, Neil, Sir Colin Campbell, and
Sir Hugh Rose were the important British commanders who fought against the Indian rebels.

Kanpur

• Sir Hugh Wheeler surrendered to Nana Saheb at Kanpur on 27 June 1857.

• Colin Campbell defeated Tantia Tope at Kanpur in December 1857.

Lucknow

• Henry Lawrence was killed in a bomb blast during the siege of Lucknow.
• Colin Campbell recaptured Lucknow in March 1858.
 After the annexation of Awadh, Henry Lawrence was appointed as Chief Commissioner of Awadh.
324

Jhansi
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Rani Lakshmibai defended Jhansi against British troops when Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23
March 1858.
• Tatya Tope, who was sent to relieve Jhansi, was defeated by Hugh Rose.
• Later, Rani Lakshmibai fled to Gwalior, where she, along with Tatiya Tope and Rao Sahib, joined the
Indian forces and captured Gwalior.

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Centre Leaders of the Re- Reasons for Participation British Officers

bels in the Revolt
Delhi Bahadur Shah The company reduced the
authority of the Mughal
emperor
Kanpur Nana Sahib The company refused to • Sir Hugh Wheeler surrendered to
grant a pension to Nana Nana Saheb at Kanpur on 27 June
Sahib 1857.
• Colin Campbell defeated Tantia
Tope at Kanpur in December 1857.

Lucknow Begum Hazrat Mahal Annexation of Awadh • Henry Lawrence was killed in a
bomb blast during the siege of
Lucknow.
• Colin Campbell recaptured Luck-
now in March 1858.

Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai The company refused to • Rani Lakshmibai defended Jhansi
accept her adopted son as against British troops when Sir
the heir to the kingdom Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23
March 1858.
• Tatya Tope, who was sent to relieve
Jhansi, was defeated by Hugh
Rose.
Madhya Rani Avantibai Lodhi The company took over the
Pradesh administration of the state
Bihar Kunwar Singh Ruined by the British policy
Bareilly Khan Bahadur

[UPSC 2005] Which one of the following territories was not affected by the Revolt of 1857?
325

a) Jhansi
MIH-I – Pre-1857

b) Chittor
c) Jagdishpur
d) Lucknow
Answer: B

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[Prelims Practice] Which one of the following towns was not a centre of the Revolt of 1857?
a) Ayodhya
b) Agra
c) Delhi
d) Kanpur
Answer: B

14.3. Reasons for the Failure of the Revolt

Disunity Among Indians

• The Revolt of 1857 could not encompass the entire country or all the groups and classes of Indian
society. Most rulers of the Indian states, big zamindars, big merchants, moneylenders, educated In-
dians (intelligentsia), and the upper and middle classes did not support the revolt. Almost half of
Indian soldiers fought from the British side against their countrymen.

Rulers of Regional States

• Most rulers of the Indian states, fearful of British might, refused to join the revolt. Less than one per
cent of the chiefs of India joined the Revolt.
• The Sindhia of Gwalior, the Holkar of Indore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawab of Bhopal, the
rulers of Kashmir, the Ranas of Nepal, and many other ruling chiefs, and a large number of big zamindars
gave active help to the British in suppressing the Revolt.
• Had the rulers of Indian states supported the revolt, the sepoys could have fought much better. Gover-
nor-General Canning later remarked that these rulers and chiefs acted as the breakwaters to the storm
which would have otherwise swept us in one great wave.

Taluqdars
• Even the taluqdars (big zamindars) of Avadh, who had joined the Revolt, abandoned it once the Gov-
ernment assured them that their estates would be returned to them. This made it very difficult for the
peasants and soldiers of Avadh to sustain a prolonged guerrilla campaign.

Moneylenders and Big Merchants

326

• The moneylenders were the chief targets of the villagers' attack. Therefore, they were naturally hostile
to the Revolt.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The big merchants of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras supported the British because their main profits
came from foreign trade and economic connections with the British merchants.

Educated Indians

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• The educated Indians also did not support the Revolt. They were repelled by the rebels' appeals to
superstitions and their opposition to progressive social measures.
• The educated Indians wanted to end their country's backwardness. They mistakenly believed that Brit-
ish rule would help them accomplish these modernisation tasks while the rebels would take the country
backwards.
• However, educated Indians were not anti-national or loyal to a foreign regime. They soon realised that
foreign rule was incapable of modernising the country and led a powerful national movement against
British rule.

Inevitability of Disunity
• Modern nationalism was not yet present in the mid-19th century, so the lack of unity among Indians
was perhaps unavoidable. At that time, patriotism was limited to love for one’s small locality, region, or
state. The concept of common all-India interests and the understanding that these interests bound all
Indians together had not yet emerged.

Weak Leadership of Emperor Bahadur Shah

• The following weaknesses of the Bahadur Shah created political weakness at the nerve centre of the
Revolt:
 Uncertainty about Sepoys and Self: Bahadur Shah was unsure about the intentions of the sepoys
and his own effectiveness as a leader in the revolt.
 Vacillation between Reign and Survival: Bahadur Shah vacillated between his desire to maintain
his reign as Emperor and the instinct to ensure his own survival in case of British suppression.
 Undermined by Queen Zeenat Mahal and Sons: The Emperor's authority was weakened by Queen
Zeenat Mahal and his sons, who engaged in intrigues with the enemy, further destabilising his
leadership.
 Weak Personality, old Age and lack of leadership qualities.

[Mains Practice – Unlocking Creativity] What measures would you have taken if you were
the Emperor of India during the revolt of 1857?

Poor Organisation and Planning

327

• Indian leaders were also poorly organised. The rebel units did not have a common plan of action, or
authoritative heads, or centralised leadership. The uprisings in different parts of the country were com-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

pletely uncoordinated.

The absence of a forward-looking programme

• The entire movement lacked a unified and forward-looking programme to be implemented after the
capture of power. The leaders were joined together by a common hatred for the alien rule but by nothing

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else. Once they overthrew British power from an area, they did not know what sort of power to create
in its place.
• This absence of a modern and progressive programme enabled the reactionary princes and zamin-
dars to seize the levers of power of the revolutionary movement. Given that these feudal leaders had
previously failed to safeguard their independence, it was hardly to be expected that they would now
succeed in founding a new all-India State.

Weak Leadership
• Except for a few like the Rani of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh, and Maulvi Ahmadullah, most rebel leaders
didn't understand how important the Revolt was and didn't do much to support it.

Weak Military
• The Indian leaders lacked modern weapons and other materials of war. Most of them fought with
ancient weapons such as pikes and swords.

14.4. The Nature of the Revolt

1857 Revolt: Through the Lens of British Records

• Apart from a few proclamations and ishtahars (notifications), the rebels left no record that sheds light
on their perspective. Thus, attempts to reconstruct what happened in 1857 are heavily and inevitably
dependent on the British records.

Reasons for the lack of records/ accounts by the rebels

 As victors, the British recorded their own trials and tribulations as well as their heroism. The British
dismissed the rebels as a bunch of ungrateful and barbaric people.
 Most of the rebels were sepoys and ordinary people who were not literate and, hence, could not
record their version of events.
 As rebels worked illegally, they perhaps kept no records.
 Rebels were defeated and suppressed, and their version of events died with them.
 For years after the Revolt, the British suppressed any favourable mention of the revolt and took
strong action against anyone who tried to present their side of the story.
328

Spontaneous or Planned
• It's unclear if the 1857 Revolt was spontaneous or planned, as the rebels left no records to provide
MIH-I – Pre-1857

their perspective. Consequently, our understanding of the revolt heavily depends on British accounts,
which primarily reflect the viewpoints of British officials.

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• Some historians and writers argue that the Revolt stemmed from a widespread and meticulously
planned conspiracy. They cite evidence such as the distribution of chapattis and red lotuses, along
with propaganda spread by wandering sanyasis, fakirs, and madaris.
• On the other hand, another group of writers vehemently refutes the notion of any deliberate planning
behind the Revolt. They highlight the absence of documents before or after the Revolt suggesting an
organised conspiracy and note the lack of witnesses supporting such claims.
• The truth may lie somewhere between these two extreme views. It seems likely that there was an or-
ganised conspiracy to revolt, but the organisation had not progressed sufficiently when the Revolt
broke out accidentally.

Distribution of Chapattis

• There were reports from various parts of North India about the distribution of chapattis from one
village to another. A person would visit a village at night, give a chapatti to the village watchman, ask
him to make five more and distribute them to the next village, and so on.
• The meaning and purpose of this distribution were unclear then, and they still remain a mystery.
However, people interpreted it as a sign of upcoming unrest.

Hindu-Muslim Unity
• Throughout the revolt, Hindus and Muslims displayed remarkable unity. The following events show
the Hindu-Muslim unity during the revolt:
 After the mutiny at Meerut, the sepoys marched to Delhi and appealed to Bahadur Shah to assume
leadership of the revolt.
 All the rebels recognised Bahadur Shah, a Muslim, as their Emperor.
 Hindus and Muslims were equally well represented at all levels of the leadership.
 The Hindu and Muslim rebels and sepoys respected each other's sentiments. For example, wherever
the Revolt was successful, orders were immediately issued banning cow slaughter out of respect for
Hindu sentiments.
 The rebel proclamations in 1857 repeatedly appealed to all sections of the population, irrespective of
their caste and creed. The proclamation issued under the name of Bahadur Shah appealed to the people
to join the fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir.
329

• The events of 1857 clearly showed that the people and politics of India were not communal in medi-
eval times and before 1858.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The role of Hindu-Muslim unity in the Revolt was indirectly acknowledged later by Aitchison, a senior
British official when he bitterly complained: "In this instance, we could not play off the Mohammedans
against the Hindus".

The Azamgarh Proclamation (25 August 1857)

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• The proclamation, issued under the name of Bahadur Shah, appealed to all the people to join the
fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir. The proclamation stressed that both
Hindus and Muslims suffered under British rule and urged them to unite to fight against the British.
• It was authored mostly by Firoz Shah, the grandson of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II.
• The proclamation emphasised the inevitability of British defeat in India, urging all to abandon hope
in British rule and align with the Badshahi, or imperial government, to secure their interests.
• The proclamation also outlined the grievances of and promises for different groups:
1. Zamindars (Landowners): It denounces the exorbitant Jumas (revenue demands) imposed by the
British and the humiliation and impoverishment of zamindars through legal exploitation. It prom-
ised lighter taxes and restoration of dignity under the Badshahi Government.
2. Merchants: The proclamation condemned British monopolisation of trade and taxation and prom-
ised to liberate trade for native merchants and protect them from exploitation.
3. Public Servants: It criticised the lack of respect, low pay, and minimal influence of natives in British
civil and military services. It also highlighted that all the posts of dignity and high pay were re-
served for the British. It advocated for allegiance to the Badshahi Government and promised bet-
ter pay and higher posts.
4. Artisans: It highlighted the displacement of native artisans by European goods and pledges em-
ployment opportunities and prosperity for artisans under the Badshahi Government.
5. Pundits, Fakirs, and Learned Persons: It called upon religious scholars to join the holy war against
the English, positioning them as guardians of Hindu and Muslim religions against European ag-
gression.

[UPSC 2000] 'In this instance, we could not play of the Mohammedans against the Hindus'.
To which of the following events did this remark of Aitchison relate?
a) Revolt of 1857
b) Champaran Satyagraha (1917)
c) Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement
d) August Movement of 1942
Answer: A

[Prelims Practice] The Azamgarh Proclamation of August 25, 1857, stressed which one of
330

the following issues?

a) Hindu-Muslim divide
MIH-I – Pre-1857

b) Support to the English Government

c) The return of the Badshahi
d) The imposition of heavy Jumas (revenue demand)
Answer: A

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[Prelims Practice] Which one of the following statements about the Revolt of 1857 is cor-
rect?
a) It was a Revolt carefully organised and planned by the Rajas, Nawabs and Taluqdars
b) Rumours and prophecies did not play any role in its outbreak and spread.
c) The rebel proclamations in 1857 repeatedly appealed to all sections of the population irrespective
of their caste and creed.
d) The British succeeded in quickly and easily controlling the rebels.
Answer: C

Against the Symbols of Oppression

• The rebels completely rejected everything associated with British rule. They attacked every aspect
of British rule.
• In many places, the rebellion against the British widened into an attack on all those who were seen as
allies of the British or local oppressors. Often, the rebels deliberately sought to humiliate the elites of
a city. In the villages, they burned account books and ransacked moneylenders' houses.
• This reflected an attempt to overturn traditional hierarchies and rebel against all oppressors. It
presents a glimpse of an alternative vision, perhaps of a more egalitarian society.
• However, such visions were not articulated in the proclamations, which sought to unify all social
groups in the fight against firangi raj.

The search for Alternative Power

• Once British rule had collapsed, the rebels in places like Delhi, Lucknow, and Kanpur tried to establish
some kind of authority and administration structure. This was short-lived, but the attempts show that
the rebel leadership wanted to restore the pre-British world of the 18th century.
• The leaders went back to the culture of the court. Appointments were made to various posts, arrange-
ments were made for the collection of land revenue and the payment of troops, and orders were issued
to stop loot and plunder.
• In all this, the rebels returned to the 18th century Mughal world.

National Struggle or Feudal Reaction?

331

• With the emergence of nationalist uprisings against the colonial government, the 1857 revolt came
to be seen as part of that struggle. The focus shifted from the greased cartridges to the British oppres-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

sions.
• In his book "The Indian War of Independence," V.D. Savarkar referred to the 1857 revolt as a "war of
independence." However, several other works have argued against this interpretation.
 Some pointed out that the absence of a general plan of rebellion contradicts such a claim.

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 Others argued that the leaders were not motivated by national sentiment and would have hin-
dered progress.
 Finally, some suggested that 1857 was not the start of a freedom movement but rather the final
struggles of an outdated aristocracy.
 Jawaharlal Nehru believed that the Revolt of 1857 was more than just a mutiny by Indian soldiers.
Although it started as a rebellion by Indian soldiers, it quickly spread and became a mass move-
ment. Nehru argued that the Revolt of 1857 was primarily a feudal uprising with some nationalistic
elements.

Elitist Movement or Popular Resistance?

• Some historians argue that during the revolt, the taluqdars were the main decision-makers, shaping
its course. They say in places like Aligarh, where powerful landowners held sway, the revolt was re-
strained. But in areas like the Doab below Kanpur, where absentee landowners couldn't control things,
the revolt was more intense.
• However, others believe this view gives too much credit to the taluqdars and overlooks the role of
ordinary people. They point out that leadership came from various sources, not just landowners. People
like Shah Mal and Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah were also respected leaders. And even after some ta-
luqdars made peace with the British, many peasants continued to fight.
• In Awadh, both rich taluqdars and peasants joined forces in the revolt, united by common griev-
ances. This widespread participation shows that it was a popular uprising. In some areas, as much as
three-quarters of the adult male population participated. The depth of the resistance is clear from the
large number of weapons seized from ordinary homes.

14.5. Significance of the Revolt

• Though the British won the war, the Revolt was not in vain. It is a glorious landmark in our history. It
was the first great struggle of the Indian people for freedom from British imperialism.
• The Revolt played an important role in bringing the Indian people together and imparting to them
the consciousness of belonging to one country. It paved the way for the rise of the modern national
movement.
The heroic and patriotic struggle of 1857 left an unforgettable impression on the minds of the Indian
332
•
people. It served as a perennial source of inspiration in their later struggle for freedom.
• The revolt exposed the defects of the East India Company's administrative machinery and policies.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

It forced the British to reorganise their administration in India and change their policies regarding Indian
society, government, and economy.

14.6. Aftermath of the Revolt

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• The important changes the British introduced after the Revolt of 1857 are given below.

Transfer of the Power

• The British Parliament passed a new Act in 1858. It transferred the powers of the East India Company
to the British Crown in order to ensure a more responsible management of Indian affairs.
• A member of the British Cabinet was appointed Secretary of State for India and made responsible for
all matters related to the governance of India. He was given a council to advise him, called the India
Council.
• The Governor-General of India was given the title of Viceroy, that is, a personal representative of the
Crown.
• Through these measures, the British government accepted direct responsibility for ruling India.

Policy Against Annexation

• All ruling chiefs of the country were assured that their territory would never be annexed in future.
They were allowed to pass on their kingdoms to their heirs, including adopted sons.
• However, they were made to acknowledge the British Queen as their Sovereign Paramount. Thus, the
Indian rulers were to hold their kingdoms as subordinates of the British Crown.

Changes in Army
• The proportion of Indian soldiers in the army was reduced, and the number of European soldiers
was increased. Instead of recruiting soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, central India and south India, more were
recruited from among the Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pathans.

Hostility towards Muslims

• The land and property of Muslims were confiscated on a large scale, and they were treated with sus-
picion and hostility. The British believed that they were responsible for the rebellion in a big way.

Indian Society
• The British decided to respect the customary religious and social practices of the people in India.
Landlords
• Policies were made to protect landlords and zamindars and give them security of rights over their lands.
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14.7. Summary

The Revolt of 1857 began with a mutiny of the sepoys but soon engulfed wide regions and people.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
Millions of peasants, artisans, and soldiers fought heroically for over a year, threatening the Compa-
ny's presence in India.

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• Though it started with the sepoys’ mutiny, the Revolt of 1857 was much more than a mere product
of sepoy discontent. It was, in fact, a product of the accumulated grievances of the people against the
Company's administration.

Major Causes of the Revolt

Adverse effect of the British rule

• Over a hundred years of British rule affected the interests of almost all sections of society, such as
peasants, artisans, sepoys, local rulers, nawabs, taluqdars, traditional zamindars, religious leaders, and
tribals. The discontent of these people finally erupted into a massive popular revolt.

Religious interference

• There was a general belief that the British were interfering in their religions and were determined to
convert Indians to Christianity. The activities of the Christian missionaries aggravated this perception.

Reforms

• The British believed that Indian society had to be reformed. Laws were passed to stop the practice of
sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows.
• Many Indians believed that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their
traditional way of life.

Foreign Nature of the British Rule

• The British remained perpetual foreigners in the country. The people of India were aware of the Brit-
ish's foreign character. They refused to recognise the British as their benefactors and looked with
suspicion upon every act of theirs.

Annexation of Awadh

• The Annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie created disaffection in all the areas, particularly in Awadh.
In Awadh, a chain of grievances connected the prince, taluqdars, peasants, and sepoys. Each of them
saw the British rule (firangi raj) as the downfall of their world, causing the loss of things they cherished
and respected.

Immediate Cause
334

• The rumours about the greased cartridges and mixing of bone dust in atta fuelled the suspicion that
the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. Many sepoys believed that the Government was
MIH-I – Pre-1857

deliberately trying to destroy their religion, and the time had come to rebel.

The Beginning of the Revolt

• On 10 May 1857, the sepoys in the cantonment of Meerut mutinied. The sepoys captured the guns
and ammunition, killed their European officers and burned the buildings and properties of the British.

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• The sepoys of Meerut rode all night of 10 May to reach Delhi. The rebellious soldiers proclaimed the
Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of India (Shahenshah-e-Hindustan). This proclamation gave the
rebellion a sense of legitimacy.

Spread of the Mutiny

• The rebel forces greatly outnumbered the British and defeated them in several battles. This convinced
the people that British rule had collapsed for good and gave them the confidence to take the plunge
and join the rebellion.
• Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, and Arrah (Bihar) became the storm centres of the revolt,
where mutinied regiments joined other troops. However, the rebels' first instinct was always to go to
Delhi, whether in Meerut, Kanpur, or Jhansi.

Repression
• The Company got scared by the big rebellion and decided to crush it hard. It brought reinforcements
from England and passed new laws to help them quell the insurgency.
• During the revolt, the British employed various methods to quell the uprising. In addition to using
military force on a massive scale, the British also attempted to weaken the unity of the resistance. The
British announced that loyal landholders would be allowed to continue to enjoy traditional rights over
their lands if they submitted to the British.

Reasons for the Failure of the Revolt

 Disunity Among Indians
 Weak Leadership of Emperor Bahadur Shah
 Poor Organisation and Planning
 The absence of a forward-looking programme

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

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15. Socio-Religious Reform Movements – I

• During the 19th century, India witnessed the emergence of many intellectual currents for national
regeneration in all its aspects: religious, social, cultural, economic, and political. Although these ef-
forts were intended to bring about overall progress, the primary emphasis was on the social and reli-
gious domains.

Primacy to social and religious reforms

• The liberals of the 19th century believed that social and religious reformation was an essential condi-
tion for the all-round development of the country. Thus, they focused primarily on religious reform
with the hope that it would eventually lead to political and economic freedom.

Causes of Socio-Religious Reforms

Western education
• The English-educated Indians were exposed to modern Western ideas and culture. Western educa-
tion also introduced Indians to the works of great Western thinkers.
• The English-educated Indians used the newly acquired Western knowledge and started to analyse
their socio-religious conditions. They realised that their original religions had been corrupted by mean-
ingless traditions, customs, practices, and superstitions. As a result, they refused to accept the pre-
vailing societal conditions and began to work towards reforming their society.

Impact of modern Western culture

• Western conquest exposed the weakness and decay of Indian society. While many Indians still put
their faith in their traditional beliefs and institutions, some began to look for the defects of their society
and for ways and means of removing them.
 Since the Western impact was first felt in Bengal, the western educated Bengalis were the first to
raise the banner of reform.

Christian Missionary Activities

• Christian missionaries such as Alexander Duff, William Carey, and Wilson spread their religion
336

through educational institutions. They portrayed Hinduism as a collection of superstitious and cruel
practices while presenting Christianity as the superior faith.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The actions of these missionaries sparked a new wave of intellectual curiosity among the newly edu-
cated Indians. They began to recognise the shortcomings of their society and initiated reforms to
address them.

Evolution of the Reform Movement in 19th Century India

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• During the first decades of the 19th century, the reform movement was a very small affair of a limited
number of individuals whose passion for fighting social obscurantism could not pose a major challenge
to the advocates of orthodoxy.
• During the second half of the 19th century, The growth of nationalist sentiments, the emergence of
new economic forces, the spread of education, the impact of modern Western ideas and culture, and
increased awareness of the world not only heightened the consciousness of Indian society's back-
wardness and degeneration but further strengthened the resolve to reform. Thus, after 1858, the earlier
reforming tendency was broadened.

Methods of Reform
• Reforms in socio-religious practices were pursued through four major methods:
1. Reform from Within: This approach focused on generating awareness within society itself.
 Reformers tried to raise people's awareness by publishing tracts and organising debates and dis-
cussions on various social problems.
 Rammohun's campaign against sati, Vidyasagar's pamphlets on widow marriage and B.M. Mala-
bari's efforts to increase the age of consent are examples of this.
2. Reform through Legislation: Advocates of this method, Keshub Chandra Sen in Bengal, Mahadev
Govind Ranade in Maharashtra and Viresalingam in Andhra, believed in the power of legislative
intervention.
 They believed that reform efforts could not be effective unless supported by the state. Therefore,
they appealed to the government to give legislative sanction for reforms like widow marriage,
civil marriage and an increase in the age of consent.
 However, they failed to realise that the role of the legislation as an instrument of change in a
colonial society was limited because of the lack of sanction of the people.
3. Reform through Symbol of Change: Represented by radicals such as the 'Young Bengal' group, this
approach rejected tradition and challenged social norms. This trend attempted to create symbols of
change through non-conformist individual activity.
 However, this approach was limited to the Derozians' or 'Young Bengal', who represented a radical
stream within the reform movement. Prominent members of this group, including Dakshinaranjan
Mukherjee, Ram Gopal Ghose, and Krishna Mohan Banerji, stood for a rejection of tradition and a
337

revolt against accepted social norms.

4. Reform through Social Work: Reform through social work was evident in the activities of Ishwar Chan-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

dra Vidyasagar, Arya Samaj, and Ramakrishna Mission. They engaged in practical social work along-
side intellectual effort.

Scope of Reforms

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• The reform movements of the 19th century were not purely religious movements. They were socio-
religious movements.
• The leaders of these movements recognised the link between religious and social issues and sought
to use religious ideas to bring about changes in social institutions and practices.
• The major social problems which came within the purview of the reform movements were:
 Emancipation of women in which sati, infanticide, child and widow marriage were taken up
 Removal of Casteism and untouchability
 Spread of education for bringing about enlightenment in society
• In the religious sphere, the main issues against which the reform movements were directed were as
follows:
 Idolatry
 Polytheism
 Religious superstitions
 Exploitation by priests

15.1. Reforms in Eastern India (Bengal)

• In Eastern India, Rammohun Roy initiated efforts to eradicate social evils. His work continued in the
19th century with the efforts of Derozio, Debendranath Tagore, Vidyasagar, Keshab Chandra Sen, and
others.

Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833)

• Rammohun Roy was born on May 22, 1772, in an orthodox Brahmin family at Radhanagar in
the Hooghly District of Bengal.
• Raja Rammohun Roy is regarded as the first great leader of modern India. He was moved by a deep
love for his people and country and worked hard all his life for their social, religious, intellectual, and
political regeneration.
• Roy fought against social injustice and inequality all his life, even at great personal loss and hardship.
By reforming Hindu religion from within, Roy laid the foundations for reforming Indian society. He
hardly left any aspect of nation-building untouched.
• Rammohun Roy criticised:
338

 Idolatry (worship of idols), polytheism (worship of more than one god), meaningless rituals and
superstitions and exploitation by corrupt priests
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 The subjugation of women (Inferior treatment to women), polygamy (marriage to more than one
spouse at a time), the practice of sati, child marriage
 Blind reliance on the past (without reason)
 Rigidity of caste

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• Rammohun Roy argued for:

 Monotheism (worship of one god)
 Abolition of sati, widow remarriage, right of inheritance and property to women
 Rational and scientific approach
 Modern education for both men and women
 Unity among Indians

Linguist
• Rammohun Roy was a linguist who knew more than a dozen languages, including Sanskrit, Persian,
Arabic, English, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He had studied:
 Sanskrit literature and Hindu philosophy at Varanasi
 The Quran and Persian and Arabic literature at Patna.
 To study the Bible in the original, he learnt Greek and Hebrew.

Reinterpreting Hinduism
• Rammohun Roy carried on a persistent struggle against the religious and social evils which were
widely prevalent among the Hindus in Bengal.
• Roy vigorously opposed the worship of idols, the rigidity of caste, and the prevalence of meaningless
religious rituals. He condemned the priestly class for encouraging and inculcating these practices.
• Roy firmly believed in the Advaita philosophy (one of the schools of Vedanta), which rejected caste,
idolatry and superstitious rites and rituals.
• Roy believed in monotheism. He argued that the main ancient Hindu texts advocated monotheism (the
worship of a single god). To prove his point, he published the Bengali translation of the Vedas and
five of the principal Upanishads.
• Roy wanted to present the concept of universal religion by combining the best features of all leading
religions of the world. The Quranic concept of Tauhid or Unity of God fascinated Roy. He admired the
Bible as much as the Vedanta and the Quran.
 According to orthodox Hindus, travelling across the ocean was considered a sin. However, Roy
broke this superstition by undertaking overseas travel.

Vision for Unity and Political Upliftment

339

• According to Roy, religious backwardness and social decadence were responsible for the subjugation
of a country. He believed that social and religious reforms were essential for the political liberation.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

According to Roy, one of the aims of religious reform was political upliftment.
• Roy was the first person to awaken the consciousness of his fellow countrymen. He represented the
first glimmerings of the rise of national consciousness in India. His every effort of social and religious
reform was aimed at nation-building.

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• Roy thought that he could unite the divided Indian society by:
 Removing corrupt elements from Indian religions and society
 Teaching the Vedantic message of worshipping one God
• Roy was against the rigidity of the caste system, which he believed prevented unity among Indians.
He thought the caste system was harmful in two ways:
 It created inequality
 It divided people and deprived them of patriotic feelings.

Focus on Reasoning
• Roy opposed the blind reliance on the past. He ultimately relied on the power of human reason. He
wanted his countrymen to accept the rational and scientific approach.
• Roy declared that one should not hesitate to depart from holy books, scriptures, and inherited tra-
ditions if human reason demands it.
• He believed that the philosophy of Vedanta was based on this principle of reason.

Rational Approach to All Religions

• Roy applied rationalism not only to Indian religions and traditions but also to Christianity, which dis-
appointed his many missionary friends.

The Blend of East and West

• Rammohun Roy represented a synthesis of the thoughts of the East and West. He greatly respected
the traditional philosophic systems of the East, but he also believed that modern culture alone would
help regenerate Indian society.
• Roy proposed that a new India, guided by reason, should acquire and treasure all that is best in the
East and the West. He wanted India to learn from the West but without imposing Western culture.
This learning was to be an intellectual through which Indian culture and thoughts were to be renovated.
Therefore, Roy stood for the reform of Hinduism and opposed its supersession by Christianity.

Women's Rights
• Roy was a champion of women's rights in India. He laid the foundations of the women's liberation
movement in this country.
340

• Roy condemned polygamy, the practice of Sati, and child marriage. He opposed the subjugation of
women and their inferior status in society. He related their problems to the root cause of the absence
MIH-I – Pre-1857

of property rights.
• Roy demanded widow remarriage, the right of inheritance and property to women, women's edu-
cation and the Abolition of sati.

Organisations

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Atmiya Sabha

• In 1815, Rammohun established the 'Atmiya Sabha' (Society of Friends), a private association of like-
minded individuals at Calcutta. Its members met regularly at his residence to discuss religious and
social problems of the day.

Brahmo Samaj

• In 1828, Roy established a new society, the Brahma Sabha, later known as the Brahma Samaj. Its pri-
mary purpose was to rid Hinduism of its evils and to preach monotheism.

Abolition of Sati
• In 1818, Rammohun Roy started a campaign against the practice of sati (the burning of a widow on
her husband's funeral pyre). He showed that ancient scriptures did not sanction this practice. He
urged the people to apply rationality, humanity, and compassion.
• Roy fought against the practice of sati on three fronts:
1. Public opinion: Roy used writings, speeches, agitation, and discussions to prepare people's minds
to abolish the practice of sati. He explained that this practice had no support in any religious texts,
and therefore, governmental action in this matter could not be considered an interference in
religious affairs.
2. Roy tried to convince the officials that it was their responsibility as civilised rulers to end the cruel
custom.
3. The inquiry into the causes that led a Hindu widow to commit Sati and to make arrangements to
eliminate those causes.
 Roy found that ignorance of the women about their legitimate rights, their illiteracy, and
customary denial of the property rights to the widow were some of the causes behind this
practice.
 Roy pleaded strongly for the restoration of women's property rights as well as for the provision
of facilities for women's education.
• Roy’s agitation bore fruit in 1829 when Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, passed
a law against the practice of Sati.

Dharma Sabha
341

• Dharma Sabha was an association of orthodox Hindus led by Raja Radhakanta Deb. It was formed
in Calcutta in January 1830, opposing the government regulation to abolish the practice of sati.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• It was established mainly to counter social reform movements led by Raja Rammohun Roy and
Henry Derozio.
• It published the Bengali newspaper Samachar Chandrika whose editor Bhawani Charan Banerji
was the Secretary of the Dharma Sabha.

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• The Dharma Sabha filed an appeal in the Privy Council against Lord William Bentinck's ban on Sati,
which, according to them, went against George III's assurance of non-interference in Hindu reli-
gious affairs; however, their appeal was rejected, and the ban on Sati was upheld in 1832.
• The Dharma Sabha campaigned against the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 and submitted
a petition against the proposal. However, Lord Dalhousie personally finalised the bill despite the
opposition, and Lord Canning passed it.

Modern education
• Roy mastered the English language and acquainted himself with political developments and ideas like
rationalism and liberation in England and Europe. His knowledge of English opened up a whole new
world for him, and as a result, he became a vocal advocate of English education.
• Roy helped the David hare in establishing a Hindu college in 1817.
• Roy started an English school in Calcutta in 1817, where, among other subjects, mechanics and Vol-
taire's philosophy were taught.
• In 1825, Roy established Vedanta College, which offered courses in Indian learning and Western
social and physical sciences.
• In education, Rammohun Roy greatly helped David Hare and Alexander Duff.

David Hare

• David Hare came to India in 1800 as a watchmaker but spent his entire life promoting modern edu-
cation. He founded the Hindu College in 1817.

Alexander Duff (1806-1878)

• Alexander Duff was the first overseas missionary of the Committee of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland to India. He played a significant role in introducing Western education in India
through the medium of English.
• Alexander Duff arrived in Calcutta in 1830 and immediately joined the ongoing debate on education
policy. He supported those civilians who wanted public instructions to be imparted in the English lan-
guage.
• Alexander Duff:
 Founded the General Assembly's Institution in Calcutta in 1830, now known as the Scottish
342

Church College.
 Played an important role in establishing the University of Calcutta
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 Was the president of the Bethune Society until 1863.

 In 1835, the government resolved to impart education in the English language and promote Euro-
pean science and literature. Duff played a crucial role in shifting the mood of the administration
from oriental to Western education.

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Public agitations
• Rammohun Roy was the initiator of public agitation on political questions in the country.
• Roy condemned the oppressive practices of the Bengal zamindars. He demanded that the maximum
rents paid by the actual cultivators of land should be permanently fixed so that cultivators would
enjoy the benefits of the Permanent Settlement of 1793.
• Roy demanded:
 The abolition of the Company's trading rights
 The removal of heavy export duties on Indian goods.
 Indianisation of superior services
 Separation of the executive and the judiciary
 Trial by jury, and judicial equality between Indians and Europeans.

Industrialisation
• Rammohun Roy wanted the introduction of modern capitalism and industry in the country.

Internationalism
• Rammohun Roy was a firm believer in internationalism and free cooperation between nations. He
took a keen interest in international events, and everywhere, he supported the cause of liberty, democ-
racy, and nationalism and opposed injustice, oppression, and tyranny in every form.
• Roy condemned the miserable condition of Ireland under the oppressive regime of absentee English
landlordism.

Bengali language
• Rammohun Roy compiled a Bengali grammar. Through his translations, pamphlets and journals, he
helped evolve a modern and elegant prose style for that language.

Books
• Tuhfat-ul Muwahhiddin: In 1803, Roy wrote "Tuhfat-ul Muwahhiddin", a short treatise written in
Persian with an Arabic title and preface. It was Roy's first work.
• Gift to Monotheists: In 1809, Rammohun Roy wrote a Persian work titled Gift to Monotheists, in
which Roy argued for worshipping a single God instead of many gods.
343

• Percept of Jesus: In 1820, Rammohun Roy published his book "Precepts of Jesus." In it, he aimed to
distinguish the moral and philosophical message of the New Testament, which he praised, from its
MIH-I – Pre-1857

miracle stories. He deeply appreciated Christ's high moral message and wanted it integrated into Hin-
duism. However, this earned him the criticism and hostility of the missionaries, who disagreed with
his views.

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• Rammohun Roy published the Bengali translation of the Vedas and of five of the principal Upani-
shads to prove that ancient texts of the Hindus preached monotheism or worship of one God.

Journals
• Rammohun Roy was a pioneer of Indian journalism. He published journals in Bengali, Persian, Hindi,
and English to educate the public and represent popular demands and grievances before the Govern-
ment.
• Sambad Kaumudi: Rammohun started Sambad Kaumudi, a Bangla newspaper, in 1821 to spread his
reformist and liberal views.
• Mirat-ul-Akhbar: As a significant portion of the Bengali population was not well-versed in Bengali
but had proficiency in Persian, Rammohun started Mirat-ul-Akhbar, a Persian newspaper, in 1822.

Protest Against Restrictions on Press Freedom

• Several articles published in Roy's Mirat-ul-Akhbar incurred the displeasure of the British rulers. In
1823, John Adams, the acting Governor General of India, issued an ordinance imposing various re-
strictions on newspapers. The ordinance allowed the government to cancel a newspaper’s licence
without explanation.
• After the Supreme Court rejected Rammohan Roy's protest against the ordinance, he sent a petition
to the government, but it, too, was rejected. Consequently, Rammohan ceased publishing Mirat-ul-
Akhbar.

Associates, Followers, and Successors of Rammohun Roy

• Rammohun Roy had many distinguished associates, followers and successors. Dwarkanath Tagore
was the foremost of his Indian associates.
• Rammohun’s prominent followers were:
1. Prasanna Kumar Tagore
2. Chandrashekhar Deb
3. Tarachand Chakravarti (the first secretary of the Brahma Sabha)
4. Dwarkanath Tagore

Dwarkanath Tagore
344

• Dwarkanath Tagore was the scion of the Tagore Family of Calcutta, father of Debendranath Tagore
and grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Dwarkanath Tagore was one of the first Bengali entrepreneurs. In partnership with British traders,
he pioneered the establishment of a string of commercial ventures, including banking, insurance, and
shipping companies. He also purchased the first Indian coal mine in Raniganj, which eventually be-
came the Bengal Coal Company.

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• Dwarkanath Tagore became the first Indian bank director in 1828 and founded the Union Bank of
Calcutta in 1829.

Diplomatic Mission to England

• In 1830, Rammohun Roy left for England to represent the grievances of the titular Mughal Emperor
Akbar II (1806-1837) to the British king and parliament. Akbar II gave Rammohun the title of Raja.
• In 1833, while visiting Bristol, Roy fell ill and died on 27 September.

Rembrandt Peale

• Rembrandt Peale was an American painter famous for his portraits of important people like George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson. In August 1833, he painted the portrait of Rammohun Roy.

Brahmo Samaj
• On 20th August 1828, Rammohun Roy founded the Brahma Sabha, later known as the Brahmo Samaj,
to purify Hinduism and preach monotheism, or belief in one God.
• The Brahmo Samaj was based on the twin pillars of:
1. Reason
2. The Vedas and the Upanishads
• The Brahmo Samaj also incorporated the best teachings of other religions and acted as a powerful
platform for advocating humanism, monotheism, and social regeneration.
• The Brahmo Samaj attempted to reform the Hindu religion by eliminating wrong practices and es-
tablishing it on the worship of one God and the teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads. However, it
rejected the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas.
• The Brahmo Samaj relied on human reason as the ultimate criterion for determining the value of
past and present religious principles and practices.
• The Brahmo Samaj movement suffered a setback after Roy's death in 1833. However, Debendranath
Tagore (1817-1905), the son of Dwarkanath Tagore (1794-1846), took on the unfinished work in 1843.
Under his leadership, the Brahma Samaj movement assumed a new height and character.
• The Brahmo tradition was carried forward after 1866 by Keshub Chandra Sen.

Debendranath Tagore (1817-1905)

345

• In 1839, Debendranath Tagore, the father of Rabindranath Tagore, founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha
and started its organ, the Tatvabodhini Patrika, to propagate Rammohun Roy's ideas and to promote
MIH-I – Pre-1857

a systematic study of India's past in the Bengali language.

• The Tatvabodhini Sabha came to include:
 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
 Akshay Kumar Dutt
 Most of the prominent followers of Rammohun and Derozio

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• In 1843, Debendranath Tagore joined, reorganised the Brahmo Samaj and revitalised it.

Keshab Chandra Sen (1838-1884)

• Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1857. Debendranath Tagore made him Acharya
in 1858. The Brahmo Samaj movement became much more broad-based under the dynamic leader-
ship of Keshab Chandra Sen.
• As the Acharya of the Samaj, Keshab insisted on giving up some Hindu customs and practices, such
as the caste system, untouchability, child marriage, and polygamy. He argued for girls' education,
widow remarriage, and inter-caste marriage.
• However, differences arose between Debendranath and Keshab regarding observations of caste rules
and social reforms. While Debendranath's approach was somewhat conservative, Keshab Sen advo-
cated the complete abolition of caste distinction and actively promoted the cause of social reform,
particularly the movement for female education and emancipation.
• Debendranath, unwilling to hurt national sentiment and alienate the greater Hindu Samaj on so-
cial issues, did not approve of any radical change.
• Finally, in 1868, Keshab Chandra Sen formed a new organisation called Bharatbarsiya Brahma Samaj
(The Brahma Samaj of India). The other organisation led by Debendranath Tagore came to be known
as Adi Brahma Samaj (the original or Early Brahma Samaj).
• Keshab Sen, through his lecture tours of Bombay, Madras, and other places, spread the message of
the Brahma Samaj throughout the greater part of India.
• In 1868, Keshub Chandra Sen petitioned the Government of India on behalf of the Brahmo Samaj for
a law that would secure the legality of Brahmo marriages (unorthodox marriages). As a result, the
government passed the Native Marriage Act of 1872.

Brahmo Marriages

 Marriages between men and women of different castes, and in some cases, involving widowed
women.
 Marriages without orthodox rituals.
• However, certain ideas and actions of Keshab Sen caused misgivings among his followers, particularly
the young and radical elements.
346

• The young followers resented Sen’s conduct relating to the marriage of his daughter to Raja of
Cooch Behar in 1878. Both the bride and the bridegroom were minor, and Brahmin priests per-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

formed the marriage ceremony according to orthodox Hindu rites. This was a violation of the pro-
fession and practice of the Brahma Samaj.
• Eventually, led by Shibchandra Deb, Umesh Chandra Datta, and Ananda Mohan Bose broke away
from Keshab Sen's Samaj and founded the Sadharan Brahma Samaj in 1878.

Indian Reform Association

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• The Indian Reform Association was formed in 1870 with Keshub Chandra Sen as president.
• It represented the secular side of the Brahmo Samaj and included many who did not belong to the
Brahmo Samaj. The objective was to put into practice some of the ideas Sen was exposed to during his
visit to Great Britain.

Naba Bidhan (New Dispensation)

• In 1881, Keshub Chandra Sen founded a new universal religion - Naba Bidhan (New Dispensation),
continuing to preach a mixture of Hindu philosophy and Christian theology.

Native Marriage Act of 1872 (Special Marriage Act 1872/ Act III of 1872)

• The Act provided for secular marriage without religious rites.

• It fixed the minimum age of bride and bridegroom at 14 and 18, respectively.
• The Act sanctioned most of the reforms proposed by liberals. However, the older generation viewed
this as undue state intervention in religious and social matters.

The Self-excommunication Clause

• The Act was available only to those who did not profess any of India's various faith traditions:
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi. The couples marrying under this law had to
declare that they did not profess these religions.

[UPSC 2016] Consider the following:

1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee
2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation
3. Indian Reform Association
Keshab Chandra Sen is associated with the establishment of which of the above?
a) 1 and 3 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B

[UPSC 2012] Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Brahmo Samaj?
347

(2012)
1. It opposed idolatry.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. It denied the need for a priestly class for interpreting the religious texts.
3. It popularised the doctrine that the Vedas are infallible.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only

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b) 1 and 2 only
c) 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B

Young Bengal movement

• Anglo-Indian Henry Vivian Derozio started the Young Bengal movement, which was more modern
and radical than Rammohun Roy's Brahmo Samaj.
• Derozio and his followers were known as the Derozians or Young Bengal. They carried forward Ram-
mohun's tradition of educating the people through newspapers, pamphlets and public associations.
• The Derozians attacked old and decadent customs, rites and traditions. They were advocates of
women's rights and demanded education for them.
• Derozians carried on public agitation on public questions such as the revision of the Company's
Charter, the freedom of the Press, better treatment for Indian labour in British colonies abroad, trial
by jury, protection of the ryots from oppressive zamindars, and employment of Indians in the
higher grades of government services.
• However, Derozians did not succeed in creating a movement because:
 Social conditions were not yet ripe for their ideas (which were too advanced) to flourish.
 Their radicalism was bookish.
 They failed to grasp Indian reality, did not support the peasant cause, and forgot to maintain their
links with the people.

Henry Vivian Derozio (1809-1831)

• Henry Vivian Derozio, a poet and rationalist thinker, was appointed a teacher at the Calcutta Hindu
College in May 1826 when he was only seventeen. He was the first nationalist poet of modern India.
• Derozio inspired his students to think rationally and freely, question all authority, love liberty, equal-
ity, and freedom, and worship truth. He was inspired by the French Revolution and followed the most
radical views of that time.
• Derozio was removed from the Hindu College in 1831 because of his radicalism and died of cholera
soon after at the young age of 22.
348

 In his poem "To India - My Native Land," Derozio laments the downfall of India from a country
once "worshipped as a deity" to one currently chained to the lowest depths.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891)

• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great scholar and social reformer. He was a great humanist with
immense sympathy for the poor, the unfortunate and the oppressed.
• Vidyasagar represented a happy blend of Indian and Western culture. He campaigned:

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 Against polygamy and child marriage

 For widow remarriage and women's education

Women’s Education
• In 1850, Vidyasagar became the secretary of the Bethune School and contributed to the higher edu-
cation for women.
• As a Government Inspector of Schools, Vidyasagar organised thirty-five girls' schools, many of which
he ran at his own expense.

Reforms at Sanskrit College

• In 1851, Vidyasagar became the principal of the Sanskrit College.

 He opened the gates of the Sanskrit college to non-brahmin students and broke the monopoly
of priestly caste for Sanskrit study.
 He introduced the study of Western thought at Sanskrit College and freed Sanskrit studies from
the harmful effects of self-imposed isolation.

Widow Remarriage
• Vidyasagar waged a long struggle in favour of widow remarriage. He used the ancient texts to sug-
gest that widows could remarry. Finally, a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage.
• The first lawful Hindu widow remarriage among the upper castes in our country was celebrated in
Calcutta on 7 December 1856, under the inspiration and supervision of Vidyasagar.
 Widows of many other castes in different parts of the country already enjoyed this right under cus-
tomary law.
• Though the Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856, it never received society's approval, and as
a result, women's conditions did not change.

Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856

• The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856 legalised the remarriage of widows in all of India
under East India Company rule. It was drafted by Lord Dalhousie and passed by Lord Canning.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was the most prominent campaigner for widow remarriage. He petitioned
the Legislative Council, but Radhakanta Deb and the Dharma Sabha counter-petitioned against the
349

proposal with nearly four times more signatures.

Bengali primer
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Vidyasagar wrote a Bengali primer, Barnaparichay, which is still used today. His writings helped
evolve a modern prose style in Bengali.

Ramakrishna Mission

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Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1834-1886)

• Ramakrishna Paramahansa was an Indian Hindu mystic and a devotee of the goddess Kali.
• Ramakrishna stressed universalism in religions and denounced religious particularism.
• Universalism in religions: After studying many spiritual traditions, including Islam, Hinduism, and Chris-
tianity, Ramakrishna realised that various world religions were different paths to reach the same
goal, validating the fundamental unity of religions.
• Ramakrishna emphasised that there were many roads to God and salvation and that the service of
man was the service of God.

Swamy Vivekananda (1863-1902)

• Swamy Vivekananda (Narendra Nath Datta) was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. He propagated the
message of Ramakrishna inside and outside India.
• Vivekananda condemned the caste system and the current Hindu emphasis on rituals, ceremonies,
and superstitions and urged the people to imbibe the spirit of liberty, equality, and free thinking.
• Vivekananda criticised Indians for losing touch with the rest of the world and becoming stagnant and
mummified.
• Vivekananda proclaimed the essential oneness of all religions and condemned any narrowness in re-
ligious matters. However, he was convinced of the superior approach of the Indian philosophical
tradition and personally followed Vedanta, which he considered a fully rational system.
• Vivekananda emphasised the importance of social action, stating that knowledge without action is
worthless in our daily lives.
• During the World’s Parliament of Religions in September 1893, Vivekananda delivered speeches which
made him famous. In these speeches, he referred to Hinduism as the mother of all religions.

Ramakrishna Mission

• In 1897, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social
work.
• The mission's main motto was to provide social service to the people, and it carried on its mission
by opening schools, hospitals, orphanages, libraries, etc., in different parts of the country. Thus it laid
emphasis on social good or social service and not on personal salvation.
350

• Ramakrishna Mission’s main objectives were:

 To spread the teachings of Ramakrishna and Vedanta
MIH-I – Pre-1857

 To improve the social conditions of the people

• In early 1898, Swami Vivekananda purchased a large plot of land in Belur to establish a permanent
monastery. A couple of years later, he registered it as Ramakrishna Math.
• Although Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are legally and financially separate, they are
closely interrelated in several ways and are regarded as twin organisations.

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15.2. Reforms in Western India

Manav Dharma Sabha (1844)

• Manav Dharma Sabha was the first socio-religious reform association in Gujarat. It was founded on
22nd June 1844 in Surat by Durgaram Mehtaji (Durgaram Manchharam Dave), Dadoba Pandurang
and others.
• The main objective of Manav Dharma Sabha was to highlight the positive side of true religion based
on truth and morality.
• The organisation accepted monotheism. Its main activity was to abolish superstitious beliefs from
society and to ensure that people do not practice black magic, witchcraft and other malpractices.
• The organisation used to hold public meetings every Sunday. The speakers would encourage people
to give up casteism, promote widow remarriages, and discourage idol worship.
• The Manav Dharma Sabha took a similar approach to the Brahmo Samaj of Calcutta, but it wasn't
influenced by the Brahmo Samaj's activities.
• Manav Dharma Sabha had a short life span and ceased to exist as Dadoba left for Bombay in 1846
and Durgaram left for Rajkot in 1852.

Student's Literary and Scientific Society (1848)

• In 1848, some of the members of the Native Literary Society, such as Naoroji Furdunji, Dadabhai
Naoroji, Bhau Daji, Jagannath Shankar Shet, Vishwanath Mandlik and Sorabji Shapurji Bengali, were
gathered in the hall of the Elphinstone Institution and formed ‘Students Literary and Scientific Soci-
ety.’
• The aim of the Society was to develop an interest in literary and scientific knowledge.
• The society held the meeting fortnightly. In every meeting, two members used to read the paper
on scientific or social subjects. Those who failed to read a paper in the first instance were fined a
rupee. The fine for the second failure was two rupees, and if the member failed to read his paper on
the subject offered by him the third time, he was expelled.
• All the political and religious subjects were strictly excluded from Society, and social reform was
given supreme importance.
• The society had two vernacular branches:
351

1. Gujarati Dnyan Prasarak mandali

2. Marathi Dnyan Prasarak mandali
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• The Society took the lead in organising schools to promote female education in Bombay. Many Parsi,
Marathi, and Gujarati schools were set up. Jagannath Shankarshet, Dadoba Pandurang, Bhau Daji,
and many others extended their support.
 Jagannath Shankar Sheth: He gave a cottage house to be used as the school of the society.

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 Bhau Daji: He provided financial support to some of the girls' schools started by the Students'
Literary And Scientific Society.
 Khershedji Nasanwanji Cama: He gave a substantial donation to the Society.
 Female education was incorporated into the Government agenda for the first time in the Woods
Despatch of 1854.
 The Hunter Commission Report of 1882 stated that the facilities for female education were inad-
equate.

Paramahansa Mandali (1849)

• In 1849, Dadoba Pandurang, Durgaram Mehtaji, and his friends founded the Paramahansa Mandali
in Maharashtra.
• Paramahansa Mandali was the first socio-religious organisation in Maharashtra and was closely re-
lated to Manav Dharma Sabha of Surat.
• The founders of Paramahansa Mandali believed in one god and were primarily interested in breaking
caste rules and fighting idolatry. At its meetings, members ate food cooked by low-caste people.
They fought for widow remarriage and women’s education.
• The society was secret to avoid the wrath of the powerful and orthodox elements. It is believed that
the revelation of its existence in 1860 hastened its demise.
• The Paramhansa Sabha was reorganised in 1867 under the name Prarthana Samaj.

Prarthana Samaj (1867)

• Keshub Chunder Sen visited Bombay twice, in 1864 and 1867. His socio-religious ideas inspired the
educated people of Maharashtra to form the Prarthana Samaj.
• The Prarthana Samaj was founded by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang in 1867 in Mumbai. M. G. Ranade, R.
G. Bhandarkar, and N. G. Chandavarkar were prominent members of this Samaj.
• Though Prarthana Samaj was inspired by the Brahmo Samaj, it did not try to establish a separate
sect. Instead, it attempted to reform the religion from within. Due to the efforts of the Telugu reformer
Viresalingam, its activities also spread to South India.
• The Prarthana Samaj preached monotheism (worship of one God) and tried to free religion of caste
orthodoxy and priestly domination.
352

Prarthana Samaj: The Practical Samaj

The Prarthana Samajists were practical-minded people, and the Parathna Samaj was a practical Sa-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

•
maj. They knew that the people in Maharashtra were staunch devotees of Vithoba. Hence, they did not
upset people's feelings; instead, they explained that whatever they worshipped was the worship of
one true god.

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• The Prarthana Samajists were staunch followers of the Vaishnava tradition in Maharashtra. They used
the thoughts of the old Marathi saints and poets in their services.
• The Prarthana Samaj believed that God is one and without any form; therefore, one must worship him
with spirituality. They believed that God was the creator of the universe and that all men were his
children. Therefore, they should behave brotherly towards each other.
• The Prarthana Samajists observed Hindu ceremonies without believing in their religious signifi-
cance. They declared all customs and traditions meaningless but continued with rational and undam-
aging traditions to avoid people's discontent. They also allowed the image worship but did not pro-
fess it.

Social Reforms
• The Prarthana Samajists prioritized social reforms over religion, such as interdining and intermar-
riage between different castes and creeds, widow remarriage, and female education. They also criticized
child marriage.
• The Subodha Patrika was the weekly periodical of the Prarthana Samaj.
• The Prarthana Samaj established:
 Night School: To educate the workers, labourers and their children.
 Depressed Class Mission: To abolish untouchability.
 Asylums and Orphanages: To help orphan children, asylums and Orphanages were established
at holy places like Pandharpur, Dehu, and Alandi.

Intellectual Resistance to Colonial Rule

• The establishment of British rule affected every section of society. Some people suffered silently,
while others rebelled against the exploitation.
• In the early 19th century, the Western-educated Indians of Maharashtra used their newly acquired
knowledge to expose the true nature of British rule. Balshastri Jambhekar, Dadoba Pandurang, and
Bhau Mahajan, educated at Elphinston Institute, were among the first individuals to resist British rule on
an intellectual level.

Balshastri Jambhekar (1812- 1846) 353

• Balshastri Jambhekar was a journalist and social reformer from Maharashtra. He tried to reform the
society through journalism.
• From 1832 to 1840, Balshastri Jambhekar published a bilingual newspaper, Bombay Durpun (Dar-
MIH-I – Pre-1857

pan), in Marathi and English. It was the first Marathi newspaper. Thus, Jambhekar is known as the
Father of Marathi journalism.
• In his newspaper, Jambhekar attacked Brahminical orthodoxy, addressed social issues such as widow
remarriage and tried to educate people and develop a scientific mindset.

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• In 1840, Jambhekar published the first Marathi monthly magazine - ‘Digdarshan’, which published
articles on various subjects, including physics, chemistry, geography, history, etc.
• Jambhekar was a great admirer of Mountstuart Elphinstone. He was the first professor of Hindi at
Elphinstone College, Mumbai. He also worked as Director of the Colaba Observatory.

Bhaskar Pandurang Tarkhadkar (1816-1847)

• Bhaskar Pandurang Tarkhadkar was an intellectual from Maharashtra and a significant figure among
the early critics of colonial rule in India. He was one of the pioneers of the economic drain theory.
• Using the pseudonym ‘A Hindoo’, Tarkhadkar presented a critical analysis of British rule in eight
letters published in the Bombay Gazette between July and October 1841.
• He criticised British Rule for its economic drain and ruin on India, as well as its education policy, racial
discrimination, and injustice towards native princes. He also criticised them for falsifying Indian His-
tory (by historians such as James Mill) and for waging imperial wars in Afghanistan and China.
• Tarkhadkar debunked the concept of "Divine Providence" that the British had used to validate their
colonisation. He was among the first in the country to call out concepts such as the notion of selfless
and benevolent colonial rule as false.

Bhau Mahajan (1815-90)

• Govind Vitthal Kunte, also known as Bhau Mahajan, was the first full-time professional editor and
journalist in the Marathi vernacular.
• Bhau Mahajan started and edited two weekly papers—Prabhakar (1841) and Dhumketu (1853)—
and the periodical Dnyan Darshan. He also wrote for Digdarshan Magazine.
• Bhau Mahajan pointed out that the Industrial Revolution in England and improved transport and
communication in India had affected indigenous industry and trade. He criticised British Rule for
exploiting and draining the country, which fueled Britain's prosperity.

Jagannath Shankarshet (1803-1865)

• Jagannath Shankarshet (Nana Shankarsheth) was a social reformer, educationist, and philanthropist.
• Shankarshet made significant contributions, both in terms of ideas and money, to multiple sectors,
laying a strong foundation for Mumbai. Hence, he is often referred to as the architect of Modern
Bombay.
354

• Shankarseth assumed responsibility for the family business at an early age after his father's death in
1822. He was greatly inspired by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, a legendary merchant and philanthropist.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Education

• Shankarshet was one of the founders of the Native School of Mumbai. The school went through a
series of name changes:
 1824: Bombay Native Institution

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 1840: Board of Education

 1856: Elphinstone Educational Institution
• Jagannath Shankarsheth gave funds and his residence for the girls' schools established by the Stu-
dents' Literary and Scientific Society.
• Jagannath Shankarseth also played an important role in establishing:
 The Elphinstone College in 1835
 The Grant Medical College in 1845 (in memory of Robert Grant, the Governor of Bombay)
 The Government Law College in 1855
 The Bombay University in 1857

Museum

• A famous London architect designed the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai. The construction
was funded by wealthy Indian businessmen and philanthropists, including Jagannath, David Sassoon,
and Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy.

Railway

• With Jeejeebhoy, Shankarsheth helped set up the Indian Railway Association, which was later incor-
porated into the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, now the Central Railway.
• The first train in India ran between Boribunder and Thane on April 16, 1853. The Great Indian Pen-
insular Railway Company undertook the 34-km project. Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Nana Shankarseth
were among the committee members who gave the project impetus.

Bombay Association

• Jagannath Shankarshet was one of the founders of the Bombay Association, the first political organ-
isation of the Bombay Presidency, founded on August 26, 1852.

Bombay Legislative Council

• Jagannath Shankarshet was the first Indian to be nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council under
the Act of 1861 and became a member of the Bombay Board of Education.
 Vinayak Shankarsheth, son of Jagannath Shankarsheth, launched the 'Jagannath Shankarsheth
Sanskrit Scholarship' in 1866 in the name of his father.
355

Gopal Hari Deshmukh (1823-1892)

• Gopal Hari Deshmukh was a prominent social reformer and political thinker of Western India in the
MIH-I – Pre-1857

19thcentury.
• Deshmukh wrote several open letters in the Marathi weekly newspaper Prabhakar under the pen
name Lokhitawadi between 1848 and 1850. These letters comprehensively touch every aspect of so-
ciety.

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• Lokahitawadi wrote against child marriages, the dowry system, polygamy, and the caste system. He
condemned harmful Hindu religious orthodoxy and attacked the monopoly of Brahmin priests in
religious matters. He promoted the education of women and widow remarriage.
• Deshmukh started a weekly Hitechhu. He played a major role in founding Gyan Prakash or Dnyan
Prakash (by Krishnaji Trimbak Ranade), Indu Prakash (by Vishnu Shastri Pandit), and Lokahitawadi (by
Bhau Mahajan) periodicals.
• To Lokahitawadi, the sanction of religion for social reforms was immaterial. He advocated that religion
itself be changed if it did not sanction them.

Shatapatre (Hundred Letters)

• Shatapatre is a collection of a hundred letters written by Gopal Hari Deshmukh in Prabhakar between
1848 and 1850.
 Prabhakar was a Marathi newspaper founded by Govind Vitthal Kunte, also known as Bhau Maha-
jan. It was published from 1841 to 1861.

Vishnu Parashuram Shastri Pandit (1827-1876)

• Vishnu Shastri Pandit Advocated widow marriage.
• He established the Vidhva Vivaha Uttejak Mandal (Society for the Encouragement of widows remar-
riage) in 1866.
• He translated Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar's "Vidhavavivaha" in 1865.
• In his weekly journal, Indu Prakash, Vishnu Shastri Pandit advocated widow remarriage.
 Aurobindo Ghosh wrote fiery articles in Indu Prakash titled "New Lamps for Old," in which he
strongly criticised the Congress for its moderate policy.

Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842–1901)

• Mahadev Govind Ranade, popularly known as Justice Ranade, was an Indian scholar, social reformer,
judge, economist, and historian.
• M. G. Ranade was born in 1842 in the Nashik District, Maharashtra. He was a professor at Elphinstone
College, Bombay and finally became the Judge of the Bombay High Court.
• M. G. Ranade was a leading member of Prarthana Samaj (1867), Pune Sarvajanik Sabha (1870), the 356

Indian National Congress (1885), and the Indian Social Conference (1887).
• Ranade's work inspired other Indian social reformers, including Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who continued
his efforts after his death.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Hindu Religious Practices

• Though Ranade greatly admired Indian culture and religion, he was highly critical of some Hindu
religious beliefs and practices. He wanted to reform the religion from within.

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Philosophy of Theism

• Ranade believed in the existence of one God and was, therefore, a monotheist. In his book, Philoso-
phy of Indian Theism, he expounded the theistic interpretation of the Universe.
• Ranade did not believe in the Advaita philosophy (non-dualism) of Adi Shankaracharya because he
held that God and man were not the same thing.

Social Reforms

• Ranade believed in society's overall development and held that social, religious, political, and eco-
nomic reforms were interdependent. According to Ranade, reform had to be gradual and undertaken
in a manner that did not break the continuity of traditions.
• Lokmanya Tilak and his followers believed that political reforms were more important than social
reforms, as they believed securing political power would make it possible to achieve social reforms.
• However, Ranade disagreed with Tilak’s view and believed that social reforms were of greater im-
portance. He believed that social reforms were the foundation of modern society and would pave
the way for the struggle for political power.
• Ranade criticised the caste system, untouchability, child marriage, polytheism, idol worship and
subjugation of women. He worked for widow remarriage, inter-caste marriage, and the education of
women and backward communities.
• Ranade established the Vidhva Vivaha Uttejak Mandal (Widows Remarriage Association) in 1865.

Views on the Rise of Maratha Power

• Ranade was a passionate student of Maratha history. He was particularly impressed by Shivaji's per-
sonality. He wrote his famous essay "The Rise of Maratha Power" to show that the Maratha movement
had its own philosophy and purpose.

Industrialisation

• Ranade argued that the poverty of the Indian masses could only be eliminated through industriali-
sation, as excessive reliance on agriculture was the root cause of poverty.

Nationalism

• Ranade was a moderate and did not believe in revolutionary methods. He believed in constitutional
357

methods and sought change through constituted authority, rather than breaking it.
• Ranade wanted to establish a free democratic society in India based on justice, equality, and liberty.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Sir Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837-1925)

• R. G. Bhandarkar was an Indian scholar, orientalist, and social reformer.
• After early schooling in Ratnagiri, Bhandarkar studied at Elphinstone College in Bombay.
• Along with M. G. Ranade, Bhandarkar was among the first graduates in 1862 from Bombay University.

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• Bhandarkar taught oriental languages first at Elphinstone College (Mumbai) and then at Deccan Col-
lege (Pune).
• Bhandarkar was the first Indian Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University (1893-95) and the first Indian
to be awarded an LLD degree by the university in 1904.
• As an educationist, Bhandarkar was elected a non-official member of the Imperial Legislative Council
in 1903. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was also a member of the council.

Social Reformer

• R. G. Bhandarkar was associated with the Paramahamsa Sabha and the Prarthana Samaj.
• Bhandarkar worked for the cause of Depressed Classes and women. He strongly opposed social evils
like child marriage, castism and alcoholism. He stood for women's education and remarriages of
widows.
• Bhandarkar cited evidence from Atharvaveda and Aitareya Brahman in support of a widow marriage.
In 1891, he arranged the widow remarriage of his daughter.

Orientalist

• Bhandarkar participated in international conferences on Oriental Studies.

• Bhandarkar reconstructed the political history of the Deccans and wrote the history of the Satava-
hanas, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and other sects.
• On July 6, 1917, his 80th birthday, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute was founded in Pune
in his presence and honour by his disciples. It was formally inaugurated by Lord Willingdon, the Gov-
ernor of Bombay.

Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati (1858 – 1922)

• Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati was an Indian social reformer. She was the first woman to be awarded the
title of Pandita for her extraordinary command over Sanskrit and Sarasvati after being examined by
the faculty of the University of Calcutta.
• Ramabai was criticised for marrying Bipin Behari Medhvi, a non-Brahmin Bengali lawyer. After her
husband's early demise in 1882, Ramabai moved to Pune to work for the emancipation of women.
Bhandarkar and Justice Ranade supported her efforts in Pune.
• She wrote about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women in her book 'High Caste Hindu
358

Woman.' She converted to Christianity because of the opposition from the Orthodox people.

Emancipation of Women
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Ramabai established Arya Mahila Samaj in Pune on November 30, 1882, to empower and educate
women to lead dignified lives.

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• In 1889, she established 'Sharada Sadan,' a home for widows in Mumbai. The home offered educa-
tional facilities to destitute women and widows. Later, Sharada Sadan was shifted to Pune. Now it
became Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission.
• In 1919, the British monarchy awarded her with the Kaiser-i-Hind Award.

Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve (1858–1962)

• D. K. Karve was a social reformer from Maharashtra. He advocated women's education and widow
remarriage.

Widow Remarriage

• In 1883, after the death of his first wife, Karve married Godubai, a widow who was his friend's sister
and set an example for others.
• In 1893, Karve founded "Vidhwa Vivahattejak Mandali" (Widow Remarriage Association).
• Inspired by Pandita Ramabai's Sharada Sadan, Karve started the Widow Home Association in
1896. The association aimed to make the widows self-supporting by training them as teachers, mid-
wives, or nurses.
• In 1896, Karve established a 'Mahilashram', a school for widows in Hingane village outside Pune. He
also started ‘Anath Balikashram’, a shelter for destitute/orphan girls.

Women's education

• Maharishi Karve founded many educational institutions for girls.

• In 1916, Karve established the Women's University in Pune, the first university for women in India.
In 1919, Sir Vithaldas D. Thackersey, an industrialist, provided funds for the university, which was then
renamed SNDT Women's University after Shrimati Nathibai Damodar Thakersey.

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-1895)

• Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was an educationist, freedom fighter, and social reformer from Maharashtra.
In his early years, Agarkar developed a close relationship with Tilak.
• Agarkar was deeply influenced by the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and the works of philosophers
such as John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, Auguste Comte, Voltaire, and Rousseau.
• Agarkar believed in the power of human reason and criticised blind dependence on tradition or false
359

glorification of India's past.

• Agarkar was an active campaigner for social reforms. He believed India could not be free until casteism
MIH-I – Pre-1857

and religious superstitions were eradicated. Agarkar saw social reforms as necessary for political
reforms.
• Agarkar advocated for women's liberation, the elimination of superstitions, the abolition of caste dis-
crimination, and the promotion of scientific thinking. He advocated reforms, such as the ban on child
marriage, education of women, and remarriage of women.

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• Agarkar believed in rationalism, equality, and humanism. He believed that education and the press
could play critical roles in spreading these ideas. To this end, he edited a journal, Kesari, and started
educational institutions with Tilak.
 Agarkar was the first editor of Kesari, a Marathi journal started by Tilak.
 Along with Tilak, Agarkar was associated with the New English School (1880), the Deccan Educa-
tion Society (1884), and Fergusson College (1885).

Differences with Tilak

Tilak Agarkar
Social conservative and proud of Hindu Brah- Social reformer, influenced by Western intellec-
manical tradition. tual tradition and critical of orthodox practices
in Hinduism.
Believed that social reform should come from Supportive of British reforms in Indian society
within and opposed any British interference in In-
dian society
Opposed the Age of Consent Act Supported the Age of Consent Act
Believed India should first fight against British Believed social reform should be a priority along-
rule and later focus on social reform side or even before the struggle against British rule
• Agarkar resigned from Kesari due to his differences with Tilak and started Sudharak, his own news-
paper, in 1887. Through Sudharak, he promoted social reforms.

15.3. Reforms in North India

Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) and Arya Samaj

• Swamy Dayanand Saraswati spearheaded social and religious reform in North India. In 1875, he
founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay to reform Hinduism. Later, its branches were established in dif-
ferent places, including Lahore, in 1877.

Attack on Puranas
• Swami Dayanand believed that selfish and ignorant priests had perverted the Hindu religion with the
aid of the Puranas, which he said were full of false teachings.
360

Infallibility of Vedas
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Swami Dayanand regarded the Vedas as infallible, which meant that human reason was not the final
deciding factor. He rejected all religious thought if it conflicted with the Vedas. This total depend-
ence on the Vedas gave his teachings an orthodox colouring.
• However, Swami took a rationalist approach to interpreting the Vedas. He believed that the Vedas
were open to interpretation by any human being. This meant that individual reason was a decisive

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factor. The teachings he derived from his interpretation of the Vedas were very similar to the religious
and social reforms that other Indian reformers were advocating.
• Swami Dayanand met and discussed this with Keshub Chandra Sen, Vidyasagar, Justice Ranade, Go-
pal Hari Deshmukh, and other modern religious and social reformers.

Back to Vedas
• Swami Dayanand believed that the Vedic religion was the true religion and that Vedic society was
free from all social evils. In a Vedic society, there was no caste system or untouchability, and women
held an equal status in the community. Hence, he gave a call to "Go back to the Vedas."

Social Reforms
• Swami attacked idolatry, polytheism, priesthood, the prevalent caste practices, child marriage and
Brahmin-sponsored religious rites and superstitious practices.
• He supported inter-caste marriages, female education, and widow remarriage and also favoured the
study of Western sciences.
• Although the Vedas were venerated as infallible, the reforms advocated were the product of modern
rational thinking.

Progressive Role of Arya Samajists

• The Arya Samajists played a progressive role in furthering social reform in North India. They worked
for the improvement of women's conditions, advocated social equality, and denounced untouchability
and caste rigidities. They also inculcated a spirit of self-respect and self-reliance among the people.
• Some of Swami Dayanand's followers later started a network of schools and colleges in the country.
 Lala Hansraj started the first Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Lahore in 1886. It offered educa-
tion on Western lines.
 In 1902, Swami Shradhananda started the Gurukul near Hardwar to propagate the more tradi-
tional ideals of education.

Swaraj and Swadeshi

• Swami Dayanand Saraswati advocated for Swadeshi and Swaraj, encouraging the use of indigenous
goods. Several prominent Arya Samajists, including Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Swami
361

Shradhanand, played an important role in the Indian independence movement.

Shuddhi Movement
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• One of the objectives of Arya Samaj was to prevent Hindus from converting to other religions. To
this end, it started the Shuddhi movement, aimed at bringing back to the Hindu fold those who had
recently converted to Islam.

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• This Shuddhi movement led to the start of a crusade against other religions, which became a con-
tributory factor in the growth of communalism in India in the 20th century.
• While the Arya Samaj's reformist work tended to unite people, its religious work tended, though
perhaps unconsciously, to divide the growing national unity among Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs,
and Christians.

Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj

• India's Vedic Age inspired the Arya Samaj, while the Brahmo Samaj and the Prathana Samaj were
influenced by Western religions and learning. The Arya Samaj was more conservative and aggres-
sive than the Brahmo Samaj.
• The idea of the Arya Samaj, with its Sunday meeting, resembled the practices of the Brahmo Samaj
and the Prarthana Samaj.

Satyarth Prakash
• Satyarth Prakash is an 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Dayanand Saraswati. Swami Dayanand
Saraswati subsequently revised the book in 1882, and it has been translated into more than 20 lan-
guages.
• In the book, Swami interpreted the Vedas using a rational approach.

15.4. Reforms in South India

Veda Samaj (1864)

• In 1864, Keshub Chandra Sen delivered a lecture on Brahmo Samaj in Madras, which inspired the
establishment of the Veda Samaj in Chennai.
• The Veda Samaj criticised the rituals of orthodox Hinduism, worked to abolish caste distinctions,
and promoted widow remarriage and women's education. Its members believed in one God.
• Chembeti Sridharalu Naidu made the Veda Samaj popular in South India. He translated Deben-
dranath Tagore's 'Brahmo Dharma’ and books of the Veda Samaj in Telugu and Tamil.

Theosophical Society (1875)

• The Theosophical Society was founded in New York (USA) in November 1875 by Madam H. P. Bla-
362

vatsky, a Russian lady, and H. S. Olcott, an American colonel.

• Blavatsky and Olcott came to India in 1879 and established the society's headquarters at Adyar, near
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Madras. Gradually, they established branches in different parts of India.

• Ms Annie Besant, an Irish lady, renounced Christianity and joined the Theosophical Society in 1889.
She arrived in India in 1893, where the movement quickly gained popularity under her guidance.

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• As religious revivalists, the Theosophists advocated the revival and strengthening of the ancient
religions of Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. They recognised the doctrine of the transmi-
gration of the soul and preached the universal brotherhood of man.
• Their main objectives were to form a universal brotherhood of man without distinction of race, colour
or creed and to encourage the study of ancient religions and philosophies.
• The Theosophists believed in the theory of Karma and Reincarnation and drew ideas from the philos-
ophy of Upanishads, Samkhya, Yoga, and the Vedanta school of thought.
• The Theosophists, who were religious revivalists, did not achieve much success in their mission. How-
ever, they made a distinct contribution to modern India.
• Being led by Westerners, they held Indian religions and philosophical traditions in high esteem.
This helped the Indians regain their confidence, but it also led to a sense of false pride in their past
greatness.

Annie Besant
• Annie Besant, an Irish lady, was a theosophist, educationist, home rule activist, champion of human
freedom and Indian nationalism. She was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule.
• Theosophical Society: Besant joined the Theosophical Society in May 1889 and came to India in
1893. After H.S. Olcott's death in February 1907, Annie Besant became the President of the Theosoph-
ical Society and held the position until her death on 21 September 1933.
• Benaras Hindu University: Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu School in Benaras in 1898. Later,
in 1916, it developed into the Benaras Hindu University under the leadership of Madan Mohan
Malaviya.
• Journals: Besant founded a weekly newspaper, 'Commonweal', in January 1914 for her political work.
 In June 1914, she purchased the Madras Standard and renamed it 'New India' in August 1914.
• Home Rule League: The Home Rule League was started on 1 September 1916. In June 1917, she was
detained by the Government of Madras along with G. S. Arundale and B. P. Wadia, two of her principal
workers.
 Upon her release, she was elected President of the Calcutta session of the Indian National Con-
gress (1917) due to a surge in popularity. This made her the first female president of the Indian
National Congress in 1917.
363

• Hindu revivalism: Besant translated the Bhagavad Gita into English and opposed early marriage and
forced widowhood.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Left the Congress: A special session of the Congress was held in Calcutta in September 1920 to give a
call for Non-Cooperation under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The Non-Cooperation resolution
was ratified at the Nagpur session held in December 1920. Anne Besant, who believed in a constitu-
tional and lawful struggle, opposed the law-breaking and left Congress.

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• Theosophical College: Besant founded the Besant Theosophical College on July 19, 1915, at Mada-
napalle (Andhra Pradesh).

Madanapalle and National Anthem

• Rabindranath Tagore authored the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in 1911.
• In 1919, during his South India tour, Rabindranath Tagore, exhausted from travel, stayed at the The-
osophical College in Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh from 25th February to 2nd March 1919.
• During his stay at Madanapalle, Tagore translated 'Jana Gana Mana' into English as ‘Morning Song
of India’ on February 28, 1919
• Margaret Cousins (Irish woman), the wife of James Cousins, then principal of the Theosophical College
gave a tune to 'Jana Gana Mana' and it became a song. Until then, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was just a lyric.
• Tagore called the Madanapalle Theosophical College the "Shantiniketan of South India."
• 'Jana Gana Mana' was declared the national anthem on January 24, 1950.

Women's Indian Association (WIA)

• The Women's Indian Association (WIA) was founded on 7 May 1917 at Adayar, Madras, by Annie
Besant, Margaret Cousins, Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, Sister Subbalaskmi and Sarojini Naidu.
• WIA's main objective was to fight for the empowerment of women who had been suffering from poor
socio-economic and political conditions. The Association later developed into a potent force to fight
against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system and other social ills.
• The WIA also published a monthly English journal named 'Stri-Dharma.'
• In 1918, the Southborough Committee visited India to review the question of women's franchise.
Women's organisations, including WIA, passed resolutions demanding franchise for women and sub-
mitted them to the Committee.

[UPSC 2013] Annie Besant was:

1. Responsible for starting the Home Rule Movement.
2. The founder of the Theosophical Society.
3. Once the President of the Indian National Congress.
Select the correct statement/statements using the code given below:
a) 1 only
364

b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
MIH-I – Pre-1857

d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: C

[UPSC 2021] With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the follow-
ing

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statements is correct?
a) Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolour Indian National Flag here.
b) Pattabhi Sitaramaiah led the Quit India Movement of the Andhra region from here.
c) Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here.
d) Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott set up headquarters of Theosophical Society first here.
Answer: C

15.5. Religious Reform among the Parsis

Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (1851)

• Naoroji Furdonji, Dadabhai Naoroji and S.S. Bengalee started Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (Reli-
gious Reform Association) in 1851.
• It initiated the modernisation of Parsi social customs. It campaigned for the introduction and spread
of education among women, the grant of legal status to women, and uniform laws of inheritance
and marriage for the Parsi community. Over time, the Parsis became socially the most Westernised
section of Indian society.

15.6. Religious Reforms Among Muslims

• The Muslim upper classes had tended to avoid contact with Western education and culture. Hence,
the movements for religious reform were late among the Muslims.
• The religious reform movement among Muslims started with the establishment of the Mohammedan
Literary Society in 1863 in Kolkata. It was founded by Nawab Abdul Latif to educate Muslims in
Western learning through the English medium .
• This Society promoted discussion of religious, social, and political questions in light of modern ideas
and encouraged upper and middle-class Muslims to pursue Western education.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) and Aligarh Movement

• Syed Ahmad Khan was the most important reformer among Muslims. He was impressed by modern
scientific thought and worked throughout his life to spread modern education among Muslims.
• He interpreted the Quran in the light of contemporary rationalism and science. In his view, any inter-
365

pretation of the Quran that conflicted with human reason, science or nature was, in reality, a misin-
terpretation.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Sir Syed was against fanaticism, narrow-mindedness, and exclusiveness and urged students and oth-
ers to be broadminded and tolerant. He urged the people to develop a critical approach and freedom
of thought.
• He believed in religious tolerance and considered religion to be a private matter. He opposed com-
munal friction and appealed to Hindus and Muslims to unite.

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• He believed that the religious and social life of Muslims could be improved only by imbibing modern
Western scientific knowledge and culture. Therefore, he founded schools in many towns and trans-
lated many Western books into Urdu.
• In 1875, he founded the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh as a centre for spreading
Western sciences and culture. It was open to all Indians. Later, this College grew into the Aligarh
Muslim University, the first Muslim university in South Asia.
• Sir Syed criticised the social evils such as purdah and polygamy. He favoured raising women's status
and advocated spreading education among women. Syed used his magazine Tahdhib-ul-Akhlaq to
propagate the ideas.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Communalism

• Towards the end of his life, Sir Syed began to talk of Hindu domination and prevented his followers
from joining the national movement. This was unfortunate, though basically, he was not a commu-
nalist.
• Sir Syed advised all Indians, particularly the educationally backward Muslims, to remain aloof from
politics for some time to come. He prevented his followers from joining the Indian National Congress
because he believed that:
 The spread of Western education among the Muslims was necessary, and any opposition to Brit-
ish rule could be dangerous to this effort.
 Indians could hope to successfully challenge foreign rule only when they became as modern in
their thinking and actions as the English.
 Immediate political progress was not possible because the British Government could not be easily
dislodged.
• Sir Syed had become so committed to his college and the cause of education that he was willing to
sacrifice all other interests for them. As a result:
 He virtually gave up his agitation in favour of religious reform to prevent the orthodox Muslims
from opposing his college
 He refrained from doing anything that might offend the government
 The British awarded Sir Syed Ahmad Khan knighthood in 1888.
Though Sir Syed and his Aligarh movement raised the Muslim community, they were responsible
366
•
for encouraging communalism and separatism.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Communalism and the Role of British

• After 1870, when the British realised that the challenge to British rule would come from the rising
nationalist movement and not the Muslim orthodox, they supported Sir Syed to win over the
Muslims.

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• The British made an attempt to turn upper-class and middle-class Muslims against the nationalist
movement. They encouraged the foundation of the Indian Patriotic Association which opposed
the national movement.
Indian Patriotic Association
• The Indian Patriotic Association was founded in 1888 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Raja Shiv Prasad
Singh of Benaras.
• It aimed to:
 Oppose the Indian National Congress
 Develop close ties between the Muslim community and the British Raj.

Aligarh Movement
• The reform movement initiated by Syed Ahmad Khan in the Muslim community is known as Aligarh
Movement. It was based on the liberal interpretation of the Quran. It aimed:
 To remove backwardness among Muslims
 To spread Western education among Muslims
 Initiate social reforms among Muslims, such as female education, widow remarriage, and the abo-
lition of purdah and polygamy.

Deobandi School (Darul Uloom)

• The Deobandi movement was a revivalist movement initiated by Muslim orthodox individuals. It
opposed the influence of non-Muslim cultures on Muslims and aimed to preserve traditional Is-
lamic teachings from the influx of modernist and secular ideas during British colonial rule.
• The Deobandi movement began in 1867, around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, Uttar Pra-
desh, and was founded by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and other prom-
inent figures.
• At its inception, the Deoband movement
 Opposed the British rule in India.
 Opposed the Aligarh movement, which was loyal to the British.
 Supported the Indian National Congress and National Movement.
• Critics claim that Deoband's backing of nationalists was primarily driven by their strong dislike for
367

Syed Ahmed Khan rather than having their own clear political beliefs.

15.7. Emancipation of Women

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• For centuries, women in India were socially oppressed and subordinated to men due to various reli-
gious practices and laws that deemed women inferior to men. Social customs and laws related to
marriage, inheritance, women's position in society, etc., were against women.

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• During the 18th century, Indian women suffered from many problems, including female infanticide,
child marriage, denial of education, sati practice, restrictions on widow remarriage, polygamy,
restriction on divorce, purdah system, and absence of right to property.
• The condition of upper-class women was worse than that of peasant women. Since the latter worked
actively in the fields alongside men, they enjoyed relatively greater freedom of movement and, in some
respects, a better status in the family than upper-class women. For example, peasant women seldom
observed purdah, and many had the right to remarry.
• When the British started administering the country, they enacted several regulations and laws to pro-
hibit female infanticide, abolish the practice of sati, enable women to remarry, etc. However, the
orthodox Indians considered this to be an interference in the religious affairs by the foreign gov-
ernment.
• These social reforms (religious interference for orthodox people) were one of the reasons for the Re-
volt of 1857. Hence, after 1858, the government abandoned the reform policy. However, now, the
enlightened people (educated Indians), moved by the humanitarian and egalitarian impulses of the
19th century, started the movements for social change.
• When social reformers initiated their movement to improve women's status, some appealed to the
doctrines of individualism and equality. Others argued that true Hinduism, Islam, or Zoroastrianism
did not sanction women's inferior status.
 Pandita Ramabai wrote about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women in her book 'High
Caste Hindu Woman.'
 Tarabai Shinde, a woman educated in Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna (A Comparison
between Women and Men), criticising the social differences between men and women.

Sati Practice
• The practice of sati (widow burning) was widespread in India. The widows were praised if they chose
death by burning themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this manner,
whether willingly or otherwise, were called "sati", meaning virtuous women.
• Raja Rammohun Roy, pained by the problems of widows, started a campaign against sati. Roy trans-
lated the ancient texts and showed that widow burning had no sanction in ancient texts.
Finally, Roy's struggle against sati succeeded when Lord William Bentinck declared the practice of sati
368

•
illegal in 1829.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

Female education
• In the 18th century, in India, most girls did not receive an education.
• Apart from the general backwardness of society, superstitions, religious customs and laws were re-
sponsible for the illiteracy among the women. In many parts of the country people believed that if a
woman was educated, she would become a widow.

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• With the arrival of Christian missionaries, the doors of education were opened for girls. However,
the suspicion that missionary schools would convert girls to Christianity limited the girls' access to
those missionary schools.

Bengal Presidency
• Raja Rammohun Roy and Brahmo Samaj advocated female education.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was appointed as secretary of Bethune School, which encouraged many
Hindu families to send their girls to Bethune's school. He also opened many schools for female edu-
cation.
• Arya Samajists established the schools for girls in Punjab.

Bombay Presidency
• Due to the spread of English education (Many early reformers of Maharashtra graduated from
Elphinston College) and the efforts of social reformers:
 Bombay was ahead of Bengal in female education and in the freedom of social intercourse.
 The Purdah system was not prevalent in Bombay.
• On January 1, 1848, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule started India’s first school for girls
at Bhide Wada in Pune. Along with Fatima Sheikh, they spread education among the downtrodden
communities.
• Student's Literary and Scientific Society (1848) promoted the female education in Bombay.
• Jagannath Shankarshet, Dadoba Pandurang, Bhau Daji, the Cama family, and other businessmen
supported female education.
• Social reformers like Dadabhai Naoroji, B. M. Malbari, M. G. Ranade, D. K. Karve, Pandita Ramabai,
G. K. Gokhale, Agarkar and Tilak played an important role in the spread of female education.

Widow Remarriage
• In the 18th century, women in India possessed little individuality. They were seen as adjuncts to men
and praised for their roles as wives and mothers.
• Although a man was permitted to have more than one wife, a woman could only marry once, and
even widows could not remarry. 369

• Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar led an extended campaign in favour of allowing widows to re-
marry. Vidyasagar used ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry. British officials adopted
his suggestion, and a law permitting widow remarriage was passed in 1856.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• By the second half of the 19th century, the movement favouring widow remarriage spread to other
parts of the country.

Bombay Presidency

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• Many social reformers, including Phule, M. G. Ranade, Vishnu Shastri Pandit, D. K. Karve and Pandita
Ramabai, encouraged widow remarriages.
• Journals like Indu Prakash, Satya Prakash and Lokhitwadi advocated widow remarriage.
• Widow Remarriage Associations were established by Vishnu Shastri Pandit, M. G. Ranade and Karve
in 1866, 1865 and 1893, respectively.

Madras Presidency
• In the Telugu-speaking areas of the Madras Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an associa-
tion for widow remarriage.

North India
• In the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the reform association called Arya Samaj,
supported widow remarriage.

Child Marriage
• Child marriage, a cruel custom which generated other social evils such as sati, polygamy and problems
of widows, was prevalent in India.
• Initially, there was no minimum age for marriage, and people used to marry their children at a very
young age. The Hindu Marriage Act of 1860 fixed the minimum marriage age for girls at ten.
• Enlightened men (educated Indians) challenged the custom of child marriage and forced the British
to pass the Civil Marriage Act of 1872 (Act III of 1872).
• Act III of 1872 abolished early marriage, declared polygamy a legal offence and allowed intercaste
marriages for parties not professing any of the current faiths of India.

Age of Consent Act (1891)

• B. M. Malabari, editor of Indian Spectator, wrote articles on widowhood, child marriage and polyg-
amy.
• In 1884, Malabari wrote two pamphlets on Infant Marriage and Compulsory Widowhood, known
as Malabari's notes, to raise awareness of child marriage.
• Malabari proposed raising the Age of Consent to 12. He was supported by M.G. Ranade, Agarkar,
Narayan Lokhande, K.T. Telang, Vidyasagar, and Bhandarkar.
370

• Tilak and the orthodox people opposed Malabari. Tilak was not against social reform, but he op-
posed foreign government interference in the Hindu Society's social reform.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

• Finally, due to the pressure of social reformers led by the Malabari and Rukhmabai case, the govern-
ment passed the Age of Consent Act of 1891, which raised the age of consent for all girls, married or
unmarried, from ten to twelve. It made sexual intercourse illegal with a girl below the age of twelve
and also forbade child marriage below the age of twelve.

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Seva Sadan

• Shri Behramji Malabari and his friend Diwan Dayaram Gidumal established the Seva Sadan Soci-
ety in 1908 in Mumbai. The organization aimed to offer shelter to impoverished and oppressed
women from all communities. Additionally, it provided education, medical, and welfare services to
them.

Rukhmabai Case (1887)

• Rukhmabai Raut, one of the first female doctors to practice medicine in British India, staunchly op-
posed child marriage.
• Rukhmabai was married off at the age of 11 to Dadaji Bhikaji, who was 19. She refused to stay with
Bhikaji and his family at his house. This led to the Dadaji Bhikaji vs Rukhmabai case, 1885.
• When Bhikaji filed for "restitution of conjugal rights," Rukhmabai argued that the marriage was not
binding since she had not consented to it at the age of 11.
• After many hearings, the court affirmed the marriage, and in March 1887, Rukhmabai was ordered to
live with her husband or face a six-month jail term.
• Rukhmabai wrote to Queen Victoria about her situation. The Queen overruled the court’s verdict and
dissolved the marriage. In July 1888, Dadaji accepted monetary compensation of two thousand rupees
to dissolve the marriage.
• The Rukhmabai case led to the enactment of the Age of Consent Act in 1891.

