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British Raj

In 1765 Lord Clive for the British get Diwani Rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as Treaty of Allahabad.

Regulating Act of 1773

First time laid the foundations of central administration in India by the British government to control and regulate the affairs and recognised, for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the company.
It applied the ultimate sovereignty of the British Crown over new territories, asserted that the Company could act as a sovereign power on behalf of the Crown.
The company was also required to appoint a governor general with a four member council in Calcutta who was to act as the highest administrative authority in the company’s possessions in India. Governor general of Bombay and Madras to act subordination to the governor general in Calcutta.
Court of Directors of the East India Company (60 members) were required under the Act to submit all communications regarding civil, military, and revenue matters in India for scrutiny by the British government.
For the governance of the Indian territories, the act asserted the supremacy of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) over those of Fort St. George (Madras) and Bombay.
Nominated a Governor-General (Warren Hastings) and four councillors for administering the Bengal presidency (and for overseeing the Company's operations in India).The subordinate Presidencies were forbidden to wage war or make treaties without the previous consent of the Governor-General of Bengal in Council, except in case of imminent necessity.
The Regulating Act also attempted to address the prevalent corruption in India. Company servants were henceforth forbidden to engage in private trade in India Or to receive "presents" from Indian nationals.
It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta 1774 comprising one chief justice and three other justices.
The governor general could make rules and regulations for running the administration but these were to be deposited in Supreme Court for their scrutiny.

Judicature Act of 1781

provision of this act was to demarcate the relations between the Supreme Court and the Governor General in Council.
Significantly reduced the powers of the Supreme Court at Calcutta
Empowered the Governor-General and Council to convene as a Court of Record to hear appeals from the Provincial Courts on civil cases.
separated the Governor-General-in-Council and revenue matters from the Court’s jurisdiction.

Pitts India Act, 1784

It distinguished between commercial and political functions of company.
A Board of control (governing board) was constituted with six members, two from British Cabinet and the remaining from the Privy Council with a president, who soon effectively became the minister for the affairs of the East India Company.
The Act stated that the Board would henceforth "superintend, direct and control" the government of the Company's possessions, in effect controlling the acts and operations relating to the civil, military and revenues of the Company.
The Governor General in council of the Company was reduced to three from four members, and the governor-general, a crown appointee, was authorised to veto the majority decisions.
The governors of Bombay and Madras were also deprived of their independence. The governor-general was given greater powers in matters of war, revenue and diplomacy.
The supreme court of Calcutta was meant only for English subjects.
The act authorised court of directors to make all the recruitments in India.

NOTE : After Pitt's India Act, No any major changes until the end of the company's rule in India in 1858.

Charter act of 1793

The Governor-General was granted extensive powers over the subordinate presidencies.
The Governor-General's power of over-ruling his council was affirmed, and extended over the Governors of the subordinate presidencies.
Senior officials were prohibited from leaving India without permission.
Royal approval was mandated for the appointment of the Governor-General, the governors, and the Commander-in-Chief.
The East India Company was empowered to grant licences to both individuals and Company employees to trade in India(known as the "privilege" or "country" trade), which paved the way for shipments of opium to China.

Charter Act of 1813 aka Charter Act of 1813

The Company's commercial monopoly was ended, except for the tea trade and the trade with China. (i.e. British Power in India)
The Act expressly asserted the Crown's sovereignty over British India.
It allotted Rs. 100,000 (1 lakh) to promote education in India.
Christian missionaries were allowed to come to British India and preach their religion.
The power of the provincial governments and courts in India over European British subjects was also strengthened by the Act.
Financial provision was also made to encourage a revival in Indian literature and for the promotion of science.

In 1823, the Governor-General-in Council appointed a “General Committee of Public Instruction” which had the responsibility to grant the one lakh of rupees for EDUCATION. That committee consisted of 10 European members of which Lord Macaulay was the president.

Charter act of 1833

Complete ended monopoly on all items of trade including tea and opium (complete free trade policy). East India Company became purely administrative body.
centralised the administration in India as The Governor General of Bengal was declared as the Governor General of India. The First Governor General of India was Lord William Bentinck.
Governor General in council got powers of superintendence, direction and control of the whole civil and military government and the revenues of India. (Previously it was by Board of Control)
It attempted to introduce a system of open competition for selection of civil servants, and stated that the Indian should Not be debarred from holding any place, office and employment under the company. However this provision was negated after opposition from court of directors.
It enlarged the Executive council by the addition of fourth member (Law Member) for legislative purposes. T.B Macaulay was the first law member.
All the laws and enacts passed by the legislative council were called as “Acts of the Government of India”, before this they were called as regulations.
It provided for the appointment of a law commission in India for First Time.
The Act provided that there would be no indiscrimination made between the Indian and the British residents in Indian provinces on the basis of caste, creed and religion Charter of 1833 made provision to create uniform and codified system of law in India.

Charter Act of 1853 last in series of Charter act

The Act separated, for the first time, the legislative and executive functions of Governor-General's Council.
It made 4th member of governor general in council at par with other members as right to vote was conferred to him. It provided for further addition of 6 members to governor general in council known as 'Legislative Councillors'. Six Members were the Chief Justice and a puisne judge of Calcutta Supreme Court, and four representatives, one each from Bengal, Madras, Bombay and NWFP. Therefore, the total number of members became 10. This Legislative wing of the council functioned as a mini parliament, adopting the same procedure as British parliament. Thus, legislation, for the first time, was treated as the special function of the government.
Relieved the governor general from the responsibility of governor of Bengal (Lord Dalhousie became first governor general without the additional responsibility) A lieutenant governor was appointed for Bengal (Andrew Fraser).
Renewed the term of East India Company for an indefinite period.
Reduced the number of Board of Directors from 24 to 18 and 6 out of them were nominated;
Indian Civil Service became an open competition. Macaulay was made Chairman of the Committee on the Indian civil services (Macaulay committee). Written competitive exams started from 1854.
The Act for the FIRST time introduced local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council.
The Governor-General's Council had six new legislative members out of which four members were appointed by the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra. (BAMB)

Social Legislation under British Rule :

Female Infanticide : Bengal Regulation Acts of 1795 and 1804 declared murdering of female infant illegal. In 1870, an act was passed for the prohibition of female infanticide. The act stated that it was compulsory for parents to register the birth of all children and provided for the verification of female child.

Abolition of Sati in 1829 : was influenced by step of Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s frontal attack. The British Government decided to abolish the practice of Sati or live burning of widow and declared it as culpable homicide. The Regulation of 1829 was applicable for the first instance to Bengal Presidency alone, but was extended with slight modification to Madras and Bombay Presidencies in 1830.

Abolition of Slavery in 1833 : This was another practice which came under British scanner. Hence, under Charter Act of 1833 slavery in India was abolished and under Act V of 1843 the practice of slavery got sacked by law and declared illegal. The Penal Code of 1860 also declared trade in slavery illegal.

Widow Remarriage in 1856 : These practices were high on agenda of Brahma Samaj and issue got polarised. There were a number of steps taken to promote widow remarriage by establishing women’s colleges, universities, associations and preaching of Vedic stand on widow remarriage.

Prohibition of Child Marriage : In 1891, B.M Malabari’s efforts bore fruit when the act of the Age of Consent was enacted which prohibited the marriage of girl child below the age of 12 years. Finally after Independence, the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act made further changes in the age of marriage, for girls- 18 years and boys 21 years.

Causes of 1857 Revolt :

1. Social

English language

Charter Act 1813 (1 lac Rs. to be expensed on it)
Recommended by Macaulay ( Father of English education in India) and introduced by William Bentick
Raja Ram mohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar supported to introduction of English language.

Sati Tradition was banned in 1829 by Raja Ram mohun Roy (He was called Modern Man of India By Nehru in DoI book) and William Bentick.
Widow remarriage : In 1856 , the law was made.

Plan made by Lord Dalhousie and introduced by Lord Canning
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar supported the law

2. Religion

Christian Missionaries started baptism in India
General Service Enlistment Act was passed by Lord Canning in 1856 to make rules for Indians serving in Military

3. Economical

Tax System

Permanent System in 1793 in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis , planned by John Shore
Ryotwari system in 1820 by Lord Munro and recommended by Charles Reed in South (first Madras then Bombay)
Mahalwari System in western north India in 1833 by Lord William Bentick

4. Political

Subsidiary Alliance introduced by Lord Wellesley in 1798 ,was first signed by Hyderabad
Doctrine of Lapse by Lord Dalhousie in 1856 , was first introduced in Satara(MH)--> Jaipur --> Sambhalpur ---> Baghat ---> Udaipur --> Jhansi ---> Nagpur (SJSBUJN)
Delhi ( Bahadur shah Jafar , under Bakht khan as Commander in chief ) , Awadh(by Begum Hajrat mahal) , Kanpur under Nana Saheb ( as Dondu pant ), Tantya Tope (Ramchandra Pandurang) , Jagdishpur (Bihar by Kunwar Singh , Amar Singh) , Jhansi (Laxmibai) were prime centres of Revolt.