[UPSC 2020] In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around:
1. Women’s right to gain education
2. Age of consent
3. Restitution of conjugal rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B
371

Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929)

MIH-I – Pre-1857

• In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was enacted, setting the minimum age of marriage for
girls and boys at 16 and 18, respectively. This law is commonly called the Sarda Act, named after its
sponsor, Harbilas Sarda, a judge and member of Arya Samaj.

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[UPSC 2021] Trace the rise and growth of socio-religious reform movements with special
reference to Young Bengal and Brahmo Samaj.
Approach
 Briefly introduce the socio-religious reform movements.
 Explain the reasons for the rise and growth of Socio-Religious Reforms. Mention the different meth-
ods and how the reform issues broadened in the second half of the 18th century.
 Briefly explain why socio-religious reforms started first in Bengal, mentioning Young Bengal and
Brahmo Samaj as the earliest among all.
 Explain the rise and growth of the Brahmo Samaj and Young Bengal movements with their leaders, as
well as their contribution and impact.

[UPSC 2017] The women's questions arose in modern India as a part of the 19th century
social reform movement. What were the major issues and debates concerning women in
that period?

15.8. Summary

• In the 19th century, India saw the rise of various intellectual movements aimed at the regeneration
and progress of the country in all aspects of life, including religion, society, culture, economy, and
politics. While the goal was to bring overall progress, the main focus remained on the social and
religious domains.

Causes of Socio-Religious Reforms

• Impact of modern Western culture: Western conquest exposed the weakness and decay of Indian
society. This led some to look for the defects of their society and for ways and means of removing
them.
• Western education among Indians: The English-educated Indians used the newly acquired Western
knowledge to analyse their socio-religious conditions.
• Christian Missionary Activities

Methods of Reform 372

• Reforms in socio-religious practices were pursued through four major methods:

1. Reform from Within
MIH-I – Pre-1857

2. Reform through Legislation

3. Reform through Symbol of Change
4. Reform through Social Work

Reforms in Eastern India (Bengal)

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• Raja Rammohun Roy: Roy fought against social injustice and inequality all his life. By reforming
Hindu religion from within, Roy laid the foundations for reforming Indian society.
 In 1818, Rammohun Roy started a campaign against the practice of sati. Because of his consistent
efforts, Lord William Bentinck passed a law against the practice of Sati in 1829.
 In 1828, Roy established a new society, the Brahma Sabha, later known as the Brahma Samaj. Its
primary purpose was to rid Hinduism of its evils and to preach monotheism.
• Debendranath Tagore: In 1839, Debendranath Tagore founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha and started
its organ, the Tatvabodhini Patrika, to propagate Rammohun Roy's ideas and to promote a systematic
study of India's past in the Bengali language. In 1843, he joined, and reorganised the Brahmo Samaj.
• Keshab Chandra Sen: Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1857. Due to differences with
Debendranath Tagore, in 1868, Sen formed a new organisation called Bharatbarsiya Brahma Samaj
(The Brahma Samaj of India).
• Young Bengal movement: Anglo-Indian Henry Vivian Derozio started the Young Bengal movement,
which was more modern and radical than Rammohun Roy's Brahmo Samaj. The Derozians attacked
old and decadent customs, rites and traditions. They were advocates of women's rights and de-
manded education for them. However, they did not succeed in creating a movement.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: Vidyasagar campaigned for widow remarriage and women's education.
Because of his efforts, a law permitting widow remarriage was passed in 1856.
• Ramakrishna Mission: Swamy Vivekananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna founded the Ramakrishna
Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social work. Vivekananda proclaimed the essential one-
ness of all religions. He personally followed Vedanta, which he considered a fully rational system.

Reforms in Western India

• Manav Dharma Sabha: It was the first socio-religious reform association in Gujarat. Its main objective
was to highlight the positive side of true religion based on truth and morality.
• Students Literary and Scientific Society: In 1848, the Students Literary and Scientific Society was
founded to develop an interest in literary and scientific knowledge. The Society established many
schools to promote female education in Bombay.
• Paramahansa Mandali: It was the first socio-religious organisation in Maharashtra. Its members were
primarily interested in breaking caste rules and fighting idolatry. At its meetings, members ate food
373

cooked by low-caste people.

• Prarthana Samaj: It was founded in 1867 in Mumbai. It attempted to reform the religion from within.
MIH-I – Pre-1857

It preached monotheism and tried to free religion of caste orthodoxy and priestly domination.

Reforms in North India

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• Swami Dayanand Saraswati: In 1875, he founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay to reform Hinduism. He
considered the Puranas to be full of false teachings. He regarded the Vedas as infallible and gave a
call: "Go back to the Vedas."

Religious Reform among the Parsis

• Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (Religious Reform Association) was formed in 1851. It campaigned for
the introduction and spread of education among women, the grant of legal status to women, and
uniform laws of inheritance and marriage for the Parsi community.

Religious Reforms Among Muslims

• Mohammedan Literary Society: The religious reform movement among Muslims started with the
establishment of the Mohammedan Literary Society in 1863 in Kolkata. The society promoted discus-
sion of religious, social, and political questions in light of modern ideas and encouraged upper—and
middle-class Muslims to pursue Western education.
• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Syed Ahmad Khan worked throughout his life to spread modern education
among Muslims. In 1875, he founded the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh as a centre
for spreading Western sciences and culture.

Emancipation of Women
• Sati Practice: Raja Rammohun Roy campaigned against sati. Finally, Lord William Bentinck declared
the practice of sati illegal in 1829.
• Female education: Bombay was ahead of Bengal in female education
 On January 1, 1848, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule started India’s first school for
girls at Bhide Wada in Pune
 Student's Literary and Scientific Society (1848) promoted the female education in Bombay.
• Widow Remarriage: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar campaigned for widows to remarry. British officials
adopted his suggestion, and a law permitting widow remarriage was passed in 1856.
• Child Marriage: Due to the Rukhmabai case and the pressure of social reformers like Malabari, the
government passed the Age of Consent Act of 1891. This Act raised the age of consent for all girls,
married or unmarried, from ten to twelve. 374

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

MIH-I – Pre-1857

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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY

PMF IAS
Modern Indian History (MIH)
Part II – Post-1857

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1. British Administration in India – II (1858-1947)

1.1. Administrative Changes After 1858

• The company's economic and administrative policies caused widespread dissatisfaction, which, along
with various other factors, led to the 1857 revolt.
• Although the revolt of 1857 was completely suppressed, it shook the foundations of British rule in
India. It forced the British to reorganise their administration and change their policies regarding Indian
society, government, and economy.
• As a result, significant changes were made to the structure and policies of the Indian government in the
following decades.
• Other reasons for the administrative changes were:
1. Intensification of the Industrial Revolution: During the latter half of the 19th century, industriali-
sation occurred in European nations, the USA and Japan. This led to intense global competition
for markets, sources of raw materials and outlets for capital investment.
 As newcomers emerged, Britain faced a challenge to its dominant position in world capitalism.
In response, it made a vigorous effort to consolidate its control over its existing empire and to
expand it further.
2. British Capital: After 1850, a significant amount of British capital was invested in railways, loans
to the Government of India, tea plantations, coal mining, jute mills, shipping, trade, and banking.
British rule in India needed to be strengthened and enforced more strictly to ensure this British
capital was safe from economic and political risks.

Queen's Proclamation (1858)

• On August 2, 1858, the British Parliament passed the bill for the Better Government of India, intro-
duced by Lord Stanley, the President of the Board of Control, and it became the Government of
India Act, 1858.
• The Act transferred the power to govern India from the East India Company to the British Crown
and declared Queen Victoria as the sovereign of British India.
1

 In actual practice, the power of the crown was exercisable by the Secretary of State for India, a
Minister of Cabinet rank, who was to be assisted by an undersecretary and a council of fifteen
MIH-II – Post-1857

members.
• The various changes introduced by the Act of 1858 were formally announced by a proclamation of
Queen Victoria on November 1, 1858. Lord Canning, at Allahabad, announced Queen Victoria’s proc-
lamation to "the Princes, Chiefs and Peoples of India."

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• The Queen's proclamation, known as the Magna Carta of the Indian people, disclaimed territorial
extensions, promised religious toleration, guaranteed the rights of Indian princes, and pledged
equal treatment to Indians and Europeans. The proclamation declared that:
 Those who laid down arms by 2 January 1859 would be pardoned except those directly involved
in the murder of British subjects
 Official service would be open to all
 Due regard would be given to the ancient usages and customs of India
 The Revolt of 1857 ended an era of annexations and expansion and guaranteed the support for
“native princes”. It declared that princes could adopt any heirs they desired as long as they pledged
their undying allegiance to the British crown.
 The year 1857 marks a significant shift in Indian history, with British paramountcy in the first half
and the growth of Indian nationalism in the second half of the 19th century.

Government of India Act 1858

• As the Charter Act of 1853 did not give the EIC the right to govern India for another 20 years, it
gave the British Government an opportunity to step in and take the place of the EIC in India.

Changes brought by the Act of 1858

• Transfer of Power: The Government of India passed from the hands of the English EIC to the crown,
and the company's armed forces were also transferred to the crown.
 The Crown was empowered to appoint a Governor-General and the governors of the presidencies.
• Secretary of State: The Board of Control and Court of Directors were abolished and replaced by the
Secretary of State of India and his India Council. The dual control of the President of the Board of
Control and the Directors of the Company was abolished, and all the authority was centred on the
Secretary of State.
• The Secretary of State was a member of the British Cabinet and, as such, responsible to British
Parliament. Thus, the ultimate power over India remained with Parliament.
• The Secretary of State was to be assisted by a Council of fifteen members, of whom at least nine
would have served in India for not less than ten years and left India not more than ten years before
their appointment to the Council.
2

 Lord Stanley was India's first Secretary of State for India.

Secretary of State: De facto Ruler

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Secretary of State had the authority to override the decisions made by the India Council. How-
ever, the Council's approval was essential in financial matters.
• The Secretary of State was given the power to send and receive secret messages and dispatches from
the Governor General without communicating them to the India Council.

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• After 1870, the Secretary of State controlled the minute details of administration and effectively
became the de facto government of India. This was possible because of the following developments:
 The Suez Canal was opened in 1869.
 A direct cable line was laid between England and India in 1870.
 The voyages between the two countries were shortened by the introduction of steam vessels.

Central Administration
Government of India Act 1858
• Viceroy: The central administration in India remained in the Governor-General’s hands, who was also
given the title of Viceroy or Crown's representative. The viceroy was also responsible for diplomatic
relations with the princely states.
 Lord Canning, the Governor-General, became the first Viceroy. He had the unique opportunity to
become both the Governor-General and the first Viceroy.
• Executive Council: An executive council of five members was formed to help the Governor-General.
The executive council members were to act as the heads of the departments and advisors to the
Governor General.
 The Council discussed all important matters and decided them by a majority vote, but the Gov-
ernor-General had the power to override any important decision of the Council.
• In matters of policy and execution, the viceroy was increasingly reduced to a subordinate position in
relation to the British Government. The Government of India was directly controlled by the Secretary
of State from London. The viceroy was directly responsible to the secretary of state for India.

Control from London

Before 1858

• Through the various acts, the Government of India was effectively controlled from London. But, the
power to make important policy decisions rested with the Governor-General, as instructions from
London could take weeks to arrive.
• Therefore, control by the authorities in London was more of a post-facto evaluation and criticism
than actual direction. They supervised the administration of India but did not run it.

After 1858
3

• By 1870, a submarine cable was established through the Red Sea, connecting England and India.
MIH-II – Post-1857

With this new means of communication, orders from London could be transmitted to India in hours.
• This allowed the Secretary of State to have constant and detailed control over the administration
of India.

[UPSC 2014] What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858)?

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1. To disclaim any intention to annex Indian states

2. To place the Indian Administration under the British Crown
3. To regulate East India Company's trade with India
Select the correct answer from the following options.
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1 2 and 3
Answer: A

The Indian Councils Act of 1861

• The Indian Councils Act of 1861 increased the number of members in the Governor-General's Execu-
tive Council from 4 to 5.
• For legislative purposes, the Governor-General was authorised to add six to twelve members to his
Executive Council for two years. This expanded Council was called the Imperial Legislative Council.
• In the expansion of the council:
 At least half had to be non-officials, both European and Indian, not in the service of the Crown.
 The viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members.

Expansion of the Governor-General’s legislative power

• The approval of the Governor-General was required for the bill passed by the legislature to become
an act.
• Governor-General’s Ordinances had the validity of an Act.

Limitations of the Imperial Legislative Council

1. Toothless Body: The Imperial Legislative Council was merely an advisory body with no real powers.
 It had no control over the executive and the Budget.
 It could not discuss the administrative decisions; the members could not even ask questions about
them.
 The Secretary of State had the power to invalidate any Act passed by the Legislative Council.
2. Unrepresentative: The Indian members of the legislative council were few and were not elected by
4

the Indian people but were nominated by the Governor-General.

 The earlier non-official members were mostly ruling princes, their diwans, or big landlords. They
MIH-II – Post-1857

were unrepresentative of the Indian people or the growing nationalist opinion.

 In 1862, Lord Canning nominated three Indians to the council, namely, Maharaja Sir Narendra
Singh of Patiala, Raja Sir Deo Narayan Singh of Benaras and Sir Dinkar Rao of Gwalior.

Indian Councils Act of 1892

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• In its first session, the Indian National Congress demanded several changes in the administration,
which resulted in the passage of the Act of 1892.
• By the Act of 1892, the number of members in the legislative council was increased from 10 to 16,
but the official majority was maintained. It empowered the Council:
 To ask questions to the executive.
 To indulge in a free and fair criticism of the government's policy.
 To discuss the annual financial statement (budget).
• Under this Act, the council had no right to vote on the budget.
• Thus, the act gave rights to the council, which were Parliamentary in nature.

Indian Councils Act of 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms)

• The Indian Councils Act of 1909 was passed due to the increasing pressure from early Congress
(moderates) to introduce reforms. It was named after Secretary of State John Morley and Viceroy
Lord Minto.
• It increased the strength of the imperial legislative council from 16 to 60, but the official majority
was maintained. The additional members were both nominated and elected.
• It made the provision for separate representation for Muslims, which was the beginning of commu-
nal representation, which logically led to the partition of the country on a communal basis.

Lord Minto

• Lord Minto was the Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1905-10. He is known as the father
of the communal electorate.
• It empowered the Governor-General to nominate one Indian Member to his Executive Council.

Satyendra Prasanna Sinha

• Satyendra Prasanna Sinha was the first Indian to become the Advocate-General of Bengal in 1905
and also the first Indian to enter the Governor General's Executive Council in 1909.
• Sinha was an active member of the Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1919, when he left the
organisation with other moderates. In 1915, he was elected to preside over the Bombay session of
the Congress.
• It empowered the Council:
5

 To ask supplementary questions (though restricted): The member who asked the original ques-
tion was given the right to ask supplementary questions.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 To vote on some part of the budget (the votable part).

 To move the resolution on the matters of public interest.
• It introduced the elections (though indirect elections).

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 In 1907, two Indians, Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta and Nawab Syed Hussain Bilgrami, were ap-
pointed by Lord Morley as members of the Secretary of States' Council.

Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms)

• The following factors were responsible for the further constitutional reforms:
 The association of the Government of India with the Allies in the First World War.
 The Congress-League Lucknow Pact of 1916
 The Extremists re-joining the Indian National Congress
 The Home Rule Movement
• Montague, the Secretary of State for India, declared in August 1917 the policy of increasing the
association of Indians in every branch of administration.
• Montagu Declaration (1917) promised the 'gradual development of the self-governing institution,
with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India.’ The same phrase was
used in the preamble to the Government of India Act 1919.
• Montague toured India with Lord Chelmsford, and the Montague-Chelmsford report proposed the re-
forms of 1919.
• The objective of the Act was the gradual introduction of a responsible government in India.

The main features of the Act

• Bi-cameral Legislature: The Imperial Legislative Council was enlarged and reformed. It became a bi-
cameral legislature consisting of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the Council of State
(upper house).
• Extension of Communal Electorates: Other than Muslims, the minorities, including Sikhs, Anglo-
Indians, Indian Christians and Europeans, were given the right of a separate electorate.
• Relaxation of Control: The British parliament's control over the Indian government was relaxed, and
that of the Central government over the provincial government was reduced.
• Extension of Power of Governor-General: The consent of the Governor-General was required for
every bill passed by the both houses. This was in addition to veto power.
 The Governor General could overrule the decisions of his Executive Council.
 He had full control over foreign and political departments (departments dealing with princely
States in India).
6

• Governor-General's Executive Council: To involve more Indians in the government, it was provided
MIH-II – Post-1857

that three out of the six members of the Governor-General's Executive Council would be Indians.
 However, these Indian members were assigned less important portfolios, like Law, Education,
Labour, Health, or Industry. They reported to the Governor-General, who, in turn, reported to the
Secretary of State, not the Legislature.

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 The Council of the Secretary of State was to have eight to twelve members, with three Indian
Members.
 The Secretary of the state was to follow the advice rendered by the Council.

No Responsible Government

• The chief executive authority remained vested in the Governor-General, who remained responsible
to the British Parliament through the Secretary of State and not to the Indian Legislature. Thus, the
Governor General had too many powers and was not responsible to the Legislature.

Limitations

• The Central Government was more representative and responsive but not responsible.
• The Government of India was still to be responsible to the British Parliament.
• The central legislature had no control over the Governor-General and his Executive Council.

Government of India Act of 1935

• The Act proposed an All India Federation of British provinces and princely states.
• It provided a bicameral legislature at the Centre:
1. The lower house (the Federal Assembly): It consists of 375 members: 250 (67%) were elected by
the legislative assemblies of the British Indian provinces; 125 (33%) were nominated by the rulers
of the princely states.
2. The upper house (the Council of State): It consists of 260 members: 156 (60%) were elected from
British India, and 104 (40%) were nominated by the rulers of the princely states.
• It divided the power between the centre and units in three lists:
1. Federal list (59 subjects): For Centres
2. Provincial list (54 subjects): For provinces
3. Concurrent list (36 subjects): Residuary powers were given to the Governor-General.
• It provided a Federal Court to interpret the provisions and to decide over inter-province disputes.
• The principle of Dyarchy was introduced at the Centre.

Limitations

• The proposed All India Federation did not materialise as the princely states did not join it.
It retained the supremacy of the British Parliament. All rights to amend, alter, or repeal the provisions
7

•
were kept with the British Parliament.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• There was no mention of Dominion status and the inclusion of provisions to attain it.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 proposed a Federal form of government for India and car-
ried the essential features of the Federation:
 A written constitution.
 Division of subjects between federal and provincial governments.

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 A Federal Court to interpret the provisions of the Constitution.

• This Act greatly influenced our constitution-making in independent India.

[UPSC 2018] In the federation established by the Government of India Act of 1935, resid-
uary powers given to the
a) Federal Legislature
b) Governor General
c) Provincial Legislature
d) Provincial Governors
Answer: B

Provincial Administration
• The British divided India into provinces for administrative convenience. Three were known as Presi-
dencies: Bengal, Madras, and Bombay.
• The Presidencies were administered by a Governor and his Executive Council, appointed by the
Crown. Other provinces were administered by Lieutenant Governors and Chief Commissioners ap-
pointed by the Governor-General.
• The Presidency Governments possessed more rights and powers than other provinces.

The Indian Councils Act of 1861

• The provincial governments had significant autonomy until 1833, when their power to enact laws
was revoked. The Act of 1861 returned the legislative power of the Madras and Bombay presidencies,
but they had to obtain permission from the Governor-General to pass an act.
• It laid down that legislative councils like that of the centre should be established first in Bombay,
Madras and Bengal and then in other provinces. Thus, it marked the turning of the tide of centrali-
sation.
• The Governor General was given the power to create new provinces for legislative purposes and
could appoint Lieutenant Governors.
 New legislative councils for Bengal, the Northwestern Provinces, and Punjab were established in
1862, 1886, and 1897, respectively.
• In 1859, Lord Canning introduced the portfolio system in Calcutta's government. The Indian Councils
8

Act of 1861 recognised this system and transformed the viceroy’s Executive Council into a miniature
MIH-II – Post-1857

cabinet run on the portfolio system. Under this system, each of the five members was placed in charge
of a distinct department - home, revenue, military, finance, and law.

Provincial Administration and Finance

Centralisation of Finance

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• The revenues from all over the country and different sources were gathered at the centre and dis-
tributed to the provincial governments. The Central Government exercised strict control over the
smallest details of provincial expenditure.
• But this system proved quite wasteful in practice. This was because:
 It was impossible for the Central Government to supervise a provincial government's efficient
collection of revenues or to keep an adequate check on its expenditure.
 A provincial government had no motive to be economical.
• Therefore, the authorities decided to decentralise public finance.

De-centralisation of Finance

Lord Mayo
• The first step in the direction of separating central and provincial finances was taken in 1870 by Lord
Mayo.
• The provincial governments were granted fixed sums from central revenues to administer services
like Police, Jails, Education, Medical Services, and Roads. They were asked to administer them as they
wished.

Lord Lytton
• Lord Mayo’s scheme was enlarged in 1877 by Lord Lytton, who transferred to the provinces certain
other heads of expenditure like Land Revenue, Excise, General Administration, and Law and Justice.
• To meet the additional expenditure, a provincial government was to get a fixed share of the income
realised from that province from certain sources like Stamps, Excise Taxes, and Income Tax.

Lord Ripon
• Further changes in these arrangements were made in 1882 during the Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon.
• The system of giving fixed grants to the provinces was ended, and instead, a province was to get the
entire income within it from certain sources of revenue and a fixed share of the income from other
sources.
• Thus, all sources of revenue were now divided into three—general, provincial, and those to be divided
between the centre and the provinces. This arrangement continued till 1902.

An Appraisal
9

• The different measures of financial decentralisation taken by the government did not really mean the
MIH-II – Post-1857

beginning of genuine provincial autonomy or Indian participation in provincial administration. They

were much more in the nature of administrative reorganisation aimed at increasing the revenue and
reducing the expenditure.

Indian Councils Act of 1892

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• The number of members in the provincial legislative councils increased, but the official majority
was maintained.

Indian Councils Act of 1909

• The number of members in the provincial legislative councils increased, and they were allowed a
non-official majority.

Government of India Act of 1919

• The Act introduced the dyarchy at the provincial level, i.e. dual government in the provinces. Under
this, the provincial administration was divided between reserved and transferred subjects.
 Reserved List: The councillors nominated by the Governor controlled reserved subjects and were
not responsible to the provincial legislature. It included key subjects such as defence (the military),
foreign affairs, and communications.
 Transferred List: Transferred subjects were controlled by the ministers responsible to the provin-
cial legislature. It included agriculture, supervision of local government, health, and education.
• Under the Act, the partially responsible government was introduced in the provinces. The minister
was responsible to the legislature, whereas the governor was exempt from such responsibility.
• More elected members in the Legislative Council: It consisted of the Governor's Executive Council,
elected and nominated members. It was stipulated that a minimum of 70% of Council members must
be elected officials, with official members not exceeding 20%.
• The Act provided the complete separation of the sources of revenue between the central and pro-
vincial governments.
• The Secretary of State was not allowed to interfere in the administrative matters of the provinces
concerning transferred subjects.
• Government of India Act of 1919 divided the Central and provincial subjects.
1. Central List: Foreign and political relations, the public debt, tariff and customs, patents, currency,
communications etc.
2. Provincial List: Local self-government, health, sanitation, education, public works. agriculture,
forests, law and order, etc.
 Transferred Subjects: Local self-government, health, education and some departments re-
10

lating to agriculture.
 Reserved Subjects: Police, justice, control over printing presses, irrigation, land revenue,
MIH-II – Post-1857

factories etc.
• The residual powers were vested in the Governor-General in Council.

Limitations

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 The experiment of diarchy failed. The excessive control of the finance department (reserved subject)
over the administration of transferred subjects affected their smooth functioning. Transferred subjects
starved financially as they needed more money for development.
 The reserved subjects were to be administered by the Governor and his Executive Council. They were
appointed by the British Government and were jointly responsible to the Governor-General and the
Secretary of State for India.
 The Governor exercised effective powers over the whole administration through the Instrument of In-
struction and Executive Business Rules.
 The powers of the legislature were limited or restricted.
 The Governor could overrule the Ministers on any grounds which he considered special.
 The central government had unrestricted control over the provincial governments.

Positive Developments

 Dyarchy failed, but it showed the way for further reform—a federal government that should be more
representative and responsive.
 It created a parliamentary atmosphere in the legislature and gave people an opportunity to have a
look at the administration.
 During this period, some major reforms pertaining to local government (Bombay, Bengal) and edu-
cation and social welfare (Madras) were carried out.
 Almost in every province, the right to vote was extended to women.

INC’s Stand

• The Indian National Congress was unsatisfied with the reforms and rejected the Act. It boycotted
the first elections (1920) but decided to participate in the second election in 1924.
• However, some INC leaders, such as Annie Besant, Bipin Chandra Pal, Surendranath Banerjee, and Tej
Bahadur Sapru, accepted the Act and were ready to cooperate with the government. They left the
Congress.
• Surendranath Banerjee and Tej Bahadur Sapru formed the Indian Liberal Federation and were nor-
mally called "Liberals". Madan Mohan Malaviya supported the reforms, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah re-
signed from the Indian National Congress.
11

Indian General Election (1920)

• General elections were held in British India in 1920 to elect members to the Imperial Legislative
MIH-II – Post-1857

Council and the Provincial Councils. They were the first elections in the country's modern history.

[UPSC 2015] The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined

a) the separation of power between the judiciary and the legislature
b) the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments

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c) the powers of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy
d) None of the above
Answer: B

[UPSC 2022] In the Government of India Act 1919, the functions of Provincial Government
were divided into “Reserved” and “Transferred” subjects. Which of the following were
treated as “Reserved” subjects?
1. Administration of Justice
2. Local Self-Government
3. Land Revenue
4. Police
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1, 2 and 3
b) 2, 3 and 4
c) 1, 3 and 4
d) 1, 2 and 4
Answer: C

[UPSC 2017] In the context of Indian history, the principle of `Dyarchy (diarchy)’ refers to
a) Division of the central legislature into two houses.
b) Introduction of double government, i.e., Central and State governments.
c) Having two sets of rulers, one in London and another in Delhi.
d) Division of the subjects delegated to the provinces into two categories.
Answer: D

[UPSC 2012] Which of the following is/are the principal feature(s) of the Government of
India Act, 1919?
1. Introduction of diarchy in the executive government of the provinces
2. Introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims
3. Devolution of legislative authority by the center to the provinces
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
12

a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
MIH-II – Post-1857

c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: C

Government of India Act of 1935

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• The Act abolished the dyarchy at provinces and introduced provincial autonomy. The distinction
between transferred and reserved subjects was removed, and the administration was entrusted with
the ministers responsible to the legislature.
• It introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces.

Limitations

• The governor's power restricted the power of ministers and legislature in the provinces.

Local Bodies
• In the late 19th century, the government found it necessary to introduce European advancements in
civic facilities in India due to the following factors:
 Rising Indian nationalist movement: It demanded modern improvements in civic life.
 India’s increasing contact with Europe: As India increased its contact with Europe, it became nec-
essary to transplant some European advancements into India.
• Thus, the need for the education of the masses, sanitation, water supply, better roads, and other civic
amenities was increasingly felt.
• However, the government's heavy expenditures on the army and railways left no finances for civic
facilities. It could not increase its income through new taxes as the burden of the existing taxation
was already very heavy on the poor, and a further addition to it was likely to create discontent against
the Government.
• The authorities believed that the people would be willing to pay new taxes if they knew that the funds
would be spent on their own welfare. As a result, they decided to delegate responsibility for local
services such as education, health, sanitation, and water supply to local bodies who would finance them
through locally imposed taxes.
• Thus, the financial difficulties led the Government to further decentralise administration by pro-
moting local government through municipalities and district boards.
• Many Englishmen had also pressed for the formation of local bodies on other grounds. They believed
associating Indians with the administration would prevent them from becoming politically disaf-
fected. This association could take place at the level of local bodies without endangering the British
monopoly of power in India.
13

 In 1688, the British established the oldest Municipal Corporation in India at Madras. They estab-
lished similar bodies in Bombay and Calcutta in 1726.
MIH-II – Post-1857

The Beginning
• Local bodies were established between 1864 and 1868. However, in almost every case, they consisted
of nominated members and were presided over by District Magistrates. Therefore, they did not rep-
resent local self-government. Indians viewed them as tools for extracting additional taxes.

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Lord Mayo’s Resolution (1870)

• It stressed the need to introduce self-government in local areas to raise local resources to administer
important local services and provide local interest and care in managing their funds.
• The various provincial governments, such as in Bengal, Madras, North-Western Province, and Punjab,
passed municipal acts to implement the policy outlined.

Lord Ripon’s Resolution (1882)

• In 1882, the government resolution laid down the policy of administering local affairs largely through
rural and urban local bodies. The important provisions were:
 A majority of the members would be non-officials.
 The non-official members would be elected by the people wherever possible to hold elections.
 The non-official members could be elected as Chairman of a local body.
• Lord Ripon is often called the father of local self-government in India. His resolution marked a significant
milestone in the history of local governance.

Limitations

• The elected members were in a minority in all the district boards and most municipalities.
• The right to vote was severely restricted.
• The Government retained the right to exercise strict control over the activities of the local bodies and
to suspend and supersede them at its discretion.
• Except in the Presidency cities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the local bodies functioned just like
departments of the Government. They were in no way good examples of local self-government.

Views of Indians

• The politically conscious Indians welcomed Ripon's resolution. They worked actively in these local
bodies with the hope that, in time, they could be transformed into effective organs of local self-govern-
ment.

Government of India Act of 1919

• Local self-government was made a ‘transferred’ subject under Dyarchy. However, finance was a re-
served subject, which prevented Indian ministers from working due to lack of funds.
14

The Government of India Act of 1935

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Government of India Act of 1935 brought the finance portfolio under popular ministries, which
made funds available for the development of local bodies. This played a crucial role in fostering the
establishment of self-governing institutions at the local level in India.
• Additionally, new Acts were introduced in the provinces, granting more power and authority to local
bodies.

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Local Governments in Independent India

• During India’s freedom movement, Mahatma Gandhi strongly pleaded for decentralising economic
and political power. He believed that strengthening village panchayats was a means of effective
decentralisation.
• When the Constitution was prepared, the subject of local government was assigned to the States and
included in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV, Article 40).
• Article 40 directed the state to establish village panchayats and give them the authority to function
as self-governing units.
• It is believed that the Constitution did not give sufficient importance to local government, spe-
cifically panchayats. This was because:
1. The turmoil due to the Partition resulted in a strong unitary inclination in the Constitution.
Nehru himself viewed extreme localism as a threat to the unity and integration of the nation.
2. There was a powerful voice in the Constituent Assembly led by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who felt that
the faction and caste-ridden nature of rural society would defeat the noble purpose of local
government at the rural level.
• In accordance with the provisions of Directive Principles of State Policy regarding the establishment of
village panchayats as autonomous units of self-governance:
 The Community Development Program was launched in 1952. Its primary goal was to achieve the
socio-economic development of village life through democratic and cooperative organizations cre-
ated by the people themselves.
 In 1953, the National Extension Service was launched, which was an expanded version of the Com-
munity Development Program.
• Local governments got a fillip after the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Acts, which provided
the constitutional status to Panchayats and Municipalities.

1.2. Administrative Organisation

• After 1858, the organs of administrative control in India, the Indian army, the Police, and the Civil
Service were reorganised to exclude Indians from an effective share in administration.
• In the past, it was acknowledged that the British were taking steps to prepare Indians for self-govern-
15

ance. However, now, it was openly declared that Indians were not capable of ruling themselves, and
thus, Britain had to continue to rule them for an indefinite period.
MIH-II – Post-1857

The Civil Service

• In 1858, the Indian administration came directly under the Crown. The Government of India Act of
1858 vested the power of superior appointments of a political nature with Her Majesty.

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• The responsibility for conducting competitive examinations to appoint Her Majesty's civil service was
transferred to the Civil Service Commission in London.

Indian Civil Service Act of 1861

• The Indian Civil Service Act of 1861 reserved certain principal posts for the members of the cove-
nanted service. All these posts were put in a schedule. It also stated that any person, Indian or Euro-
pean, could be appointed to any of the offices specified in the schedule annexed to the Act, provided:
 He had resided for at least seven years in India.
 He had to pass an examination in the vernacular language of the district in which he was em-
ployed
 such appointment would be subjected to departmental tests and other qualifications as the au-
thorities might impose
• The Act virtually remained a 'dead letter' due to authorities' reluctance to enforce it and the difficulties
in implementing recruitment requirements.

Act of 1870
• There was growing demand by educated Indians to secure employment in the Covenanted Civil
Service.
• The British Parliament passed an Act in 1870 authorising the appointment of any Indian (of proven
merit and ability) to any office or the civil service without reference to the Act of 1861, which reserved
specific appointments to the covenanted service.
• However, this Act did not make the desired headway, as opinion was divided on throwing open all
civil appointments or establishing a proportion between Indians and Europeans in the tenure of higher
offices.

Statutory Civil Service (1879)

• In 1879, Lord Lytton established the Statutory Civil Service. It consisted of one-sixth of covenanted
civil service posts filled by Indians nominated by the local government, subject to the approval of
the Government of India and the Secretary of State.
• Unfortunately, the statutory system also failed to achieve the purpose for which it was created, and
finally, the Statutory Civil Service was abolished.
16

Indian National Congress Demand (1885)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• In its first session in December 1885, the Indian National Congress passed a resolution for holding
simultaneous civil service examinations in England and India.
• This increased the pressure on the government to implement the Indianisation of civil service, and the
Aitchison Commission was appointed in 1886.

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Aitchison Commission (1886)

• A Commission headed by Sir Charles Aitchison was appointed in 1886 to prepare a scheme for admit-
ting Indians to every branch of public service.
• It recommended:
 To drop covenanted and uncovenanted terms.
 To abolish the Statutory Civil Service
 Three-fold classification of civil services into - Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
 To raise the age limit to 23

After Aitchison Commission's Recommendation

• As recommended by the Commission, the Statutory Civil Service was abolished. The designation
covenanted civil service was also abolished, and the civil services of the country were divided into
three grades -
1. Imperial civil service: The recruiting and controlling authority was the ‘Secretary of State’.
2. Provincial civil service: The appointing and controlling authority was the respective provincial gov-
ernment.
3. Subordinate civil service
• The practice of holding examinations for entry to the civil service in England continued as the Com-
mission strongly advocated it. The Commission considered that since the Indian Civil Service repre-
sented the only permanent English official element in India, examinations in England became essential
to maintaining the English principles and methods of the government.

Islington Commission (1912)

• The demand for Indianisation became persistent, and there was mounting pressure to hold simulta-
neous examinations in England and India.
• Once again, the question of Indianisation was examined by a Public Service Commission in 1912 under
the chairmanship of Lord Islington, the then Governor of New Zealand. It took nearly four years to
submit the report.
• The Commission observed that at that time, Indians constituted only 5% of the civil service. The Com-
mission supported "two separate channels of access to the Indian Civil Service itself, one in England
17

(open to all alike) and one in India (open to statutory natives of India only)".
• It sought to apply a method for inducting Indians to higher offices by reserving twenty-five per
MIH-II – Post-1857

cent of posts for them, i.e. 189 out of 755 posts were to be filled by them.
• It proposed categorising the services under the Government of India into Class I and II.

Montford Reforms (1919)

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• Montague, the Secretary of State for India, declared in August 1917 the policy of increasing the asso-
ciation of Indians in every branch of administration.
• The Montford Reforms recommended:
 Holding a separate competitive examination in India
 Thirty-three per cent for superior posts to be recruited from India, with an annual increase of
one-and-a-half per cent

Government of India Act of 1919

• The Government of India Act of 1919 recommended:
 Holding a separate (not simultaneous) competitive examination in India
 Establishment of a Public Service Commission in India

After the Act Government of India Act of 1919:

• In February 1922, the first competitive examination in India was held in Allahabad under the super-
vision of the Civil Service Commission. The Indian candidates selected based on their results were put
on probation for two years at an English University.
• No decision was taken on setting up the Public Service Commission in India, and the subject was
then referred to the Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India (Lee Commission).

The Lee Commission

• In 1923, a Royal Commission on Superior Civil Services in India under the chairmanship of Lord Lee
was appointed.

Recommendations of the Commission

Division of Services
• The division of main services into three classes : (a) All India, (b) central, and (c) provincial.
• The Commission recommended that the Secretary of State should retain the powers of appointment
and control of the All India Services (mainly Indian Civil Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Medical
Service, Indian Forest Service and Indian Service of Engineers) operating in the reserved fields of admin-
istration.
• The recruitment and appointment of personnel for transferred fields, such as the Indian Educational
18

Service, Indian Agricultural Service, Indian Veterinary Services, etc., were to be made by the local gov-
ernments concerned, which meant that these services would be provincialised.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Indianisation
• Direct recruitment to ICS based on 50:50 parity between the Europeans and the Indians was to be
established in 15 years.

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• Out of every hundred posts of Indian Civil Service, forty should be filled by direct recruitment of Euro-
peans, forty by the direct recruitment of Indians and twenty by promotion from the provincial service
so that in fifteen years, i.e. by 1939, Indians would hold half and half by Europeans.

Public Service Commission

• Statutory Public Service Commission contemplated by the Government of India Act, 1919, should be
established immediately.

Public Service Commission

• The Public Service Commission was established on October 1, 1926. It consisted of four members
in addition to the Chairman.
• Sir Ross Barker, a member of the Home Civil Service of the United Kingdom, was the first Chair-
man of the Commission.
• The Commission supervised the examination for recruitment to civil service in 1927 on behalf of
the Civil Service Commission in England.

The Government of India Act, 1935

• The Act provided for the establishment of the Federal Public Service Commission, Provincial Public
Service Commission and Joint Public Service Commission for two or more states.
• As a result of the introduction of provincial autonomy under the Act, only three services, i.e., the Indian
Civil Service, the Indian Police Service and the Indian Medical Service, were to continue as All India
Services.
• Recruitment to other All India Services (Indian Agricultural Service, Veterinary Service, Educational Ser-
vice, Service of Engineers, Forest) was provincialised.

The Army
• The army was an important pillar of the British regime to maintain its paramountcy in India.
• The bulk of the Company’s army consisted of Indian soldiers. In 1857, the Indian constituted about
86% of the total strength of the Company's army.

Changes After 1858

After the transfer of power from EIC to the Crown, the Company’s European forces were merged with
19

•
the Crown troops.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The revolt of 1857 necessitated certain reforms in the organisation of colonial armed forces. After
1857, the Indian army was carefully reorganised to prevent the recurrence of another revolt.
• Every effort was made to keep it separated from the lives and thoughts of the rest of the population.
It was isolated from nationalist ideas by every possible means. Newspapers, journals, and nationalist
publications were prevented from reaching the soldiers.

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• Several steps were taken to minimise the capacity of Indian soldiers to revolt. It includes:
1. The domination of the army by its European branch:
 The proportion of Europeans to Indians in the army was raised and fixed at one to two in the
Bengal Army and two to five in the Madras and Bombay armies.
 The Royal Peel Commission (1859) recommended a ratio of one British soldier to every 2.5 Indian
sepoys in India.
 The European troops were kept in key geographical and military positions. The crucial branches
of the army, like artillery, were put exclusively in European hands.
 The older policy of excluding Indians from the officer corps was strictly maintained.
2. Divide and Rule Policy:
 The Indian section of the army was organised based on the policy of “balance and counterpoise”
or "divide and rule, to prevent its chances of uniting again in an anti-British uprising.
 Discrimination based on caste, region, and religion was practised in recruitment to the army.
 Communal, caste, tribal and regional loyalties were encouraged among the soldiers so that the
sentiment of nationalism would not grow among them.
 Indian regiments comprised soldiers from different castes and groups, were placed to balance each
other.
 A fiction was created that Indians consisted of “martial" and “non-martial" classes.
 Soldiers from Avadh, Bihar, Central India, and South India who had taken part in the Revolt
of 1857 were declared non-martial and were no longer taken in the army on a large scale.
 Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Pathans, who had assisted in suppressing the Revolt, were declared mar-
tial and recruited in large numbers.

The Police
• In 1860, the Government of India appointed a Police Commission under the M. H. Court. The Com-
mission adopted the principles of Napier's police system and recommended the establishment of a
single homogenous force of civil constabulary.
• On the recommendations of the commission, the British parliament passed the Indian Police Act of
1861. The Act did not create All India Police. Under the new system, the following changes were made:
 Inspector General of Police: Head of police in the province
20

 Deputy Inspector General of Police: Head of police in Range

 District Superintendent: Head of police in the District
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In 1902, the Government appointed the Frazer Commission to review Policing in British India and
recommend suggestions for improving the Police Department. The Commission submitted its report to
the Government in 1903.
• The Commission recommended the establishment of:

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 The Central Intelligence Bureau at the centre

 The separate Crime Branch (Criminal Investigation Department - CID) for each Presidency under
the direction and control of the Inspector General of Police.

After Independence
• Following India's independence, the police system was criticised for being inefficient in serving un-
derprivileged people and displaying a lack of empathy towards them. Additionally, accusations of po-
liticisation and criminalisation were levelled against it.
• This was because although minor reforms were introduced, India continued to rely on the same policing
framework established in 1861.

1.3. Administrative Policies

• The British attitude towards India and their policies in India changed for the worse after the Revolt of
1857. Before 1857, they had tried to modernise India, though half-heartedly and hesitatingly. Now,
they began to follow reactionary policies.

Divide and Rule

• The British conquered India by taking advantage of the disunity among the Indian powers and by
playing them against one another. They continued to use this strategy of divide and rule after 1858, by
setting princes against states' people, region against region, province against province, caste against
caste and Hindus against Muslims.
• The unity displayed by Hindus and Muslims during the Revolt of 1857 disturbed the foreign rulers.
They were determined to break this unity to weaken the rising nationalist movement.
 Immediately after the Revolt, they repressed Muslims, confiscated their lands and property on a
large scale, and declared Hindus to be their favourites.
 After 1870, this policy was reversed, and an attempt was made to turn upper-class and middle-
class Muslims against the nationalist movement.
• Due to the lack of industrial and commercial development, educated Indians largely depended on
government employment. The government, in turn, exploited this dependency by creating a divide
along religious lines among the educated population. In exchange for loyalty, the government prom-
21

ised official favours on a communal basis and thus pitted educated Muslims against educated Hindus.

Hostility to Educated Indians

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Government of India had actively encouraged modern education after 1833. The Universities
of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were started in 1857, and higher education spread rapidly thereafter.
Many British officials commended the refusal of educated Indians to participate in the revolt of 1857.

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• However, this favourable official attitude towards the educated Indians changed when some began
to use their modern knowledge to analyse the imperialistic nature of British rule and to put forward
demands for Indian participation in administration.
• The officials became actively hostile to higher education and the educated Indians when the latter
began to organise a nationalist movement among the people and founded the Indian National
Congress in 1885. The officials now took active steps to curtail higher education.
• Thus, the British turned against Indians who embraced Western knowledge and stood for progress along
modern lines.
• The official opposition to educated Indians and higher education shows that British rule in India had
already exhausted its potential for progress.

Attitude Towards the Zamindars

• While being hostile to the forward-looking educated Indians, the British now turned for friendship
to the most reactionary group of Indians, the princes, the zamindars, and the landlords. The British
intended to use them as counterweights against the nationalist-minded intelligentsia.
• The zamindars and landlords were now hailed as the traditional and 'natural' leaders of the Indian
people. Their interests and privileges were protected. For example, the lands of most of the talukdars
of Avadh were restored to them.
• The zamindars and landlords, in turn, saw the British as guarantors of their very existence and became
their firm supporters.

Attitude towards Social Reforms

• The British believed that their social reform measures, such as the abolition of the custom of Sati and
permission for widows to remarry, had been a major cause of the Revolt of 1857.
• The British abandoned their previous policy of helping the social reformers. They gradually began to
side with orthodox opinion and stopped their support to the reformers.
 Jawaharlal Nehru has put it in The Discovery of India, “Because of this natural alliance of the
British power with the reactionaries in India, it became the guardian and upholder of many an evil
custom and practice, which it otherwise condemned."

Extreme Backwardness of Social Services

22

• While social services like education, sanitation and public health, water supply, and rural roads made
MIH-II – Post-1857

rapid progress in Europe during the 19th century, they remained extremely backwards in India.
• The Government of India spent most of its income on the army, wars, and administrative services, ne-
glecting social services. Whatever facilities were established, they were restricted to the elite sections
and urban areas.

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Labour Legislation
• The condition of workers in modern factories and plantations in the 19th century was miserable.
 They had to work for 12 to 16 hours a day.
 There was no weekly day of rest.
 Women and children worked the same long hours as men.
 The wages were extremely low.
 The factories were overcrowded, badly lighted and aired, and completely unhygienic.
 Work on machines was hazardous, and accidents were common.
• The demand for regulation of the condition of workers in factories in India came from London.
Manufacturers of Britain were afraid that cheap labour in India would allow Indian manufacturers to
surpass them in the Indian market. To avoid this, they pressured the Indian government to pass factory
laws. However, the government's attempts to address the poor state of affairs in modern factories were
half-hearted and completely inadequate.
• In India, the first Indian Factory Act was passed in 1881, which was later amended in 1891.

Indian Factories Act of 1881

• The Act dealt primarily with the problem of child labour. It also provided a few measures for the
health and safety of the workers. It laid down that:
 Children below seven would not work in factories.
 Children between 7 and 12 would not work for more than nine hours a day.
 Children would get four holidays in a month.
• The Act also provided for the proper fencing off of dangerous machinery.
• This law applied only to those factories that employed 100 or more workers.

Indian Factories Act of 1891

• Under this act:
 Working hours for women were fixed at eleven per day.
 The employment of children below nine years of age was prohibited.
 Daily work hours for children between the ages of 9 to 14 years were reduced to seven.
 A weekly holiday was given to all workers.
23

• This law applied to only factories employing 50 or more workers. Hours of work for men were still
unregulated.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Official Favour for Europeans

• Neither of the two Acts applied to British-owned tea and coffee plantations. There, labour was ex-
ploited ruthlessly and treated like slaves. On the contrary, the Government helped the foreign planters
exploit their workers ruthlessly.

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• The Government of India gave planters full help and passed penal laws in 1863, 1865, 1870, 1873 and
1882 to enable them to do so. Once a labourer had signed a contract to go and work on a plantation,
he could not refuse to do so. Any breach of contract by a labourer was a criminal offence, and the
planter also had the power to arrest him.
• However, better labour laws were passed in the 20th century under the pressure of the rising trade
union movement. Still, the condition of the Indian working class remained extremely depressed and
deplorable.

Restrictions on the Press

• The British introduced the printing press in India and initiated the development of the modern press.
The educated Indians immediately recognised that the press could educate public opinion and influ-
ence government policies through criticism and censure. Many Indian leaders started the newspapers,
which made them a powerful political force.
 The Indian press was freed of restrictions by Charles Metcalfe in 1835.
• The nationalists gradually began to use the press to arouse national consciousness among the people
and to criticise the reactionary policies of the government. This turned the officials against the Indian
press, and they decided to curb its freedom.
• This was attempted by passing the Vernacular Press Act in 1878. This Act put serious restrictions on
the freedom of the Indian language newspapers. Indian people protested loudly against the passage
of this Act. Act was repealed in 1882.
• For nearly 25 years thereafter, the Indian press enjoyed considerable freedom. However, the rise of the
militant Swadeshi and Boycott movement after 1905 once again led to the enactment of repressive press
laws in 1908 and 1910.

Racial Antagonism (White Racism)

• The British in India considered themselves to be racially superior. Railway compartments, waiting
rooms at railway stations, parks, hotels, swimming pools, clubs, etc, reserved for “Europeans only"
were visible manifestations of this racialism.
• The British followed a discrimination policy against the Indians and excluded them from all higher
administrative posts.
24

British Policy Towards Princely States

MIH-II – Post-1857

• During British rule, British India was divided into two types of territory:
1. British Indian Provinces: Indian provinces directly under the control of the British government.
2. Princely States: Indian states ruled by princes.

Policy Before 1857

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• The Princely States were considered subsidiary but sovereign powers. The British used every oppor-
tunity to annex princely states.
• From 1757 to 1857, the Company rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory.
Instead, it used various political, economic, and diplomatic methods to annex the Indian Kingdom.
These include:
1. Subsidiary Alliance: If the Indian rulers failed to pay for subsidiary forces, then part of their ter-
ritory was taken away as a penalty.
2. The policy of Paramountcy: The company claimed its authority was supreme and justified annex-
ing Indian kingdoms.
3. Doctrine of Lapse: If an Indian ruler died without a male heir, his kingdom would "lapse", that is,
become part of Company territory.
4. Obliged by Duty: The Company argued that it was "obliged by duty" to take Awadh to free the
people from the "misgovernment" of the Nawab.

Policy After 1857

• During the 1857 revolt, most Indian princes remained loyal to the British and helped them suppress
the revolt. It led the British to reverse their policy towards the Indian States. After 1857, the British:
 Abandoned the policy of annexation of Princely States.
 Respected the right of Princely States to adopt heirs.
• In 1876, Queen Victoria assumed the title of the Empress of India to emphasise British sovereignty
over the entire Indian subcontinent.
• However, as the price of their continued existence, the princes were made to acknowledge British su-
premacy (paramountcy or suzerainty of the British crown). The princes accepted this subordinate posi-
tion and willingly became junior partners in the Empire because they were assured of their continued
existence as rulers of their states.
 Lord Curzon clarified that the princes were mere agents of the British Crown.

British Interference in the Princely States

• As the paramount power, the British claimed the right to supervise the internal government of the
princely states. They not only interfered in the day-to-day administration through the Residents but
25

insisted on appointing and dismissing ministers and other high officials.

Reasons for the Interference

MIH-II – Post-1857

• To give these states a modern administration so that their integration with British India would be com-
plete.
• To check the growth of popular democratic and nationalist movements in these states.

Examples of Changed British Policy

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State of Mysore

Before 1857 (Annexation)

• In 1799, after Tipu Sultan's death, a special treaty of the Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on the new
Raja.
• In 1831, Lord Bentinck deposed the ruler of Mysore and took over the administration of the state.

After 1858 (Restoration)

• After 1868, the Government recognised the adopted heir of the old ruler, and in 1881, Lord Ripon
fully restored the state to the young Maharajah.

Ruler of Baroda

• In 1874, Malhar Rao Gaekwad was accused of misrule and attempting to poison the British Resident.
Following a brief trial, he was deposed from his position. However, Baroda was not annexed. Instead, a
young member of the Gaekwad family was appointed as the new ruler.

[UPSC 2016] Explain how the Uprising of 1857 constitutes an important watershed in the
evolution of British policies towards colonial India.

1.4. Summary

• The Revolt of 1857 shook the British administration in India and made its restructuring inevitable.

Central Administration
• An Act of Parliament in 1858 transferred the power to govern from the East India Company to the
British Crown.
• Under the Act of 1858, government was to be carried on as before by the Governor-General, who was
also given the title of Viceroy or Crown's personal representative.
• Previously, the Directors of the Company and the Board of Control held authority over India, but now
a Secretary of State for India aided by an India Council was to have this power.
• With the passage of time, the Viceroy was increasingly reduced to a subordinate status to the British
Government in matters of policy and execution.
• In the past, the Governor-General had significant decision-making power in India. The London au-
26

thorities were mainly involved in post-facto evaluation and criticism of India's administration rather
than providing actual direction. However, the laying of a submarine cable through the Red Sea by
MIH-II – Post-1857

1870 enabled London to send orders to India within hours. This meant that the Secretary of State
could control every detail of the Indian administration, every hour of the day. As a result, the final and
detailed control and direction over Indian affairs came to be centralised in London, thousands of miles
away from India.

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• No Indian had a voice in the India Council or the British Cabinet, or Parliament. Under such conditions,
Indian opinion had even less impact on government policy than before. On the other hand, British
industrialists, merchants, and bankers increased their influence over the Government of India. This
"made the Indian administration even more reactionary than it was before 1858, for now even the
pretence of liberalism was gradually given up

Provincial Administration
• The British had divided India for administrative convenience into provinces, three, of which Bengal,
Madras and Bombay were known as Presidencies.
• The Presidency was administered by a Governor and his Executive Council of three, who were ap-
pointed by the Crown. The Presidency Governments possessed more rights and powers than other
provinces, administered by Lieutenant Governors and Chief Commissioners appointed by the Gover-
nor-General.
• The provincial governments enjoyed much autonomy before 1833, when their power to pass laws was
taken away and their expenditures subjected to strict central control. However, experience soon
showed that a vast country like India could not be efficiently administered on the principle of strict
centralisation.
• The Act of 1861 marked the turning of the tide of centralisation. It stated that legislative councils
similar to those of the centre should be established first in Bombay, Madras, and Bengal and then in
other provinces.

Local Bodies
• Financial difficulties led the Government to further decentralise administration by promoting local
government through municipalities and district boards.
• Local bodies were formed between 1864 and 1868, but in almost every case, they consisted of nom-
inated members and were presided over by District Magistrates. Therefore, they did not represent
local self-government. People looked upon them as instruments for extracting additional taxes from
the people.
• Lord Ripon's government took a step forward, although very hesitant and inadequate, in 1882. A
government resolution laid down the policy of administering local affairs largely through rural and
27

urban local bodies, a majority of whose members would be non-officials. These non-official members
would be elected by the people wherever and whenever officials felt it was possible to introduce
MIH-II – Post-1857

elections. The resolution also permitted the election of a non-official as Chairman of a local body.

Administrative Policies
• Before 1857, the British had tried to modernise India, though half-heartedly and hesitatingly. Now,
they began to follow reactionary policies. After 1857, the British:

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 Followed the policy of divide and rule

 Became actively hostile to higher education, and the educated Indians
 Turned to the most reactionary group of Indians, the princes, the zamindars, and the landlords,
for friendship.
 Abandoned the policy of helping the social reformers
 Abandoned the policy of annexation of Princely States and respected the right of Princely States
to adopt heirs.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

28
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2. Indian Nationalism and Indian National Congress

2.1. Birth of Indian Nationalism

• The second half of the 19th century witnessed the rise of national political consciousness and the
growth of an organised national movement in India.
• Indian nationalism emerged both in response to and as a result of colonial policies.
 Response to British Policies: British rule affected the Indian people and helped the growth of
national consciousness.
 Result of British Policies: The uniform system of administration, development of post and tele-
graph, railways, printing press and educational institutions developed by the British provided
favourable conditions for the rise and growth of the national movement.

Factors Contributing to National Consciousness

• The following factors were responsible for the development of national consciousness among Indians.
1. Foreign domination
2. Administrative and economic unification of the country
3. Western thought and education
4. Socio-religious reform movements
5. Role of press and literature
6. Rediscovery of India’s past
7. Racial discrimination
8. The reactionary regime of Lord Lytton and Ilbert Bill controversy

Consequence of Foreign Domination

• The very foreign character of the British rule produced patriotic sentiments and helped the growth
of national consciousness among the Indian people.
• The British rule and its direct and indirect consequences provided conditions for developing a national
movement in India. The national movement was the product of the conflict of interests between
Britain and India.
29

• Every class and every section of Indian society gradually discovered that its interests were suffering
MIH-II – Post-1857

at the hands of the foreign rulers. This led to the development of an anti-imperialist movement. This
was a national movement because it united people from different classes and sections of society who
sank their mutual differences to unite against the common enemy.

Recognising the Impact

Peasants

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• The peasant saw that:

 The government took away a large part of his produce as land revenue.
 The government and its machinery favoured and protected the zamindars and landlords.

Artisan and Handicraftsman

• The artisan or the handicraftsman saw that the foreign regime had helped foreign competitors to
ruin them and had done nothing to rehabilitate them.

Workers
• In the 20th century, the workers in modern factories, mines, and plantations found that the govern-
ment sided with the capitalists, especially the foreign capitalists.
• The workers realised that rapid industrialisation could curb growing unemployment, but it could only
happen with an independent government.

Educated Indians
• The rising intelligentsia (educated Indians) used their newly acquired modern knowledge to understand
the poor economic and political condition of their country.
• Economic Condition: The educated Indians recognised that:
 Britain was reducing India to the status of an economic colony, a source of raw materials for
British industries, and a market for British manufactures.
 Economic exploitation by Britain was increasing India's poverty.
• Moreover, the Indian intelligentsia suffered from growing unemployment. Thus, educated Indians
found that the economic development of the country and its freedom from foreign control alone could
provide them with better employment opportunities.
• Political Condition: The educated Indians discovered that the British had abandoned their previous
claims of guiding India towards self-government. They declared Indians unfit for democracy or self-
government and justified British rule in India.
 The educated Indians also found the government increasingly restricting freedom of speech,
press, and person instead of increasing it.

Capitalist Class
• The rising Indian capitalist class was slow to develop a national political consciousness. However, it
30

gradually realised that it was suffering due to imperialism. It found that that:
 The government trade, tariff, taxation, and transport policies severely checked its growth.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The Government and its bureaucracy favoured foreign capitalists.

• Therefore, Indian capitalists recognised a contradiction between imperialism and their independent
growth. They realised that only a national government could create conditions for the rapid develop-
ment of Indian trade and industries.

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Zamindars, Landlords and Princes

• Zamindars, landlords, and princes supported the foreign rule because their interests coincided with
those of the foreign rulers. However, many individuals from these classes joined the national movement
as patriotism appealed to them in the prevailing nationalist atmosphere.

Administrative and Economic Unification of the Country

• Nationalist sentiments grew easily among the people because India was unified and welded into a
nation during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Administrative Unification

• The British gradually introduced a uniform and modern system of administration (ICS, Police, Military,
Unified Judiciary) throughout the country, thus unifying it administratively.
• The introduction of the railways, telegraphs, and unified postal system (though for their interest)
brought the different parts of the country together and promoted mutual contact among the people,
especially among the leaders.

Economic Unification

• The destruction of the rural and local self-sufficient economy made India’s economic life interde-
pendent. For example, if there is a famine or scarcity in one part of India, it affects the prices and
availability of foodstuffs in all other parts of the country.
• The presence of foreign rule acted as a unifying factor. All over the country, people saw that they were
suffering at the hands of the same enemy - British rule. As a result, anti-imperialist sentiment became
a unifying factor in the country, leading to a common national outlook.

Western Thought and Education

• As a result of the spread of modern Western education and thought during the 19th century, many
Indians imbibed a modern, rational, secular, democratic, and nationalist political outlook.
• These educated Indians recognised the true nature of the British rule and were the first to feel the
humiliation of foreign subjection. Over time, the best among them became the leaders and organ-
isers of the national movement.
• However, the modern educational system did not create the national movement. The national move-
31

ment was the product of the conflict of interests between Britain and India. The modern educational
system only enabled the educated Indians to learn Western values and ideas, which helped them to
MIH-II – Post-1857

assume the national movement's leadership and give it a democratic and modern direction.
• In other Asian countries such as China and Indonesia and all over Africa, modern and nationalist ideas
spread even though modern schools and colleges existed on a much smaller scale.

English: A Common Language

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• Modem education also created a certain uniformity. The English became the medium for the spread
of modern ideas. It also became the medium of communication and exchange of ideas between
educated Indians from different linguistic regions of the country.
• However, it is important to note that this should not be overemphasised. Historically, educated Indians
shared a common language in the form of Sanskrit and later in Persian.

English: A Barrier to the Spread of Knowledge

• English soon became a barrier to the spread of modern knowledge among the common people. In
reality, the spread of modern ideas among the common people in India was largely facilitated by the
growth of literature in Indian languages and, most importantly, the widespread presence of the Indian
language press.
 The modern ideas spread faster and deeper in many countries where they were propagated through
indigenous languages.

Socio-religious Reform Movements

• In the 19th century, the social reform movements of leading intellectuals removed evil practices and
bridged the gap between different sections of Indian society. They worked towards abolishing un-
touchability and caste rigidity, which greatly contributed to national unity and the awakening of na-
tional consciousness.

Role of Press and Literature

• The press played an important role in developing national consciousness among the Indians.
• The nationalist-minded Indians used the press to spread the message of patriotism and created an
all-India consciousness. In their columns:
 The official policies were constantly criticised.
 The Indian point of view was put forward.
 The ideas of self-government, democracy, industrialisation, etc., were popularised.

Art and Literature

• National literature in the form of novels, songs, and plays also played an important role in arousing
national consciousness. Through these songs and plays:
32

 Nationalism and patriotism were propagated

 Indigenous arts and crafts were promoted
MIH-II – Post-1857

 British policies were blamed for deteriorating the economic conditions of the people
• Examples: Neel Darpan highlighted the atrocities committed by indigo planters.
 Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s Anandmath contains the patriotic song 'Bande Mataram’.

Rediscovery of India’s Past

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• Many British officials and writers constantly advanced the thesis that Indians had never been able to
rule themselves in the past. Many Indians had fallen so low as to have lost confidence in their capacity
for self-government.
• Many of the nationalist leaders countered this propaganda to arouse the people's self-confidence
and self-respect. They pointed to India's cultural heritage and the political achievements of rulers like
Ashoka, Chandragupta, Vikramaditya, and Akbar. This gave the Indians confidence that they could
govern themselves.

Negative Impact

 Some of the nationalists went to the other extreme and began to glorify India’s past, uncritically
ignoring its weakness and backwardness. A false sense of pride prevented Indians from looking crit-
ically at their society. This weakened the struggle against social and cultural backwardness.
 The tendency to acknowledge the ancient heritage of India, ignoring the significant achievements of
the medieval period, led to the growth of communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

Racial discrimination
• The British, driven by racial arrogance, labelled all Indians as inferior and often prohibited them from
sharing train compartments with Europeans. This made Indians conscious of national humiliation and
led them to think of themselves as one people when facing Englishmen. This discrimination contributed
to the growth of national consciousness.

Immediate Factors
Reactionary Regime of Lord Lytton

• Lord Lytton was the Governor-General of India from 1876-80. He viewed the aspirations of educated
Indians with contempt and followed openly reactionary and anti-Indian policies. During his viceroyalty
from 1876-80:
 Most of the import duties on British textile imports were removed. Indians saw this action as
evidence of the British intention to destroy India's small textile industry.
 The Second War against Afghanistan was fought. This aroused agitation against the heavy cost of
this imperialist war.
 The Arms Act of 1878 and The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 were enacted. These laws were dis-
33

criminatory and thus condemned by the politically conscious Indians.

MIH-II – Post-1857

 Under the Arms Act, Indians were made to pay a license fee in order to possess a weapon, but
Europeans and Eurasians were exempted from doing so. Special concessions were also given to
landholders.
 The imperial Durbar at Delhi was held in 1877 when the country was suffering from a terrible fam-
ine. This led people to believe that rulers cared very little.

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 In 1878, the maximum age limit for sitting in the Indian Civil Service Examination was reduced from
21 years to 19. It was seen as a step to prevent Indians from appearing in the examination. The
Indians realised that the British had no intention of relaxing their monopoly of the higher grades
of services in the administration.
• Thus, Lytton’s viceroyalty intensified discontent against foreign rule and contributed to the growth of
national consciousness.

Ilbert Bill Controversy

• In 1883, Ripon tried to pass a law to enable Indian district magistrates and session judges to try
Europeans in criminal cases. It was a very meagre effort to remove a glaring instance of racial discrim-
ination.
• The Europeans in India organised a vehement agitation against this Bill. They declared that even the
most highly educated among the Indians were unfit to try a European. Ultimately, the Government of
India bowed before the Europeans and amended the Bill to meet their criticism.
• Indians organised an all-India campaign in favour of the Bill. They learned that to get their demands
accepted by the government, they must organise themselves on a national scale and agitate continu-
ously and unitedly.

Lord Ripon

• Lord Ripon was the Governor-General of India from 1880-84. He wanted to harness the talents of
the educated classes to strengthen British Rule.
• Ripon repealed the Vernacular Press Act, promoted local self-government institutions, encour-
aged the spread of education, and ended the Afghan War.
• However, Ripon’s policy could not proceed beyond certain limits because of the constraints imposed
by the very character of British rule in India.

2.2. Predecessors of the Indian National Congress

Before 1858
• Raja Rammohun Roy was the first Indian leader to start an agitation for political reforms in India. Many
public associations were started in different parts of India after 1836. These include:
34

Political Associations Year of Foun- Region Founders

dation
MIH-II – Post-1857

Bangabhasha prakasika sabha 1836 Bengal Presidency Associates of Raja Rammo-

hun Roy
Landholders’ Society / 1837 Bengal Presidency
Zamindari association

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Bengal British Indian Society 1843 Bengal Presidency

British India Association 1851 Bengal Presidency
Madras Native Association 1852 Madras Presidency Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty
Bombay Association 1852 Bombay Presidency Jagannath Shankar Sheth

Landholders’ Society / Zamindari Association (1837)

• Zamindari Association, established in 1837, is considered the first political association of modern
India. Later, it was renamed the Landholders' Society.
• It was an association of the landlords of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. Raja Radhakant Deb, Dwarkanath
Tagore, Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Rajkamal Sen, and Bhabani Charan Mitra were among its prominent
members.
• Its objective was to promote the class interests of the landlords through petitions to the government
and discreet persuasion of the bureaucracy. It also demanded an extension of the permanent settle-
ment of land all over India and reforms in the judiciary, the police, and the revenue departments.
• Though it failed to take root in areas outside the Bengal Presidency, the Landholders' Society inaugu-
rated a new course of modern institutional politics in India.

Bengal British Indian Society (1843)

• The Bengal British India Society was established in Calcutta in 1843.
• Like the Zamindari Association, it was a loyalist organisation based on limited Indo-British collabo-
ration. However, unlike the Zamindari Association, which only represented the interests of the landed
aristocracy, the Bengal British India Society had a broader objective, i.e., to protect and promote
general public interests.

Political Organisations After 1850

• The Charter of the British EIC was due for renewal in 1853. The educated Indians felt the need to
express their views to the authorities in London, which resulted in the establishment of new associa-
tions in different parts of the country.
1. British India Association (1851) was formed by merging the Zamindari Association and the Bengal
British Indian Society.
2. Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty founded the Madras Native Association (1852).
35

3. Jagannath Shankar Sheth founded the Bombay Association (1852).

MIH-II – Post-1857

• These associations sent petitions suggesting changes in EIC’s Charter. The petitioners demanded:
 Appointment of Indians in the legislative bodies.
 Abolition of the Company's monopoly on salt and indigo.
 Bigger share for the Indians in the administration.
 Improvement in the condition of peasants.

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British Indian Association

• Raja Radhakant Deb and Debendranath Tagore were the first President and Secretary of the Brit-
ish Indian Association.
• In 1859, despite its pro-zamindari and landed aristocracy interests, the British India Association
refused to join the Indigo planters in their efforts to repeal Act X of 1859 and supported the cause
of the ryots.

Impact

• As a result of pressure from these organisations, the Charter Act of 1853 conceded some of their de-
mands.
• The Charter Act of 1853 separated the council's executive and legislative functions and added six
members to the Governor-General’s Council for legislative purposes.

Nature of Early Political Associations

• Early political associations were provincial or local in character.
• Wealthy and prominent persons dominated all these associations.
• These associations worked for the reform of administration, the association of Indians with the ad-
ministration, and the spread of education. They sent long petitions, putting forward Indian demands
to the British Parliament.

After 1858
• As educated Indians studied the character of British rule and its consequences, they became increas-
ingly critical of British policies in India.
• Educated Indians were dissatisfied with the existing political associations, and their discontent gradu-
ally found expression in political activity. They established many political associations across the
country to promote political awareness and reform in administration.
Political Associations Year of Region Founders
Foundation
East India Association 1866 London (Britain) Dadabhai Naoroji
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha 1870 Poona M. G. Ranade
36

(Bombay Presidency) G.V. Joshi (Sarwajanik kaka)

S. H. Chiplunkar
MIH-II – Post-1857

India League 1875 Bengal Presidency Sisir Kumar Ghosh

Indian Association 1876 Bengal Presidency Surendranath Banerjee
Ananda Mohan Bose
Madras Mahajan Sabha 1884 Madras Presidency M. Veeraraghavachariar

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G. Subramania Iyer
P. Anandacharlu
Bombay Presidency 1885 Bombay Presidency Phirozshah Mehta
Association K.T Telang
Badruddin Tyabji
Indian National Congress 1885 All-India Association A.O. Hume

East India Association (1866)

• In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji organised the East India Association in London to discuss the Indian ques-
tion and influence British public opinion to promote Indian welfare. Later, the association established
branches in various Indian cities, including Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870)

• Mahadev Govind Ranade, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (Sarwajanik kaka), and S. H. Chiplunkar founded the
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha in 1870. It was a socio-political organisation in British India.
• Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was intended to mediate between the government and the Indians. The lead-
ers of the Sabha took public grievances to the British Government and used it as a platform to arouse
patriotic sentiments among the masses.
• The Sabha represented the local community, comprising sardars, landowners, businessmen, government
servants, lawyers, and teachers.
• In 1875, the Sabha submitted a petition to the House of Commons demanding the representation of
India in the British Parliament.
• During the Deccan riot (1875), the Sabha supported the peasantry, and in 1876, it organised famine
relief for struggling farmers. It established arbitration courts (nyayn sabhas) for the private settlement
of civil disputes to save people from huge litigation expenses.
 The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was founded as a small organisation in 1867 by Sarvajanik Kaka
(Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi) and was later renamed in 1870.
 In 1870, the Sabha spread outside Pune and constituted three branches in the Satara district.
Ganesh Narayan Kolhatkar, Nanasaheb Vaidya, and Gundacharya Ghalsashi founded the three
branches at Satara, Wai, and Karad, respectively.
37

India League
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Sisir Kumar Ghosh, along with Sambhu Charan Mukherjee, founded the 'India League' in Calcutta on
25 September 1875. The League represented the middle class and worked to stimulate a sense of
nationalism among the people and to encourage political education. With a broad vision of an all-India
outlook, the leaders kept the organisation above provincial and communal politics.

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• The nationalist leaders like Ananda Mohan Bose, Durga Mohan Das, Nabagopal Mitra, Surendranath
Banerjee and others were associated with this organisation.

Indian Association (1876)

• Indian Association was founded by Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose in 1876. It
aimed to create strong public opinion on political questions and unite the Indian people on a common
political programme.
• Indian association wanted sustained political agitation on issues of wider public interest. It carried out
many agitations concerning people. It includes:
 Indian Civil Service Agitation: The Indian Association has demanded reforms in the civil service
regulations, including an increase in the age limit for the examination. This was the first major issue
the Indian Association took up for agitation.
 Agitation against the Arms Act and the Vernacular Press Act
 Agitation in favour of protecting the tenants from oppression by the zamindars.
 Agitation to get the Rent Bill changed in favour of the tenants.
 Agitation for better work conditions for the workers in the English-owned tea plantations.
• The Indian Association sponsored an all-India National Conference at Calcutta in December 1883.
Several leaders from outside Bengal attended this Conference.
• The National Conference adopted a program similar to the one later adopted by the Indian National
Congress (INC). Historians consider the National Conference a precursor to the INC and describe it as
a "dress rehearsal" for the latter.
• The Indian Association merged with the INC in 1886.

2.3. Indian National Congress

Need for an All-India Organisation

• During the 1860s and 1870s, educated Indians established many political associations. These organ-
isations had served a useful purpose but were narrow in scope and functioning. They dealt mostly with
local questions, and their membership and leadership were confined to a few people belonging to a
single city or province.
During the early 1880s, educated Indians felt the need for a national organisation, which became an
38

•
important topic for discussion in the Indian press.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In 1883, the Indian Association held a National Conference attended by educated Indians from vari-
ous parts of India. However, it had not succeeded in becoming an all-Indian body.
• During this period, many Indians planned to form an all-India organisation of nationalist political work-
ers. However, A.O. Hume, a retired English Civil Servant, gave the idea a concrete and final shape.

Foundation of Indian National Congress

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• In December 1885, Allan Hume organised the first session of the Indian National Congress (INC)
with the help of prominent Indian leaders.
• The first meeting of the INC was held on 28 December 1885 in Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College,
Bombay. It was presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee and attended by 72 delegates. It was the first or-
ganised expression of Indian nationalism on an all-India scale.
• Surendranath Banerjee and many other Bengal leaders did not attend the first session as they were
busy with the Second National Conference (of the Indian Association) at Calcutta.
• At the conclusion of its inaugural session, the Congress made a significant decision to convene again
in Calcutta on 28 December 1886. This decision demonstrated that the Congress leaders did not view
the event as a one-time occurrence but rather as the start of a larger movement.
• The second session of Congress was held in Calcutta in December 1886 under the presidentship of
Dadabhai Naoroji. It was decided that the Congress would meet annually in different parts of the
country.
• In 1890, Kadambini Ganguli, the first female graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Con-
gress session. This was symbolic of the fact that India’s struggle for freedom would raise Indian women
from the degraded position to which they had been reduced for centuries past.
• Some of the prominent leaders of Congress and the national movement during this period were -
Dadabhai Naoroji, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, P. Ananda Charlu, Surendranath Banerji,
Ramesh Chandra Dutt, Ananda Mohan Bose, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, the brothers Sisir Kumar and Motilal Ghosh, Madan Mohan Malaviya, G. Subramaniya
Iyer, C. Vijayaraghavachariar, and Dinshaw E. Wacha.

Ten women representatives at the 1889 Congress

• The 1889 Congress had 10 registered lady delegates, including social reformer Pandita Ramabai,
Swarna Kumari Devi (Rabindranath Tagore’s sister), and Kadambini Ganguly (the first lady graduate
of Calcutta University).

Aims of the National Congress

• The declared aims of the Congress were:
 Promoting friendly relations between nationalist political workers from different parts of the
39

country.
 Development and consolidation of the feeling of national unity irrespective of caste, religion, or
MIH-II – Post-1857

province.
 Creation of public opinion in the country.
 Presentation of popular demands before the Government.
 Promote anti-colonial nationalist ideas among the people.

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Controversies Relating to the Origin of INC

Safety Valve Theory: The Myth
40

• If an Indian had founded the INC, it would have been perceived as a normal and logical occurrence.
MIH-II – Post-1857

However, since it was established by an Englishman, Allan Hume, it has resulted in various specula-
tions.
• The myth is that Hume and other English officials were afraid that the educated Indians might pro-
vide leadership to the masses and organise a powerful rebellion against the foreign government. To
prevent this, they started the National Congress under the official direction of Lord Dufferin, the

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Viceroy, to provide a peaceful and constitutional outlet for the discontent among the educated
Indians and avoid the outbreak of a popular revolt.
• The extremist leader, Lala Lajpat Rai, used the safety-valve theory to attack the Moderates in Con-
gress. R. P. Dutt's book ‘India Today’ popularised the notion of the safety valve in leftist ideology
(conspiracy theory). In 1939, M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS chief, used the safety-valve theory to attack
Congress.
 Safety valve theory emerged from William Wedderburn's biography of A.O. Hume, published in
1913.
 The conspiracy theory of Marxist historians was based on the safety valve theory.

The Reality of the Foundation of INC

• The safety valve theory is a small part of the truth and is inadequate and misleading. The foundation
of the INC in 1885 was not a sudden event. It was the culmination of a long process by politically
conscious Indians to establish a national organisation. No one man or group of men can be given
credit for creating this movement.
• Even Hume's motives were nobler than creating a 'safety valve'. He genuinely sympathised with India
and worked tirelessly for many years to make the Congress a viable and continuing organisation. From
1885 to 1906, he was the general secretary of the Congress and helped guide, shape, coordinate, and
record its activities.

Why did educated Indians accept Hume's leadership?

• The Indian leaders who cooperated with Hume in starting this National Congress were patriotic men
of high character. They willingly accepted Hume’s help as they did not want to arouse official hos-
tility towards their efforts at such an early stage of political activity. They wanted to consolidate and
ventilate their views without arousing suspicion in their rulers' minds.
• Hence, If Hume wanted to use Congress as a safety valve, the early Congress leaders used Hume as a
lightning conductor, i.e., a catalyst to bring together the nationalistic force.

Early Congress and Social Reforms

• One major objective of the early Congress was to establish a unified political agenda that could bring
together political workers from various regions. To achieve this, they aimed to address common
41

grievances and fight for those rights Indians had in common in relation to the rulers.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• For the same reason, Congress did not take up questions of social reform. During its second session,
the President of the Congress, Dadabhai Naoroji, established a rule stating that the National Congress
should only address issues in which the entire nation has a direct involvement. As a political body,
Congress was not the appropriate platform to discuss social reforms. Naoroji emphasised that their
purpose was to represent the nation's political aspirations to their rulers.

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• To remove the fears of minorities and reach out to followers of all religions, a rule was established
during the 1888 session. According to this rule, no resolution would be passed if most Hindu or
Muslim delegates objected.
 Some Moderates like Ranade and Gokhale favoured social reforms. They protested against child mar-
riage and widowhood.

2.4. Unsung Heroes

Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840–1911)

• Sisir Kumar Ghosh was a journalist, social worker and independence activist from Bengal.
• Ghosh extensively wrote about the exploitation of peasants by indigo planters in Bengal in 'Hindu
Patriot' during 1859-60, which helped raise awareness about this rural issue in the nationalist discourse.

Amrita Bazar Patrika

• In 1868, Ghosh founded a weekly Bengali language newspaper called the Amrita Bazar Patrika. It
became bi-lingual in 1869. In his editorial on May 22, 1874, Ghosh defined the rebellion of the indigo
peasants as the First Revolution of Bengal.
• When the government passed the Vernacular Press Act in 1878, Shishirkumar Ghosh bypassed it by
turning the Amrita Bazar Patrika into an English weekly within seven days. It was converted into a
daily in 1891.

India League
• Sisir Kumar Ghosh established the 'India League' in Calcutta in 1875 to stimulate nationalism among
the people.

Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (1828 - 1880)

• Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi, popularly known as Sarwajanik Kaka, was a lawyer, social reformer, and polit-
ical activist from Maharashtra. Joshi was a founding member of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. He also
started an organisation called Stree Vicharavati Sabha for the welfare of women.
• In 1871, Sarvajanik Kaka took a vow to use exclusively Swadeshi goods, including clothes.
• Joshi also represented Vasudev Balwant Phadke as his lawyer in Phadke's trial. He supported the
42

Justice Ranade in his work.

• Kaka represented Indians at Queen Victoria's Delhi Durbar in 1877. He appealed to the Queen to give
MIH-II – Post-1857

Indians the same political and social status as the British people and an equal say in administrative
matters.

2.5. Summary

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Indian nationalism
• In the second half of the 19th century, Indian nationalism emerged in response to and as a result of
colonial policies. The following factors were responsible for the development of national conscious-
ness among Indians.
 Foreign domination
 Administrative and economic unification of the country
 Western thought and education
 Socio-religious reform movements
 Press and Literature
 Rediscovery of India’s past
 Racial discrimination
 The reactionary regime of Lord Lytton and Ilbert Bill controversy

Indian National Congress

• As educated Indians studied the character of British rule and its consequences, they became increas-
ingly critical of British policies in India. Their discontent gradually found expression in political activity.
They established many political associations across the country to promote political awareness and
reform in administration.
• These organisations served a useful purpose but were narrow in scope and functioning. They dealt
mostly with local questions, and their membership and leadership were confined to a few people
belonging to a single city or province. During the early 1880s, educated Indians felt the need for a
national organisation.
• In December 1885, Allan Hume organised the first session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in
Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay. It was presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee and attended by
72 delegates. The Congress aimed:
 To promote anti-colonial nationalist ideas among the people.
 To create public opinion in the country and present popular demands before the Government.
• In the beginning, Congress aimed to address common grievances and fight for those rights Indians
had in common in relation to the rulers. Therefore, it did not take up questions of social reform.
43
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3. Moderate Nationalism (1885-1905)

3.1. Moderate Nationalism

• The history of the Indian National Movement can be studied in three phases:
1. The phase of moderate nationalism (1885-1905)
2. The phase of militant nationalism (1906-1916)
3. The Gandhian era (1917-1947)
• During The first twenty years (1885-1905), moderate leaders dominated the Congress. This phase of
the Congress is known as the Moderate phase. During this period, the leaders were cautious in their
demands. They did not want to annoy the government and incur the risk of suppression of their
activities.
• Not all the nationalists of this period belonged to the moderate trend. Some were extremists or radical
nationalists. Tilak and numerous other leaders represented this trend. They had no faith in the British's
good intentions. They believed in depending on the political action of the Indian people and the
strength of the Indian people themselves.

Who were the Moderates?

• During the early years (1885-1905), the Indian National Congress (INC), though represented the en-
tire nation, members of some classes, castes, occupations and provinces were more conspicuous
than others. The INC was dominated by:
 Members of the educated middle class
 Members of the Brahmin caste
 Members from Bombay, Bengal and Madras presidencies
 Lawyers
• In short, the Congress was by and large a middle-class affair, and it was but natural that the majority
of the members of the INC belonged to the middle class during the early years since it was this class
that took to modern education and played a pioneering role in its foundation.

The Programme and Activities of the Early Nationalists

44

• Early nationalist leaders believed that the immediate goal was not direct political emancipation but
MIH-II – Post-1857

rather arousing national sentiment, bringing Indians into national politics, and training them in politics
and political agitation. The early nationalists made an effort:
 To organise public opinion in the country.
 To formulate popular demands country-wide so that the emerging public opinion might have an
all-India focus.

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• The early leaders of India were fully aware that India had just begun the process of becoming a nation.
Therefore, Indians had to be carefully united into a single nation, disregarding their regional, caste or
religious differences. The economic and political demands of the early nationalists were formulated
with a view to unifying the Indian people.

Demands of Moderates
• The Congress programme during the first phase (1885-1905) was modest. Moderates demanded
moderate constitutional reforms, economic relief, administrative reorganisation and defence of
civil rights.

Constitutional Reforms
• From the beginning, the moderates (early nationalists) believed that India should eventually move
towards democratic self-government. However, they were extremely cautious and did not ask for the
immediate fulfilment of their goal.
• The moderates hoped to win freedom through gradual steps. Their immediate demands were ex-
tremely moderate. They wanted a larger share in the government of their own country and demanded
the expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils.
• The British Government was forced by their agitation and passed the Indian Councils Act of 1892. By
this Act:
 The number of non-official members of the Imperial Legislative Council and the provincial
councils was increased, but the official majority was retained.
 The councils were allowed to discuss the annual budgets, though they could not vote on them.
• The nationalists were dissatisfied with the Act of 1892 and declared it a hoax. They demanded:
 Majority of Indians in the councils
 Wider powers to the councils
 Indian control over the public purse (budget) and raised the slogan ‘No taxation without repre-
sentation’.
• By the beginning of the 20th century, the nationalist leaders advanced further. They put forward the
claim for swarajya or self-government within the British Empire on the model of self-governing colo-
nies like Australia and Canada.
45

• Gokhale demanded self-government from the Congress platform in 1905 (at Banaras), which was later
explicitly stated by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1906 (at Calcutta).
MIH-II – Post-1857

Economic Reforms
• The early nationalists explained how the British were exploiting Indians. Dadabhai Naoroji, in his
book “Poverty and un-British Rule in India,” put forward the “drain theory” to explain the British
exploitation of India.

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• Dadabhai showed how India’s wealth was going away to England through salaries, savings, pen-
sions, payments to British troops in India and profits of the British companies. This forced the British
Government to appoint the Welby Commission, with Dadabhai as the first Indian to be its member,
to enquire about the matter.
• The early nationalists blamed the policies of the British rulers for:
 Growing poverty and economic backwardness
 Failure of development of modem industry and agriculture.
 Destruction of India’s indigenous industries.
• Their proposed solution for ending poverty in India was to develop modern industries rapidly. They
wanted the government to promote modern industries through tariff protection and direct govern-
ment aid. They popularised the idea of swadeshi (use of Indian goods) and the boycott of British
goods to promote Indian industries.
• The early nationalists demanded:
 Abolition of the salt tax.
 Reduction of land revenue.
 Reduction of high military expenditure.

Administrative Reforms
• The following were the demands of the early nationalists in the administrative sphere.
1. Indianisation of the higher grades of administrative services: The early nationalists made this
demand on economic, political, and moral grounds.
 Economically, the European monopoly of higher services was harmful on two grounds:
I. Europeans were paid at very high rates, making the Indian administration very costly.
Indians of similar qualifications could be employed at lower salaries.
II. Europeans sent a large part of their salaries and pensions to England, which contributed
to the drain of wealth from India.
 Politically, the Indianisation of these services would make the administration more responsive
to Indian needs.
 Morally, the Indianisation of services would limit the discriminatory policy of the British, who
kept Indians out of higher posts.
46

2. Separation of the judiciary from executive powers.

3. Greater opportunities for Indians in higher posts by holding the Indian Civil Service examina-
MIH-II – Post-1857

tion simultaneously in England and India.

4. The spread of primary education among the masses and Greater technical and higher education
facilities.
5. The extension of medical and health facilities.
6. Development of agricultural banks to save the peasants from the clutches of the moneylender.

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7. A large-scale irrigation extension programme for the development of agriculture and to save the
country from famines.
8. The better treatment for Indian labour abroad in other British colonies, where they faced oppres-
sion and racial discrimination.
9. Improve the police system to make it honest, efficient, and popular.
• The early nationalists opposed the official policy of disarming the people and asked the government
to trust them and grant them the right to bear arms. They also opposed the aggressive foreign policy
against India’s neighbours.
 Under the Arms Act of 1878, Indians were made to pay a license fee to possess a weapon, but
Europeans and Eurasians were exempted from doing so. Special concessions were also given to
landholders.

Defence of Civil Rights

• From the beginning, the politically conscious Indians had been powerfully attracted not only to democ-
racy but also to modern civil rights, namely, the freedoms of speech, the Press, thought and associ-
ation. They put up a strong defence of these civil rights whenever the Government tried to curtail
them.

Methods of Political Work

• Moderates dominated the Indian national movement up to 1905. The political methods of the Mod-
erates can be summed up briefly as constitutional agitation within the four walls of the law.
• They believed that if public opinion was created and popular demands were presented to the au-
thorities through petitions, meetings, resolutions, and speeches, they would concede these demands
gradually and step by step. Therefore, their political work had a two-pronged direction:
1. To build strong public opinion in India
2. To persuade the British Government to introduce reforms along the directions laid down by the
nationalists.
• The moderate nationalists believed that the British people and Parliament wanted to be just to India
but they did not know the true state of affairs there. Therefore, next to educating public opinion, the
moderate nationalists worked to educate British public opinion. For this purpose, they carried on ac-
47

tive propaganda in Britain.

 A British Committee of the Indian National Congress was founded in 1889. In 1890, this Com-
MIH-II – Post-1857

mittee started a journal called India.

 Dadabhai Naoroji spent most of his life and income in England, popularising India's case among
its people. He got elected to the British House of Commons and formed a strong Indian lobby
in that House.

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• To sum up, the political work of the Moderates was based on the hard reality of the life of the people
rather than on narrow appeals to religion, mere emotion or shallow sentiments.

Press and the Annual Sessions of Congress

• The early nationalists believed in the power of peaceful and constitutional agitation. They relied on the
press and the platform at the annual sessions to spread their message.
• However, since the Congress sessions lasted only three days each year, the press was the only means of
disseminating Congress propaganda throughout the year.

Loyalty to the British Rule

• It is believed that moderates were loyal to the British. However, the professions of loyalty to British
rule by prominent moderate leaders do not mean that they were not patriots.
• Moderates genuinely believed that the continuation of India’s political connection with Britain was
in India's interests at that stage of history, and the time was not yet ripe to challenge the foreign
rulers directly. Later, when British rule did not accept most of their demands, many stopped talking
about loyalty to British rule and started demanding self-government for India.

Role of Masses
• The moderate phase of the national movement had a narrow social base. It did not penetrate the
masses, and the masses played a passive role. This was because the early nationalists lacked political
faith in them.
• The early nationalists felt that society was divided into many groups, and these different groups had
to be welded into a nation before entering the political sphere. However, they overlooked the fact that
these distinct groups could only come together during a freedom struggle.
• Because the moderates failed to actively involve the masses, they could not gain their support and,
therefore, could not adopt a more militant political stance.
• However, the narrow social base of the early national movement did not mean that it fought for the
narrow interests of the social groups which joined it. Its programme and policies championed the
cause of all sections of the Indian people and represented the interests of the emerging Indian nation
against colonial rule. 48

Attitude of the Government

• From the beginning, the British authorities were hostile to the rising nationalist movement and had
MIH-II – Post-1857

become suspicious of the National Congress. In the beginning, this hostility was not openly ex-
pressed. It was perhaps hoped that Hume’s leadership would make the national movement and its
organ, the National Congress, harmless to British rule.
• But soon, the National Congress emerged as a prominent force for Indian nationalism, and British
officials began to criticise and condemn the Congress and other nationalist spokesmen openly. They

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labelled the leaders as disloyal babus, seditious brahmins, and violent villains. In 1887, Dufferin pub-
licly attacked the National Congress and mocked it as representing only a microscopic minority of
the people.
• When the growing unity of the Indian people posed a major threat to their rule, the British authorities
used the policy of 'divide and rule'.
 They encouraged Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Raja Shiva Prasad of Benaras, and other pro-British indi-
viduals to start an anti-Congress movement.
 They tried to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.
• However, opposition by the authorities failed to check the growth of the national movement.

Evaluation of the Early National Movement

• The Congress was a national body in the true sense. There was nothing in its programme to which any
class might take exception. Its doors were open to all classes and communities. Its programme was
broad enough to accommodate all interests. It may be said that Congress was not a party but a move-
ment.
• According to some critics, the nationalist movement and the National Congress did not achieve much
success in their early phase. Very few of the reforms for which the nationalists agitated were introduced
by the government. There is a great deal of truth in this criticism. However, the critics are incorrect in
declaring the early national movement a failure. The early national movement:
 Created a wide national awakening.
 Aroused among the people the feeling that they belonged to one common nation—the Indian
nation.
 Popularised among the Indians the ideas of democracy and nationalism.
 Made the issue of nationalism a dominant one in Indian life.
 Established the political truth that India must be ruled in the interests of the Indians.
 Made people recognise the economic content and character of British imperialism that Britain
was making India a supplier of raw materials and a market for British manufacture.
 Undermined the moral foundations of the British rule by exposing its cruel, exploitative character.
• However, the early national movement failed to widen their democratic base and the scope of their
demands. While its weaknesses were to be removed by the succeeding generations, its achievements
49

served as a base for a more vigorous national movement in later years.

MIH-II – Post-1857

[UPSC 2021] To what extent did the moderates' role prepare a base for the wider freedom
movement? Comment.

3.2. Indian Councils Act of 1892

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• The Indian Councils Act of 1892 was an amending Act. Consequently, the basic constitutional provi-
sions remained the same as those under the Act of 1861. However, mainly two types of changes were
introduced by the Act of 1892:
1. Changes in the composition of legislative councils
2. Enlargement of functions
 The Indian Councils Act of 1892 was the first major achievement of the INC in the constitutional
sphere.

Composition of Legislative Councils

Central Legislative Council
• The Indian Councils Act of 1892 increased the number of additional members of the Central Execu-
tive Council to 10 to 16, of whom not less than half were to be non-officials, as under the Act of 1861.
• Under the regulations finally adopted, the Central Legislative Council was to consist of:
 Nine ex-officio members (the Governor-General, six members of the Executive Council, the Com-
mander-in-Chief and the head of the province in which the Council met, i.e. Lieutenant Governor of
Bengal or Punjab)
 Six official Additional Members
 Ten non-official members of the Legislative Councils of Bengal, Bombay, Madras and the North-
western province.
• The official members, together with the ex-officio members, constituted an official majority.
• The Act provided for the nomination of some non-official members by the viceroy on the recom-
mendation of the provincial legislative councils and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

Provincial Legislative Councils

• Similar changes were introduced in the composition of provincial legislative councils. The official ma-
jority was maintained in all provinces.
• The Act provided for the nomination of some non-official members by the Governors on the recom-
mendation of the universities, district board, municipalities, zamindars and chambers of commerce
to the provincial legislative councils. 50

Elected or Nominated?

• In practice, different bodies elected their representatives and forwarded their names. The Govern-
MIH-II – Post-1857

ment always accepted these names. Thus, the members were elected representatives.
• The idea behind the nomination of some non-official members by the Governor-General or the
Governor was to underline that the members occupied seats on the Legislative Council not as rep-
resentatives of specific bodies but as nominees of the Governor-General or the Governor.

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Enlargement of Functions of Councils

• The councils were allowed:
 To ask questions to the executive (supplementary questions were not allowed).
 To indulge in a free and fair criticism of the government's policy.
 To discuss the annual financial statement (budget), though they could not vote on them.
 Under the Act of 1892, Members were, for the first time, granted the privilege of asking questions.
The Maharaja of Bhinga asked the first question on February 16th, 1893.

Limitations
 The official majority was maintained in the legislative councils.
 Direct election was not introduced to represent non-official members.
 Supplementary questions could not be asked.
 The budget could not be voted on.

Appraisal
• There was some hope that elections might be introduced. However, the Governor-General was empow-
ered to invite different bodies in India to elect, select, or delegate their representatives and to make
regulations for their nomination.
• The Indian Councils Act of 1892 was criticised at the 1892 and 1893 sessions of the Indian National
Congress mainly because the principle of direct election had not been introduced.
• Despite the limitations, the Act proved liberal enough to enable many nationalist leaders like G.K.
Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjee, and Pherozeshah Mehta to enter the legislation. The non-official
members took advantage of each opportunity to put forward the Indian point of view.

3.3. Economic Critique of British Imperialism

• Indian intellectuals of the first half of the 19th century had adopted a positive attitude towards
British rule, hoping that Britain would help modernise India. However, their hopes were shattered after
1860 when they witnessed social development not aligning with their expectations.
• Gradually, Indian intellectuals understood the true nature of British rule and concluded that colo-
nialism was the primary obstacle to India's economic development.
51

• In the 1870s and 1880s, the early nationalists developed an extensive economic critique of colonialism.
This critique was their most important contribution to the development of the national movement.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• From 1870 to 1905, many Indians conducted an economic analysis of British rule. Some of the most
prominent figures among them were Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G. Ranade, R.C. Dutt, Dinshaw Wacha, G.V.
Joshi, G. Subramaniya Iyer, G.K. Gokhale, Prithwis Chandra Ray, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Surendranath
Banerjee.

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• They clearly understood that the essence of British imperialism was in subordinating the Indian
economy to the British economy. They opposed the transformation of India into:
 A supplier of raw materials
 A market for the British manufacturers
 A field for the investment of British capital.
• Some important issues related to this critique include:
1. Drain of Wealth
2. De-industrialization
3. Growing poverty
4. Public Finance
5. Agriculture

[UPSC 2015] Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?
1. Dadabhai Naoroji
2. G. Subramania Iyer
3. R. C. Dutt
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: D

Drain of Wealth
• The critique of the drain of wealth from India was the most popular sentiment in the anti-colonial
nationalist narrative, as most peasants in the country could quickly understand it. The idea of money
being taken from one place to another was the most straightforward of all the theories of economic
exploitation.
• Dadabhai Naoroji, in his book “Poverty and un-British Rule in India,” put forward the “drain theory”
to explain the British exploitation of India. He showed how India’s wealth was going away to England
52

through salaries, savings, pensions, payments to British troops in India and profits of the British compa-
nies.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• At the Calcutta Session of 1896, the INC officially adopted the drain theory.
• Books critical of the imperialist drain of India’s resources were:
 William Digby’s Prosperous British India
 G.S. Iyer’s Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India
 R.C. Dutt’s Economic History of India

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De-industrialization
• The early nationalists criticised the official economic policies for:
 The ruin of India's traditional handicraft industries.
 Obstructing the development of modern industries.
• According to the nationalists, de-industrialization and ruralisation played a big role in the poverty of
the Indian people as the jobs in one sector were lost but not compensated by the rapid growth of the
modern sector.

A Policy of Free Trade

• According to the early nationalists, a major obstacle to rapid industrial development was the policy of
free trade, which:
 Ruined India’s handicraft industries
 Forced the infant modern industries into unequal competition with developed industries of the
West.
• The early nationalists wanted the Government to promote modern industries through tariff protec-
tion and direct government aid. They popularised the idea of swadeshi and the boycott of British
goods to promote Indian industries.

Opposition to Foreign Capital

• The early nationalists wanted industrialisation in India based on Indian capital and not foreign cap-
ital. They opposed the large-scale investment of foreign capital in the Indian railways, plantations,
and industries because it would suppress Indian capitalists and further strengthen the British hold on
India's economy and polity.
• They believed that the employment of foreign capital posed a serious economic and political danger
to the present generation and the generations to come.

Agriculture
• Almost 80 per cent of colonial India's population depended on agriculture, and revenue from land
formed the largest part of government collection in the 19th century. The nationalists criticised the gov-
ernment for:
53

 High land revenue

 Constant revisions in the assessment of revenue: It created uncertainty and dissuaded the culti-
MIH-II – Post-1857

vators from investing in land, leading to stagnation and decay in agriculture

 Strict collection of rents and revenues from the peasants, accompanied by evictions and punish-
ment.
 Periodic rise in revenue demands
 Hindering investment in agriculture

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• The combined effect of these policies was to drain capital out of agriculture, prevent investment in
land, decline in land quality, and recurrence of famines, resulting in large-scale deaths.
• To improve the matters, the nationalists suggested:
 Reduction in land revenue
 A permanent tenure: The demand for a ‘permanent settlement’ did not mean a Bengal-type
Zamindari Settlement. They demanded a long-term fixation of tenure under which the peasants
would be assured that they had to pay a certain revenue for a long time and that their lands would
not be confiscated.

The poverty of Indian People

• Since the 1870s, there had been constant concern about the extreme poverty of Indians among the
nationalists. Dadabhai Naoroji wrote his famous paper on this issue in 1870 and published his book,
“The Poverty of India,” in 1876.
• Dadabhai pointed out that the real cause of poverty was the alien and exploitative character of British
rule.

Public Finance
• The early nationalists strongly criticised the colonial financial system. They argued that taxes were
raised in a way that overburdened the poor and allowed the rich, especially foreign capitalists and
bureaucrats, to evade taxes. They demanded:
 Abolition of the salt tax.
 Reduction of land revenue.
 Reduction of high military expenditure.
• On the expenditure side, they pointed out that a large part of the tax collection was taken out of the
country and not spent inside. The high tax revenue was used to serve Britain’s imperial needs and not
for the benefit of the people.

Early Thoughts on British Economic Policies

• Nationalist economic ideas took shape between the 1870s and 1905. However, even earlier, Raja
Rammohan Roy and intellectuals from Maharashtra discussed and wrote about some of the issues
54

related to the economic exploitation of India by the British.

• Raja Rammohan Roy complained against the ‘tribute’ paid to Britain. In the 1840s, Maharashtrian
MIH-II – Post-1857

intellectuals such as Bhaskar Pandurang Tarkhadkar, Govind Vitthal Kunte (Bhau Mahajan) and
Ramkrishna Vishwanath criticised the British rule for:
 Destroying the indigenous handicrafts industry
 No-tariff policy
 Limiting the growth of modern industry in India

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 Waging wars and charging them on the Indian treasury

3.4. Moderate Leaders

Dadabhai Naoroji
• Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and
an early Indian political and social leader.
• After completing his studies at Elphinstone College, he was appointed as assistant master in 1845.
• In 1854, Dadabhai became the first Indian to become a full professor when he was appointed pro-
fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Elphinstone College, Bombay.
• In 1855, Dadabhai resigned from his professorial job and relocated to Britain to help establish Cama &
Co., the first Indian commercial firm in the United Kingdom.

Diwan of Baroda
• In 1874, Dadabhai was appointed as the Diwan of Baroda, a princely state ruled by Malharrao Gaik-
wad, but he later resigned from office.

Member of Parliament
• In 1892, he was the first Indian elected to the House of Commons (liberal party candidate). He was a
Liberal Party member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons between 1892 and
1895 and the first Indian to be a British MP.
• In 1893, Dadabhai introduced a bill in the House of Commons proposing simultaneous civil service
examinations. However, the bill failed due to insufficient support.
 In June 1893, a resolution for simultaneous civil service examinations passed in the House of Com-
mons.

Organisations
1. Students Literary and Scientific Society: In 1848, Dadabhai Naoroji, along with other members of the
Native Literary Society, founded the Students Literary and Scientific Society. As a member of the
Society, he pioneered women’s education.
2. Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (1851): In 1851, along with Naoroji Furdonji and S.S. Bengalee, Da-
55

dabhai Naoroji started Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (Religious Reform Association) for reforms in
the Parsi community.
MIH-II – Post-1857

3. Bombay Association (1852): Dadabhai was an active member of the Bombay Association (1852), the
first political association in Western India.
4. East India Association (1866): In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji organised the East India Association in Lon-
don to discuss the Indian question and to influence British public men to promote Indian welfare.
Later, he organised branches of the Association in prominent Indian cities.

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 At the first meeting of the East India Association in London, Dadabhai read the paper ‘England’s
Duties to India’, accusing Britain of draining India's wealth.
5. Indian National Congress: In 1885, Dadabhai attended the first Indian National Congress session held
in Bombay.
 Dadabhai was the president of the 1886, 1893 and 1906 Congress sessions.
6. British Committee of the Indian National Congress: In 1899, Dadabhai founded the British Commit-
tee of the Indian National Congress in London to raise awareness of Indian issues to the public in
Britain.

Books
1. Poverty and un-British rule in India
2. Poverty of India
3. The Wants and Means of India
4. The European and Asiatic Races

Papers
• Two papers presented by Dr Dadabhai Naoroji:
1. The Manners and Customs of the Parsees
2. The Parsi Religion

Journals
• In 1851, Dadabhai founded Rast Goftar (Truth Teller), a Gujarati fortnightly with a Persian name.
• In 1883, Dadabhai started a newspaper called 'Voice of India' in Bombay.

Drain of Wealth
• Dadabhai was India's first economic thinker. In his writings on economics, he showed that the basic
cause of India's poverty lay in the British exploitation of India and the drain of its wealth.
• Dadabhai formulated the famous drain-of-wealth theory, asserting that British rule was responsible
for India's economic ruin and increased poverty.
 At its Calcutta Session of 1896, the Indian National Congress officially adopted the drain theory,
which thereafter became a main plank in the organised nationalist agitation.
56

[UPSC 2012] Consider the following statements: The most effective contribution made by
Dadabhai Naoroji to the cause of the Indian National Movement was that
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. Exposed the economic exploitation of India by the British.

2. Interpreted the ancient Indian texts and restored the self-confidence of Indians.
3. Stressed the need for eradication of all the social evils before anything else.

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Which of the statement(s) given above is/ are correct?

a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: A
[UPSC 2008] Who among the following used the phrase 'Un-British' to criticise the English
colonial control of India?
a) Anand Mohan Bose
b) Badruddin Tyabji
c) Dadabhai Naoroji
d) Pherozeshah Mehta

Answer: C

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915)

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian liberal political leader and a social reformer from Maharashtra
during the Indian Independence Movement.

Early Life and Education

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born in 1866 in a village near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
• Gokhale graduated from the Elphinstone College of Bombay in 1884. He studied Western political
thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke.
• Gokhale taught at the New English School and was promoted to lecturer at Fergusson College.

Ranade's Influence and Sarvajanik Sabha

• Justice M. G. Ranade's social works greatly influenced Gokhale's life. Under the guidance of M.G.
Ranade, Gokhale volunteered his services to the cause of public life. He became the Secretary of the
Sarvajanik Sabha.

Journalism
57

• For some years, he wrote in the English section of the journal Sudharak, which was started by Gopal
Ganesh Agarkar.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Gokhale was also the editor of the Quarterly Journal of the Sarvajanik Sabha from its inception.

Deccan Sabha
• In 1896, when Tilak and his associates captured the Sarvajanik Sabha, Ranade and his followers, in-
cluding Gokhale, dissociated themselves from the Sabha.

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• Gokhale founded the Deccan Sabha in 1896 under the guidance of his mentor, M. G. Ranade. V M
Bhide took over as President, and Gokhale was appointed as the First Secretary.

Welby Commission
• On behalf of the Deccan Sabha, Gokhale was sent to England to give evidence before the Welby Com-
mission (Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure), which the Government appointed to suggest
ways of more equitable distribution of administration expenses between the British and the Indian
Governments.

Work in Legislative Councils

• In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council. In 1901, he was sent to the Imperial
Legislative Council as a representative of the Bombay Presidency and has never been displaced since
then.
• Gokhale’s budget speeches were famous for their constructive but fearless criticism of the Govern-
ment's fiscal policies.

Servants of India Society

• G. K. Gokhale formed the Servants of India Society on June 12, 1905, after leaving the Deccan Educa-
tion Society in Pune.
• The Society was founded on the belief that if the masses were to be liberated, there should be a band
of selfless and intelligent workers who would dedicate their lives to serving the nation.
• Its volunteers were trained to be nationalist missionaries who took vows of renunciation, gave up all
ideas of selfishness, pride, and fame, and dedicated themselves to their work and duty.
• The Society organised many campaigns to promote education, sanitation, and health care and fight
the social evils of untouchability and discrimination, alcoholism, poverty, and oppression of women
and for the protection of women from domestic abuse.
• In 1911, Hitavada, the organ of the Society, was started in English from Nagpur.
• The Society's base shrank after Gokhale died in 1915. However, it continues to operate with a small
membership and has its headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra.
• Despite his deep respect for Gokhale, Gandhi rejected Gokhale's idea that Western institutions could
be used to achieve political reform. As a result, Gandhi did not join Gokhale's Servants of India
58

Society.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Indentured Labour
• At the instance of Mahatma Gandhi, Gokhale also took a keen interest in the affairs of the Indians in
South Africa. In 1910 and 1912, he moved resolutions in the Imperial Legislative Council to relieve
Indian indentured labour in Natal.

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• Gokhale went to South Africa at Gandhi's invitation in 1912 and played a significant role in tackling
the problems of Indians settled there.

Free and Compulsory Primary Education

• During 1910-13, G.K. Gokhale made efforts in the Imperial Legislative Council to urge the govern-
ment to accept the responsibility for compulsory primary education. However, the bill for introducing
compulsory elementary education moved by Gokhale was defeated by the majority in 1911.

Association with Mahatma Gandhi

• Gokhale was a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in the latter’s formative years. Gandhi wrote a book in
Gujarati dedicated to the Gokhale, titled ‘Dharmatma Gokhale’.
• When Gandhi returned from his struggles against the Empire in South Africa, he received personal
guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting
common Indians.
• In his memoirs, Gandhiji recalled his first encounter with Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Pune on October
12, 1896. He wrote that in contrast to Sir Pherozeshah, who seemed as unapproachable as the Hima-
layas, and Lokamanya, who was as vast as the ocean, Gokhale was like the Ganges - inviting, refresh-
ing, and easy to connect with.

Indian National Congress

• In 1889, Gokhale attended the Indian National Congress session for the first time, and since then,
he has been a regular speaker at its meetings.
• Gokhale was one of the leading moderate leaders along with Justice Ranade, D.E. Wacha and Pher-
ozeshah Mehta.
• In 1905, Gokhale was appointed as the President of the Benaras Congress session.
• Soon after the Benares Congress, Gokhale went to England to meet the Secretary of State. He played
a leading role in bringing about the Morley-Minto Reforms in India.

Political thought
• Political thought and ideas do not evolve in a vacuum. They emerge in a particular social atmosphere. A
thinker is a product of his times. Gokhale was no exception. His ideas and thinking were influenced
59

mainly by the leading personalities of his time and the events he encountered.
• Gokhale's political thought revolves more around the socio-political issues of his time than any basic
MIH-II – Post-1857

political concept like the state, nation, or sovereignty.

• Gokhale, like many liberal Indian thinkers, welcomed and appreciated British rule in India. He believed
that British rule should continue because it brought two completely new things to India:
1. Modernisation of Indian society

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2. Introduction of equality before the law, representative government (although limited), and free-
dom of speech and press.
• Gokhale argued that Indians should tolerate British rule for a while and focus on developing industry,
commerce, education and politics. He believed that if British rule persisted, India would undergo
modernisation and eventually join the community of nations like any other independent European
state.
• Gokhale believed that the British would grant India self-government once Indians qualified for it.
• However, Gokhale's justification for the continuance of the British rule in India did not mean that he
was totally satisfied with the British administration in India. For instance, he was a bitter critic of the high
handedness of the Curzonian administration. Gokhale often argued that the British Raj was more raj
and less British because it was reluctant to introduce English parliamentary institutions to India.

Self-government
• The earlier Congress leaders were satisfied with the idea of 'good government,' which meant an effi-
cient and enlightened government. But Gokhale, like Dadabhai Naoroji, gradually realised that no
good government was ever possible without self-government.
• Gokhale felt that the British had given good government in the sense that they had established law and
order in the society, but then the time had come to associate the Indians with the work of govern-
ment, and this was possible only if the British granted self-government to India.

Gokhale's idea of Self-government

• Gokhale's idea of self-government was different from that of extremist thinkers like Aurobindo, Bipin
Chandra Pal, and Tilak.
• By self-government, Gokhale never meant complete independence for India. He wanted self-gov-
ernment only within the limits of the British Empire. He believed that India's connection with the
British would benefit India in the long run.
• The extremists like Aurobindo and Tilak (swaraj) wanted complete independence for India, having
no connection with Britain.
• For Tilak, Swaraj was the birthright of the people for which no specific conditions were required.
Gokhale, on the other hand, thought that people should qualify themselves to be worthy of main-
60

taining representative institutions.

Social Reforms
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In politics, Gokhale laid the foundations of constitutionalism. He favoured legislation to bring about
certain social changes. His attitude towards social reform was essentially humanitarian and liberal. He
believed in persuasion rather than confrontation.

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• Gokhale thought that the enlightened, educated people, few in number should guide the society and
properly lead the masses. Hence, he focused more on enlightening the educated classes on major
socio-economic issues rather than organising masses for political action.

Refusal of Knighthood
• Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy, believed Gokhale deserved recognition for his service and recommended
him for Knighthood. The Secretary of State forwarded the recommendation to the King, who agreed to
grant the Knighthood. However, when Gokhale was informed, he declined the honour.
• Gokhale also refused to accept a position in the Council of the Secretary of State for India.

[UPSC 2008] Who among the following rejected the title of knighthood and refused to
accept a position in the council of the Secretary of State for India?
a) Motilal Nehru
b) M. G. Ranade
c) G. K. Gokhale
d) B. G. Tilak
Answer: C

Surendranath Banerjee (1848-1925)

• Surendranath Banerjee passed the Indian Civil Service exam in 1869 but was disqualified on the
flimsy grounds of his age.
 Four Indians - Surendranath Banerjee, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Behari Lal Gupta and Sripad Babaji
Thakur - passed the Indian Civil Service exam in 1869.
• Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose founded the Indian Association on 26 July 1876. It aimed to create
strong public opinion on political questions and unite the Indian people on a common political pro-
gramme. In 1886, the Indian Association merged with the Indian National Congress (INC).
• In 1877, Banerjee arranged a massive public gathering to protest British Prime Minister Salisbury's de-
cision to decrease the maximum age for appearing in the Indian Civil Services exam from 21 to 19.
In 1921, he accepted a knighthood from the British.

Journalism
61

• In 1879, Banerjee bought the newspaper “The Bengalee” (founded in 1862 by Girish Chandra Ghosh)
and edited it for 40 years.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In 1883, Banerjee wrote an article in the Bengalee newspaper criticising Justice Norris for bringing an
idol to the court for identification. As a result, Banerjee was served a writ and eventually convicted for
two months. This made him the first Indian journalist to be imprisoned.

Surendranath Banerjee and INC

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• Banerjee was the moderate leader of Congress and presided over Congress sessions in 1895 and
1902. He opposed the extreme methods advocated by Tilak and the non-cooperation movement of
Mahatma Gandhi.
• Surendranath supported Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, unlike Congress, and with many liberal lead-
ers, he left Congress and founded a new organisation named the Indian National Liberation Federa-
tion in 1919.
Moderate Leaders Contribution
G Subramania Iyer  Started two newspapers - The Hindu (English) in 1878 and Swadesami-
tran (Tamil) in 1882.
 Founded Madras Mahajan Sabha along with M. Veeraraghavachariar and
P. Anandacharlu.
Badruddin Tyabji  Founded Bombay Presidency Association along with Phirozshah Mehta
and K.T Telang.
 He became the first Muslim president of the INC when he presided over
its Third Session, which was held in Chennai in 1887.
Womesh Chandra  He was the first president of the Indian National Congress. He also pre-
Bonnerjee sided over the Allahabad session in 1892.
 In 1883, he defended Surendranath Banerjee in the Contempt of Court
Case against him in the Calcutta High Court.
Sir Rash Behari Ghosh  President of INC in the Surat session (1907) and Madras session (1908).
 He was knighted in 1915.

Sir William Wedderburn (1838–1918)

• Sir William Wedderburn was a British civil servant and politician who was a Liberal Party member
of Parliament (MP).
• Wedderburn supported Lord Ripon’s administrative reforms to develop local self-government and
equality for Indian judges. Due to his pro-India role, Wedderburn was denied a judge’s position in the
Bombay HC, leading to his early retirement.
• Wedderburn was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress. He was also the
62

president of Congress for the Allahabad session in 1889 and 1910.

• Wedderburn was the Chairman of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress from July
MIH-II – Post-1857

1889 until his death.

• Wedderburn entered the British Parliament in 1893 as a Liberal member and sought to voice India's
grievances in the House. He formed the Indian Parliamentary Committee, which he was associated
with as Chairman from 1893 to 1900. The Committee agitated for Indian political reform in the House
of Commons.

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• Wedderburn also represented India in the 1895 Welby Commission or the Royal Commission on Indian
Expenditure.
• As a liberal, William Wedderburn believed in the principle of self-government. He welcomed the formal
proclamation by the British Government on 20 August 1917 that the goal of British policy in India
was the progressive establishment of self-government.

[UPSC 2011] What was the purpose with which Sir William Wedderburn and W.S.Caine had
set up the Indian Parliamentary Committee in 1893?
a) To agitate for Indian political reforms in the House of Commons
b) To campaign for the entry of Indians into the Imperial Judiciary
c) To facilitate a discussion on India’s Independence in the British Parliament
d) To agitate for the entry of eminent Indians into the British Parliament
Answer: A

3.5. Summary

Moderate Nationalism
• During The first twenty years (1885-1905), moderate leaders dominated the Congress. This phase of
the Congress is known as the Moderate phase. During this period, the leaders were cautious in their
demands. They did not want to annoy the government and incur the risk of suppression of their
activities.

Demands of Moderates
• Constitutional reforms: expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils
• Economic relief: Moderates demanded the abolition of the salt tax, reduction of land revenue, re-
duction of high military expenditure, and promotion of modern industries through tariff protection
• Administrative reorganisation: Indianisation of the higher grades of administrative services, holding
the ICS examination simultaneously in England and India, and separation of the judiciary from exec-
utive powers,
• Civil rights: Freedoms of speech, the Press, thought and association. 63

Methods of Political Work

• The Moderates' political methods involve constitutional agitation within the four walls of the law.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Moderates worked to build strong public opinion in India and persuade the British Government to
introduce reforms along the directions laid down by the nationalists.

Evaluation of the Early National Movement

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• The early national movement created a wide national awakening, popularised the ideas of democracy
and nationalism, and made nationalism a dominant issue. However, it did not penetrate the masses
and failed to widen their democratic base and the scope of their demands.

Economic Critique of British Imperialism

• From 1870 to 1905, many Indians conducted an economic analysis of British rule. They clearly under-
stood that the essence of British imperialism was in subordinating the Indian economy to the British
economy. They opposed the transformation of India into a supplier of raw materials, a market for
British manufacturers and a field for the investment of British capital.
• They raised issues such as the drain of Wealth, de-industrialization, growing poverty, public finance,
and deterioration of agriculture.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

64
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4. Nationalist Movement 1905-1918

4.1. Militant Nationalism

• The rise of militant nationalism in India was evident in the movement against the partition of Bengal
in 1905. However, this extremism did not emerge suddenly in the early 1900s. Instead, it had been
slowly growing since the Revolt of 1857.
• Unlike moderates, the extremist leaders did not believe in the goodness of British rule or their sense
of justice and fair play.
• There were three groups of the Extremists (militant nationalists or radical nationalists):
1. The Maharashtra group, headed by B.G. Tilak
2. The Bengal group, represented by B.C. Pal and Aurobindo
3. The Punjab group led by Lala Lajpat Rai

Methods of Work
• The extremists' method of agitation went beyond petitions and speeches. They advocated persistent
opposition to the Government and put forward a militant programme of passive resistance and boy-
cott of foreign goods, courts, education and so on.
• The extremists advocated the following activities:
1. Boycott of foreign goods and promotion of Swadeshi goods to give impetus to the growth of
indigenous industry and commerce.
2. Non-cooperation with the bureaucracy, including a ‘boycott’ of governmental activities.
3. The establishment of schools and colleges that provided education in the Indian languages and
instilled in the students pride in India's glorious heritage and made the students nationalistic, public-
spirited, knowledgeable, self-reliant, and independent in spirit.
4. Passive resistance to British rule by non-payment of revenue and taxes and by organising sepa-
rate ‘indigenous administrative institutions’ parallel to those of the British at the level of villages,
talukas and districts.
• The extremists saw the struggle against foreign rule as a full-time activity and devoted their whole
65

lives to it. They also used popular symbols like Shivaji and religious symbols like God Ganapati and
Goddess Kali to mobilise the people.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Role of Masses
• The extremists emphasised the role of the masses. They aimed to prepare the masses for the struggle
to gain ‘Swaraj’ by educating, uniting, and instilling a sense of self-respect, self-reliance, and pride in
their ancient heritage.

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• The extremists believed in the capacity of people and demanded self-sacrifice from the youth.

Nationalism and Indian Religious Traditions

• The extremists' concept of nationalism was emotionally charged and based on a rich interpretation
of Indian religious traditions. The Extremist leaders tried to reorient Indian religious traditions to
worldly life and link them with the national liberation struggle.
 Aurobindo Ghose reinterpreted Vedanta philosophy, which advocated the unity of man and God
and based his concept of nationalism on it. To him, national work was the work of God, which
should be done in the spirit of Karma Yoga because the true nationalist was an ideal Karma Yogi
who performed his functions in the spirit of selflessness.
 Tilak reinterpreted the Gita's message in his famous book, Gita Rahasya. According to Tilak, the
Gita emphasises the importance of selfless action with full self-knowledge rather than Bhakti or
Sanyasa. He believed that national work aimed at promoting general welfare was a form of selfless
action.
 The extremists conceived the nation as ‘Mother India’, which represented a united power or Shakti
of millions of her children.
• The Extremist leaders used religious symbols to arouse the masses; however, they did not mix religion
and politics. Their concept of nationhood encompassed all religions in India.
• Though the ‘Dharma’ advocated by leaders like Tilak and Lajpat Rai looked like it had a Hindu connota-
tion, for the extremists, it meant ‘universal moral law’ under whose unifying influence the different
religions and communities in India would coexist peacefully.
Moderates Extremists
Perspectives on • Believed in the appeals to the • Did not Believe in the appeals to the
British Rule British. British.
• Believed that British rule could be • Denied that India could progress under
reformed within. the benevolent guidance and control of
the English.
Demands Initial: Constitutional reforms and a Complete independence for India, having
greater share of Indians in the admin- no connection with Britain.
istration.
66

Later: Self-government within the

British Empire.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Influence Western political ideas and practices, Indian history, culture and tradition.
especially the liberal philosophy.
Methods of Po- Constitutional agitation within the Passive resistance and boycott of foreign
litical Work four walls of the law. cloth, courts, education and so on.

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Role of the Lacked political faith in the masses. Believed in the capacity of people and
Masses demanded self-sacrifice from the youth.
Connection Believed that India's connection with Believed that British rule was responsible
with the British the British would benefit India. for India's economic ruin and that India's
connection with the British would perpetu-
ate the British exploitation of India.

Reasons For the Rise of Militant Nationalism

• The following factors were responsible for the rise of militant nationalism:
1. Failure of Moderate Politics
2. Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule
3. Growth of Education and Unemployment
4. Growth of Self-respect and Self-confidence
5. Existence of a Militant Nationalist School of Thought
6. International Influences
7. Administration of Lord Curzon

Failure of Moderate Politics

• In its early days, moderates exposed the evil character of British rule and increasingly made a large
number of people conscious of the evils of foreign domination.
• The moderates presented popular demands before the government; however, the British Govern-
ment did not accept any important demands. Hence, the people were disillusioned with the principles
and methods of the moderates.
• At the end of the 19th century, a strong feeling arose among the people that more radical political
action was needed to force the British to accept popular demands. They demanded more vigorous
political action and methods than those of meetings, petitions, memorials, and speeches in the leg-
islative councils.

Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule

• The politics of the moderate nationalists were founded on the belief that British rule could be reformed
67

from within. However, the spread of knowledge regarding political and economic questions gradually
undermined this belief. Politically conscious Indians were convinced that the purpose of British rule was
MIH-II – Post-1857

to exploit India economically.

• The political events of 1892 to 1905 also disappointed the nationalists and made them think of more
radical politics.
 The Indian Councils Act of 1892 was a complete disappointment.

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 The Natu brothers were deported in 1897 without being tried; even the charges against them
were not made public.
 In 1997, Lokamanya Tilak and other newspaper editors were sentenced to long terms of impris-
onment for arousing the people against the foreign government.
 In 1898, a law made it an offence to excite feelings of disaffection towards a foreign government.
• All these events convinced the people that it was useless to expect any political and economic advance
as long as Britain ruled India. Thus, an increasing number of Indians were convinced that self-govern-
ment was essential for the country's economic, political, and cultural progress.

Growth of Education and Unemployment

• By the end of the 19th century, the number of educated Indians had increased perceptively, but em-
ployment opportunities were few. As a result, many educated Indians worked in the administration
on extremely low salaries, while many others increasingly faced unemployment.
• The economic plight of educated Indians made them look critically at the nature of British rule. They
recognised that British rule was responsible for their suffering and that only the Indian government
could bring prosperity. Many of them were attracted by radical nationalist politics, which demanded
self-rule.
• The educated Indians became the best propagators and followers of militant nationalism because
they were low-paid or unemployed and educated in modern thought, politics, and European and world
history.

Growth of Self-respect and Self-confidence

• By the end of the 19th century, Indian nationalists had acquired faith in their capacity to govern them-
selves. Leaders like Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal preached the message of self-respect and asked the
nationalists to rely on the character and capacities of the Indian people.
• They taught the people that the remedy to their sad condition lay in their own hands. The belief in self-
effort also created an urge to extend the national movement to the masses instead of relying on a few
upper-class, educated Indians.

Existence of a Militant Nationalist School of Thought

From the beginning of the national movement, a school of militant nationalism existed there. This
68

•
school was represented by leaders like Rajnarain Bose, Ashwini Kumar Dutt and Vishnu Shastri
Chiplunkar. The most outstanding leaders of militant nationalism were Lokamanya Tilak, Bipin Chan-
MIH-II – Post-1857

dra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose, and Lala Lajpat Rai.

• The militant nationalists had deep faith in the strength of the masses. They believed that Indians them-
selves must work out their salvation. They aimed to attain Swaraj through mass action and declared it
as the ultimate objective of the national movement.

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International Influences
• Several events abroad during this period exploded the myth of European superiority and encouraged
the growth of militant nationalism in India. These include:
 The defeat of the Italian army by the Ethiopians in 1896
 The Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902), where the British faced reverses
 The defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905
• All these events convinced the Indians that a united people willing to make sacrifices could challenge
even the most powerful despotic governments.

Administration of Lord Curzon

• Lord Curzon believed in the despotic imperialism. His administration increased the anger of the
nationalists. Here are some of the administrative decisions he made.
1. Calcutta Municipal Amendment Act of 1899: In 1899, Lord Curzon reduced the number of elected
members in the Calcutta Corporation, deeply hurting the city's citizens.
2. An assault on the autonomous character of Calcutta University: Curzon passed the Universities Act
(1904), which cut down the number of elected senate members (mostly Indians).
 It also transferred the ultimate power of affiliating colleges and schools along with providing them
grants-in-aid to Government officials.
 The nationalists saw the Indian Universities Act of 1904 as an attempt to bring Indian universities
under tighter official control and to check the growth of higher education.
3. The Indian Official Secret Amendment Act of 1904 restricted the freedom of the press. People found
that instead of giving more political power to Indians, they were taking away their existing rights.
4. Partition of Bengal: In July 1905, Curzon announced the partition of Bengal. Bengali nationalists firmly
opposed the partition. They saw it as a deliberate attempt to divide the Bengalis and weaken na-
tionalism in Bengal.

4.2. Partition of Bengal

• The Bengal region was originally made up of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. However, with a pop-
ulation of approximately 80 million, it had become too large and difficult to manage administratively.
A territorial reorganisation of Bengal was necessary to ensure equal development of all areas and
69

administrative ease.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• On 19 July 1905, Lord Curzon issued an order dividing the province of Bengal into two parts:
1. Eastern Bengal and Assam, with a population of 31 million
2. The rest of Bengal (Western Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa) with a population of 54 million (18 million
Bengalis and 36 million Biharis and Oriyas).

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• The official reason for the decision was that the existing province of Bengal was too big to be efficiently
administered by a single provincial government, and partition would help develop Assam.

Opposition by Nationalists
• The Indian National Congress (INC) and the nationalists of Bengal firmly opposed the partition. They
saw the act of partition as a deliberate attempt to divide the Bengalis and weaken nationalism in
Bengal.
• The nationalists pointed out that administrative efficiency could have been better secured by sepa-
rating the Hindi-speaking Bihar and the Oriya-speaking Orissa from the Bengali-speaking part of
the province.

The Motive Behind the Partition

• The partition of the state intended to:
 Curb Bengali influence by placing Bengalis under two administrations and reducing them to a
minority in Bengal itself (18 million Bengalis and 36 million Biharis and Oriyas).
 Divide Hindus and Muslims and make use of the Muslims to counter-balance the Hindus.
 Weaken the nerve centre of Indian nationalism, i.e. Calcutta.

The Anti-Partition Movement (Swadeshi and Boycott Movement)

• The Anti-Partition Movement was the work of the entire national leadership of Bengal and not of
any one section of the movement.
• The most prominent leaders of the movement at the initial stage were moderate leaders like Suren-
dranath Banerjee. Militant and revolutionary nationalists took over in the later stages. In fact, both
the moderate and militant nationalists cooperated during the movement.

Movement under Moderates (1903-05)

• The decision by the British government to divide Bengal was announced in December 1903. This news
sparked immediate protests from the public. From 1903 to 1905, the movement was led by moderates
such as Surendranath Banerjee, K.K. Mitra, and Prithwishchandra Ray.
• The moderates’ methods included submitting petitions to the government, organising public meet-
ings, writing memoranda, and spreading propaganda through pamphlets and newspapers. The goal
70

was to create enough pressure on the government through an educated public opinion in India and
England and ultimately prevent the implementation of the Bengal partition.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Despite widespread protests, the decision to partition Bengal was announced on July 19, 1905. The
Bengal leaders felt that mere demonstrations, public meetings, and resolutions were not working
and that a different strategy was needed.

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• On August 7, 1905, a massive demonstration against the partition was organised in the town hall in
Calcutta. A boycott resolution was passed at the meeting, and the formal proclamation of the Swa-
deshi Movement was made.
• From this meeting, delegates dispersed to spread the movement to the rest of the province. Mass meet-
ings were held all over Bengal where Swadeshi or use of Indian goods and boycott of British goods
were proclaimed and pledged. ln many places:
 Public burnings of foreign cloth were organised.
 Shops selling foreign cloth were picketed.
 Women refused to wear foreign bangles and use foreign utensils.
 Washermen refused to wash foreign clothes.
 Priests declined offerings that contained foreign sugar.
• The boycott of foreign goods was the most successful among the several forms of struggle thrown
up by the movement.
• The partition took effect on 16 October 1905. The leaders of the protest movement declared it to be
a day of national mourning throughout Bengal. Different forms of protest included:
 16 October was observed as a day of fasting. In Calcutta, hartal was declared.
 In the early morning, people walked barefoot and bathed in the Ganga. They then paraded the
streets singing Bande Mataram, which almost spontaneously became the movement's theme song.
 Rabindranath Tagore composed a song, ‘Amar sonar Bangla’, sung by huge crowds parading the
streets.
 The ceremony of Raksha Bandhan was utilised in a new way. Hindus and Muslims tied the Rakhi
on one another’s wrists as a symbol of the unbreakable unity of the Bengalis and the two halves of
Bengal.
• In the afternoon, Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose laid the foundation of a Federa-
tion Hall to mark the indestructible unity of Bengal. They addressed a crowd of over 50,000 and passed
a resolution pledging to do their utmost to maintain the unity of Bengal.
• Hence, the partition, rather than dividing the Bengalis, united them through the anti-partition agita-
tion.

[UPSC 2009] In the context of the Indian freedom struggle, 16 October 1905 is well known
71

for which of the following reasons?

a) The formal proclamation of Swadeshi movement was made in Calcutta Town Hall
MIH-II – Post-1857

b) Partition of Bengal took effect

c) Dadabhai Naoroji declared that the goal of Indian National Congress was Swaraj
d) Lokmanaya Tilak stated swadeshi movement in Poona.

Answer: Option B

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[UPSC CSE 2010] What was the immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi Move-
ment?
a) The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon
b) A sentence of 18 months rigorous imprison- ment imposed on Lokmanya Tilak
c) The arrest and deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh; and passing of the Punjab colonisation
bill
d) Death sentence pronounced on the Chapekar brothers
Answer: Option A

Stand of the Congress

• All sections of the National Congress opposed the partition. However, there was disagreement be-
tween the moderate and the militant nationalists.
• At the Benaras session of 1905 under the presidentship of Gokhale, the Congress:
 Condemned the partition and reactionary policies of Curzon.
 Supported the Swadeshi and Boycott movement of Bengal.
• The militants led by Lala Lajpat Rai, Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Aurobindo Ghosh wanted to:
 Extend the Swadeshi and boycott movements from Bengal to the rest of the country.
 Extend the boycott to every form of association with the colonial government.
• The moderates, dominating the Congress, opposed extending the boycott beyond foreign goods
and Bengal.
• The split in the Congress was avoided by choosing Dadabhai Naoroji as the President of the 1906
Calcutta Session. Due to the pressure of extremist leaders, self-government (swaraj) within the Brit-
ish Empire (based on the model of colonies like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada) was de-
clared the goal of Congress.
• However, the disagreement between the moderates and extremists reached its peak, and the Congress
was divided in the 1907 Surat session (Surat Split).

Movement under Extremists

• After 1905, The leadership of the Anti-Partition Movement passed to militant nationalists like Tilak,
Bipin Chandra Pal, and Aurobindo Ghose. This was because:
72

 The early movement of protest led by the Moderates failed to yield results.
 The repressive policy of the government led people to militant and revolutionary politics.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• As the militant nationalists came to the fore, they called for passive resistance in addition to Swadeshi
and Boycott. They asked the people to refuse to cooperate with the government and to boycott
government services, the courts, and government schools and colleges. The purpose was to make
the administration impossible under present conditions by an organised refusal to do anything.

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• The militant nationalists tried to transform the swadeshi and anti-partition agitation into a mass
movement and gave the slogan of independence from foreign rule (Swaraj). Thus, the question of
the partition of Bengal became secondary, and the question of India’s freedom became the central
question of Indian politics.

Repressive Policy of the Government of East Bengal

• The shouting of Bande Mataram in public streets in East Bengal was banned.
• Laws controlling the press were enacted, and freedom of the press was completely suppressed.
• One of the most notorious examples of repression was the police assault on the peaceful delegates
of the Bengal Provincial Conference at Barisal (Barisal conference) in April 1906.

New Innovative Forms of Struggle

Public Meetings and Processions

• Public meetings and processions emerged as major methods of mass mobilisation and forms of pop-
ular expression.

Corps of Volunteers or Samitis

• Samitis, such as Ashwini Kumar Dutta's Swadesh Bandhab Samiti (in Barisal), emerged as a very
popular and powerful means of mass mobilisation.
• These samitis preached the essentials of Swadeshi and boycott, took up social work during famines
and epidemics, imparted physical and moral training, organised crafts and national schools, and set
up arbitration committees and village societies.
• These samitis also encouraged folk singers and artists to perform on Swadeshi themes in local dialects.

Imaginative use of Traditional Popular Festivals and Melas (Jatras)

• The festivals and melas were used to reach the masses and spread political messages. For instance,
Tilak's Ganapati and Shivaji festivals became a medium of swadeshi propaganda in Western India
and Bengal.
 In 1893, Tilak started using the traditional religious Ganpati festival to propagate nationalist ideas
through songs and speeches.
 In 1895, Tilak initiated the Shivaji festival to stimulate nationalism among young Maharashtrians by
73

using Shivaji as an example to follow.

Emphasis on Self-Reliance
MIH-II – Post-1857

• An important aspect of the Swadeshi Movement was the emphasis placed on self-reliance or 'At-
mashakti'.

Swadeshi Enterprises

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• In the economic field, self-reliance meant encouraging indigenous industries and other enterprises.
Many textile mills, soap and match factories, handloom weaving concerns, national banks, and insurance
companies were opened.
 Acharya P.C. Ray organised his famous Bengal Chemical Swadeshi Stores (1901).
 Chidambaram Pillai's Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (1906) at Tuticorin gave a challenge
to the British Indian Steam Navigation Company.

National Education
• The boycott of schools and colleges forced the leaders of the Swadeshi movement to consider running
a parallel education system in Bengal. Soon, appeals were made, donations were collected, and dis-
tinguished persons came forward to formulate programmes for national education.
 National educational institutions where literary, technical, or physical education was imparted
were opened by nationalists.
 On 25 July 1906, Bengal Technical Institute was established.
 On 15 August 1906, a National Council of Education was set up.
 A National College with Aurobindo Ghose as principal was started in Calcutta. The college was
inspired by Tagore’s Shantiniketan, which was established in 1901.

Constructive Activities in the Social Field

• The Movement included social reform and campaigns against caste oppression, early marriage, the
dowry system, consumption of alcohol, etc.

Extent of Mass Participation

The Role of Students

• A prominent part in the Swadeshi agitation was played by the students of Bengal. They practised and
propagated swadeshi and took the lead in organising picketing of shops selling foreign cloth.
• The government made every attempt to suppress the students. Orders were issued to penalise those
schools and colleges whose students actively participated in the Swadeshi agitation. Many students
were fined, expelled from schools and colleges, arrested, and sometimes beaten by the police with
lathis. The students, however, refused to be cowed down. 74

The Role of Women

• A remarkable aspect of the Swadeshi agitation was the active participation of women in the move-
MIH-II – Post-1857

ment. The traditionally home-centred women of the urban middle classes joined processions and pick-
eting.

All India Aspect of the Movement

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• Movements in support of Bengal’s unity, the Swadeshi, and boycott agitation were organised in many
parts of the country. It was recognised as the Vandemataram Movement in the deltaic Andhra region.
• Tilak was leading in spreading the Swadeshi movement to the rest of the country.

Impact of the Swadeshi Movement

Nationalism

• The movement made a major contribution to spreading the idea of nationalism to many sections of
the people beyond the official and elite circles. Women, students, and a large section of the urban and
rural population of Bengal and other parts of India became actively involved in politics for the first
time.
• The movement evolved several new methods and techniques of mass mobilisation.

Cultural Sphere

• The period saw a breakthrough in Indian art, literature, music, science and industry.
• Tagore’s Amar Sonar Bangla, written on this occasion, was later to inspire the liberation struggle of
Bangladesh and was adopted by it as its national anthem.
• Nandalal Bose was the first recipient of a scholarship from the Indian Society of Oriental Art,
founded in 1907.

[UPSC CSE 2007] The song 'Amar Sonar Bangla' written during the Swadeshi movement of
India inspired the liberation struggle of Bangladesh and was adopted as the National An-
them of Bangladesh. Who wrote this song?
a) Rajni Kanta Sen
b) Dwijendra lal Ray
c) Mukunda Das
d) Rabindra Nath Tagore

Answer: Option D

Drawbacks
Reluctance of Muslims

The Swadeshi Movement couldn't secure widespread support from the Muslim population, particu-
75

•
larly the Muslim peasantry. This was largely due to the British strategy of fostering communalism to
MIH-II – Post-1857

turn Muslims against the Swadeshi Movement.

• Many prominent Muslims joined the Swadeshi movement. However, many other middle and upper-
class Muslims remained neutral, or, led by the Nawab of Dacca (who was given a loan of Rs. 14 lakhs
by the Government of India), even supported partition on the plea that East Bengal would have a
Muslim majority.

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Role of British
• Lord Curzon attempted to 'woo the Muslims' to support partition. In a speech at Dacca, Lord Curzon
declared that Dacca could become the capital of the new Muslim majority province, and one reason
for the partition was "to invest the Mohammedans in Eastern Bengal with a unity which they have not
enjoyed since the days of the old Mussalman Viceroys and Kings."
• The British officials also encouraged the Nawab of Dacca and others to establish the All India Muslim
League (1906), which supported the partition of Bengal and opposed the INC.

Limited Participation of Peasants and Workers

• In spite of its popular character, the anti-partition movement did not really affect and involve the
Bengal peasantry. Most of the poorer classes, especially the working class and the peasantry, did not
actively join the struggle.
• The movement was confined to the towns and the upper and lower middle classes of the province.

Ineffective Leadership

• The militant nationalists failed to give the people a positive lead. They aroused the people but did
not know how to harness or utilise the newly released energies of the people.

Leaderless Movement in the End

• By mid-1908, the open movement, with its popular mass character, became leaderless. This was be-
cause:
1. Split in the congress in 1907 (Surat split).
2. Heavy repression by the government
3. Lack of effective organisation and party structure

End of the Movement

• The following factors were responsible for the decline of the movement:
1. Split in the congress in 1907 (Surat split)
2. Heavy repression by the government
3. Lack of effective organisation and party structure: The movement introduced various Gandhian
techniques, such as passive resistance, nonviolent non-cooperation, promoting social reform,
76

and constructive work. However, it struggled to translate these techniques into practical political
action.
MIH-II – Post-1857

4. Mass Character of the movement: The movement declined because of the character of the mass
movement itself; that is, it cannot be sustained endlessly.

Heavy Repression by the Government

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• The government launched a massive attack on extremists after the Surat split. This led to the end of
the Swadeshi and Boycott movement by mid-1908.
 In May 1907, with Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Ajit Singh was exiled to Mandalay in Burma. Due to great
public pressure, both men were released in October 1907.
 In 1908, Tilak was again arrested, sentenced to six years imprisonment, and sent to Mandalay.
 In 1908, the newly formed Eastern Bengal and Assam government banned the Swadesh Bandhab
Samiti and deported Ashwini Kumar Dutt to the United Provinces.
 In 1908, Chidambaram Pillai was arrested under sedition. Later, he was released from jail in 1912.
 Aurobindo Ghosh was tried in the Alipore conspiracy case. He spent one year in Presidency Jail
as an under-trial prisoner. Immediately after being judged innocent, he retired from active na-
tionalist politics and started his journey into spirituality.
 Bipin Chandra Pal took the retirement from active politics.
 Sardar Ajit Singh organised an agitation by Punjabi peasants against anti-farmer laws known as
the Punjab Colonisation Act (Amendment) 1906. [Pagdi Sambhal Jatta movement]

Annulment of Partition
• To curb the menace of revolutionary nationalism, the government decided to annul the partition of
Bengal in 1911. Bihar and Orissa were taken from Bengal, and Assam was made a separate province.
• The annulment came as a rude shock to the Muslim political elite, who were loyal to the British and
supported the partition. To appease the Muslims, the government decided to shift the capital to Delhi
as it was associated with Muslim glory, but the Muslims were not pleased.

[UPSC 2019] With reference to the Swadeshi Movement, consider the following state-
ments:
1. It contributed to the revival of the indigenous artisan crafts and industries.
2. The National Council of Education was established as a part of the Swadeshi Movement.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
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d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: Option C
MIH-II – Post-1857

[UPSC 2016] The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ were adopted as methods of struggle for the
first time during the
a) Agitation against the partition of Bengal
b) Home Rule Movement

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c) Non-Cooperation Movement
d) Visit of Simon Commission to India

Answer: Option A
[UPSC 2015] Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian
National Congress resulting in emergence of ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’?
a) Swadeshi Movement
b) Quit India Movement
c) Non-Cooperation Movement
d) Civil Disobedience Movement

Answer: Option A

4.3. Delhi Durbars (Coronation Durbars)

• Delhi Durbars were coronation ceremonies held by the erstwhile British Empire to mark the succes-
sion of an Emperor or Empress to India. During the Colonial Rule, the Durbar was held thrice: in 1877,
1903, and 1911.

Delhi Durbar 1877

• In 1876, Queen Victoria, in addition to her title of 'Queen of Great Britain and Ireland', assumed the
title of ‘Empress of India’.
• The Viceroy, Lord Lytton, was asked to proclaim this on her behalf throughout India. He decided to
hold an Imperial Assemblage at Delhi on 1st January 1877 for this purpose.

Delhi Durbar 1903

• The second Durbar was held in 1903. This Durbar marked the succession of Edward VII. On the orders
of King Edward VII, it was attended by the Duke of Connaught.

Delhi Durbar 1911

• The Durbar of 1911 marked the succession of King George V. The 1911 Durbar was the only one that
a sovereign, George V (King of the United Kingdom), attended.
Two significant decisions taken at this Durbar were:
78

•
1. The shifting of the Imperial Capital from Calcutta to Delhi was announced.
2. The annulment of the partition of Bengal was announced.
MIH-II – Post-1857

[UPSC CSE 2014] The Partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until
a) the First World War when Indian troops were needed by the British and the partition was ended.
b) King George V abrogated Curzon’s Act at the Royal Durbar in Delhi in 1911.

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c) Gandhiji launched his Civil Disobedience Movement.

d) the Partition of India in 1947 when East Bengal became East Pakistan.

Answer: Option B

4.4. Indian National Congress (1905-14)

• The agitation against the partition of Bengal made a deep impact on the Indian National Congress
(INC). All sections of the National Congress united in opposing the partition. At the Benaras session of
1905, Gokhale, the President of the Congress:
 Condemned the partition as well as the reactionary regime of Curzon.
 Supported the Swadeshi and Boycott movement of Bengal.
• There was disagreement between the moderate and the militant nationalists in 1905-07.

INC in 1906
• Militants wanted to:
 Extend the swadeshi and boycott movements from Bengal to the rest of the country.
 Extend the boycott to every form of association with the colonial government.
• Moderates wanted to:
 Confine the Swadeshi and boycott movements to Bengal.
 Limit the boycott to foreign goods.
• There was a tussle between the two groups for the presidentship of the National Congress for the
1906 Calcutta session. Pal and Aurobindo wanted Tilak to be the President, but the Moderates did
not accept. Ultimately, Dadabhai Naoroji (proposed by moderates), respected by all nationalists, was
chosen as a compromise.
• Having failed to get Tilak installed as President, the Extremists formed themselves into a pressure
group to press their points. The extremists were the majority, and they had substantial local support.
Ultimately, a compromise was made, and four resolutions were passed.
1. Swadeshi
2. Boycott of foreign goods
3. National Education
79

4. Swaraj
• Dadabhai, in his presidential address, declared that the goal of the Indian national movement was self-
MIH-II – Post-1857

government or Swaraj, like that of the United Kingdom or the colonies.

• In 1906, Lord Minto, the viceroy, and John Morley, the Secretary of State, offered reforms in the Legis-
lative Councils and started discussions with the moderates. Moderates lured by the constitutional reforms
decided to tone down the Calcutta programme.

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• The Extremists, encouraged by the proceedings at the Calcutta session, called for wide passive resistance
and boycott of schools, colleges, legislative councils, municipalities, law courts, etc.

INC in 1907
• Militants wanted to:
 Hold the 1907 session in Nagpur (Central Provinces) with Tilak or Lajpat Rai as the president.
 Retain the four Resolutions passed in the Calcutta session.
• Moderates wanted to:
 Hold the 1907 session at Surat to exclude Tilak from the presidency since a leader from the host
province could not be session president (Surat being in Tilak’s home province of Bombay). Instead,
they wanted Rash Behari Ghosh to be the president.
 Drop the four Resolutions passed in the Calcutta session.
• Both sides adopted rigid positions, leaving no room for compromise. The split became inevitable.
• The Congress session was held on 26 December 1907 at Surat. The extremists demanded assurance
that four resolutions would be passed. They opposed the elected President, Rash Behari Ghose, to pres-
sure the Moderates.
• There were shouts and counter-shouts, brandishing of sticks and unrolling of turbans, breaking of chairs
and brushing of heads. Finally, the Congress divided, and the moderate leaders, having captured the
machinery of the Congress, excluded the militant elements from it.

[UPSC CSE 2016] What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress
at Surat in 1907?
a) Introduction of communalism into Indian politics by Lord Minto.
b) Extremists’ lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government.
c) Foundation of Muslim League.
d) Aurobindo Ghosh’s inability to be elected as the president of the Indian National Congress.

Answer: Option B

Aftermath of Surat Split

• The Moderates abandoned radical measures adopted at the Benaras and Calcutta sessions of the
80

Congress.
• The Moderates lost the respect and support of political Indians. Most politically aware Indians,
MIH-II – Post-1857

though passively, sided with Lokamanya Tilak and the militant nationalists.
• The split did not prove useful to either party in the long run. The British Government played the
game of Divide and Rule and tried to win over moderate nationalist opinion so that the militant na-
tionalists could be isolated and suppressed.

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• The Government launched a massive attack on the Extremists, sending their leaders to jail and sup-
pressing newspapers. To placate the moderate nationalists, the government announced constitutional
concessions through the Indian Councils Act of 1909.

Policy of Carrot and Stick (policy of repression-conciliation-suppression)

• After the Swadeshi movement, the government followed a carrot-and-stick policy to isolate the
extremists. It was a three-pronged policy.
1. The initial plan was to mildly suppress the Extremists to intimidate the Moderates.
2. The Moderates would then be appeased with concessions and promises, hinting at more if they
distanced themselves from the Extremists.
3. Once the Moderates were on board, the state's full power could be used to repress the Extremists,
and the Moderates could be ignored afterwards.
• Unfortunately, the Moderates and the Extremists failed to understand the official strategy, leading to
several setbacks for the national movement.
 The Moderates didn't realise that the colonial state negotiated with them because of their fear of
the Extremists, not their political strength.
 The Extremists didn't recognise that the Moderates were their natural outer defence and lacked
the strength to face the colonial state.
 Both overlooked the fact that only a broad-based united movement had a chance of success in a
vast country like India, ruled by a powerful imperialist nation.

4.5. Indian Councils Act of 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms)

Need for Constitutional Changes

• At the end of 1905, the Liberals came to power in Britain, and John Morley, a man known for his
Liberal views, became the Secretary of State for India. A little earlier, a conservative, Lord Minto, had
succeeded Curzon as Governor-General.
• Morley and Minto realised that the partition of Bengal was a grave blunder, fuelling anti-government
sentiment. They also recognised the beginning of extremists and revolutionary streams of the Indian
National Movement.
81

• They proposed reforms in the legislative councils to win over the Moderates, who had been asking for
these changes for a while. The changes introduced under the Indian Councils Act of 1909, together
MIH-II – Post-1857

with some other changes, became known as the Morley-Minto Reforms.

British Policy of Appeasement towards Muslims

• The British believed that the Congress' working to awaken national consciousness while professing
loyal acceptance of British rule was impossible. Therefore, in addition to attempting to win over

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moderates, the British tried to create other sets of people who were loyal to the British and possibly
counterpoise to Congress's aims.
• Meanwhile, a deputation of some Muslim leaders met the Viceroy at Simla in October 1906. They
demanded that the Muslims' position in any kind of representation should be commensurate with their
community's numerical strength and political importance.
• The British saw in these demands a promising alternative. By patronising this section of Muslims, they
could counter the increasing demands of the Congress leaders. As a result, the Muslims got separate
electorates.

Council of the Secretary of State for India

• Before the Act was passed, Indian leaders' demand to appoint two Indians to the Council of the Sec-
retary of State for India was fulfilled without any statutory change.
• In 1907, two Indians, Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta and Nawab Syed Hussain Bilgrami, were appointed
by Lord Morley as members of the Secretary of State's Council (India Council).

Indian Councils Act of 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms)

• The Indian Councils Act 1909 was the last of the Councils Acts made by the British Parliament for
India.
• Like the earlier Indian Council Act of 1892, the Act of 1909 was also an amending Act. Like its prede-
cessor, it also introduced changes in the size and functions of the Councils of the Governor-General
and Governors to make Laws and Regulations.

Expansion of Councils
• This Act increased the strength of the Central (Imperial) and Provincial Legislative Councils.
• Excluding the ex-officio members:
 Central Legislative Council: The number of additional members (official and non-official) was in-
creased to sixty (from 16). The official members were to be in a majority.
 Provincial Legislative Councils: The number of additional members (official and non-official) was
to be between thirty and fifty (not uniform). Provincial Councils have a majority of non-official
members.
 The number of additional members was 50 in large states like Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madras,
82

Bombay, and the United Provinces.

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 The number of additional members was 30 in smaller states like Punjab, Assam and Burma.

Central or Imperial Legislative Council

• In the Central or Imperial Legislative Council, there were 37 officials (9 ex-officio + 28 additional
official members) and 32 non-official members (additional members). The members can be classified
into four types:

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1. Ex-officio members (9 members)

2. Official members (28 additional official members)
3. Nominated non-official members (5 members)
4. Elected non-official members (Indirectly elected 27 members)
• The official members, together with the ex-officio members, constituted an official majority.
• John Morley abolished the official majorities of provincial legislatures on the advice of Gopal
Krishna Gokhale and other liberal leaders of the Indian National Congress, such as Romesh Chunder
Dutt.
• The Act of 1909 became a landmark because of the manner in which non-official seats were distrib-
uted and filled. Of these 32 non-official seats, 5 were filled by nomination from the government. The
remaining 27 seats were distributed as follows:
 By non-official members of the Provincial Legislative Councils: 13
 By landholders of six provinces: 6
 By Muslims of five provinces: 5
 Alternately by Muslim landholders of the U.P. or of Bengal: 1
 Chambers of Commerce of Calcutta and Bombay: 2

Indirect Elections
• For the first time, this act introduced indirect elections in the Central Legislative Council and Provin-
cial Legislative Councils. The elected non-official members were elected by indirect elections:
 By the provincial councils in the case of the Imperial Council
 By municipal committees and district boards in the case of provincial councils.
• Example: For the 13 seats from the Provincial Legislative Councils:
 The tax-paying citizens of a town or village elected representatives for municipal committees or
local boards, which in turn elected representatives for provincial Legislative Councils. These non-
official members of the Provincial Councils, in turn, elected representatives to the Central Legisla-
tive Council.
• Similar provisions were made for forming Provincial Legislative Councils.

Separate Electorate
83

• The Act introduced for the first time the principle of communal representation in India and provided
a separate electorate for Muslims; that is, Muslims were to be elected by the electorates consisting of
MIH-II – Post-1857

Muslims only.
• The Reforms introduced the system of separate electorates. This was done in the name of protecting
the Muslim minority. But in reality, this was a part of the policy of dividing Hindus and Muslims and
thus maintaining British supremacy in India. The system of separate electorates:
 Checked the progress of India’s unification.

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 Encouraged separatist tendencies.

 Became a potent factor in the growth of communalism in the country.
 Prevented people from concentrating on economic and political problems common to all Indians,
Hindus or Muslims.

Principle of Weightage
• Muslims were also given weightage, i.e., more seats were given to them than the number warranted
by their proportion of the local population.

Enlargement of Functions of Councils

• The Act empowered the Council:
 To ask supplementary questions (though restricted): The member who asked the original ques-
tion was given the right to ask supplementary questions.
 The right to ask questions to seek information from the government was provided in 1892, but
the right to ask supplementary questions was not conceded until 1909.
 To vote on some part of the budget (the votable part): The Budget was considered in two stages.
The presentation of a preliminary budget called the financial statement, was followed by a general
discussion. Some expenditures, such as the Army's, were, however, treated as non-votable.
 To move the resolution on matters of public interest: The members of the Legislative Councils
were given the right to move resolutions on matters of general public interest subject to certain
limitations. These resolutions were to be in the form of recommendations to the Government, which
the latter might or might not adopt.
 The first resolution under the rules was moved on 25 February 1910 by Gopal Krishna Go-
khale, recommending the prohibition of indentured labour for Natal in South Africa.
 On the Rowlatt Bill, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya spoke for two and a half hours. Similarly,
on the Indemnity Bill, he spoke for four hours continuously, for a total of six and a half hours.

Indians in the Executive Council

• The Act empowered the Viceroy and Governors to nominate one Indian member to their executive
council. Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first person to be appointed to the Governor General's Ex-
ecutive Council in 1909. He was appointed as a member of the Legal Affairs.
84

• Under this provision, comparatively unimportant portfolios like those of law or education were given to
Indians. Yet this step was important because it amounted to an implicit acceptance of two facts:
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. Indians were fit to be appointed to the highest position.

2. Indians were better interpreters of the wishes of their countrymen than British officials.

Co-operation of Moderates

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• The moderate nationalists did not fully support the Morley-Minto Reforms. However, they decided
to cooperate with the government to work on the reforms.
• This cooperation with the government and their opposition to the militant nationalists' programme
proved very costly to them. Moderates gradually lost the public's respect and support. The vast ma-
jority of the politically conscious Indians supported Lokamanya Tilak and the militant nationalists,
though passively.

Appraisal
• The reformed councils still enjoyed no real power. They were merely advisory bodies.
• Instead of removing the educational and economic backwardness of middle-class Muslims and thus
integrating them into the mainstream of Indian nationalism, the system of separate electorates tended
to perpetuate their isolation from the developing nationalist movement.
• The reforms in no way changed the undemocratic and foreign character of British rule. The real pur-
pose of the reforms of 1909 was:
 To confuse the moderate nationalists
 To divide the nationalist ranks
 To check the growth of unity among Indians.

4.6. Growth of Revolutionary Nationalism

• After the decline of the Swadeshi movement, the national movement witnessed three different ex-
periments in political action, all of which contributed to the furthering and deepening of national con-
sciousness.
• The first experiment, revolutionary nationalism, synchronised with the end of the mass phase of the
Swadeshi movement. The other two, the Ghadar and Home Rule Movements, happened during the
First World War.

Reasons for the Rise of Revolutionary Nationalism

• Radicals brought the masses into active politics, demanded sacrifices from youth and talked about
direct action. However, they failed to give a positive lead to the people.
• The youth of Bengal participated actively in the Swadeshi movement in the hope that extremist meth-
85

ods of agitation, such as boycott, passive resistance, etc., would bring the British Government to its
knees. However, after the Surat split, the government launched an all-out attack on extremists and
MIH-II – Post-1857

suppressed the movement.

• Government repression and frustration caused by the failure of the political struggle ultimately re-
sulted in revolutionary nationalism. The youth of Bengal were angered by official arrogance and
repression and were filled with a burning hatred for foreign rule. They found all avenues of peaceful
protest and political action blocked, and out of desperation, they fell back upon the cult of the bomb.

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• However, the young revolutionaries did not try to generate a mass revolution. Instead, they decided
to copy the methods of the Irish nationalists and the Russian Nihilists, that is, to assassinate unpop-
ular officials. Their activities took two forms:
1. Individual heroic actions: The assassinations of unpopular officials, traitors, and informers
among the revolutionaries.
2. Swadeshi dacoities: Conducting dacoities to raise funds for revolutionary activities.
• These activities were aimed:
 To strike terror in the hearts of the rulers.
 To remove the fear of authority from the minds of people.
 To arouse national consciousness.
 After 1905, several newspapers started advocating revolutionary nationalism. The most prominent
were the Sandhya, the Yugantar in Bengal, and the Kal in Maharashtra.

Extremists on Revolutionary Nationalism

• The Extremist leaders disfavoured the use of violence against British rule and did not approve of
the methods of political murder and assassination used by the Indian revolutionaries.
• However, the extremist leaders took a sympathetic view of the activities of the revolutionaries. For
them, the young revolutionaries were no doubt misguided and reckless, but their violent actions were
provoked by the equally violent repressive policies implemented by the British Government.

Early Activities in Maharashtra

• Though the trend of revolutionary nationalism became a real force only around 1907-08, there were
earlier examples as well.

Ramoshi peasants
• In 1879, Wasudeo Balwant Phadke, a clerk in the commissariat department, had gathered a band of
Ramoshi peasants and started an armed uprising in Maharashtra. The British easily crushed this crude
and ill-prepared attempt.

Assassination of Rand
• The Bubonic plague struck Pune in 1896. The government formed a Special Plague Committee,
86

chaired by W. C. Rand, an ICS officer, to deal with the threat and control the spread of the disease.
• Rand began his reign of terror as soon as the efforts to stop the plague started. Instead of hiring doctors
MIH-II – Post-1857

to carry out their duties ethically, officials entered private homes, stripped and inspected residents
(including women) in public, and evacuated people to hospitals and segregation camps. Though the
residents of Pune considered officers’ actions downright oppressive, Rand dismissed their concerns.
• To end the Rand committee's intimidation, the Chapekar brothers (Tilak’s disciples) and other rev-
olutionary members of the ‘Chapekar Club’ decided to take action against W C Rand.

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• During Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Coronation, the brothers Damodar and Balkrishna Hari
Chapekar assassinated two British officials, W C Rand and Lieutenant Ayerst (his military escort), in
1897.
• Vasudeo Hari Chapekar, the third brother, and his associates assassinated the Dravid brothers, who
were police informants. All three Chapekar brothers were found guilty and hanged in 1899.

Abhinav Bharat
• The Abhinav Bharat (Young India Society) was founded as a secret organisation by Vinayak Damo-
dar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh in 1904. It was named after Mazzinni’s Young Italy.
• The Abhinav Bharat was involved in the assassinations of some British officials. The society was for-
mally dissolved in 1952.
 Savarkar and his brother organised Mitra Mela, a secret society in Nashik, in 1899. It merged with
Abhinav Bharat in 1904.

Assassination of Jackson

• Anant Laxman Kanhere, a 17-year-old boy from Maharashtra, shot and killed A.M.T. Jackson, the Dis-
trict Magistrate of Nashik, in 1909. He was hanged in 1910.
• The investigation into Jackson's murder revealed the existence of the Abhinav Bharat Society and the
role of the Savarkar brothers. V.D. Savarkar was charged with Jackson's murder and sentenced to life
in prison. Savarkar was imprisoned in the Andaman Islands Cellular Jail in 1910.

Revolutionary Activities in Bengal

• Jugantar or Yugantar and Anushilan samiti were two important revolutionary organisations of Ben-
gal.

Anushilan Samiti
• The Anushilan Samiti was a secret revolutionary organisation established in Calcutta by Praanath
Mitra and Satish Chandra Basu in 1902. It was associated with freedom fighters such as Aurobindo
Ghosh, Bipin Chandra Pal, Brahmabandhab Upadhyaya and Jatindranath Bannerjee.
• The Anushilan Samiti was named after Bankimchandra’s play Anushilan-Tattva (theory of discipline).

Dhaka Anushilan Samiti

87

• In 1906, Pulin Behari Das started Anushilan Samiti in Dhaka. It built a strong regional presence,
MIH-II – Post-1857

surpassing its parent organisation in Calcutta.

• The Anushilan Samiti was aimed to organise and train the youth to start a revolutionary war against
the British. The members carried out several dacoities, bomb explosions and assassinations of im-
portant British employees. Its newspaper, Yugantar, popularised its ideas in Bengali.

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 Yugantar Patrika was launched in March 1906 by Barindra Kumar Ghose, Abinash Bhattacharya,
and Bhupendranath Dutt.

Assassination attempts in 1907-08

• In I907, an abortive attempt was made on the life of the unpopular British official, Sir Fuller, Lieutenant
Governor of the newly created Eastern Bengal and Assam.
• In December 1907, an attempt was made to derail the train on which the lieutenant governor, Sir
Andrew Fraser, was travelling.
• In April 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at a carriage, which they believed was
occupied by Kingsford, the unpopular Judge at Muzaffarpur. Kingsford was not in the carriage. Un-
fortunately, two British ladies, Mrs and Miss Kennedy, got killed. Prafulla Chaki shot himself dead,
while Khudiram Bose was tried and hanged.

Alipore Bomb Case

• After the attempt of assassination of government officials in 1907-08, the Bengal police recognised
these incidents as part of a larger pattern of attacks against the British Raj. They arrested many
nationalists affiliated with the Anushilan Samiti, including the Ghosh brothers, Aurobindo and Barin-
dra.
• The Ghosh brothers faced charges of conspiracy or waging war against the King. During the trial,
Narendra Gosain (or Goswami), who had turned approver, was shot dead in jail by two co-accused.
This incident led to the collapse of the case against Aurobindo.
• Chittaranjan Das defended Aurobindo, who was acquitted of all charges. Barindra Ghosh, the head of
the secret revolutionary society, and Ullaskar Dutt, the bomb maker, were initially sentenced to death
and later commuted to life in prison.
 After spending a year in Presidency Jail as an under-trial prisoner in the Alipore Bomb Case, Auro-
bindo Ghosh was found innocent. Following this, he retired from nationalist politics and began his
spiritual journey. He moved to Pondicherry, where he established an Ashram.
 The Alipore conspiracy case is also known as the Manicktolla bomb conspiracy or Muraripukur
conspiracy since Barindra Ghosh's house was on Muraripukur Road in the Manicktolla suburb of Cal-
cutta.
88

Delhi Conspiracy Case (Hardinge Bomb Case/ Delhi Lahore Case)

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• In 1912, an unsuccessful attempt was made under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose and Sachin
Sanyal to kill the Viceroy Lord Hardinge.
• On 23 December 1912, a bomb was thrown at the Viceroy Lord Hardinge when he was riding on an
elephant in a state procession in Delhi. The Viceroy got wounded in the attempt.

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• The government strengthened its efforts to destroy the underground activities. The investigations fol-
lowing the assassination attempt of the Viceroy led to the Delhi Conspiracy trial. At the end of the trial,
Basant Kumar Biswas, Amir Chand and Avadh Behari were convicted and executed.
• Rash Behari Bose was identified as the person who planned this, but he went underground and suc-
cessfully fled to Japan, where he lived till he died. Before fleeing to Japan, he was also involved in the
Ghadar movement.

Bagha Jatin
• Jatin Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin) was a member of Yugantar group. He was involved in a plan to launch
an armed insurrection to end British rule in India.
• Bagha Jatin was involved and implicated in many murder and dacoity cases, which were primarily aimed
at raising funds required to launch the armed insurrection.

Zimmerman Plan (German Plot)

• The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 fuelled militant nationalism in the country. The promise
of moral and material support from revolutionaries abroad, such as the Ghadar movement in Canada
and the USA, provided an impetus to revolutionary activities in India. The Indian Revolutionaries in exile
looked towards Germany as the land of hope.
• The Jugantar party, under the leadership of Jatin Mukherjee, decided to launch an armed insurrec-
tion to end British rule in India. To raise the funds required for importing German arms and ammuni-
tion through sympathisers and revolutionaries abroad, Jatin Mukherjee was involved and implicated in
a number of murder and dacoity cases.
• Jatin Mukherjee, anticipating the arrival of the arms and ammunition and, to avoid being caught by
the police, left for Balasore in the company of a few select followers in April 1915. However, the plot
was leaked, and police found Jatin and his associates in the Balasore jungle in September 1915.
• An unequal battle of 75 minutes between the five revolutionaries with Mauser pistols and an over-
whelming number of police and army men with riffles ended with an unrecorded number of casualties
on both sides.
• Jatin Mukherjee was seriously injured and subsequently transported to the government hospital in
Barabati, Balasore, where he died.
89

Revolutionary activities in Madras

Bharatha Matha Sangam
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• Nilakanta Bramhachari, Vaanchinathan, Shankar Krishna Aiyar, and a few other men started Bhara-
tha Matha Sangam in Madras presidency. It plots the assassination of influential British men. On
17 June 1911, Vanchinathan assassinated the notorious British official, Robert Ashe, who was respon-
sible for firing on a crowd that was protesting the arrest of the Extremist leader Chidambaram Pillai.

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Revolutionary Activities Abroad

• The revolutionary nationalists also established centres of activity abroad. In London, Shyamji Krishna
Varma, V.D., Savarkar, and Har Dayal took the lead, while in Europe, Madam Cama and Ajit Singh were
the prominent leaders.

London
• Shyamji Krishna Varma founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House, and The Indian Soci-
ologist in London in 1905.
 The Indian Home Rule Society was established to promote Home Rule, carry out propaganda in
the UK for it, and make Indians aware of the concepts of freedom and national unity.
 India House (Hostel for Indian students) was the centre of Indian nationalist activity in London. It
was an organised meeting point for radical nationalists among Indian students in Britain.
 Prominent revolutionaries like Savarkar and Hardayal were associated with India House. After
Krishnavarma's exile to Paris in 1907 to avoid prosecution, V. D. Savarkar assumed leadership of India
House. However, the organisation was disbanded in 1909 due to its connection with the assassi-
nation of Sir Curzon Wyllie. Madan Lal Dhingra, a frequent visitor to India House, assassinated
Sir Wyllie.
 Indian Sociologist (journal) was an organ of India House. It frequently critiqued the injustices im-
posed by British rule in India.
 Shyamji Krishna Varma, first President of Bombay Arya Samaj, was an admirer of Dayanand Sar-
aswati.

Paris
• In 1905, Madam Bhikaiji Cama, S. R. Rana, and Munchershah Burjorji Godrej established the Paris
Indian Society. This organisation served as an offshoot of the India House in London.
• The Paris Indian Society sheltered the revolutionaries escaping from London in 1909 when the British
government cracked down on the India House after the assassination of Curzon Wylie.
• The Society also financed the publication of Virendranath Chattopadhyay’s newspaper Talvar from
Berlin. 90

Bhikaiji Cama (Madam Cama)

• Madam Bhikaiji Cama was born to an extremely wealthy Parsi business family in Bombay in 1861. She
MIH-II – Post-1857

spent most of her time in philanthropic activities and social work.

• In 1896, Cama helped the bubonic plague victims in the Bombay Presidency. She caught the disease
herself and was advised to go to Europe for rest and recuperation. In 1902, Bhikaji left for London.
There, she met Dadabhai Naoroji and, inspired by his ideals, plunged into the freedom movement.

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She also came in contact with other Indian nationalists, including Lala Har Dayal and Shyamji Krishna
Varma, and addressed several meetings in London's Hyde Park.
• During her stay in London, the British sent her a message that her return to India would be prohibited
unless she signed a statement promising not to participate in nationalist activities. She refused and
remained in exile in Europe, eventually relocating to Paris.
• In 1907, Cama attended the second Socialist Congress at Stuttgart, Germany, where She unfurled a
self-designed flag and became the first person to hoist the Indian flag in a foreign land.
• Cama started a nationalist journal, Bande Mataram.

Virendranath Chattopadhyaya

• Virendranath travelled to England in 1902 to study law and prepare for the Indian Civil Service (ICS).
In London, he became a radical nationalist and often visited the "India House".
• Virendranath developed a close friendship with V. D. Savarkar and, in 1908, served as the secretary of
the journal Swaraj, founded and edited by V. D. Savarkar. To avoid arrest, Virendranath went to Paris,
supported by Madame Cama.
• After 1909, when Anglo-German relations deteriorated, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya chose Berlin
as his base, where he founded the Berlin Committee for Indian Independence in 1915.

Germany
Indian Independence Committee

• In April 1914, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya relocated to Germany. In September 1914, with help
from fellow revolutionaries in Paris and Switzerland, Chattopadhyaya and Abinash Bhattacharya met
Baron Oppenheim in Germany. This led to the creation of the Indian Friendship Society of Germany,
later named the Indian Independence Committee or the Berlin Committee.
• Herr Albert Berlin served as president, Baron Oppenheim and Dr. Sukhtankar were vice presidents, and
Chattopadhyaya was secretary of the Indian Independence Committee.
• With the aid of Germany, the Indian Independence Committee devised several plans to oppose British
rule in India. These included:
 The Afghan Scheme to rally Muslims in the North-West Frontier against the British
 The Batavia Scheme to arouse Bengali revolutionaries
91

 The Bangkok Scheme to mobilise the 'Returned Sikhs' of the Ghadar Party.

Revolutionary Nationalism and Faith

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The early 20th century witnessed the emergence of revolutionary nationalism in India. Most of the
revolutionary leaders of this period were deeply religious men. Their dislike for foreign rule extended
beyond political boundaries to encompass Western education, thought, and ways of living.

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• Tilak and V.D. Savarkar provided the ideas, organisation and leadership in Maharashtra. Tilak used
the revolutionary and political interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita to instil revolutionary nationalism.
• Meanwhile, in Bengal, the revolutionary movement drew inspiration from Bankim Chandra Chatterji's
works and Swami Vivekanand's teachings. Bankim Chandra saw the motherland like a kind goddess,
Durga. The revolutionary nationalists’ often took oaths before the goddess Kali.
• While religious revival generated contempt for imperial rule, it also alienated a sizable population of
Muslims.
• Despite the weaknesses in their ideology and reliance on religious teachings, the early revolutionaries
had a clear and unwavering goal—the emancipation of India through armed struggle. Religion, to
them, was merely a means to serve this end.

4.7. All India Muslim League (AIML)

• In pursuit of their divide and rule policy, the British authorities encouraged the aristocratic elements
to establish political power to safeguard the separate interests of Muslims.
• In 1906, under the leadership of the Aga Khan (First president of AIML), the Nawab of Dacca, Khwaja
salimullah Bahadur, and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the educated Muslims, Muslim nawabs and land-
lords founded the Muslim league.
• Established as a loyalist, communal, and conservative political organisation, the Muslim League did
not criticise colonialism.
• Muslim League supported the partition of Bengal and demanded special safeguards for the Mus-
lims in government services. Its political activities were directed not against the foreign rulers but against
the Hindus and the National Congress.

Muslim League's Paradox

• The Muslim League claimed to represent Muslims, but it didn't address the struggles of the Muslim
masses. Despite both Muslim and Hindu communities facing foreign imperialism's hardships, the
League's political actions targeted Hindus and the National Congress rather than confronting the for-
eign rulers directly.

Strained Relations Between Muslims and the Government

92

• After the Morley-Minto Reforms, Muslims did not become supporters of the Government. The gulf
between the Muslims and the government has become steadily wider. This was because:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Revocation of Partition of Bengal in 1911.

 The government rejected establishing the University of Aligarh in 1912.
 Refusal of Britain to help Turkey in the Italian and Balkan Wars.

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• Gradually, under the dynamic and liberal leadership of men like Muhammad Ali, Shaukat Ali, Hasrat
Mohani, and Fazlul Haq, the Muslim League accepted the goal of self-government for India. It decided
to negotiate with Congress to formulate a scheme for India's future government.

Militant Nationalists
• This basic weakness of the League came to be increasingly recognised by the patriotic Muslims. The
educated young Muslims attracted by radical nationalist ideas started their movements or organi-
sations and propagated nationalist ideas.

Ahrar movement

• The Ahrar Movement was started by the Muslims who took an anti-Aligarh stance.
• The Ahrar Movement was the militant nationalist movement founded under the leadership of Mau-
lana Mohammed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasan Imam, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, and Mazhar-ul-Haq.
• These young men disliked the loyalist politics of the Aligarh school and the big nawabs and zamin-
dars. Moved by modern ideas of self-government, they advocated active participation in the militant
nationalist movement.

Al-Hilal

• The nationalist sentiments arose among a section of the traditional Muslim scholars led by the Deo-
band school.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad propagated his rationalist and nationalist ideas in his newspaper Al-Hilal.
He said that there was no conflict between Islam and nationalism.

Religious Lens on Political Issues

• At the beginning of the 20th century, nearly all Muslim holy places were within the Turkish Empire,
and the Turkish ruler was the Caliph or religious head of all Muslims.
• In 1911, war broke out between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Italy, and between 1912 and 1913.
A wave of sympathy for Turkey swept India. Since Britain's policy during and after the Balkan War was
not sympathetic to Turkey, the pro-Turkey and pro-Caliph or Khilafat sentiments tended to become
anti-imperialist.
• This approach supported anti-imperialism and encouraged the nationalist trend among urban Mus-
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lims. However, in the long run, this approach proved harmful, as it encouraged the habit of looking at
political questions from a religious viewpoint.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Syed Ameer Ali and the London Muslim League

• Syed Ameer Ali was the pioneer of the Muslim political movement in India. In 1906, he was a found-
ing member of the All India Muslim League.

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• Ameer Ali played a key role in securing separate electorates for the Muslims in British India and pro-
moting the cause of the Khilafat Movement.
• In 1907, Ameer Ali initiated the move to establish a political association of Muslims in London. On 6
May 1908, he formally established the London Muslim League. This organisation was an independent
body and not a branch of the All India Muslim League.
• In 1909, he became the first Indian to sit as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
on which he would serve till his death in 1928.
• Syed Amir Ali became the second Indian to hold the post of law member of the government of India,
assuming the position after Satyendra P. Sinha resigned in November 1910.

[UPSC 2001] A London branch of the All India Muslim League was established in 1908
under the presidency of
a) Aga Khan
b) Ameer Ali
c) Liyaqat Ali Khan
d) M. A. Jinnah

Answer: Option B

4.8. The Growth of Communalism

• Communalism is an ideology based on the notion that the social, cultural, economic and political
interests of the followers of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the followers
of another religion.
• Along with the rise of nationalism, communalism also appeared around the end of the 19th century
and posed the biggest threat to the unity of the Indian people and the national movement.
• The following factors were responsible for the rise of communalism during this period:
1. The government’s policy of divide and rule
2. Relative backwardness of Muslims in education and industries
3. The economic backwardness of the country
4. Militant nationalism
5. Teachings in schools and colleges
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 In traditional societies, religion has frequently been used as a convenient tool to evoke an indigenous
MIH-II – Post-1857

and popular form of nationalism. Unfortunately, this exploitation of religious sentiments has contrib-
uted to the evolution of communalism.
 The experience of the Swadeshi movement was no exception. During the Swadeshi movement, lead-
ers of Bengal used religion to arouse nationality; however, it ultimately led to the widening of the
gulf between the two major communities there.

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Government’s Policy of Divide and Rule

• In the Revolt of 1857, Hindus and Muslims fought together. This unity frightened the British, who
then decided to follow the policy of divide and rule. After the suppression of the Revolt, the British
officials blamed the Muslims for the revolt and took a vindictive attitude towards them.
• With the rise of the nationalist movement (majority Hindus), this attitude changed in the 1870s. To
check the growth of national unity, they came out as champions of the Muslims.
• The British tried to use even the legitimate demands of different sections of Indian society to create
divisions among the Indian people. In the U.P and Bihar, where Hindus and Muslims had always lived in
peace, they actively encouraged the movement to replace Urdu as a court language with Hindi.

Relative Backwardness of the Muslims in Education and Industries

• Landlords and zamindars, whether Hindu or Muslim, supported British rule and their policies out of
self-interest. Among the Hindus, the modem intellectuals and the rising commercial and industrialist
class had pushed out the landlords from leadership.
• However, the proportion of educated persons and industrialists was low among the Muslims. This
situation allowed Landlords and zamindars to assume the leadership, which encouraged the British
policy of divide and rule.

Modern Education Among the Muslims

• During the first seventy years of the 19th century, upper-class Muslims were very anti-British, con-
servative and hostile to modern education. This attitude resulted in a limited number of educated
Muslims in the country.
• Consequently, modern Western thoughts and nationalism did not spread among Muslim intellectuals,
who remained traditional and backward.

Economic Backwardness of the Country

• Due to the lack of modern industrial development, unemployment was an acute problem in India,
especially for the educated. There was intense competition for existing jobs.
• British used the lure of government jobs to divide the Hindus and Muslims. In return for loyalty, the
government promised official favour.
95

Militant nationalism
Unfortunately, while militant nationalism was a great step forward in every other respect, it was a step
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
back regarding the growth of national unity. The speeches and writings of some of the militant nation-
alists had a strong religious and Hindu tinge. For example:
 Tilak's propagation of the Shivaji and Ganapati festivals.
 Aurobindo Ghose's semi-mystical concept of India as a mother and nationalism as a religion.

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 The revolutionary nationalists’ oaths before goddess Kali.

 Start of the anti-partition agitation with dips in the Ganga.
All such actions could hardly appeal to the Muslims.
• The British and pro-British propagandists took advantage of the Hindu colouring to poison the minds
of the Muslims. As a result:
 Many educated Muslims either remained aloof from the rising nationalist movement or became
hostile to it.
 Contributed to the development of a Muslim identity among nationalist Muslims.
• The Hindu tinge also created ideological openings for Hindu communalism.
• The extremists also emphasised ancient Indian culture to the exclusion of medieval Indian culture.
They identified Indian culture and nation with the Hindu religion and Hindus. They tried to abandon
elements of composite culture.
• Shivaji or Pratap were portrayed as national heroes not only for their historical roles but also as na-
tional leaders who fought against foreigners. By no definition could Akbar or Aurangzeb be declared
foreigners unless being a Muslim was made the grounds for declaring one a foreigner.
• In fact, such actions were against the spirit of their religion. As Muslims, they couldn't be expected to
engage in such activities.
• This does not mean that militant nationalists were anti-Muslim or even communal. Most of them,
including Tilak, favoured Hindu-Muslim unity.
• To most of them, the motherland, or Bharatmata, was a modern notion not linked with religion. Even
the revolutionary terrorists were, in reality, inspired by European revolutionary movements, for ex-
ample, those of Ireland, Russia, and Italy, rather than by Kali or Bhawani cults.