Sir Huge Rose had fought against Rani Laxmibai (Manu married to Raja Gangadhar Rao) in 1857.
Rani was died in Kalpi near to Jhansi.

5. Military

Discrimination : Indians were discriminated on the basis of Allowances, Roles etc.
Afghan War

6. Immediate

Introduction of Enfield Rifles which were manufactured by Cow's meat and Pig's meat and hence were rejected by Hindus and Muslims Soldiers.

Failure of 1857 Revolts :

Non-participation by Modern Educated or Middle class
Loyality of Indian Kings towards British

Scindia of Gwalior
Holkar of Indore
Maharaja of Patiala

Lack of Communication

Spread of 1857 Revolts :

Ignited in Jan 1857 at Dumdum because Soldiers of 19th Native Inventory refused to use Enfield Rifles made of Cow's and Pig's meat. They were restraint somehow
On 29 March 1857 , A proper revolt started by Mangal Pandey (of 34th Native Infantry), He refused to use enfield rifles due to religious reasons.
Mangal Pandey ignited the revolt at Barackpur (Kolkata) then to Meerut and finally Delhi
He killed two britishers Hugeson and Baugh in the revolt and hence got death Sentence.
on 10th May 1857, A proper mass revolt started throughout the major places.

Result of 1857 Revolts :

Queen Victoria came to India and Grand Durbar was held at Allahabad , She announced that English East India Rule would be vanished and India will be ruled by Queen under GOI act 1858 Proclamation for Good Governance. Under the act of Good Governance

Doctrine of lapse was revoked but even though was carried out
No religious sentiments would be hurt of Indians
to ensure Equality among citizens

Governor General was replaced by Viceroy of India and Lord Canning became first Viceroy of India in 1858.
Queen created Indian House (had 15 people) by Queen to control the India and post of Secretary of State of India
Viceroy --> Secretary of State of India --> Queen
First Secretary of State of India in 1858 : Lord Stanley
That Time PM of England : Lord Palmerston 1857

Government of India Act 1858 created the post called “The Secretary of State for India”, who was to exercise powers of the crown and was assisted by a Council of 15 members called the “Council of India”.

On November 1, 1858, a grand Darbar was held at Allahabad. Here Lord Canning sent forth the royal proclamation which announced that the queen had assumed the government of India. This proclamation declared the future policy of the British Rule in India.

As per Queen Victoria’s proclamation of November, 1 1858, all treaties and agreements made with the Indian native princes under the authority of the East India company did not cease to exist but were there to stay and accepted by the crown.

Decentralization in British India

Indian Council Acts 1861 returned the legislative powers to provinces of Madras and Bombay which had been taken away in 1833. This can be said to be the first step towards decentralization.
Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 was a landmark in decentralization and local self-governance.
Some of its provisions were:

Policy of administrating local affairs through urban and rural local bodies charged with definite duties and entrusted with suitable sources of revenues.
Non officials to be in majority in these bodies, who could be elected if the officials thought that it was possible to introduce elections;
Non-official to act as chairpersons to these bodies
Official interference to be reduced to the minimum and to be exercised to revise and check the acts of local bodies.
Under Dyarchy local self –government was made a transferred subject under popular ministerial control by Government of India Act, 1919, and each province was allowed to develop local self-institutions according to provincial need.
Royal Commission on Decentralization (1908) pointing out the lack of financial resources as the great stumbling block in the effective functioning of local bodies, the commission made the following recommendations.
It emphasized that village panchayats should be entrusted with more powers like judicial jurisdiction in petty cases, incurring expenditure on minor village work.

POLICY OF SUBORDINATE ISOLATION (1813-1857)

Now, the imperial idea grew and the theory of paramountcy began to develop—Indian states were supposed to act in subordinate cooperation with the British Government and acknowledge its supremacy.
States surrendered all forms of external sovereignty and retained full sovereignty in internal administration.
British Residents were transformed from diplomatic agents of a foreign power to executive and controlling officers of a superior government.
In 1833, the Charter Act ended the Company’s commercial functions while it retained political functions. It adopted the practice of insisting on prior approval/sanction for all matters of succession.
In 1834, the Board of Directors issued guidelines to annex states wherever and whenever possible. This policy of annexation culminated in usurpation of 6 states by Dalhousie including some big states such as Satara and Nagpur.