Teachings in Schools and Colleges

• The manner in which Indian history was taught in schools and colleges in those days also contributed
to the growth of communalist feelings among educated Hindus and Muslims.
• British historians described the medieval period of Indian history as the Muslim period. These writers
declared that all Muslims were rulers in medieval India and all non-Muslims were ruled.
• They failed to highlight that ancient and medieval politics in India, as politics everywhere else, were
driven by economic and political motives, not religious factors. Rulers used religious appeals as a
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facade to mask their pursuit of material interests and ambitions.

• In reality:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Muslim masses were as poor and oppressed by taxes as the Hindu masses.
 Both groups, whether Hindu or Muslim, were looked down upon by the rulers, nobles, chiefs, and
zamindars with contempt and regarded as low creatures.

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 Gandhiji wrote that communal harmony could not be permanently established if schools and col-
leges continued to teach highly distorted versions of history through textbooks.

Communalism: A Modern Phenomenon

• Some believe that communalism was a remnant of or survival from the medieval period. But this is
not true. Though religion was an important part of people's lives, and they sometimes quarrelled over
religion, there was hardly any communal ideology or politics before the 1870s.
• Communalism is a modern phenomenon. It emerged due to new, modern politics based on the peo-
ple and popular participation and mobilisation.

Communalism and Religious Diversity

• Some believe that a major factor in the growth of communalism was the existence of several reli-
gions in India, but that's not true.
• Just because a society has different religions doesn't mean communalism will happen. People follow
their religion based on personal beliefs. Religion itself doesn't cause communalism, and communal-
ism isn't inspired by religion.
• Religion becomes part of communalism when used for political purposes outside religious matters.
Communalism is accurately described as the political exploitation of religious sentiments.
• As Gandhiji repeatedly declared: "Religion is the personal affair of each individual. It must not be
mixed up with politics or national affairs".

Role of Syed Ahmad Khan in the Rise of Communalism

• Though a great educationist and social reformer, Syed Ahmad Khan became a conservative in politics
towards the end of his life. He laid the foundations of Muslim communalism in the 1880s. He gave
up his earlier views and declared that the political interests of Hindus and Muslims were not the same
but different and even divergent.
• Syed Khan also preached complete obedience to British rule. He also began to preach that, since the
Hindus formed the larger part of the Indian population, they would dominate the Muslims in case of
the weakening or withdrawal of British rule.
• Syed Khan declared that if the educated Muslims remained loyal to the British, the latter would reward
97

them with government jobs and other special favours.

• These views were, of course, unscientific and without any basis in reality. This was because:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Even though Hindus and Muslims followed different religions, their economic and political in-
terests were the same.
 Hindus and Muslims were equally and jointly oppressed and exploited by British imperialism.
 A Bengali Muslim and a Bengali Hindu had much more in common than a Bengali Muslim and a
Punjabi Muslim had.

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Role of INC to Mitigate the Fear of Minorities

• Even though the communal view of politics and culture was unscientific, it is crucial to alleviate the
genuine fears of minorities. This involves assuring that:
1. Its religion and particular social and cultural traits would be safe.
2. Religion should not and would not be a factor in determining economic and political policies.
• The founding fathers of Indian nationalism fully recognised this. Early nationalists tried to modernise the
people's political outlook by teaching that politics should not be based on religion and community.
• In his presidential address to the National Congress of 1886, Dadabhai had given the clear assurance
that the Congress would take up only national questions and not deal with religious and social
matters.
• To remove the fears of minorities and reach out to followers of all religions, a rule was established during
the 1888 session. According to this rule, no resolution would be passed if most Hindu or Muslim
delegates objected.

Role of British Officials in Communalism

• Lord Curzon, Lord Minto, Sir Fuller (the first Lieutenant Governor of East Bengal and Assam), Sir Lance-
lot Hare (who came in place of Fuller), and Sir Andrew Fraser played important roles in dividing Hindus
and Muslims.
 Lord Curzon divided Bengal to break the unity of Bengal Nationalists.
 Lord Minto was convinced of the need to reduce the influence of Bengali politicians.
 Fuller began playing one section of the population (Hindus or Muslims) against the other.
 Hare considered providing special advantages to Muslims in government jobs over Hindus.

4.9. Hindu communalism

• Starting from the 1870s, a group of Hindu zamindars, money-lenders, and middle-class professionals
began to arouse anti-Muslim sentiments.
• They fully accepted the colonial perspective of Indian history and talked and wrote about the "tyran-
nical" Muslim rule during the medieval period. They also praised the British for their "liberating" role in
"saving" Hindus from "Muslim oppression". Their campaign was primarily directed against Muslims
98

rather than the British.

• Fresh impetus was provided by the establishment of an All-India Muslim League in 1906 and the
MIH-II – Post-1857

British announcement of separate electorates for Muslims in 1909.

• As a result of these developments, Hindu leaders realised the need to form an organisation that would
safeguard their interests. Over the years, several small Hindu sabhas were formed in Punjab, the United
Provinces, Bihar, and the Bombay Presidency.

Punjab Hindu Sabha (1909)

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• In 1909, Lal Chand and U.N. Mukerji established the Punjab Hindu Sabha to safeguard the interests
of the Hindu community. Lal Chand declared that a Hindu should believe that he was "a Hindu first
and an Indian later".
• Its leaders attacked the INC for trying to unite Indians into a single nation. They opposed the Con-
gress's anti-imperialist politics. In 1913, the Punjab Hindu Sabha passed a resolution to create an
All-India Hindu Sabha.

All India Hindu Mahasabha (1915)

• Madan Mohan Malaviya founded All India Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 as an umbrella organisation
of regional Hindu Sabhas. It functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of or-
thodox Hindus before the British Raj and within the INC.
• For several years, the organisation remained rather weak. One of the reasons for this was the significant
influence and importance of the modern secular intelligentsia and the middle class among Hindus.
Additionally, the colonial government did not offer much support to Hindu communalism, as it relied
heavily on Muslim communalism and could not easily please both groups at the same time.
• Despite not favouring British rule, the Mahasabha did not actively support the nationalist movement.
It didn't join the Civil Disobedience movement in 1930 or the Quit India movement in 1942. It offi-
cially boycotted the Quit India Movement.

Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946)

• Madan Mohan Malaviya, known as Mahamana, was born on 25 December 1861 in Allahabad, Uttar
Pradesh. He was a Journalist, social reformer, lawyer, and a strong advocate of the mother tongue.
• Malaviya actively participated in the Indian freedom struggle. He was the moderate leader of INC
and opposed the separate electorate during the Lucknow pact.
• Malaviya was also the President of INC four times in 1909, 1918, 1930, and 1932. He was a responsivist
among the Swarajists.
 In 1933, because of his arrest, the INC session was presided over by Nellie Sengupta, the third
woman and second foreign woman to preside over the INC.

Spread of Hindi

During British rule, English and Persian languages dominated. Against this backdrop, he took up the
99

•
cause of Hindi. He promoted Sanskrit culture and the Hindi education in the country. He worked
MIH-II – Post-1857

extensively to promote education and spread Hindi.

Banaras Hindu University (1916)

• During the colonial era, various educational institutions primarily focused on teaching Western values
and scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, they catered only to a select few and were inaccessible to the
general public.

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• Recognising the need to establish an educational movement reflecting Indian values and culture, Mal-
viya established Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi in 1916.
• The BHU aimed to provide an inclusive learning environment, offering opportunities for individuals
from all backgrounds to pursue higher education. The BHU blended Indian heritage with modern ed-
ucation.

Journalism

• Madan Mohan Malviya was the first editor of Hindustan, a newspaper started by Thakur Ramgopal
Singh in 1885. Malviya founded:
1. Hindi-language weekly, the Abhyudaya (1907)
2. Hindi monthly Maryada
3. English newspaper ‘The Leader' (1909)

Peasant unrest

• Malaviya took an active interest in the situation of peasants in the Awadh region.
• With his support, Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi established the United Provinces
Kisan Sabha in February 1918. The Kisan Sabha played a very important role in the peasant movements
in Awadh and organised the peasants not to pay taxes, nazarana (gift payment) or perform be-
gari (forced labour).

Hindu Mahasabha (1915)

• Malaviya founded All India Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 as an umbrella organisation of regional
Hindu Sabhas. It functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of orthodox Hindus.
• Malaviya was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna on 24 December 2014.

4.10. The Nationalists and the First World War

• In June 1914, the First World War broke out between Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Japan and the
United States of America on one side and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey on the other.
• The start of the First World War revived the nationalist movement in India, which had been inactive
after the Swadeshi movement.
The Ghadar revolutionaries in North America and leaders like Lokamanya Tilak and Annie Besant
100
•
in India took advantage of this opportunity. The Ghadarites tried a violent overthrow of British rule,
while the Home Rule Leaguers pushed for Home Rule or Swaraj through nationwide protests.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Support of Indian Nationalists

• Initially, the Indian nationalist leaders, including Lokamanya Tilak, supported the government's war
efforts. This was not done out of loyalty or sympathy with the British but in the mistaken belief that

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Britain would repay India’s loyalty with gratitude, enabling India to take a long step forward on the
road to self-government.
• However, the supporters of British war efforts did not fully realise that the different powers were
fighting the First World War to safeguard their existing colonies.
• The revolutionaries recognised Britain's difficulties as India's opportunity and used it to wage war
against British rule and liberate the country.

The Ghadar Movement

• In 1913, Indian revolutionaries living in the United States of America and Canada formed the Ghadar
(Rebellion) Party. The majority of the party's members were Punjabi Sikh peasants and ex-soldiers
who had come to North America in search of employment but experienced severe discrimination
based on their race and economic status.

Background of the Movement

• Many Punjabi immigrants settled on the West Coast (Pacific coast) of North America at least since
1904. Due to the hostile attitude of the local population and the increasingly restrictive immigration
laws, the Indian community realised they needed to organise themselves to resist racial discrimination.
• Tarak Nath Das, an Indian student who was one of the first leaders of the Indian community in North
America, understood that while the British government encouraged Indian labourers to go to work in
Fiji, where British planters needed them, it discouraged their emigration to North America because
they feared that they might get infected by the current ideas of liberty.

Early Activities
• Tarak Nath Das, an Indian student in Vancouver, Canada, started the newspaper Free Hindustan, and
G.D. Kumar brought out a Gurmukhi paper, Swadesh Sevak, advocating social reform and asking Indian
troops to rise in revolt.
• Swadesh Sewak Home: In November 1909, G.D. Kumar opened a hostel in Vancouver called the
Swadesh Sewak Home on the lines of India House in London.
• United India House: Das and Kumar, who had been forced out of Vancouver, founded the United
India House in Seattle, USA, in 1910 and began lecturing every week to a group of Indian labourers. 101

• Das and Kumar also developed close links with the Khalsa Diwan Society, which resulted in 1913 in a
decision to send a deputation to meet the Colonial Secretary in London and the Viceroy and other
MIH-II – Post-1857

officials in India.
• They failed to meet the Colonial Secretary but succeeded in meeting with the Viceroy and the Lieutenant
Governor of Punjab. Their visit to Punjab became the occasion for public meetings in different Punjab
towns and enthusiastic support from the people and the press.

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• Meanwhile, in early 1913, Bhagwan Singh, a Sikh priest who had worked in Hong Kong and the Malay
states, visited Vancouver in Canada and openly preached the violent overthrow of British rule. His
exhortations had such an effect that he was expelled from Canada after three months, but his ideas had
fired the imagination of his audiences.

[UPSC 2005] Where were the Ghadar revolutionaries, who became active during the out-
break of the World War I based
a) Central America
b) North America
c) West America
d) South America

Answer: Option B

Towards Organisation
• Disappointed with the lack of response from the Indian and British governments, the Indian community
in North America felt the acute need for a central organisation and a leader. They found their leader
in Lala Har Dayal, a political exile from India who had come to the U.S. in 1911.
• Lala Har Dayal had been lecturing at Stanford University on the anarchist and syndicalist movements.
He assumed leadership of the immigrant Indian community.
• In May 1913, the Hindi Association was formed in Portland, which later changed its name to the Hin-
dustan Ghadar Party. At the first meeting of the Association, Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected
President, Lala Har Dayal General Secretary, and Pandit Kanshi Ram Maroli Treasurer.
• The Association collected $10,000 and decided to set up a headquarters called Yugantar Ashram in
San Francisco and start a weekly paper, the Ghadar, for free circulation.
• Aim: The Ghadar Party was pledged to wage a revolutionary war against the British in India.
• Ideology: Though most of the party's members were Punjabi Sikh peasants and ex-soldiers, the party's
ideology was strongly secular. In the words of Sohan Singh Bhakna, who later became a major peasant
leader of Punjab: "We were not Sikhs or Punjabis. Our religion was patriotism".
• Presence: In addition to North America, particularly Canada and the United States of America, the party
had active members in other countries such as Mexico, Japan, China, the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore,
102

Thailand, Indo-China, and East and South Africa.

• Leaders: Lala Har Dayal, Mohammed Barkatullah, Bhagwan Singh, Ram Chandra and Sohan Singh
MIH-II – Post-1857

Bhakna were some of the prominent leaders of the Ghadar Party.

[UPSC 2014] The Ghadr (Ghadar) was a

a) Revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco
b) Nationalist organization operating from Singapore

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c) Militant organization with headquarters at Berlin

d) Communist movement for India’s freedom with headquarters at Tashkent

Answer: Option A

Launching of Paper and its Impact

• The paper Ghadar was launched on 1 November 1913; the first issue was in Urdu, followed a month
later by the Gurmukhi version. The format of the Ghadar paper was designed to convey the message
of nationalism in simple and bold terms.
• Its very name, 'Ghadar', meant revolt. On its masthead was inscribed the caption: Angezi Raj Ka Dush-
man or 'An Enemy of British Rule'.
• Besides, the front page of each issue carried the 'Angrezi Raj Ka Kacha Chittha' or 'An Expose of British
Rule', which consisted of 14 points enumerating the negative effects of British rule.
• The Ghadar was widely distributed among Indian immigrants in North America. However, it quickly
gained popularity among immigrants in other countries such as the Philippines, Hong Kong, China,
Malay states, Singapore, Trinidad and Honduras.
• The publication even reached India. The response from the immigrant communities was overwhelming;
groups were formed to read and discuss the issues raised in the publication, and contributions poured
in.
• The most popular proved to be the poems published in the paper, which were soon put together in the
form of a collection called Ghadar Ki Goonj and were recited and sung at gatherings of Indians.

Ghadar Movement: The Main Events

• Three major events in 1914 determined the subsequent course of the Ghadar Movement:
1. Lala Har Dayal's arrest and escape to Switzerland
2. The fateful voyage of the ship Komagata Maru
3. The beginning of the First World War

Lala Har Dayal's Arrest

• Har Dayal was arrested in March 1914. While the official reason given was his anarchist activities, it is
widely believed that the British government had a hand in his arrest. They wanted him removed from
103

the leadership of the Ghadar Movement. Har Dayal was released on bail, but it was decided that he
should jump bail and go to Switzerland.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Komagata Maru Incident

• In an effort to bypass Canadian immigration laws, which prohibited entry to anyone except those who
had made a "continuous journey from India," Gurdit Singh, an Indian contractor residing in Singa-
pore, chartered a vessel called the Kornagata Maru.

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• Gurdit Singh set sail for Vancouver with 376 Indian passengers originating from different parts of East
and Southeast Asia. On the way, Ghadar party mobilisers visited the ship, gave lectures and distributed
literature.
• Receiving prior intimation of the intended immigration, the Press in Vancouver warned of the 'Mounting
Oriental Invasion', and the Canadian government prepared to meet the challenge by tightening its
laws.
• On arrival in Vancouver in September 1914, the ship was not allowed into the port and was cordoned
off by the police. Despite the strenuous efforts of the "Shore Committee" in Vancouver led by Husain
Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak and Balwant Singh and a powerful campaign in the USA led by Barkatullah,
Bhagwan Singh, Ram Chandra and Sohan Singh Bhakna, the Komagata Maru was forced out of Canadian
waters.
• Before it reached Japan, the First World War broke out, and the British government ordered that no
passenger was to be allowed to leave the ship till it reached Calcutta. Its return journey triggered a
wave of resentment at every port of call among the communities of immigrant Indians and heightened
anti-British feelings.
• When the ship reached Budge near Calcutta, the hostile attitude of the police led to a clash, which
resulted in the death of 18 passengers, 202 were arrested, and the rest succeeded in running away.

Beginning of the First World War

• The outbreak of the First World War was the opportunity that the Ghadarites had been waiting for to
seize and make the best of Britain's difficulty. It came earlier than expected, and their preparations were
still rudimentary.
• Nevertheless, a special meeting of the party's leading workers decided that the time had come for action
and that their biggest weakness, lack of arms, could be overcome by persuading the Indian soldiers
to revolt. The Ghadar party accordingly issued its Ailan-e-Jung, or 'Proclamation of War', which was
circulated among Indians living abroad.
• The Ghadarites decided to send arms and men to India to start an uprising with the help of soldiers
and local revolutionaries. Several thousand men volunteered to go back to India. Millions of dollars
were contributed to pay for their expenses. Many gave their life-long savings and sold lands and other
property. The Ghadarites also contacted Indian soldiers in the Far East, Southeast Asia and all over India
104

and persuaded several regiments to rebel.

The Movement in the Last Phase

MIH-II – Post-1857

• Returning immigrants were carefully scrutinised by the government. Nevertheless, many hard-core
activists succeeded in reaching Punjab.
• Kartar Singh Sarabha, the young and brilliant Indian student who had joined the Ghadar Movement in
the USA and was the subeditor of Ghadar Paper, was among the first to reach Punjab safely. He

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immediately began organising and contacting the returning emigrants, holding meetings, and for-
mulating a plan of action.
• Ghadar activists toured the villages and distributed party publications, addressed gatherings at
melas and made every effort to persuade the people to rise in revolt. But the Punjab in 1914 was very
different from what they had expected, and the people were in no mood to embark upon the romantic
Ghadar adventure.
• Disappointed with the popular response, the Ghadar revolutionaries attempted to spread their mes-
sage among the soldiers and engineer a mutiny. Attempts at revolt in November 1914 failed due to
a lack of proper organisation and centralised leadership. Another more organised attempt was made
in February 1915 after Rash Behari Bose had been contacted.
• Rash Behari Bose, the revolutionary who was famous for planning a daring attack on Hardinge, the
Viceroy, arrived in Punjab in January 1915 to take charge of the revolt. The date for an armed revolt in
the Punjab (mutiny) was set first for 21 February 1915.
• However, the government succeeded in penetrating the organisation and taking pre-emptive
measures. The rebellious regiments were disbanded, and their leaders were either imprisoned or
hanged. For example, 12 men of the 23rd Cavalry were executed.
• Bose managed to escape, but most other leaders were arrested, and the Ghadar movement was effec-
tively crushed.

The Repression
• The leaders and members of the Ghadar Party in the Punjab were arrested on a mass scale and tried.
Forty-two of them were hanged, 114 were transported for life, and 93 were sentenced to long terms of
imprisonment.
• Many of the members, after their release, founded the Kirti and Communist movements in the Pun-
jab.
• Some prominent Ghadar leaders were - Baba Gurmukh Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Sohan Singh Bhakna,
Rahmat Ali Shah, Bhai Parmanand, and Mohammad Barkatullah.

Mutiny in Singapore
• Inspired by the Ghadar Party, on 15 February 1915, 700 men of the 5th Light Infantry at Singa-
105

pore revolted under the leadership of Jamadar Chisti Khan and Subedar Dundey Khan.
• They were crushed after a bitter battle in which many died. Thirty-seven others were publicly exe-
MIH-II – Post-1857

cuted, while 41 were transported for life.

Analysis of the Ghadar Movement

• The Ghadar movement did not succeed in its immediate stated objective of organising an armed
revolt and driving out the British. Should we call the Ghadar movement a failure? By that token, all

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the major national struggles of 1920-22, 1930-34, or 1942 would have to be termed failures since
none of them succeeded in immediately winning independence.
• The success or failure of a political movement is not always to be measured in terms of its achieve-
ment of stated objectives. It should be measured in terms of whether there was a furthering of na-
tionalist feelings, the creation of traditions of resistance, the emergence and trial of new methods of
struggle, and the spread of forward-looking ideologies of secularism, democracy, and egalitarianism.
In that case, the Ghadar movement occupies a very important place in India's struggle for freedom.

Achievements

 Popularising Nationalist Ideology: The Ghadarites successfully spread the critique of colonialism and
the understanding that British rule was responsible for Indian poverty and backwardness among Indians
in India and abroad.
 Creating a Cadre of Nationalists: The Ghadarites established a highly motivated cadre of nationalists
who played a significant role in building the national and, later, the left and peasant movements in
Punjab and other parts of India.
 Egalitarian and Democratic Ideology: Ghadar ideology was also strongly egalitarian and democratic,
aiming to establish an independent republic in India
 Secular Outlook: Despite being predominantly recruited from Punjabi Sikh immigrants, the movement
remained secular, accepting leaders from diverse backgrounds, including Hindus, Muslims, and Ben-
galis. Har Dayal was a Hindu, Barkatullah a Muslim, Rash Behari Bose a Hindu and Bengali.
 Counteracting Communal Tendencies: The Ghadarites rejected communal divisions and actively
worked against the colonial notion of Sikhs as a 'martial race', emphasising patriotism over religious
or regional identities.
 Rallying Cry for Nationalism: The Ghadarites popularised nationalist slogans like "Bande Mataram"
as symbols of unity and not any religious greeting such as Sat Sri Akal.

Weaknesses

 Overestimation of Readiness: Ghadar movement misjudged the readiness of their movement, as-
suming a higher level of preparedness than actually existed. They sounded the call to action without
assessing their own capabilities.
106

 Misleading Response: The enthusiastic response from the immigrant Indian community, fuelled by
experiences of racial discrimination and alienation, led the Ghadarites to believe that the masses in
MIH-II – Post-1857

India were similarly prepared. However, this assumption was flawed as the conditions in India differed
significantly.
 Underestimation of British Power: The Ghadar movement underestimated the strength of British
rule and the deep-rooted ideological foundations that supported it. They believed that a simple call to
revolt would suffice without fully grasping the power dynamics.

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 Heavy Cost of Weakness: The consequences of these weaknesses were severe, not only for the Ghadar
movement but also for the broader national movement.
 It is highly probable that if most of the Ghadar leadership had not been removed from the political
scene, they would have undoubtedly played a crucial role in curbing the communal tendencies
that surfaced in later years.

[UPSC 2022] Consider the following freedom fighters:

1. Barindra Kumar Ghosh
2. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee
3. Rash Behari Bose

Who of the above was/were actively associated with the Ghadar Party?
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3
d) 3 only

Answer: Option D

Tilak's Return in 1914: A Changed Man

• In June 1914, Tilak returned to India after serving a six-year sentence in Mandalay in Burma. Upon
his return, Tilak was noticeably different from the person he had been before his banishment.
• Secular approach: His speeches during this period also show no trace of a religious appeal. The de-
mand for Home Rule was made on a wholly secular basis.
 Tilak categorically stated, "Alienness is not connected with religion, trade or profession; it is a
question of interests. If someone helps the people in this country, whether they are Muslim or
English, they are not considered an alien.”
• Inclusivity: Tilak’s ideas did not reflect any narrow regional linguistic chauvinism or caste bias. He
wanted all the regional languages and cultures to develop and argued for education to be imparted in
the vernaculars. He also linked the question of Swaraj with the demand for the formation of linguistic
states and education in the vernacular.
107

• Opposed Untouchability: Tilak frontally opposed untouchability, declaring: "If a god were to tolerate
untouchability, I would not recognise him as God at all".
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Rejected Caste Bias: Tilak urged Brahmins to be tolerant of non-Brahmin demands and not oppose
them. He simultaneously urged non-Brahmins not to see their problems of lack of jobs, etc., in terms of
Brahmin vs. non-Brahmin but to understand that it was the greater spread of education among Brahmins
that gave them greater access to jobs.

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Lucknow Session of the Congress (1916)

• Lucknow Session of the Congress (1916) was presided over by A.C. Majumdar. It was the first Con-
gress session Gandhiji attended after his return to India from South Africa in 1915.

Reunion of Moderates and Extremists

• The Surat split greatly helped the British. They first suppressed the Extremists and then ignored the
Moderates by offering reforms that didn't meet their expectations. Hence, after the release of Tilak in
1914, many nationalist leaders favoured the return of extremists to INC.

Efforts by Extremists

• In June 1914, Tilak returned to India after serving a six-year sentence in Mandalay, Burma. Initially,
he focused on returning himself and other Extremists to the INC. Even in 1907, he didn't like the split,
and now he was even more convinced that unity was necessary.
• Tilak was convinced that the support of the INC, representing the Indian national movement, was
essential for any successful political action.
• To reassure the Moderates and avoid potential government backlash, Tilak publicly stated: "I want to
make it clear that, like Irish Home-rulers in Ireland, we in India seek administrative reforms, not the
overthrow of the government. Acts of violence in different parts of India are not only against my
beliefs but, unfortunately, have slowed down our political progress. I affirm my loyalty to the Crown and
encourage all Indians to support the British Government during its crisis."

Views of Moderates

• Many of the Moderate Congress leaders were unhappy with the Surat split and the lack of political
activity thereafter. They were now more favourable to the return of the Extremists to the fold. How-
ever, the Moderate group led by Pherozeshah Mehta opposed the return of the Extremists.

Efforts by Annie Besant

• In 1914, Mrs Annie Besant wanted to build up a movement in India on the lines of the Irish Home Rule
League. She realised that it was necessary to get approval from Congress and secure the active coop-
eration of the Extremists for this purpose. Hence, she urged the Moderates to accept the Extremists
back into the Congress.
108

Successful Campaign
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Extremists failed to get re-entry into the Congress at its session in December 1914. In 1915, Annie
Besant and Tilak launched separate campaigns through newspapers and local associations to secure the
re-entry of extremists.

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• In 1915, the Bombay group's opposition weakened after Pherozeshah Mehta's death. During the
annual Congress session in December 1915, it was decided to allow the Extremists to rejoin the Con-
gress.
• Finally, in the Lucknow session of the Congress in 1916, presided over by A. C. Mazumdar, extremists
reunited with the moderates.

Lucknow Pact (1916)

• The unity between the Congress and the League was created by signing the Congress-League Pact,
known popularly as the Lucknow Pact. It was signed at Lucknow in the annual session of the Congress
in December 1916.
• Both parties demanded further constitutional reforms as a step towards self-government. They also
demanded that half of the members of the executive councils of Viceroys and provincial governors
be Indians.

Role of Tilak and Jinnah

• Ideologically, the Congress and the League were completely different. The Muslim League’s work
was focused on community-specific demands, while the Congress claimed to represent India as a
whole. Yet they came together because of the efforts of Lokamanya Tilak and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
• Tilak and Jinnah realised that self-rule for India could only be gained through a joint effort. Both
parties held their annual sessions in Lucknow in 1916 to achieve this.
 Annie Besant also played a leading role in bringing about the Congress League Pact.
 The poetess Sarojini Naidu hailed Jinnah as the 'Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity.'

Separate Electorates

• The Congress and the League passed the same resolutions at their sessions and put forward a joint
scheme of political reforms based on separate electorates.
• The Lucknow Pact marked an important step forward in Hindu-Muslim unity, yet it introduced the
concept of separate electorates, paving the way for the future resurgence of communalism in Indian
politics.
• While the acceptance of separate electorates for Muslims was controversial, it was driven by a gen- 109
uine intent to address minority concerns about potential majority domination.

Indian Home Rule Movement (1916-1918)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Home Rule movement was a product of the war situation. During the First World War, many
Indian leaders realised that the government wouldn't make significant concessions without widespread
public pressure. They believed a strong mass political movement was essential.
• Therefore, two Home Rule Leagues, on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues, were started in
1916, one under the leadership of Lokamanya Tilak and the other under the leadership of Annie

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Besant and S. Subramaniya Iyer. The main objective was demanding self-government within the
British Commonwealth.
• The two Home Rule Leagues demarcated their area of operation and worked in cooperation. They
carried out intense propaganda all over the country in favour of the grant of Home Rule or self-gov-
ernment to India after the War.
• Many moderate nationalists, dissatisfied with the Congress’s inactivity, joined the Home Rule agita-
tion. Some Gokhale’s Servants of India Society members, though not permitted to become league mem-
bers, toured, lectured, and brought out pamphlets supporting the demand for Home Rule.

Tilak’s Home Rule League (April 1916)

• Tilak established his Home Rule League in April 1916, with Poona as its headquarters. It was launched
at the Bombay Provincial Conference held at Belgaum in April 1916.
• It had six branches and was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central
Provinces, and Berar.
• During the movement, Tilak toured Maharashtra and explained the demand for home rule. He advo-
cated for developing regional languages and cultures and argued for education in the vernacular
languages. Tilak gave the popular slogan, “Home Rule is my birthright, and I shall have it.”

Fillip to the Movement

• As the Home Rule movement gained momentum, the government sought to suppress it. The govern-
ment served Tilak a notice asking to show cause why he should not be bound over for good behav-
iour for one year and demanding securities of Rs. 60,000.
• Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He lost the case in the Mag-
istrate’s Court but won in the High Court.
• The government's attempt to silence Tilak backfired and gave the movement a big boost. Tilak pushed
home the movement by declaring that Home Rule now had legal sanction. By April 1917, Tilak's league
had enlisted 14,000 members.

Annie Besant’s Home Rule League (September 1916)

• Annie Besant arrived in India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society. Starting in 1907, she 110
propagated the ideas of Theosophy from her headquarters in Adyar, near Madras and gained many
followers.
In 1914, Besant wanted to start a movement in India on the lines of the Irish Home Rule League.
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
However, in 1915, she failed to convince Congress and the Muslim League to support her decision.
• Through her two papers, New India and Commonweal, Besant propagated the ideas of self-govern-
ment. Finally, in September 1916, she announced the formation of her Home Rule League with
George Arundale as the Organizing Secretary.

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• The league had 200 branches and covered the rest of India (besides the area covered by Tilak’s league),
including Bombay City. It was loosely organised as compared to Tilak’s League.
• Most of the work was done by Annie Besant and her lieutenants Arundale, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, and
B.P. Wadia from her headquarters at Adyar. Arundale's column on 'Home Rule' in New India was the
vehicle for spreading news and giving instruction.
• In addition to the existing Theosophical Society members, many new members joined the League,
including Jawaharlal Nehru in Allahabad, B. Chakravarti, and J. Banerjee in Calcutta. By March 1917, her
League had 7,000 members.
• At the end of the Lucknow session of Congress in 1916, the Home Rule Leagues held a joint meeting.
More than 1,000 delegates attended, and Besant and Tilak addressed the meeting.

Activities

• The main goal of the League was to build support for the demand for Home Rule by promoting
political education and discussion.
• To accomplish this, they organised political discussions, established libraries with national political
material, arranged classes for students on politics, printed and distributed pamphlets, collected
funds, participated in local government activities, organised political meetings and lectures, presented
arguments to friends who supported Home Rule, and encouraged them to join the movement.

Government Repression and People’s Response

• Once again, the government decided to suppress the movement and gave it further momentum. In
June 1917, Anne Besant, B.P. Wadia and George Arundale were placed under arrest. Immediately,
nationwide protests started. As a protest:
 Sir S. Subramania Aiyar renounced his knighthood
 M. A. Jinnah, Surendamath Banerjee and Madan Mohan Malaviya joined the movement.
 Tilak advocated passive resistance or civil disobedience if the Government refused to release the
internees.
 Gandhi's suggestion of collecting the signatures of one thousand men willing to defy the internment
orders and march to Besant's place of detention was implemented.

Change in British Attitude

111

• Faced with this growing agitation, the government in Britain adopted a soft line.
• Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, declared that the policy of His Majesty's government was
MIH-II – Post-1857

to increase the association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual de-
velopment of self-governing institutions with the ultimate goal of responsible government in India.
• Montagu’s statement was a distinct advance on the position taken in 1909, when Morley, while in-
troducing the Reforms, categorically stated that they were not intended to lead to self-government.

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• After Montagu's declaration, the demand for self-government or Home Rule could no longer be
considered seditious.
• Annie Besant was released in September 1917. She was at the height of her popularity and, at Tilak’s
suggestion, was elected President at the annual session of the Congress in December 1917.

Decline of the Home Rule Leagues

• During 1918, the Home Rule agitation gradually fizzled out. The following factors were responsible for
this:
1. Withdrawal of support by the Moderates: Moderates were pacified by the promise of reforms
and worried by the increasing talk of civil disobedience among the Home Rule.
2. Besant's continuous vacillation: Anne Besant was vacillating over her response to reform and
passive resistance techniques. Sometimes, she would reject passive resistance, but at other times,
influenced by her younger followers, she would support it.
 Initially, Besant, along with Tilak, considered the reforms unworthy of Britain to offer and India
to accept, but later, she argued in favour of acceptance.
3. Leaderless Movement: Tilak declared that the reforms were unworthy of Britain to offer and
India to accept. His decision to go to England at the end of 1918 to pursue a libel case he had filed
against Valentine Chirol, the author of Indian Unrest, left the movement leaderless.

Dissolution
• Mahatma Gandhi disappointed Mrs. Annie Besant in 1915 when he refused to join her in launching
a Home Rule movement in India. Gandhi explained that he did not share her distrust of the English
people and would not do anything that might embarrass the British during the war.
• In 1920, Gandhi joined the All India Home Rule League and became its President. He changed its
name to "Swarajya Sabha". The league later merged with the Congress Party.

Achievements of the Home Rule Movement

 The Home Rule League helped sustain the freedom movement in India during the First World War.
 It popularised the idea of Home Rule.
 Through peaceful means, it successfully induced patriotic sentiments in the public. 112

 It set the stage for the national freedom movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
 It created a band of nationalist workers to play the leading role in the coming mass struggles.
 It established organisational links in towns and villages, which were to prove extremely valuable in
MIH-II – Post-1857

the coming years.

[UPSC 2018] In 1920, which of the following changed its name to "Swarajya Sabha"?
a) All India Home Rule League

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b) Hindu Mahasabha
c) South Indian Liberal Federation
d) The Servants of India Society

Answer: Option A

4.11. Great Personalities

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928)

• Lala Lajpat Rai (Lalaji), popularly known as 'Punjab Kesari', was born on 28 January 1865 in the Ludhi-
ana District of Punjab.
• Lala Lajpat Rai was an active member of Arya Samaj. In 1897, he founded the Hindu Relief Movement
to help the famine-stricken people and thus prevent them from falling into the clutches of the mis-
sionaries.
• Lala Lajpat Rai was an extremist leader of the Indian National Congress and one of the members of the
Lal Bal Pal trio.
• Lalaji played an important role in the Swadeshi movement that started after the partition of Bengal.
The Government was so frightened that on 9 May 1907, it arrested Lala Lajpat Rai and put him in
Mandalay Fort.

Education
• A great educationist, Lalaji devoted a substantial part of his life, time, and energy to the cause of edu-
cation. In 1886, he helped Mahatma Hansraj establish the nationalistic Dayananda Anglo-Vedic (DAV)
School in Lahore.

Indian Home Rule League of America (1917)

• Lala Lajpat Rai went to England in 1914. Later, the government barred him from returning to the country.
• In 1916, when Tilak and Mrs Annie Besant started the Home Rule Movement in India, Lala Lajpat Rai,
in 1917, started the "Indian Home Rule League of America" with its headquarters at Broadway, New
York. He stayed in the United States from 1917 to 1920.

Working Class Movement

113

• As Lalaji took much interest in the condition of the working class people, he was also elected as the
President of the All India Trade Union Congress.
MIH-II – Post-1857

President of INC (1920)

• Lala Lajpat Rai was elected President of the Indian National Congress in the Calcutta Special Session
of 1920. Under his leadership, Congress supported Gandhi‘s plan for non-cooperation with the Gov-
ernment.

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Servants of the People Society (1921)

• In 1921, Lalaji founded Servants of the People Society. The society had done commendable work in
the field of politics, social welfare, harijan uplift, rural reconstruction, education, etc.

Swaraj Party (1923)

• Lalaji was arrested in 1921. After his release and the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement,
Lajpat Rai joined the Swarajya Party, founded by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru.

Literary Work
• Lala Lajpat Rai wrote biographical books on Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji, Shrikrishna and Swami Daya-
nand.
• Some of his noteworthy literary works include "The Story of My Deportation" (1908), "Arya Samaj"
(1915), "The United States of America: A Hindu's Impression" (1916), "England's Debt to India" (1917),
and "Young India: An Interpretation and a History of the Nationalist Movement from Within".

Unhappy India

• In her book, "Mother India", in 1927, an American writer, Miss Katherine Mayo, unfairly attacked Indian
civilisation and culture. In response, Lala Lajpat Rai authored a book called Unhappy India in 1928.
• In the 1920s, when Indian nationalism was gaining strength, the British and their supporters tried to
justify the British Empire. Katherine Mayo, an American, was one of them. She believed in white su-
premacy, and so she felt that the “White Man” had a burden to “civilise” the “savages”. Through her
book, she sought to justify India’s need for subjugation under British rule.
• Through Unhappy India, Lala Lajpat Rai debunked Mayo’s arguments. He argued that most of India’s
socio-economic problems were created by colonial rule. Through this, he sought to appeal to the
Western, particularly American audience, that India was not what Mayo represented her to be. Rai also
appealed to them to support India’s demand for self-rule.

Protest Against Simon Commission

• The Government of India Act of 1919 provided for the appointment of a Statutory Commission at
the end of its ten-year work. As a consequence, the Simon Commission was appointed in 1927.
Indians vehemently opposed its all-white composition, and in December 1927, the Indian National
114
•
Congress passed a resolution for its boycott.
• Lala Lajpat Rai led the procession to demonstrate against the Simon Commission. While leading the
MIH-II – Post-1857

boycott procession at Lahore on 30 October 1928, he received Lathi blows on his chest, which ulti-
mately brought about his death on 17 November 1928.

[UPSC CSE 2018] He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna,
stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was:

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a) Aurobindo Ghosh
b) Bipin Chandra Pal
c) Lala Lajpat Rai
d) Motilal Nehru

Answer: Option C

Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)

• Aurobindo Ghosh, born on 15 August 1872 in Calcutta district, was an Indian nationalist, poet, philos-
opher, and yogi. He played an active role in the Indian Freedom Movement till 1910, after which he
became a spiritual reformer.
• When he was seven years old, Aurobindo went to England to study. He ranked 11th in the Indian Civil
Service exam and completed a two-year probation. However, he skipped the final interview as he did
not want to serve the British.
• Aurobindo returned to India in 1893 and worked as a professor at Baroda College from 1893 to
1906. After the Partition of Bengal, he quit his post in 1906 and went to Calcutta, where he soon
became one of the leaders of the Nationalist movement.
• Aurobindo emphasised:
 Complete freedom from British rule (Swaraj)
 Boycott of foreign goods and institutions and passive resistance
 Spiritual nationalism
• In 1906, Aurobindo became the first principal of the Bengal National College.
• In 1907, Aurobindo faced sedition charges for leading against the British and his patriotic writings
against the British. After being acquitted, he presided over the Nationalist Conference of Congress
party in Surat.
• In 1908, Aurobindo was tried in the Alipore conspiracy case. After a year’s imprisonment as an under-
trial prisoner, he was acquitted due to the lack of evidence.

Spiritual Quest
• Aurobindo retired from nationalist politics in 1910 and began his spiritual journey. He moved to 115

Pondicherry, where he established an Ashram.

• In his spiritual journey, Aurobindo was influenced by Bankim’s Anandamath and a Maharashtrian
yogi, Vishnu Bhaskar Lele.
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 The Aurobindo Ashram was founded in Puducherry by Aurobindo Ghosh and Mirra Alfassa (The
Mother) in 1926.

Literary Work

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• Aurobindo associated himself with journals and periodicals like the Jugantar, Bande Mataram, and
the Karmayogi, through which he criticised British imperialism and preached a revolutionary concept
of nationalism.
• Some of his important writings are The Life Divine, Savitri, Essay on the Gita, Defense of Indian Cul-
ture, etc.

Renaissance of Hinduism
• In the 19th century, India came under British rule. Christian missionaries and British historians harshly
criticised the Hindu religion.
• The Hindus responded by initiating reforms in their religion and establishing new political associa-
tions to spread their ideas of reform and social development among the people.
• The process of the renaissance of Hinduism started with Raja Rammohun Roy and was further devel-
oped by Arya Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Satyashodhak Samaj (Jotiba Phule), and other associations.
• Swami Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission, which played a key role in the renaissance and
reformation of Hindu society.
• There was a new interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, and Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo
Ghosh were two major interpreters of Neo-Vedanta philosophy. They believed that Neo-Vedanta phi-
losophy would increase the cultural strength of Hinduism and pave the way for the growth of nation-
alism in modern India. They interpreted Indian nationalism in the context of reformation and rejuvena-
tion of Hinduism.

Aurobindo on Renaissance of Hinduism

• Sri Aurobindo carried forward the renaissance process of Hinduism, which was left incomplete by
Swami Vivekananda and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
• Aurobindo carried forward the development of Neo-Vedanta and declared that the true message of
Vedanta was selfless action or Karma Yoga.

Spiritualism and Nationalism

• Aurobindo encouraged the people to fight against exploitative British rule. He explained to the people
the message of the Bhagavad Gita, which teaches us to fight injustice. He also explained the theory
of Karma Yoga, in which one is encouraged to perform duties without being attached to the fruits of
116

labour.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Criticism of British rule

• Aurobindo criticised British rule in India, disagreeing with the moderates who believed British rule in
India was a divine dispensation. Aurobindo believed that British rule ruined India's economy and pre-
vented it from developing as an independent nation.

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• According to Aurobindo, India was held in subjection for the benefit of the British ruling classes, and the
British claim of good government was false. A good and efficient government, he believed, was no
substitute for self-government and freedom.

Aurobindo's Critique of Moderate Leadership

• Aurobindo was highly critical of the approach of moderate leaders to politics. He wrote a series of
articles in the Indu Prakash titled 'New Lamps for Old' and severely criticised the politics of petitions
and prayers of the moderate leaders.
• Aurobindo argued that the politics of prayers and petitions, which was a viable strategy during Ram
Mohan Roy's period, was no longer effective in later years. He advocated for the adoption of new and
stronger methods.
 Tagore portrayed Aurobindo as the Messiah of Indian Culture and Civilization.
 C R Das hailed Aurobindo as the ‘poet of patriotism, the prophet of nationalism and the lover of
humanity.’

[UPSC CSE 2008] Who among the following gave a systematic critique of the moderate
politics of the Indian National Congress in a series of articles entitled New Lamps for Old?
a) Aurobindo Ghosh
b) R. C. Dutt
c) Syed Ahmed Khan
d) Viraghavachariar

Answer: Option A

Bipin Chandra Pal

• Bipin Chandra Pal was one of the extremist leaders of the Indian National Congress. Bipin Chandra
Pal, along with Lala Lajpat Rai and Tilak, are called "Lal Bal Pal".
• Bipin Chandra was an important leader during the Swadeshi struggle that began after the Partition of
Bengal in 1905. Aurobindo Ghosh and Pal were recognised as the chief exponents of a new national
movement centred on the ideals of Purna Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycotts, and national education.
• Bipin Chandra was imprisoned for six months for his refusal to give evidence against Aurobindo
117

Ghosh in the Bande Mataram sedition case.

Philosophy
MIH-II – Post-1857

• During his student days in Calcutta, Pal came in contact with Keshub Sen, the great Brahmo leader who
inspired him to join the Brahmo Samaj movement. Later, he turned to Vedanta and eventually became
an advocate of Sri Chaitanya's Vaishnava philosophy.

Journalism

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• Bipin Chandra started newspapers such as Paridarshak (1880), New India (1901), Bande Mataram
(1906) (Aurobindo Ghose was editor), Swaraj and Hindu Review (1913).
• Bipin Chandra was Assistant Editor of the Bengal Public Opinion and the Tribune (Lahore).

Book
• In his book, The New Economic Menace of India, Bipin Chandra demanded increased wages and
shorter hours of work for the Indian labourers.

Politics
• In politics, Bipin Chandra was initially influenced by and accepted Surendranath Banerjea as his guru,
but later, he worked in collaboration with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Aurobindo Ghosh.
• At the Madras session of the Indian National Congress, held in 1887, Bipin Chandra strongly pleaded
for the repeal of the discriminatory Arms Act.

4.12. Unsung Heroes

Vasudev Balwant Phadke (1845-1883)

• Born in 1845 in the Kolaba district in a poor Brahmin family, Phadke was a revolutionary who sought
India's independence from the British Raj.
• In 1862, Phadke was amongst the early graduates of Bombay University. In 1863, he joined the Mil-
itary Accounts Department of the Bombay Government and then worked in various government in-
stitutions, such as Grant Medical College and Commissariat Examiner’s Office in Mumbai, before coming
to Pune in 1865.
• Phadke's superiors denied him leave in 1869 to attend his ailing mother, which developed a profound
dislike for the British government. The following events gave impetus to anti-British feelings of the
Phadke:
 Deccan riots (1875)
 The devastation caused in Western India by the famine of 1876-77: Phadke blamed British rule
for the famine and the subsequent hardship faced by the people.
 Removal of Maharaja of Baroda: The British Resident in 18755 accused Maharaja Malharrao Gaik-
wad of Baroda of attempting to poison him, leading to the Maharaja's forced abdication.
118

• The activities of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha influenced him and added patriotism to his heart. Phadke
also attended the lectures by M.G. Ranade, which mainly focused on the economic exploitation of
MIH-II – Post-1857

India by the British. This further strengthened his resolve to fight the exploiters.
• Inspired by Sarvajanik Kaka’s vow to use exclusively Swadeshi goods, Phadke decided to use Khadi and
Swadeshi.
• Phadke founded an institution, the Aikya Vardhini Sabha, to educate the youth and ventilate popular
grievances.

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• Phadke was moved by the plight of the farming community and resolved to immediately rise in an
armed revolt against the British and establish Swaraj. Unable to get support from the educated clas-
ses, he gathered a band of people from the Ramoshi caste. Later, people from the Koli, Bhil, and
Dhangar communities were also included.

Rebellion
• In 1879, Phadke launched raids (Dacoity) on government treasuries and rich English businessmen to
obtain funds for revolutionary activities and to feed famine-affected farmer communities.
• To save himself, Phadke had to flee from village to village, sheltered by his sympathisers and well-wish-
ers, mostly from the lower class of society. Finally, he was captured in a temple in the village of Dever
Nadigi, in the Kaladgi District of Hyderabad, at 3 a.m. on 20 July 1879.
• Phadke was charged with collecting men, arms, and ammunition to wage war against the British gov-
ernment of India. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (Sarvajanik Kaka) defended Phadke's case.
• Phadke was transported to jail at Aden but escaped from the prison by taking the door off from its
hinges on 13 February 1883. He was soon recaptured and then went on a hunger strike, dying on 17
February 1883.

Sister Nivedita (1867-1911)

• Margaret Nobel, later known as Sister Nivedita, was an Irish educationist, social activist, and disciple
of Swami Vivekananda.
• Sister Nivedita met Swami Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to Calcutta in 1898. Swami
Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita (meaning "Dedicated to God") when he initiated her into
the vow of Brahmacharya on 25 March 1898.

Educationist
• For Nivedita, education was an empowering tool. In 1898, she opened her experimental school in
the Bagbazar area in the northern part of Kolkata. She went door to door to beg for students from the
neighbourhood.
• Nivedita brought the adult and young widows to the fold of education and skill development. She
introduced handicrafts and vocational training along with conventional learning. 119

Active Supporter of the Independence Movement

• Nivedita used to take her senior students out to listen to the speeches of great leaders of the freedom
MIH-II – Post-1857

movement to imbibe in them the values of freedom struggle.

• During the Swadeshi Movement, she emerged as one of the prominent figures in the national strug-
gle. She actively encouraged young students to visit rural areas, promote political awareness among
women and farmers, and instil a sense of patriotism towards the country.

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Vajra as a National Flag

• In 1904, Nivedita designed a prototype of the first Indian national flag, which featured the Vajra at the
centre and was made of two colours: yellow and red. Her students embroidered the words "Bonde Ma-
toram" in Bengali.
• The flag was displayed in the exhibition organised by the Indian Congress in 1906.

Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912)

• Pandit Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar was born on December 17, 1869, in the Deoghar district in Jhar-
khand.
• Deuskar considered Bal Gangadhar Tilak as his political guru. He also started the Shivaji festival in
Bengal after Tilak initiated it in Maharashtra.
• Though of Marathi origin, Deuskar was brought up in a Bengali set-up and was a bridge between Ma-
harashtra and Bengal's renaissance. He wrote in most of the Bengali revolutionary magazines.

Swaraj
• Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar introduced the word "Swaraj" to Bengal during a festival celebrating
Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1902.

Desher Katha
• Deuskar influenced the Swadeshi movement and other national movements through his writings. In
his well-known work, Desher Katha, published in 1904, Deuskar comprehensively showed the impact
of colonialism on the Indian economy. It was later translated into Hindi as 'Desh Ki Baat'.
• Desher Katha gained wide publicity during the anti-partition agitation in Bengal because it was writ-
ten for the vernacular readers who could not comprehend either R C Dutta’s work "The Economic
History of India" or Dadabhai Naoroji’s work "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India."
• Desher Kathadrew the attention of officials. The Bengal government banned the book in 1910.

[UPSC CSE 2020] With reference to the book ‘Desher Katha’ written by Sakharam Ganesh
Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements:
1. It warned against the Colonial State's hypnotic conquest of the mind. 120
2. It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.
3. The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
MIH-II – Post-1857

a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

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Answer: Option A

Sardar Ajit Singh (1881—1947)

• Ajit Singh was a revolutionary thinker and the uncle of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
• Ajit Singh led an agitation by Punjabi farmers against three farm-related acts implemented by the
government in 1906.
• These laws included the Punjab Land Alienation Act 1900, the Punjab Land Colonisation Act 1906,
and the Doab Bari Act. Unfortunately, instead of providing land ownership to farmers, these laws re-
sulted in them becoming sharecroppers.
• To fight against British rule and promote patriotism, Ajit Singh founded the Bharat Mata Society (Anju-
man-i-Muhibban-i-Watan), a secret society. The active members of this group participated in the
protest against the aforementioned farm-related acts. The protest was successful, and the British gov-
ernment was forced to repeal these laws in 1907.
• However, Ajit Singh's leadership in the protest (Pagri Sambhal movement) led to his arrest and depor-
tation to Myanmar's Mandalay jail in 1907.

Rash Behari Bose

• Born on May 25, 1886, in Bengal, Rashbehari Bose played a crucial role in India's fight for freedom. The
Bengal partition in 1905 sparked his revolutionary spirit.
• Working at the Forest Research Institute, Bose learned to make crude bombs. In 1912, he planned a
bomb attack on Lord Hardinge in Delhi. He was also part of the Ghadar party's conspiracy in 1915,
aiming to spark a revolt within the army.
• A skilled master of disguise, Bose fled to Japan in 1915, posing as Rabindranath Tagore's relative. He
became a Japanese citizen and founded the Indian Club of Tokyo. In 1942, he established the Indian
Independence League in Tokyo.
• When Mohan Singh created the Indian National Army (INA) in Singapore, Rashbehari Bose got ex-
cited and left Tokyo for Southeast Asia. In Bangkok, they decided to put the INA under the Indian
Independence League, with Rashbehari Bose as the chairman. When Subhash Bose came to Singa-
pore, Rashbehari Bose happily handed over control of the Indian Independence League and the INA 121

to him in July 1943.

Satyendranath Bose
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• Satyendranath Bose is best known for a nationalist act that ultimately nullified the legal threat posed
to Aurobindo and others.
• In 1908, in the Alipore Bomb Case, the British wanted to hang Aurobindo for his involvement but
lacked evidence. One of the arrested protestors, Naren Goswami, turned out to be an approver.

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• Satyendranath and Kanailal, who had evaded arrest, took matters into their own hands. They ex-
pressed willingness to join Goswami and become approvers themselves to lure Goswami. On August 31,
1908, they met Goswami and, in the ensuing encounter, killed him.
• The law stipulated that a testimony in the Magistrate's Court could only be admitted as proof in the
Sessions Court once the Defence had exercised its right to cross-examine the witness. By assassinating
Goswami, the potentially incriminating evidence provided by him was rendered inadmissible in Court,
and hence, the legal threat posed to Aurobindo and other revolutionaries was nullified.
• The trial for Goswami's killing lasted two days, concluding in the execution of both Bose and Kanailal.

Madan Lal Dhingra

• Madan Lal Dhingra was born in Amritsar in 1883. He went to England in 1906 to study engineering.
• While in London, Madan met Veer Savarkar and was inspired by his revolutionary ideas. He realised
that sacrifices and actions, not words, were needed to gain India’s liberation.
• On 1 July 1909, at the Imperial Institute in London, he assassinated Lieutenant Colonel William
Curzon Wylie, who was considered an anti-Indian officer of the British regime.
• Madan was subsequently arrested, tried, and executed for his involvement in the assassination.

G.D. Kumar
• Guru Dutt Kumar, also known as G.D. Kumar alias Swami Muktanand or Moti Ram, was an Indian
revolutionary associated with the pioneers of the Ghadar movement.
• In 1907, Kumar went to America and came into contact with Tarak Nath Das. With Das, he started
preaching revolutionary ideas among immigrants.
• Kumar came to Vancouver at the end of 1909, where he started publishing a Gurmukhi monthly called
Swadesh Sewak. The British government banned this paper in 1911, and its entry into India was pro-
hibited.
• In November 1909, G.D. Kumar opened a hostel in Vancouver called the Swadesh Sewak (Servant of
the Motherland).
• In 1910, Kumar and Tarak Nath Das founded the United India House in Seattle, USA.
• In 1913, Kumar became the general secretary of the Hindustan Association of the USA.
• In 1918, Kumar took an active part in the Kartarpur (Jawalapur) riot case and was convicted of 10
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years’ imprisonment. After release, he remained active as a Congressman and continued his participation
in the freedom movement.
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Taraknath Das
• Taraknath Das, a Bengali Indian revolutionary, was an active member of the Anushilan Samiti.
• On the advice of Jatindranath Mukherjee, Das escaped initially to Japan and then moved to the United
States of America.

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• Following the Bellingham riots of September 1907 against South Asian immigrants, Das started the
publication of an anti-British newspaper, ‘Free Hindusthan’ to champion the cause of these immi-
grants.
• The newspaper, ‘Free Hindusthan,’ boldly condemned British policies, exposed atrocities committed
by the colonial rulers and called for a unified front against oppression.
• In 1913, Das came in contact with Har Dayal and got associated with the Ghadar Movement and its
anti-colonial activities.

4.13. Summary

Militant Nationalism
• The rise of militant nationalism in India was evident in the movement against the partition of Bengal
in 1905. However, this extremism did not emerge suddenly in the early 1900s. Instead, it had been
slowly growing since the Revolt of 1857.
• Methods of Work: The extremists' method of agitation went beyond petitions and speeches. They
advocated persistent opposition to the Government and put forward a militant programme of passive
resistance and boycott of foreign goods, courts, education and so on.
• Role of Masses: The extremists emphasised the role of the masses. They believed in the capacity of
people and demanded self-sacrifice from the youth.

Partition of Bengal
• The British government announced the division of Bengal in December 1903.
• The INC and the nationalists of Bengal saw the partition as a deliberate attempt to divide the Ben-
galis and weaken nationalism in Bengal. They firmly opposed it. From 1903 to 1905, moderate lead-
ers such as Surendranath Banerjee, K.K. Mitra, and Prithwishchandra Ray the movement against the
partition.
• Despite widespread protests, the decision to partition Bengal was announced on July 19, 1905. The
Bengal leaders felt that mere demonstrations, public meetings, and resolutions were not working
and that a different strategy was needed.
• After 1905, The leadership of the Anti-Partition Movement passed to militant nationalists like Tilak,
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Bipin Chandra Pal, and Aurobindo Ghose. They called for passive resistance in addition to Swadeshi
and Boycott. They asked the people to refuse to cooperate with the government and to boycott
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government services, the courts, and government schools and colleges.

• The militant nationalists brought new innovative forms of struggle, such as public meetings and
processions, the use of traditional festivals and melas, an emphasis on self-reliance and constructive
activities in the social field.
• Drawbacks: It couldn't secure widespread support from the Muslim population.

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 Most of the poorer classes, especially the working class and the peasantry, did not actively join
the struggle.
 The militant nationalists failed to give the people a positive lead.
• End of the movement: The split in the Congress in 1907 (Surat split) and heavy repression by the
government led to the movement's decline.
• Annulment of partition: The British government annulled the partition of Bengal in 1911, separating
Bihar and Orissa from Bengal and making Assam a separate province.

Indian National Congress (1905-14)

• At the Benaras session of 1905, Gokhale, the President of the Congress, condemned the partition and
the reactionary regime of Curzon. The session also supported the Swadeshi and Boycott movement
of Bengal.
• In the 1906 Calcutta session, the two groups fought for the Congress's presidency. Ultimately, Da-
dabhai Naoroji (proposed by moderates), respected by all nationalists, was chosen as a compromise.
four resolutions, such as Swadeshi, Boycott of foreign goods, National Education and Swaraj, were
passed.
• The 1907 Congress session was held on 26 December at Surat. There was disagreement between
moderates and extremists. Finally, the Congress divided, and the moderate leaders, having captured
the machinery of the Congress, excluded the militant elements from it.

Delhi Durbars (Coronation Durbars)

• Delhi Durbars were coronation ceremonies held by the erstwhile British Empire to mark the succession
of an Emperor or Empress to India.
• The Durbar was held thrice in 1877, 1903, and 1911. A sovereign, George V (King of the United King-
dom), was present only in 1911 Durbar.

Growth of Revolutionary Nationalism

• Government repression and frustration caused by the failure of the political struggle resulted in rev-
olutionary nationalism.
• The youth of Bengal were filled with a burning hatred for foreign rule. They found all avenues of 124

peaceful protest and political action blocked, and out of desperation, they fell back upon the cult of
the bomb. However, the young revolutionaries did not try to generate a mass revolution. Instead, they
MIH-II – Post-1857

decided to assassinate unpopular officials.

 Anant Kanhere, from Maharashtra, shot and killed A.M.T. Jackson, the District Magistrate of
Nashik, in 1909.
 In I907, an abortive attempt was made on the life of the unpopular British official, Sir Fuller, Lieu-
tenant Governor of the newly created Eastern Bengal and Assam.

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 In December 1907, an attempt was made to derail the train on which the lieutenant governor, Sir
Andrew Fraser, was travelling.
 In April 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at a carriage, which they believed
was occupied by Kingsford, the unpopular Judge at Muzaffarpur. Kingsford was not in the car-
riage. Unfortunately, two British ladies, Mrs and Miss Kennedy, got killed.
 In 1912, an unsuccessful attempt was made under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose and Sachin
Sanyal to kill the Viceroy Lord Hardinge.
 Jatin Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin) tried to launch an armed insurrection to end British rule in India.

Revolutionary Activities Abroad

• The revolutionary nationalists established centres of activity abroad. In London, Shyamji Krishna
Varma, V.D., Savarkar, and Har Dayal took the lead, while in Europe, Madam Cama and Ajit Singh were
the prominent leaders.

All India Muslim League (AIML)

• In 1906, under the leadership of the Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca, Khwaja salimullah Bahadur, and
Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the educated Muslims, Muslim nawabs and landlords founded the Muslim
league.
• The Muslim League did not criticise colonialism. Its political activities were directed not against the
foreign rulers but against the Hindus and the National Congress.

The Growth of Communalism

• Along with the rise of nationalism, communalism also appeared around the end of the 19th century
and posed the biggest threat to the unity of the Indian people and the national movement.
• The government’s policy of divide and rule, the relative backwardness of Muslims in education and
industries, and the economic backwardness of the country were responsible for the rise of commu-
nalism during this period.

Hindu communalism
• Starting from the 1870s, a group of Hindu zamindars, money-lenders, and middle-class professionals
began to arouse anti-Muslim sentiments. Their campaign was primarily directed against Muslims ra-
125

ther than the British. They also praised the British for their "liberating" role in "saving" Hindus from
"Muslim oppression".
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 Punjab Hindu Sabha: It was established in 1909 to safeguard the interests of the Hindu commu-
nity.

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 All India Hindu Mahasabha: It was founded by Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1915 as an umbrella
organisation of regional Hindu Sabhas. It advocated the interests of orthodox Hindus before the
British Raj and within the INC.

The Nationalists and the First World War

• The start of the First World War in 1914 revived the nationalist movement in India, which had been
inactive after the Swadeshi movement.
• The Ghadar revolutionaries in North America and leaders like Lokamanya Tilak and Annie Besant in
India took advantage of this opportunity. The Ghadarites tried a violent overthrow of British rule, while
the Home Rule Leaguers pushed for Home Rule or Swaraj through nationwide protests.

The Ghadar Movement

• In 1913, Indian revolutionaries living in the United States of America and Canada formed the Ghadar
(Rebellion) Party. They set up a headquarters called Yugantar Ashram in San Francisco and started a
weekly paper, the Ghadar, for free circulation.
• The Ghadar Party pledged to wage a revolutionary war against the British in India. Lala Har Dayal,
Mohammed Barkatullah, Bhagwan Singh, Ram Chandra, and Sohan Singh Bhakna were some of its
prominent leaders.

Indian Home Rule Movement

• Two Home Rule Leagues, on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues, were started in 1916, one under
the leadership of Lokamanya Tilak and the other under the leadership of Annie Besant and S.
Subramaniya Iyer.
• The main objective was demanding self-government within the British Commonwealth.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

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5. Gandhi's Formative Years and Early Activism

5.1. Emergence of Gandhi

• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat. In 1882, he
married Kasturba Makanji, and they had five children together.

Gandhi in London (1888-91)

• Gandhi wanted to go to London to study law, but his caste was upset because they thought travelling
across the ocean would make him impure. Despite their objections, Gandhi reached Southampton, Eng-
land, on September 29, 1888, at the age of 18.
• In 1889, Gandhi encountered the Theosophical Society, where he met two theosophist brothers. They
introduced him to Sir Edwin Arnold's English translation of the Bhagavad Gita. During this time,
Gandhi was also introduced to Annie Besant.
• Besides his law studies, Gandhi passed the University of London matriculation examination in June
1890. In London, Gandhi did not participate in the newly established British Committee of the Indian
National Congress.
• In 1891, Gandhi returned to India after qualifying as a barrister. He started his legal career in Bombay
but made little headway and decided to settle at Rajkot in Gujarat to make a modest living.

Gandhi in South Africa (1893-1914)

• In 1893, Dada Abdullah, an Indian merchant in Natal, offered to engage Gandhi for a civil suit in South
Africa. Gandhiji accepted the offer and reached Durban, Natal, on May 25, 1893.

Condition of Indians in South Africa

• Most of the Indian population in South Africa comprised indentured and freed labourers working
in sugar plantations and a few merchants with their clerks and assistants.
• They were subjected to all kinds of racial discrimination in their daily life:
 Every Indian in South Africa was contemptuously a 'coolie', which meant a labourer. Hence an In-
dian doctor was a coolie doctor, and Gandhiji himself was a coolie barrister.
127

 The Indians could not walk on footpaths or be out without a permit at night.
 They were prohibited from travelling in first and second-class railway compartments.
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 They were not permitted to enter hotels exclusively reserved for Europeans.
 In Transvaal, Indians were asked to reside in areas with highly unhygienic surroundings and no
proper arrangements for light, water supply and drainage.
 The ex-indentured labourers had to pay a poll tax of three pounds.

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Gandhi’s First Instance of Racial Discrimination

• On 26 May 1893, in the court in Durban, the Magistrate asked Gandhi to remove his Turban; Gandhiji
denied it and left the court.

St. Pietermaritzburg Incident

• On May 31, 1893, while travelling to Pretoria, a white man objected to Gandhiji's presence in a first-
class carriage, demanding he move to the van compartment at the end of the train. Gandhiji had a first-
class ticket and hence refused to go. As a result, Gandhi was thrown off the train at Pietermaritzburg.
• Shivering through the winter night in the waiting room of the station, Gandhi made the momentous
decision to fight the racial discrimination against Indians and others.

Real Cause of Discrimination

• Before Gandhi, Indians accepted racial discrimination as a way of life.
• Gandhi, the son of Dewan of Indian states, had never experienced racial insults in India. Similarly, he
faced no racial discrimination during his three-year stay in London. Hence, when he encountered rac-
ism in South Africa, he felt uncomfortable and decided to fight against this injustice.
• Before Gandhi, many Indians did not have the courage to ask for their rights. They believed that
discrimination was due to their perceived lack of Westernization or civilisation.
• Educated Gandhi, the first of a westernised Indian in South Africa, felt justified in asserting certain
rights and demanded first-class train tickets and hotel rooms. But the denial of rights to Gandhi, the
British-educated barrister in South Africa, clearly showed that the real cause was the White rulers' as-
sumption of racial superiority.

Extension of Stay
• In June 1894, when his contract concluded, Gandhi was set to return to India. However, at a farewell
party, he learned from the newspaper that the Natal Legislative Assembly was considering a bill to
remove Indians' voting rights.
• Upon the request of the Indian community, Gandhi decided to stay and assist in the cause. Conse-
quently, he postponed his return to India by a month.
• Gandhi wrote petitions to the Natal Legislature and British government, signed by hundreds of In-
128

dians. Despite his efforts, he failed to prevent the passage of the disfranchisement bill (Franchise
Amendment Bill). However, Gandhi succeeded in drawing the attention of the public and the press in
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Natal, India, and England to the Natal Indians' grievances.

• Gandhiji felt the need for a permanent organisation to look after the interests of Indians and founded
the Natal Indian Congress in 1894.

Transformative Years

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• In 1896, Gandhi returned to India for six months to bring his wife and two children back to Natal.
During this second period in South Africa, Gandhi’s mode of living underwent a sea change.
• Gandhi began to reduce his wants and his expenses. He became his washerman, ironed his clothes,
and learned to cut his hair. Not satisfied with self-help, he volunteered for two hours a day as a com-
pounder in a charitable hospital.

Indian Ambulance Corps

• The Boer War broke out in 1899. With Dr Booth's help, Gandhi founded an Ambulance Corps of
around 1100 volunteers in support of the British in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
• Gandhi thought that support for the British would translate into better conditions for Indians in Trans-
vaal and South Africa. However, his hopes were belied.

Gandhi and Boer War

• Boer is an Afrikaans word for Farmer.

• The two Boer wars were fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer repub-
lics, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic), from 1880 to 1902.

Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)

• Gandhi wished to support the British in the hope that the conditions of Indians would improve
later. Gandhi set up the Indian Ambulance Corps, a unit of 1,100 volunteers who served for less than
two months.
• Gandhi sympathised with the Boers and expressed great admiration for their leaders and for the
heroism of the Boer women. He justified his action in organising the ambulance corps by arguing that
Indians who claimed rights as members of the British Empire were obliged to contribute to the war
effort.
• The British bestowed Gandhi with the title of ‘kaiser-i-Hind’ for his work in the Boer War.

Gandhi's Indian Expedition

• During his visit to India in 1901-02, Gandhi travelled extensively in India. He attended the Calcutta
session of INC in 1901. Gandhi returned to South Africa in 1902 and stayed there continuously for
twelve years, fighting against racial discrimination.
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Phoenix Settlement
In 1904, Mahatma Gandhi founded Phoenix Settlement in Durban for community living. Along with
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•
a selected band of associates, he shifted there, lived with utmost simplicity and led community life.
• The importance of Phoenix was that later, all its inhabitants became the main participants in Gandhi's
Satyagraha.

Satyagraha to Fight Oppression

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• Gandhi deeply believed in the British love of Justice and fair play until 1906. From 1894 to 1906, he
focused on moderate methods like petitions and memorials to address issues faced by South African
Indians.
• Gandhi attempted to unite the different sections of Indians and give their demands wide publicity.
For this, he founded the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 and started a weekly journal, Indian Opinion,
in 1903.
• By 1906, Gandhi found that the British audience wasn't listening to his appeals. Satyagraha (passive
resistance or civil disobedience) became his last resort to help his fellow countrymen with their prob-
lems. He used this novel method of fighting oppression for the first time in 1906.
• Thus, the political activities of Gandhi in South Africa can be divided into two phases:
1. Moderate Phase (1894-1906)
2. Passive Resistance Phase (1906-1914)

Advent of Satyagraha

• In 1906, the Transvaal government introduced an ordinance requiring Indian citizens to carry passes
and register with fingerprints. At any time, an Indian could be asked to produce his registration cer-
tificate, and police officers were permitted to enter an Indian's house to check his papers.
• In response, Gandhiji organised Satyagraha for the first time on 11 September 1906. The Indian
community pledged to defy the ordinance, accepting all consequences of their resistance. Thus, sat-
yagraha was born, a new method of redressing wrongs and fighting oppression without hatred and
violence.
• Despite vehement opposition by the Indians, the Transvaal legislature passed the Asiatic Registration
Bill. The agitation continued, and in January 1908, Gandhi was ordered to leave Transvaal. When he
refused, he was arrested and sentenced to two months imprisonment for disobeying the pass laws.
• This was Gandhi’s first of four prison terms in South Africa; the other three were in Volkrust [1908],
Pretoria [1909], and Volkrust [1913].
• Gandhi was released on January 30 after making an agreement with General Jan Smuts, Secretary for
Colonies. General Smuts assured Gandhi that the registration law would be repealed if Indians reg-
istered voluntarily.
Unfortunately, Smuts didn't keep his promise. In response, on August 16, 1908, Mahatma Gandhi car-
130
•
ried out a large-scale pass-burning campaign to express his discontent and opposition.
• Meanwhile, new legislation, The Immigration Restrictions Act, was introduced that imposed re-
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strictions on Indian immigration and the migration of Asians from one province to another. Many
Indians, including Gandhi, protested and defied the law. All of them were jailed.
• In June 1909, Gandhi went to England as a member of the Indian Delegation to talk to authorities,
but it didn't achieve much. On his voyage back to South Africa, Gandhi wrote his book Hind Swaraj, or

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Indian Home Rule, in which he wrote about his increasing discontent with the West, the power of non-
violence and the vision of self-rule. In 1910, the Government of India proscribed Hind Swaraj.
 In 1906, believing that family life was taking away from his full potential as a public advocate, Gandhi
took the vow of brahmacharya.

Volkrust Satyagraha (1913)

• In 1913, the Supreme Court judgement invalidated all marriages which had not been performed
according to Christian rites and registered by the Registrar of Marriages. In other words, all Hindu,
Muslim and Parsi marriages became illegal, and their children were illegitimate.
• In response, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Volkrust Satyagraha. This time, the movement was wid-
ened to include abolishing discriminatory pass laws, the Registration of Marriages Act, and the
three-pound poll tax imposed on all ex-indentured Indians. Women, including Kasturba Gandhi, played
a prominent role, with many being sent to prison. Gandhi himself was put behind bars.
• The culmination of these efforts was the Gandhi-Smuts agreement in 1914. The Government of South
Africa accepted all major demands of Indians and passed the Indian Relief Act (1914), abolishing
discriminatory laws.
• According to the Indian Relief Act:
 The principle of voluntary registration was accepted.
 The term 'Asiatic' was removed from immigration laws.
 The poll tax of three pounds on non-indentured labourers was abolished.
 The marriages solemnised according to Indian rites were legitimised.
• Having accomplished his mission, Gandhi sailed back to India from Cape Town on July 19, 1914, and
arrived in Mumbai on January 9, 1915, greeted by a large, cheering crowd at Apollo Bunder.

Indian Volunteer Corps in London

• Before returning to India, Gandhi visited London in August 1914 to visit his friend and mentor, G.
K. Gokhale. But Gokhale had already left for Paris. With Gokhale gone, Gandhi met the poetess Sa-
rojini Naidu instead.
• In the meantime, the First World War broke out. Gandhi considered it his duty to help the British
government in this situation and established the Indian Volunteer Corps in London. However, after
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some time, due to differences with the British officials, Gandhi dissociated himself from it.

Gandhi's Evolution in South Africa

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• Gandhi, who left South Africa in 1914, was very different from the youth who had arrived at Durban
twenty-one years earlier. The challenges and difficulties faced in South Africa shaped Gandhiji signifi-
cantly. South Africa was ‘the making of the Mahatma.’

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 Birth of Satyagraha: The unequal struggle against racial discrimination helped Gandhi evolve a novel
Satyagraha technique based on truth and non-violence.
 The struggle in South Africa realised the necessity and possibility of Hindu-Muslim unity.
 During this period, Gandhi realised the immense capacity of the common people to fight.
 The struggle in South Africa made Gandhi the leader of the Indian people and not of any region or
religious community.

Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy

• In 1893, Gandhi read Tolstoy's 'Kingdom of God is Within You'. It left an abiding impression on
Gandhi. Tolstoy manifested independent thinking, profound morality, and truthfulness.
• In 1910, Gandhi sent Tolstoy a copy of Joseph Doke's biography on himself and an English trans-
lation of a pamphlet, Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule).
• In 1910, Gandhi founded the Tolstoy Farm on the outskirts of Johannesburg to prepare satyagra-
his. This was the precursor of the Satyagraha Ashram, established by Gandhi in 1915 in India to
prepare satyagrahis.

5.2. Arrival of Mahatma Gandhi

• Gandhi returned to India in 1915 at the age of 46 and received a warm welcome. On the advice of his
political guru, G.K. Gokhale, Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country,
understanding the people, their needs and the overall situation.
• Gandhi also visited Rabindranath Tagores' Shantiniketan and the Kumbh Mela at Hardwar. All this
helped Gandhi understand his countrymen and the conditions in India.
• In May 1915, Gandhi established the Satyagraha Ashram at Kochrab, near Ahmedabad. In 1917, the
ashram was moved to a new site on the Sabarmati River and renamed Sabarmati Ashram. It was a
place for Gandhi's friends and followers to learn and practice the ideals of truth and nonviolence.
 On 26 June 1915, Gandhi was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal by Lord Hardinge for services
during the Boer War (humanitarian work in South Africa).
• At this time, Gandhi took very little interest in political matters and kept a distance from political affairs.
When Annie Besant asked Gandhi to join her in establishing a Home Rule League, he refused because 132

he did not wish to create difficulties for the British government during the war.
• Gandhi’s first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU)
in February 1916. Gandhiji was relatively unknown. He had been invited because of his work in South
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Africa rather than his status within India.

Gandhi’s Speech at BHU (1916)

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• In February 1916, in Banaras, Gandhi criticised the Indian elite for neglecting the poor. He pointed
out that Indian nationalism was mainly driven by the elite, such as lawyers, doctors, and landlords.
• Gandhi emphasised that the salvation of India lies with the farmers, not the lawyers, doctors, or
rich landlords. This marked Gandhi's intention to make Indian nationalism more inclusive and repre-
sentative of the entire population.

Entry into Indian Politics

• Gandhi's entry into Indian politics occurred in 1917-1918 when he was involved in three local issues.
• In 1917, Gandhi was involved in Champaran Satyagraha, seeking to obtain for the peasants security
of tenure and the freedom to cultivate the crops of their choice.
• In 1918, he was involved in two campaigns in Gujarat:
1. Gandhi intervened in a labour dispute in Ahmedabad, demanding better working conditions for
the textile mill workers.
2. Gandhi joined peasants in Kheda in asking the state for the remission of taxes following the failure
of their harvest.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

• After the Indigo Rebellion (1859-60), indigo production collapsed in Bengal, and the planters shifted
their operation to Bihar. In the Champaran district of Bihar, the European planters oppressed the peas-
ants and compelled them:
 To grow indigo on at least 3/20th of their land (Tinkathia system).
 To sell indigo at prices fixed by the European planters.
• The discovery of synthetic dyes in Germany in the late 19th century severely affected the business
of European planters. Most planters at Champaran realised that indigo cultivation was no longer prof-
itable. They offered to release the tenants from growing indigo if the latter paid compensation. They
also raised the rent and demanded illegal dues.
• At the Lucknow session of Congress in December 1916, Rajkumar Shukla, a peasant from Bihar,
persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran and see the plight of the indigo cultivators. This led to Gandhi‘s
first great experiment of Satyagraha in 1917 in Champaran.
• Accompanied by Babu Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Huq, J. B. Kripalani, Narhari Parikh and Mahadev
133

Desai, Gandhi reached Champaran in 1917 and conducted a detailed inquiry into the condition of the
peasantry.
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• Authorities ordered Gandhi to leave the area immediately. Gandhi defied the order and preferred
to face punishment (passive resistance or civil disobedience). This forced the government to appoint
the Champaran Agrarian Committee with Gandhi as one of its members.

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• The committee unanimously recommended abolishing the Tinkathia system and many illegal exac-
tions and reducing enhanced rates. For the illegal recoveries, the committee recommended a 25%
refund.
• Though the committee did not recommend a full refund of the illegal dues, even a 25% refund dam-
aged the planters’ prestige and position, and soon, the planters left the district.

[UPSC 2018] Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran
Satyagraha?
a) Active all-India participation of lawyers, students and women in the National Movement
b) Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement
c) Joining of peasant unrest to India's National Movement
d) Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops
Answer: C

[UPSC 2010] Consider the following statements:

1. Dr Rajendra Prasad persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to come to Champaran to investigate the prob-
lem of peasants
2. Acharya J. B. Kriplani was one of Mahatma Gandhi's colleagues in his Champaran investigation.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: B

Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)

• In 1918, Gandhi intervened in a dispute between the workers and cotton mill owners of Ahmedabad.
• In 1917, the plague outbreak created a labour shortage in Ahmadabad. Mill owners offered a 'Plague
Bonus’ to retain workers during a plague. When the epidemic ended, mill owners stopped the Plague
Bonus (75% of the wages of mill workers). Workers objected, contending it was essential to offset war- 134

time inflation.
• The millowners were prepared to give a 20% increase, but the workers demanded a 50% raise in
wages because of the price hike and went on strike.
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• As matters worsened, on 11th February 1918, the Ahmedabad Collector wrote to Gandhi asking him
to mediate and help calm the situation. Gandhi discussed the worker's problems with Ambalal Sarabhai
and decided to intervene in the dispute.

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• Both workers and millowners agreed to refer the issue to a Board of Arbitration consisting of three
representatives of the employers and three of the workers, with the British Collector as Chairman. But,
suddenly, the millowners decided to withdraw from the board. They offered a 20% bonus and threat-
ened to dismiss those who did not accept it.
 Ambalal Sarabhai was a mill owner and president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association. He
had helped the Gandhi’s Ashram financially.
• In such a situation, Gandhi studied the financial state of the mills and asked workers to demand 35%
instead of a 50% increase in their wages. He insisted that workers should not use violence against the
employer during the strike.
• Gandhi, assisted by Anasuya Sarabhai, organised daily mass meetings of workers, in which he deliv-
ered lectures and issued a series of leaflets on the situation.
• On 15 March, Gandhi undertook a fast unto death to force a compromise. The millowners relented on
the fourth day, and settlement was reached on 18 March. The mill owners agreed to submit the issue
to a tribunal, and the strike was withdrawn.
• Finally, the arbitrator's award went in favour of the workers, and a 35% raise was given to them.
 Anusuya Behn, a social worker, was Ambalal Sarabhai's sister. She was one of the chief lieutenants
of Gandhi in his struggle and supported the workers.

Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association

• On February 25, 1920, Anusuya Sarabhai formally founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Associ-
ation (Majoor Mahajan Sangh).

Background

• In December 1917, the Workers of the Ahmedabad textile mills were agitating for a wage increase.
They approached Anusuya Behn and requested her to lead them in their fight against injustice done by
the employers.
• Anusuya Behn accepted the request and led the movement, ultimately securing an increase in wages.
This event took place on December 4, 1917, and this day is celebrated every year by the workers of
Ahmedabad as “Majoor Din’ (Labour Day).

Throstle Workers’ Union

135

• On February 25, 1920, Gandhiji formally inaugurated the Union of throstle workers under the Neem
Tree in the compound of Anusuya Behn’s residence at Mirzapur, Ahmedabad.
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• Throstle Workers’ Union, along with other occupational unions, developed into the present Ahmed-
abad Textile Labour Association, a federal structure of 12 occupational Unions, with Anusuya Behn
as President and Mahatma Gandhi and Shri Shankerlal Banker as Advisers.

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 A Righteous Struggle is a book by Mahadev Desai that explains the story of Ahmedabad Textile
Labourers' Fight for Justice in 1918.

Kheda satyagraha (1918)

• The 'revenue code' provided a total remission if the crops were less than twenty-five per cent of the
normal production.
• In 1918, the peasants of Kheda were hit by a bad harvest and price rise. The peasants demanded the
remission of revenue for the year to reduce their sufferings as the crops were less than one-fourth of
normal yield. However, the colonial government paid no heed to their concerns.
• In response, local leaders like Mohanlal Pandya and Shankarlal Parikh initiated the no-revenue move-
ment in November 1917. The government retaliated by seizing the properties of the non-payers.
The satyagrahis reached out to Gandhiji through the Gujarat Sabha to take up their leadership.
• Gandhi insisted that the cultivators were entitled to a suspension of revenue as a legal right and not
as a concession by grace. On March 22, 1918, Gandhiji addressed the public meeting of 5000 peasants
at Nadiad and advised them not to pay land revenue. He toured villages, gave moral support to the
peasants in refusing to pay revenue, and expelled their fear of government authority.
• Gandhi began to realise that the peasantry was on the verge of exhaustion. He called off the agita-
tion when the government instructed that revenue should be recovered from only those who could
pay and that no pressure should be exerted on the genuinely poor peasants. Indulal Yajnik and Val-
labhbhai Patel assisted Gandhi.

Role of Women
• When Gandhi assumed leadership of the Satyagraha in February 1918, he was accompanied by Ansu-
yaben Sarabhai, Miraben, Anandibai, Maniben Patel (Sardar Patel's daughter), and Kasturba Gandhi.
• Kasturba Gandhi and Ansuyaben addressed the women and made them aware of the ongoing socio-
political issues.
• Bhajan mandalis were also organised, which saw significant participation from women.

Gujarat Sabha
• The Gujarat Sabha, a political organisation, was established in 1884 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Most of
136

its members were Gujarati lawyers.

• Mahatma Gandhi served as its president from 1918 to 1919. The Sabha played an important role in
MIH-II – Post-1857

organising the peasant satyagraha in Kheda in 1918–19.

[UPSC 2011] What was the reason for Mahatma Gandhi to organise a satyagraha on behalf
of the peasants of Kheda?
1. The Administration did not suspend the land revenue collection in spite of a drought.

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2. The Administration proposed to introduce Permanent Settlement in Gujarat.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: A

Significance
• Initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda:
 Demonstrated Gandhiji as a nationalist with a deep sympathy for the poor.
 Brought Gandhiji into close contact with the masses.
• Gandhi deployed his Satyagraha technique for the first time in India, giving a new direction to po-
litical mobilisation.
• Victories in all these cases ultimately paved the way for Gandhi’s emergence as an all-India leader.
• In these movements, Gandhi influenced educated youths like Rajendra Prasad and J.B. Kripalani in
Bihar and Vallabhbhai Patel and Indulal Yajnik in Gujarat, who later played significant roles in nation-
alist politics.
Movements Year Gandhi’s Novel Methods
Champaran Satyagraha 1917 First Civil Disobedience Movement
Ahmedabad Mill Strike 1918 First Hunger Strike
Kheda satyagraha 1918 First Non-cooperation Movement

A close look
• In all these struggles, it was the local people who first spoke out and mobilized themselves. Gandhi's
intervention came later on, after being invited by the local leaders.
• The use of Gandhian non-violence provided an effective and legitimate form of movement which was
previously unknown.

[UPSC 2005] Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?

137

Movement/Satyagraha: A person actively associated with

1. Champaran: Rajendra Prasad
MIH-II – Post-1857

2. Ahmedabad mill workers: Morarji Desai

3. Kheda: Vallabhbhai Patel
Choose the correct answer from the following options.
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3

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c) 1 and 3
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: C

5.3. Gandhian Ideology

• Gandhi's ideology emphasised Satyagraha, non-violence, simplicity, and self-reliance to achieve

broader social and political objectives.

Influences on Gandhi's Ideology

• Gandhi's mother played a crucial role in influencing his life.
• Values of Vaishnavism, Jainism, and Hindu texts like the Bhagavata Gita shaped his early thoughts.
• The writings of Tolstoy, Thoreau, and Ruskin impacted his thinking.

Satyagraha
• Satyagraha, which means 'true force,' is a central element of Gandhi's ideology. Gandhi developed it
in South Africa, and later, it became a powerful tool in India's fight for freedom.
• Satyagraha involves using non-violence and self-suffering to try and change the enemy's mind. Gan-
dhi practised Satyagraha in different ways, like fasting, peaceful picketing, non-cooperation, and
civil disobedience. He believed that all these forms of Satyagraha were pure means to achieve pure
ends.

Ideal Satyagrahis
• Ideal Satyagrahis are committed to truth and perfect peace.
• Despite being peaceful, they refuse to submit to what they perceive as wrong or unjust.
• In the course of the struggle against wrongdoing, they willingly accept suffering.
• Even while resisting evil, they hold no hatred towards the wrongdoer.
• They strictly exclude the use of violence in any form.

Satyagraha vs Passive Resistance

• Gandhi made a clear distinction between passive resistance and Satyagraha.
Gandhi explained that passive resistance is often seen as a tool used by the weak, allowing for the
138
•
use of physical force or violence to achieve one's goals. In contrast, Satyagraha is considered a weapon
of the strongest, and it strictly rejects the use of violence in any form.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• So, according to Gandhi, Satyagraha is a more principled and powerful form of nonviolent resistance
than passive resistance.

Non-Violence

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• Gandhi believed that non-violence was not a weapon for the weak or cowardly; only the strong and
the brave could effectively practice it. Gandhi’s Satyagraha is based on truth and non-violence.
• Gandhi generally advocated non-violence, but there were instances when he suggested that violence
might be preferable to a cowardly surrender to injustice.

Religious Perspective
• Gandhi viewed religion not as a specific doctrine but as a universal truth underlying all formal reli-
gions. He saw it as the pursuit of truth and believed it should not be confined to private beliefs but
should influence all aspects of human life.
• According to Gandhi, religion formed the essential foundation for political action in India. This per-
spective explains why he engaged with the Khilafat issue to bring Muslims into the movement against
British rule. Gandhi also used religious concepts such as 'Ram Raj' to mobilise people in the national
movement.
• However, it's important to acknowledge that this approach, while effective in unifying diverse sec-
tions, didn't effectively address significant divisions among the Indian population. This limitation
could hinder national unity during challenging times and overshadow internal differences and conflicts
within the movement.

Culture
• Despite being a devout Hindu, Gandhi had a broad cultural and religious perspective that was not
limited to one religion or culture. Gandhi believed that Indian culture was a blend of various cul-
tures, including Hindu, Islamic, and others.
• Gandhi wanted Indians to have deep roots in their own culture and acquire the best that other world
cultures could offer.

Hind Swaraj
• Gandhi believed that the real problem for India wasn't just British rule but the influence of modern
Western ways. He thought that people educated in Western style, like lawyers and doctors, were erasing
India's traditional values. Gandhi felt true self-rule could only happen if Indians returned to their old
ways, free from modern influences.
139

• Gandhi criticised technologies like railways for causing problems. According to him, railways led to
famines by promoting the export of food grains.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Although these ideas might seem conservative, they reflected Gandhi's concerns about the adverse
effects of colonial modernisation on artisans and poor peasants in rural areas.
• Later, Gandhi tried to implement these ideas by promoting simple living and programs like Khadi,
village reconstruction and welfare initiatives for Harijans (including removing untouchability).

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Although these efforts didn't fully solve rural problems, they improved things for rural folks. They
raised awareness of the need for social and economic reconstruction throughout the country.

Swadeshi and Economic Views

• Gandhi promoted Swadeshi, encouraging the use of Indian-made goods. He aimed to address pov-
erty by supporting local industries, particularly hand-made cloth.
• Despite his opposition to Western industrial influences, Gandhi didn't oppose the growth of modern
industries in India. He had good relationships with industrialists like Ambalal Sarabhai and G.D. Birla.
• Gandhi supported the idea of interdependence between capital and labour, proposing that capitalists
act as 'trustees' for workers.
• Gandhiji discouraged the politicisation of workers along class lines. He always stressed the im-
portance of broad unity among people, transcending divisions based on class or any other category.

5.4. Summary

• M.K. Gandhi was born on October 2nd, 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat. After completing his law studies
in England, he returned to India as a barrister in 1891.

South Africa: The Making of Gandhi

• Gandhi went to South Africa to provide legal assistance to Dada Abdullah, an Indian merchant in
Natal. In South Africa, Gandhi, the son of Dewan of the Indian states and the British-educated barrister
who had never faced discrimination in India and England, experienced discrimination.
• Gandhi decided to fight the racial discrimination against Indians and others. For the same, Gandhi:
 Established Natal Indian Congress (1894).
 Founded Phoenix Settlement in Durban for community living (1894).
 Started a weekly journal, Indian Opinion (1903).
 Founded the Tolstoy Farm on the outskirts of Johannesburg to prepare satyagrahis (1910).
• Gandhi also founded an Ambulance Corps supporting the British in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-
1902.
• Gandhiji organised his first Satyagraha on 11 September 1906 against the Transvaal government's
ordinance requiring Indian citizens to carry passes and register with fingerprints. In South Africa, Gan-
140

dhi also fought against:

 Discriminatory pass laws
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The derecognition of non-Christian Indian marriages

 The three-pound poll tax imposed on all ex-indentured Indians

Arrival of Mahatma Gandhi

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• Gandhi returned to India in 1915. On the advice of his political guru, G.K. Gokhale, Gandhi spent his
first year in India travelling throughout the country, understanding the people, their needs and the
overall situation.
• Gandhi made his first major public appearance at the opening of Banaras Hindu University in February
1916. Here, Gandhi criticised the Indian elite for neglecting the poor.
• In 1917-1918, Gandhi was involved in three local issues:
1. Champaran Satyagraha (1917)
2. Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)
3. Kheda satyagraha (1918)

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

• Gandhiji was involved in the Champaran Satyagraha because Rajkumar Shukla insisted on visiting
Champaran to see the plight of the indigo cultivators. Gandhi was accompanied by Rajendra Prasad,
Mazhar-ul-Huq, J. B. Kripalani and Mahadev Desai.
• In the end, the Tinkathia system was abolished, and 25% of illegal recoveries were refunded to the
peasants.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)

• In 1918, Gandhi intervened in a dispute between the workers and cotton mill owners of Ahmedabad
over the salary hike. Mill owners were ready for a 20% hike, while workers demanded 50% to offset
wartime inflation.
• Gandhiji asked workers to demand 35% instead of a 50% wage increase. He undertook a fast unto
death to force the mill owners to accept workers' demands. In this case, Gandhi was supported by
Anusuya Behn, a sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, who was the president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners
Association. Finally, a 35% raise was given to workers.

Kheda satyagraha (1918)

• In 1918, the administration of Kheda did not suspend land revenue collection even though crop pro-
duction was less than one-fourth of normal due to drought.
• Gandhi demanded a suspension of revenue as a legal right and supported the peasants' refusal to
pay revenue. Indulal Yajnik and Vallabhbhai Patel assisted Gandhi in this case.
141

• Finally, the government instructed that revenue should be recovered from only those who could pay
and that no pressure should be exerted on the genuinely poor peasants.
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-------------- End of Chapter --------------

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6. Non-cooperation and Khilafat Movements

6.1. Next Phase of National Movement

• With Gandhi’s entry into Indian politics, the national movement entered its third and final phase in
1919, marking the beginning of popular mass movements. People from different backgrounds, like
farmers, tribals, students, and women, joined in large numbers, and sometimes even factory workers
got involved.
• After the end of the First World War, the condition in India was ready for the next phase of national
movement. It was because of the following reasons.
1. Impact of the First World War
2. Half-hearted constitutional reform
3. Russian revolution

Impact of the First World War

• The First World War gave a tremendous impetus to nationalism all over Asia and Africa.

Post-war Economic Hardship

• In the post-war years, all sections of Indian society suffered economic hardships because of high
prices, high taxation, growing unemployment and economic depression.
 The urban, educated Indians faced increasing unemployment.
 The peasantry was groaning under deepening poverty and high taxation.
 The workers faced unemployment and high prices and lived in great poverty.
 Indian industries, which had prospered during the war, now faced losses and closure. Foreign cap-
ital began to be invested in India on a large scale.
 The Indian industrialists wanted the protection of their industries through the imposition of
high customs duties and the grant of government aid. They realised that a strong nationalist
movement and an independent Indian Government alone could secure these.
• All these sections turned actively towards the nationalist movement. 142

Domestic Industrial Growth

• The demand for industrial goods such as jute bags, cloth, and rails increased during the war. This
MIH-II – Post-1857

led to the expansion of Indian industries as the imports from other countries declined.

Erosion of White Man’s Prestige

• From the beginning, the European powers utilised the notion of racial and cultural superiority to
maintain their imperialism.

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• However, during the war, both sides (European powers) carried on intense propaganda against each
other, exposing the opponent‘s brutal and uncivilised colonial record. Consequently, the notion of the
white man's racial superiority began to diminish among the populace.

Betrayal by Allied Nations

• During World War I, the Allied nations, including Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan,
promised to usher in a new era of democracy and national self-determination for all people worldwide
to gain popular support for their war effort.
• However, after their victory, they failed to fulfil their promises. Instead, they divided the ex-colonies
of the defeated powers, Germany and Turkey, in Africa, West Asia, and East Asia among themselves,
causing despair among the people of Asia and Africa who had high hopes for a better future.

Half-hearted Constitutional Reform

• Nationalists supported British war efforts with expectations of political gains after the war. However,
the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms failed to meet their expectations, and Congress demanded self-
government.

Russian Revolution
• The Russian Revolution gave a major impetus to the national movements. On 7 November 1917, the
Bolshevik (Communist) Party, led by Lenin, overthrew the Czarist regime in Russia and declared the
formation of the Soviet Union, the first socialist state in the history of the world.
• The Russian Revolution demonstrated that the common people could overthrow even the mighty
Czarist government, a despotic and formidable regime. It gave people self-confidence and indicated
to the leaders of the national movement that they should rely on the strength of the common people.

6.2. Response of Government

• The Government, aware of the rising tide of nationalist and anti-government sentiments, once again
decided to follow the policy of the carrot and the stick, in other words, of concessions and repression.
• The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were offered as a concession, while the Rowlatt Act represented
the government's repression.
143

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
• In 1918, Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy, produced their
MIH-II – Post-1857

scheme of constitutional reforms, which led to the enactment of the Government of India Act of
1919.

Circumstances Leading to Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms

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• By 1916, all parties in India, as well as Britain, began to think that some changes in the structure of
government were necessary. This was because of the following reasons.
1. Aspirations of Indians: In the expectation of political gain after the war, India supported the
British war with manpower, money, and materials.
2. Activities of Home Rule Leagues: The Home Rule Leagues of Tilak and Besant conducted intense
propaganda favouring Home Rule or self-government for India.
3. Strained Relations Between Muslims and the Government: After the Morley-Minto Reforms,
Muslims did not become supporters of the Government. The gulf between the Muslims and the
government has become steadily wider.
 Gradually, under the dynamic and liberal leadership of men like Muhammad Ali and Shaukat
Ali, the Muslim League accepted the goal of self-government for India. Muslim League de-
cided to negotiate with Congress to formulate a scheme for India's future government.
 Gokhale and Sir William Wedderburn, the then president of INC, organized a Hindu-Muslim con-
ference in Allahabad in 1910. This conference paved the way for future reconciliation between
the Congress and the Muslim League.
4. Lucknow Session of Congress (1916): At Lucknow session of the Congress:
 The Moderates and the Extremists came together.
 The Congress and the Muslim League came together and jointly prepared a scheme of con-
stitutional reforms.

Montagu Declaration (1917)

• As a response to the political pressure in India and to buy the support of Indians in the War, on 20
August 1917, Lord Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, made the following statement in the
British Parliament: “The policy of His Majesty's government was to increase the association of Indians
in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions
with the ultimate goal of responsible government in India.”

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1918)

• In November 1917, Lord Montagu visited India and discussed with Lord Chelmsford, the officials of
the central and provincial governments, and Indian leaders. Based on these deliberations, the Mon-
144

tagu-Chelmsford Report (Montford Report) was published in July 1918.

Government of India Act of 1919

MIH-II – Post-1857

• Government of India Act of 1919 marked the beginning of responsible government in India. This
Act had a separate preamble, which declared that its objective was the gradual introduction of a
responsible government in India.
• The Act introduced bicameralism in the centre and direct elections for the first time in the country.

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Bicameral Legislature at the Centre

• The Act provided for a bicameral legislature at the centre.
1. Legislative Assembly (lower house): Consisted of 145 members serving three-year terms.
 The seats were distributed amongst the provinces not based on their population but on their
importance in the eyes of the government.
2. Council of State (upper house): Consisted of 60 members serving five-year terms
• The majority of members of both the Houses were chosen by direct election.

Unicameral Legislature in the Province

• The Act was originally applied to eight provinces: Madras, Bombay, Bengal, United Provinces, Punjab,
Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces, and Assam. In 1923, its provisions were extended to Burma and, some-
time later, to North Western Frontier Province.
• In each of these provinces, a unicameral legislature called the Legislative Council, was created. It
consisted of the Governor's Executive Council, elected and nominated members.
• The size of these legislative councils varied from province to province. However, the elected members
were in the majority (at least 70 per cent of the members of a Council)
• The elected members were to be elected by direct election, i.e. the primary voters elected the member.

No Universal Adult Franchise

• Under the Act, voting rights (Franchise) were restricted to only a limited number of people. The fran-
chise was not universal and not extended to women.
 The Act gave provincial councils the freedom to choose to give Indian women the vote.
• The right to vote was granted only to those who met certain criteria such as property ownership, tax
payment or education.
 Those with property, taxable income, or paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 were entitled to vote.
 The members of the university senate were given the right to vote.
 In 1918, women in Britain were given the right to vote. The Representation of the People Act (1918)
allowed women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification to vote.

Extension of Communal Electorates

145

• Other than Muslims, the minorities, including Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians and Europe-
ans, were given the right of a separate electorate.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Division of the Central and provincial subjects

• The central and provincial legislatures were given the authority to make laws on their respective
subjects.

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3. Central List: Foreign and political relations, public debt, tariffs and customs, patents, currency, com-
munications, etc.
4. Provincial List: Local self-government, health, sanitation, education, public works. agriculture, forests,
law and order, etc.
 Transferred Subjects: Local self-government, health, education and some departments relating
to agriculture.
 Reserved Subjects: Police, justice, control over printing presses, irrigation, land revenue, factories
etc.
• The residual powers were vested in the Governor-General in Council.

Dyarchy at the Provincial Level

• The Act introduced the dyarchy (Diarchy) at the provincial level, i.e. dual government in the provinces.
Under this, the provincial administration was divided between reserved and transferred subjects.
 Reserved List: The councillors nominated by the Governor controlled reserved subjects and
were not responsible to the provincial legislature. It included subjects such as Police, justice, con-
trol over printing presses, irrigation, land revenue, factories, etc.
 Transferred List: Transferred subjects were controlled by the ministers responsible to the provin-
cial legislature. It included agriculture, supervision of local government, health, and education.
• Under the Act, the partially responsible government was introduced in the provinces. The minister
was responsible to the legislature, whereas the governor was exempt from such responsibility.

Extension of Power of Governor-General

• The power of the Governor-General was extended.
 Every bill passed by the Central Legislature required the Governor-General's consent. However,
the Governor-General could enact a bill without the legislature's assent.
 Any bill relating to matters enumerated in the provincial list required the previous sanction of the
Governor-General before it could be introduced in the Central Legislature.
 In addition to the power to veto any bill, the Governor-General was also given the power of certi-
fication, i.e., he could secure the enactment of a bill that was refused by the legislature. The
Governor-General could exercise this power by certifying that the bill was essential for the safety,
146

tranquillity, or interests of British India or any part thereof.

 The Governor General could overrule the decisions of his Executive Council.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The Governor General had full control over foreign and political departments (departments deal-
ing with princely States in India).

Governor-General's Executive Council

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• To involve more Indians in the government, it was provided that three out of the six members of the
Governor-General's Executive Council would be Indians.
• However, these Indian members were assigned less important portfolios, like Law, Education, Labour,
Health, or Industry. They reported to the Governor-General, who, in turn, reported to the Secretary of
State, not the Legislature.

Council of the Secretary of State

• The Council of the Secretary of State was to have eight to twelve members, with three Indian Mem-
bers.
 The Secretary of the state was to follow the advice rendered by the Council.
 The Secretary of State was not allowed to interfere in the administrative matters of the provinces
concerning transferred subjects.
• The salaries of the Secretary of State for India and his assistants were to be paid out of the British
revenues. So far, they have been paid out of Indian revenues.

Finance
• The Act provided the complete separation of the sources of revenue between the central and pro-
vincial governments.
• It separated provincial budgets from the central budget for the first time and authorised the provin-
cial legislatures to enact their budgets.

Other Provisions
• Relaxation of Control: The British parliament's control over the Indian government was relaxed, and
that of the Central government over the provincial government was reduced.
• Enlargement of Functions of Councils: The right to ask supplementary questions was extended to
all members.
• Office of the High Commissioner: The Act established a new office of the High Commissioner for
India in London and granted him some of the functions that were previously performed by the Sec-
retary of State for India.
• Statutory Commission: The Act provided for the appointment of a statutory commission at the end 147

of ten years after the act was passed to inquire into and report on the working system of the govern-
ment. The Simon Commission of 1927 was an outcome of this provision.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Limitations
 No Responsible Government in the Centre: The chief executive authority remained vested in the
Governor-General, who remained responsible to the British Parliament through the Secretary of State
and not to the Indian Legislature. Thus, the Governor General had too many powers and was not re-
sponsible to the Legislature.

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 The Central Government was more representative and responsive but not responsible.
 The central legislature had no control over the Governor-General and his Executive Council.
 The experiment of diarchy failed. The excessive control of the finance department (reserved subject)
over the administration of transferred subjects affected their smooth functioning. Transferred subjects
starved financially as they needed more money for development.
 The reserved subjects were to be administered by the Governor and his Executive Council. They were
appointed by the British Government and were jointly responsible to the Governor-General and the
Secretary of State for India.
 The Governor exercised effective powers over the whole administration through the Instrument of In-
struction and Executive Business Rules.
 The powers of the legislature were limited or restricted.
 The Governor could overrule the Ministers on any grounds which he considered special.
 The central government had unrestricted control over the provincial governments.

Positive Developments
 Dyarchy failed, but it showed the way for further reform—a federal government that should be more
representative and responsive.
 It created a parliamentary atmosphere in the legislature and gave people an opportunity to have a
look at the administration.
 During this period, some major reforms pertaining to local government (Bombay, Bengal) and edu-
cation and social welfare (Madras) were carried out.
 Almost in every province, the right to vote was extended to women.

INC’s Stand
• The Indian National Congress (INC) met in a special session in Bombay in August 1918 under the
presidentship of Hasan Imam to consider the reform proposals. INC condemned the reform as dis-
appointing and unsatisfactory and demanded effective self-government instead.
• The INC was unsatisfied with the reforms and rejected the Act. It boycotted the first elections (1920).
Gandhi's call for boycotting elections received a massive response, resulting in a significantly low voter
turnout.
148

• However, some INC leaders, such as Annie Besant, Bipin Chandra Pal, Surendranath Banerjee, and Tej
Bahadur Sapru, accepted the Act and were ready to cooperate with the government. They left the
MIH-II – Post-1857

Congress.
• Surendra Nath Banerjee, along with Tej Bahadur Sapru, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri and M. R. Jayakar,
formed the Indian National Liberal Federation (INLF) in 1919. They became known as Liberals and
played a minor role in Indian politics after that.

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• Madan Mohan Malaviya supported the reforms, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah resigned from the Indian
National Congress.

[UPSC CSE 2003] When Congress leaders condemned the Montagu-Chelmsford Report,
many moderates left the party to form which of the following
a) Swaraj Party
b) Indian Freedom Party
c) Independence Federation of India
d) Indian Liberal Federation
Answer: D

Rowlatt Act
• During World War I, the British administration faced a political crisis due to the rising nationalism and
the intensification of the struggle for independence. To counter this, the Government of India ap-
pointed a Sedition Committee headed by Justice Sydney Rowlatt to investigate "revolutionary
crime" in the country.
• Based on the recommendations, the Government of India drafted two bills and presented them to the
Imperial Legislative Council on 6 February 1919. These bills sought to criminalise dissent and em-
powered the government to suppress political activities.
• The nationalist leaders considered the bills an attempt to appease the official and non-official white
opinion that had opposed Montagu's Reform proposals.
• Repressive provisions of the bills were:
 No appeal: The offences were to be tried by a special court of three high court judges without
provision for appeal.
 Evidence: The court could consider evidence not admissible under the Indian Evidence Act.
 Arrest without a warrant: The government could search a place and arrest a person without a
warrant.
 Detention without trial: The government could detain individuals for up to two years without
trial.
 Suspension of Habeas Corpus: The government could suspend the rights of the Habeas Corpus.
149

[UPSC CSE 2012] The Rowlatt Act aimed at

MIH-II – Post-1857

a) Compulsory economic support to war efforts.

b) Imprisonment without trial and summary procedures for trial.
c) Suppression of the Khilafat Movement.
d) Imposition of restrictions on freedom of the press.
Answer: B

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Rowlatt satyagraha
• The Rowlatt Bills were widely condemned throughout the country. Mahatma Gandhi vehemently op-
posed their provisions, referring to them as a “Black Law.”
• M.A. Jinnah also opposed the Rowlatt Bills and warned the Government of the dangerous conse-
quences if it persisted in clamping down on the people of India with "lawless law.”
• Gandhiji formed a Satyagraha Sabha on 24th February 1919 in Bombay to protest against the Row-
latt Bills. Its members took a pledge to disobey the Act and thus to court arrest and imprisonment.
• The Satyagraha Sabha was mainly composed of young and radical members of the Home Rule League.
In addition, some Pan-Islamic leaders, like Abdul Bari, and some radical members of the Muslim
League joined the Satyagraha Sabha.
• The forms of protest included hartals, strikes, civil disobedience against specific laws, and courting
arrest and imprisonment. Four books, including Hind Swaraj of Gandhi, which were prohibited by
the Bombay Government in 1910, were chosen for sale as an action of defiance against the govern-
ment.
• In March and April of 1919, there were hartals, strikes, processions, and demonstrations. Slogans pro-
moting Hindu-Muslim unity filled the air, and the entire country was electrified.
• The Government was determined to suppress the mass agitation. It repeatedly lathi-charged and
fired upon unarmed demonstrators.

Opposition to Gandhi’s Move

• Liberal leaders, like Sir D.E. Wacha, Surendranath Banerjee, T.B. Sapru, and Srinivas Sastri, opposed
Gandhi's move to start Satyagraha. They believed that it would hinder the ongoing reforms.
• Annie Besant also condemned the Satyagraha on the grounds that there was nothing in the Act to
resist civilly, and that to break laws at the dictate of others was exceedingly dangerous.
• One of the two bills was dropped due to strong opposition, while the other was passed in March 1919
as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 (Rowlatt Act).
• Every member of the Imperial Legislative Council from India opposed the Rowlatt Act. In protest,
many leaders, including Madan Mohan Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Mazhar ul Haq, re-
signed from the Imperial Legislative Council.
150

• The Rowlatt Act came as a sudden blow. Instead of extending democracy as promised during the war,
it further limited civil liberties.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• Gandhiji called for a mighty hartal on 6 April 1919 against the Rowlatt Act. The people responded
with unprecedented enthusiasm.
• On April 7, 1919, Gandhi published an article called Satyagrahi, describing ways to oppose the Row-
latt Act.

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• Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab (1912- 1919), suggested that Gandhi be
deported to Burma, but his fellow officials opposed this as they felt it might instigate the public.
• Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, two prominent leaders who were a symbol of Hindu-Muslim
unity, organised a peaceful protest against the Rowlatt Act in Amritsar on April 9, 1919. Sir Michael
O'Dwyer arrested them, which caused resentment among the people of Amritsar.
• On April 10, 1919, the protestors marched to the Deputy Commissioner's residence to demand the
release of their two leaders. Here, they were fired upon without any provocation. Many people were
wounded and killed. This led to mob violence. Government buildings were set on fire, five Englishmen
were murdered, and a woman was assaulted.
• The civil authority lost its control of the city, and General Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar,
issued a proclamation forbidding people from:
 Leaving the city without a pass
 Organising demonstrations or processions
 Assembling in a group of more than three people
• On Baisakhi day, 13 April, a large crowd of people, mostly from neighbouring villages, gathered in
the Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate the Baisakhi festival. Most of the people were not aware of the
ban on meetings.
• Local leaders had also called for a protest meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh to discuss two resolutions:
1. Condemning the firing of April 10.
2. Requesting the authorities to release their leaders.
• General Dyer surrounded the Bagh (garden) with his army unit and closed the exit with his troops.
He then ordered his men to shoot into the trapped crowd. The firing continued for 10-15 minutes.
1650 rounds were fired. The firing ceased only after the ammunition had run out. According to the
official estimates, 379 people were killed, and thousands were wounded.
• After this massacre, martial law was proclaimed throughout the Punjab, and the people were sub-
jected to most uncivilised atrocities.
• The entire nation was stunned. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest. Due to
the widespread violence, Gandhiji withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919.

Closer Examination
151

• The agitation was not properly organised and the Congress as an organisation was hardly in the picture.
The movement was more intense in cities than in rural areas.
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
• Satyagraha Sabha concentrated mainly on publishing propaganda literature and collecting signatures
on the Satyagraha pledge.
• Gandhi confessed publically that he committed a 'Himalayan blunder' by offering civil disobedience to
people who were insufficiently prepared for the discipline of Satyagraha.

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Significance
 The Rowlatt Satyagraha was the first all-India struggle against the British government.
 Gandhiji emerged as an all-India leader.
 The participants ensured the Hindus-Muslims unity.

[UPSC CSE 2015] With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements
is/are correct?
1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha Gandhiji tried to use the Home Rule League.
3. Demonstrations against the Simon Commission coincided with the Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B

Aftermath of the Massacre

Amritsar Session of the INC, 1919
• The Congress decided to hold the annual session 1919 at Amritsar to express its solidarity with the
people. Pandit Motilal Nehru presided over the session.
• The session condemned the act and mourned the massacre in Jallianwala Bagh.
• The resolutions were passed demanding:
 Withdrawal of Viceroy Lord Chelmsford from India
 Action against Michael O’Dwyer and General R. Dyer
 The boycott of the Hunter Commission.
• Gandhi moved a resolution to express regret over the excesses caused by mobs in Punjab and Gujarat.
• The session also demanded the repeal of the Rowlatt Act of 1919 and the Press Act of 1910 and
protested against the British Ministers’ hostility to the Khilafat issue. 152

• The session also passed resolutions to promote Swadeshi and support the formation of Labour Un-
ions.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 At the Amritsar session of the Congress in 1919, Gandhi proposed that the Indians should coop-
erate in the working of reforms despite some inadequacies. But in September 1920 Gandhi reversed
his policy of cooperation and decided to launch the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Hunter Commission (1919)

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• The strong public outcry, both nationally and internationally, following the Jallianwala Bagh Massa-
cre led the Punjab Government to form an Inquiry Committee.
• On October 14, 1919, to inquire about the massacre, the government formed the Disorders Inquiry
Committee, commonly known as the Hunter Commission.
• There were three Indians in this eight-member Hunter Commission.
1. Chimanlal Setalvad (vice-chancellor of Bombay University)
2. Jagat Narayan (lawyer and public prosecutor representing the British in the Kakori conspiracy case)
3. Sultan Ahmed Khan (lawyer)
• Each of the eight members cross-examined the accused officers. The Indian members were unspar-
ing, detailed, and rigorous in their cross-examination of Dyer. Eventually, they disagreed with the opin-
ion of the five British members and submitted their minority report.
• In 1920, the Hunter Commission censured Dyer for his actions but did not impose any penal or dis-
ciplinary action against General Dyer.
• The Committee indicated the massacre as one of the darkest episodes of the British Administration.
• The Commander-in-Chief directed Brigadier-General Dyer to resign from his appointment as Brigade
Commander and informed him that he would receive no further employment in India as mentioned
in the letter by Montagu to his Excellency.

No universal condemnation
• Though condemned by the Hunter Commission, Viceroy Chelmsford, and the House of Commons,
Dyer was greeted as a hero by the House of Lords and several well-known British personalities, such
as Rudyard Kipling.
• The Morning Post initiated a fundraising campaign supported by various British Indian newspapers,
such as the Calcutta Statesman, Rangoon Times and Press, and Madras Mail. Together, they raised
28,000 pounds for him. Rudyard Kipling was one of the famous contributors.
• Winston Churchill strongly condemned the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and described the day as "mon-
strous." However, the majority of the Rajas, Maharajas, and top Sikh leadership, who sought to pre-
serve their position by aligning with the British, refused to condemn the massacre, with some even
praising the British for the brutal killings.
 Dyer died of cerebral haemorrhage and arteriosclerosis in 1927.
153

Congress Report on the Punjab Disorders, 1920

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The INC did not trust a British-instituted inquiry and set up a sub-committee in 1919 to investigate
the events leading up to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. By 25th March 1920, they sent their findings to
a printing press in the Mumbai city district as a ground-breaking report titled ‘The Congress Punjab
Inquiry.'

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• Primarily drafted by Mahatma Gandhi, it was signed by notable leaders like C.R. Das, Abbas Tyabji,
and M.R. Jayakar.
• The report called for action against the guilty officials — including General Dyer, M. O'Dwyer, and then
Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford. It also refuted the official death toll (379), claiming that nearly 1200 lives
were lost and 3600 were wounded.

Later developments
Surprising Honor

• Soon after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Arur Singh (then caretaker of the Golden Temple) pre-
sented Dyer with a siropa (robe of honour). This act triggered the Gurdwara reform movement.

O'Dwyer’s assassination

• On March 13, 1940, at Caxton Hall in London, Udham Singh, an Indian freedom fighter, assassi-
nated Michael O'Dwyer, who endorsed General Dyer's actions and was believed to have been the
main planner.
• Gandhi disapproved of Udham Singh's act, describing it as an "act of insanity." He further stated,
"We have no desire for revenge. We want to change the system which produced Dyer."

6.3. Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-22)

• During 1920-21, the Indian National Movement entered a new phase, i.e. a phase of mass politics
and mass mobilisation. British rule was opposed by two mass movements, Khilafat and Non-Cooper-
ation. Though the two movements emerged from separate issues, they adopted a common pro-
gramme of action, i.e. non-violent non-cooperation.

Background
• The impact of the First World War, the Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, and the Montagu-
Chelmsford Reforms provided the background to the movements.
1. First World War: Almost all sections of society suffered economic hardship due to the war,
strengthening the anti-British attitude.
2. Rowlatt Act: In 1919, the Government of India enacted the Rowlatt Act to control the activities of
154

Indian Revolutionaries. People strongly protested against the law and organised strikes and hartals.
3. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: There was a nationwide protest against this massacre, and
MIH-II – Post-1857

Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood as a protest. It gave a tremendous impetus to

the freedom struggle.
4. Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms: The introduction of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms further
disillusioned the nationalists. The reform proposals failed to satisfy the rising demand of the

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Indians for self-government. The majority of the leaders condemned it as "disappointing and un-
satisfactory."
• All these developments set the stage for an uprising against the British Government, with the Khilafat
issue as the immediate backdrop to the movement.

Issue of Khilafat
• During the First World War, Turkey allied with Germany and Austria against the British. The Indian
Muslims considered the Sultan of Turkey their spiritual leader (Khalifa or Caliph), so they naturally
sympathised with Turkey.
• After the war, the British removed the Khalifa from power in Turkey. The politically aware Muslims
criticised Britain's treatment of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. They demanded that:
 The Turkish Sultan (Khalifa) must retain control over the Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile
Ottoman empire.
 The Khalifa must be left with sufficient territory to defend the Islamic faith.
• In 1919, A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay under the leadership of the Ali brothers
(Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali), Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Hasrat Mohani, to force the
government to change its attitude towards Turkey and the countrywide agitation was organised.
• At an All-India Khilafat Conference held in Delhi (22-23 November 1919), the Khilafat leaders advo-
cated non-cooperation with the British Government in India. They decided to withdraw all cooperation
from the Government if their demands were not met.
• Congress leaders, including Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, viewed the Khilafat agitation as
a golden opportunity to cement Hindu-Muslim unity and bring the Muslim masses into the national
movement.
• In early 1920, Gandhi declared that he would lead a movement of non-cooperation if the terms of
peace with Turkey did not satisfy the Indian Muslims.
 Although Gandhi supported the Khilafat issue and served as the president of the All India Khilafat
Committee, he had taken a moderate stance until May 1920.
 However, the harsh terms of the Treaty with Turkey, along with the publication of the Hunter com-
mittee report on 'Punjab disturbances' in May 1920, enraged the Indian people. As a result, Gandhi 155
took a more open and forceful position on these issues.
• In June 1920, an all-party conference at Allahabad approved a programme of boycotting schools,
colleges, law courts, government jobs, and titles conferred by the government.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Finally, the Khilafat Committee launched a non-cooperation movement on 31 August 1920. Gandhi
was the first to join it. As a part of his support for the Khilafat movement, Gandhi returned:
1. The Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal: Granted for his humanitarian work in South Africa.

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2. The Boer War Medal: Granted for serving as Assistant Superintendent of the Indian Volunteer
Stretcher Bearer Corps during the Boer War of 1899-1900.
3. The Zulu War Medal: Granted for his services as Officer in Charge of the Indian Volunteer Ambu-
lance Corps in 1906.
 Lokmanya Tilak passed away on August 1, 1920. However, soon after, his place was taken by Gan-
dhi, C.R. Das, and Motilal Nehru.

Towards Non-Cooperation
Special Session of Congress (September 1920)
• A special session of Congress presided by Lala Lajpat Rai was held at Calcutta in September 1920.
• The people were asked:
 To boycott government educational institutions, law courts, and legislatures
 To boycott foreign clothes and practise hand-spinning and hand-weaving to produce khadi.
 To surrender officially conferred honours and titles.
• The Congress supported Gandhi’s plan for non-cooperation with the Government till the Punjab and
Khilafat wrongs were removed and Swaraj was established.
• The final decision on the non-cooperation movement was left for the Nagpur session of the Con-
gress, which was to be held in December 1920.
Constructive Programme Non-constructive Programme
Establishment of national school and colleges Boycott of government educational institutions, law
courts, and legislatures
Promotion of indigenous goods Boycott of foreign clothes
Practising hand-spinning and hand-weaving Surrender of officially conferred honours and titles
Popularisation of Charkha and Khadi

Nagpur Session of Congress (1920)

• In December 1920, the Nagpur Session of Congress was presided over by C. Vijayaraghavachariar.
• C.R. Das moved the resolution of non-cooperation, and it was subsequently approved. This was the
significant shift of C.R. Das from being a critic of Gandhi's programme to the proponent of the non-
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cooperation resolution at Nagpur.

• The session also brought a revolutionary change in the congress organisation. The changes were:
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. Congress Working Committee: The committee of fifteen members, including the president and
the secretaries, was formed. This would enable the Congress to function as a continuous political
organisation and provide it with the machinery for implementing its resolutions.
2. All India Committee: The formation of an All India Committee of 350 members.

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3. Provincial Congress Committees: The Provincial Congress Committees were reorganised on a

linguistic basis. This was done so that they could keep in touch with the people by using the local
language, and to expand the reach of the Congress organisation to smaller towns, villages, and
mohallas.
4. Congress membership: Congress membership was opened to all men and women aged 21 or
more on payment of four annas as an annual subscription. The membership fee was reduced to
enable the poor to become members. In 1921, the age limit for membership was reduced to 18.
• The Nagpur session transformed the Congress into the organiser and leader of the masses in their na-
tional struggle for freedom from foreign rule.

Inception of Working Committee

• In the early days of Congress, the press and annual sessions played crucial roles in its activities. Since
Congress sessions were limited to just three days a year, the press became the sole channel for
the propagation of Congress propaganda throughout the year.
• Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal criticized the Congress's method of working. Tilak once said, “We will
not achieve any success in our labours if we croak once a year like a frog.”
• Tilak proposed the creation of a Working Committee during the 1916 Lucknow session. The Com-
mittee would oversee the day-to-day affairs of the Congress and be responsible for implementing
the resolutions passed at the annual sessions. He hoped this would transform the Congress from a
deliberative body into one capable of leading a sustained movement. Unfortunately, the proposal was
quashed by Moderate opposition.
• Recognising the importance of a working committee to sustain the movement, Gandhiji reformed
the constitution of Congress and established the working committee in 1920.

Departure of Senior Leaders from Congress

• At this stage, some leaders like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, G.S. Kharpade and B.C. Pal left
Congress as they believed in a constitutional and lawful struggle. They opposed the organisation of
the masses, hartals, strikes, satyagraha, breaking of laws, courting imprisonment, and other forms of
militant struggle.
 Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians
157

and that it had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British
rule in India would collapse within a year, and Swaraj would come.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Spread of Movement
• The years 1921 and 1922 witnessed an unprecedented movement. Thousands of students left govern-
ment schools and colleges and joined national schools and colleges. It was at this time that the fol-
lowing educational institutions came into existence:

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 Jamia Milia Islamia (National Muslim University) of Aligarh (later shifted to Delhi).
 Bihar Vidyapith, the Kashi Vidyapith and the Gujarat Vidyapith.
• Hundreds of lawyers, including Chittaranjan Das (Deshbandhu), Motilal Nehru, and Rajendra Prasad,
gave up their legal practice.
• Women also came forward. They joined the movement and actively participated in picketing before
the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. They gave up Purdah and offered their jewellery to the
Tilak Fund.
• Huge bonfires of foreign cloth were organised all over the country. Khadi soon became a symbol of
freedom.
• The Tilak Swarajya Fund was started to finance the non-cooperation movement, and within six
months, over one crore rupees were subscribed.
• Mahatma Gandhi, with the charkha, became the most abiding image of Indian nationalism. Gandhi
spent part of each day working on the charkha and encouraged other nationalists to do likewise. Spin-
ning allowed Gandhiji to break the boundaries that prevailed within the traditional caste system, be-
tween mental labour and manual labour.

Gandhi on Charkha and Modern Industries

• Mahatma Gandhi strongly opposed the modern age, where machines were taking over jobs and
exploiting human labour.
• According to Gandhi, the charkha symbolised a human society that did not depend on machines
and technology. He believed that this simple tool could help the poor earn additional income and
become self-sufficient.
• In May 1921, the All-India Khilafat Committee passed a resolution declaring that no Muslim should
serve in the British Indian army. The Ali brothers were arrested for this in September.
• Immediately, Gandhiji called for this resolution to be repeated at hundreds of meetings. Fifty mem-
bers of the All-India Congress Committee issued a similar declaration that no Indian should serve a
government which degraded India socially, economically, and politically. The Congress Working Com-
mittee issued a similar statement.
• The Congress now decided to raise the movement to a higher level. It permitted the Congress Com-
mittee of a province to start civil disobedience or disobedience of British laws, including non-pay-
158

ment of taxes, if the people were ready for it.

MIH-II – Post-1857

Gandhi's Shift to Simple Attire

• Gandhi, on his way from Madras to Madurai by train, noticed that the people in his train compart-
ment were wearing foreign clothes. When he asked them about promoting Khadi (homespun cloth),
they said that they were too poor to afford it.

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• Witnessing this, Gandhi decided to align himself more closely with the masses. On 22nd September
1921, Gandhi made a momentous decision to change his attire from the elaborate Gujarati attire
to a simple dhoti and shawl.
• By shedding his formal clothing and adopting simpler attire, Gandhi aimed to better connect with
the millions of impoverished people who, in their simple clothing, reflected the truth of their poverty.

People's Initiatives
• Although the Congress leadership was against class war, the masses broke this restraint. In rural areas,
the peasants turned against the landlords and the traders. This gave a new dimension to the move-
ment of 1921-22.
• In many cases, people interpreted Gandhiji's call in their own manner, linked their movements to local
grievances and resisted British rule non-violently.
1. In Punjab, the Sikhs led the Akali movement to remove corrupt Mahantas from the Gurudwaras,
their places of worship. The movement was closely identified with the non-cooperation movement.
2. In Malabar (Northern Kerala), the Moplah or Muslim peasants created a powerful anti-zamindar
movement.
3. In Assam, tea garden labourers organised a strike, shouting "Gandhi Maharaj ki Jai" and de-
manding a wage increase. In the Assamese Vaishnava songs, the reference to Krishna was substi-
tuted by "Gandhi Raja".
4. In Andhra, the grievances of tribal and other peasants against forest laws were linked to the Non-
Cooperation Movement.
 In the Guntur district, tribals and poor peasants staged "forest satyagrahas", sometimes graz-
ing their cattle in forests without paying fees.
 Alluri Sitaram Raju organised the tribals in Andhra and combined their demands with those
of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
5. In the U.P. and Bihar, peasants' grievances were linked to the Non-Cooperation Movement. De-
spite the repeated appeal for non-violence from the congress leadership, the peasants rose in revolt
against Talukdars and merchants.
 Kisan Movement: Between January and March 1921, many districts witnessed widespread agrar- 159
ian riots under the leadership of Baba Ram Chandra. The major demands were:
 Abolition of Nazrana (extra premium on rent)
 No eviction from holdings
MIH-II – Post-1857

 No begar (forced labour)

 No rasad (forced supplies)
 Eka (Unity) Movement: In late 1921, a radical peasant leader named Madari Pasi led a strong
peasant movement in the districts of Hardoi, Bahraich, and Sitapur.

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People’s Mahatma
• People sometimes saw Gandhiji as a messiah who could help them overcome their misery and pov-
erty.
• On certain occasions, ordinary individuals attributed their own accomplishments to Gandhiji. For
instance, at the end of a powerful movement, peasants of Pratapgarh in the United Provinces man-
aged to stop the illegal eviction of tenants, but they felt it was Gandhiji who had won this demand for
them.
• However, there were also instances where people invoking Gandhiji's name took actions that didn't
align with Gandhian ideals.

Gandhiji's Miraculous Aura

• As Gandhiji travelled, rumours about his miraculous powers circulated widely. Some believed he
was sent by the King to address farmers' grievances and had the authority to override local officials.
In other places, it was said that Gandhiji's power surpassed the English monarch’s, and his presence
would make colonial rulers leave the district.
• There were also stories reporting dire consequences for those who opposed Gandhi, with stories of
villagers facing mysterious house damage or crop failures if they criticised Gandhiji.

Government Response
• The government again took recourse to repression.
 The Congress and the Khilafat volunteer organisations were declared unlawful.
 Public assemblies and processions were banned.
 At many places, the police fired on the satyagrahis.
 Arrests and Lathi charges became a common scene.
• By the end of 1921, all important leaders except Gandhi were imprisoned. Thus, the Government
machinery was fully geared to crush the movement.

The Last Phase

• On 1 February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi sent an ultimatum to the viceroy that he would start mass civil
disobedience, including non-payment of taxes, if within seven days:
160

 The political prisoners were not released.

 The press was not freed from government control.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Since the whole country was not fit for civil disobedience, Gandhi decided to launch in Bardoli.

Chauri-Chaura Incident

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• On 5 February 1922, a Congress procession of 3,000 peasants at Chauri Chaura was fired upon by
the police. The angry crowd attacked and burnt the police station, causing the death of 22 police-
men.
• Gandhi worried that the movement could become violent due to the high public enthusiasm. He was
convinced that the nationalist workers had not yet properly learnt the practice of non-violence,
without which civil disobedience could not succeed.
• Gandhi thought that if the movement turned violent, the British could easily suppress it. Therefore,
he decided to suspend the nationalist campaign. He also postponed the proposed civil disobedi-
ence.

Bardoli Resolution
• The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met at Bardoli in Gujarat on 12 February 1922 and passed
a resolution stopping all activities which would lead to the breaking of laws.
• CWC urged Congressmen to donate their time to constructive programmes - the popularisation of
the khadi, national schools and temperance, promotion of Hindu-Muslim unity, and removal of un-
touchability.
• The Bardoli resolution stunned the country. Some believed that the retreat was a part of the Gandhian
strategy of struggle, while others, including C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, Subhash Bose and Jawaharlal
Nehru, resented this decision. Subhas Chandra Bose referred to it as a "national calamity," while
Jawaharlal Nehru expressed his "amazement and consternation" at the decision.
• However, both the people and the leaders had faith in Gandhi and did not oppose him in public. They
accepted his decision without open opposition. Thus, the first non-cooperation and civil disobedience
movement virtually came to an end.
 On 12 February Gandhi started his five-day fast as a penance.

Causes of Withdrawal
• Gandhi felt that people had not learnt or fully understood the method of non-violence.
• The movement was turning violent, which the British could easily suppress.
• The movement was showing signs of fatigue. This was natural, as any movement maintained at a high
intensity for a prolonged period is unsustainable.
161

• The movement was gradually turning into a no-rent movement against the Zamindars. If the move-
ment had not been suspended, it might have led to chaos because the leaders had no control over
MIH-II – Post-1857

local movements.
• The government was not ready for negotiations.

Gandhi’s Arrest

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• The government arrested Mahatma Gandhi on 10 March 1922 and charged him with spreading dis-
affection against the Government.
• Following a historic trial, Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison. During the trial, he declared that
"non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good."

End of Khilafat
• Very soon, the Khilafat question also lost relevance. The people of Turkey rose under Mustafa Kamal
Pasha, who:
 Deprived the Sultan of his political power in November 1922
 Took many measures to modernise Turkey and to make it a secular state.
 Abolished the Caliphate (or the institution of the Caliph) in 1924. He separated the state from
religion by eliminating Islam from the Constitution.
 Nationalised education, granted women extensive rights, introduced legal codes based on Eu-
ropean models and took steps to develop agriculture and to introduce modern industries.
 Some historians have criticised the Khilafat movement for mixing religion with politics. As a result,
they claim that religious sentiments spread to politics, which ultimately strengthened communal
forces.
 However, it is important to note that the Khilafat movement in India represented much wider
feelings of the Muslims than their concern for the Caliph. It also reflected a broader anti-imperialist
sentiment among Muslims. After all, there was no protest in India when Kamal Pasha abolished
the Caliphate in 1924.

Contribution of Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement

 The movement showed remarkable unity between Hindus and Muslims.
 It brought urban Muslims into the national movement.
 Students, women and peasants (through local agitation) participated in large numbers.
 Nationalist sentiments reached every nook and corner of the country.
 It politicised every stratum of the population - the artisans, peasants, urban poor, women, traders, etc.
 It demonstrated the willingness and ability of the masses to endure hardship and make sacrifices.
 Gandhi's emphasis on removing evils like caste barriers, communalism, untouchability, etc., weak-
162

ened caste separateness and accelerated the pace of social mobility and reform.
 It developed tremendous self-confidence and self-esteem among Indian people.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Indian textile industry had benefited from the boycott of foreign goods.

Changing Perceptions
• After the Non-cooperation movement, the accusation of representing a "microscopic minority" made
by Viceroy Dufferin against the Indian National Congress in 1888, could never be made again. This was

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due to the fact that by 1922, Mahatma Gandhi Gandhiji had transformed Indian nationalism, spreading
it to every corner of the country and gaining the support of previously untouched social groups. The
movement was no longer limited to intellectuals and professionals, but it now included hundreds of
thousands of peasants, workers, and artisans.

[UPSC 2021] Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during the Non-
Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement.

6.4. Summary

• The First World War gave a tremendous impetus to nationalism all over Asia and Africa. The Govern-
ment, aware of the rising tide of nationalist and anti-government sentiments, once again decided to
follow the policy of the carrot and the stick. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were offered as a
concession, while the Rowlatt Act represented the government's repression.

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
• In 1918, Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy, produced their
scheme of constitutional reforms, which led to the enactment of the Government of India Act of 1919.
• Government of India Act of 1919 marked the beginning of responsible government in India. The Act
introduced bicameralism in the centre and direct elections for the first time in the country.
• The Act introduced the dyarchy (Diarchy) at the provincial level, i.e. dual government in the provinces.
Under this, the provincial administration was divided between reserved and transferred subjects.

INC’s Stand

• The INC was unsatisfied with the reforms and rejected the Act. It boycotted the first elections (1920).

Rowlatt Act
• During World War I, the British administration faced a political crisis due to the rising nationalism and
the intensification of the struggle for independence. To counter this, the Government of India ap-
pointed a Sedition Committee headed by Justice Sydney Rowlatt to investigate "revolutionary crime"
in the country.
• Based on the recommendations of the Sedition Committee headed by Justice Sydney Rowlatt, the
163

Government of India enacted the Rowlatt Act.

Rowlatt satyagraha
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Rowlatt Bills were widely condemned throughout the country. Gandhiji formed a Satyagraha Sa-
bha on 24th February 1919 in Bombay to protest against the Rowlatt Bills. Its members took a pledge
to disobey the Act and thus to court arrest and imprisonment.

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• In March and April of 1919, there were hartals, strikes, processions, and demonstrations. The Govern-
ment was determined to suppress the mass agitation. It repeatedly lathi-charged and fired upon un-
armed demonstrators.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• On Baisakhi day, 13 April, a large crowd, mostly from neighbouring villages, gathered in the Jallianwala
Bagh to celebrate the festival. General Dyer surrounded the Bagh (garden) with his army unit and
ordered them to shoot into the trapped crowd.
• After this massacre, Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest, and Gandhiji withdrew
the movement on April 18, 1919.

Hunter Commission

• The Punjab Government appointed an eight-member Committee to inquire about the massacre. The
committee had three Indians. The Hunter Commission censured Dyer for his actions but imposed no
penal or disciplinary action against General Dyer.

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement

• During 1920-21, the Indian National Movement entered a new phase, i.e. a phase of mass politics and
mass mobilisation. British rule was opposed by two mass movements, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation.
• After the First World War, the British removed the Khalifa (spiritual leader) from power in Turkey. The
politically aware Muslims criticised Britain's treatment of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.
• In 1919, A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay to force the government to change its attitude
towards Turkey. The Khilafat Committee launched a non-cooperation movement on 31 August 1920.
Gandhi was the first to join it.
• A special session of Congress presided by Lala Lajpat Rai was held at Calcutta in September 1920. The
Congress supported Gandhi’s plan for non-cooperation with the Government till the Punjab and Khil-
afat wrongs were removed and Swaraj was established.
• In December 1920, the Nagpur Session of Congress, presided over by C. Vijayaraghavachariar, ap-
proved the non-cooperation resolution.

Spread of Movement
164

• Thousands of students left government schools and colleges and joined national schools and col-
leges.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Hundreds of lawyers gave up their legal practice.

• Women joined the movement and participated in picketing before the shops selling foreign cloth and
liquor.

People's Initiatives

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• Although the Congress leadership was against class war, the masses broke this restraint. In rural areas,
the peasants turned against the landlords and the traders.
• In many cases, people interpreted Gandhiji's call in their own manner, linked their movements to local
grievances and resisted British rule non-violently.

End of the movement

• On 5 February 1922, a Congress procession of 3,000 peasants at Chauri Chaura was fired upon by the
police. The angry crowd attacked and burnt the police station, causing the death of 22 policemen.
Gandhi thought that if the movement turned violent, the British could easily suppress it. Therefore,
he suspended the movement.
• The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met at Bardoli in Gujarat on 12 February 1922 and passed
a resolution stopping all activities which would lead to the breaking of laws.
• The government arrested Mahatma Gandhi on 10 March 1922 and charged him with spreading dis-
affection against the Government. Following a historic trial, Gandhi was sentenced to six years in
prison.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

165
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7. The Nationalist Movement (1922-29)

• The sudden withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 led to demoralisation
within the nationalist ranks. The movement, which had mobilised millions of Indians, lost its momentum
and coherence.
• The period 1922-29 enriched India's struggle by introducing new trends and forms of political action.
Some leaders began to explore alternative approaches, such as participating in legislative councils
(Council Entry), while others continued the constructive work.
• The period 1922-29 also brought new leaders with a different outlook to the forefront. Leaders like
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose began to play more prominent roles, contributing to a
diversification of leadership within the nationalist movement. Besides, the period also witnessed new
problems, tensions, dilemmas, and constraints on India's fight for independence.
• The period of 1922-29 was characterised by:
 Twin programme of council entry and constructive works.
 Acute Hindu-Muslim tensions and outbreak of communal violence
 Rise of revolutionary nationalism

7.1. Pro-changers (Swarajists) and No-Changers

• In 1922, things were chaotic for the Congress and the freedom movement. The Non-Cooperation
Movement had finished, Gandhiji was in jail, and there was confusion about the next political steps.
• The leaders agreed that immediate civil disobedience wasn’t possible and that no mass movement
could be carried on indefinitely or for a prolonged period. They accepted that a break was needed from
the active movement to boost morale and strengthen the anti-imperialist cause.
• However, there were differences among the leaders on how to continue political work during non-
active phases. Some advocated the council-entry programme (participation in councils), known as
pro-changes, while others continued to support the boycott of the councils, known as no-changers.
Pro-changers (Swarajists) No-changers
• Pro-changers (swarajists) led by C.R. Das, Mo- • No-changers led by C. Rajagopalachari, Sar-
166

tilal Nehru and Ajmal Khan aimed to stop dar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr Ansari, Babu Rajen-
boycotting Legislative Councils. dra Prasad, and others opposed Council en-
MIH-II – Post-1857

try.
• They wanted to join Legislative Councils, dis- • They advocated the continuation of Gandhi’s
rupt their functioning, highlight their flaws, and constructive programme of spinning, temper-
use them to arouse public enthusiasm. ance, Hindu-Muslim unity, and removal of

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untouchability to prepare the country for the

next round of mass movements.
• The no-changers opposed council entry, fearing it would divert attention from the constructive
programme. They believed that those entering councils to disrupt them would eventually conform to
the imperial system and start cooperating with the Government on minor reforms. Even while in jail,
Gandhiji was an effective leader of no-changers.

Gaya Session (1922)

• The 37th annual session of Congress was held in Gaya in December 1922. It was presided over by
Chittaranjan Das (Deshbandhu). The Congress leaders debated the merits and demerits of continuing
its boycott of the government-created councils.
• C. R. Das moved the resolution for the council entry. The majority wanted to continue the boycott of
councils, and the resolution was defeated. Subsequently, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru resigned from
their positions as President and Secretary of Congress, respectively.
• Consequently, on 31 December 1922, at a meeting held at Tecori Palace, Deshbandhu announced the
formation of a new political party named as Congress Khilafat Swaraj Party. Das was the president,
while Motilal Nehru was one of the secretaries.
• In 1923, the Congress Khilafat Swaraj Party was renamed as the Swaraj Party.

Collaborative Strategies
• Both groups (pro-changers and no-changers) disagreed on the future political course but deter-
mined to avoid the disastrous experience of the 1907 split at Surat. On Gandhiji's advice, the two groups
agreed to remain in Congress, though they would work separately.
• The new party (Swaraj Party) was to function as a group within the Congress. It accepted the Congress
programme except in one respect— it would participate in Council elections.
• While the Swarajists (pro-changers) and the No-changers worked independently, the two groups had
no fundamental differences. They maintained cordial relations and acknowledged each other's anti-
imperialist stance. This paved the way for a possible future collaboration when the time was right for
a new national struggle.
 The special Congress session was held in Delhi in September 1923 under the presidentship of
167

Maulana Azad. It allowed Swarajists to contest the forthcoming elections.

MIH-II – Post-1857

Swarajists
• The Swarajists wanted the constructive programme to be coupled with a political programme of
council-entry.

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• Three elections were held under the provisions of the Act of 1919 in 1920, 1923, and 1926. Owing to
the Non-Cooperation movement, Congress boycotted the elections in 1920, leaving the field for the
liberals and others.

1923 election
• In the 1923 election, the Das-Nehru group, under the banner of the Swaraj Party, fought elections.
At the elections, the Liberals alone constituted a formidable opposition to the Swarajists.
 The Liberals were disadvantaged because they were in the councils last term and associated with
an alien government.
 On the other hand, the Swarajists were seen as "Gandhi's men" who were committed to achieving
Swaraj.
• Even though the Swarajists had little time for preparations, they did very well in the November 1923
election. They won 42 of the 101 elected seats in the Central Legislative Assembly. Their success
with the electorates was, to a great extent, due to the prestige and resources of the Congress.

Achievements
Inside the Council

 With the cooperation of other Indian groups, Swarajists repeatedly outvoted the Government in the
Central Assembly and several Provincial Councils.
 Swarajists agitated through powerful speeches on questions of self-government, civil liberties and
industrial development.
 In March 1925, Swarajists succeeded in electing Vithalbhai J. Patel as the president (Speaker) of the
Central Legislative Assembly.
 Swarajists exposed the hollowness of the Reform Act of 1919.
 Swarajists filled the political void when the national movement was recouping its strength.
 Swarajists defeated the Public Safety Bill in 1928, which aimed to give the government the power to
deport undesirable or subversive foreigners.

Reform Proposals by Swarajists

• Upon entering the assembly, the Swarajists presented a non-official resolution recommending a com- 168

prehensive review of the Government of India Act 1919. The resolution proposed the establishment
of self-governing dominion status within the British Empire and advocated for provincial auton-
omy. The government rejected this proposal.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In February 1924, Sir Malcolm Hailey, the Home Member of the government, pointed out that re-
sponsible government does not necessarily mean dominion status and may fall short of it.
• Sir Malcolm Hailey noted that the term 'full dominion self-government' meant more than just the
executive being responsible to the legislature (responsible government). It implied that the legislature

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would also possess full powers, which is characteristic of modern dominions. It may be that full do-
minion self-government is the logical outcome of responsible government; in fact, it could be con-
sidered the inevitable and historical progression of responsible government, but it is a further and final
step.
 The Swarajists supported justice for the peasantry but were cautious not to harm landlords in the
process. They needed support and funds from wealthier groups for elections and party activities, so
they aimed to keep them satisfied.

Outside the Council

• The Swarajists aimed primarily to disrupt reforms from within the Council, but this wasn't their only
goal. They also took part in the constructive program.
• The constructive programme was a common platform that brought together two factions of the
Congress - the no-changers and the Swarajists.
• However, it should be noted that the Swarajists, who were primarily involved in council entry and
parliamentary politics, could not implement the constructive programme with the same enthusiasm
and consistency as the no-changers did.

[Prelims Practice] Who among the following did not belong to the group of 'No-Chang-
ers'?
a) M.A. Ansari
b) Vithalbhai Patel
c) Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
d) Kasturi Ranga Iyengar
Answer: Option B

Responsivists and Non-Cooperators

• The Swarajists entered the council with the strategy of constant obstruction in legislatures. However,
many of the Swarajists had no faith in the policy of non-cooperation. Having entered the councils,
they were willing to enjoy its privileges.
• The spirit of responsive cooperation (cooperation with the government) gained strength, with promi- 169
nent leaders like C.R. Das inclining towards cooperation. At a conference in Faridpur in May 1925, C.R.
Das advocated for cooperation if real responsibility was given to the people. This shift towards cooper-
ation caused a split between Responsivists and Non-cooperators.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The years 1926-27 further demoralised the Swarajists. A significant divide between Hindus and Mus-
lims led to the disintegration of the Swaraj Party.

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 Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lajpat Rai believed that opposing the government was detrimental
to Hindu interests. They organised a new party called Congress Independents, gathering Hindus
under their banner.
 Responsivists, including Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, and N. C. Kelkar, offered coop-
eration to the Government so that Hindu interests might be safeguarded. They accused Motilal
Nehru of letting down Hindus, of being anti-Hindu, of favouring cow slaughter, and of eating beef.
 Lajpat Rai and Madan Mohan Malaviya separated themselves from the Swaraj Party on Responsiv-
ist as well as communal grounds.

1926 election
• The Swaraj Party was weakened by tension between Hindus and Muslims and reactionary elements
within it. C.R. Das's death in June 1925 was a significant setback for the Swarajist movements. On the
eve of the 1926 elections, the Swarajists had lost much of their support.
• The outcome of the 1926 came as a rude shock to the Swarajists.
 Their strength in the legislative bodies decreased, except for Madras.
 In the Central Legislative Assembly, their representation was reduced from 42 to 35.

Decline of the Swaraj Party

• The Swarajists, who started with high hopes in 1923, quickly lost momentum and became ineffective
by 1929. This decline was due to various reasons:
1. Communal Tensions: Growing religious differences affected the Swarajists. The communalization
of politics narrowed the ideological gap between the Swarajists and the Hindu Mahasabha. The
Congress's image as a national organisation free from communal bias suffered in the communal
atmosphere.
2. Lure of Power: Despite initially entering councils intending to resist the bureaucracy, the Swarajists
shifted towards cooperation. Cooperation replaced their spirit of resistance, causing internal con-
flicts and desertions.
3. Class Character: The Swaraj Party mainly represented upper-middle-class elements within the Con-
gress, who historically opposed direct mass action.
 Despite being the most progressive and radical political party within the colonial framework, it
170

primarily represented the interests of a specific class. The party's composition limited its ability
to connect with broader mass movements, in contrast to the communists who were still finding
MIH-II – Post-1857

their footing in Indian politics.

Merger of Swarajists with Congress

• The announcement of the Simon Commission in 1927 and Lord Birkenhead's challenge to Indians to
produce a constitution acceptable to all sections of society opened new political vistas in the country.

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• All Parties Conference in May 1928 appointed a committee headed by Motilal Nehru to draft the
Constitution for India. The Calcutta Congress of 1928 resolved that if the British Government did not
accept the Nehru Report by 31 December 1929, the Congress would declare complete independence
as its goal.
• In the changed political situation, the Swaraj Party's Council Entry programme took a back seat and
lost its relevance. The Swaraj Party now merged with the Congress as the country began to prepare for
the second round of direct mass action to achieve complete independence.
• Thus, the Swaraj Party's political life, which spanned from 1923 to 1928, started with council entry and
culminated in the exercise of constitution-making for India.

Drawbacks of Swarajists
 The Swarajists failed to change the policies of the authoritarian Government of India and found it
necessary to walk out of the Central Assembly in March 1926 and then in January 1930.
 The Swarajists failed to bring the masses or the middle classes into active politics.

No-Changers
• The 'no-changers' continued their constructive work, serving as the backbone of civil disobedience
movements as active organisers.
 Several ashrams were established where young men and women promoted charkha and khadi
and worked among the lower castes and tribal people.
 Several national schools and colleges were established to train young people with a non-colonial
ideology.

No-changers in Local Bodies

• No-changers did not participate in the Legislative Council elections, but they did participate in the
elections of municipalities and other local bodies.
• In 1924, Jawaharlal Nehru was the Mayor of Allahabad, Vallabhbhai Patel of Ahmedabad, C. R. Das
of Calcutta, and Rajendra Prasad of Patna.
 In 1924, Chittaranjan Das became mayor of Calcutta. He appointed Subhas Chandra Bose as chief
executive officer of the Calcutta Corporation.
171

7.2. Mahatma Gandhi's Release from Prison

MIH-II – Post-1857

• Mahatma Gandhi was released from prison in February 1924 on health grounds. He now devoted
his attention to promoting home-spun cloth (khadi) and the abolition of untouchability.
• Gandhi believed that people of different faiths in India should cultivate genuine tolerance towards each
other. Hence, he worked to promote Hindu-Muslim harmony.

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• On the economic front, Gandhi stressed the significance of wearing khadi to promote self-reliance
instead of mill-made cloth imported from overseas.

Belgaum Session of Congress (1924)

• The 39th session of the Congress held at Belgaum (Belagavi, Karnataka) in 1924 was the only Con-
gress session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
• The Belgaum session laid the foundation of mutual trust between No-Changers and the Swarajists.

Gandhi-Nehru-Das pact
• A pact was signed between Gandhi on one side and Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das on the other to end
the conflict within the Congress. It was ratified at the Belgaum session.
• By the agreement, the Congress acknowledged that the Swarajists represented it in the Councils. In
return, the Swarajists agreed that only those who spun Khadi could be members of the Congress.

7.3. Communalism

• As the non-cooperation movement faded, the people got frustrated, and communal tensions
emerged.
• Even the Swarajist Party was split by communalism—a group of responsivists, including Madan Mo-
han Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, and N.C. Kelkar offered cooperation to the government so that Hindu
interests might be safeguarded. They accused Motilal Nehru of letting down Hindus, of being anti-
Hindu, of favouring cow slaughter, and of eating beef.
• To address the situation, Gandhi intervened and attempted to improve communal relations. In Sep-
tember 1924, he undertook a 21-day fast in Delhi at Maulana Mohammed Ali's house, seeking penance
for the inhumanity revealed in communal riots. However, his efforts had little impact.
• As a result of communalism, the growing feeling that all people were Indians first received a setback.

Factors Contributing to Communal Tension

• There were many reasons for this worsening communal situation:
1. Impact of Khilafat: Religious leaders joined politics through the Khilafat alliance. They shaped a
religious interpretation of politics that persisted even after the movement's withdrawal. 172

2. Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms: The introduction of separate electorates resulted in the rise of

communalism in the political system. The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919 further expanded
MIH-II – Post-1857

this system, providing a space for communal propaganda and aligning politics along communal
lines.
3. Unemployment and Education: The spread of education didn't match the growth in job oppor-
tunities. This resulted in a surplus of unemployed, educated individuals who used the religion for
employment, favours, etc., contributing to communal tensions.

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Communalism Signs (1922-1927)

• After 1923, the country was repeatedly plunged into communal riots. U.P. witnessed 91 riots between
1923-1927.
• Issues like cow slaughter and music before mosques became prominent.
• Hindu Mahasabha, formed in 1915, became active now.
• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925.
• Muslim League revived during 1922-23, openly advocating separatist politics.
• Movements like Tabligh (propaganda) and Tanzim (organisation) emerged among Muslims. They
were partly a response to Shuddhi and Sangathan among the Hindus.

Tablighi Jamaat
• Tablighi Jamaat is an international Islamic religious movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to
be more religiously observant. It also encourages fellow members to return to practising their religion
according to the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• It is a proselytising movement (attempts to instil beliefs) that aims to reach out to ordinary Muslims
and revive their faith.

Foundation

• The Tablighi Jamaat was founded by a Deobandi Islamic scholar, Maulana Muhammad Ilyas al-Kan-
dhlawi, in Mewat, India, in 1926.
• Inspired by the Deobandi creed, the Tablighis urge fellow Muslims to live like the Prophet did. The
organisation's focus was not on converting people from other faiths into Islam but on ‘purifying’ the
Muslim faith.
• The movement began as an effort to counteract the activities of Hindu revivalist movements such as
Shuddhi (purification) and Sanghatan (consolidation).

7.4. Emergence of New Forces In the 1920s

Rapid Spread of Socialist Ideas

• In 1927, a new trend of socialism emerged. Marxist and other socialist ideas spread rapidly. Politically, 173
this trend reflected the rise of a new left-wing in Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas
Chandra Bose.
The left wing did not confine its attention to the fight against imperialism but also raised the issue
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
of internal class oppression by capitalists and landlords. They also proposed and popularised the pro-
gramme of complete independence.

Background

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• Socialist and Communist groups emerged in the 1920s. The Russian Revolution aroused interest
among many young nationalists. Many of them were dissatisfied with Gandhian political ideas and
programmes and turned to socialist ideology for guidance.
 M.N. Roy became the first Indian to be elected to the leadership of the Communist International.
• In 1924, the government arrested Muzaffar Ahmed and S.A. Dange, accused them of spreading Com-
munist ideas, and tried them along with others in the Kanpur Conspiracy case.
• In 1925, the Communist Party came into existence.

Indian Youth Inspired by Left-wing Leaders

• Indian youth were becoming active. Youth leagues were formed all over the country, and student con-
ferences were held.
• The first All-Bengal Conference of Students presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, was held in August
1928. After this, many other student associations were started in the country, and hundreds of student
and youth conferences were held.
• Moreover, the young Indian nationalists gradually turned to socialism and advocated radical solu-
tions for the country's political, economic, and social ills.

Socialist Ideas among Workers and Peasants

• During this period, several worker and peasant parties advocating Marxist and communist ideas
emerged throughout the country. At the same time, they remained integral parts of the national move-
ment and the National Congress.

Trade Unions
• There was a rapid growth of trade unionism under the leadership of the All-India Trade Union Con-
gress. In 1928, communists led several strikes.
 The Communists played a prominent role in the Railway Workshop workers' strikes of February
and September 1927 at Kharagpur.
 From April to October 1928, the textile workers of Bombay carried on massive strikes, protesting
against the wage cuts. In these strikes, the Communist Girni Kamgar Union played the most prom-
inent role.
174

• A strike was organised at the Tata Iron and Steel Works in Jamshedpur in 1928. Subhas Chandra Bose
played an important role in settling this strike.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Peasant Movement
• The peasants and workers were also once again stirring. In Uttar Pradesh, there was large-scale agita-
tion among tenants for the revision of tenancy laws. The tenants wanted lower rents, protection from
eviction and relief from indebtedness.

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• In Gujarat, the peasants protested against official efforts to increase land revenue. The famous Bardoli
Satyagraha occurred at this time. In 1928, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the peas-
ants organised a No Tax Campaign and, in the end, won their demand.

[UPSC 2020] Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ide-
ological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss.

7.5. Revolutionary Nationalism

• The failure of the first non-cooperation movement led to the revival of the revolutionary move-
ment.

Background
• The revolutionary nationalists were subjected to severe repression during the First World War, and
their movement suffered a decline after 1918.
• Most revolutionary nationalists were released from jails in late 1919 and early 1920 because the
government wanted to create a positive atmosphere for the Montagu Chelmsford reforms.
• The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in 1920. Mahatma Gandhi and C.R. Das urged revo-
lutionary nationalists to join the non-violent mass movement or at least suspend their movement for
its duration.
• To give the Gandhian mass movement a chance, most of the revolutionary nationalists either joined
the movement or suspended their activities. However, the sudden suspension of the Non-Coopera-
tion Movement in early 1922 led to disappointment and discontent among the young participants.
• Many revolutionary nationalists began to question Gandhi's leadership and the very basic strategy of
nonviolent struggle and began to look for alternatives. The pro-changers' parliamentary politics or the
no-changers' constructive work did not attract them. They believed that passive resistance could not
achieve nationalist aims, and therefore, they took to the cult of the bomb.

Two Groups of Revolutionaries

• After 1922, two distinct revolutionary nationalist movements emerged in India:
1. In Punjab, U.P., Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh (Central Provinces): Hindustan Republican Association 175

2. In Bengal: Yugantar, Anushilan group, and Chittagong revolt group

• Both groups were influenced by:
 The growth of socialist ideas
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The rise of a militant trade union movement.

 The Russian Revolution of 1917: Nearly all the revolutionary forces wanted to develop contacts
with the leadership of the new socialist state and seek their ideas, organisation, and material assis-
tance.

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Hindustan Republican Association (Revolutionaries in Northern India)

• In October 1924, revolutionaries of northern India reorganised under the leadership of Sachindranath
Sanyal, Jogesh Chatterjee and Ramprasad Bismil at Kanpur and founded the Hindustan Republican
Association (or Army) (HRA) to organise an armed revolution.
• They set out the objective of organising an armed revolution to overthrow British rule and establish
a Federal Republic of the United States of India with a government elected by an adult franchise.
• To finance their organisation, the HRA leaders decided to organise dacoities against the Government.
The most important of these was the Kakori robbery.

Kakori Train Robbery (1925)

• On 9th August 1925, an official treasury of a train was robbed at Kakori (near Lucknow) by ten mem-
bers of the HRA. During the heist, an innocent passenger was accidentally killed.
• The government's reaction was very strong. It arrested and tried many youths in the Kakori conspiracy
case (1925). Seventeen were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, four were transported for life,
and four - Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh were hanged.

Ram Prasad Bismil

• In 1925, Ram Prasad Bismil, along with his associates, was hanged by the British for their involvement
in the Kakori Conspiracy Case.
• When Bismil was taken to the gallows, he uttered the lines of an Urdu poem: “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna
ab humare dil mei hai, Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mei hai.”
• The poem from which these lines were taken is said to have been originally written by Bismil Azima-
badi, a poet from Patna in Bihar, in the early 1920s. These lines became a source of inspiration for
the youth of the country and a popular slogan in India’s freedom struggle.

[Prelims Practice] Who among the following was NOT associated with the Kakori Conspir-
acy Case?
1. Ramprasad Bismil
2. Rajendra Lahiri
3. Ashfaqulla Khan
176

4. Surya Sen
Answer: Option D
MIH-II – Post-1857

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)

• The Kakori case weakened the revolutionary movement, but a new group of young men came for-
ward to fill the void.

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• Bejoy Kumar Sinha, Shiv Verma, and Jaidev Kumar in U.P., along with Bhagat Singh, Bhagwati Charan
Vohra, and Sukhdev in Punjab, initiated the reorganisation of the Hindustan Republican Association
(HRA) under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad. They were influenced by socialist ideas.
• Finally, nearly all the major young revolutionaries of northern India, including Bhagat Singh, Jatindra
Nath Sanyal, Ajay Ghosh and Phanindranath Ghosh, met at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi on Sep-
tember 9 and 10, 1928, under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad. They accepted Socialism as
their official goal and changed the party's name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
(Army) (HSRA).
• They gradually moved away from individual heroic actions and acts of violence. But when Lala Lajpat
Rai died because of a brutal lathi-charge when he was leading an anti-Simon Commission demonstra-
tion, they once again took recourse to the earlier practice of individual assassination.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following was/were the founder member(s) of the Hindu-
stan Socialist Republican Army established in September 1928?
1. Bhagat Singh
2. Jatindranath
3. Ajoy Ghosh
4. Phanindranath Ghosh
Select the correct answer using the code given below
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 2 and 3 only
d) 1,2,3 and 4
Answer: Option D

Assassination of Saunders
• Scott, Superintendent of Police, had given the orders for a brutal lathi charge on peaceful protesters,
which led to the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
• On 17 December 1927, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru mistakenly targeted and killed Assistant
Superintendent of Police John Saunders, while their actual aim was Superintendent of Police James
177

Scott.

Central Legislative Assembly Bombing

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The HSRA leadership decided to let the people know about their changed political objectives and the
need for a revolution by the masses.
• Consequently, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8
April 1929 to protest against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill, which

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would reduce civil liberties in general and curb the right of workers to organise and struggle in par-
ticular, and against the "wholesale arrests of the leader of the labour movement".
• Trade Disputes Act introduced tribunals for settling workers' problems and practically banned
strikes that "coerced" the Government or caused hardship to the people.
• The bomb did not harm anyone, for it had been deliberately made harmless. The aim was not to kill
but to make the deaf hear.
• Bhagat Singh and B. Dutt could have easily escaped after throwing the bomb, but they deliberately
chose to be arrested. They wanted to use the court as a forum for revolutionary propaganda so that
the programme and ideology of the HSRA could be widely propagated among the people.
• Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt were tried in the Assembly Bomb Case. Bhagat Singh received a life
imprisonment sentence, which was postponed until the verdict in the Saunders case (Lahore Conspir-
acy Case).

Lahore Conspiracy Case

• Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, and several others were tried for the assassination of Saunders in the
Lahore Conspiracy case.
• Bhagat Singh and his comrades turned the court into a forum of propaganda. Their statements were
published in newspapers and widely discussed by the people. Their defiant and courageous conduct
in the court won them the admiration of the people. Even believers in non-violence loved them for their
patriotism.
• Bhagat Singh and his comrades undertook a hunger strike as a protest against the horrible conditions
in the prisons. As political prisoners, they demanded honourable and decent treatment. During this
hunger strike, Jatin Das achieved martyrdom after 63 days of epic fasting.
• Many revolutionaries were convicted in the Lahore Conspiracy Case and other similar cases and sen-
tenced to long terms of imprisonment. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were executed on 23
March 1931, despite popular protest.
• As the news of their hanging spread, millions of people shed tears, fasted, and refused to attend schools
or carry on their daily work. Bhagat Singh soon became a legend in the country. His photographs
adorned homes. Hundreds of songs were composed and sung about him. His popularity rivalled that
of Gandhiji.
178

Ideological Development of North-Indian Revolutionaries

MIH-II – Post-1857

Hindustan Republican Association

• The HSRA developed an advanced social ideology to guide its activities. The groundwork for this ide-
ology began in the earlier Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) phase itself. The HRA had already
started formulating a programme based on a broad secular, democratic and socialist framework.

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• In 1925, the HRA's manifesto outlined its objective as the establishment of a Federal Republic of the
United States of India through an organised and armed revolution. The fundamental principle of this
Republic was to be "universal suffrage and the abolition of all systems which make any kind of ex-
ploitation of man by man possible."
• During a meeting in October 1924, the HRA's founding council decided to preach social revolution,
initiating efforts to start a labour-peasant organisation and promote communistic principles. They
advocated for the nationalisation of railways and large-scale industries like steel, ship-building, and
mines.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

• A major shift in the ideological development of the revolutionary terrorists occurred when young leaders
such as Bejoy Sinha, Shiv Varma, Sukhdev, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Bhagat Singh turned to So-
cialism and Marxism. This shift is best epitomised in the life and thoughts of Bhagat Singh, many of
whose letters, statements and writings have now become available.
• The HSRA Manifesto to the Congress in 1929 stated: "The hope of the proletariat (working class or
class of ordinary people) now centred in socialism, which alone can lead to the establishment of com-
plete independence and the removal of all social distinctions and privileges."
• The Philosophy of the Bomb, written by Bhagwati Charan Vohra, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Yashpal,
defined revolution as "independence, social, political, and economic" and aimed to establish "a new
order of society in which political and economic exploitation will be an impossibility."
• In the Assembly Bomb Case, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt told the court: "Revolution does not necessarily
involve violent conflict. It is not about the worship of bombs and pistols. By 'Revolution,' we mean the
current system founded on apparent injustice must change.”

Bhagat Singh
• Bhagat Singh was born in 1907 in a patriotic family. His uncle was the famous revolutionary Ajit Singh.
The Ghadar hero, Kartar Singh Sarabh, deeply influenced him.
• Bhagat Singh was a voracious reader who read extensive literature on socialism, the Soviet Union and
revolutionary movements worldwide.

Towards Mass-Based Movements

179

• Before his arrest in 1929, Bhagat Singh had already abandoned his faith in terrorism and individual
heroic action. He came to believe that only broad, popular, mass-based movements could liberate
MIH-II – Post-1857

India and mankind from servitude.

• Bhagat Singh insisted that revolution could only be achieved 'by the masses, for the masses.' That is
why he helped found the Naujawan Bharat Sabha in 1926 to carry out political work among the
youth, peasants, and workers. Just before his execution, he declared that "the real revolutionary ar-
mies are in the villages and factories".

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Rejection of the "Bomb Cult"

• Bhagat Singh never associated revolution with the bomb cult. This is evident when, in 1929, he and
B.K. Dutt threw a relatively harmless bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly.
• In his final advice, a testament to young political workers written on February 2, 1931, Bhagat Singh
stated, 'Apparently, I have acted like a terrorist. But I am not a terrorist, and I never was, except
perhaps at the beginning of my revolutionary career. And I am convinced that we cannot gain anything
through those methods.'

Revolution for Social Equality

• Bhagat Singh and his comrades redefined the concept and purpose of the Revolution. They moved
away from associating it solely with militancy or violence. Their primary goal was national liberation,
followed by the establishment of a new socialist society.
• They emphasised the need to eradicate the "exploitation of man by man and nation by nation." Their
perspective went beyond mere armed resistance, focusing on fundamental social transformation and
the creation of a more just and equitable society.

Naujawan Bharat Sabha (1926)

• Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary companions founded Naujawan Bharat Sabha in March 1926
in Lahore. Later, its branches were established in various parts of Punjab.
• Naujawan Bharat Sabha was originally established with the main aim of inculcating nationalist and
revolutionary ideologies among the young students and workers of Punjab. Its activities awakened
political consciousness in Punjab and mobilised the youth, peasants and workers towards the na-
tionalist movement.
• Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Kirti Kisan Party pledged to join forces and work to uplift the
impoverished peasantry and spread the message of justice and egalitarianism among the masses.
• Sohan Singh Josh, the noted peasant leader and freedom fighter from Amritsar, has also been
elected as its president.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following statements about Bhagat Singh is/are NOT true?
1. Bhagat Singh was influenced by socialist ideas
180

2. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

3. Bhagat Singh threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929 with the objective to kill
MIH-II – Post-1857

as many people as possible

Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 and 3
b) 2 and 3
c) 2 only

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d) 3 only
Answer: Option D

Revolutionaries in Bengal
• In Bengal, the revolutionary nationalists started reorganising after 1922. They resumed large-scale
nationalist propaganda in the press and developed their underground activities.
• Simultaneously, they continued to work in the Congress organisation while continuing their revolu-
tionary activities. Their strategic involvement in Congress was based on the realisation that the Con-
gress, under Gandhiji's leadership, had built a large support base among the masses. By working with
the Congress, the revolutionaries were able to connect with the youth and other sections of society.
• During this period, the Yugantar and Anushilan groups underwent reorganisation, and a new group
called the Chittagong Revolt Group, led by Surya Sen, emerged.

Surya Sen

• Surya Sen had actively participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement and had become a teacher
in a national school in a village in Chittagong. This led to his being popularly known as Masterda.
• Surya Sen was arrested in 1926 and released in 1928. He continued to work in the Congress and in
1929, he was the Secretary of the Chittagong District Congress Committee.
• Surya Sen gathered a large band of revolutionary youth, including Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh, Am-
bika Chakravarty and Loknath Pau. In early 1929, they decided to organise an armed rebellion, even
on a small scale, to demonstrate that British rule could be challenged through arms. In order to equip
themselves adequately with arms, they planned to raid armouries in several districts.
• In April 1930, Surya Sen led a meticulously planned and large-scale armed raid on the government
armoury in Chittagong. The raid was conducted under the banner of the Indian Republican Army,
Chittagong Branch.
• Various revolutionary groups assembled outside the police armoury, where Surya Sen was officially
declared the President of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. During the raid, the Union Jack
was replaced with the National Flag amid chants of "Bande Mataram" and "Inquilab Zindabad."
• Since it was not possible to fight the British forces, they launched guerrilla warfare from the neigh-
bouring villages. Despite severe suppression, the revolutionaries survived for nearly three years be-
181

cause of shelter and support provided by the villages; most of them were Muslim.
• Surya Sen was finally arrested on 16 February 1933, tried and hanged on 12 January 1934.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The new phase of revolutionary nationalism in Bengal made an advance in three aspects:
1. The large-scale participation of young women.
2. Instead of an individual’s act of heroism or the assassination of an individual, theirs was a group
action aimed at the organs of the colonial state.

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3. The revolutionaries of the 1920s and 1930s gradually abandoned religiosity and stopped taking
religious oaths. Many of the groups now included Muslims.
• However, unlike Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Bengal revolutionaries failed to evolve a broader
radical socio-economic programme. Most of the revolutionaries working in the Swaraj Party also
failed to support the cause of the peasantry against the zamindars.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following statements about the Chittagong group is NOT
correct?
1. Its membership included a large number of youth including Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Baul and
Anant Singh
2. Its leader Surya Sen had been a lawyer in Dhaka before joining the group
3. Surya Sen and his group were closely associated with Congress work in Chittagong
4. This group had prepared an action plan to occupy the armouries in Chittagong
Answer: Option B

Young Women Revolutionaries

• In Surya Sen's group, young women not only provided shelter and acted as messengers and carriers of
arms but also fought with a gun in hand.

Kalpana Dutta

• Kalpana Dutta carried out the Chittagong armoury raid along with Surya Sen. During the police raid
on 16 February 1933, Surya Sen was arrested, but Kalpana managed to escape.
• Kalpana was arrested on May 19, 1933, and was tried alongside Surya Sen. She was sentenced to life
imprisonment. She was released in 1939.

Santi Ghose and Suniti Choudhury

• On 14 December 1931, Santi Ghose and Suniti Chowdhury, both 16 at that time, walked into the office
of Charles Stevens, the district magistrate of Comilla, under the pretence that they wanted to present
candies and chocolates to the magistrate before Christmas and shot him dead.

Bina Das 182

• On 6 February 1932, Bina Das attempted to assassinate Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson while
receiving her degree at convocation. She fired five shots but failed.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Pritilata Waddedar

• In September 1932, Pritilata Waddedar was injured while attacking the Pahartali European Club,
which had a signboard that read "Dogs and Indians not allowed". To avoid arrest, she committed
suicide by consuming potassium cyanide.
• Pritilata Waddedar is praised as "Bengal's first woman martyr".

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Decline of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement

• The revolutionary nationalist movement gradually declined in the 1930s for several reasons:
1. Gandhi's Non-violent Approach: The mainstream of the national movement, led by Gandhi, op-
posed violence and terrorism even though its leaders admired the bravery of the youthful practi-
tioners.
2. Government Repression: The government took strong action against the revolutionaries.
3. Death of Azad and Surya Sen: With the death of Chandrashekar Azad on 27 February 1931 in an
encounter with the police in a public park at Allahabad, the revolutionary movement in northern
India came to a virtual end. Surya Sen's martyrdom marked the virtual collapse of revolutionary
terrorism in Bengal.
4. Reconsideration by Revolutionaries: Inspired by Bhagat Singh, Revolutionaries re-evaluated
their political stance and shifted towards Marxism. Many joined the Communist Party, the Con-
gress Socialist Party, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and other left parties and groups. Others joined
the Gandhian wing of the Congress.
• While the revolutionary nationalists of the 1920s and 1930s fell short of their goal of initiating a mass-
based armed struggle or connecting with the masses directly, they significantly contributed to the on-
going national struggle against colonialism.
• Their courage, sacrifice, and profound patriotism stirred the Indian people, particularly the youth, and
gave them pride and self-confidence. In north India, Bhagat Singh and his comrades also showed the
seeds of socialist thought and movement.

7.6. Unsung Heroes

Sachindranath Sanyal
• Sachindranath Sanyal was born into a migrant Bengali family in Varanasi. In 1907, he moved to Calcutta
to work in the Anushilan Samiti.
• In 1912, Sanyal, along with Rashbehari Bose, attacked Viceroy Hardinge and injured him while Har-
dinge was entering the new capital of Delhi.
• In 1915, Sanyal participated in the Ghadar party conspiracy to incite a military revolt, which ulti- 183
mately failed. Later, he helped Rashbehari Bose escape to Japan.
• In 1915, Sanyal was transported to the cellular jail for life. During his imprisonment in the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, he penned his book Bandi Jeevan (A Life of Captivity, 1922).
MIH-II – Post-1857

• When Sanyal was released, he founded the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) along with other
revolutionaries. He mentored revolutionists like Chandrashekar Azad and Bhagat Singh.
• Sanyal was arrested in the Kakori Conspiracy Case and sent to the cellular jail for the second time in
1927. He has the unique distinction of being imprisoned twice in the Cellular Jail (Port Blair).

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• After his release in 1937, during World War II, Sanyal supported the move to liberate India with Japa-
nese help and was imprisoned under the Defense of India Act in 1941. He passed away on 7 February
1942 due to tuberculosis.

Infamous Argument Between Sanyal and Gandhi

• It is said that while Sanyal vehemently opposed Gandhiji's gradualist approach, Gandhiji countered
him by reiterating that non-violence was the only sensible way forward.

Rajendra Nath Lahiri

• Rajendra Nath Lahiri was the mastermind behind the Kakori conspiracy and the Dakshineshwar
bombing.
• Among the Kakori martyrs, Ashfaqullah Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil and Roshan Singh were hanged on
December 19, 1927. Lahiri was hanged on 17 December 1927, two days before his specified execution
date, because the British authorities feared that the revolutionaries would attempt yet another escape.
• Lahiri's hanging stands out not just in revolutionary history but also in the history of capital punishment
in general, as it was the first time that a death sentence was carried out ahead of schedule.

Bhagvati Charan Vohra

• Bhagvati Charan Vohra was a member of HSRA. He rented a room in Lahore in 1929 and used it as a
bomb factory.
• Bhagvati planned and executed a bomb blast on December 23, 1929, under the train of Viceroy Lord
Irwin on the Delhi-Agra railway line. The viceroy escaped unharmed.
• Gandhi criticised the Bhagvati’s act of bomb blast in his article "The Cult of Bomb." In response to
Gandhi's article, Vohra, in consultation with Azad, wrote an article, “The Philosophy of Bomb.”
• Bhagvati had also planned to bomb the jail to free Bhagat Singh, but sadly, he died while testing the
bomb on the banks of Ravi near Lahore.

Who among the following wrote The Philosophy of the Bomb?

a) Sukhdev
b) Chandrashekhar Azad
c) Bhagwati Charan Vohra
184

d) Bhagat Singh
Answer: Option c
MIH-II – Post-1857

Durgawati Devi/Durga Bhabhi (Agni of India)

• Durgawati Devi was an Indian revolutionary and active member of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
• Since Durgawati was the wife of another HSRA member, Bhagwati Charan Vohra, other members of
HSRA referred to her as Bhabhi and became popular as "Durga Bhabhi" in Indian revolutionary circles.

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• Durgawati, along with her husband, helped Vimal Prasad Jain, an HSRA member, in running a bomb
factory named 'Himalayan Toilets' (a smokescreen to hide the agenda of making bombs) at Qutub
Road, Delhi.
• Durga Bhabhi assisted in the escape of Bhagat Singh from Lahore after the Saunders killing (1928).
Durga Bhabhi and Bhagat Singh were duped as a couple and escaped to Calcutta with Rajguru as their
servant.
• After Bhagat Singh surrendered himself for the 1929 Assembly bomb-throwing incident, Durga Bhabhi
made an assassination attempt on Lord Hailey, who was then the Governor of UP and a former
Governor of Punjab. Although Lord Hailey managed to escape, many of his associates were killed.
• Durga Bhabhi was later captured by the police and imprisoned for three years.

Manmath Nath Gupta (1908-2000)

• Manmath Nath Gupta was a revolutionary and author born in 1908 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. At the
age of 13, he participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921.
• Gupta Was an active member of the Hindustan Republican Association and participated in the famous
Kakori train robbery in 1925.
• Gupta wrote several books on the history of the Indian struggle for independence from a revolutionary's
point of view, such as Bhartiya Krantikari Andolan Ka Itihas. He was also the editor of the Hindi literary
magazine 'Aajkal.'

7.7. Summary

• The period of 1922-29 was characterised by:

1. Twin programme of council entry and constructive works.
2. Acute Hindu-Muslim tensions and outbreak of communal violence
3. Rise of revolutionary nationalism

Pro-changers (Swarajists) and No-Changers

• After the non-cooperation movement, there were differences among the leaders regarding how to
continue political work during non-active phases. Some advocated the council-entry programme,
known as pro-changes, while others continued to support the boycott of the councils, known as no-
185

changers.
• Pro-changers (swarajists) led by C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and Ajmal Khan wanted to join Legislative
MIH-II – Post-1857

Councils, disrupt their functioning, highlight their flaws, and use them to arouse public enthusiasm.
• The no-changers, led by C. Rajagopalachari, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Ansari, Babu Rajendra Pra-
sad, and others, opposed Council entry. They advocated the continuation of Gandhi’s constructive
programme of spinning, temperance, Hindu-Muslim unity, and removal of untouchability to prepare
the country for the next round of mass movements.

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Swaraj Party
• A resolution for the council entry was defeated in the Gaya Congress session presided over by C. R.
Das. Subsequently, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru resigned from their positions as President and Secre-
tary of Congress, respectively and founded a new party, Congress Khilafat Swaraj Party.
• On Gandhiji's advice, the two groups agreed to remain in Congress, though they would work sepa-
rately. The new party was to function as a group within Congress. It accepted the Congress pro-
gramme except in one respect— it would participate in Council elections.
• In the 1923 election, the Swaraj Party won 42 of the 101 elected seats in the Central Legislative As-
sembly. With the cooperation of other Indian groups, Swarajists repeatedly outvoted the Government
in the Central Assembly and several Provincial Councils. They defeated the Public Safety Bill in 1928.
• The swarajists were split between Responsivists and Non-cooperators.

Revolutionary Nationalism
• After 1922, two distinct revolutionary nationalist movements emerged in India:
1. Hindustan Republican Association
2. Chittagong revolt group

Hindustan Republican Association

• In October 1924, revolutionaries of northern India reorganised under the leadership of Sachindranath
Sanyal, Jogesh Chatterjee and Ramprasad Bismil at Kanpur. They founded the Hindustan Republican
Association (or Army) (HRA) to organise an armed revolution.
• To finance their organisation, the HRA leaders decided to organise dacoities against the Government.
The most important of these was the Kakori robbery.
• The major young revolutionaries of northern India, including Bhagat Singh, Jatindra Nath Sanyal, Ajay
Ghosh and Phanindranath Ghosh, met at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi on September 9 and 10,
1928, under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad. They accepted Socialism as their official goal
and changed the party's name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (Army) (HSRA).
• They gradually moved away from individual heroic actions and acts of violence. The HSRA members
were involved in the assassination of Saunders and the Central Legislative Assembly bombing. 186

Chittagong Revolt Group

• In Bengal, a new group of revolutionary nationalists called the Chittagong Revolt Group, led by Surya
MIH-II – Post-1857

Sen, emerged.
• In early 1929, they decided to organise an armed rebellion to demonstrate that British rule could be
challenged through arms. To equip themselves adequately with arms, they planned to raid armouries
in several districts.

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• In April 1930, Surya Sen led a large-scale armed raid on the government armoury in Chittagong. The
raid was conducted under the banner of the Indian Republican Army, Chittagong Branch.
• In Surya Sen's group, young women not only provided shelter and acted as messengers and carriers
of arms but also fought with a gun in hand.
 Kalpana Dutta carried out the Chittagong armoury raid along with Surya Sen.
 Santi Ghose and Suniti Chowdhury shot dead Charles Stevens, the district magistrate of Comilla.
 Bina Das attempted to assassinate Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson.
 Pritilata Waddedar attacked the Pahartali European Club. To avoid arrest, she committed suicide
by consuming potassium cyanide.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

187
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8. Simon Commission to Poorna Swaraj

The Grim Situation of 1927

• By 1927, the situation in the country appeared to be dark indeed. There was general political apathy:
 Gandhi was living in retirement.
 The Swarajists were split.
 Communalism was flourishing.
 Revolutionary activities were increasing.
• Gandhi wrote in May 1927: “My only hope lies in prayer and answer to prayer."
• Yet, behind the scenes, the forces of national resurgence had been gaining strength. In November 1927,
when the Simon Commission was announced, India stepped out of the darkness and entered a new
era of political struggle.

8.1. Boycott of Simon Commission

Simon Commission
• The Act of 1919 provided for the appointment of a Commission to assess the functioning of the
government at the end of ten years.
• Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, announced on 8 November 1927 the appointment of
an Indian Statutory Commission (Simon Commission) under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon to
review and propose constitutional reforms for India.
• The Commission aimed:
 To inquire into the working of provincial governments
 To examine how far the representative institutions were functioning satisfactorily.
 To draft the outline for the future progress in establishing responsible government (constitutional
reforms)

Early appointment of the Commission

• Although constitutional reforms were due only in 1929, the Conservative government of Britain
188

appointed a Simon Commission in 1927. This was because of the following factors:
1. The political situation in Britain: In the general election due in 1929, the Labour Party was
MIH-II – Post-1857

expected to win. The conservative government in Britain did not want to leave the question of
India in the hands of the Labour government.
2. The British government wanted to send the delegation at a time when the communal situation
had deteriorated so that the Commission could form a low opinion about the capacity of Indians
to govern themselves.

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3. Nationalist Opinion: Indian nationalists demanded a complete revision of the constitutional

system.
4. The activities of the Swaraj party and the youth activities led by Nehru and Bose.
• The Simon Commission had seven members, who were representatives of the three major parties in
Britain – Conservative, Liberal, and Labour. However, there was no Indian representative. According to
the British government, Indians were excluded because:
1. The committee was required to report its proceedings to the British Parliament.
2. There was no unanimity of Indian opinion on the problem of constitutional development.
• In reality, the Indians were excluded because Birkenhead was afraid that in a mixed commission, there
could be an alliance between the Indian and British Labour representatives (who were sympathetic
to Indians).

Boycott of Commission
• The exclusion from the commission angered Indians. British action was seen as a violation of the
principle of self-determination and a deliberate insult to the self-respect of the Indians.
• At its Madras Congress session in 1927, presided over by Dr. Ansari, the INC decided to boycott the
Commission at every stage and in every form. A section of the Muslim League led by Jinnah, Hindu
Mahasabha, the Liberals Federation, etc., supported the call for the boycott.
• Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and others opposed the Simon Commission on the grounds
that only Indians should have a say in framing the constitution of India.
• The Muslim League led by Muhammed Shafi, the Justice Party in Madras, the Central Sikh Sangh,
Unionists in Punjab, Bahishkrit Hitakarni Sabha under Ambedkar and the All India Achut Federa-
tion did not oppose the Commission.
Supporters of the Simon Commission Opponents of the Simon Commission
Conservatives in the UK Indian National Congress (INC)
Muslim League led by Muhammed Shafi Muslim League led by M. A. Jinnah
Justice Party in Madras Hindu Mahasabha
Unionists in Punjab Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and others
Bahishkrit Hitakarni Sabha 189

• The Simon Commission provided the catalyst for a new phase of movement. It united, at least tem-
porarily, different groups and parties in the country. As a gesture of solidarity with the nationalists,
MIH-II – Post-1857

the Muslim League even accepted the principle of joint electorates, provided seats were reserved for
the Muslims.
• On 3 February 1928, the day the Commission reached Bombay, an all-India hartal was organised.
Wherever the Commission went, it was greeted with hartals and black-flag demonstrations under the

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slogan Simon Go Back. The boycott turned into a protest movement, and the scenes of Non-cooper-
ation days were revived. Crowds could not be held back even by bullets and lathis.
• Youth played an important role in the boycott of the Simon Commission. Indian youth became active.
All over the country, youth leagues were formed, and student conferences were held under the leader-
ship of Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose.
 The Commission visited India twice (February-March 1928, October 1928-April 1929). On both occa-
sions, it faced a boycott. Despite this, the Commission published its report in May 1930.

Government’s Response
• The government used brutal suppression and police attacks to break the popular opposition. Even
the senior leaders were not spared.
 Jawaharlal Nehru and G.B. Pant were beaten up in Lucknow.
 In Lahore, a march led by Lala Lajpat Rai was lathi-charged, and Lalaji succumbed to his injuries.
 A revolutionary group led by Bhagat Singh avenged Lala Lajpat Rai's death by killing Assistant Police
Superintendent, Saunders.

[UPSC CSE 2013] The people of India agitated against the arrival of the Simon Commission
because
a) Indians never wanted the review of the working of the Act of 1919
b) Simon Commission recommended the abolition of Dyarchy (Diarchy) in the provinces
c) there was no Indian member in the Simon Commission
d) the Simon Commission suggested the partition of the country
Answer: Option c

Simon Commission Report

• In May 1930, the Simon Commission Report was published. By that time, it had lost its relevance as
several events had surpassed the importance of its recommendations.
• Almost all Indian parties rejected the report, and the Indian masses enthusiastically participated in
the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The report became the basis for enacting the Government of India Act of 1935. It recommended:
190

 The abolition of Dyarchy (Diarchy) and the establishment of responsible unitary government in
the provinces.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The retention of separate electorates.

 The reservation of seats for depressed classes.
 The federal structure of the Government. It stated that in order to cope with the diversity of the
country, the ultimate character of the Indian government had to be federal.
 Separation of Burma from India and Sindh from Bombay.

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• The Report did not recommend the establishment of either a responsible government or a dyarchy
at the centre. It declared that the responsible government at the centre would be established in future,
i.e. wait indefinitely.
• Simon Commission's observations regarding Dominion status were not very clear. It recommended
that a Greater India consisting of British India and the Princely States as a federal association be estab-
lished in the future, but the clause of British Paramountcy (with the Viceroy as the agent of paramount
power) was to remain.

Yusuf Meherally (1903–1950)

• Yusuf Meherally was an Indian freedom fighter and socialist leader.

• He founded the Bombay Youth League in 1928.
• He coined the slogans “Simon Go Back” and “Quit India.”
• He was elected Mayor of Bombay in 1942 while imprisoned in Yerawada Central Prison.

[UPSC CSE 2010] With reference to Simon Commission's recommendations, which one of
the following statements is correct?
a) It recommends the replacement of Dyarchy with responsible government in the provinces.
b) It proposed the setting up of inter provincial council under the Home Department.
c) It suggested the abolition of bicameral Legislature at the centre.
d) It recommended the creation of Indian Police Service with the provision for increased pay and
allowances for British recruits as compared to Indian recruits.
Answer: Option A

8.2. Nehru Report

Background
Lord Birkenhead's Challenge (1925)
• In 1925, Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, challenged the Indians to frame a Constitu-
tion agreed upon by all Indians.

Guwahati Session (1926)

191

• During the Guwahati session of the INC, presided over by Srinivasa Iyengar in December 1926, when
tensions were high between Hindus and Muslims, the Congress passed a resolution.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The resolution urged the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to work with Hindu and Muslim leaders
to develop measures for resolving the differences between the two communities and submit their
report to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) before 31st March 1927.

Delhi Proposals (1927)

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• On March 20, 1927, some prominent Muslim leaders met in Delhi and put forward certain proposals
on the Hindu-Muslim problem. These proposals laid down that Muslims were prepared to agree to joint
electorates in all provinces and the central legislature, provided that the following conditions were
met:
1. The Muslims were to be given a minimum of one-third representation in the central legislature.
2. In the Punjab and Bengal (Muslim-majority provinces), representation was to be given in propor-
tion to the population.
3. Three Muslim-majority provinces should be formed - Sindh, North-West Frontier Province
(NWFP), and Baluchistan.
 Sindh was to be made into a separate Muslim-majority province.
 The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan should be raised to the status of self-
governing provinces.
• Jinnah played an important role in preparing this list of demands.
• These proposals were communicated to Congress, and the Congress Working Committee passed a
resolution the next day appreciating the decision of the Muslim Conference to accept joint electorates.

Split in the Muslim League

• In 1928, a split took place in the Muslim League. A separate annual session of the League was held
at Lahore under the presidentship of Sir Muhammed Shafi.
• The split was compatible with the British policy of preventing rapprochement between Congress
and the League.

Hindu Mahasabha Demands

• The Hindu Mahasabha opposed the Delhi proposals for:
 Creating new Muslim-majority provinces
 Reservation of seats for Muslims in Muslim-majority states of Punjab and Bengal

All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting

• The All India Congress Committee (AICC) met in Bombay in May 1927. It passed a resolution:
 Accepting Delhi proposals with minor changes suggested by the Hindu leaders that Sindh should 192

not be separated on communal grounds but on general grounds applicable to all provinces.
 Calling upon "the Working Committee to frame a Swaraj Constitution for India in consultation
with the elected members of the central and provincial."
MIH-II – Post-1857

Madras Session (1927)

• At the 1927 Madras Congress Session, presided over by Dr M. A. Ansari, the Working Committee
was authorised to prepare a Swaraj Constitution for India in consultation with other organisations.

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Madras Session of Congress (1927)

• In 1927, the INC held its 42nd Annual Session in Madras. It was presided over by Dr Mukhtar Ahmed
Ansari, the President of the Muslim League.
• The session passed a resolution:
1. Calling for the boycott of the Simon Commission at every stage and in every form
2. Authorising the Working Committee to prepare a Swaraj Constitution for India
3. Objecting to deploying Indian troops in China, Mesopotamia, and Persia.
4. Independence Resolution introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru, which called for Poorna Swa-
raj (complete freedom). It stated for the first time clearly that ‘the Congress declares the Indian
people's desire for complete national independence.’

All Parties Conferences

All Parties Conference, Delhi (February 1928)
• In compliance with the directions in the Madras Congress resolution, the Congress Working Commit-
tee issued invitations to many organisations.
• Representatives of many organisations, such as the Congress, the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha,
the National Liberal Federation, etc., met at an All Party Conference in February 1928, which was pre-
sided over by Dr M.A. Ansari.
• The Conference proposed that the constitution should aim to establish a dominion form of govern-
ment in India. While some members of the Congress opposed this and called for complete independ-
ence, not all parties in the Conference were willing to go that far.
• As a result, the Conference passed a resolution to draft the Constitution, incorporating the provision
for establishing a full responsible government.
 Although the 1927 Madras Congress Session had adopted the goal of complete national independ-
ence, at the All Parties Conference, full Dominion Self-government was declared the desired aim.

All Parties Conference, Bombay (May 1928)

• All Parties Conference in Bombay on May 19, 1928, appointed a committee (Nehru Committee) to
determine the principles of the Constitution for India.
193

• The Committee consisted of Pandit Motilal Nehru as Chairman, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Sir Ali Imam,
G. R. Pradhan, Shuaib Qureshi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Madhaorao Aney, M.R. Jayakar, N. M. Joshi and
MIH-II – Post-1857

Sardar Mangal Singh.

• Jawaharlal Nehru, then the General Secretary of the AICC, also served as the General Secretary of
the Nehru Committee.
 The Nehru Committee was appointed as response to:
 The appointment of the Simon Commission.

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 The challenge given by Lord Birkenhead to Indians, asking them to frame a Constitution agreed
upon by all Indians.

All Parties Conference, Lucknow (August 1928)

• The Nehru Committee prepared a report (Nehru report) and submitted it to the All Parties Conference,
Lucknow, in August 1928.

Nehru Report
The Recommendations of the Nehru Report
 Dominion Status: Attainment of Dominion Status should be considered the next immediate step.
 Joint electorates and Universal adult franchise: Elections should be held by joint electorates on the
basis of adult suffrage, and there should be no separate electorate for any community.
 Reservation for Muslims: Seats would be reserved for Muslims at the Centre and in provinces in
which they were in the minority but not in those provinces where Muslims were in the majority, such
as Punjab and Bengal.
 Reservation for religious minorities: Seats in the legislature should be reserved for religious minor-
ities for ten years.
 Federal structure with a strong Centre: There should be a federal government with residuary pow-
ers vested in the centre (strong centre).
 Parliament: India should have a parliamentary form of government.
 Bi-cameral Legislature: There should be a bi-cameral legislature.
 Responsible government: The executive should be fully responsible to the legislature.
 Linguistic provinces: India should be a federation built on the basis of linguistic provinces and pro-
vincial autonomy.
 Fundamental Rights: The report also recommended the nineteen fundamental rights, including equal
rights for women, freedom to form unions and dissociation of the state from religion in any form.
 The Nehru report omitted the preamble and the definitions excepting the definition of "citizen".

Constitutional status of India under the Nehru Report

• India shall have the same constitutional status similar to the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth
194

of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and the Irish Free State within
the British Empire.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• India will have a Parliament empowered to enact laws for peace, order, and good governance, with an
executive accountable to that Parliament.
• India will be officially designated as the Commonwealth of India.

No distinction between dominion status and responsible government

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• The Nehru report made no distinction between "responsible government" and "dominion form of
government" and had throughout presumed that they meant the same thing. It criticised Malcolm
Hailey for distinguishing between dominion status and responsible government.
• The report stated that a common feature among all dominions was a responsible form of govern-
ment. It also mentioned that they were unaware of the phrase 'responsible government' receiving any
other interpretation elsewhere.

Status of the Princely States and Nehru Report

• In 1927, the people of Princely states formed the State Peoples Conference to advocate for self-gov-
erning institutions. This initiative threatened the interests of the princes, leading them to seek British
assistance. Consequently, a committee chaired by Sir Harcourt Butler was appointed. It emphasised
the preservation of princely states under British Paramountcy.
• The Nehru Report criticised the appointment of the Butler Committee. It stated that the rights and
obligations of British Paramountcy over the princely states should be transferred to the govern-
ment of the Commonwealth of India, and conflicts between the Commonwealth of India and Indian
states were to be referred to the Supreme Court.

Butler Committee (1927)

• In 1927, Sir Harcourt Butler headed a three-member committee appointed to investigate and
clarify the relationship between the paramount power of the British Raj in India and the rulers
of Princely States.
• In the committee's report of 1929, the "paramountcy" doctrine was reaffirmed. It also recom-
mends that the state should not be transferred without their consent to a relationship with a
new government in British India that is responsible for an Indian legislature.

Significance of the Nehru Report

 The Nehru report was the first constitutional document prepared by the Indians for themselves.
 It demolished the British imperialist claim that Indians were incapable of constructive constitutional
politics.
 It served as a precursor to the Indian Constitution. 195

[UPSC CSE 2011] With reference to the period of India freedom struggle, which of the
following was/were recommended by the Nehru Report?
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. Complete Independence for India.

2. Joint electorates for reservation of seats for minorities.
3. Provision of fundamental rights for the people of India in the Constitution.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a) 1 only

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b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: Option B

Aftermath of the Nehru Report

Opposition to Nehru Report
• The Nehru report could not achieve any consensus among the Indian parties and was not accepted
by the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha.
• Within the Congress, the younger section led by J. Nehru and S.C. Bose criticised the Nehru report
because it accepted Dominion Status. They demanded complete independence.
• The Nehru report remained a mere paper document and not a constitutional alternative that it was
expected to be.

Independence for India League (1928)

• The younger section of the Congress was unhappy with the dominion status and advocated for the
complete severance of the British connection with India.
• In 1928, Jawaharlal Nehru, Srinivasa Iyengar, and Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Independence
for India League to present their demand for Purna Swaraj. This league declared purna swaraj, or
complete independence from British rule, as its ultimate goal, not dominion status.
• Srinivasa Iyengar was elected President of the league, with Nehru and Bose as its secretaries.
• The Independence for India League was formed as a pressure group within the Congress. It aimed:
 To counter the concept of Dominion Status.
 To plead for complete independence of India from the British
 To work for the establishment of an Indian republic on Socialist lines

All Party Convention (December 1928)

• The All Party Convention, held at Calcutta in December 1928, failed to pass the Nehru report. Ob-
jections were raised by some of the communal-minded leaders belonging to the Muslim League, the
Hindu Mahasabha and the Sikh League. Jinnah demanded:
196

1. One-third representation of the Muslims in the Central Legislature.

2. Reservation of seats for the Muslims in Bengal and Punjab in proportion to the population.
MIH-II – Post-1857

3. Residual powers should be given to provinces.

• All three demands were ignored, which led Jinnah back to the Shafi faction. This meant that Jinnah
changed his ideal from Gandhi to Shafi and gave his famous fourteen points in March 1929, which
became the basis of the Muslim League's advocacy.

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Calcutta Session (1928)

• Calcutta Congress Session (1928) accepted the Nehru report.
• During the Calcutta session, Gandhiji moved a resolution accepting the Motilal Nehru report's rec-
ommendation of Dominion Status within two years.
• However, Jawaharlal Nehru moved an amendment reiterating the Congress's commitment to inde-
pendence. To arrive at a middle ground, the Congress warned the British that a civil disobedience
movement would start if India was not granted Dominion Status by December 31, 1929.
 Since Lord Irwin showed no signs of taking concrete steps to establish a full Dominion Self-Govern-
ment, the Congress declared on 31 December 1929 that the Nehru Report had ceased to be valid.

Stand of Muslim League in 1929

All India Muslim Conference
• An All India Muslim Conference was held in Delhi on 1 January 1929, and it passed a resolution
emphasising two principles:
1. Since India was a vast country with a lot of diversity, it required a federal system of government in
which the states would have complete autonomy and residuary powers.
2. The system of separate electorates should continue as long as the rights and interests of Muslims
are not safeguarded in the constitution.

Fourteen Points by Jinnah

• In March 1929, Jinnah put forward before the Muslim League a detailed account of Muslim demands
known as fourteen points. The demands included:
1. Separate electorates
2. Federal Constitution with residuary powers vested in the provinces.
3. Provincial autonomy
4. One-third of the seats in the central legislature for the Muslim
5. One-third of Muslim Ministers in central and provincial cabinet
6. Sindh should be separated from the Bombay Presidency.
7. Reforms should be introduced in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan on the same
197

footing as in other provinces.

8. Adequate Muslim representation in all legislatures and elected bodies in every province without
MIH-II – Post-1857

reducing the majority of Muslims in any province to a minority or even equality.

9. Any territorial redistribution should not affect the Muslim majority in the Punjab, Bengal and North-
West Province.
10. The Central Legislature should not change the constitution without the concurrence of the
States

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11. Full religious liberty should be guaranteed to all communities.

12. No bill should be passed in any legislature or any other elected body if three-fourths of the members
of any community in that particular body oppose such a bill
13. Adequate Muslim representation in Services and in self-governing bodies
14. Adequate safeguards for the protection of Muslim religion, culture, education, language and per-
sonal law in the constitution

8.3. Poorna Swaraj

Calcutta Session (1928)

• The 1928 Session of the INC was held in Calcutta. It was presided over by Motilal Nehru.
• The following notable events took place during the Calcutta Congress session in December 1928:
 Gandhi returned to active politics and attended the session.
 The Nehru Report was approved.
 The All India Youth Congress was formed. It emphasised the importance of engaging young leaders
in the freedom movement.
• The younger section of Congress led by J. Nehru and S.C. Bose criticised the Nehru Report for its
acceptance of Dominion Status. They pressed for the acceptance of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or complete inde-
pendence as the goal of the Congress.
• Gandhiji, Motilal Nehru, and other older leaders felt that the government should be given two years
to accept the dominion status. However, due to the opposition of the younger section, this was reduced
to one year.
• Finally, the Calcutta Congress Resolution (1928) declared that if the Government did not accept a
constitution based on Dominion Status on or before 31 December 1929, Congress would adopt com-
plete independence as its goal and launch a civil disobedience movement to attain that goal.

Irwin’s Declaration or Deepavali Declaration (October 31, 1929)

• Before the Simon Commission submitted its Report, the Labour Party came to power in England,
and Ramsay MacDonald became the Prime Minister. Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, was called to London
for consultations.
198

• On 31st October 1929, Lord Irwin declared that the intention behind the 1917 declaration was the
attainment of Dominion Status. The declaration clarified that the British government intended to
MIH-II – Post-1857

grant dominion status to India in the future but did not mention any timeline.
• Lord Irwin also promised a Round Table Conference after the Simon Commission submitted its
report. This conference would bring together both Indians and the British to consider the final proposals
of the Simon Commission before they were submitted to the Parliament in England.

Delhi Manifesto

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• On November 2, 1929, a conference of major national leaders met and issued the Delhi Manifesto.
In this document, they insisted that the Round Table Conference should focus not on debating when
Dominion Status would be granted but on developing a plan for its implementation.
• They also demanded that:
 The Congress should have majority representation at the conference.
 General amnesty for political prisoners and a conciliatory policy by the government
• In December 1929, Viceroy Irwin rejected the demands outlined in the Delhi Manifesto, setting the
stage for confrontation.

Lahore Session of Congress (1929)

• The 44th Session of the INC convened in Lahore from December 29th, 1929, to January 1st, 1930. It was
presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
 Jawaharlal Nehru became the President despite only three out of eighteen Provincial Congress
Committees supporting him. He became a President mainly due to Gandhi’s support.
 With this development, the son succeeded his father (Motilal Nehru was the President of the Con-
gress in 1928) as the official leader of the national movement. This marked a unique family triumph
in the history of modern times.
• The Lahore session of the Congress gave voice to the new, militant spirit. It took the following important
decisions:
 It passed a resolution declaring Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) to be the Congress's
objective.
 It declared that the entire Nehru Committee's Report scheme had become invalid. This was de-
clared because the government had not acted towards establishing a Dominion Self-Government.
 It decided to boycott the Round Table Conference.
 It authorised the Working Committee to launch a Civil Disobedience program, including non-
payment of taxes, whenever deemed appropriate.
 It asked all members of the legislature to resign their seats.
 January 26, 1930, was designated as the first Independence Day to be celebrated annually there-
after. 199

• At midnight on December 31st, 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the newly adopted tri-colour flag
on the banks of the river Ravi. Various areas followed suit.
 Srinivasa Iyengar and Subhas Bose, along with their supporters, walked out of the Lahore session
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and, in 1930, formed the Congress Democratic Party to promote the militant programme.
• On 26th January 1930, Independence Day was celebrated with the hoisting of the national flag and
singing of patriotic songs in various venues.

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• Participants took an independence pledge affirming that it was "the inalienable right of the Indian
people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil" and that "if any
government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them, the people have a further right to
alter it or abolish it".
• Gandhiji himself issued precise instructions as to how the day should be observed. He asked the people
to spend the day doing some constructive work, whether it was spinning, service of 'untouchables',
reunion of Hindus and Muslims, or prohibition work, etc.

Chakra Flag or Poorna Swaraj Flag

• Poorna Swaraj Flag had three horizontal bands in equal proportions: saffron, white, and green. The
flag was rectangular with a ratio of 2:3.
• In the centre of the flag, there was a spinning wheel called the "Chakra," representing the progress
and self-reliance of the common man.

Independence Pledge

• The Working Committee issued the independence pledge drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru. The pledge
was to be adopted at public meetings held throughout India on Purna Swaraj Day. The resolution was
translated and distributed in various provinces.

[UPSC CSE 2014] The 1929 Session of the Indian National Congress is of significance in the
history of the Freedom Movement because the
a) attainment of Self-Government was declared as the objective of the Congress.
b) attainment of Poorna Swaraj was adopted as the goal of the Congress.
c) Non-Cooperation Movement was launched.
d) the decision to participate in the Round Table Conference in London was taken.
Answer: Option B

[UPSC CSE 2012] The Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress (1929) is very im-
portant in history, because
1. The Congress passed a resolution demanding complete independence.
2. The rift between the extremists and moderates was resolved in that Session.
200

3. A resolution was passed rejecting the two-nation theory in that Session.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
MIH-II – Post-1857

a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) None of the above
Answer: Option A

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8.4. Summary

Boycott of Simon Commission

• The Act of 1919 provided for the appointment of a Commission to assess the functioning of the
government at the end of ten years. Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, announced on 8
November 1927 the appointment of an Indian Statutory Commission (Simon Commission) under the
chairmanship of Sir John Simon to review and propose constitutional reforms for India.
• The Simon Commission consisted of seven members, none of whom were Indian. The exclusion from
the commission angered Indians.
• At its Madras Congress session in 1927, presided over by Dr. Ansari, the INC decided to boycott the
Commission. A section of the Muslim League led by Jinnah, Hindu Mahasabha, the Liberals Federa-
tion, etc., supported the call for the boycott.
• On 3 February 1928, the day the Commission reached Bombay, an all-India hartal was organised.
Wherever the Commission went, it was greeted with hartals and black-flag demonstrations under the
slogan Simon Go Back.
• The government used brutal suppression and police attacks to break the popular opposition. In La-
hore, a march led by Lala Lajpat Rai was lathi-charged, and Lalaji succumbed to his injuries.

Nehru Report
• In 1925, Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, challenged the Indians to frame a Constitution
agreed upon by all Indians.
• At the 1927 Madras Congress Session, presided over by Dr M. A. Ansari, the Working Committee was
authorised to prepare a Swaraj Constitution for India in consultation with other organisations.
• Representatives of many organisations, such as the Congress, the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha,
the National Liberal Federation, etc., met at an All Party Conference in February 1928. The Conference
passed a resolution to draft the Constitution based on a dominion form of government in India.
• All Parties Conference in Bombay on May 19, 1928, appointed a Nehru Committee to determine the
principles of the Constitution for India. The Nehru Committee prepared a report (Nehru report) and
submitted it to the All Parties Conference, Lucknow, in August 1928.
201

• The Nehru Report recommended dominion status, parliamentary form of government, joint elec-
torate, and reservation for religious minorities.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Opposition to Nehru Report

• The Nehru report could not achieve any consensus among the Indian parties and was not accepted
by the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha. Within the Congress, the younger section led by J.
Nehru and S.C. Bose criticised the Nehru report. They demanded complete independence.

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• In March 1929, Jinnah gave his famous fourteen points in March 1929, which became the basis of the
Muslim League's advocacy.

Poorna Swaraj
• The 44th Session of the INC presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was convened in Lahore from
December 29th, 1929, to January 1st, 1930. The Lahore Session:
 Passed a resolution declaring Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) to be the Congress's ob-
jective.
 Declared that the entire Nehru Committee's Report scheme had become invalid.
 Decided to boycott the Round Table Conference.
 Authorised the Working Committee to launch a Civil Disobedience program.
 Asked all members of the legislature to resign their seats.
 Designated January 26, 1930, as the first Independence Day

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

202
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9. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)

9.1. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)

• During the Lahore session of Congress (1929), it was declared that a civil disobedience movement
would be initiated. However, the detailed plan of action was not outlined. It authorised the Congress
Working Committee (CWC) to launch a Civil Disobedience program, including non-payment of taxes,
whenever deemed appropriate.

Gandhi’s Eleven Demands

• On 25 January 1930, the Viceroy's speech to the Assembly made it clear that the British government
had no interest in conceding Dominion Status to India anytime soon.
• On 31st January, Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands. Gandhi stated that if
the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the Congress would launch a civil disobedience cam-
paign.
• The eleven demands were:
1. Reduce the rupee-sterling ratio to 1s 4d (1 shilling and 4 pence)
2. Reduce land revenue by half and make it a subject of legislative control
3. Abolish the salt tax and the government's monopoly on salt
4. Reduce salaries of highest-grade services and military expenditure by half.
5. Release all political prisoners.
6. Protect Indian textiles by imposing a customs duty on foreign cloth.
7. Reserve coastal shipping for Indians.
8. Prohibition of intoxicants
9. Reform in the Criminal Investigation Department
10. Accept Postal Reservation Bill
11. Issue license of arms to citizens for self-protection
• To many observers, including J. Nehru, this set of demands appeared to be a step back from the goal
of Purna Swaraj.
203

• On 2nd March 1930, Gandhi sent a letter to Lord Irwin. The letter explained why he considered British
rule in India a ‘curse.’ Furthermore, he emphasised his desire to convert the British mindset through
MIH-II – Post-1857

nonviolence, thereby allowing them to understand the evil they had perpetrated against India.
• In this letter, Gandhi also informed Lord Irwin about his intention to begin the Salt March to break
the Salt Law if the British government did not respond to his request to remove the Law restricting
private salt production.
• Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. So, Mahatma Gandhi started the salt march on March 12, 1930.

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CWC Meeting (February 1930)

• In February 1930, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met at Sabarmati Ashram and entrusted
Gandhiji with the responsibility of launching the civil disobedience movement. The entire Congress
organisation was placed at his disposal.

Dandi March (Salt March) (12 March 1930 – 6 April 1930)

• Under colonial rule, the British government introduced the Salt law in 1882, wherein the colonial state
established a monopoly over the production, gathering, storing, and even selling of salt. Indians were
forced to buy salt from the government with heavy taxes.
• Gandhi believed the colonial state had no right to monopolise something as essential as salt. In March,
Gandhi launched the civil disobedience movement by breaking the unjust salt law.

Why the Salt Satyagraha?

• Gandhi chose salt as the symbol of protest due to its vital importance and the unjust taxation
imposed by the government.
• Salt was a vital item of food (daily necessity) that was consumed by the rich and the poor alike. The
tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed the most oppressive face
of British rule. Gandhi highlighted the cruelty of the salt tax, which was sometimes as high as fourteen
times the value of the salt itself.
• According to Gandhi, if people living near areas with natural salt use it for their personal consump-
tion, the government destroys the salt to prevent the use of untaxed salt. Gandhi believed that the
government has no right to destroy what nature has produced.
• On March 12, 1930, Gandhi started a march with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad
to the coastal town of Dandi (Navsari district) near Surat.
• Large crowds joined the march each day as Gandhi walked through various villages. The journey covered
240 miles (~390 km) over twenty-four days, and they reached Dandi on April 5, 1930. Sarojini Naidu,
Dr Sumant, Abbas Tyabji, and Mithuben Petit joined the Dandi March in Dandi.
• On the morning of 6th April, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers broke the Salt Act by producing salt
from seawater. The violation of the salt law was viewed as a symbol of the Indian people’s resolve to
not live under British-made laws and, therefore, under British rule. With this, the civil disobedience
204

movement launched, and parallel salt marches were conducted in other parts of the country.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Spread of the Movement

Malabar

• K. Kelappan, the leader of Vaikom Satyagraha, led a procession of 33 satyagrahis from Kozhikode to
Payyannur, the southern tip of North Malabar.

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• P. Krishna Pillai participated in the Salt March from Kozhikode to Payyannur. He defended the national
flag when the police attacked.
 Krishna Pillai and Sharma fought to get the flag back from the police. Eventually, Krishna Pillai got
the flag, and Sharma got the flagstick. Even though the authorities tried their best, they didn't give
up.

Tamil Nadu

• The Vedaranyam March: In April 1930, C. Rajagopalachari started a march from Trichinopoly (Tiruchi-
rappalli) to Vedaranyam on the Tanjore coast to break the salt law.

Andhra

• In Andhra, the military-style camps, known as sibirams, were set up to serve as salt satyagraha head-
quarters. Satyagrahis marched to coastal centres to break the salt law.

Orissa

• Gopabandhu Choudhury was elected as the head of the Civil Disobedience Movement in Orissa. On
6th April 1930, Gopabandhu Chaudhury and Acharya Harihar Das led the first batch of 21 volunteers
from Swaraj Ashram, Cuttack to Inchudi.
• On 9th April, Gopabandhu was arrested, and Acharya Harihar Das piloted the batch. On 13th April,
Acharya Harihar, with his followers, picked up some salt and broke the salt law.

Assam

• To prevent the students from participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement, J.R. Cunningham, the
then Director of Public Information of Assam, came up with the Cunningham circular. It required
students to sign a declaration pledging their loyalty to the British Raj and renouncing any participation
in anti-government activities.
• Students of Assam raised strong protests against such harmful discrimination by the government,
and as a result of this, picketing was witnessed in various schools in Assam.

North-eastern India

• Rani Gaidinliu, at age 13, responded to Gandhi's call and raised the banner of rebellion against foreign
rule. She was captured in 1932 and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was released only in 1947 by
205

the Government of Free India.

MIH-II – Post-1857

North-West Frontier Province

• In the extreme north-western corner of India, under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan /
Badshah Khan (Frontier Gandhi), the Pathans organised the society of Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants
of God) known as Red Shirts. They pledged non-violence and played an important role in the civil

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disobedience movement. In Peshawar on 23 April 1930, the arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan pro-
voked a massive upsurge.
• In Peshawar, two platoons of Garhwali soldiers led by Chandra Singh Garhwali refused to open fire
on non-violent mass demonstrators even though it meant facing court martial and long terms of
imprisonment. This episode showed that nationalism was beginning to penetrate the Indian army, the
chief instrument of British rule.

Dharasana (Gujarat)

• After Gandhi's arrest on 5th May 1930, Abbas Tyabji was given the charge of the Salt Satyagraha. On
7th May, Abbas Tyabji initiated Dharasana Satyagraha to raid Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat and ad-
dressed the satyagrahis along with Kasturba Gandhi.
• On May 21, 1930, Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib and Manilal (Gandhi’s son) raided the Dharasana Salt
Works.

Sholapur (Maharashtra)

• After Gandhi's arrest, the industrial city of Sholapur saw a textile workers' strike, attacks on liquor
shops, police outposts and government buildings and the establishment of a virtual parallel govern-
ment for a few days.

[UPSC CSE 2015] Who of the following organised a march on the Tanjore coast to break
the Salt Law in April 1930?
a) V.O Chidambaram Pillai
b) C. Rajagopalachari
c) K. Kamaraj
d) Annie Besant

Answer: Option B

Violent Confrontations

• Towards the end of April, as the colonial government began arresting Congress leaders one by one,
violent clashes erupted in many parts of the country.
 When Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds demonstrated in the streets
206

of Peshawar, and the city was virtually in the hands of the crowds for more than a week.
 When Mahatma Gandhi was arrested, industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts,
MIH-II – Post-1857

municipal buildings, law courts and railway stations – all structures that symbolised British rule.

Defiance of Law

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• The movement spread rapidly. Everywhere in the country, people joined hartals, demonstrations, and
campaigns to boycott foreign goods. Apart from the officially sanctioned nationalist campaign, there
were numerous other streams of protest.
 Peasants breached the colonial forest laws.
 Factory workers went on strike.
 Lawyers boycotted British courts.
 Students refused to attend government-run educational institutions.
• After Gandhi’s arrest on 5th May, the Congress Working Committee sanctioned:
 Non-payment of land revenue in Ryotwari areas.
 No-chaukidar-tax campaign in the Zamindari areas.
 Violation of forest laws in the Central Provinces.
• The people participated in the defiance of forest laws in Maharashtra, Karnataka and the Central
Provinces and refused to pay the rural chaukidari tax in Eastern India. In many parts of the country,
peasants refused to pay land revenue and rent, resulting in the confiscation of their lands.

No-revenue and no-rent campaign

• In the U.P., a no-revenue, no-rent campaign was organised.

• The call for no revenue was made to the zamindars, asking them to abstain from paying revenue to
the government. Similarly, the call for no rent was directed towards the tenants, asking them to refrain
from paying rent to the zamindars. However, since the zamindars were predominantly loyal to the
government, the movement eventually became a no-rent struggle.

Government's attitude in 1930

• The Government's attitude throughout 1930 was ambivalent. The authorities faced a dilemma about
whether to suppress the movement or allow it to continue.
• If the government allowed the movement to continue, it would appear weak and unable to enforce its
laws. On the other hand, if the government suppressed the movement, it would be seen as oppressive
and violent towards non-violent protestors.
• Even Gandhiji's arrest came after much vacillation. However, once the repression began, the govern-
ment used all power to suppress the movement. The government issued ordinances to curb civil
207

liberties and gave provincial governments the freedom to ban civil disobedience organizations.

Efforts Towards Establishing a Truce

MIH-II – Post-1857

July 1930
• In July, the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, suggested a Round Table Conference and reiterated the goal of Do-
minion Status. He also accepted the suggestion of the forty members of the Central Legislature that

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Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jayakar should be allowed to explore the possibilities of peace between
Congress and the government.
• Sapru tried to convince the congress leaders to attend the Round Table Conference but failed.

August 1930
• In August, Jawaharlal and Motilal Nehru were taken to Yeravada jail to meet Gandhiji and discuss the
possibility of a settlement. However, the Congress leaders reiterated the following demands:
1. Right of secession from Britain
2. Complete National government with control over defence and finance
3. An independent tribunal to settle Britain's financial claims
• The British government rejected these demands, causing the talks to break down. As a result, Congress
maintained its stance of not participating in the Round Table Conference.

Response of Different Sections

• Women: A notable feature of the movement was the wide participation of women.
 Initially, Gandhi was opposed to women's participation. However, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
persuaded Gandhiji to allow women to join the movement.
 Thousands of women came out of their homes to participate in satyagraha. They took an active part
in picketing shops selling foreign cloth or liquor. They marched shoulder to shoulder with the
men in processions.
 However, women's participation in revolutionary nationalism, especially in Bengal, came under
sharp attack. Rabindranath Tagore wrote a novel, Char Adhyay, criticising such 'unfeminine' be-
haviour.
• Muslims: Compared to the non-cooperation movement, Muslim participation remained low. How-
ever, the participation of Muslims was not insignificant.
 A large number of Muslims of the North-West Frontier Province participated in the movement.
 Middle-class Muslim participation was significant in some districts of Bengal.
 The Muslim weaving community of Bihar, Delhi and Lucknow also participated in the movement.
• Urban Intelligentsia: The support of urban intelligentsia to Gandhian nationalism was less than what
it had been during the non-cooperation movement. Only a few lawyers gave up their practice, and a
208

few students joined 'national schools' instead of government-controlled institutions. This was because
the revolutionary nationalism attracted the educated youth.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Peasants and Industrialists: There was a massive peasant mobilisation and considerable support
from the business groups, at least during the initial stages.
• Tribals: The tribal people participated in the defiance of forest laws in Maharashtra, Karnataka and the
Central Provinces.

Role of Women

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• A large number of women participated in the salt march. In different places, women like Kasturba Gan-
dhi, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Hansa Mehta, Amina Tyabji, and Rukmini Lakshmipathy broke the
salt laws.
 On 6th April, Gandhi violated the salt law in Dandi, accompanied by Sarojini Naidu and Mithuben
Petit.
 On 9th April, Gandhi collected the salt granules along with Mithuben Petit at Bhimrad on the Gu-
jarat coast.
 After Gandhi and Abbas Tyabji were arrested, Sarojini Naidu took over and led the march and raid
on the salt works at Dharsana.
 Avantikabai Gokhale and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay organised salt satyagraha at multiple loca-
tions, including Bombay Chowpatty.

Government’s Response
• The Government’s reply to the national struggle was the same as before —an effort to crush it through
ruthless repression, lathi charges and firing on unarmed crowds of men and women.
• Over 90,000 Satyagrahis, including Gandhi and other Congress leaders, were imprisoned.
• South India experienced repression in its most severe form. The police often beat up men just for
wearing khadi or Gandhi caps.
• The Congress was declared illegal. The nationalist press was gagged through strict censorship of news.

Gandhi on the World Stage

• Press coverage of the Dandi March in the United States of America and Britain brought the Indian
struggle for freedom to the forefront.
• Various publication houses in the United States and Europe started printing stories about the salt
march. In 1931, Time Magazine declared Gandhi the Man of the Year and did a feature cover on
him.

Significance of Salt March

 The Salt March brought Mahatma Gandhi to world attention. The European and American press widely
covered the march. 209

 It was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers.
 It made the British realise that their rule wouldn't last indefinitely, and they had to consider giving some
power to the Indians.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 British cloth imports experienced a spectacular collapse due to picketing and the global impact of
the depression.

Suspension of Civil Disobedience (March-December 1931)

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• In 1930, the British Government summoned the first Round Table Conference in London, bringing
together Indian leaders and representatives of the British Government to discuss the Simon Com-
mission Report. However, the INC boycotted the Conference, and its proceedings were unsuccessful.
• Holding a conference on Indian affairs without the Congress was seen as futile, akin to staging Ramlila
without the presence of Rama. Hence, the government made attempts to negotiate an agreement
with Congress so that it would attend the Round Table Conference.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact)

• On 25 January 1931, the Viceroy announced the unconditional release of Gandhiji and all the other
members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
• The CWC authorised Gandhiji to initiate discussions with the Viceroy. Gandhi initiated a talk with
Irwin on 14 February 1931, which culminated on 5 March in the Delhi Pact, popularly known as the
Gandhi-Irwin Pact. By this pact:
• The government agreed:
 To release those political prisoners who had remained non-violent.
 To remit penalties not yet collected.
 To return confiscated lands not yet sold to third parties.
• The government conceded:
 The right to make salt for consumption in villages along the coast.
 The right to peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops.
• The Congress:
 Suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement
 Agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.
• The following demands of the Congress were not accepted by the British:
 A public inquiry into police excesses
 The commutation of the death sentences of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.
• Many Congress leaders, particularly the younger, left-wing section, opposed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
They objected because the government did not concede any significant nationalist demands, including
the commutation of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.
However, Gandhiji suspended the civil disobedience movement. This was because:
210
•
 Gandhi’s concept of satyagraha included giving the opponent every chance to show a change of
heart.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Gandhi’s strategy was based on the understanding that a mass movement must necessarily be of
short duration and could not go on forever, for the people's capacity to sacrifice was not endless.

Karachi Session (1931)

• In a special session of the Congress in Karachi in March 1931:

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 The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was endorsed.

 Gandhiji was authorised to represent the Congress at the Second Round Table Conference.

Revival of Civil Disobedience (1932-34)

• Gandhiji went to England in September 1931 to attend the Second Round Table Conference. How-
ever, despite his powerful advocacy, the British government refused to concede the basic nationalist
demand for freedom based on the immediate grant of Dominion Status.
• The deliberations of the conference failed to bring about a consensus between Gandhiji and other
Indian participants on separate electorates and other safeguards for Muslims and other minorities.
• Meanwhile, Lord Willingdon became the viceroy in April 1931. He believed that a major error had
been made in signing a truce with the Congress and was fully prepared to crush the Congress.
• Lord Willingdon drafted a series of ordinances to suppress the nationalist movement. He violated
the Gandhi-Irwin Pact by repressing Congress and other nationalists. In December, he arrested Jawahar-
lal Nehru and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
• Gandhiji returned to Bombay on 28 December 1931, and the next day, CWC decided to resume civil
disobedience. The Congress revived the civil disobedience movement on 4 January 1932.

Repression by Government
• On 4 January 1932, Gandhiji and other leaders of the Congress were arrested, and the Congress
declared illegal. Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel were imprisoned and sent to Yerwada Jail.
• The normal working of laws was suspended, and the administration carried on through special ordi-
nances. The police indulged in naked terror and committed innumerable atrocities on the freedom
fighters.
• Over a lakh of satyagrahis were arrested; the lands, houses, and other property of thousands were
confiscated. Nationalist literature was banned, and nationalist newspapers were again placed under
censorship.
• Despite severe repressive measures taken by the Government, the movement continued for about a
year and a half. In the end, the government succeeded in suppressing the movement. Gandhi officially
suspended the movement in May 1933 and withdrew it in April 1934.

Assessment of the Civil Disobedience Movement

211

• Though some scholars opine that Gandhi's decision to suspend the civil disobedience movement as
MIH-II – Post-1857

agreed under the Gandhi-Irwin pact was a retreat, it was not so. The move was warranted due to some
practical reasons. In the last few months of 1930:
 Incidents of peasant and tribal militancy increased, and violence multiplied in many areas.
 There was a marked decline in enthusiasm and support among urban traders, many of whom
started selling foreign goods.

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 The ruthless seizure of property by the government reduced the nationalistic ardour of the rich
peasants.
 Almost all leading congress leaders were in jail.
• Though the Congress was forced to withdraw the movement, its prestige among the masses remained
high. In many parts of the country, the political prisoners were given a hero's welcome upon their
release from jail.
• The movement had not succeeded in winning freedom, but it had succeeded in further politicising the
people and further deepening the social roots of the freedom struggle.
• Gandhiji negotiated with the Viceroy on equal terms and, thus, in one stroke, enhanced the prestige of
the Congress as an equal to the Government.
Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM) (1920-22) Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)
People were asked to refuse cooperation with the People were asked to break colonial laws
British
Significant participation of Muslims Compared to the NCM, Muslim participation re-
mained low
Women joined the movement and participated in Compared to the NCM, women's participation
picketing before the shops selling foreign cloth and was high
liquor.
Peasants, mostly from U.P. and Bihar, joined the Compared to the NCM, the participation of peas-
movement ants was high.
The number of people imprisoned during the Civil
Disobedience Movement was estimated to be over
90,000, which was more than three times the num-
ber of imprisonments that occurred during the
Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22.

9.2. Karachi Session of Congress (1931)

• In March 1931, a Congress session was held in Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Sardar
Patel was elected as the President of the Congress at the Session.
212

• Despite Gandhi's efforts to save their lives, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were executed six
days before the session.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The people were angry that Gandhi had signed the pact with Irwin even after their execution. Through-
out Gandhi’s route to Karachi, he was greeted with black flag demonstrations.

Highlights of the session

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• The Congress expressed its admiration for the bravery and sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and
Rajguru, who were executed on March 23, 1931, while also voicing its disapproval of political vio-
lence.
• The Congress endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin pact and reiterated the goal of Purna Swaraj.
• Gandhiji was authorised to represent the Congress at the Second Round Table Conference.
• This was the first time Congress defined what Swaraj would mean for the masses. The Karachi Reso-
lution highlighted the need to end the exploitation of the masses and make economic freedom inter-
twined with political freedom.

Resolution on Fundamental Rights and the National Economic Programme

• The Karachi session passed the resolution on Fundamental Rights and the National Economic Pro-
gramme, also known as the Karachi Resolution. The resolution was drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and
revised by Gandhi.
• The resolution reflected the growth of socialist ideas in the country. The resolution declared: "In order
to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include real economic freedom of the
starving millions".
• The resolution demonstrated the commitment of Congress to the civil, political, and economic rights of
the people. The resolution guaranteed the basic civil rights:
 Free speech, free press, and free assembly
 Equality before the law, irrespective of caste, creed or gender
 Neutrality of the state regarding religious matters
 Free and compulsory primary education
 Elections based on universal adult franchise.
• The resolution promised:
 Peasants: Substantial reduction in rent and revenue, exemption from rent in case of uneconomic
holdings, and relief of agricultural indebtedness and control of money lending.
 Workers: Better conditions for workers, including a living wage, limited hours of work and protec-
tion of women workers, the right to organise and form unions by workers and peasants
 Nationalisation: State ownership or control of key industries, mines and means of transport 213

[UPSC CSE 2010] For the Karachi session of Indian National Congress in 1931 presided over
by Sardar Patel, who drafted the resolution on Fundamental Rights and economics Pro-
gramme?
MIH-II – Post-1857

a) Mahatma Gandhi
b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
c) Dr Rajendra Prasad
d) Dr B. R. Ambedkar

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Answer: Option B

9.3. Round Table Conferences (RTCs)

• Before the Simon Commission submitted its report in May 1930, the Labour Party headed by Mac-
Donald came to power in England in 1929.
• Lord Irwin's declaration of October 1929 disclosed the Labour Government's intentions to draw a new
constitution after consulting Indian leaders.
• The three Round Table Conferences of Indian leaders and spokesmen of the British government were
held in London from 1930 to 1932. The INC participated only in the second conference.
• In 1930, the British Government summoned the first Round Table Conference in London, bringing
together Indian leaders and representatives of the British Government to discuss the Simon Com-
mission Report.

First Round Table Conference (November 1930 to January 1931)

• The First Round Table Conference was held from November 1930 to January 1931. During this pe-
riod, INC was involved in civil disobedience and boycotted the conference.
• Representatives of British political parties and 74 Indian delegates, including 58 members representing
various parties and interests and 16 members representing princely states, were invited to attend the
conference.
Important Participants of the First RTC
Depressed classes B. R. Ambedkar, R. Srinivasan
Hindu Mahasabha M.R. Jayakar, B.S. Moonje
Liberals Tej Bahadur Sapru, C. Y. Chintamani
Muslim opinion Agha Khan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar,
Muhammad Shafi, Fazlal Huq
Sikhs Sardar Sampuran Singh
Indian Christians K. T. Paul
Justice Party Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, Bhaskarrao Jadhav and Sir A.P. Patro
Labour N.M. Joshi
214

Recommendations
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. The formation of an All-India Federation of the British Indian Provinces and the Indian States.
2. The establishment of a responsible government at the centre with certain safeguards for the transi-
tional period.

Participation of INC

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• The proceedings of the first conference were unsuccessful, and the British government acknowledged
that INC's participation was necessary for any constitutional advance. Hence, the government at-
tempted to negotiate an agreement with Congress so that it would attend the Round Table Confer-
ence. After signing the Gandhi-Irwin Pact on March 5, 1931, Congress suspended the Civil Disobe-
dience Movement and agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.
Events Date Outcome
Delhi Proposals March 20, 1927 Muslim leaders agreed to joint electorates with certain con-
ditions.
Delhi Manifesto November 2, 1929 National leaders insisted that the RTC should focus on imple-
menting dominion status.
Delhi Pact 5 March 1931 Congress suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement and
agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.

Second Round Table Conference (September to December 1931)

• The second Round Table Conference was held from September 7 to December 1, 1931. Gandhi
attended the conference as the sole representative of the Congress.
• Nothing much was expected from the conference because:
 In August 1931, MacDonald's Labour Cabinet resigned, and a new coalition government (national
government) dominated by the Conservatives was formed under him.
 Willingdon succeeded Lord Irwin in Delhi in April 1931.
• Most of the prominent personalities of the first session returned to attend the second session. However,
there were many new faces. Besides Gandhi (INC), Muhammed Iqbal, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ali Imam,
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu (Indian women), G.D. Birla (Industry), and S.K. Datta (Indian Christian) attended
the Conference for the first time.

Disagreement on Representation of Congress

• In the conference, Gandhi claimed that Congress represented all of India. This claim came under chal-
lenge from three parties:
1. From the Muslim League, which claimed to stand for the interests of the Muslim minority.
2. From the Princes, who claimed that the Congress had no stake in their territories.
215

3. From B.R. Ambedkar, who argued that Gandhiji and the Congress did not really represent the
lowest castes.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Deadlock over Separate Electorate

• Separate electorates were demanded by the Muslims, depressed classes, Christians, and Anglo-Indi-
ans. However, the participants disagreed on separate electorates. Gandhi did not support the idea of
having a separate electorate for the Depressed Classes.

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• The second session ended on 1 December 1931 and made recommendations on matters such as:
1. The composition of the Indian federation
2. The structure of the federal judiciary
3. The mode of accession of states to the federation, and
4. The distribution of financial resources.

End of the Session

• At the end of the session, MacDonald announced two Muslim-majority provinces: the North-West
Frontier Province (NWFP) and Sindh. He also mentioned the possibility of a unilateral British Com-
munal Award if Indians couldn't agree.
• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India disappointed as no agreement could be reached on the demand for
freedom on the basis of the immediate grant of dominion status and on the separate electorates.

Third Round Table Conference

• The third Round Table Conference was held between November 17 and December 24, 1932.
• Only forty-six delegates, carefully invited by the Conservative government in Britain, attended this
session. The INC and the Labour Party from Britain did not attend it. Like the two first conferences,
little was achieved.
 B. R. Ambedkar, M.R. Jayakar, Agha Khan, Tej Bahadur Sapru, N.M. Joshi attended all three Round
Table Conferences.
 M.A. Jinnah was not invited to the Third Round Table Conference.

Aftermath of the Round Table Conferences

• The recommendations of the Round Table Conferences were documented in a White Paper. It was
published in March 1933 and debated in parliament directly afterwards.
• A Joint Parliamentary Committee of both houses of the British Parliament was formed to analyse the
recommendations and formulate a new Act for India. The Committee submitted its report on 22 No-
vember 1934. A bill based on this report was passed on 2 August 1935, and after receiving the Royal
Assent, it became the Government of India Act of 1935.
Events Time Period Viceroy British PM
216

Simon Com- 1927 Lord Irwin Stanley Baldwin

mission
MIH-II – Post-1857

First RTC November 1930 to January 1931 Lord Irwin Ramsay MacDonald
(labour party)
Second RTC September to December 1931 Lord Willingdon Ramsay MacDonald
(national government)
Third RTC November to December 1932 Lord Willingdon Ramsay MacDonald

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(national government)

[UPSC CSE 2009] Consider the following statements:

1. The discussions in the Third Round Table Conference eventually led to the passing of the Govern-
ment of India Act of 1935.
2. The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for the establishment of an all-India Federation to
be based on the Union of the provinces of British India and the Princely States.

Which of the statement(s) given above is are correct? Choose the correct answer from the following
options:
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: Option C

9.4. Gandhi, Ambedkar and British Policy on the Communal Award

Communal award
• On 16 August 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald introduced the Communal Award.
The Award declared the Depressed Classes as a minority and thus extended a separate electorate to
them.
• The British government stated that they announced the Communal Award because Indian leaders
could not agree on the representation of the Depressed Classes during the Second Round Table Con-
ference. According to them, the award was intended to protect the interests of the Depressed Classes.

Recommendations of Communal Award

 To double the existing seats in provincial legislatures.
 To retain the system of separate electorate for the minorities
 To recognise depressed classes as minority community and make them entitled to the right of a sep-
arate electorate.
217

 To reserve three per cent of seats for women within the various communal categories in all provincial
legislatures except in the North West Frontier Provinces.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 To allocate seats to labour, landlords, traders and industrialists.

 To grant weightage to Muslims in provinces where they were in the minority.
• Thus, the Communal Award accorded a separate electorate to Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-
Indians, Europeans, depressed classes and distinct regional groups (such as the Marathas in the Bom-
bay Presidency - 7 seats).

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• Double Vote: The Communal Award gave the Depressed Classes voting rights along with caste Hindus
in the general constituencies and an extra vote in 71 special Depressed Classes constituencies for
20 years.
 The concept of the Communal Award was related to the representation of different communities in
the provincial legislatures. The Award reserved 71 seats for the depressed class in provincial legisla-
ture.

Stand of Gandhi (Congress) on Separate Electorate

• Gandhi and the Congress Party, despite concern for the rights of the Depressed Classes, did not sup-
port the idea of having a separate electorate for the Depressed Classes.
• Gandhi believed that separate electorates would create division and disrupt society. He argued that
this separation would hinder the integration of lower castes into mainstream society, leading to per-
manent segregation from other caste Hindus.
• Gandhi stressed that a separate electorate was not a solution for the long-standing oppression faced
by the Depressed Classes.
 Gandhi was supportive of adequate representation of the Depressed Classes, but he was against
reserving seats either through joint or separate electorate.

Ambedkar on Separate Electorates

• Ambedkar argued that the Depressed Classes faced challenges in sustaining itself. They were eco-
nomically reliant on higher-caste Hindus for their livelihoods, lacking independent means of sustenance.
• Their religion, instead of granting them an honourable position, labelled them as untouchables, unfit
for regular interaction. Ambedkar noted that although not all avenues are closed due to social preju-
dices, there is a deliberate effort within Hindu society to block opportunities for the Depressed
Classes to improve their social standing and quality of life.
• Given these challenges, Ambedkar believed that political representation was crucial for the Depressed
Classes to protect themselves against organised oppression and discriminatory practices. He
thought that political representation would give them an important tool to improve their situation in
the face of social and economic challenges.

Separate Electorate and Depressed Classes

218

• The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 provided a separate electorate for the Muslims. The Govern-
MIH-II – Post-1857

ment of India Act 1919 extended the separate electorate for Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Chris-
tians and Europeans but did not include Depressed Classes.
• The Simon Commission recommended the reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes but did
not support the demand for a separate electorate.

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• During the Second Round Table Conference, Indian leaders could not agree on the representation
of the Depressed Classes.
• In 1932, the Indian Franchise Committee was established under Lord Lothian to determine matters
related to voting rights. One of the directives given to the Committee was to replace the nomination
of Depressed Classes to legislatures with an election to determine whether a joint or separate elec-
torate would be more effective for them.
• The Lothian committee did not recommend any electorate but pointed out the need to provide
the Dalits with some means of representing their interest. However, failing to find an acceptable
solution to the issue of Dalit representation, the British Government, on its own, announced the Com-
munal Award in August 1932, making provision for a separate electorate for the Dalits.

Poona Pact
• Gandhi reacted strongly to the proposal of granting the right of a separate electorate to the de-
pressed classes. He regarded Depressed Classes as an integral part of Hindu society.
• On 18 August 1932, Gandhiji wrote a letter to Ramsay Macdonald declaring his intentions to fast
unto death against the Communal Award.
• Ambedkar’s response to Gandhi’s decision to fast was different, and he said, ‘I do not care for these
political stunts. This threat of Mr Gandhi to starve himself to death is not a moral fight but only a
political move. I can understand a person trying to negotiate with his political opponents on equal
terms, but those methods will never persuade me. If Mr Gandhi wants to fight with his life for the inter-
ests of the Hindu community, the depressed Classes will also be forced to fight with their lives to
safeguard their interests.’
• To convince Ambedkar to accept his view, Gandhi resorted to a fast unto death on September 20, 1932,
while he was in Yerwada Jail.
• As pressure mounted on Ambedkar, he agreed to consider Gandhi’s proposal, provided that the
scheme guaranteed better than the Communal Award.
• On September 24, Hindu and depressed class leaders signed the Poona Pact in the presence of
Gandhiji. Gandhi’s trusted emissary, C Rajagopalachari, exchanged his fountain pen with Ambedkar at
the end of the talks. Gandhiji broke fast on September 26 in the presence of Rabindranath Tagore. 219

 To Ambedkar, the rights of the Depressed Classes were most important compared to political in-
dependence, whereas Gandhi was fighting a two-pronged battle, one for India’s independence, the
other for maintaining the cohesiveness of Hindu society.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Main terms of the Poona Pact

• It accepted the principle of a joint electorate.
• 148 seats were reserved for the Depressed Classes in the provincial legislatures as against 71 seats
given by the Communal Award.

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• 18 per cent of the total seats meant for the general electorate would be kept for the Depressed Classes
in the central legislature.
• It was also decided that the continuance of the reservation would be decided in future by mutual
agreement.

[UPSC CSE 2012] Why did Mahatma Gandhi undertake the fast unto death in 1932.
a) Round table conference failed to satisfy Indian political aspirations
b) Congress and the Muslim League had differences of opinion
c) Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award
d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context

Answer: Option C
[UPSC CSE 2005] Consider the following statements:
1. In the first Round Table Conference, Dr Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for the de-
pressed classes.
2. In the Poona Pact, special provisions for the representation of the depressed class people in the
local bodies and civil services were made
3. The Indian National Congress did not take part in the Third Round Table Conference,

Which of the statements given above are correct? Choose the correct answer from the following
options:
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: Option C

Depressed Classes
• Caste, an integral aspect of the Hindu social system, contributed to establishing a social hierarchy. In
the name of maintaining ritual purity, a significant portion of Hindu society was labelled as untouch-
ables.
220

• The term "Depressed Classes" refers to these so-called untouchables occupying the lowest rung of
the Hindu caste hierarchy. They were considered outside the four castes.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Exclusion of the Depressed Classes

• Despite being part of the Hindu social system, Depressed Classes were barred from Hindu temples
and faced religious and social disadvantages. Economically, individuals from the Depressed Classes were
often landless labourers or engaged in menial occupations like scavenging and leather work.

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• This discrimination and economic marginalisation created significant social and economic disparities
within the broader Hindu community.

Role of Socio-religious Reforms

• The socio-religious reform movements in India, like Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj,
etc., tried to draw our attention to social disabilities and appealed to eradicating social prejudices.

Depressed Classes' Struggle for Rights

• There was also growing awareness among a section within the Depressed Classes to assert removing
social disabilities and ask for their rightful place in society.
• Jotirao Phule, a social reformer of the 19th century belonging to the so-called Shudra caste, in his book
Gulamgiri, exposed the inhuman laws under the guise of religion to keep the lower castes under the
subjugation of the upper castes.
• Dr B. R. Ambedkar, influenced by Phule’s ideas, tried to explain the hollowness of the caste system
and questioned the religious basis of the origin of untouchables.

Role of the British Government

• In the late 19th century, the British government took steps to enumerate the Depressed Classes
separately in the Indian census. Additionally, efforts were made to implement special provisions for
their educational and material development in different provinces.
• The Depressed Classes began advocating for representation in legislative bodies, admission of their
children to all schools, reservation in government jobs, and expressed support for the British to safe-
guard their rights.
• The Government of India Act of 1919 provided for the nomination of Depressed Classes to provincial
legislative councils.

Gandhi’s Efforts to Remove Untouchability

• Until Gandhi emerged as the leader of the INC, the nationalist leaders refrained from discussing issues
pertaining to removing social disabilities.

Gandhi's South African Experience 221

• The time Gandhi spent in South Africa deeply influenced his perspective.
• Gandhi faced discrimination in South Africa. Upon his return to India, this first-hand experience of
MIH-II – Post-1857

prejudice allowed him to better understand the hardships faced by the depressed classes, particu-
larly due to untouchability. Hence, from the beginning of his activism in India, Gandhi focused on
improving the social status of depressed people and eliminating untouchability.

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• In Gandhi’s opinion, ‘Untouchability has made Indians untouchables in the whole world, and those
who wanted to see the condition of untouchable Indians should go to South Africa and realise what
untouchability meant.’
• From the beginning, Gandhi brought the issue of untouchability to the centre of Indian politics. The
Satyagraha Ashram, founded by Gandhi in 1915, resolved to abolish untouchability.
• Instead of using terms like ‘untouchables’, ‘panchamas’, ‘antyaja’, etc., Gandhi coined the term ‘Harijan’,
meaning ‘Children of God’, because, in his opinion, other expressions were derogatory.
• Gandhi actively organised satyagraha campaigns to ensure their entry into temples and access to
public facilities like wells, tanks, roads, and schools.

Swaraj and Untouchability

• Gandhi declared that Swaraj would not come for a hundred years if untouchability was not elimi-
nated. He believed that Indians had to address untouchability to deserve freedom.
• For Gandhi, Swaraj meant freedom for every individual in India. His goal was not just to free India
from British rule but to liberate the country from any form of oppression.

Religion and Untouchability

• Gandhi strongly rejected the notion that untouchability had religious approval and was sanctioned
by Hindu scriptures.
• Gandhi stressed that untouchability must be eradicated to preserve the honour of Hinduism. This
could only be achieved by treating untouchables equally with caste Hindus in all aspects of life.

Gandhi's Approach to Eliminate Untouchability

• According to Gandhi, eliminating untouchability requires a change in daily behaviour, not just sym-
bolic gestures. He suggested bringing Harijans to temples, but if they face discrimination, one should
boycott such places.
• Gandhi believed that avoiding places promoting untouchability, even temples, was necessary to show
a true commitment to the cause and demonstrate that such practices are against the principles of right-
eousness.

Gandhi’s Nationwide Tour

222

• While Gandhi was in prison, to combat untouchability:

 Harijan Sevak Sangh (All-India Anti-Untouchability League) was established on 30 September
MIH-II – Post-1857

1932.
 Harijan, the weekly paper, was started on 11 February 1933.
• After his release in May 1933, Gandhi devoted himself almost wholly to the campaign against untouch-
ability.

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• On November 7, 1933, Gandhi embarked on a country-wide tour covering 12,500 miles and lasted nine
months. During his visits to Delhi, Gandhiji stayed at Harijan Colony, Kingsway Camp many times. He
also laid a foundation stone of the temple in Harijan Colony. This was done solely for one purpose: to
remove untouchability completely from society.

Gandhi on Chaturvarna System

• Gandhi was critical of untouchability and caste-related restrictions on marriage and dining. How-
ever, he supported the concept of Chaturvarna.
• Gandhi believed that the division was based on the different functions performed, not on superi-
ority or inferiority. He emphasised equal status among them. He argued that social restrictions im-
posed in the name of caste distorted the true essence of Varnashrama.

9.5. Gandhi and Ambedkar

Mahatma Gandhi B. R. Ambedkar

Mahatma Gandhi was a follower of Hinduism. In 1956, Ambedkar gave up Hinduism and adopted
Buddhism.
Gandhi had faith in the Vedas and Hindu scrip- Ambedkar opposed the Hindu scriptures as he
tures, such as the Gita. believed that they provided sanction to the caste
system. He publicly burnt the Manusmriti.
Gandhi supported the concept of Chaturvarna. Ambedkar opposed the varna system as it created
However, he believed that the division in the Cha- inequality.
turvarna was based on the different functions per-
formed, not on superiority or inferiority.
Gandhiji did not favour the abolition of caste. Ambedkar favoured the abolition of caste for the
radical reconfiguration of the Hindu religion.
Gandhi opposed the separate electorate. He be- Ambedkar argued for a separate electorate as a
lieved that separate electorates would create divi- means of securing political representation for the
sion. Depressed Classes.
According to Gandhi, eliminating untouchability Ambedkar favoured the rights-based approach 223

requires a change in daily behaviour. He tried to for the upliftment of Depressed Classes.
remove untouchability by sensitising the upper
MIH-II – Post-1857

castes of Hindus and through social works.

9.6. Unsung Heroes

Rani Gaidinliu

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• Rani Gaidinliu was born on January 26, 1915, in Manipur. She was a spiritual and political leader of
the Rongmei tribe.
• In 1927, at the age of 13, Gaidinliu, along with her cousin Haipou Jadonang, joined the Heraka move-
ment. This movement aimed to revive the Naga tribal religion and establish self-rule of the Nagas
(Naga Raj), ending British rule.
• After the execution of Jadonang (Cousin of Rani) in 1931, Rani Gaidinliu took up the leadership of
the Heraka movement, which slowly turned political from religious.
• Gaidinliu was arrested in 1932 and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the British rulers. She was
released only in 1947 by the Government of Free India.
• Jawaharlal Nehru described Gaidinliu as the “daughter of the hills”, and he gave her the title of ‘Rani’
for her courage.

Heraka movement
• Heraka movement was based on the ancestral Naga religion and envisioned an independent Naga
kingdom (or Naga-Raja).
• It was initiated by Haipou Jadonang, a cousin of Gaidinliu, during the 1920s. It began as a protest
against British interference in the religious and cultural practices of the local inhabitants and their
strategies of conversion.

9.7. British Prime Ministers

Tenure British PM Party

November 1924 to June 1929 Stanley Baldwin Conservative Party
(5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935) Ramsay MacDonald 1. Labour Party
1. From 1929 to 1931 2. National Government dominated by
2. From 1931 to 1935 the Conservative Party
7 June 1935 – 28 May 1937 Stanley Baldwin Conservative Party
28 May 1937 – 10 May 1940 Arthur Chamberlain Conservative Party
10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945 Winston Churchill National Government (During WW II)
26 July 1945 – 26 October 1951 Clement Attlee Labour Party
224

9.8. Viceroy and Governor-General of India

MIH-II – Post-1857

Viceroy of India Tenure British PM

Lord Irwin 3 April 1926 – 18 April 1931 Stanley Baldwin (1926-29)
Ramsay MacDonald (1929-31)
Lord Willingdon 18 April 1931 – 18 April 1936 Ramsay MacDonald (1931-35)
Stanley Baldwin (1935-36)

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Lord Linlithgow 18 April 1936 – 1 October 1943 Stanley Baldwin (1936-37)

Neville Chamberlain (1937-40)
Winston Churchill (1940-43)
Lord Wavell 1 October 1943 – 21 February Winston Churchill (1943–45)
1947 Clement Attlee (1945–47)
Lord Mountbatten 21 February 1947 – 15 August Clement Attlee
1947
Post-Independence
Governor-General of India Tenure Indian PM
Lord Mountbatten 15 August 1947 – 21 June 1948 Jawaharlal Nehru
C. Rajagopalachari 21 June 1948 – 26 January 1950 Jawaharlal Nehru

9.9. Summary

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)

• On 31st January, Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands. Irwin was unwilling to
negotiate. So, Mahatma Gandhi started the salt march on March 12, 1930.
• On March 12, 1930, Gandhi started a march with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal
town of Dandi. On the morning of 6th April, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers broke the Salt Act by
producing salt from seawater. With this, the civil disobedience movement launched, and parallel salt
marches were conducted in other parts of the country.
Salt march Leader
Malabar K. Kelappan
Tanjore coast C. Rajagopalachari
Orissa Gopabandhu Choudhury
North-West Frontier Province Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Dharasana Abbas Tyabji (May 5)
Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib and Manilal (May 21)
• Gandhi was arrested on 5th May. After Gandhi’s arrest, the CWC sanctioned:
225

 Non-payment of land revenue in Ryotwari areas.

 No-chaukidar-tax campaign in the Zamindari areas.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Violation of forest laws in the Central Provinces.

Response of Different Sections

• Women: Women participated in large numbers.

• Muslims: Compared to the non-cooperation movement, Muslim participation remained low

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• Peasants: There was a massive peasant mobilisation.

• Tribals: The tribal people participated in the defiance of forest laws.

End of the movement

• The government used heavy repression to suppress the movement. Over 90,000 Satyagrahis were
imprisoned, Congress was declared illegal, and the nationalist press was gagged through strict cen-
sorship of news.
• Gandhi officially suspended the movement in May 1933 and withdrew it in April 1934.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact)

• In 1930, the British Government summoned the first Round Table Conference in London. The INC
boycotted the Conference, and its proceedings were unsuccessful. Hence, the government made at-
tempts to negotiate an agreement with Congress so that it would attend the Round Table Conference.
• On 5 March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, according to which the Congress suspended the
Civil Disobedience Movement and agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.

Karachi Session of Congress (1931)

• In March 1931, a Congress session was held in Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Sardar Patel
was elected as the President of the Congress at the Session.
• The session passed the resolution on Fundamental Rights and the National Economic Programme,
also known as the Karachi Resolution, drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and revised by Gandhi.

Round Table Conferences (RTCs)

• The three Round Table Conferences of Indian leaders and British government spokesmen were held
in London from 1930 to 1932. The INC participated only in the second conference.

Communal Award and Poona Pact

• On 16 August 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald introduced the Communal Award and
extended a separate electorate to the Depressed Classes.
• Gandhi stressed that a separate electorate was not a solution for the long-standing oppression faced
by the Depressed Classes. On 18 August 1932, he wrote a letter to Ramsay Macdonald declaring his
226

intentions to fast unto death against the Communal Award.

• To convince Ambedkar to accept his view, Gandhi resorted to a fast unto death on September 20,
MIH-II – Post-1857

1932, while he was in Yerwada Jail. Finally, Ambedkar agreed, and on September 24, Hindu and de-
pressed class leaders signed the Poona Pact in the presence of Gandhiji. Gandhiji broke fast on Sep-
tember 26.

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227
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10. Nationalist Movement (1934-39)

• The British government had responded to the Civil Disobedience Movement with repression, and
many nationalist leaders were imprisoned.
• The movement's withdrawal in April 1934 left a void in terms of a unified and forceful opposition.
Nehru attacked the withdrawal of civil disobedience, and many political activists felt despair.
• Furthermore, the leaders realised that a new approach was necessary to revitalise the fight for inde-
pendence. As early as 1933, Subhas Bose and Vithalbhai Patel had declared that "the Mahatma as a
political leader has failed". They also called for a radical reorganisation of Congress, based on a new
principle and with a new method and leader.
• Following the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement, a significant debate emerged among
Indian nationalists regarding the future strategy of the national movement. This mainly occurred in
two stages.:
1. First Stage (1934-35): To determine the course of the national movement immediately after the
withdrawal of the civil disobedience movement during a phase without mass struggle (1934-35).
2. Second stage: At this stage, the debate revolved around the acceptance of office in case the Con-
gress emerged victorious in the provincial elections of 1937.

10.1. First Phase of Debate

• After the civil disobedience movement's withdrawal, the first stage of this debate focused on deter-
mining the course of the national movement during a phase without mass struggle (1934-35).
• Three perspectives emerged among the nationalists on the future course of the movement.
1. Constructive Work: One group led by Gandhi suggested constructive work as a prelude to the
next phase of mass struggle. They believed this approach would set the stage for mobilising millions
in the upcoming mass struggle.
2. Council Entry: Another group of Congress members (the new Swarajists) supported bringing back
the constitutional method of struggle. They suggested participating in the 1934 elections for the
Central Legislative Assembly to express their political views. M. A. Ansari, Bhulabhai Desai, Satya-
228

murthy, B. C. Roy, and Asaf Ali advocated the council entry.

3. Mass Movement: The third perspective was provided by the Left trend that had developed in the
MIH-II – Post-1857

early l930s. The Left trend represented by Jawaharlal Nehru was critical of both the constructive
and council-entry programmes. Instead, they favoured the resumption of the mass movement.

Gandhi's Struggle-Truce-Struggle Strategy

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• Gandhi suggested the Struggle-Truce-Struggle (S-T-S') strategy; under this, a phase of extra-legal
mass struggle and confrontation with the British (Struggle) must be followed by a more passive phase
(Truce).
• This strategy was based on the understanding that a mass movement must necessarily be of short
duration and could not go on forever, for the people's capacity to sacrifice was not endless. The truce
period would help build the people's capacity to struggle for the next phase.

Nehru’s Struggle-Victory (S-V) Strategy

• Nehru did not favour the Struggle Truce-Struggle (S-T-S') strategy and instead proposed an alter-
native approach called the Struggle-Victory (S-V) strategy. Nehru believed that the Indian national
movement had reached a stage where there should be a permanent confrontation and conflict with
imperialism until it was overthrown.

Gandhi's Compromise and Council Entry

• Nehru and the leftists disagreed with those supporting council entry. Many anticipated a split, but
Gandhi stepped in to resolve the situation.
• Even though Gandhi believed in Satyagraha for freedom, he compromised by allowing those in fa-
vour of council entry to join legislatures. Gandhi defended them, stating that parliamentary politics
wouldn't lead to freedom, but those unable to engage in Satyagraha or constructive work could express
patriotism through council work. He cautioned against getting too involved in constitutionalism or
self-serving actions.
• Consequently, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting in Patna in May 1934 decided to
establish a parliamentary board to contest elections under the Congress. Gandhiji also emphasised
that swaraj could only be achieved through widespread awareness and consciousness among the
masses, not just through participation in legislative councils.

Gandhi's Resignation
• Gandhiji resigned from the Congress on 30 October 1934 to engage in the development of village
industries, Harijan service and education.

1934 Indian general election

229

• Elections to the Central Legislative Assembly were held in India in November 1934. The Indian Na-
tional Congress emerged as the largest party by winning 45 seats out of 75.
MIH-II – Post-1857

10.2. Government of India Act of 1935

• The recommendations of the Round Table Conferences were documented in a White Paper. It was
published in March 1933 and debated in parliament directly afterwards.

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• A Joint Parliamentary Committee of both houses of the British Parliament was formed to analyse the
recommendations and formulate a new Act for India. The Committee submitted its report on 22 No-
vember 1934. A bill based on this report was passed on 2 August 1935, and after receiving the Royal
Assent, it became the Government of India Act of 1935.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 fell far short of complete independence, and it was criticised
and rejected by all the political parties in India.

British Intention
• Even though the government successfully suppressed the mass movement during 1932-33, it knew
that suppression could only be a short-term tactic. In the long run, the strategy was to weaken the
movement. This could be achieved if the Congress was internally divided.
• In August 1935, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1935. The British hoped
that:
 The reforms would create division within the Congress.
 Once Congressmen had tasted power, they would be reluctant to return to politics of sacrifice.
 Provincial autonomy would create powerful provincial leaders, and thus, the central leadership
of the Congress would be weakened.

Important Provisions
Supremacy of the British Parliament
• The Government of India Act of 1935 was passed without a Preamble. This allowed the Preamble
of the 1919 Act to continue unhindered. This meant that responsible government was to be achieved
through successive stages, with the British Parliament acting as the sole authority on the nature and
timing of each stage. All rights of amending, altering or repealing the Constitution of India remained
vested with the British Parliament.

At Federal level
All-India Federation

• The Act proposed an all-India federation of British provinces and princely states. The Princely States
had the option to join the Federation, and the nature of the relationship would differ from state to
230

state according to the Instrument of Accession. However, once extended, the Instrument of Accession
would be irrevocable.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The federation’s formation was conditional on the fulfilment of two conditions.

1. The princely states that would join the federation should fill at least 52 (half) of the 104 seats of
the Council of State.
2. The aggregate population of states in the above category should be 50 per cent (half) of the total
population of all Indian states.

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• Since these conditions were not fulfilled, the proposed federation never came up. Hence, the Cen-
tral Government carried on up to 1946 as per the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1919.
 The Act proposed a Federal government for India and, for the first time, tried to bring British prov-
inces and Indian States under one common constitution.

Dyarchy

• The principle of Dyarchy was introduced at the Centre.

• Subjects to be administered were divided into reserved and transferred subjects.
 Reserved Subjects such as foreign affairs, defence, and tribal areas were to be exclusively admin-
istered by the Governor-general on the advice of executive councillors. Executive councillors were
not to be responsible to the central Legislature.
 Transferred subjects were administered by the ministers responsible to the central Legislature.
• The Governor-General had complete control over reserved subjects and effective control over trans-
ferred subjects.

Bicameral Legislature

• The Act provided a bicameral legislature at the Centre:

3. The lower house (the Federal Assembly): It consists of 375 members: 250 (67%) were elected by
the legislative assemblies of the British Indian provinces; 125 (33%) were nominated by the rulers
of the princely states.
 Election to the Federal Assembly was indirect.
 The duration of the assembly was to be five years.
 Members of the federal assembly could move a vote of no confidence against ministers.
4. The upper house (the Council of State): It consists of 260 members: 156 (60%) were elected from
British India, and 104 (40%) were nominated by the rulers of the princely states.
 Election to the Council of States was direct.
 The Council of State was to be a permanent body with one-third of members retiring every
third year.

Undue Weightage to the Princely States

The Princely States had the option:

231
•
 To join the Federation.
 To decide their relations with the Federal government through the Instrument of Accession.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In the bicameral federal legislature, the States were given disproportionate weightage. The repre-
sentation of the Princely States was proportionately larger than their geographic or demographic
strength. With roughly one-fourth of the population of British India, the princely states had 33% rep-
resentation in the Federal Assembly and 40% in the Council of State.

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• Representatives of the States were not to be elected by the people but appointed directly by the rulers
(not elect representatives like British provinces).
 The princes were to be used to check and counter the nationalist elements.

[UPSC CSE 2002] What was the real intention of the British to include the princely states
in the Federal Union proposed by the India Act of 1935?
a) Exercise more and direct political and administrative control over the princely states
b) Involve the Princes activity in the administration of the colony
c) Finally effect the complete political and administrative takeover of all the princely states by the
British
d) Use the princes to balance the anti-imperialist doctrines of the nationalist leaders
Answer: Option D

Division of Legislative Power

• It divided the power between the centre and units in three lists:
4. Federal list (59 subjects): For Centre
5. Provincial list (54 subjects): For Provinces
6. Concurrent list (36 subjects): For both Centres and Provinces
• Residuary powers were given to the Governor-General.

Federal Court

• The Act provided a Federal Court to interpret the provisions and to decide over inter-province dis-
putes.
 The Federal Court was set up in 1937.

Limitations

• The proposed All India Federation did not materialise as the princely states did not join it.
• In a federation, the Constitution is supreme. However, in the Act, the supremacy of the British Par-
liament was retained. All rights to amend, alter, or repeal the provisions were kept with the British
Parliament.
• The federal part of the 1935 Act never came into operation, and the constitution of the Central Gov-
232

ernment in India remained largely the same as that under the Act of 1919.
• The Secretary of State for India and the Governor-General were the ultimate authority, and they were
MIH-II – Post-1857

above the Act.

• Defence and foreign affairs remained outside the control of the legislature. Meanwhile, the Gover-
nor-General retained special control over other subjects.
• No fully responsible government at the Centre. The Governor-General was to be appointed by the
British government and was responsible to it.

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• There was no mention of Dominion status and the inclusion of provisions to attain it.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 proposed a Federal form of government for India and car-
ried the essential features of the Federation:
 A written constitution.
 Division of subjects between federal and provincial governments.
 A Federal Court to interpret the provisions of the Constitution.
• This Act greatly influenced our constitution-making in independent India. Indian Constitution bor-
rowed the following features from the Government of India Act of 1935:
 Federal Scheme
 Provincial autonomy
 Post of Governor
 Emergency provisions
 Administrative details
 Public Service Commissions
 Establishment of Supreme Court (earlier Federal Court)

At Provincial Level
Provincial Autonomy

• The Act abolished the dyarchy at provinces and introduced provincial autonomy.
• For the first time, the act recognised the provinces as having separate legal identities. They were freed
from ‘the superintendence, direction’ of the secretary of state and Governor-General. Provinces
henceforth derived their legal authority directly from the British Crown.
• Provinces were given independent financial powers and resources. Provincial governments could bor-
row money on their security.

Responsible Government

• The Act provided for introducing responsible government in all eleven provinces - Bombay, Madras,
Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Central Provinces, United Provinces, NWFP, Punjab, and Sindh. The whole
of the Provincial Executive was now made responsible to or removable by the provincial Legislature.
• The distinction between transferred and reserved subjects was removed, and all Provincial subjects
233

were placed under the charge of the popular ministries. However, the Governors were given special
powers.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Governors could veto legislative action and legislate on their own.

 Governors retained full control over the civil service and the police.
• The governors in provinces were invested with special executive powers. They could exercise discre-
tion in matters like law and order, the interests of minorities and the people of backward areas, and
the protection of the British commercial interests and those of the rulers of states.

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Bicameral Legislatures

• The Act provided bicameral legislatures in six provinces, namely Bombay, Bengal, Madras, the United
Provinces, Bihar, and Assam.

Limitations

• The governor's power restricted the power of ministers and legislature in the provinces.
• Governors were to be appointed by the British government and were responsible to it.

Federation and the Act of 1935

• The 1919 Act emphasised decentralisation rather than federation. Under the 1919 Act, the provinces
were only agents of the Centre. Whatever powers the provinces had were given to them by the
Centre.
• Under the 1935 Act, the Provinces were for the first time recognised in law as separate entities,
exercising executive and legislative powers in their own field, in their own right, free in normal circum-
stances from Central control in that field. After the Act of 1935, the provinces were no longer consid-
ered subordinate authorities.
 India was a completely unitary state until the Round Table Conference of 1930. For the first time,
the 1935 Act provided for a federal system consisting of not only the Governors' Provinces of
British India but also the Chief Commissioners' provinces and the princely states.
 The 1935 Act sought to break up the unitary system under which British India had hitherto been
administered.

Federation and Parliamentary System

• The 1935 Act was based on two fundamental principles: the federation and the parliamentary sys-
tem. Despite the federation principle being introduced with a built-in unitary bias, the provinces were
given a coordinate authority rather than a subordinate one.
• However, the federal character was severely distorted by the provisions of safeguards and special
responsibilities, which granted extraordinary powers to the executive head at the centre and the
provinces.

Separate Electorate
234

• The system of religion-based and class-based electorates was further extended.

• The separate electorate was further extended to women, depressed classes (scheduled castes), and
MIH-II – Post-1857

labour (workers).

Restricted Franchise

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• Franchise was extended, and women got voting rights on the same basis as men. However, the Act
did not give all adults the right to vote (universal adult franchise). Only 14 per cent of the total
population in British India was given the right to vote.

Abolition of Council of India

• The Act abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act 1858. It provided
a team of advisors for the Secretary of State.

Other Provisions
• A partial reorganisation of the provinces:
 Sind was separated from Bombay.
 The Bihar and Orissa province was partitioned into separate provinces of Bihar and Orissa.
 Separation of Burma from British India
• Establishment of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
• Establishment of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), a Provincial Public Service Commission
(PPSC) in each province, and the Joint Public Service Commission (JPSC) for two or more provinces.

UPSC CSE 2004] Consider the following statements:

Some of the main features of the Government of India Act, 1935 were the
1. Abolition of Dyarchy in the Governor's Provinces
2. Power of the Governors to Veto legislative action and to legislate on their own
3. Abolition of the Principle of Communal Representation
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Choose the correct answer from the following
options:
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2
c) 2 and 3
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: Option B

[UPSC CSE 2018] In the federation established by the Government of India Act of 1935,
235

residuary powers were given to the

a) Federal Legislature
MIH-II – Post-1857

b) Governor General
c) Provincial Legislature
d) Provincial Governors
Answer: Option B

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[UPSC CSE 2005] Consider the following statements: The Government of India Act, 1935
provided for
1. The Provincial Autonomy
2. The establishment of the Federal Court
3. All India Federation at the centre
Which of the following statements given above are correct? Choose the correct answer from the
following options:
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: Option D

Nationalists’ Response
• In spite of its recognition of the Indians' aspirations to have a responsible government, the Act of 1935
did not fulfil those aspirations. The Congress condemned the act as totally disappointing.
• The INC, the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, and the Liberals all opposed the Act but par-
ticipated in the 1937 provincial elections.

10.3. Second Phase of Debate

• After imposing the Act of 1935, the British decided to put into operation the provincial part and
announced the holding of provincial legislature elections in early 1937.
• Bitterly opposed to the Act, Congress decided to contest the 1937 elections to demonstrate the
unpopularity of the Act.
• There were significant differences of opinion among the Congress regarding the next steps after the
elections. The main point of contention was whether the Congress should agree to form a government
in case it secured a majority in a province. The debate quickly split into two sides along ideological
lines: Left and Right.

Opponents of office acceptance

236

• Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose, Congress Socialists, and Communists strongly opposed office ac-
ceptance. They believed:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Accepting office would go against our rejection of the Government of India Act.
 Accepting office would involve cooperating, to some extent, with the repressive imperial appa-
ratus.
 The Congress, in office, might achieve little for the welfare of the people.

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 Taking office would remove the revolutionary character of the movement.

• They proposed entering the councils with the aim of creating deadlocks, thus making the Act impossible
to work (older Swarajist strategy).

Supporters of office acceptance

• Supporters of accepting offices argued that accepting government offices was a short-term strategy
as mass movement was not feasible. They suggested that Congress should combine mass politics with
legislative and administrative efforts to address an unfavourable situation. They argued that:
 Even with limited powers, provincial ministries could be used for constructive work, especially in
areas like village development, helping Harijans, promoting khadi, enforcing prohibition, improv-
ing education, and easing the financial burden on peasants.
 Refusing to take office could create an opportunity for pro-government forces to use them to
weaken nationalism.

Gandhi's Shifting Stance

• Initially, Gandhi opposed taking government offices and proposed preparing quietly in villages for
civil disobedience. By early 1936, finding the village option impractical, he agreed to try forming Con-
gress ministries.

Decision of Congress
• In early 1936, the Congress decided to participate in elections and postponed the decision to accept
government offices until after the elections.
• Similar to 1922-24 and 1934, both factions of the Congress, respecting each other and trusting their
shared commitment to the anti-imperialist struggle, avoided splitting the party.

10.4. Provincial Elections of 1937

• The period between 1936 and 1939 was a period of political transformation for the Congress. This
was when Congress gave up the path of confrontation and went for constitutional politics.
• However, unlike the earlier Swarajist phase, its present aim was to give the constitutional methods
a trial, and the Congressmen worked for their success. 237

Congress’ Election Manifesto

• The Manifesto made it clear that the purpose of sending Congressmen to the legislatures was not to
MIH-II – Post-1857

cooperate with the Government but to combat the Act of 1935.

• It promised the establishment of civil liberty, release of political prisoners, removal of untouchabil-
ity, equal status for women, encouragement to khadi and village industries, and satisfactory solutions
to communal problems.

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• In relation to industrial workers, it promised a decent standard of living, regular hours of work, the
right to form unions and better working conditions for labour.

Performance of Congress
• The February 1937 elections conclusively demonstrated that a large majority of Indians supported the
Congress. Congress won 716 out of the 1,161 seats it contested.
• The largest party in nine provinces: Congress was the largest party in all provinces except Punjab
and Sindh.
• A clear majority in five provinces: Congress had a clear majority (absolute majority) in five prov-
inces - United Provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, and Madras.
• Ministries: In 1937, Congress ministries were formed in seven out of eleven provinces - United Prov-
inces, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, Madras, Bombay and NWFP.
 In 1938, Congress formed coalition governments in Assam under Bardoloi. Hence, eight out of
eleven provinces had a Congress "Prime Minister" working under the supervision of a British Gov-
ernor.
 Congress supported the ministry of Hidayatulla in Sindh.
 Punjab was ruled by the Unionist Party, and Bengal was ruled by a coalition of the Krashak Praja
Party and the Muslim League.
Province Congress Prime Ministers in 1937
Bombay B.G. Kher
United Provinces Govind Ballabh Pant
Madras C. Rajagopalachari
Orissa Hare Krishna Mehtab
Central Provinces Dr. Khare
Bihar Sri Krishna Sinha
N.W.F.P. Dr. Khan Saheb

Congress Performance in Reserved Seats

• The Congress performed well in general seats, but its performance in reserved constituencies was
not satisfactory except in the labour seats.
238

 Out of the 38 seats reserved for labour, Congress contested 20 and won 18.
 For commerce and industry, 56 seats were reserved. The Congress contested eight and could win
MIH-II – Post-1857

only three.
 For Landholders, 37 seats were reserved. The Congress contested eight and won four.
 482 seats were reserved for Muslims. The Congress contested 58 and could win only 26 seats.
Out of these, 15 were in NWFP. The Congress could not get a single Muslim seat in Bombay, U.P.,
C.P., Sindh, and Bengal.

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• However, the Muslim League's performance was no better. Muslim League:

 Could not get a single seat in the NWFP.
 Won only 2 of the 84 reserved seats in Punjab.
 Won only 3 of the 33 reserved seats in Sind.
• The Hindu Mahasabha also failed miserably. Moreover, the landlord and money-lender parties fared
badly in the elections.

Council of States
• The Congress could not do well in the elections to upper houses as the franchise was limited to the
upper strata only. Hence, the legislative councils in the Congress-run states were dominated by land-
lords, capitalists, and moneylenders.

[UPSC CSE 2005] In which one of the following provinces was a Congress Ministry not
formed under the Act of 1935?
a) Bihar
b) Madras
c) Orissa
d) Punjab
Answer: Option D

Office Acceptance
• In the 1937 election, Congress contested but deferred the decision on office acceptance until after
the election.
• The AICC met in March 1937 to decide on the issue. Rajendra Prasad moved a resolution for 'condi-
tional acceptance' of office, which was accepted. The condition attached was that the governors
would not use their special powers to intervene with the functioning of ministries.
• When the governor invited the Congress leader to form the government, they declined as the governor
refused to give assurance on their condition. This led to the formation of Interim Ministries.
• The CWC met at Wardha in the first week of July 1937 and permitted office acceptance.

Congress Ministries at Work

239

• The formation of the Ministries by the Congress changed the entire psychological atmosphere in
the country. People felt like they were breathing the air of victory and self-government.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The expectations from people increased, and hence, the task before Congress was a tremendous one.
At the same time, Congress got an opportunity to demonstrate that it could not only lead the people
in mass struggles but also use state power for their benefit.
• During their tenure, Congress ministers established new standards of honesty and public service.
They made themselves easily accessible to the common people and demonstrated their commitment

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by reducing their monthly salaries from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 500. Furthermore, most opted for second or
third-class travel on railways instead of luxurious first-class accommodations.
• The ministers undertook positive measures in several fields, which significantly improved the lives of
the citizens.

Civil Liberties
• The Congress ministries released political prisoners, including a large number of revolutionary na-
tionalists. Massive public demonstrations welcomed these prisoners, which the British Government
disliked.
• Ultimately, the governors of U.P. and Bihar stopped the release of prisoners. On 15 February 1938,
the Prime Ministers of these provinces submitted their resignations over the issue. The issue was ulti-
mately resolved through negotiations, resulting in the release of all prisoners in both provinces by the
end of March.
• The Congress ministries repealed restrictions on the press and lifted bans on radical organisations.
• The ban on illegal political organisations such as the Hindustan Seva Dal and Youth Leagues was
lifted. However, the ban on the Communist Party, which was imposed by the Central government,
was continued. Communists could now function openly and freely in Congress-ruled provinces.
• They curbed police power, returned the confiscated arms, and forfeited arms licenses were restored.
• The Congress was committed to civil liberties within the confines of non-violence. However, Congress
warned the public that civil liberty does not cover acts of violence, incitement to violence, or the
promulgation of palpable falsehoods. The Left Wing of the Congress was opposed to such an approach.
• There were certain shortcomings in the Congress ministerial record.
1. The Madras Government prosecuted:
 Yusuf Meherally, a socialist leader, for delivering an inflammatory speech.
 S.S. Batliwala, Congress Social leader, for making a seditious speech.
2. K.M. Munshi, the Home Minister of Bombay, used the CID to watch the Communists and other
left-wing Congressmen.
• Yet, the left wing, led by J. Nehru within the Congress, exerted pressure on the right-wing Congress
ministers to refrain from infringing on civil liberties. 240

Congress vs Non-Congress Ministries

• The difference between Congress-ruled provinces and non-Congress provinces was visible. In non-
MIH-II – Post-1857

Congress provinces like Punjab and Bengal, restrictions on civil liberties persisted. Despite repeated
hunger strikes by the prisoners, revolutionary prisoners were also not released.

Agrarian Reforms

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• Within their limited powers, the Congress ministries tried to promote the interests of the peasantry.
They addressed issues such as tenancy rights, security of tenure, rents, and rural indebtedness.
• In Bombay, Congress was successful in getting those lands restored to their original owners, which
had been sold to new owners as a result of the no-rent campaign during the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
• The agrarian legislation implemented by the Congress ministries varied from province to province.
This was due to the differences in agrarian relations, the Congress' mass base, the class composition
and perspective of the provincial Congress organisation and leadership, and the level of mobilisation
among peasants.
• Tenancy legislation was taken up in all the Congress-ruled provinces. The Right wing did not want to
proceed without negotiating with the landlords, and the position varied from province to province. For
example:
 In Bihar, the Congress policy was, to an extent, pro-zamindari, and the Congress signed a pact
with the zamindars regarding the provisions of the Tenancy Bill.
 The U.P. Congress was more dominated by the Left Wing. The Tenancy Bill passed here was not
given assent by the Governor even two years after its passage.
• The Congress could not undertake a complete overhaul of the agrarian structure by completely abol-
ishing the zamindari system. It was because of the following limitations:
 Limited power of provincial ministries
 Reactionary legislative council dominated by landlords, moneylenders and capitalists
 Inadequate financial resources
 Constraint of time
 The extremely complex nature of the agrarian structure

Labour
• The Congress Ministries adopted a pro-labour stance. They tried:
 To advance workers' interests while promoting industrial peace
 To improve the working conditions of the working class
 To reduce strikes and lockouts as far as possible
 To cultivate a positive relationship between labour and capital.
241

• In 1937, the Labour Committee, appointed by Congress, gave a programme that was accepted by the
AICC. This included:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Holidays with pay

 Employment insurance
 Leave with pay during sickness.
 To devise a way to fix minimum wages.

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 Recognition of such trade unions by the state that pursued a policy of peaceful and legitimate
means.
• However, Bombay was the only province that had undertaken labour legislation. The Ministry passed
the Industrial Disputes Act to prevent strikes and lockouts as much as possible. The left wing of Con-
gress also opposed the act because it restricted the freedom to strike.
• According to the workers, the act only meant a ban on strikes as a lockout, which was the most effective
'weapon in the armoury of Capitalists for the exploitation of workers' against which the government
could do nothing. The workers went on strike, which the Congress government crushed with the help
of the police. About 20 workers were killed in the police action.
• Congress Ministries struggled to address situations where their own support base was discontented.
Frequently, they viewed all militant protests, particularly trade union struggles, as law and order
issues. The response often involved using Section 144 of the Criminal Code against protesting workers
and the arrest of peasant and trade union leaders.

Industry
• Modern industries were encouraged by the Congress Ministries.

National Planning Committee

• In 1938, Subhas Chandra Bose, president of INC, established the National Planning Committee. Its
main objective was to focus on the development of industries in India.
• The Planning Committee was chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru and had ten other members, including
M. Visveswaraya, Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Meghnad Saha, and Ambalal Sarabhai. The committee's
first meeting was held on 17 December 1938 in Bombay.
• The committee also formed several sub-committees to prepare and carry out a national plan for the
overall economic, cultural, and spiritual development of the people.

Constructive Programme
• In all the Congress-ruled provinces, sincere efforts were made to introduce prohibition, encourage
education and give impetus to village industries.
• The major achievements of the Congress Ministries were: 242
 A vigorous campaign in favour of prohibition
 Prohibition in selected areas
 Upliftment of Harijans
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Attention to primary, higher, and technical education and public health.

 Support to khadi and other village industries
 Appointment of honorary medical officers in hospitals
 The Declaration of Fundamental Rights

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 Welfare Schemes for Tribals

 Carrying Jail Reforms
 Repeal of the Moplah Outrages Act
 Carrying out commercial and economic surveys

Education

• An All-India National Education Conference was held at Wardha in October 1937. The Conference
formulated a scheme which included:
 Free and compulsory education to be provided for seven years throughout the country
 Mother tongue should be the medium of instruction
 Emphasis on vocational and Manual Training
• Based on these guidelines, Dr Zakir Hussain submitted a scheme of Basic education to be imple-
mented by the Congress Ministries. This scheme included
 Learning basic crafts
 Proper knowledge of mother tongue
 Basic scientific knowledge, etc.
• In February 1938, at the Haripura Session of the Congress, a resolution supporting the new policy Nai
Talim or Basic Education (Buniyadi Shiksha) recommended by Dr Zakir Hussain committee was
adopted.
• In many provinces, attempts were made to put this scheme into action. As a result of Congress's edu-
cation policy, the number of students and educational institutions increased.

End of the 28 months of Congress Rule

• The Congress ministries implemented various positive measures in different fields, which significantly
improved the living conditions of the citizens. However, due to limitations in terms of power and
financial resources, the Congress Ministries could not change the imperialist nature of the admin-
istration, and they failed to introduce a radical era.
• Nevertheless, Congress ministries made efforts to improve the people's condition within the narrow
limits of the powers conferred to them under the Act of 1935.
• Important features of this period were:
243

 The change in the attitude of government officials. They had to work under those leaders whom
they had earlier arrested.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Firm handling of communal riots.

• At the same time, many opportunists joined Congress to seek the advantages of office. The Congress
was aware of such characters, and Gandhi wrote frankly about corruption in the Congress in his paper
Harijan. In many regions, a drive was made to free the Congress from such elements.

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• The Congress Ministries resigned office in October and November 1939 on the grounds that the Vice-
roy had made India a participant in the war without consulting the Congress.
• The nationalists stood behind the Congress while on December 2, the Muslim League under Jinnah
declared December 22nd, 1939, as the "Day of Deliverance" and thanksgiving to celebrate the res-
ignation of Congress Ministries.

[UPSC CSE 2012] The Congress ministries resigned in the seven provinces in 1939 because
a) The Congress could not form ministries in the other four provinces.
b) The emergence of a ‘left-wing’ in Congress made the working of the ministries impossible.
c) There were widespread communal disturbances in their provinces.
d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct.
Answer: Option D

10.5. Increasing interest of Congress in world affairs

• From its inception in 1885, the Congress opposed the use of the Indian army and India's resources
to serve British interests in Africa and Asia. It gradually developed a foreign policy based on opposi-
tion to the spread of imperialism.
• In February 1927, Jawaharlal Nehru, on behalf of the National Congress, attended the Congress of
Oppressed Nationalities at Brussels, organised by political exiles and revolutionaries from the coun-
tries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, suffering from economic or political imperialism. Nehru was
elected to the Executive Council of the League Against Imperialism, born at this Congress.
• In 1927, the Madras session of the National Congress warned the government that the people of India
would not support Britain in any war undertaken to further its imperialist aims.
• In the 1930s, the Congress took a firm stand against imperialism in any part of the world and sup-
ported national movements in Asia and Africa. It condemned fascism, which had arisen at the time in
Italy, Germany and Japan, as the most extreme form of imperialism and racialism and gave full support
to the people of Ethiopia, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and China in their fight against aggression by the
fascist powers.
• In 1937, when Japan launched an attack on China: 244
 Congress passed a resolution calling upon the Indian people "to refrain from the use of Japanese
goods as a mark of their sympathy with the people of China."
 In 1938, Congress sent a medical mission, headed by Dr M. Atal, to work with the Chinese armed
MIH-II – Post-1857

forces.
• In his presidential address to the Lucknow Congress in 1936, while stressing the Congress's opposition
to any participation of the Indian Government in a war between imperialist powers, Nehru offered

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full cooperation "to the progressive forces of the world, to those who stood for freedom and the
breaking of political and social bonds."

10.6. Growth of Communalism

• After 1935, the communal parties began to gather strength due to the following factors:
 Elections based on restricted franchises and separate electorates produced separatist sentiments.
 As Congress adopted a radical agrarian programme and the peasant movements grew, landlords
and moneylenders shifted their support to the communal parties.
 Propaganda by Muslim and Hindu communalists

Role of Muslim League

• The Muslim League believed that only a Muslim party (Muslim League) could represent Muslim in-
terests. However, the party didn't perform well in the 1937 elections, which raised doubts about its
claim of being the sole spokesman of Muslims.
• From this point onwards, the League doubled its efforts to expand its social support.
 In 1940, the Muslim League passed a resolution demanding the partition of the country and the
creation of a state to be called Pakistan after independence.
 The Muslim League, led by Jinnah, started to spread the notion that the Muslim minority was in
danger of being engulfed by the Hindu majority. It propagated the unscientific and unhistorical
theory that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations that could never live together.

Role of Hindu Communalists

• The Muslim League's propaganda gained support due to the communal bodies that existed among
Hindus, such as the Hindu Mahasabha. The Hindu communalists also endorsed the idea that Hindus
were a distinct nation and that India belonged to them, which aligns with the two-nation theory. They
were against the policy of granting adequate safeguards to minorities to remove their fears of being
dominated by the majority.
• Hindu communalism had even less justification. Religious, linguistic, or national minorities in every
country have felt at some point that their social and cultural interests may be at risk due to their
numerical disadvantage. However, when the majority demonstrated through their actions and words
245

that these fears were baseless, the concerns of the minority groups disappeared.
• However, if a section of the people belonging to the majority becomes communal and starts talking
MIH-II – Post-1857

and working against the minorities, the minorities tend to feel unsafe, and the communal leadership
of the minorities is then strengthened. For instance, during the 1930s, the Muslim League only held
strong influence in areas where Muslims were in the minority. However, in regions such as the North-
West Frontier Province, the Punjab, Sindh, and Bengal, where Muslims were in the majority and felt
relatively secure, the Muslim League remained weak.

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Communal Groups: A Barrier in the Fight for Independence

 The communal groups, Hindu as well as Muslim, did not hesitate to join hands against the Congress.
 None of the communal groups and parties which talked of Hindu and Muslim nationalism took an
active part in the struggle against foreign rule.
 The communal groups saw the people belonging to other religions and the nationalist leaders as their
real enemies.
 The communal groups and parties shied away from the social and economic demands of the common
people. They increasingly came to represent the upper class's vested interests.

10.7. Important Congress Sessions

Lucknow Session (April 1936)

• The 49th Session of Congress was held in Lucknow in 1936 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal
Nehru. In his presidential address, Nehru said: I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the
world's problems and India's problems lies in socialism. I see no way of ending the poverty, the vast
unemployment, the degradation, and the subjection of the Indian people except through socialism.

Details of the session

• All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was established. Swami Sahajananda Saraswati was elected as its first
President.
• It decided the All-India Agrarian Programme. The provincial units of the Congress were asked to
conduct agrarian enquiries, the findings of which would facilitate the work of AICC to form an all-India
Agrarian Programme.
• It declared that the struggles in the states (princely states) had to be carried out by the people of the
states themselves.
 The ‘people of the State (princely States) should have the same right of self-determination as those
of the rest of India and that the Congress stands for the same political, civil and democratic liberties
for every part of India.’ However, Congress pointed out that ‘the struggle for liberty’ was to be
carried out by the people of states themselves.
• It thanked Romain Rolland for the invitation to the World Congress against War and Fascism.
246

• Congress resolved to contest elections based on a manifesto. However, the question of office ac-
ceptance was kept pending. The decision to contest elections and postpone office acceptance was
MIH-II – Post-1857

a compromise between those who supported office acceptance and those who wanted to boycott elec-
tions.
• Nehru took three Socialists into the Congress Working Committee: Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya
Narendra Dev and Achyut Patwardhan.

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Faizpur Session (December 1936)

• The 50th session of the Congress was held in Faizpur, Jalgaon district (Maharashtra). It was presided
over by Jawaharlal Nehru. It was the first Congress Session in a rural area.
• It is remembered for the large-scale participation of peasants. The influence of the Kisan Manifesto
can be seen in the agrarian programme adopted by Congress.

Details of the session

• It adopted an agrarian programme. It included the demands for:
 Reduction of land revenue and rent by 50%
 Exemption of uneconomic holdings from rent and land tax
 Ensuring a minimum wage for agricultural workers
 Recognition of peasant unions (Kisan Sabhas)
 Complete abolition of feudal levies and forced labour
 Cooperative farming
 Wiping out arrears of rent
 Modification of ejection laws
• However, the agrarian programme was silent on the issue of the abolition of the Zamindari and Ta-
luqdari systems. The Right wing of the Congress was not in favour of the abolition of the Zamindari
system.
• In the Presidential speech, Nehru:
 Demanded an end to imperialism and the establishment of a democratic state as a solution to
the problems of the Indian masses.
 Gave a call for peace. He stated that India would not be a party to any imperialist war, and it
would not provide resources to sustain the war either.
• The question of office acceptance was deferred again, but Congress clarified its intention to fight the
election. Nehru clarified that Congress' intent behind fighting electoral polls was not to cooperate
with British imperialism. Rather, it was to combat the Act, seek to end it and resist British imperialism's
attempt to strengthen its hold on India and exploit the Indian people.

Haripura Session (Feb 1938)

247

• The 51st session of the Congress was held at Haripura village in Surat district in February 1938. It
was presided over by Subhas Chandra Bose.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Details of the session

Rejection of Federal Structure

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• It rejected the federal structure given by the British in the Government of India Act 1935 because of
its undemocratic nature. Instead, it proposed a federation where the princely states participated as
independent units, enjoying the same democratic freedom as the rest of India.
• It condemned the lack of freedom and suppression of civil liberties in some princely states. The
Congress demanded a responsible government and the guarantee of civil liberties in the princely
states.

Princely States

• The Congress announced its aim to attain complete independence for the whole of India, including
the princely states. Congress reiterated its policy that movements in the States should not be launched
in the name of Congress but should rely on their own independent strength and fight through local
organisations.

Kisan Sabha

• Congress reiterated its recognition of the right of Kisan Sabhas to organise themselves in unions.
However, they also declared that they would not associate with any activities of the Sabhas that might
be incompatible with INC's basic principles.

Nai Talim

• It passed a resolution supporting the Nai Talim or Basic Education (Buniyadi Shiksha) recommended
by Dr Zakir Hussain committee.

Other Developments

• The session supported the release of all political prisoners.

• It assured the minorities of the widest scope for their development.

Crisis at Tripuri
The Presidential Race
• Until 1939, Congress presidents were usually chosen through consensus. However, the election was
held in 1939 as Gandhi backed Pattabhi Sitaramayya against Subhas Bose, who decided to stand
again.
248

• The elections were fought amid growing differences between the Congress's Left and Right leaders.
Bose was from the left. Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya by 1580 to 1377 votes and was re-
MIH-II – Post-1857

elected as president.
• Soon after the election, Gandhi said Pattabhi’s defeat was “more mine than his”.
• Bose labelled Congress leaders (branded as Rightists by Bose) as compromisers on the question of
federation. Consequently, members of the Congress Working Committee resigned in protest.

Tripuri Session (March 1939)

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• The Congress met at Tripuri (Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh) from 8 to 12 March under special
circumstances. President Subhas Chandra Bose was ill, and Gandhiji was fasting in Rajkot.
• As Bose was too ill to preside over some sittings, Maulana Azad conducted proceedings on his behalf.
• At Tripuri in March 1939, Govind Ballabh Pant moved a resolution asking Bose to appoint a Working
Committee in line with Gandhi’s ideas.
• The resolution was passed by the overwhelming majority, but Gandhi refused to impose a working
committee on Subhas, and he did not approve it. Gandhi asked the Bose to nominate a committee of
his own choice.

Bose on taking advantage of world war

• In 1938, Bose warned that another world war was imminent in Europe, and Britain would be involved.
He suggested that Congress take advantage of this situation by giving Britain a six-month ultimatum.
If the government did not accept, mass civil disobedience or Satyagraha for 'Poorna Swaraj' should
be launched.
• Bose reiterated this idea in his Presidential Address at the Tripuri Session of the Congress on 10
March 1939.

Princely States

• At its Tripuri session in March 1939, the Congress passed a resolution that facilitated the integration
of the political struggle in the princely states and the rest of India.
• The Congress adopted a resolution stating that it was abandoning its previous policy of non-inter-
ference in the struggle in the princely states.

Effect of Left-wing within Congress

• Bose could win the Presidential election for Tripuri Congress because all the left forces within the
Congress supported him.
• Pant's resolution directing Bose to form the Congress Working Committee on Gandhi's advice could
be passed because the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), which supported Bose in his presidential elec-
tion, did not support Bose in the resolution.

Aftermath of Tripuri Session

249

Resignation of Bose
• The support of the left, particularly CSP, was crucial for Bose. However, they did not support Bose
MIH-II – Post-1857

in Pant's resolution. After the resolution was approved, Bose suddenly found himself isolated.
• Finally, Bose resigned from the presidentship of Congress in April 1939. He was replaced by Rajen-
dra Prasad.

Forward Bloc

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• In May 1939, Subhas Bose formed the Forward Bloc as a new party within the Congress.
• On July 9th, Bose called for a nationwide protest against an AICC resolution. In response, the Working
Committee took disciplinary action against him. Bose was removed from his position as the Presi-
dent of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee and was barred from holding any Congress
office for three years.

10.8. Great Personalities

Bose and Nehru

• Educational Background: Both Bose and Nehru pursued their education in England and, after re-
turning to India, joined the national movement.
• Admiration for Gandhi: They held a profound respect for Gandhi and believed in his method of
Satyagraha or non-violent non-cooperation.
• Discontent with Gandhi's Withdrawal from Movements: Both leaders expressed dissatisfaction
with Gandhi's decisions to withdraw from the non-cooperation movement (1920-22) and the civil
disobedience movements (1930-34).
• Advocacy of Socialism: Bose and Nehru were left-leaning radical men and played an important role
in spreading socialism among youth.
• Demand for Complete Independence: They both opposed the demand for Dominion status in the
Calcutta session (1928) and advocated for complete independence (Purna Swaraj).
• Mutual Respect: Both leaders respected each other.
 Nehru did not resign with other CWC members after Bose was re-elected as president of Con-
gress.
 In his first speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort in August 1947, Nehru mentioned only a
few people by their names, including Gandhi and Bose.
 When Bose took over the Indian National Army (INA), he formed four regiments, three of which
were named after Gandhi, Nehru, and Maulana Azad.
• Divergent Views: Bose was in favour of getting help from Nazi Germany or Japan to uproot the
British from India. On the other hand, Nehru believed that both imperialism and fascism were wrong
and should be opposed.
250

10.9. Summary
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Following the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement, a significant debate emerged among
Indian nationalists regarding the future strategy of the national movement. This mainly occurred in
two stages.:

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1. First Stage: To determine the course of the national movement immediately after the withdrawal
of the civil disobedience movement.
2. Second stage: At this stage, the debate revolved around accepting office in case the Congress
emerged victorious in the provincial elections of 1937.

First Phase of Debate

• Three perspectives emerged among the nationalists on the future course of the movement - con-
structive work council entry and mass movement.
• Gandhi suggested constructive work as a prelude to the next phase of mass struggle. However, he
allowed those in favour of council entry to join legislatures.

1934 Indian general election

• Elections to the Central Legislative Assembly were held in India in November 1934. INC emerged as
the largest party by winning 45 seats out of 75.

Second Phase of Debate

• Congress opposed the Act but contested the 1937 elections to demonstrate its unpopularity.
• There were significant differences of opinion among the Congress regarding the next steps after the
elections. Some advocated office acceptance in case the Congress emerged victorious, while others
opposed it.

1937 Election
• During the elections held in February 1937, Congress contested in 1,161 seats and won 716 of them.
Congress emerged as the largest party in all the provinces except Punjab and Sindh. It secured an
absolute majority in five provinces and formed ministries in seven out of the total eleven provinces.

Important Congress Sessions

• Lucknow Session (April 1936): It was held in Lucknow in 1936 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal
Nehru. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was founded with Swami Sahajananda Saraswati as its first Presi-
dent.
• Faizpur Session (December 1936): It was held in Faizpur, located in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district. This
251

was the first Congress Session held in a rural area, and Jawaharlal Nehru presided over it. It adopted
an agrarian programme.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Haripura Session (Feb 1938)

• It was held at Haripura village in Surat district in February 1938. It was presided over by Subhas Chan-
dra Bose.

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• The Congress announced its aim to attain complete independence for the whole of India, including
the princely states. It passed a resolution supporting the Nai Talim or Basic Education (Buniyadi Shik-
sha) recommended by Dr Zakir Hussain committee.

Crisis at Tripuri

• The election for Congress president was held in 1939. Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya, backed by
Gandhi. Bose accused Congress leaders of compromising on the question of federation, resulting in
the resignation of members of the CWC in protest.
• Govind Ballabh Pant moved a resolution asking Bose to appoint a Working Committee in line with
Gandhi’s ideas. After the resolution was approved, Bose suddenly found himself isolated. Finally, Bose
resigned from the presidentship of Congress in April 1939.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

252
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11. Growth of Left

11.1. Left, Right and Centre

• During the period of the French Revolution, in the National Assembly of France, there were three
groups:
1. Conservative group: It supported the monarch and nobility and did not want to reduce their powers
2. Liberal group: It wanted limited reforms in the government
3. Radical group: It wanted drastic changes in the system of government, such as the adoption of a
constitution and the Imitation of the monarch's powers.
• Within the assembly:
 The conservatives sat on the right side of the speaker
 The liberals sat in the centre
 The radicals sat to his left
• Since then, in the political vocabulary:
 The word 'Right' has been used to refer to groups that are opposed to change in the existing
system of government and socio-economic order because of their own stakes.
 The word 'Left', on the other hand, refers to groups and movements that advocate radical reforms
in the government and the socio-economic order, considering the interests of the unprivileged
and oppressed sections of society.
 Those who stand for limited changes in the socio-economic and political system are known as
Centrists.
• The left is generally considered synonymous with socialism because socialism is an ideology that aims
to uplift toiling workers and protect them from exploitation by their employers, i.e., the capitalists.

11.2. Socialist Ideas and Role of INC

• Socialism aims to end the exploitation of a vast majority of hapless humanity by a small, powerful
minority. It seeks to remove the consequent injustices and inequalities from society. 253

Socialism and the Early National Movement

• By the beginning of the 20th century, socialism had acquired a considerable following, especially in
MIH-II – Post-1857

the West. The earlier nationalist leaders were aware of socialism or socialist traditions from the begin-
ning; however, they did not seriously concern themselves with socialist ideology. This was because:
 Fear of division: The leaders of the Congress in its early phase were afraid that socialism, which
encourages the resistance of the exploited against the exploiters and sets up workers against

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industrialists and peasants against landlords, would antagonise the wealthy, who were crucial fi-
nancial supporters of the nationalist cause.
 Most earlier nationalists thought that adopting socialist ideology might weaken the national
awakening and undermine the national unity the Congress was trying to build up.
 Absence of masses: Up to the First World War, the nationalists were engaged primarily in consti-
tutional politics and agitations within the limits the British masters allowed them. Except for the
Swadeshi movement (1905-8), they did not involve the masses in politics. Consequently, since the
earlier nationalists did not have a political programme that included the Indian people, they did not
feel the need to come closer to them.

Socialist ideologies among nationalists

• Under British rule, Indian people were impoverished and degraded because of the following:
 British allies: The British permitted the princes, landlords and moneylenders to oppress the peas-
antry.
 Exploitation of workers: The British offered leverage to business owners and industrialists, allow-
ing them to exploit workers.
• Several patriotic Indian intellectuals and militants were drawn to socialist ideologies, especially
those who had lived in Western countries or established links there. Madam Cama, Shyamji Krishna
Verma, Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendra Nath Dutta, and many others belonged to this cat-
egory. They operated from abroad until the beginning of the First World War.
• However, none of these distinguished personalities worked within the main nationalist organisation
in India, the Indian National Congress. As a result, they had little to no influence over the Congress'
activities, policies, and programs.
• Until the end of the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Socialism had no impact on the political
behaviour of the Congress. However, after this, socialist ideas started influencing Congress policies
and played an important role in politics.

Socialism after the Non-Cooperation Movement

• The Non-Cooperation movement evoked unprecedented enthusiasm among almost all classes and
sections. Hitherto, neglected categories, such as tribals, peasants, women and workers, participated
254

in the movement.
• During this time, the Russian Revolution also aroused interest among many young nationalists. Those
MIH-II – Post-1857

dissatisfied with Gandhian political ideas and programmes turned to socialist ideology for guid-
ance.
• In 1927, a new trend of socialism emerged. This trend reflected the rise of a new left wing in Congress,
led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. The left wing did not confine its attention to the

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fight against imperialism but also raised the issue of internal class oppression by capitalists and land-
lords.
• Jawaharlal and Bose toured the country, attacked imperialism, capitalism and landlordism and
preached socialism. Youth leagues were formed all over the country, and student conferences were
held.
• During this time, revolutionary nationalists led by Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh turned
towards socialism.
• Trade unions and peasant movements rapidly grew in the 1920s with the support of communists. As
a result of the radicalisation of INC, Workers' and Peasants' Parties (WPPs) were formed in different
provinces.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Socialism

Nehru's contact with socialism
• Jawaharlal went to Europe in 1926 to take his ailing wife Kamala to Switzerland for medical treatment.
In Europe, he came in contact with political thinkers, movements, and various forms of Socialism,
including Marxism.
• Jawaharlal was invited to participate, as the representative of the Indian National Congress, in the
International Congress Against Colonial Oppression and Imperialism, held in Brussels in February
1927. He was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the League Against Imperialism,
which was established in this Congress.
 The League Against Imperialism (LAI) was founded at the Brussels conference in 1927.
• During this Congress, Jawaharlal had the opportunity to meet some of the most prominent represent-
atives of the European radical tradition. Additionally, he interacted with numerous delegates from
countries such as China and Mexico, as well as various nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The
exchange of ideas and experiences he had during this event had a profound impact on him.
• In November 1927, Nehru visited the Soviet Union on an official invitation. He was greatly impressed
by the novel experiments in government and social reconstruction being conducted there. By the time
he returned to India in December 1927, Jawaharlal had, for all practical purposes, become a Socialist.

Impact on Domestic Politics

255

Complete Independence
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The year 1927 witnessed a debate on the extent and character of Swaraj or self-government.
• For the Congress leaders, the Swaraj meant the Dominion Status for India within the ambit of the
British Empire. However, Jawaharlal Nehru and others like him believed that accepting Dominion
Status would not only recognise the inevitability of British presence in India but also perpetuate
British exploitation of India through the backdoor.

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• In the Madras session in December 1927, Jawaharlal moved a resolution demanding complete inde-
pendence instead of the mirage of Dominion Status.
• Jawaharlal also criticised the Nehru report for accepting Dominion Status. In 1928, along with Srini-
vasa Iyengar and Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal formed the Independence for India League to
present their demand for Purna Swaraj (complete Independence).
• At the Lahore session of the Congress in December 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru became the President,
and the Congress adopted "Complete Independence" as its goal.

Spread of Socialism

• Jawaharlal and Subhas exercised influence over the youth (through the Youth League, the Hindustani
Seva Dal, the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Volunteers' movement), the students (through the stu-
dents' organisations and conferences) and the workers (mainly through the All India Trade Union
Congress) and inspired them to adopt a radical militant temper.
• Nehru propagated socialist ideas through speeches and articles, emphasising the need for economic
emancipation along with political freedom.
• In 1936, Jawaharlal Nehru urged the Congress to accept socialism as its goal and to bring itself
closer to the peasantry and the working class.
• In his presidential address to the Lucknow Congress in April 1936, Nehru said: I am convinced that
the only key to the solution of the world's problems and of India's problems lies in socialism. I see no
way of ending the poverty, the vast unemployment, the degradation, and the subjection of the Indian
people except through socialism.

Against All Forms of Oppression

• The left-wing in Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, did not confine its at-
tention to the fight against imperialism but also raised the issue of internal class oppression by capi-
talists and landlords.

11.3. Growth of Leftist Movement in India

• In the late 1920s and 1930s, a powerful left-wing group emerged in India and contributed to the
radicalisation of the national movement.
256

• The Leftist movement originated and grew in India as a result of:

1. The development of industries in India: Industrial development in places like Bombay, Calcutta,
MIH-II – Post-1857

and Madras resulted in large and concentrated working populations. Gradually, the workers
started organising themselves to demand better working conditions and higher wages. This led to
the emergence of trade unions, which prepared the ground for the formation of the Leftist parties.
2. The impact of socialist movements in other countries: The Russian Revolution (Bolshevik Revo-
lution) of 1917 served as a great inspiration to the world communist movement.

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3. Third Communist International: In 1919, the Communist government of the Soviet Union estab-
lished an international organisation called the Third Communist International. It aimed at bringing
about Communist revolutions and establishing governments of the working class worldwide.
 The First International, founded by Marx, existed from 1864 to 1872.
 The Second International existed from 1889 to 1914, up to the war.
 The Third International (Communist International or Comintern)existed from 1919 to 1943.

Formation of Communist Party of India and its early history

• M.N. Roy (Manabendra Nath Roy) formed the Communist Party of India outside India in Tashkent in
1920 under the auspices of Communist International.

M.N. Roy (Manabendra Nath Roy)

• The original name of Manabendra Nath Roy was Narendranath Bhattacharya. During the First World
War he was engaged in bringing about an armed revolt in India with the help of German arms (Zim-
merman Plan).
• While pursuing the goal, as a revolutionary, Narendranath travelled through many countries. In the
U.S.A., he changed his name to Manabendra Nath Roy.
• In Mexico, Roy came in contact with the Russian Communist emissary, Michael Borodin. Roy became
friends with Borodin, converted to communism, and helped Borodin organise the Communist Party of
Mexico. From Mexico, he went to Moscow at the call of Lenin, the Russian Communist leader.

M.N. Roy-Lenin Debate

• At Moscow, Roy attended the Second Congress of the Communist International, held from July to
August 1920. At the congress:
 Lenin held that in colonial countries, the communists should actively support the revolutionary
movements of the bourgeois (middle classes, i.e., propertied classes and intelligentsia) nationalists
against the foreign imperialistic governments.
 Roy held that the bourgeois nationalists were reactionaries (opposed to progress) and that the
Communists should carry on their struggle against imperialism independently by forming parties
of workers and peasants. 257

• As a result of Roy's insistence, the Second Congress of the Communist International decided that
while extending support to the "revolutionary national bourgeoisie" in the struggle against imperi-
MIH-II – Post-1857

alism, the Communists would carry on their struggle independently by means of an alliance between
workers and peasants.

M.N. Roy at Tashkent

• In October 1920, M.N. Roy came to Tashkent and established:

1. Communist Party of India

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2. A military school to train the Indian frontier tribes for armed revolt against the British Govern-
ment.
• M.N. Roy successfully recruited young ex-Muhajirs such as Mohammad Shafiq, Mohammad Ali and
others into the fold of the communist party.

Muhajirs
• Muhajirs were Muslim religious exiles from India who crossed over in batches between 1915 and 1920
to Kabul to resist and escape wartime and post-world war British rule in India.
• They were unhappy with the British Government's unfriendly attitude towards the Sultan of Turkey,
who was the Caliph or the religious head of the Muslims. They were initially pan-Islamists but later
abandoned this position, and many joined the communist party of India in Tashkent.
• Muhajirs took lessons at the newly established military school in Tashkent. When this school closed in
May 1921, the Muhajirs went to the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow. There,
they received training in the ideas of Marx and Lenin.

Peshawar Conspiracy Case (1922-23)

• After training in Moscow, the Muhajirs wanted to return to India and uproot colonial rule. On their
return, they were caught by the police and brought for trial to Peshawar. This trial is known as the
Peshawar Conspiracy Case (1922-23).
• Among the seven convicted in the Peshawar Bolshevik Conspiracy Case of 1922-23, some remained
with the communist movement, partially or wholly, during the 1920s or even later.

Early Communist Groups in India and Abroad

• In the 1920s, some Communist groups emerged inside and outside India.
• Outside India: Revolutionaries like Virendranath Chattopadhyay and Bhupendranath Dutt, who were
working outside India, converted to Marxism.
• Inside India: After the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement by Mahatma Gandhi, some
Non-cooperators turned to Communism.
1. In Bombay, a Communist group was organised by Shripad Amrit Dange.

Shripad Amrit Dange

258

• Dange joined the Non-Cooperation Movement but converted to communism after its suspension.
• In 1921, Dange published a book entitled Gandhi vs. Lenin, in which he showed his preference for
MIH-II – Post-1857

socialism.
• In 1922, Dange started editing the first socialist weekly, The Socialist.
2. In May 1923, in Madras, Singaravelu Chettier, an old lawyer, announced the formation of the La-
bour Kisan Party.

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3. In 1925-26, in Bengal, Muzaffar Ahmad formed the Labour Swaraj Party (which was soon renamed
the Peasants' and Workers' Party) with the help of Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case (1924)

• In 1924, the British Government started a conspiracy case against the four leading Communists -
Muzaffar Ahmad, S.A. Dange, Shaukat Usmani and Nalini Gupta.
• The Government alleged that these Communists had established "a branch of a revolutionary organisa-
tion known as Communist International" with the object of depriving the British King-Emperor of
the Sovereignty of British India. This case is known as the Cawnpore Conspiracy Case, as the trial of
the accused took place in Cawnpore (Kanpur).
• During the trial, Dange claimed the right to preach socialism in India, as it had been allowed in other
parts of the British Empire and Great Britain.
• As a result of this trial, Dange, Ahmad, Usmani and Gupta were sentenced to four years' rigorous
imprisonment in May 1924.

[Prelims Practice] Who among the following were jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik conspir-
acy case in 1924?
a) Muzaffar Ahmad, S. A. Dange, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta
b) Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Usmani
c) S. A. Dange and S. V. Ghate
d) Muzaffar Ahmad and S. S. Mirajkar
Answer: Option A

Formation of the Indian Communist Party (1925)

• The Communist Party of India, formed in Tashkent, did not function properly. It laid the foundation
but did not survive because when some of its members came back to India, they were arrested and put
in prison.
• In the early 1920s, the government banned all communist activity, making it difficult to form an all-
India organisation.
• In December 1925, Satyabhakta organised an all-India Conference of the Communists at Cawnpore 259

(Kanpur). Several Communists, including Nalini Gupta and Muzaffar Ahmad, who had been released
from jail, attended the conference, which was presided over by Singaravelu Chettier.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Many communist groups came together at the conference, leading to the foundation of the Com-
munist Party of India. At this meeting, the party's Central Committee was constituted, with S.V. Ghate
and J.P. Bergarhatta as the Joint Secretaries.

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• The Communist Party of India (CPI) urged all its members to join the Congress and form a strong
left wing in all its organs. It also encouraged its members to collaborate with other radical nationalists
and work to transform the Congress into a more radical mass-based organisation.

Formation of Workers' and Peasants' Parties (WPPs)

• In the early 1920s, the government banned all communist activity. As a result, in many parts, com-
munists organised peasants' and workers' parties to operate through them.
• Bengal: The “Labour-Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress” was founded in Calcutta on 1 No-
vember 1925 by Muzaffar Ahmad, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, Kazi Nazrul Islam and a few others. In early
1926, it was renamed the Peasants' and Workers' Party.
• Bombay: In November 1926, a "Congress Labour Party" emerged from within the Congress in Bom-
bay province. It changed its name to the Workers' and Peasants' Party (WPP) in February 1927.
• Punjab: The Kirti Kisan Party (KKP) was founded on 12 April 1928 at Jalianwala Bagh in Amritsar,
Punjab, to mobilize the peasants and labourers of the region. Members of Naujawan Bharat Sabha,
like Sohan Singh Josh and Bagh Singh, played an important role in KKP.
• U. P.: The Workers' and Peasants' Party (WPP) of UP was founded at a conference held in Meerut in mid-
October 1929. The conference was presided over by Kedarnath Sehgal and attended by communist
leaders from other provinces, such as SS Josh, Philip Spratt, and Muzaffar Ahmad. PC Joshi, who later
became the General Secretary of the CPI, was elected the secretary of the WPP.
• These parties attempted to propagate their ideology and programme through the use of press:
1. The Labour Swaraj Party started its weekly organ Langal (Plough). Langal stopped publication after
15 April 1926. On 12 August 1926 it was substituted by Ganavani.
2. The Bombay WPP started a Maratha weekly entitled Kranti (Revolution).
3. The Punjab WPP started an Urdu weekly called Mehanatkash (Toiler or Worker).
4. The WPP of UP published the Hindi weekly Krantikari (Revolutionary).
5. In Madras, M. Singaravelu started Labour-kisan gazette.

[Prelims Practice] Which of the following was/were connected primarily to the communist
ideology?
1. Kirti Kisan Party
260

2. Labour Swaraj Party

Codes:
MIH-II – Post-1857

a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: Option C

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All India WPP conference

• In December 1928, an all-India Conference of workers' and peasants' parties was held at Calcutta
under the presidentship of Sohan Singh Josh. Here, three major decisions were taken:
1. This Conference formed a National Executive Committee comprising leading Communists.
2. The Conference emphasised the international character of the Communist movement and the need
for the Communist Party of India to be affiliated with international organisations like the
League against Imperialism and the Communist International.
3. This Conference asked the Communists to carry on their movement independently instead of iden-
tifying themselves with "the so-called bourgeois leadership of the Congress".

WPPs and Communists

• The communists played an important role in the Workers' and Peasants' Parties (WPPs), but the WPPs'
leadership did not entirely consist of communists.
• WPPs were born out of the general radicalisation of INC and were not a front for a hidden and secret
CPI. They formed the left wing of the Congress and used the Congress platform for their organisational
and propaganda work.

Dual Task of WPPs

• The WPPs at this time were performing a dual task:
1. By participating in the organisational framework of the Congress, they were radicalising Congress
ideology and programme, orientating it towards the masses
2. They organised the workers into trade unions, influencing the All India Trade Union Congress (AI-
TUC).
• The WPPs played an important role in creating a strong left-wing within Congress and giving the
Indian national movement a leftward direction.
• Until 1927, the AITUC remained under the influence of trade unionists with liberal views who opposed
workers' participation in the national movement. However, by 1927, the influence of WPP began to be
felt in the AITUC as well.

Nationalism and Socialism 261

• The WPPs played an important role in organising anti-Simon demonstrations. For the first time, the
youth and the working class participated in the national movement in a big way.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru was elected president of the Congress as well as the AITUC. This was
symbolic of the emerging alliance between nationalism and socialism.

Communist Influence on Trade Union

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• Trade unionism rapidly grew under the leadership of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). The
Communists increased their influence over the Trade Union Organizations by leading the workers'
strikes.
• Till 1927, the left-wing influence among the working class was marginal, but by the end of 1928, the
leftists were able to dominate several trade unions all over the country, particularly in Bombay.
 The Communists played a prominent role in the Railway Workshop workers' strikes of February
and September 1927 at Kharagpur.
 From April to October 1928, the textile workers of Bombay carried on massive strikes, protesting
against the wage cuts. As a result of this strike, the communists formed their own organisation, the
Girni Kamgar Union (GKU), in May 1928. It played the most prominent role in the strike.
• By the end of 1928, the communists had penetrated almost all the labour unions. Their influence
spread to municipal workers, transport and rock workers, and the GIP Railway union.
• In Bengal, the communists or their sympathisers organised jute workers, seamen, fishermen, munic-
ipal workers, scavengers, Railway workers, and iron and steel workers.

Government's Measures to Curb Communist Influence

• By 1929, the government was concerned about the increasing communist influence in the national
and trade union movements. It decided to curb its activities and introduced the Public Safety and the
Trade Disputes Bills.

Trade Disputes Act

• Trade Disputes Act was passed on 11 April 1929. This Act introduced tribunals for settling workers'
problems and practically banned strikes that "coerced" the Government or caused hardship to the
people.

Public Safety Bill

• The British Government introduced the Public Safety Bill of 1929, which aimed at curbing the com-
munist movement in India. The bill:
 Allowed the government to deport “undesirable and subversive foreigners.”
 Gave the government sweeping powers, including the power to detain individuals considered a 262
threat to public safety without trial for up to two years.

Central Legislative Assembly Bombing (April 8, 1929)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• The British Government introduced the Public Safety Bill of 1929 to curb the communist move-
ment in India. Vithalbhai Patel, president of the Legislative Assembly, said that any discussion on
the bill in the assembly could prejudice the Meerut trial. Vithalbhai’s opposition to the bill was
known, and the British government expected an adversarial ruling.

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• On 8th April 1929, just as Vithalbhai rose to give his final ruling on the subject, two bombs were
dropped from the visitor’s gallery by Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt to protest against the passage of
the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill.

Ordinance (13 April 1929)

• In 1928, the Assembly rejected the Public Safety Bill. A year later, in 1929, the majority of members
opposed the bill again. Consequently, the Viceroy on 13 April 1929, announced the Public Safety
Ordinance to deport subversive elements.

[UPSC CSE 2017] The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 provided for
a) The participation of workers in the management of industries.
b) Arbitrary powers to the management to quell industrial disputes.
c) An intervention by the British Court in the event of a trade dispute.
d) A system of tribunals and a ban on strikes.
Answer: Option D

Meerut Conspiracy Case

• The most severe anti-Communist measure taken by the Government was the arrest of 32 Com-
munists, including three British Philip Spratt, B.F. Bradley and Lester Hutchinson in March 1929.
• They were tried at Meerut on the charge that, under the direction of the Communist International,
they wanted to deprive the British Monarch of his sovereignty over British India by means of general
strikes and armed uprisings. The government alleged that to achieve this objective, the Communists
had formed Workers' and Peasants' Parties in places like Meerut.
• The trial of the Communists lasted for four years, and the Sessions Court in Meerut awarded strin-
gent sentences to the accused in January 1933.
• Eventually, after an appeal from the Special Sessions Court, the Allahabad High Court acquitted some
of the accused and significantly reduced the sentences of the others.
• The Meerut Conspiracy case against the Communists was universally criticised in India. Mahatma
Gandhi described it as an instance of the "reign of lawlessness under the guise of law" and intended
not to kill communism but to strike terror.
263

• Instead of being a setback for the Communist Movement, the case made heroes and martyrs out of
the Communists. The speeches made by the communists before the court were propagated by nation-
MIH-II – Post-1857

alist newspapers, which familiarised lakhs of people with communist ideas for the first time and
raised the dignity of the Communist Movement.

Isolation of the Communists from the National Movement

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• The Sixth Congress of the Comintern in 1928 asked the Communist Parties to adopt an uncompro-
mising attitude towards the other left currents because they were not genuinely revolutionary. This
reflected the Comintern's growing sectarian trend towards the left currents throughout the world.
• In India, communists started opposing the INC, especially its left wing, led by Nehru and Bose. The
communists declared INC to be a class property of the bourgeoisie.
• The Third International also asked the Indian communists to dissolve the WPPs as they were a serious
hindrance in forming the centralised communist party. When communists deserted, the WPP fell apart.
• The sudden shift in the Communists' political position, the Meerut conspiracy case, and the split in
the Communists resulted in their isolation from the national movement at the very moment when it
was gearing up for its greatest mass struggle and conditions were ripe for massive growth in the Left's
influence over it.
• The government took advantage of this and banned the Communist Party of India on 23 July 1934.
 In 1934, the Communist Party of India renewed its militant trade union activities. Strikes were
held at Sholapur, Nagpur, and Bombay.
 After the government banned the Party in 1934, many Communists continued their activities within
the Indian National Congress and the newly formed Congress Socialist Party. The Communist
Party continued to function underground.

Communist Party after 1935

• The Communist Party underwent a radical change in 1935 due to the following two events.
1. Reorganisation: In 1935, the Communist Party was reorganised under the leadership of P.C. Joshi.
2. U-turn of Third International: In 1935, the Seventh Congress of the Communist International
initiated the policy of a united front on a world scale. It changed its earlier position and advo-
cated the formation of a united front with bourgeois-led nationalist movements in colonial
countries.
• The Communist Party called upon its members and supporters to join and influence the Congress.
Communists worked actively within the Congress, occupying official positions in district and provincial
committees and the All-India Congress Committee.
• In 1938, the Communist Party acknowledged that the Congress was the central political organisation 264

of the Indian people against imperialism.

• From 1936 to 1942, Communists successfully established strong peasant movements in Kerala, An-
dhra, Bengal, and Punjab and recovered their popular image as the most militant anti-imperialists.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Dutt-Bradley Thesis
• In early 1936, R P Dutt and Ben Bradley explained the reasons for changing communist politics in
India by a document entitled 'Anti-Imperialist People's Front in India' known as the Dutt-Bradley
thesis.

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• According to the Dutt-Bradley thesis, Congress was already the united front of the Indian people in
the national struggle, and it could play a great and foremost part in realising the Anti-Imperialist
People's Front.

[Prelims Practice] What was the Dutt-Bradley thesis?

1. The Working Committee of the Indian National Congress decided that Congress should play a
crucial role in realising the independence of India.
2. The Socialist Party decided to play a foremost part in the anti-imperialist struggle.
3. Revolutionary socialist Batukeshwar Dutt put forth a ten-point plan to work. for the success of the
anti-imperialist front
4. It was a Communist party document, according to which the National Congress could play a great
part and a foremost part in realising the anti-imperialist people's front.
Answer: Option D

11.4. Formation of Congress Socialist Party

• In the 1920s and 1930s, within the Congress, a considerable section was drawn towards the Socialist
or Communist ideology and sought to work out a Socialist programme through the Congress.
• This section included leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jaya Prakash Narayan,
Acharya Narendra Dev, Achyut Patwardhan, and Ram Manohar Lohia.

The Early Socialists

• In 1934, after the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement, a section of Congressmen decided
to enter into the legislature to work for the Congress cause within the government. Mahatma Gandhi
endorsed the line of action adopted by these Congressmen who were known as the Constitutionalists.
• At this stage, some socialists wanted to form a socialist party within the Congress organisation to
prevent the erosion of the Congress's revolutionary character by entering the legislatures.
• The Socialists within the Congress believed in Marxist ideas like the Communists. But there were two
basic differences between the Congress Socialists and the Communists:
1. While the Congress Socialists owed their allegiance to the INC, the Communists owed their alle-
giance to the Communist International.
265

2. The Congress Socialists were nationalists, and the Communists also believed in the goal of an
international Communist society.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Congress Socialists belonged to the westernised middle class. They were influenced by the ideas
of Marx, Gandhi and the Social Democracy of the West. They simultaneously practised Marxian So-
cialism, Congress nationalism and the liberal democracy of the West.

Towards an All India Congress Socialist Party

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• In 1934, Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, and others formed the
Congress Socialist Party (CSP) within the Congress.
• Acharya Narendra Dev was appointed as the founding President of the Congress Socialist Party, while
Jayaprakash Narayan served as the general secretary.
 Separation from Congress: In 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to prevent its members
from having dual party membership. This forced the Socialists to form a separate Socialist Party.

Background
• In the early 1930s, Socialist groups had been formed by the leftist Congressmen in provinces like
Bihar, U.P., Bombay and Punjab.
 In July 1931, the Bihar Socialist Party was formed with Jayaprakash Narayan as its Secretary.
 In Orissa, Utkal Congress Socialist Karmi Sangh was formed in February 1933 with Nabakrushna
Choudhury as secretary.
 Socialists like Yusuf Meherally, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan and Smt. Kamala Devi Chat-
topadhyay formed the first Congress Socialist group in Bombay in December 1933.
 In May 1934, the UP Socialist Party was formed under the leadership of Sampurnanand.
 The Kerala Congress Socialist Party was organised under the initiatives of influential Congress
leaders like P. Krishna Pillai and E.M.S. Namboothirippad.
• In May 1934, Jayaprakash Narayan, on behalf of the Bihar Socialist Party, convened the first All-
India Congress Socialists' Conference at Patna. Acharya Narendra Dev presided over the conference.
In his presidential speech, Narendra Dev criticised the new Swarajist section of Congressmen who
wanted to enter the legislatures and run counter to the Congress's revolutionary character.
• The Patna meeting called for a socialist conference. At this conference, held in Bombay from October
22 to 23, 1934, they formed a new All-India party, the Congress Socialist Party.
 Jayaprakash Narayan published a book, "Why Socialism?" in which he stressed the relevance of
socialism for India.
• All Congress socialists agreed on four fundamental ideas from the very beginning:
1. The primary struggle in India was for national freedom, and nationalism was an essential stage in
the journey towards socialism. 266

2. Socialists must work within the INC because it was the chief organisation leading the national
struggle.
3. Socialists must provide the Congress and the national movement with a socialist direction.
MIH-II – Post-1857

4. Socialists must organise workers and peasants for their economic uplift and to lead the move-
ment to achieve independence and socialism.

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• The Socialists put forward the programme of the abolition of zamindari, state ownership of land,
nationalisation of industries and banks, redistribution of land among peasants, and fixation of minimum
wages for the working masses.

[Prelims Practice] Consider the following statements :

1. The growth of socialist tendency in the national movement led to the foundation of the Congress
Socialist Party in 1934 under the leadership of Acharya Narendra Deva and Jayaprakash Narayan.
2. In 1936, Jawaharlal Nehru urged the Congress to accept socialism as its goal and to bring itself
closer to the peasantry and the working class.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: Option C

[Prelims Practice] Which one of the following pairs of organizations and their founders is
NOT correctly matched?
a) National Liberation Federation: Tej Bahadur Sapru and M. R. Jayakar
b) Jamiat-ul Ulama-i Hind: Maulana Mahmudal Hasan Shaikh-ul-Hind
c) Congress Democratic Party: B. G. Tilak
d) Congress Socialist Party: M. N. Roy
Answer: Option D

Ideological currents within CSP

• After the Seventh Congress of the Communist International in 1935, the Communists joined CSP as
part of the policy of a united front of the Comintern. In some states, like Kerala and Orissa, communists
dominated CSP. Communists dominated the entire Congress in Kerala through its hold of CSP at one
point.
• Later, the Anushilan Marxists and some members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Associa- 267

tion, including Jogesh Chandra Chatterji, joined the CSP.

• As a result, CSP was not a homogeneous entity. There was the Marxist trend led by J.P. Narayan and
Narendra Deva, the Fabian socialist trend led by Minoo Masani and Asoka Mehta and a Gandhian
MIH-II – Post-1857

socialist trend led by Ram Manohar Lohia and Achyut Patwardan.

Developing Alternate Leadership

• From the beginning, all the left groups within the Congress worked together:
 To influence the decisions of the Congress

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 To displace the existing leadership (Gandhiji's leadership)

• From 1936 onwards, all the left groups within Congress acted unitedly against the right wing of the
Congress. In the 1939 presidential election, they all came together in their struggle to replace the
Gandhian leadership.
• Bose accused the right-wing leaders of not being genuinely Interested in the struggle against imperi-
alism. He accused them of planning to compromise with the colonial government.
• After Bose's election victory, Mahatma Gandhi referred to Pattabhi Sitaramayya's loss more as his
own defeat than Pattabhi's.
• At this stage, the left leadership, particularly the CSP, realised that an effort to establish alternative
leadership would weaken the national movement and isolate the Left from the mainstream. They
also realised that Indian people could be mobilised into a movement only under Gandhiji's leader-
ship. Now, the communists and socialists began to dissociate themselves from Bose and abandon its
policy of developing alternate leadership.

Question of Gandhi's leadership

• The question of Gandhi's leadership was the fundamental difference between Nehru and the rest of
the left groupings (Roy, Bose, Socialists and Communists).
• Unlike them, Nehru believed that the struggle for India's independence could be successful only un-
der Gandhi's leadership. Instead of perceiving Gandhi as an obstacle, he considered him pro-poor and
pro-peasant.
• Nehru disagreed with Gandhi on many issues but firmly believed that Gandhi was the only possible
leader for India's millions, especially the peasantry, as nobody understood them better than Gandhi.

Impact of Congress Socialist Party (Left-wing)

• The CSP opened its doors to Communists in 1935, which allowed them to engage in political work
legally.
• In 1936, Nehru inducted three Congress Socialists - Narendra Dev, Jaya Prakash Narayan and Achyut
Patwardhan into the Congress Working Committee.
• The Faizpur session of the INC held towards the end of 1936 under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency,
adopted an agrarian programme containing such items as revenue reduction, abolition of feudal dues
268

and levies, the introduction of cooperative farming, a living wage for agrarian labourers, and for-
mation of peasant unions.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Congress Socialists played an important role in the Kisan (peasant) movement. Through the efforts
of Prof. N.G. Ranga, Indulal Yagnik, and Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, the All-India Kisan Sabha was
organised. The first All-India Kisan Congress met at Lucknow in 1936.

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• The Congress Socialists changed the Congress Party's policy from aloofness to closer involvement in
the affairs of princely states. The Congress socialist activists actively participated in the democratic
movements of people in the princely states, fighting against their autocratic rulers.
• The following events reflected the growth of the left-wing and its impact on the national movement:
 The resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy passed by the Karachi session of
the Congress on the urging of Jawaharlal Nehru.
 Election Manifesto of Congress in 1936
 Setting up the National Planning Committee under the Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru in
1938
 The foundation of the All-India Students' Federation in 1936
 Establishment of the left-leaning Progressive Writers' Association in 1936
 Election of Jawaharlal Nehru as president for 1929, 1936 and 1937 and of Subhas Chandra Bose
for 1938 and 1939.
 In 1939, Subhas Bose, a left-wing candidate, defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya (supported by
Gandhiji) in the presidential election.

[Prelims Practice] Who among the following was NOT a Communist leader in colonial In-
dia?
a) P.C. Roy
b) S. A. Dange
c) Muzaffar Ahmad
d) Singaravelu
Answer: Option A

11.5. Second World War and the Left Response

• When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, the Government of India immediately
joined it without consulting the Congress or the elected members of the central legislature.
• The Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted a resolution which categorically declared that India
could not associate herself with a war which claimed to be anti-fascist and for the defence of democ-
racy when the same democratic freedom was denied to her.
269

• At the Ramgarh session of the Congress in March 1940, the Congress adopted a resolution pledging
support for the allies in return for national independence. The Congress Socialists supported the
MIH-II – Post-1857

Congress leadership.

Opposition to the War

• On the occasion of the 1940 Ramgarh Congress Conference, CPI released a declaration called Prole-
tarian Path. This declaration sought to utilise the weakened state of the British Empire in times of war

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and called for a general strike, no-tax, no-rent policies, and mobilisation for an armed revolution
uprising.
• By following this policy, the communists separated themselves from the national movement. The
government decided to attack the communists. Until February 1941, about 480 leading communist ac-
tivists were arrested in various parts of the country, and the party was completely paralysed.

Support to the War

• In June 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, and the communists were divided over their response
to the war.
1. One faction, which was outside the jail and led by P.C. Joshi, believed that the earlier policy of
mass opposition to imperialism should continue and be further strengthened.
2. The other faction, comprising the majority of CPI members who were in jail, argued that the
communist policy should prioritise Russia's victory, even if it meant abandoning India's goal of
freedom. They believed that the "imperialist war" had transformed into a "People's War" with the
new circumstances.
• The latter policy eventually became the policy of the CPI, although some individual communists disa-
greed with it. As a result, the communists began supporting the colonial government's war efforts.
• In 1942, P.C. Joshi, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, met the Governor and other author-
ities and requested they release the detained Communist leaders. Consequently, a large section of the
communists were released from various jails, and the CPI became a legal party.
• The Communist Party of India did not support the quit-India movement due to its "people's war"
line.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

270
MIH-II – Post-1857

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12. National Movement During the Second World War

• The Second World War broke out on 1 September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain
and France were forced to go to Poland's aid, and on 3 September, Britain declared war against
Germany.
• The Government of India immediately joined the war without consulting the Congress or the
elected members of the central legislature. Viceroy Linlithgow declared that the whole of India was
voluntarily helping the war effort. But in reality, the majority of the people of India were not inter-
ested in it. They made no distinction between Nazism and the double autocracy of the British.
• The Congress fully supported those affected by fascist aggression and wanted to assist democratic
forces in their fight against fascism. However, Congress leaders questioned how a nation under op-
pression could help others in their quest for freedom. Therefore, they offered full cooperation in the
war, provided:
1. The responsible government should be established in India immediately.
2. The Constituent Assembly should be established to frame the constitution of free India after the
war.

Debates in Wardha
• The Congress officially declared its stance at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)
in Wardha from September 10 to 14. The following views emerged from the meeting:
1. Taking advantage of the war: Subhas Bose and Socialists such as Acharya Narendra Dev and
Jayaprakash Narayan contended that the war was imperialistic because both sides were fighting
to protect their colonial territories. Hence, congress should seize the opportunity to gain freedom.
This was to be done by:
 Opposing the British efforts to mobilise India's resources for the war.
 Launching a strong movement against the British.
• The prime concern of the proponent of this view was to achieve India's freedom, but they were
not concerned about the intentional situation.
2. Conditional Backing: Jawaharlal Nehru differentiates between fascism and democratic values.
271

He considered fascism the greatest threat.

 Nehru believed that justice was on the side of Britain, France, and Poland in the war. However,
MIH-II – Post-1857

he was also convinced that Britain and France were imperialistic nations, and the war resulted
from their internal contradictions.
 Therefore, Nehru argued that India should neither participate in the war until it gained free-
dom nor exploit Britain's difficulties by immediately initiating a struggle.

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3. Unconditional support to Britain: Gandhiji was highly critical of Hitler and adopted a sympa-
thetic attitude towards the British. He believed that India should not seek advantage of Britain's
problems and should cooperate with the British in their war efforts unconditionally. However,
later, he supported Nehru’s position.
• The CWC adopted Nehru's stance. In its resolution, while strongly condemning the Nazi attack on
Poland, it stated that:
 India could not participate in a war supposedly fought for democratic freedom, while that very
freedom was denied to India.
 If Britain was truly fighting for democracy and freedom, she should demonstrate this commitment
in India by establishing democracy.

Congress Resignation
• Mahatma Gandhi met the viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, on October 13, 1939. The negotiations broke
down as the Viceroy did not accept Congress's demand.
• The Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, issued a statement on October 17, 1939, in which he attempted to use
the Muslim League and the Princes against the Congress.
 As an immediate measure, Linlithgow proposed setting up a consultative committee that the
Government could consult whenever it felt necessary.
 Linlithgow also promised that the British Government would talk with representatives from various
communities, parties, and interests in India, along with Indian princes, to discuss how the Act of
1935 could be modified at the end of the War.
• In protest, on 23 October, the CWC:
 Rejected the Viceroy’s statement.
 Decided not to support Britain’s war effort.
 Asked its ministers to resign.

12.1. Nationalist Movement in 1940

Gandhi's Reservations on Civil Disobedience

• There were two opinions in Congress about the launching of civil disobedience.
272

1. Gandhi felt that the atmosphere did not favour civil disobedience as:
 There were differences and indiscipline within the Congress.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Masses were not ready.

 There was a lack of Hindu-Muslim unity.
2. Bose, socialists and communists who advocated civil disobedience, tried to persuade Gandhi,
saying that once the movement began, differences would vanish, and everyone would cooperate for
its success.

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• However, Gandhi disagreed, and in such an atmosphere, the Congress met at Ramgarh in March 1940.

Ramgarh Session (March 1940)

• The 53rd session of Congress presided over by Maulana Azad, was held in 1940 at Ramgarh (a district
in Jharkhand). The Congress declared that nothing short of complete independence was acceptable.
It stated that:
 The elected ministries of Congress had resigned to ensure India's disassociation from the war.
 Once the organisation is ready, Congress will initiate civil disobedience to liberate India from Brit-
ish rule.
• The decision to launch mass civil disobedience was left to Mahatma Gandhi.

Anti-Compromise Conference (Ramgarh, 1940)

• In March 1940, Subhas Bose arranged an 'Anti-Compromise Conference' at Ramgarh, Bihar. It was
convened under the joint auspices of the Forward Bloc and the Kisan Sabha. The conference urged
the people not to help the British war efforts.
• The Socialists, Communists, Kisan Sabhaites, and those belonging to the Forward Bloc were unhappy
with the Ramgarh resolution. A compromise with imperial power was not acceptable to the radical
nationalists. They urged the people to resist compromise with imperialism and be ready for action.
• The anti-compromise conference was a step towards preventing India from being a participant in
the war and a critique of the imperialist policies of the British.

August Offer (August 1940)

• As the war was taking a menacing turn from the Allied point of view:
 The Congress softened its demands and offered to cooperate in the war if a transfer of authority
in India was made to an interim government.
 The British government also softened its stance and became more conciliatory.
• In order to get the support of Indians in the war effort, on August 8, 1940, the Viceroy Linlithgow
announced the August Offer at Simla.

Important provisions of August Offer

1. It promised a dominion status after the war.
273

2. Expanding the Governor-General's Executive Council to include more Indians and have an Indian
majority.
MIH-II – Post-1857

3. Establishment of a constituent assembly after the war to frame a new constitution.

4. The establishment of a War Advisory Council, which would meet at regular intervals and include rep-
resentatives of the Indian States.
5. The views of minorities should be given full weight, and no future constitution should be adopted
without their consent.

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• The viceroy also promised the Muslim League and other minorities that the British Government would
never agree to a constitution or government in India which did not enjoy their support.

Significance of the August Offer

 Self-determination: For the first time, the right of Indians to frame their constitution was accepted.
 Dominion status was explicitly offered.

Stand of Congress and Muslim League

• The offer was rejected by both the Congress and the Muslim League. The Congress rejected this offer
because:
1. There was no suggestion for a national government.
2. It encouraged anti-Congress forces like the Muslim League.
• The Muslim League rejected it as it started its demand for a separate state of Pakistan.
• After the failure of the August Offer in 1940, the INC decided to launch the "Individual Satyagraha"
under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

Individual Satyagraha (Individual Civil Disobedience)

• At the Ramgarh session of Congress, the decision to launch mass civil disobedience was left to
Mahatma Gandhi. By 1940, the government issued many ordinances taking away the freedom of
speech. The government frequently arrested Congress members, particularly those with socialist views,
as a preventive measure. They detained many labour and youth leaders.
• Gandhiji declared that the immediate issue was not the "Freedom of India” but "Freedom of Speech".
To affirm the right to free speech, on 17th October 1940, Gandhi officially inaugurated the Individual
Satyagraha.
• Gandhi gave the call for a limited satyagraha by a few selected individuals as he did not want to
embarrass Britain's war effort by a mass upheaval in India. Vinoba Bhave and Jawaharlal Nehru were
nominated as the first and second satyagrahis, respectively.
• The aim of launching individual satyagraha was to disprove the British claim that India supported
the War effort wholeheartedly.
• The satyagrahi demanded the freedom to speak out against the war through an anti-war declaration. 274

If the government didn't arrest the satyagrahi, they would not only repeat the action but also go to
villages and begin a march towards Delhi, leading to a movement known as the 'Delhi Chalo Move-
MIH-II – Post-1857

ment.' By May 15, 1941, more than 25,000 satyagrahis had been jailed.
• The movement finally ended in December 1941 when CWC decided to suspend it.

Significance
 The individual satyagraha movement provided a platform for ordinary people to express their dis-
sent against British policies at a personal level.

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 It was a unique form of resistance that emphasised the power of one’s individuality in the larger
politics of the freedom struggle.

[UPSC CSE 2009] In the 'Individual Satyagraha', Vinoba Bhave was chosen as the first Sat-
yagrahi. Who was the second?
a) Dr Rajendra Prasad
b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
c) C. Rajagopalachari
d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Answer: Option B

Pakistan Resolution (Lahore Resolution) (1940)

• On 23 March 1940, the All-India Muslim League passed a resolution in its Lahore session demanding
a measure of autonomy for the Muslim-majority areas of the subcontinent, encompassing the entire
north-western and north-eastern parts. However, this ambiguous resolution did not mention parti-
tion or Pakistan.
 Pakistan celebrates 23 March as its National Day.

12.2. Jawaharlal Nehru: Gandhi's Successor

• Having occupied Poland, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and France in the West as well as most of Eastern
Europe, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.
• On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbour and
joined the war on the side of Germany and Italy. It quickly overran the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaya
and Burma. It occupied Rangoon in March 1942. This brought the war to India's doorstep.
• The recently released Congress leaders were worried about India's safety and defence. Despite ob-
jections from Gandhiji and Nehru, the CWC passed a resolution offering full cooperation in the
defence of India and the Allies on the condition that Britain grant full independence after the war and
the substance of power immediately. It was at this time that Gandhi designated Jawaharlal Nehru as
his chosen successor.

Gandhi's speech before AICC on 15 January 1941

275

• Gandhi said, “Somebody suggested that Pandit Jawaharlal and I were estranged. It will require much
MIH-II – Post-1857

more than differences of opinion to estrange us. We have had differences from the moment we be-
came co-workers, and yet I have said for some years and say now that not C. Rajagopalachari but
Jawaharlal will be my successor. He does not understand my language, and he speaks a language
foreign to me. This may or may not be true. But language is no bar to the union of hearts. And I know
that when I am gone, he will speak my language.”

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12.3. Cripps Mission (March 1942)

Background
Unfavourable Churchill
• In 1942, Britain had an all-party government whose Labour members were sympathetic to Indian
aspirations, but Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill was a diehard imperialist who made
every effort to thwart the success of Cripps.

Unfavourable War Situation

• Having occupied Poland, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and France in the West as well as most of Eastern
Europe, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.
• On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbour and
joined the war on the side of Germany and Italy. It quickly overran the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaya
and Burma. It occupied Rangoon in March 1942. This brought the war to India's doorstep.
• The recently released Congress leaders denounced Japanese aggression and once again offered to
fully cooperate in the defence of India and the Allied cause if Britain immediately transferred the
substance of power to India and promised complete independence after the war.
• There was also pressure on Britain from the Allies to get the active cooperation of Indians in the
war.

Cripps Proposals
• To gain India's cooperation in the War, the British Government, headed by Conservative Prime Minister
Winston, sent a mission headed by a cabinet minister, Sir Stafford Cripps, to India in March 1942.
• Some of the Cripps proposals, embodied in a Draft Declaration, were:
1. Immediately after the war, an Indian union with dominion status would be established, with the
right to secede from the Commonwealth.
2. Any Indian province could stay outside the Indian Union and directly negotiate with Britain.
3. The princely states that did not wish to accede to India could continue in their pre-existing rela-
tions with the British crown.
4. After the war, a constituent assembly would be set up. The members would be elected by the
276

provincial assemblies and nominated by the rulers in the case of the princely states.
5. In the meantime, the actual control of defence and military operations would be retained by the
MIH-II – Post-1857

British Government.
• The proposals also promised the protection of minorities. The British government would accept the
new constitution subject to two conditions:
1. Any province unwilling to join the Union could have a separate constitution and form a separate
Union.

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2. The constitution-making body and the British government would engage in negotiations to draft
a treaty that would effect the transfer of power and protect the rights of racial and religious mi-
norities.

[UPSC CSE 2009] Who among the following Prime Ministers sent Cripps Mission to India?
a) James Ramsay MacDonald
b) Stanley Baldwin
c) Neville Chamberlain
d) Winston Churchill
Answer: Option D

Rejection of the Cripps Proposals

• Almost all the Indian parties rejected this Declaration.
• Pandit Nehru and Maulana Azad were the official Congress negotiators with Cripps Mission. They
objected to:
 The provision for Dominion Status rather than complete independence (Purna Swaraj).
 Right of the provinces to secede (It went against the policy of national unity)
 The British Government's refusal to accept the Congress demand for the immediate transfer of
effective power to Indians.
 The representation of the princely states in the constituent assembly by the nominees of the rulers
rather than by the people of the states.
• Mahatma Gandhi called the proposal a post-dated cheque on a tottering bank.
• The Muslim League criticised the idea of a single Indian union and demanded a definite declaration
by the British in favour of the creation of a separate state for the Muslims.
• The Hindu Mahasabha and liberals criticised the provision of the right of the provinces to secede.
• The Depressed Classes, the Sikhs, the Indian Christians, and the Anglo-Indians demanded more safe-
guards for their communities.

[UPSC CSE 2010] Who among the following were official Congress negotiators with Cripps
Mission? 277

a) Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel

b) Acharya J. B. Kripalani and C. Rajagopalachari
MIH-II – Post-1857

c) Pandit Nehru and Maulana Azad

d) Dr Rajendra Prasad and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Answer: Option C

[UPSC CSE 2016] The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World
War:

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a) India should be granted complete independence

b) India should be partitioned into two before granting independence
c) India should be made a republic with the condition that she will join the Commonwealth
d) India should be given Dominion status
Answer: Option D

[UPSC CSE 2022] With reference to the proposals of Cripps Mission, consider the following
statements:
1. The Constituent Assembly would have members nominated by the Provincial Assemblies as well
as the Princely States.
2. Any Province, which is not prepared to accept the new Constitution would have the right to sign
a separate agreement with Britain regarding its future status.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: Option B

[UPSC CSE 2003] Which of the following was an important aspect of the Cripps mission
1942?
a) All Indian state should join the Indian union as a condition to consider any degree of autonomy
for India.
b) The creation of an Indian union with Dominion status very soon after the second world war.
c) The participation and cooperation of the Indian people communities and political parties in the
British war effort as a condition for granting independence with full sovereign status to India after
the Second World War.
d) The farming of a constitution for the entire Indian union with no separate constitution for any
province and a union constitution to be accepted by all provinces.
Answer: Option B
278

[UPSC CSE 2009] Consider the following statements:

The Cripps Proposals included the provisions for
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. Full independence for India

2. Creation of Constitution making body
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Choose the correct answer from the following
options.

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a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: Option B

12.4. Quit India Movement (August Kranti)

Background
1. The failure of the Cripps Mission: The failure of the Cripps Mission made it clear that Britain was not
ready to give India any real Constitutional advance.
2. The rising prices and shortages in food supplies during the war: It heightened the already increased
discontent among the people.
3. British evacuation from Malaya and Burma: It led to the loss of people's faith in the stability of
British rule.
4. The arrival of Japanese armies on Indian borders: As the Japanese forces moved towards India, the
spectre of the Japanese conquest began to haunt the people and their leaders. People also believed
that the Japanese might occupy India.
5. Gandhiji was becoming more and more militant.
• Against this background, Gandhi was convinced that a mass movement was necessary to compel the
British to accept the Indian demand for independence. He declared that if he could not convince Con-
gress, he would address the people directly.

Different opinions within the Congress

• Nehru initially opposed the mass movement to avoid disrupting the British anti-fascist struggle but
eventually supported it.
• C. Rajagopalachari urged the Congress to support the war. He did not participate in the movement.

[UPSC CSE 2013] The Quit India Movement was launched in response to
a) Cabinet Mission Plan 279
b) Cripps Proposals
c) Simon Commission Report
d) Wavell Plan
MIH-II – Post-1857

Answer: Option B

Quit India Resolution

• In May 1942, Gandhiji drafted a resolution calling for British withdrawal and non-violent non-co-
operation against any Japanese invasion. In July, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at

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Wardha adopted the Resolution (This later became known as the Quit India Resolution), which was to
be ratified at the Bombay All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting in August.
• On 8 August 1942, the AICC at Gowalia tank in Bombay, passed a historic Quit India resolution. The
resolution demanded an immediate end to British rule in India.
• The Congress appealed to the people of India: “People must remember that non-violence is the basis
of this movement. A time may come when it may not be possible to issue instructions or for instruc-
tions to reach our people and when no Congress Committee can function. When this happens, every
man and woman participating in this movement must function within the four corners of the general
instructions issued.”
• Addressing the Congress delegates on the night of 8 August, Gandhi said: “I want freedom immedi-
ately, this very night, before dawn, if it can be had... You may take it from me that I will not strike a
bargain with the Viceroy for ministries and the like. I am not going to be satisfied with anything short
of complete freedom.... Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts
and let every breath of yours express it. The mantra is: "Do or Die". We shall either free India or die in
the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery.”

[UPSC CSE 2021] Which of the following statements about 8 August 1942 in Indian history
is correct?
a) The Quit India Resolution was adopted by the AICC.
b) The Viceroy’s Executive Council was expanded to include more Indians.
c) The Congress ministries resigned in seven provinces.
d) Cripps proposed an Indian Union with full Dominion Status once the Second World War ended.
Answer: Option A

[UPSC CSE 2009] With which one of the following movements is the slogan 'Do or Die'
associated?
a) Swadeshi Movement
b) Non-Cooperation Movement
c) Civil Disobedience Movement
d) Quit India Movement
280

Answer: Option D

Gandhi's specific instructions for different sections

MIH-II – Post-1857

• Gandhi's speech included specific instructions for different groups of people. However, these instruc-
tions were not issued because of the preventive arrests.
1. Government Servants: Do not resign but openly declare allegiance to the Congress.
2. Soldiers: Do not leave posts but refuse to fire on Indian people.

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3. Princes: Accept the sovereignty of the people and stop paying homage to foreign powers.
4. People of Princely States: Declare yourselves to be a part of the Indian nation and accept the lead-
ership of Princes only if they side with the people.
5. Students: Give up studies if confident in the firmness until independence.
6. Peasants: Those with courage should refuse to pay land revenue.
 Congress asserts that land belongs to those who work on it.
 In the zamindari system, if zamindar supports the ryot, revenue share can be given by mutual
agreement. If zamindar supports the Government, no tax should be paid to him.

[UPSC CSE 2005] Consider the following statements:

On the eve of launch of Quit India Movement, Mahatma Gandhi
1. asked the government servants to resign.
2. asked the soldiers to leave their posts.
3. asked the princes of the princely states to accept the sovereignty of their own people.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Choose the correct answer from the following
options.
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: Option C

The Movement
• Before the Congress could start a movement, the Government struck hard. Early in the morning of 9
August, Gandhi and other Congress leaders were arrested. Congress, AICC, CWC, and provincial Con-
gress Committees were declared illegal. Gandhiji was imprisoned at the Aga Khan Palace Prison.
• In the absence of a major leader, young Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the remainder of the session
on 9 August and hoisted the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. This marked the com-
mencement of the movement. The police fired upon the assembly at the session.
• The news of the arrest of Congress leaders led to unprecedented popular outbursts in different parts
281

of the country. Left leaderless and without any organisation, the people reacted in any manner they
could. There were hartals, processions, strikes in factories, schools and colleges, demonstrations
MIH-II – Post-1857

which were lathi-charged and fired upon

• In the absence of recognised leaders - central, provincial or local, the young and more militant caders,
particularly students and socialist members of the Congress, took over the leadership at local levels.
• In the initial stages, the movement was based on non-violent lines. It was the repressive policy of
the government which provoked the people to violence.

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• Angered by repeated firings and repression, the people in many places took to violent action. They
attacked the symbols of British authority—the police stations, post offices, railway stations, govern-
ment buildings, etc. They cut telegraph and telephone wires and railway lines. Most of these attacks
were to check the movement of the military and the police, which the government was using to crush
the Movement.
 The most notable feature of the movement was Gandhi's refusal to condemn the violence of the
people, which he viewed as a reaction to the much bigger violence of the state.

Government’s Repression
• The Government, on its part, went all out to crush the movement. Its repression knew no bounds.
 The government resorted to arrests, detentions, police dismissals, and the burning of congres-
sional offices to achieve their goals.
 The demonstrating crowds were machine-gunned and even bombed from the air.
 The military took over many towns and cities. Over 10,000 people died in police and military
firings.
 The Press was completely muzzled.
 Prisoners were tortured.
• India had not witnessed such intense repression since the Revolt of 1857. The government's repres-
sion successfully stopped the mass phase of the struggle within six or seven weeks.

Underground Activities
• With the cessation of the mass phase of the struggle, underground activities emerged to keep the
popular morale high. Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Sucheta Kripalani,
Jayaprakash Narayan, and Biju Patnaik started underground activities in different parts of India.
• The underground movement usually disrupted communications by blowing up bridges, cutting tel-
egraph and telephone wires, and derailing trains.
• The daring act of the underground movement was the establishment of Secret Congress Radio with
Usha Mehta as its announcer. It was used for broadcasting inspiring messages from freedom fighters.
Ram Manohar Lohia also regularly broadcasts on this radio station.
• The underground movement managed to maintain the morale of the people in a situation when open
282

mass activity was not possible.

• Over time, the underground activities were divided into three streams:
MIH-II – Post-1857

1. A radical group led by Jayaprakash Narayan organized guerrilla warfare at the India-Nepal bor-
der.
2. A centrist group led by Congress Socialists like Aruna Asaf Ali mobilized volunteers across India
for sabotage activities.

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3. A Gandhian group led by Sucheta Kripalani emphasised non-violent action and constructive
programs.
 Congress Radio started with Usha Mehta, announcing, "This is the Congress Radio calling from
42.34 metres from somewhere in India.”

Parallel Governments
• In many places, the government lost all control and the rebels seized temporary control over towns,
cities, and villages. In some areas, parallel governments were set up by the revolutionaries.
1. In Ballia in eastern U. P., a parallel government was set up under the leadership of Chittu Pande.
2. Jatiya Sarkar was established in Tamluk in the Midnapur district of Bengal.
3. Prati Sarkar (parallel government) was established in Satara, Maharashtra.
4. People established Chasi Mulia Raj (Swaraj) in Talcher in Orissa.

Prati Sarkar
• In 1943, some younger leaders led by Nana Patil and Y. B. Chavan set up a parallel government
(prati sarkar) in the Satara district of Maharashtra.
• They ran people's courts (Nyaydan Mandals) and organised constructive work. They enforced the
prohibition and organised 'Gandhi marriages' to which untouchables were invited and at which
no ostentation was allowed. They set up village libraries and encouraged education.
• The prati sarkar functioned till the elections of 1946, despite government repression and, in the
later stages, Congress disapproval.

Participation
• The students, workers and peasants of all strata (poor and rich) provided the backbone of the move-
ment.
• Women, especially school and college girls, played an important role. It included Aruna Asaf Ali, Su-
cheta Kripalani, and Usha Mehta.
• Many small zamindars took part in the movement.
• Government officials, especially those at the lower levels of the police and administration, gener-
ously assisted the movement and provided shelter, information, and monetary support to the volun-
283

teers, indicating erosion within the British government.

• The jail officials tended to be much kinder to prisoners than in earlier days.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• Though Muslim participation was not high (due to the Muslim League), they gave shelter to the
underground activists. There were no communal riots.
• The upper classes and the bureaucracy remained loyal to the Government.
• The Muslim League kept aloof from the Movement.
• The Hindu Mahasabha condemned the movement.

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• Communist Party of India, due to its "people's war" line, did not support the movement.
• The princes and the landlords supported the war effort and did not sympathise with the movement.
• Some Congress leaders like Rajagopalachari did not participate in the movement but supported the
war effort.
• Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was included in the Governor-General's executive council in 1942 as a
labour member, and he did not support the movement.
 On July 22, 1941, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared the formation of a new Executive Council con-
sisting of 12 members, eight of whom were Indian. This marked the first time Indians had out-
numbered the Britons. However, the British remained in charge of defence, finance, and home.
 In addition, the Viceroy announced a 30-member National Defence Council (Advisory council)
intended to coordinate the war effort between the central government, provincial governments,
and princely states.
Quit India Movement
Underground Activities Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Mano-
har Lohia, Usha Mehta, Sucheta Kripalani, Jaya-
prakash Narayan, and Biju Patnaik.
Parallel Governments
Ballia (eastern U.P.) Parallel government under Chittu Pande
Tamluk (Midnapur district of Bengal) Jatiya Sarkar
Satara (Maharashtra) Prati Sarkar under Nana Patil and Y. B. Chavan
Talcher (Orissa) Chasi Mulia Raj (Government of the farmers and
labourers / Swaraj)

End of the Movement

• In the end, the Government succeeded in crushing the movement. Despite being short-lived, the
movement demonstrated:
 The extent to which nationalist sentiment permeated the country.
 People's immense ability to fight and make sacrifices for their cause.
 British could no longer maintain their rule over India against the will of its people.
284

Three Phases of the Quit India Movement

Sumit Sarkar, in his book "Modern India, 1885-1947" has divided the Quit India movement into
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
three phases:
1. The first phase of the movement began as an urban revolt characterised by protests such as
strikes, boycotts, and picketing. This phase was massive and violent, marked by clashes with the

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police and army in many cities. The urban middle class was at the forefront of this phase, with
students leading the way. However, this phase was quickly suppressed.
2. In the second phase of the movement, which began in mid-August 1942, the focus shifted to
the countryside, and a significant peasant rebellion occurred. During this phase, communica-
tion systems were destroyed, and national governments were established in some regions. The
government responded to this phase with severe repression, forcing the movement to go under-
ground.
3. By the end of September, the movement entered its longest but least formidable third and
final phase. This phase was marked by terrorist activities by educated youth. These activities
primarily involved sabotaging war efforts by dislocating communication systems and propaganda
activities. Usha Mehta ran a secret radio station as part of the propaganda efforts.

Was the Quit India Movement a spontaneous outburst or an organised rebellion?

• Although the Quit India Movement had a significant element of spontaneity, more so than earlier
movements, it was not solely a spontaneous outburst. It was a result of the organised preparation
of INC, with the Congress leadership providing a broad framework within which individuals and local
groups could act.
• The Congress leadership historically allowed for popular initiative and spontaneity in its mass move-
ments, including the Quit India Movement. The leadership outlined a broad program of action but left
its implementation at the local level to the initiative of local activists and the masses. Even in the
highly organised Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, local leaders and people decided on spe-
cific actions (non-payment of land revenue or picketing of liquor shops) within the framework set by
Gandhi's Dandi March and the breaking of the salt law.
• Although the broad program of the Quit India Movement was not clearly defined, the leadership
implicitly endorsed the degree of spontaneity and popular initiative. The AICC resolution on August
8, 1942, emphasised individual action within the general instructions issued, recognising the poten-
tial for spontaneous action.
 The significance of the Quit India Movement was it demanded immediate Independence. Once
this movement was initiated, there was no turning back. Any future negotiations with the British 285
Government could only be about the manner in which power would be transferred.

Gandhi’s Fast (February 1943)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• On 10th February 1943, Gandhi started his fast 21 days fast in Aga Khan Palace to protest the gov-
ernment's claim that Congress was responsible for the violence following the Quit India resolution.
• Gandhiji didn't just refuse to condemn the people's turn to violence; he clearly blamed the govern-
ment for it. According to him, it was the aggressive actions of the state that had provoked the people.

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• The fast was a self-imposed penance, reflecting his deep commitment to the cause of independence
and his belief in non-violent resistance.

12.5. Efforts to Bridge the Congress-League Divide

• In 1940, the Muslim League passed a resolution demanding autonomy for the Muslim-majority ar-
eas. However, the resolution never mentioned partition or Pakistan.
• After 1942, while Congress leaders remained in jail following the Quit India resolution, Jinnah and his
colleagues in the Muslim League worked diligently to increase their influence. In these years, the
League began to make a mark in the Punjab and Sind provinces, where it had previously had scarcely
any presence. During these years, Jinnah started the demand for a separate Pakistan.
• To bridge the gap between the Congress and the League, the following attempts were made:
1. Rajaji Formula
2. Gandhi Jinnah Talks
3. Desai-Liaquat Pact

Rajaji’s Formula (C. R. Formula)

• To solve the political deadlock between the Muslim League and the INC on the independence of
British India, C. Rajagopalachari proposed a formula in April 1944. The important provisions were:
1. The League was to endorse the Indian demand for independence and cooperate with the Con-
gress to form a Provisional Interim Government for a transitional period.
2. At the end of the War, a plebiscite based on adult suffrage would be conducted in Muslim-ma-
jority areas in North-West and North-East India to decide the formation of a separate sovereign
state.
3. In the event of separation, a mutual agreement would be made to safeguard essential matters
such as defence, communication, commerce, and other essential services.
4. The binding terms will be applicable only in case of full transfer of power by Britain to the Gov-
ernment of India.
• The formula implicitly agreed to the League's request for Pakistan.
• Although the formula was opposed even within the Congress party, Gandhi used it as the basis of
his proposal in talks with Jinnah in 1944.
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Gandhi Jinnah Talks (September 1944)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• In June 1944, Gandhi was released from prison. Later that year, he held a series of meetings with
Jinnah, seeking to bridge the gap between the Congress and the League.
• Gandhi proposed the CR formula to Jinnah in September 1944. However, Jinnah rejected the pro-
posal, and the talks failed. Thus, C.R. Formula did not come into effect.

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Desai–Liaquat Pact (January 1945)

• The Desai–Liaquat Pact was a pact between Bhulabhai Desai of the Congress and Liaquat Ali Khan of
the Muslim League.
• In this agreement, Liaquat gave up the demand for a separate Muslim state in exchange for equal
representation of Muslims and Hindus in the council of ministers.
• According to the pact, in the interim government at the centre:
 Congress and the League would nominate an equal number of persons.
 20% of the seats would be reserved for minorities.
• There was no agreement on the pact as both leaders negotiated it without informing their leaders
and organisations.

M C Setalvad on Desai–Liaquat Pact

• M C Setalvad was India’s first Attorney General and a close friend and biographer of Desai.
• In his biography My Life, Law, and Other Things, Setalvad wrote about Desai’s secret discussions
with Liaquat Ali Khan in 1944 on the possibility of forming an interim government with the consensus
of Hindus and Muslims. However, Setalvad contended that Bhulabhai acted with the consent and
approval of Gandhi.

12.6. Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj)

Subhas Chandra Bose

• Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack, Odisha. He ranked fourth in the ICS
exam and was selected, but he refused to work for a foreign government (serving the British). He
resigned from his civil service job on 23 April 1921 and returned to India.
• In 1938, Bose warned that another world war was imminent in Europe, and Britain would be involved.
He suggested that Congress take advantage of this situation by launching a strong movement
against the British. Bose suggested giving the British six months to hand over India to the Indians,
failing which there would be a revolt.
• Subhas was the president of the Congress in 1938 and 1939. After the Tripuri session of the Congress,
held in March 1939, Bose resigned from the presidentship. In May, he formed the Forward Bloc as a
287

new party within the Congress.

• Bose was in favour of getting help from Nazi Germany or Japan to uproot the British from India.
MIH-II – Post-1857

[UPSC CSE 2005] Which party was founded by Subhash Chandra Bose in 1939 after he
broke away from the Congress?
a) Indian Freedom Party
b) Azad Hind Fauj

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c) Revolutionary Front
d) Forward Bloc
Answer: Option D

Agitation to remove the Holwell Monument

• Holwell erected the Holwell Monument during his Calcutta Governorship in 1760 to commemorate
those who died in the Black Hole Tragedy allegedly due to the excesses of the army of Siraj-ud-
Daulah. It symbolised the alleged savagery of the last Nawab of Bengal.
• Bose and other nationalists considered the monument an insult to the Nawab’s memory and de-
manded its removal. Subhas Bose allied with the Muslim League to launch a movement to remove
the Holwell monument.
• In a meeting on 3rd July 1940, the following resolutions were adopted.
 Paying homage to Siraj-ud-Daulah
 Condemning the falsity of foreign historians
 Urging deletion from school textbooks of matters derogatory to Sirajuddowla
• The Muslim League Student Organization attended the meeting.
• In the meeting, it was agreed that if there was no ministerial decision on the Holwell Monument by
15 July, the council of action would start satyagraha on 16 July.
• Fearing that a joint Hindu-Muslim mass agitation could harm its war effort, the British government
arrested Bose a day before the movement started.

Black Hole Tragedy

• John Zephaniah Holwell, an EIC employee, claimed that after Nawab’s forces defeated the British
in June 1756, 146 prisoners of war were confined in a small room (‘black hole’) in Fort William,
and more than 100 died of suffocation.
• Bose and other nationalists believed this version to be exaggerated.

Bose's commitment to secularism

• Bose was a staunch champion of Hindu-Muslim unity. The selection of the Holwell Monument as
the main issue for the agitation reflected Bose's strategic move aimed at uniting Hindu and Muslim
288

Bengalis against the British.

A Global Pursuit for Independence

MIH-II – Post-1857

• In December 1940, Bose was released on the condition that he would not leave his home and would
not meet anyone. Many CID personnel were posted around his home at Elgin Road, Calcutta.
• Bose did not leave his house or see anyone for 40 days. During that period, he and his nephew Sisir
began to plan ways to escape.

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• On the 41st midnight, Bose escaped in the disguise of a Maulavi (Muhammad Ziauddin) to Pesha-
war.
• In Peshawar, Bose met Mian Akbar Khan, the Forward Bloc’s provincial head of the North Western
Frontier Province, who arranged his escape beyond the borders of the British Empire into Afghanistan
(Kabul). Here, Bose had changed into another disguise, that of a deaf-and-mute Pathan, as he didn't
speak Pashto.
• Finally, Bose reached Germany under an Italian diplomatic passport, with the Italian name Orlando
Mazzota. In Germany, Bose met Adolf Hitler and, with his help, formed the Free India Legion (Free-
dom Army), consisting of Indian prisoners of war captured by Germany and Italy.
 Subhas Bose fled India in 1941, seeking help from the Soviet Union. However, as the Soviet Union
joined the Allies in June 1941, he went to Germany.
• In Germany, Bose:
 Established the Free India Centre in 1941.
 Started a regular broadcast from Berlin radio in 1942, from where he often broadcast for his coun-
trymen, suggesting their political activities during the war.
• In February 1943, Subhas left for Japan to organise an armed struggle against British rule with Japa-
nese help.
 Indian nationalists ran two radio stations during World War II:
1. A secret radio station run by Usha Mehta
2. Berlin Radio by Subhas Bose

[UPSC CSE 2008] During the Indian freedom struggle, who of the following raised an army
called the 'Free Indian Legion'?
a) Lala Hardayal
b) Rash Behari Bose
c) Subhash Chandra Bose
d) V. D. Savarkar
Answer: Option D

Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj)

289

• In South East Asia, there were a large number of Indian soldiers fighting on behalf of the British.
The Japanese, after defeating the British in Southeast Asia, took them as prisoners of war.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• During World War II, Mohan Singh, an Indian officer of the British Indian Army, decided not to join
the retreating British army. Instead, he went to the Japanese for help.
• While in Malaya (Malaysia), Mohan Singh came up with the idea of forming the Indian National Army
(INA) to fight against the British. The Japanese handed over Indian prisoners of war to Singh, whom
he attempted to recruit into the INA.

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• In Singapore, Mohan Singh formed the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) in February 1942
to conduct a military campaign for the liberation of India. The Indian National Army (INA) was joined
in large numbers by the Indian residents in Southeast Asia and by Indian soldiers and officers cap-
tured by the Japanese forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Burma.

Bangkok Conference (June 1942)

• At the Bangkok Conference in June 1942:
 INA was put under the Indian Independence League.
 Rashbehari Bose was elected as president of the Indian Independence League.
 Captain Mohan Singh was appointed as commander of the INA.
 Subhas Bose was invited to lead the movement.

Rashbehari Bose
• Rashbehari Bose fled to Japan in 1915. He became a Japanese citizen and founded the Indian
Club of Tokyo. In 1942, he established the Indian Independence League in Tokyo.
• When Mohan Singh created the Indian National Army (INA) in Singapore, Rashbehari Bose got
excited and left Tokyo for Southeast Asia. In Bangkok, they decided to put the INA under the Indian
Independence League, with Rashbehari Bose as the chairman.
• When Subhas Bose came to Singapore, Rashbehari Bose happily handed over control of the Indian
Independence League and the INA to Subhas in July 1943.
• On 2 July 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose was brought to Singapore by means of German and Japanese
submarines.
• Within a few months, Subhas formed the Gandhi, Azad, and Nehru regiment. A women's regiment
named Rani Jhansi regiment, led by Lakshmi Sehgal, was also formed.
• Subhas gave his followers the battle cry of 'Jai Hind'. He motivated the INA with his famous call, "Tum
Mujhe Khoon Do Mein Tumhe Azadi Dunga" (Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom).
• On October 21, 1943, Subhas Bose founded the Provisional Government of Free India. Nine world
powers, including Germany, Italy, Japan, and Myanmar, recognised it. It declared war against Britain
and the U.S.A.
• The INA headquarters was shifted to Rangoon in January 1944.
290

• The INA joined the Japanese army in its march on India from Burma. The INA reached the Arakan
front on 4 February 1944 and marched towards their Motherland with the clarion call of "Chalo Delhi"
MIH-II – Post-1857

on their lips. The Azad Hind Fauj crossed the Burma border on 18 March and, for the first time, stood
on the soil of India.
• INA crossed the Indian frontier, and on 14th April 1944, Colonel Shaukat Malik, the Subash Regiment,
hoisted the Tricolour for the first time in Moirang, Manipur.

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• The INA tried to enter Imphal but failed due to the inadequate supply of necessary material and air
cover by Japan. The torrential rains of Burma, which started just then, submerged the INA supply
lines, and Netaji ordered his forces to retreat.
• With the collapse of Japan in the war during 1944-45, the hopes of INA to liberate the nation were
quashed. Following the defeat of INA, the INA members were imprisoned and tried.
• On August 18, 1945, a Japanese news agency reported that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in a
plane crash in Taiwan.
 Subhas Chandra Bose, in its broadcast on Azad Hind Radio on 6 July 1944, called Gandhi the 'Father
of the Nation'.

Impact of Indian National Army

• Though the INA failed to achieve its goal of liberating India, it made a significant impact on the
freedom struggle.
1. It became evident to the British that they could no longer rely on the loyalty of Indian soldiers.
2. The INA’s struggles demonstrated that the communal division had no effect on those who fought
against the British. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs fought as Indians.
3. The Rani Jhansi Brigade's actions demonstrated Indian women's capability to fight British oppres-
sion.
4. The INA demonstrated the enthusiasm and concern of overseas Indians for India's freedom.

A Closer Look
• Even though the strategy of Subhas Bose of winning freedom in cooperation with the fascist powers
was criticised at the time by most Indian nationalists, by organising the INA, he set an inspiring exam-
ple of patriotism before the Indian people and the Indian army.

Controversy over the death of Subhas Bose

• Subhas Chandra Bose died on August 18, 1945, in a plane crash in Japanese-occupied Formosa
(now Taipei, Taiwan). However, some press reports published from Tokyo and Taihoku (Taipei) had
given contradictory versions.
• To investigate the reported death of Netaji after the Taihoku air crash, the Government of India
291

appointed:
 Shah Nawaz Committee (1956)
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Justice Khosla Commission (1970)

 Justice Mukherjee Commission (1999)
• None of the probes has presented any conclusive and substantial documentary evidence confirm-
ing the end of Bose or produced any concrete information that can rule out the possibility of his
death on August 18, 1945.

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12.7. Unsung Heroes

Usha Mehta
• Usha Mehta (Ushaben) was a freedom fighter from Gujarat. As a child, Usha visited Gandhiji's
Sabarmati Ashram many times. She was highly influenced by Gandhiji and adopted a Gandhian life-
style, wearing only Khadi clothes and shunning all types of luxury.
• Usha is well known for organising the Secret Congress Radio during the Quit India movement. The
radio broadcasted recorded messages from Gandhiji, nationalistic songs, and stirring speeches by
revolutionaries and other eminent leaders from across India.
• To avoid being detected by the authorities, the organisers kept shifting the station's location almost
daily.
• Though the underground radio station functioned only for three months, it raised awareness about
the Quit India Movement by spreading uncensored news and other information banned by the British
authorities.

[UPSC CSE 2011] With reference to the Indian freedom struggle, Usha Mehta is well-known
for
a) Running the secret Congress Radio in the wake of the Quit India Movement
b) Participating in the Second Round Table Conference
c) Leading a contingent of the Indian National Army
d) Assisting in the formation of the Interim Government under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Answer: Option A

Aruna Asaf Ali

• Aruna Asaf Ali, popularly known as the 'Grand Old Lady' of the Independence Movement, was a free-
dom fighter. She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank
Maidan, Bombay, during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
• She participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. In 1931, she was arrested and not
released under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, which stipulated the release of all political prisoners. Later, she
was released due to public protest.
292

• In 1932, she was arrested again for participating in the freedom movement. While in jail, she underwent
a hunger strike to improve the living conditions of prisoners in Tihar jail. The fast-to-death resulted
MIH-II – Post-1857

in a marked improvement in their living conditions.

• Known for her independent streak, she disobeyed Gandhi’s request to surrender herself in 1946.
• Post-independence, she remained active in politics, becoming Delhi's first Mayor.

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[UPSC CSE 2009] During the freedom struggle, Aruna Asaf Ali was a major woman organ-
iser of underground activity in which of the following?
a) Civil Disobedience Movement
b) Non-Cooperation Movement
c) Quit India Movement
d) Swadeshi Movement
Answer: Option C

Lakshmi Sahgal
• Lakshmi Swaminathan was born on 24 October 1914. Lakshmi, a doctor by profession, joined the
Indian Independence League (IIL) and welcomed Netaji upon his arrival in Singapore in 1943.
• Captain Lakshmi became famous as the commander of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (Women's Regi-
ment) of the INA. She was also the Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind Sarkar.
• Lakshmi married the INA officer Prem Kumar Sahgal in 1947.
• In 1971, she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and represented the party in Rajya Sabha.
• Lakshmi Sahgal was nominated the Left Front’s candidate for President of India in 2002. She was the
only opponent to the winning A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

12.8. Great Personalities

C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji)
• C. Rajagopalachari was an ardent Gandhian and a freedom fighter from Madras. He was influenced
by the Lokmanya Tilak and accepted Tilak as his mentor.
• During the non-cooperation, Rajaji gave up his legal practice.
• In 1929, Rajaji became the secretary of the All-India Prohibition Sangh. He advocated the boycott of
foreign goods and urged people to give up the evil habit of drinking.
• In April 1930, Rajaji led a salt march from Tiruchi to Vedaranyam and emerged as a hero of Ve-
daranyam Satyagraha.
• In 1937, Rajagopalachari assumed the office of the Prime Minister of the Madras Province.
Rajagopalachari's perspective on most of the national issues was his own. He had his own views on the
293
•
Quit India Movement and did not participate.
• In 1947, when the term of Lord Mountbatten, the first Governor-General of Independent India,
MIH-II – Post-1857

ended, Rajagopalachari was chosen to take his place. With this, he became the first Indian Governor-
General and last Governor-General of India. He continued until India became a Republic in January
1950.
• After the death of Sardar Patel in December 1950, Rajaji was appointed the Home Minister. He piloted
the Preventive Detention Act in Parliament, which invited critical comments from the opposition.

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• Rajaji was the second Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954.
• Rajaji was among the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
• Proponent of Peace: Rajaji opposed the use of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace
and disarmament. In 1962, he led a delegation of the Gandhi Peace Foundation to the USA to plead
for a ban on nuclear tests.

Swatantra Party
• In August 1959, the Nagpur resolution of the Congress called for land ceilings, take-over of food
grain trade by the state and adoption of cooperative farming.
• In response, in 1959, Rajaji formed the Swatantra Party. It was against land ceilings in agriculture and
opposed cooperative farming and state trading.
• The Swatantra Party actively campaigned for a market economy. It wanted the government to be less
involved in controlling the economy and believed that prosperity could come only through individual
freedom.
• The party was critical of the development strategy of state intervention in the economy, centralised
planning, nationalisation and the public sector. Instead, it favoured the expansion of a free private
sector.

Bhulabhai Desai (1877-1946)

• Bhulabhai Desai was an Indian independence activist and acclaimed lawyer. He is well known for his
defence of the three Indian National Army soldiers accused of treason during World War II and for
attempting to negotiate a secret power-sharing agreement with Liaquat Ali Khan of the Muslim
League.
• Bhulabhai began his political career by joining Annie Besant's All India Home Rule League.
• Bhulabhai joined the Indian Liberal Party, which supported British influences. However, he opposed
the all-European Simon Commission, which the British formed in 1928 to formulate constitutional re-
forms in India.
• Desai formally joined the Congress in 1930. In 1934, he was elected to the Central Legislative Assem-
bly from Gujarat.
• While Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee (CWC) had been arrested during the Quit
294

India movement, Desai was one of the few Congress leaders free.
• It is said that Desai began secretive talks with Liaquat Ali Khan, the second-most important leader of
MIH-II – Post-1857

the Muslim League. However, Sir Chiman Lal Setalvad has challenged this claim, asserting that Gandhi
was fully aware of the ongoing negotiations.
• After the discussions with Liaquat became public, the CWC disowned Desai for inking the Desai-
Liaquat Ali pact. The party also overlooked Desai as a candidate for the central legislature.

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• The Congress approached Desai when the British government tried three soldiers of the Indian Na-
tional Army in New Delhi on charges of treason. Desai was tasked with leading the defence. Although
these three soldiers were convicted, they were later released.

12.9. Summary

• The Second World War broke out on 1 September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The
Government of India immediately joined the war without consulting the Congress or the elected
members of the central legislature.
• The Congress officially declared its stance at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)
in Wardha from September 10 to 14. The CWC, in its resolution, while strongly condemning the Nazi
attack on Poland, stated that India could not participate in a war supposedly fought for democratic
freedom while that very freedom was denied to India.
• Gandhi met the viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, on October 13, 1939. The negotiations broke down as the
Viceroy did not accept Congress's demand. In protest, on 23 October, the CWC decided not to sup-
port Britain’s war effort and asked its ministers to resign.

Nationalist Movement in 1940

• Ramgarh Session: The 53rd session of Congress, presided over by Maulana Azad, was held in 1940 at
Ramgarh. The Congress declared that nothing short of complete independence was acceptable.
• Anti-Compromise Conference: In March 1940, Subhas Bose arranged an 'Anti-Compromise Confer-
ence' at Ramgarh under the joint auspices of the Forward Bloc and the Kisan Sabha. The conference
urged the people not to help the British war efforts.
• August Offer: On August 8, 1940, Viceroy Linlithgow announced the August Offer at Simla to get the
support of Indians in the war effort. It promised a dominion status and the establishment of a con-
stituent assembly after the war. The offer was rejected by both the Congress and the Muslim League.
• Individual Satyagraha: To affirm the right to free speech, on 17th October 1940, Gandhi officially
inaugurated the Individual Satyagraha. Vinoba Bhave and Jawaharlal Nehru were nominated first and
second satyagrahis, respectively.

Cripps Mission (March 1942)

295

• To gain India's cooperation in the War, the British Government sent a mission headed by a cabinet
minister, Sir Stafford Cripps, to India in March 1942. Almost all the Indian parties rejected the Cripps
MIH-II – Post-1857

Proposals.

Quit India Movement (August Kranti)

• On 8 August 1942, the AICC at Gowalia Tank in Bombay passed a historic Quit India resolution de-
manding an immediate end to British rule in India.

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• Before the Congress could start a movement, early in the morning of 9 August, Gandhi and other
Congress leaders were arrested. Congress, AICC, CWC, and provincial Congress Committees were de-
clared illegal.
• Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the remainder of the session on 9 August and hoisted the Indian National
flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. This marked the commencement of the movement.
• In the absence of recognised leaders - central, provincial or local, the young and more militant caders,
particularly students and socialist members of the Congress, took over the leadership at local levels.
In the initial stages, the movement was based on non-violent lines. It was the repressive policy of the
government which provoked the people to violence.
• The government's repression successfully stopped the mass phase of the struggle within six or seven
weeks.

Underground Activities

• With the cessation of the mass phase of the struggle, underground activities emerged to keep the
popular morale high. Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Sucheta Kripalani, Ja-
yaprakash Narayan, and Biju Patnaik started underground activities in different parts of India. Usha
Mehta started the Secret Congress Radio.

Parallel Governments

• In many places, the government lost all control, and the rebels seized temporary control over towns,
cities, and villages. In some areas, the revolutionaries set up parallel governments.

Efforts to Bridge the Congress-League Divide

• To bridge the gap between the Congress and the League, the following attempts were made:
1. Rajaji Formula
2. Gandhi Jinnah Talks
3. Desai-Liaquat Pact

Indian National Army

• During World War II, Mohan Singh, an Indian officer of the British Indian Army, decided to form the
Indian National Army (INA) to fight against the British. The Japanese handed over Indian prisoners of
296

war to Singh, whom he attempted to recruit into the INA.

• At the Bangkok Conference in June 1942, INA was put under the Indian Independence League led by
MIH-II – Post-1857

Rashbehari Bose. When Subhas Bose came to Singapore, Rashbehari Bose handed over control of the
INA to Subhas in July 1943.
• The INA joined the Japanese army in its march on India from Burma. With the collapse of Japan in the
war during 1944-45, the hopes of INA to liberate the nation were quashed. Following the defeat of
INA, the INA members were imprisoned and tried.

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297
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13. Post-War Struggle

End of the World War II

• Victory in Europe Day: On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces
to the Allies and World War II in Europe came to an end.
• The formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945 officially ended the war in Asia.

13.1. Renewed Phase in India's Freedom Struggle

• After the suppression of the 1942 Revolt, the leaders of the national movement were imprisoned, and
there was hardly any political activity until the end of the war in 1945.
• With the end of the war, the government was anxious to have a coalition government representing
both communities, which would tackle the political and economic instability expected to evolve on the
termination of the War. For this, on 15 June 1945, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members
were released from Ahmednagar Fort Prison, and the ban on Congress was lifted.
 Gandhiji was released in May 1944 on medical grounds. When in jail, he had lost his wife, Kasturba
and his trusted companion, Mahadev Desai.
• After being released from jail, national leaders travelled across the country. They were surprised by
the enthusiastic crowds that welcomed them. They felt that British rule wouldn't last much longer.
• National leaders found that despite the tough War years, the people were not dejected; instead, the
repression strengthened their resolve to keep fighting. The people eagerly anticipated the leaders'
release and the legalisation of political parties.
• With the release of political leaders and the determination of people to continue the fight, India's
struggle for freedom entered a new and final phase.

13.2. Changed Attitude of the British Government

• Towards the end of the war, in the middle of 1945, the British adopted the conciliatory policy in India:
 Political leaders were released from the jail. 298
 The bans on the Congress and Socialists were lifted.
 Civil liberties were restored.
 Elections were declared at the centre and in the provinces for the winter of 1945-1946.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The changed attitude of the British Government can be attributed to the following factors:
1. Shift in Global Power Balance: The outcome of World War II altered the global power dynamics.
The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as major powers, overshadowing Britain. The
U.S. and the Soviet Union supported India's demand for freedom, influencing Britain's stance.

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2. Economic and Military Weakness: Despite winning the war, Britain suffered significant economic
and military setbacks. This weakened economic and military power diminished Britain's ability to
maintain control over its colonies.
3. War-Weary British Soldiers: The British soldiers were weary of war. Having fought and shed their
blood for nearly six years (1939-45), they had no desire to spend many more years away from
home in India suppressing the Indian people’s struggle for freedom.
4. Change in Government: In the July 1945 election in Britain, the Labour Party replaced the Con-
servatives. Many Labour Party members were sympathetic to the demands of the Indian National
Congress (INC). This political shift had an impact on British policies toward India.
5. Patriotism in Indian Armed Forces: The Indian National Army (INA) demonstrated that patriotic
sentiments had permeated the ranks of the professional Indian army. This shift made it challeng-
ing for the British to rely on Indian personnel within the civil administration and armed forces
to suppress the national movement.
6. Internal Unrest and Strikes: Internal unrest, as evidenced by the naval ratings' revolt in Bombay
and strikes in the Royal Indian Air Force and Indian Signal Corps, showcased the widespread
dissatisfaction within key components of the British apparatus in India. The police and bureaucracy,
vital instruments of British rule, also showed signs of nationalist leanings.
7. Growing Determination of the Indian People: The mood among the Indian population had be-
come confident and determined. The people were no longer willing to tolerate foreign rule and
were resolute in pursuing freedom. The increasing momentum of the Indian independence move-
ment made it clear that the status quo could not be sustained.

13.3. Wavell Plan and Simla Conference (June 1945)

• At the end of the war, there was tremendous pressure on the British government to break the Indian
deadlock (Congress- League disagreement) and present a formula for the future government of India
which would be acceptable to both the INC and the All-India Muslim League (AIML).
• There was also pressure from the Allies, who were dissatisfied with the pace of British advance on
colonial issues.

Wavell Plan
299

• In June 1945, the British government led by Conservative PM Winston Churchill and the Viceroy,
Lord Wavell, simultaneously announced a new offer (Wavell Plan) to work out an interim political
MIH-II – Post-1857

agreement under which Indians would be responsible for running the country.

Main Proposals of the Plan

1. The Viceroy’s Executive Council would be immediately reconstituted, and its members would be
increased.

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2. The reconstituted Council would operate within the existing Constitutional arrangements, that is,
the Government of India Act of 1935, so it would not be responsible to the legislature.
3. All the members of the Council, except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, would be Indians.
4. The Council would have a balanced representation of all communities and equal representation of
high-caste Hindus and Muslims.
5. The restructured executive council would be temporary until a new permanent constitution could be
agreed upon and come into force.
6. The Viceroy would have the veto power.
7. The Viceroy required representatives from various parties to present a joint list for nominations to
the Executive Council. If a joint list was not possible, then separate lists were to be submitted as an
alternative.
8. Once the war is over, negotiations for a new constitution could begin.

Simla Conference
• Wavell convened the Simla conference on 25 June 1945 to consider the proposals. In June 1945,
Congress leaders were released from prison to participate in the Simla conference.

Key Figures at the Conference

• Maulana Azad, the Congress president, represented the Congress party. Mohammad Ali Jinnah rep-
resented the Muslim League.
• Gandhiji believed that he did not hold any official position in Congress and, hence, he would not repre-
sent Congress. However, Gandhi attended the conference to advise the viceroy.
• Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, C Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, MA Jinnah,
Rajendra Prasad, Bhulabhai Desai, Master Tara Singh, G. B. Pant etc were the prominent members who
attended the conference.

Jinnah's Contention
• Jinnah contented that the Muslim League was the sole spokesperson of the Muslims, and it alone
had the right to nominate Muslims to the executive council. This was not acceptable to the Congress,
which represented all Indians and not just Hindus. 300

 Six of the fourteen seats of the executive council were given to Muslim members. Out of these
four Muslim members were to be nominated by the All India Muslim League (AIML). However, the
MIH-II – Post-1857

AIML wanted the right to nominate all six Muslim members to the Executive Council.
• Jinnah's contention also ignored the claim of the Unionist Party of Punjab, which represented Muslim
landlords of West Punjab and Hindu smallholders of South East Punjab. The party had supported the
British War effort in terms of men and money.

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• The League also demanded a communal veto by asking for a two-thirds majority in the proposed
Council, instead of a simple one, on any decision opposed by the Muslim members and related to
the Muslim interests.

Unionist Party

• A political party representing the interests of landholders - Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh - in Punjab.
The party was particularly powerful during the period 1923-47.
• The had supported the British War effort with men and money.

Stand of Congress
• Congress firmly opposed the nomination of all Muslim members by AIML. It contended that Con-
gress represents all communities and not just Hindus. Hence, it insisted on nominating members
from all communities.

Breakdown of the Conference

• Instead of bypassing the Muslim League, Wavell announced the breakdown of the conference. This
decision of Wavell:
 Recognised the League's monopoly to speak for all Muslims.
 Strengthened the league's position.
• Hereafter, the league's satisfaction became a prerequisite to any major settlement.

[UPSC 2008] Which one of the following suggested the reconstitution of the Viceroy's Ex-
ecutive Council in which all the portfolios, including that of War members, were to be held
by the Indian leaders?
a) Simon Commission
b) Simla Conference
c) Cripps Proposal
d) Cabinet Mission
Answer: Option B

13.4. Popular Upsurges 301

Indian National Army Trial (INA Trial)

• Once Japan Surrendered, the INA soldiers started falling into the hands of the Allies and were taken
MIH-II – Post-1857

as prisoners of war (PoW).

• Most INA soldiers (PoW) were set free after cashiering and forfeiture of pay and allowance. However,
the government decided to hold a trial for those accused of the most serious offences. The trial took
place at Red Fort in Delhi.
• Around ten court-martials were conducted between November 1945 and May 1946.

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• The first court-martial was the joint court-martial of Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh
Dhillon, and Major-General Shah Nawaz Khan, held in November 1945. All three were found guilty
of waging war against the King-Emperor, and the court was bound to sentence the accused either to
death or to deportation for life.

Campaign for the Release

• The Nehru hailed INA soldiers as heroes and demanded leniency. In its Bombay session in September
1945, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) declared its support for the INA soldiers.
• The Congress established the INA Defence Committee to defend INA prisoners. It included famous
lawyers, including Bhulabhai Desai, M. Asaf Ali, Tej Bahadur Sapru, K.N. Katju, and Jawaharlal Nehru.
In addition to legal help, Congress organised relief funds and arranged employment for the INA men.
• There was a countrywide protest against the trial of three INA heroes (Sehgal, Shah Nawaz and Dhil-
lon) belonging to the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities, symbolising the unity of the people.
Meetings, processions, and demonstrations were held by the people demanding their immediate re-
lease.

Diverse Participation

• Participation in the campaign against the trial of three INA soldiers was extremely diverse.
 All parties came out in support of the cause, from the Congress to the Ahrars, Akalis, Communist
Party of India, Hindu Mahasabha, Justice Party, Muslim League, Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh, Sikh League, and the Unionists.
 Students were most active, holding meetings and boycotting classes in protest.
 Shopkeepers downed shutters, especially on the day the trial began at the Red Fort, 5 November.
 The demand was taken up at Kisan and women's conferences.
 Diwali was not celebrated in some places.
• The INA campaign attracted government officials, armed forces personnel, and loyalists who were pre-
viously not part of the nationalist movement.

Release of the Defendants

• The Commander-in-Chief, Claude Auchinleck, was forced to remit the sentences due to prevailing 302
circumstances. Later, all three defendants were released.
• This case became a symbol of the country’s freedom struggle and showed the strength of Unity.
MIH-II – Post-1857

[UPSC 2021] In the context of Colonial India, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon are remembered as
a) leaders of Swadeshi and Boycott Movement
b) members of the Interim Government in 1946
c) members of the Drafting Committee in the Constituent Assembly

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d) officers of the Indian National Army

Answer: Option D

Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny (February 1946)

• On the night of February 17, the ratings of "HMIS Talwar" in Bombay Harbour refused to eat dinner,
as the meal served to them was watery and full of small-sized stones. On 18 February 1946, they went
on strike to protest against bad food and racial arrogance.
 A rating is the most junior class of sailors in the Royal Navy.
• Although the poor-quality food was the immediate reason, their demands were not limited to that.
They demanded:
 Release of the INA prisoners
 Freedom of all other political prisoners.
 Withdrawal of Indian troops in China and Java
 Better food
 More civilised treatment
 Equal pay for European and Indian sailors alike
• The sailors pulled down the Union Jack and hoisted three flags:
1. The tricolour of the Congress
2. The green of the Muslim League
3. The red of the Communist party.
• The strike spread like wildfire across the country, and by the morning of February 20, it had spread to
Calcutta, Karachi, Madras, Vishakhapatnam, Cochin and other navy stations. Within 48 hours, the
mutineers' strength grew to 20,000, and British India lost control of its navy.

Massive public support

• From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the revolt spread and found support throughout British India.
• The ratings appealed to the people and leaders for their assistance. However, despite their appeal, the
leaders were absent, but many people came forward to help.
• There was a rumour that the British were planning to starve the ratings into surrender, which
prompted thousands of civilians to gather at the Gateway of India. They brought with them fruits,
303

milk, bread, and vegetables. Shops and eateries belonging to Hindus, Muslims, and even Iranians
asked them to take whatever they needed for free.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Bombay Students’ Union and the Communist party of India (CPI) had called for a general strike.
The people of Bombay, especially the labouring classes, participated in the strike in large numbers.
The public transport network was halted, and trains were burnt. An army battalion was inducted to
control the situation. The army responded with indiscriminate firing, especially in working-class areas
of Parel, which resulted in the death of more than 200 civilians in Bombay.

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Opposition by INC and Muslim League

• The INC and the Muslim League condemned the mutiny, while the Communist Party of India was
the only party that supported the rebellion. Mahatma Gandhi condemned the riots and the ratings'
revolt.
• INC leader Aruna Asaf Ali was one of the few prominent political leaders of the time to offer support
for the mutineers, stating that she would rather unite Hindus and Muslims on the barricades than on
the constitutional front.

End of the Mutiny

• Intense battles were fought in Bombay and Karachi when the British attempted to regain control of
the ships and naval establishments from the sailors. In Bombay, the British officers discovered that the
Maratha soldiers were sympathetic to the ratings and reluctant to open fire on fellow Indians.
• Vallabhbhai Patel and Jinnah jointly persuaded Rating to surrender on 23 February and thus ended
the revolt.

Why Congress leaders did not support the mutiny

• There are various theories that explain why the leaders of Congress rejected the idea of a strike.
 Some historians believe that the Congress leaders wanted to maintain discipline within the armed
forces, as they saw that Independence and power were within reach.
 On the other hand, some historians argue that the Congress leaders believed that if an armed revolt
had succeeded, their vision of a peaceful end to the freedom struggle and a smooth transfer of
power would have been lost.
 Some also argue that Congress leaders did not support the revolt because they were busy nego-
tiating with the British about the power transfer and thought it would delay the transfer of power.
 Despite widespread sympathy for the rebels, political leaders helped the British end the uprising.
 The communists supported the rebellious ratings, while the Congress and the Muslim League
urged them to surrender.

Significance
• RIN Mutiny brought the civilians close to the military.
304

• Scholars consider the RIN mutiny one of the final nails in the coffin of the British Empire. Although
independence was already inevitable by this time, the mutiny is believed to have accelerated the
MIH-II – Post-1857

transfer of power. The British panicked and announced a Cabinet Mission a day after the mutiny
started. Though the rebellion was put down, the British realised that they could no longer hold India
by force, and it was time to quit India.
• Historians also believe that the partition would have been less bloody if political leaders had worked
on the communal unity created by the RIN Mutiny.

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Impact of INA and RIN Mutiny

• PV Chakraborty, former Kolkata High Court Chief Justice, shared a story about his conversation with
British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Chakraborty asked Attlee why the British left India in 1947,
especially since the Quit India Movement seemed to have fizzled out by then.
• Attlee gave two reasons: the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose had weakened the
British army, and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny had an impact as well.

[UPSC 2014] In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of
British colonial aspirations in India?

Forgotten Event
• After India's Independence, the RIN mutiny didn't receive much attention. It was only in 1973 that
the government of India agreed to accord the ratings who participated in the mutiny the status of
freedom fighters. Hence, in 1973, the Government of India approved freedom fighters’ pensions for
those dismissed from service for participation in the Mutiny.

[UPSC 2017] With reference to Indian freedom struggle, consider the following events:
1. Mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy
2. Quit India Movement launched
3. Second Round Table Conference
What is the correct chronological sequence of the above events?
a) 1-2-3
b) 2-1-3
c) 3-2-1
d) 3-1-2
Answer: Option C

13.5. Elections of 1945-46

• After winning the general elections in July 1945, the British Labour Government announced that the
elections for the central and provincial assemblies would be held in the winter of 1945 and spring of
305

1946.

Results
MIH-II – Post-1857

Indian National Congress

• Central Legislature: The Congress swept the general constituencies. It won 57 seats out of 102 with
91.3 per cent of the non-Muslim vote.
• Provinces: It won 923 seats out of 1585 provincial seats.

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Muslim League
• The League's success in the seats reserved for Muslims was spectacular.
• Central Legislature: It won all 30 reserved constituencies in the Centre with 86.6 per cent of the
Muslim vote.
• Provinces: It won 442 out of 509 seats reserved for Muslims in the provinces.

Formation of Government
• The Indian National Congress got a majority in most provinces except Punjab, Sindh, and Bengal.
• The Muslim League formed ministries in Bengal and Sind.
• Akalis joined the Unionists and Congress in Punjab to form a coalition ministry.

Elections: The Watershed

• The 1946 elections were a turning point. The results showed that the Congress represented the large
masses of the country while also making the League the leading party among Muslim voters. This
strengthened the League's assertion of being the sole spokesman of India's Muslims.

A Closer Look
• Limited Franchise: About 10 to 12 per cent of the population enjoyed the right to vote in the
provincial elections and a mere one per cent in the elections for the Central Assembly.
• Communal Appeal: The Muslim League used a clear communal slogan in the elections: "A vote
for the League and Pakistan was a vote for Islam." The competition between Congress and the
League was depicted as a choice between the Gita and the Koran. As a result, it was no surprise that
the League overwhelmingly won in the Muslim seats.

13.6. Cabinet Mission (March 1946)

• The Labour Party, which came to power in Britain after the Second World War, supported the INC's
demands. By the beginning of 1946, the British authorities had concluded that a peaceful withdrawal
from India would be the best course of action.
• On 22 January 1946, the British Cabinet decided to send the Mission. On 19th February, Clement
Attlee announced in the House of Commons the decision to dispatch the Cabinet Mission.
306

• In March 1946, the British Cabinet sent a three-member mission, Sir Pethick Lawrence (Chairman),
Stafford Cripps, and A. V. Alexander, to negotiate with Indian leaders to transfer power to the Indians.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The Cabinet Mission toured the country for three months and held its discussion with Indian leaders:
 To establish an interim Indian government (national government)
 To settle the constitutional future of India

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• The Cabinet Mission and the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, announced the Cabinet Mission plan (May 16
Plan) on May 16, 1946. It proposed a federal plan expected to maintain national unity while conceding
the largest measure of regional autonomy.

Recommendations
• Union of India: India was to remain united, comprising both British India and Princely states.

Why United India?

• The British believed that their strategies in the Indian subcontinent after independence would be
more effective if India was united. It was believed that a united India could actively contribute to
the defence of the Commonwealth. On the other hand, a divided India would have weak defence
potential, and conflicts between India and Pakistan would hinder joint defence plans.
• It proposed a loose three-tier federation:
1. Federal Union at the top tier
2. Groups of provinces as a middle-tier
3. Individual provinces at the bottom tier
• The Mission plan envisaged three sections:
1. Section A for the Hindu-majority provinces, such as Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Orissa, Central Prov-
inces, and United Provinces.
2. Sections B for the Muslim-majority provinces of the north-west, i.e. Punjab, NWFP and Sindh.
3. Sections C for the Muslim-majority provinces of the north-east, i.e. Bengal and Assam.
• The Constitutions would be framed at the group and union level.
 Group Constitution: These sections would meet separately to decide the group constitution.
 Union Constitution: A Constituent Assembly would be set up to draft the Union Constitution.
The members were to be chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative
Assemblies by the system of proportional representation (General, Muslims and Sikhs). The total
membership of the Assembly was to be 389:
 292 members were elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies
 Section A provinces had a total representation of 187 members, composed of 167 Generals
and 20 Muslims.
307

 Section B provinces had a total representation of 35 members, composed of 9 Generals,

22 Muslims and 4 Sikhs.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Section C provinces had a total representation of 70 members, composed of 34 Generals

and 36 Muslims.
 93 members represented the Indian Princely States
 Four members represented the four Chief Commissioners' Provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara,
Coorg, and Baluchistan)

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• Provinces could leave the group (but not the union) after the first general elections.
• A province or a group could ask for reconsideration of the group or union constitutions after ten
years and at ten-year intervals thereafter.
• Communal Veto: Any major communal issue to be decided in the Constituent Assembly must be
approved by a majority of the members present and voting from each of the two major communities
(General and Muslim) and a majority of all members present and voting.

British policy for a United India

• In 1946, the British policy clearly showed their preference for a united India. This was a significant
shift from their earlier declarations.
• Clement Attlee's statement on 15th March 1946 that a "minority will not be allowed to place a veto
on the progress of the majority" was a stark contrast to Wavell's decision to let Jinnah sabotage
the Simla Conference in June-July 1945 by insisting on nominating all Muslims.

Why United India?

• The British believed that their strategies in the Indian subcontinent after independence would be
more effective if India was united.
• It was believed that a united India could actively contribute to the defence of the Commonwealth.
On the other hand, a divided India would have weak defence potential, and conflicts between India
and Pakistan would hinder joint defence plans.

Federal Formula
• The Cabinet Mission held that the constitutional structure should be federal.
• Under the Mission plan, India was to have a weak central government controlling only foreign affairs,
defence, and communications, leaving all other subjects to the existing provincial legislature.
• The residuary power would also be vested in the provincial legislature.
• The States (princely states) would retain all subjects and powers other than those ceded to the Union.

[UPSC 2015] With reference to Cabinet Mission, which of the following statements is/are
correct?
1. It recommended a federal government.
308

2. It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts.

3. It provided for more Indians in the ICS.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) None of the above

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Answer: Option A

Relationship between the Princely States and the British Crown

• The relationship between the rulers of the princely states and the British Crown was dissolved, ending
the British government's paramountcy over them. The princely states would be free to enter into an
agreement with the successor government or the British government.

Interim Government
• The interim government would be formed from the constituent assembly, which would remain in
office till a new government based on the new Constitution was elected.

Cabinet Mission
 Short-term aspect: Formation of interim government.
 Long-term aspect: Drafting of the Constitution by constituent assembly.

Constituent Assembly
• The Constitution was made by the Constituent Assembly. Its members were chosen by indirect elec-
tion by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies that had been established under the
Government of India Act of 1935.
 Provincial elections were held in January 1946 in British India to elect members of the Provincial
Legislative Assemblies.
• Although the members of the Assembly were not elected by universal suffrage, there was a serious
attempt to make the Assembly a representative body.
• The Constituent Assembly was composed roughly along the lines suggested by the plan proposed by
the Cabinet Mission. According to this plan:
1. Each Province and each Princely State or group of States were allotted seats proportional to their
respective population roughly in the ratio of 1:10,00,000 (one to a million)
2. The seats in each Province were distributed among the three main communities, Muslims, Sikhs
and general, in proportion to their respective populations.
3. Members of each community in the Provincial Legislative Assembly elected their own represent- 309
atives by the method of proportional representation with the single transferable vote.
4. The method of selection in the case of representatives of Princely States was to be determined by
consultation.
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Why not an adult franchise?

• The Cabinet Mission fully understood that an election based on an adult franchise would be the best
method for selecting the members of the Constituent Assembly. However, they believed that such an

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attempt would delay the formulation of the new constitution. Hence, it decided to utilise the recently
elected Provincial Legislative Assemblies as electing bodies.

[UPSC 2002] The members of the constituent assembly which drafted the Constitution of
India were
a) Nominated by the British Parliament.
b) Nominated by the Governor General.
c) Elected by the legislative assemblies of various provinces.
d) Elected by the Indian National Congress and Muslim League.
Answer: Option C

Acceptance of a Plan
• The Cabinet Mission Plan did not clarify whether grouping was compulsory or voluntary. The Con-
gress and League initially interpreted the Mission Plan in their own way and accepted its long-term
plan.
 The League interpreted the groupings to be compulsory, with Sections B and C developing into
strong entities with the right to secede from the Union in the future.
 The Congress interpreted the groupings as optional and held that provinces need not join if they
do not wish to.
 On June 29, 1946, the Cabinet Mission left India after failing to secure a consensus between the
League and the Congress.

Rejection of a Plan
• Congress wanted a province to not wait till the first elections to leave a group. It should have the
option not to join it in the first.
 The proposed Constituent Assembly was criticized by the Congress for not including elected mem-
bers from the princely states.
• The League wanted provinces to have the right to question the union constitution now, not wait for
ten years. The League accepted the Mission Plan to the extent Pakistan was implied in the compulsory
grouping clause.
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• Ultimately, neither the League nor the Congress agreed to the Cabinet Mission's proposal.
 Congress: On 10 July 1946, the Congress rejected the cabinet mission plan but decided to partic-
MIH-II – Post-1857

ipate in the Constituent Assembly.

 Muslim League: On 29 July, the League Working Committee withdrew its acceptance of the long-
term plan and called for direct action.

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• This was a crucial juncture because, after this, partition became inevitable, with most of the Congress
leaders agreeing to it, seeing it as tragic but unavoidable. Only Mahatma Gandhi and Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan of the NWFP continued to firmly oppose the idea of partition.

Rejection of Partition
• The Cabinet Mission did not agree to the Muslim League's demand for a full-fledged Pakistan.
They reasoned that if the principle of communal self-determination were to be granted to Muslims,
it should also be extended to non-Muslims. This meant that the majority of non-Muslim populations
in West Bengal, Eastern Punjab, and Assam proper would also have the right to determine their po-
litical status based on communal considerations.
• The Mission's plan was intended to be a compromise. It aimed to satisfy the Congress by rejecting
the Pakistan scheme while at the same time aiming to appease the Muslim League by creating an
autonomous Muslim-majority area in some proximity.

[UPSC 2002] The last opportunity to avoid the partition of India was lost with the rejection
of which of the following?
a) Cripps Mission
b) Rajagopalachari formula
c) Cabinet Mission
d) Wavell Plan
Answer: Option C

13.7. Election to the Constituent Assembly (July 1946)

• The elections for the 296 seats of the Constituent Assembly assigned to the British Indian provinces
were held in July 1946. As the Congress swept the general seats in the provincial elections, it won a
majority of the seats in the Constituent Assembly.
• The Muslim League boycotted the Constituent Assembly, pressing its demand for Pakistan with a
separate constitution. The Socialists also hesitated to join because they believed the Constituent
Assembly was a creation of the British and, therefore, incapable of being truly autonomous. As a result,
82% of the members in the Constituent Assembly were also members of the Congress.
311

[UPSC 2004] Which one of the following statements is correct?

a) The Constituent Assembly of India was elected by the Provincial Assemblies in the year 1946.
MIH-II – Post-1857

b) Jawaharlal Nehru, M. A. Jinnah and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were members of the Constituent
Assembly of India.
c) The first session of the Constituent Assembly of India was held in January 1947.
d) The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 January 1950.

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Answer: Option A

13.8. Summary

Wavell Plan and Simla Conference

• With the end of the war, the government was anxious to have a coalition government representing
both communities, which would tackle the political and economic instability expected to evolve on
the termination of the War. For this, on 15 June 1945, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) mem-
bers were released from Ahmednagar Fort Prison, and the ban on Congress was lifted.
• In June 1945, the British government and the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, simultaneously announced a new
offer (Wavell Plan) to work out an interim political agreement under which Indians would be respon-
sible for running the country.
• Wavell convened the Simla conference on 25 June 1945 to consider the proposals. Wavell proposed
expanding the Viceroy’s Executive Council to include balanced representation of all communities and
equal representation of high-caste Hindus and Muslims.
• Jinnah believed that the Muslim League was the sole spokesperson of the Muslims, and it alone had
the right to nominate Muslims to the executive council. This was not acceptable to the Congress,
which represented all Indians and not just Hindus.
• Instead of bypassing the Muslim League, Wavell announced the breakdown of the conference. Here-
after, the league's satisfaction became a prerequisite to any major settlement.

Indian National Army Trial (INA Trial)

• Once Japan Surrendered, the INA soldiers were taken as prisoners of war (PoW).
• Between November 1945 and May 1946, around ten court martials were conducted. The first was the
joint court martial of Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major-General Shah
Nawaz Khan, held in November 1945.
• All parties came out in support of INA soldiers and protested against the court-martials. The INA
campaign attracted government officials, armed forces personnel, and loyalists previously not part of
the nationalist movement. This forced the government to release all three defendants.

Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny

312

• On 18 February 1946, the ratings of "HMIS Talwar" in Bombay Harbour went on strike to protest
MIH-II – Post-1857

against bad food and racial arrogance. The ratings appealed to the people and leaders for their as-
sistance. However, despite their appeal, the leaders were absent, but many people came forward to
help.
• The INC and the Muslim League condemned the mutiny, while the Communist Party of India was the
only party that supported the rebellion.

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• Scholars consider the RIN mutiny one of the final nails in the coffin of the British Empire. Although
independence was already inevitable by this time, the mutiny is believed to have accelerated the
transfer of power.

Elections of 1945-46
• In the 1945-46 elections, the Congress swept the general constituencies, while the League's success
in the seats reserved for Muslims was spectacular. It showed that the Congress represented the large
masses of the country while also making the League the leading party among Muslim voters.

Cabinet Mission (March 1946)

• In March 1946, the British Cabinet sent a three-member mission, Sir Pethick Lawrence (Chairman),
Stafford Cripps, and A. V. Alexander, to negotiate with Indian leaders to transfer power to the Indians.
• It recommended a united India comprising both British India and Princely states. It also proposed a
loose three-tier federation.
• The Congress and League initially interpreted the Mission Plan in their own way and accepted its
long-term plan. However, later, they rejected the plan.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

313
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14. Freedom With Partition

14.1. Direct Action Day (16 August 1946)

• After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, Jinnah called for a "Direct Action Day" to press the League's
demand for Pakistan. The new slogan - ‘Larke Lenge Pakistan' (we will fight and get Pakistan) was
given.
• On the designated day, 16 August 1946, bloody riots broke out in Calcutta. The violence spread to
rural Bengal, then to Bihar, and then across the country to the United Provinces and the Punjab. In
some places, Muslims were the main sufferers. In other places, Hindus.
• To restore the communal harmony, Gandhi visited the Noakhali in November 1946.
• By March 1947, violence spread to many parts of northern India. The communal riots continued for
a long period in northern India. This was because:
1. British officials did not know how to handle the situation. They were unwilling to take decisions
and hesitant to intervene.
2. Many Indian civil servants in the affected provinces feared for their own lives and property.
3. The British were busy preparing to quit India.
4. The top leadership of the Indian parties, barring Mahatma Gandhi, were involved in negotia-
tions regarding independence.
5. Indian soldiers and policemen came to act as Hindus, Muslims, or Sikhs. In many places, not only
did policemen help their co-religionists, but they also attacked members of other communities.

Inevitability of the Partition

• In Bengal, after the communal disturbances in Calcutta and Noakhali (1946), Hindus distrusted the
chief minister (Muslim League). They demanded the partition of the province based on communal
lines.
• By March 1947, and after the Rawalpindi riots, it became obvious that the Sikhs preferred partition of
the Punjab.
• In March 1947, the Congress Working Committee voted to divide the Punjab into two halves, one
314

with a Muslim majority and the other with a Hindu/Sikh majority, and it asked for the application of
a similar principle to Bengal.
MIH-II – Post-1857

14.2. Interim Government (September 2, 1946 - August 15, 1947)

• According to the Cabinet Mission plan, the interim government would be formed from the constit-
uent assembly. The Congress and the League rejected the Cabinet Mission plan. However, Congress
decided to participate in the Constituent Assembly.

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• The British Government was now placed in a dilemma whether to go ahead and form the Interim Gov-
ernment with the Congress or await League agreement to the plan.
• Finally, the Interim Government was formed on 2 September 1946 by Congress members alone, with
Nehru as de facto head. Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as Vice President of the Executive Council.
• The League demanded a separate Pakistan and did not join the interim government. Meanwhile,
the League started direct action to press its demand.
• The Viceroy, Wavell, was convinced that the league's cooperation was necessary to stop the commu-
nal violence. He tried to get the League into the government, thinking they might become more mod-
erate if they were involved in running the administration. Finally, on October 26, 1946, the League
joined the Interim Government.
• However, it’s important to note that the League joined the interim government without:
 Participating in the Constituent Assembly
 Abandoning its policy of Direct Action
 Relinquishing its demand for a separate Pakistan.

New Phase of Conflict

• The League's entry into the Interim Government did not end the conflict but opened another arena
of struggle. In the interim government, the League followed the policy of non-cooperation, which
made the administration difficult.
• The League joined the government because they believed that exclusive control over administration
by the Congress was not in the League's interest. Their aim was to show that cooperation was not
possible and to move closer to achieving their goal of Pakistan.

Threat of Breakdown
• The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946. The Muslim
League decided to boycott and did not participate in the Constituent Assembly.
• Later, the League demanded that the Constituent Assembly be dissolved because it was unrepre-
sentative.
• On 5 February 1947, the Congress members of the Interim Government sent a letter to Wavell de-
manding that the League members be asked to resign. However, the League remained in the interim
315

government until 19 July 1947.

 207 members were present in the inaugural session of the Constituent Assembly on 9 December
MIH-II – Post-1857

1946, which was presided by Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, the temporary Chairman of the Assembly.

Members of the Interim Government

• The members of the interim government were members of the Viceroy's Executive Council. The
Viceroy was the President, while Jawaharlal Nehru was the Vice-President of the Council.

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Interim Government (September 2, 1946 - August 15, 1947)

Members Portfolios
Lord Wavell (till February 1947) President of the Executive Council
Lord Mountbatten (from February 1947)
Sir Claude Auchinleck Commander-in-Chief
Indian National Congress
Jawaharlal Nehru Vice President of the Executive Council, External
Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
Vallabhbhai Patel Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting
Rajendra Prasad Agriculture and Food
C. Rajagopalachari Education and Arts
Baldev Singh Defence
Dr. John Mathai Industries and Supplies
Jagjivan Ram Labour
Asaf Ali Railways and Communications
C.H. Bhabha Work, Mines and Power
All India Muslim League
Liaquat Ali Khan Finance
Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar Commerce
Ghazanfar Ali Khan Health
Jogendra Nath Mandal Law
Abdur Nishtar Posts and Air

UPSC 2003] Who headed the interim Cabinet formed in the year 1946?
a) Rajendra Prasad
b) Jawaharlal Nehru
c) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
d) C. Rajagopalachari 316
Answer: Option B

14.3. Meerut Congress Session (1946)

MIH-II – Post-1857

• In the Ramgarh Session of 1940, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was elected President of the Indian Na-
tional Congress for the second time. The sessions were not held from 1941 to 1945, and Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad continued to serve as President, making him the longest-serving President of the INC
before independence.

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 In 1923, at the age of 35, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became the youngest person to serve as
the President of the INC.
• The last session of the INC before India's independence was held in November 1946 at Victoria Park
in Meerut. Acharya J. B. Kripalani presided over it.
• Kripalani was the president of the INC when India gained independence. He resigned from the
presidentship soon after Independence.

Highlights
• The Indian National Army (INA) functionaries participated in the session for the first time.
• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted a 9X14-foot khadi Tricolour flag with the image of a full charkha
at the centre.

[UPSC 2002] Who was the President of the Indian National Congress at the time of the
partition of India?
a) C. Rajagopalachari
b) J. B. Kripalani
c) Jawaharlal Nehru
d) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Answer: Option B

14.4. Clement Attlee's Announcement (February 1947)

• On February 20, 1947, the British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, announced that:
 The British would withdraw from India by 30th June 1948.
 Lord Mountbatten would replace Wavell as Viceroy.
 The power would be transferred to more than one central Government if the Constituent As-
sembly was not fully representative, i.e. if Muslim-majority provinces did not join it.

Why did the British set a date for their withdrawal?

• The British set a date of 30 June 1948 for their withdrawal because there was an irreversible decline
of Government authority in India (as Lord Wavell stated). It was also intended: 317

 To push the INC and League into agreement on the main question and avert the constitutional
crisis that threatened the country.
 To convince Indians that the British were sincere about granting independence.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Response
• The Congress received the statement enthusiastically and responded with a gesture of cooperation
to the league.
• The league refused to join the constituent assembly and demanded it to be dissolved.

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• Jinnah was convinced that sticking to his position would lead to achieving his goal for Pakistan.

Significance
• The British have finally announced the date of their return.
• It implied the partition of India if the Muslim-majority provinces did not join the constituent as-
sembly.
• It did not provide any solution to the deadlock that existed over participation in the constituent
assembly.

14.5. Mountbatten Plan

• Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of British India. He was responsible for winding up the Brit-
ish Raj by June 30, 1948.
• Lord Mountbatten claimed that he introduced the time limit of June 30, 1948, into the February 20
statement, but this is not true. Wavell originally proposed a fixed date. He advocated a complete
British withdrawal from India by March 31, 1948. Atlee suggested a mid-1948 timeline, but Lord
Mountbatten insisted on a specific date and selected June 30, 1948.
• When Viceroy Lord Mountbatten arrived in India in March 1947:
 The nation was engulfed in communal riots.
 The divide between Congress and the League widened.
 Jinnah remained firm in his demand for Pakistan, exacerbating tensions.
• Mountbatten tried to build an agreement between the political parties for the first two months after
coming to India. He soon realised that he had limited options and Partition was to be implemented.
• However, in reality, the Viceroy made no serious efforts to keep India united. Rather than making a
genuine effort to maintain unity, he took an easier approach to win the favour of both sides so that
two dominions would be allies of Britain in Commonwealth defence.

Plan Balkan (Dickie Bird Plan) (April 1947)

• In April 1947, Lord Mountbatten concluded that the Cabinet Mission Plan was no longer feasible
and developed a new plan. The new plan is known as the Balkan Plan, as it suggested the decentrali-
sation of power to the provinces and proposed the division of Punjab and Bengal, with power being
318

granted to the provinces and sub-provinces.

• Under this plan:
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Individual provinces would be declared the independent successor states, and power would be
transferred to them.
 These new provinces (independent provinces) and princely states would have the option to join
India or Pakistan or remain separate.

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• The plan also suggested giving Punjab and Bengal the choice to vote for the partition of their prov-
inces.
• However, the plan was abandoned after the strong opposition of national leaders, particularly Ja-
waharlal Nehru.
 Balkanisation involves dividing an area, country, or region into multiple smaller units.

Mountbatten Plan (3rd June Plan) (June 3, 1947)

• On 3rd June 1947, the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, proposed the Mountbatten Plan.
• Mountbatten plan was to divide India but retain maximum unity. This was done by making conces-
sions to both the Congress and the League. Punjab and Bengal would be divided so that the limited
Pakistan that emerged would meet both the Congress and League's positions to some extent.
• The League's demand would be accommodated by creating Pakistan, but it would be made as small
as possible to accommodate the Congress’s stand on unity.
• Since Congress was making the bigger concession, i.e., giving up its ideal of a united India, all its other
stands were to be upheld by the British. For example, Mountbatten supported the Congress stand that:
 Princely states must not be given the option of independence.
 Hyderabad should join India.

Important Provisions
• British India would be divided into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan – with effect
from 15 August 1947.
• The Princely States were given the right to join either India or Pakistan (Princely states had no option
to remain independent).
• To decide on the partition of Bengal and Punjab, their legislative assemblies were to divide them-
selves into two groups. One group would comprise the representatives of the Muslim majority dis-
tricts, while the other would include those of the Hindu majority. These two groups would then cast
their votes separately. If either of the groups voted in favour of partition, then the provinces would
be partitioned.
• A plebiscite would be held in the North-West Frontier Province and the Sylhet district of Assam to
decide their fate.
319

• If partition were to take place:

 A boundary commission would be established.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 Two dominions and two constituent assemblies would be established.

Partition of Bengal and Punjab

• On 20 June, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met. In the separate voting, it was decided that:

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 West Bengal would go to India, and its legislature would join the existing Constituent Assembly
of India.
 East Bengal would go to Pakistan, and its legislature would join the new Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan.
• Similarly, the Punjab Legislative Assembly decided that West Punjab would go to Pakistan and East
Punjab would go to India.
• The Congress and Muslim League ultimately approved the Mountbatten Plan.

Early Transfer of Power

• Lord Mountbatten was clearly directed by His Majesty's Government to explore options of unity and
division until October 1947, after which he was to advise the government on power transfer.
• However, Mountbatten expedited the process of power transfer and sought to effect an early trans-
fer of power (15 August 1947) based on Dominion Status to two successor states, India and Paki-
stan.

Acceptance of the Dominion Status

• The Congress accepted the dominion status because:
1. To assume power and check the communal situation: The acceptance of dominion status was the
only way of immediately assuming complete power and taking the communally explosive situa-
tion in hand.
 The British officials were not fully committed to preventing the communal situation from
worsening. Sardar Patel summed up the situation in his statement to the Viceroy: "You won't
govern yourself and won't let us govern".
2. Continuity in Bureaucracy: It would allow British officials to stay temporarily, giving time for
Indians to settle into their new roles of authority.

Early Transfer of Power

• The British advanced the withdrawal date to 15 August:
1. To secure the Congress agreement to dominion status.
2. To avoid being responsible for the rapidly deteriorating communal situation in India. 320

Hasty Transfer and Consequences

• A peaceful transfer of power and division of the country could take at least a few years. The early
MIH-II – Post-1857

transfer of power to 15th August, giving just seventy-two days (3rd June to 15th August 1947), proved a
total failure. Moreover, the delay in announcing the Boundary Commission Award aggravated the
tragedy of partition.
• The Boundary Commission Award was ready on August 12, 1947. However, Mountbatten decided to
delay its announcement until after India's Independence Day so that the British would not be

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responsible for its implementation. This created confusion for ordinary citizens and officials. The flags
of both India and Pakistan were flown in the region, and people believed they were on the correct
side. Later, they discovered themselves on the opposite side of the newly drawn border.

14.6. Boundary Commission

• Mountbatten Plan of 3rd June proposed a boundary commission if the partition was to be affected.
• The Bengal and Punjab assemblies decided in favour of partition on June 20 and 23, respectively.
Shortly after, Britain appointed Sir Cyril Radcliffe to chair two boundary commissions, one for Bengal
and one for Punjab, to determine which territories to assign to each country.
• Each boundary commission consisted of five people:
1. A chairman (Radcliffe),
2. Two members nominated by the Indian National Congress
3. Two members nominated by the Muslim League.
• After arriving in India on 8 July 1947, Radcliffe was given just five weeks to decide on a border. The
award given by Sir Cyril Radcliffe in his Report of August 12, 1947, marks the boundary between India
and Pakistan to be demarcated on the site. The report was published on 17th August, i.e. two days
after independence.
• As the award was not presented before the independence, it has created a lot of confusion. The flags
of both India and Pakistan were flown in the region as people believed they were on the correct side.
Later, they discovered themselves on the opposite side of the newly drawn border.

Radcliffe Line
• The Radcliffe Line was the boundary between the Indian and Pakistani portions of the Punjab Prov-
ince and Bengal Presidency of British India.
• It was named after Cyril Radcliffe, who served as the joint chairman of the boundary commissions for
the Punjab and Bengal provinces.
• The demarcation line was published on 17 August 1947 upon the Partition of British India. Today, its
western side is part of the India–Pakistan border, while its eastern side is the Bangladesh–India border.

[UPSC 2014] The Radcliffe Committee was appointed to

321

a) solve the problem of minorities in India

b) give effect to the Independence Bill
MIH-II – Post-1857

c) delimit the boundaries between India and Pakistan

d) enquire into the riots in East Bengal
Answer: Option C

14.7. Indian Independence Act of 1947

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• The Indian Independence Act of 1947 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom based
on the Mountbatten Plan and received Royal Assent on 18th July 1947.
• The act ended British rule and created two new independent dominions: India and Pakistan. It also
gave them the right to secede from the British Commonwealth.
• The Act declared India as an independent and sovereign state from August 15, 1947.
 The Act declared Pakistan as an independent and sovereign state from August 14, 1947.

Salient features
• The Act abolished:
 The Office of the Secretary of State for India and transferred its functions to the Secretary of
State for Commonwealth affairs.
 The title of ‘Emperor of India' for the British Crown.
 All existing treaties with the princely states, i.e. paramountcy over the princely states, lapsed.
• It lapsed the treaty relations with tribal areas.
• It discontinued appointment to civil services and reservation of posts by the Secretary of State for
India.
• It authorised the Constituent Assemblies of both dominions:
 To frame and adopt a new constitution for their territories.
 To repeal any Act passed by the British Parliament, including the Independence Act itself.
 To act as the Parliament to make laws for their respective territories till the new constitutions
were drafted and enacted.
• Till the framing of new constitutions, the Act provided for the governance of the new dominions and
provinces by the Government of India Act 1935. However, the dominions had the authority to make
changes to the Act.
• It ended the British Crown's power to veto or reserve bills.
• The Act abolished the Office of Viceroy. It provided that on the advice of the dominion cabinet, the
British King would appoint a governor-general for each dominion as the constitutional head of the
states until the formation of new constitutions.
• The Governor-General and Governors of various provinces: 322

 Became the constitutional executive heads.

 Should act on the advice of the respective council of ministers.
 Would not have veto power.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• No law passed by the British Parliament after August 15, 1947, would extend to either of the dominions
unless passed in the respective Assemblies.
 Lord Mountbatten continued as Governor-General, and Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed India's
first Prime Minister.

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 Muhammad Ali Jinnah became Pakistan's Governor-General, and Liaquat Ali Khan became Prime
Minister.

14.8. Independence with Partition

Why Congress Accepted Partition

• The partition of India is often seen as the result of the British policy of divide and rule or the sup-
posedly age-old rift between Hindus and Muslims, depending on the ideological stance of the writer.
• The question that remains today is why the Congress, which had fought for unity for many years,
agreed to Partition. One perspective is that Congress leaders succumbed to the temptation of power
and struck a deal with the British, which gave them quick power while the nation paid the price of
partition. This view is both simplistic and incorrect.
• The Congress's decision to accept Partition was not due to the personal shortcomings of its leaders
but rather a consequence of the organisation's long-term failure to integrate Muslim masses into
the nationalist movement. Despite efforts, the Congress couldn't bridge the gap and counter the
rising tide of Muslim communalism, ultimately leading to the acceptance of Partition as a pragmatic
solution to avoid a potential civil war.
 In April 1947, Congress President Kripalani told the Viceroy, "Rather than have a battle, we shall
let them have their Pakistan."
• From its inception, Congress had two objectives:
1. Creating a united nation by bringing together diverse classes, communities, groups, and regions
2. Securing independence from British rule
• While the Congress was successful in fostering nationalist consciousness and exerting pressure on
the British to leave India, it failed to unify the nation, particularly with regard to integrating the Mus-
lims. This contradiction - the success and failure of the national movement - is reflected in the Inde-
pendence-Partition dichotomy.

A Pragmatic Solution to Avert Widespread Bloodshed and Communal Violence

• The nationalist leaders agreed to the partition of India not because there were two nations in India
- a Hindu nation and a Muslim nation but to avoid large-scale bloodbaths and communal riots.
323

Over the past seventy years or so, had created a situation where the alternative to partition was the
mass killing of lakhs of innocent people in senseless and barbaric communal riots.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• If these riots had been confined to one section of the country, the Congress leaders could have tried to
curb them and taken a strong stand against partition. But unfortunately, the riots were taking place
everywhere and actively involved both Hindus and Muslims. On top of it all, the country was still ruled
by foreigners who did little to check the riots.

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The culmination of the League's Pursuit of a Sovereign Muslim State

• The Congress accepted the partition because it had become inevitable. The acceptance of Partition
in 1947 was only the final act of gradual concession to the League's unwavering advocacy of a sover-
eign Muslim state.
 Cripps Mission (1942): It accepted the autonomy of Muslim-majority provinces.
 Gandhi Jinnah Talks (1944): Gandhiji accepted the right of self-determination of Muslim majority
provinces.
 Cabinet Mission (1946): Though Congress opposed compulsory grouping, it conceded the possi-
bility of Muslim-majority provinces.
 CWC Resolution (March 1947): The Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed a resolution that
Punjab must be partitioned if the country was divided.

Rejecting the Two-Nation Theory

• Nationalist leaders did not accept the two-nation theory, i.e. two separate countries for Hindus and
Muslims.
• Nationalist leaders did not agree to hand over one-third of the country to the Muslim League as the
latter wanted. They agreed to the separation of only those areas where the influence of the Muslim
League was predominant.
 Punjab and Bengal were to be partitioned.
 In the North-West Frontier Province and the Sylhet district of Assam, where the influence of the
League was doubtful, a plebiscite was to be held.
• In other words, the country was to be partitioned but not based on Hinduism and Islam.

Gandhi and Partition

• Gandhiji firmly opposed the partition. His position differed from Congress’s, but he was not opposed
to it. He proposed to the Viceroy that Jinnah be Prime Minister. Gandhiji hoped this would satisfy
Jinnah's ambition and help him give up his demand for Pakistan.
• However, the Congress leaders felt the proposal was too risky. Handing over control to Jinnah would
mean leaving the field open to reactionary forces. Accordingly, Gandhiji withdrew his offer.
The communalisation of people made Gandhi accept the partition. At his daily prayer meeting on 4th
324
•
June 1947, Gandhi explained that Congress accepted partition because the people wanted it, and that
was the only way out.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In his speech at the AICC meeting on June 14, 1947, Gandhi advised Congressmen to accept partition
as an unavoidable necessity for the present. He urged them not to embrace it in their hearts but rather
to fight for its reversal in the future when passions would subside.

Day of Independence

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• On 15 August 1947, India celebrated its first day of freedom with joy.
• At the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly on the night of 14th August 1947, Jawaharlal
Nehru, expressing the feelings of the people, made his 'Tryst with Destiny' speech. The session began
with the singing of Vande Mataram and the President's address.
• On the day of Independence:
 Political prisoners were released to mark the coming of freedom.
 Public ceremonies were held in all major cities to mark the day.
 Mahatma Gandhi was not present in the capital. He was in Calcutta but did not attend any func-
tion or hoist a flag. He marked the day with a 24-hour fast. He spent the day in Calcutta, praying,
fasting, and spinning.
• On this day, most celebrations acknowledged the harsh reality of partition. It symbolised independ-
ence and partition, illustrating the success and failure of the anti-colonial movement. The anti-colo-
nial movement succeeded in achieving independence but failed to integrate most Muslims into the
national movement fully.

“Tryst with Destiny” Speech

• At the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly on the night of 14th August 1947, Jawaharlal
Nehru said, “Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall
redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight
hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but
rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a
nation, long suppressed, finds utterance...”

Partition or Holocaust
• India became independent on 15th August 1947. The sacrifices of generations of patriots and the
blood of countless martyrs had borne fruit. However, the joy of our country's independence from co-
lonial rule was tarnished by the violence and brutality of partition.
• The partition of British India into the sovereign states of India and Pakistan led to many sudden
developments. A new country was born, and there was unprecedented genocidal violence and migra-
tion. Several hundred thousand people were killed, and innumerable women were raped and abducted.
325

Millions were uprooted and transformed into refugees in alien lands. Probably, some 15 million had
to move across hastily constructed frontiers separating India and Pakistan.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• People became homeless, abruptly losing all their immovable property and most of their movable
assets. They were separated from relatives and friends, torn away from their homes, fields, and for-
tunes, as well as from cherished childhood memories. Stripped of their local or regional cultures, they
were compelled to start rebuilding their lives from scratch.

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One-Man Army
• Gandhiji made every effort to halt the communal violence. Committed to upholding his lifelong
principle of non-violence and his conviction that people's hearts could be changed, he embarked on
tours to riot-affected areas.
• From October 1946 to April 1947, Gandhiji visited Noakhali in East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh)
and Bihar. Subsequently, he also toured the riot-torn slums of Calcutta and Delhi. Gandhi aimed to
prevent Hindus and Muslims from killing each other, and he took great care to reassure minority com-
munities throughout his heroic endeavours.

Culmination to Partition
• The following factors were responsible for the communal politics and, finally, the partition of India.
• British policy after 1857: The unity of the people during the 1857 revolt frightened the British, who
then decided to follow the policy of divide and rule.
 Immediately after the Revolt, they repressed Muslims, confiscated their lands and property on a
large scale, and declared Hindus to be their favourites.
 After 1870, with the rise of the nationalist movement (majority Hindus), this policy was reversed.
To check the growth of national unity, they attempted to turn upper-class and middle-class Muslims
against the nationalist movement. They encouraged Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Raja Shiva Prasad of
Benaras, and other pro-British individuals to start an anti-Congress movement.
• Syed Ahmad Khan: Syed Ahmad Khan laid the foundations of Muslim communalism in the 1880s.
He declared that the political interests of Hindus and Muslims were not the same but different and
even divergent. He also preached that, since the Hindus formed the larger part of the Indian population,
they would dominate the Muslims in case of the weakening or withdrawal of British rule.
• All India Muslim League: In 1906, under the leadership of the Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca, Khwaja
salimullah Bahadur, and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the educated Muslims, Muslim nawabs and landlords
founded the All India Muslim League. Its political activities were directed against the Hindus and the
National Congress.
• Separate electorates: Separate electorates for Muslims created by the colonial government in 1909
and expanded in 1919 crucially shaped the nature of communal politics. 326

 Separate electorates tempted politicians working within this system to use sectarian slogans and
gather a following by distributing favours to their own religious groups.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 The logic of electoral politics deepened and hardened these identities. Community identities no
longer indicated simple differences in faith and belief; they came to mean active opposition and
hostility between communities.
• Hindu Mahasabha: All India Hindu Mahasabha was founded in 1915 as an umbrella organisation of
regional Hindu Sabhas. It advocated the interests of orthodox Hindus.

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• Lucknow Congress Session: In the Lucknow session, Congress accepted the separate electorates for
Muslims, paving the way for the future resurgence of communalism in Indian politics.
• Events of the 1920s and early 1930s: Communal identities were consolidated by the following devel-
opments during the 1920s and early 1930s:
 The Khilafat movement mixed religion with politics, which ultimately strengthened communal
forces.
 Muslims were angered by "music-before-mosque", by the cow protection movement, and by the
efforts of the Arya Samaj to bring back to the Hindu fold (Shuddhi) those who had recently con-
verted to Islam.
 Hindus were angered by the rapid spread of Tabligh (propaganda) and Tanzim (organisation) after
1923.
• 1937 Provincial Elections: After the 1937 elections, the Muslim League wanted to form a joint gov-
ernment with the Congress in the United Provinces. The Congress had won an absolute majority in the
province, so it rejected the offer. The Congress also rejected the Muslim League's proposal because
the League tended to support landlordism, which Congress wished to abolish.
 Some scholars argue that this rejection convinced the League that if India remained united, then
Muslims would find it difficult to gain political power because they would remain a minority.
 After its poor performance in the 1937 elections, the Muslim League doubled its efforts to expand
its social support. It started to spread the notion that the Muslim minority was in danger of being
engulfed by the Hindu majority. It propagated the unscientific and unhistorical theory that Hindus
and Muslims were two separate nations that could never live together.
• Pakistan Resolution: In 1940, the Muslim League passed a resolution demanding the partition of the
country and the creation of a state called Pakistan after independence.
• British Concession: The Muslim League remained steadfast in its demand for a separate Pakistan
throughout the negotiations with the British under the August offer, Cripps proposal, Shimla confer-
ence, and Cabinet mission. Instead of bypassing the Muslim League, the British government gave
the League a virtual veto. This convinced the League that they would get a separate Pakistan if they
remained stuck to their demand.
• 1946 elections: The League's success in the seats reserved for Muslims was spectacular. It won all
327

30 reserved constituencies in the Central Legislature and 442 out of 509 seats reserved for Muslims in
the provinces.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 1946 elections established the League as the dominant party among Muslim voters, seeking to
vindicate its claim to be the "sole spokesman" of India's Muslims.

[UPSC 2019] Assess the role of British imperial power in complicating the process of trans-
fer of power during the 1940s.

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14.9. Summary

Direct Action Day

• After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, Jinnah called for a "Direct Action Day" to press the League's
demand for Pakistan. On the designated day, 16 August 1946, bloody riots broke out in Calcutta.
• The violence spread to rural Bengal, then to Bihar, and then across the country to the United Provinces
and the Punjab. In some places, Muslims were the main sufferers. In other places, Hindus.

The inevitability of the Partition

• In Bengal, after the communal disturbances in Calcutta and Noakhali (1946), Hindus distrusted the
chief minister (Muslim League) and demanded the partition of the province based on communal lines.
• By March 1947, the Sikhs preferred partition of the Punjab.
• In March 1947, the CWC voted to divide the Punjab into two halves, one with a Muslim majority and
the other with a Hindu/Sikh majority, and it asked to apply a similar principle to Bengal.

Interim Government
• The Congress and the League rejected the Cabinet Mission plan. However, Congress decided to
participate in the Constituent Assembly.
• The Interim Government was formed on 2 September 1946 by Congress members alone, with Nehru
as de facto head. Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as Vice President of the Executive Council. The
League demanded a separate Pakistan and did not join the interim government.
• Finally, on October 26, 1946, the League joined the Interim Government without:
 Participating in the Constituent Assembly.
 Abandoning its policy of Direct Action.
 Relinquishing its demand for a separate Pakistan.

Clement Attlee's Announcement

• On February 20, 1947, the British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, announced that the British would
withdraw from India by June 30, 1948 and that if the Constituent Assembly was not fully representa-
tive, power would be transferred to more than one central Government.
328

Mountbatten Plan (3rd June Plan)

On 3rd June 1947, the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, proposed the Mountbatten Plan to divide India
MIH-II – Post-1857

•
but retain maximum unity. Punjab and Bengal would be divided so that the limited Pakistan that
emerged would meet both the Congress and League's positions to some extent.
• The League's demand would be accommodated by creating Pakistan, but it would be made as small
as possible to accommodate the Congress’s stand on unity.

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• The Congress and Muslim League accepted the Mountbatten Plan.

Indian Independence Act of 1947

• The Indian Independence Act of 1947 ended British rule and created two new independent domin-
ions: India and Pakistan. The Act declared India an independent and sovereign state from August
15, 1947.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

329
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15. Popular Struggle in the Princely States

• During British rule, British India was divided into two types of territory:
330

1. British Indian Provinces under the direct control of the British government.
2. Princely States ruled by princes.
MIH-II – Post-1857

 At the time of Independence, the princely states covered one-third of the land and one-fourth of
the population of the British Indian Empire.
• Before 1857, the British used every opportunity to annex princely states. However, during the 1857
revolt, most Indian princes sided with the British and helped quash the rebellion, which caused the
British to change their approach towards the Indian States.

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• After 1857, the British abandoned the policy of annexation and guaranteed protection to the princely
states against any internal or external threat. In return, the princely states accepted the British para-
mountcy.

Autocratic Rule in the Princely States

• The princely states suffered from the misrule of their local ruler. Most of the princes were autocratic,
lived a luxurious lifestyle, and paid no heed to the welfare of the people.
• In the state, peasants were oppressed, the burden of the land tax was usually heavier than in British
India, education was retarded, health and other social services were extremely backward, and free-
dom of the press and other civil rights hardly existed. All these ruined the people’s economy and en-
couraged them to revolt against feudatory chiefs.
• Some Indian rulers, such as the Maharaja of Baroda, made efforts to introduce reforms in the admin-
istration and taxation systems and even granted powers to the people to participate in government.
However, such states constituted a minority.
• Ultimately, the British Government was responsible for the Indian States' situation in the twentieth
century. As the national movement gained momentum, Princes were pressured to resist it. Support for
nationalism by rulers was discouraged, and potential reformers faced British interference, hindering pos-
itive initiatives.

Establishment of the Praja Mandals

• The rise of the national movement in British India influenced the people of the States, shaping their
awareness of democracy, responsible government, and civil liberties.
• During the 1910s, the urban educated people of the princely states formed the Praja Mandal (states’
people’s conferences) or lok parishads in some states. They demanded the greater recruitment of the
state’s people in government employment, the guarantee of civil liberties, especially the freedom of
the press, assembly, and association, and, in a few instances, even the establishment of a representative
assembly in the state.
• The Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movement, initiated in 1920, significantly impacted the state’s
people. Due to its impact, a series of "Praja Mandals" (states’ people’s conferences) were established to
promote the nationalist creed in the princely states. During the 1920s, the Praja Mandals campaigned
331

against the feudatory rulers and demanded the establishment of a responsible government.

British Response
MIH-II – Post-1857

• In 1921, the British established a Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal) to provide a forum for the
rulers of the princely states of India to voice their needs. In reality, it was formed to preserve the privi-
leges of the princely states and prevent the spread of rising nationalism in them.

All India States Peoples’ Conference (AISPC)

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• At the initiative of leaders from states like Balwantrai Mehta, Maniklal Kothari and G. R. Abhyankar, the
first All-India States People’s Conference was convened in Bombay in December 1927. It was pre-
sided over by Dewan Bahadur Ram Chandra Rao.
• The conference aimed to influence the state government to initiate the necessary administrative re-
forms by leveraging the collective opinion of the state's people. It passed resolutions that made wide-
ranging demands on social, economic, and political rights, representative political institutions, free
speech and press, etc. More than 1500 delegates from more than 70 states attended.
• The conference also expressed a wish to garner support from the INC and appointed M. Kothari and
B. S. Pathik, two senior leaders of the AISPC, to advocate and secure that support. Their efforts proved
successful when, during the 1927 Madras Session, the Congress decided to support the democratic
struggle of the people in the princely states.

Role of INC
• When INC started its fight against British rule, it had consciously distanced itself from the princes and
the political mobilisation in the princely states. This strategy of non-interference continued even with
the coming of mass mobilisation in the early Gandhian phase.
• Nagpur Session (1920): In 1920, for the first time, Congress passed a resolution at the Nagpur Con-
gress Session (1920) asking the princes to grant a full responsible government in the State.
 The Congress felt that the political activities in the state should be organised and controlled by
local Praja Mandals and should not look to outside support. Hence, the Congress allowed persons
from states to join the Congress organisation with the condition that Congress members in the states
could not take part in any political activity as Congressmen or in the name of Congress but only in
either their private capacity, as individuals, or as members of the local political associations.
 However, the informal relation between INC and local Praja Mandals existed and paved the way
for more intense mobilisation patterns in the states in subsequent phases.
• Madras Session (1927): In its 1927 Madras Session, the Congress supported the democratic strug-
gle of the people of the princely states.
• Lahore Session (1929): In the Lahore Session of the Congress (1929), Nehru, representing a leftward
shift in the priorities of Congress, declared that the fate of states was linked with the rest of India and 332
that only the people of states would have the right to determine the political future of the states.

Change in Congress Policy

MIH-II – Post-1857

• In the mid-thirties, two key developments impacted the Indian States.

1. The Government of India Act of 1935: It proposed an all-India federation, establishing a direct
constitutional link between the Indian States and British India. However, the princes were to
nominate the state’s representatives. The INC and other organisations demanded elected represent-
atives.

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2. Formation of Congress Ministries in the Provinces (1937): It instilled confidence and fuelled
political activity in the people of the Indian States.
• These recent developments resulted in a notable shift in Congress' policy towards movement in the
princely states.

Haripura session (1938)

• In the Haripura session (1938), Congress announced its aim to attain complete independence for the
whole of India, including the princely states. Congress reiterated its policy that movements in the
States should not be launched in the name of Congress but should rely on their own independent
strength and fight through local organisations.

Gandhi’s Statement

• In a January 1939 interview with the Times of India, Gandhi expressed that non-intervention by the
Congress was wise when the people of the states were not awakened. However, he believed it would
be cowardice when there was widespread awakening and a determination to endure suffering for their
rights. Gandhi emphasised that legal and constitutional boundaries became irrelevant once the people
were prepared.

Tripuri session (1939)

• At its Tripuri session in March 1939, the Congress passed a resolution incorporating Gandhiji's idea.
• The Congress passed a resolution facilitating the integration of the political struggle in the princely
states and the rest of India. The resolution stated that it was abandoning its previous policy of non-
interference in the struggle in the princely states.

Ludhiana session of AISPC

• In 1939, the AISPC elected Jawaharlal Nehru as its President for the Ludhiana session. This became a
symbol of the fusion of the movements in Princely India and British India.

Quit India Movement (1942)

• During the Quit India Movement in 1942, the INC did not differentiate between British India and
the Indian States. As a result, the call for struggle was extended to the people of the States.
This led to the people of the States formally joining the fight for Indian independence. Apart from their
333
•
demand for a responsible government, they requested the British to leave India and demanded that the
States become an integral part of the Indian nation.
MIH-II – Post-1857

Integration of Princely States

Mountbatten Plan (June 3, 1947)

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• Just before Independence, on June 3, 1947, the Viceroy, Mountbatten, announced that the para-
mountcy of the British crown over the Princely states would lapse, and they were free to join India
or Pakistan.
• The decision was left not to the people but to the princely rulers of these states. This was a serious
problem because if the princely state within India joined Pakistan, it could threaten the existence of a
united India.

Efforts by the Government

• A new department was established with the goal of aiding in the integration of princely states. Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel was appointed its head, with V. P. Menon as the secretary. Under the guidance of
Lord Mountbatten, their primary responsibility was to persuade the princes to accede to the Indian
union.
• On July 5, 1947, Sardar Patel invited the Princely States to join the forthcoming Indian Union.
• Bikaner, Baroda and a few other states from Rajasthan were among the first states to join the Indian
Union. However, several other states were unwilling to join India. Some saw this as an opportunity to
secure independent statehood, while others wanted to join Pakistan.
• Finally, all but three of the 565 Princely States signed Instruments of Accession and Standstill agree-
ments with the forthcoming Indian Union by August 14, 1947. The three states that hadn't signed the
Instruments of Accession by then were Junagadh, Hyderabad, and Kashmir.

Integration of Some Important Princely States

Travancore
• The Travancore state was one of the first princely states to refuse accession to the Indian Union. Sir
C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, the dewan of Travancore, declared that his state would become independent.
• The Travancore was rich in resources, including monazite. Thorium, a monazite by-product, is a cru-
cial ingredient in operating nuclear reactors and manufacturing nuclear weapons. It is believed that
Sir C.P. Aiyar had secret ties with the UK government, which were in favour of an independent Trav-
ancore. The UK government hoped that this would grant them exclusive access to monazite and could
give Britain an advantage in the nuclear arms race.
Ultimately, the Indian government convinced C.P. Aiyar, and on July 30 1947, Travancore joined India.
334
•

Manipur
MIH-II – Post-1857

• A few days before Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instru-
ment of Accession with the Indian government. This was on the assurance that Manipur's internal
autonomy would be maintained.

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• Under the pressure of public opinion, the Maharaja held elections in Manipur in June 1948, and the
state became a constitutional monarchy. Thus, Manipur was the first part of India to hold an elec-
tion based on a universal adult franchise.
• There were sharp differences in the Legislative Assembly of Manipur over the merger of Manipur
with India. While the state Congress wanted the merger, other political parties opposed it.
• The Government of India signed the Merger Agreement with Maharaja of Manipur in September
1949 without consulting the popularly elected Legislative Assembly of Manipur. This caused a lot of
anger and resentment in Manipur, the repercussions of which are still being felt.

Junagadh
• The Nawab of Junagadh, Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III, ruled over a large Hindu population. He de-
cided to join Pakistan. The disturbed situation in Junagadh led to a complete breakdown of the econ-
omy, and consequently, the Nawab fled to Karachi.
• Vallabhbhai Patel deployed troops to compel the annexation of three main principalities. The Dewan
was forced to accede to the Indian government due to an acute shortage of funds and forces.
• Subsequently, on February 20, 1948, a plebiscite was conducted in the state, and 91% of the voters
chose to join India.

Jammu and Kashmir

• Before 1947, the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was ruled by a Hindu ruler, Hari Singh.
He wanted to have an independent status for his state.
• The leaders of Pakistan believed that Kashmir belonged to them because the majority of the popu-
lation in the region was Muslim. However, Sheikh Abdullah of the National Conference led a popular
movement in the state against joining Pakistan.
• In October 1947, Pakistan sent tribal infiltrators from its side to capture Kashmir. This compelled the
Maharaja to request military assistance from India.
• On October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Acces-
sion with India. In return, India provided military aid and drove out the infiltrators from the Kashmir
valley.

Hyderabad
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• In 1947, Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII, the last Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad, refused to
join India and decided to have an Independent state.
MIH-II – Post-1857

• The people of the state wanted to join India. They launched a final struggle against the Nizam, and
Swami Ramanand Tirtha played a crucial role in the movement.
• To suppress the movement, Nizam used his army, which was known as the Razakars. They subjected
the people to torture, coercion, tyranny, looting, arson, and other forms of oppression.

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• On November 29, 1947, the Nizam signed a Standstill Agreement with the Indian Government. How-
ever, repression intensified, and the Razakar threat increased.

Operation Polo

• In September 1948, when it became clear that the Nizam would not join the Indian Union, the Gov-
ernment of India decided to launch a military attack. This operation was known as ‘Operation Polo’
or ‘Operation Caterpillar’.
• The Indian Army started the operation by entering the state on September 13, 1948. The operation
ended on September 18, 1948, when the Nizam surrendered. The Indian Army was welcomed as an
army of liberation that ended the oppression of the Nizam and the Razakars.

15.1. Summary

• Before 1857, the British used every opportunity to annex princely states. However, after 1857, the
British abandoned this policy and guaranteed protection to the princely states against any internal or
external threat.

Praja Mandal
• The rise of the national movement in British India influenced the people of the States. During the
1910s, the urban educated people of the princely states formed the Praja Mandal in some states. They
demanded the greater recruitment of the state’s people in government employment and the guar-
antee of civil liberties, especially the freedom of the press, assembly, and association.
• During the 1920s, the Praja Mandals demanded the establishment of a responsible government.

Chamber of Princes
• In 1921, the British established a Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal)to preserve the privileges of
the princely states and prevent the spread of rising nationalism in them.

Role of INC
• When INC started its fight against British rule, it had consciously distanced itself from the princes and
the political mobilisation in the princely states. This strategy of non-interference continued even with
the coming of mass mobilisation in the early Gandhian phase.
336

• The Congress soon changed its policy. In the Haripura session (1938), Congress announced its aim to
attain complete independence for the whole of India, including the princely states. At its Tripuri ses-
MIH-II – Post-1857

sion in March 1939, the Congress passed a resolution facilitating the integration of the political strug-
gle in the princely states and the rest of India.

Integration of Princely States

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• Mountbatten Plan, announced on June 3, 1947, declared that the British crown's paramountcy over
the Princely states would lapse, and they were free to join India or Pakistan. However, the decision
was left not to the people but to the princely rulers of these states.
• On August 14, 1947, 562 of the 565 Princely States in India signed the Instruments of Accession and
Standstill agreements with the upcoming Indian Union. However, Junagadh, Hyderabad, and Kashmir
had not signed the agreement by then. Eventually, all three states joined India.

-------------- End of Chapter --------------

337
MIH-II – Post-1857

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MODERN
INDIAN HISTORY
First Edition

Hardcopy in
July 2024

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