Indian High Courts Act 1861 :

An act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to authorize the Crown to create High Courts in the Indian colony.
Queen Victoria created the High Courts in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay by Letters Patent in 1865.
These High Courts would become the precursors to the High Courts in the modern day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The Act was passed after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and consolidated the parallel legal system of the Crown and the East India Company.
The Act abolished the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay; the Sadar Diwani Adalat and the Sadar Nizamat Adalat at Calcutta; Sadar Adalat and Faujdari Adalat at Madras; Sadar Diwani Adalat and Faujdari Adalat at Bombay

Ilbert Bill 1883 : Introduced by Viceroy Ripon to allow Indian judges and magistrates the jurisdiction to try British offenders in criminal cases at District level.

Indian Councils Act of 1892 provided for —

Non-official members to be nominated by Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Provincial Legislative Council to the Central Legislative Council.
Legislative Council to discuss the Budget and address the questions to executive.
the majority of the official members to be intact.

‘Farming system’

To get rid off from indians completely Warrant Hasting introduced in 1772 in which European district collectors were made in charge of revenue collection.

Permanent Settlement system Keywords — (Lord Cornwallis, Zamindars, in 1793 )

Introduced in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Banaras division of modern UP, and Northern Carnatic in the 18th century.
The zamindars were recognised as the owners of land and a ten years’ settlement was made with them in 1790.
In 1793, under Governor General Lord Cornwallis the decennial settlement was declared permanent and the zamindars and their legitimate successors were allowed to hold their estates at that very assessed rate for ever WITH demand fixed at 89% of rental.

It brought 2 new innovations in the Indian land system,

1st was the creation of landlordism
2nd was the introduction of private property rights.

“British government expected that with the implementation of permanent settlement the income of the company would increase tremendously but their expectations were not fulfilled. The Permanent Settlement could not enhance the amount of land revenue because it was inherent in the settlement that it was permanent in terms of revenue also and company could not increase a single pie even if there was rise in the produce or prices of the produce.
This was one of the reason that some British authors called the settlement a blunder as it resulted in loss of enhanced land revenue in times to come.”

Ryotwari System Keywords — (Sir Thomas Munro, Farmers aka Ryots, in 1822 )

First introduced in Malabar, Coimbatore, Madras and Madurai by Sir Thomas Munro. Subsequently, this system was extended to Maharashtra, East Bengal, parts of Assam and Coorg.
There is no middlemen for tax collection thus Farmer(Ryots) has to pay less taxes which increased their purchasing power that resulted in increased demand for readymade British products in India.

Mahalwari System Keywords — (Sir Colonel Mackenjie, Village headman, in 1820 )

Village are called as Mahals and Village Headman was responsible to collect the revenues and provide to the British.

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Police administration

In 1791 Cornwallis established Thanas (circles) in a district under a Daroga (an Indian) and a superintendent of police as the head of a district. He relived the Zamidars of their police duties.
In 1808 Lord Mayo appointed an SP for each division helped by a number of spies but these spies committed plundering on local people.
In 1814 by an order of court of directors, the appointment of darogas and their subordinates was abolished in all possessions of the company except in Bengal.
Lord William Bentinck abolished the office of the SP. Presidency towns were the first to have the duties of the collector/magistrate separated.

Judiciary

Under Warren Hastings: (1773-85)

District Diwani adalats were established in districts to try civil disputes under Warren Hastings.

District Fauzdari adalats were setup to try criminal disputes and placed under an Indian officer assisted by Qazis and Muftis.

Under regulating act of 1773 a Supreme Court was established at Calcutta.

The approval for capital punishment and for acquisition for property lay to the Sadar Nizamat Adalat at Murshidabad.

Under Cornwallis:

District Fauzdari Courts were abolished and four Circuit Courts were established at Calcutta, Dhaka, Murshidabad and Patna,

act as court with European judges for Civil and Criminal cases.

Sadar Nizamat Adalat was shifted to Calcutta and put under Governor General and members of supreme council assisted by chief Qazis and chief Muftis.

Distric diwani adalat was now designated as the District Court and placed under a district judge.

He introduced Code de Cornwallis a judicial procedure code.

Under William Bentinck:

The four circuit courts were abolished

Sadar Diwani Adalat and Sadar nizamat Adalat were set up at Allahabad for convenience of people of upper provinces.

In Supreme Court English language replaced Persian.

In 1833 a law commission was set up under Macaulay for codification of Indian laws. As a result Civil procedure code, 1859 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 and a Criminal Procedure Code, 1861 were prepared.
1833 —> 1st Law commission —> Lord Macaulay —> CPC 1859 , IPC 1860, CrPC 1861

Civil Services

Lord Cornwallis - regarded as the founding father of modern Indian Civil Services.
He created police service, judicial service and revenue services, formulated the code of conduct for civil servants and laid down the procedure for their promotion. Indians were barred from high posts from very beginning.
In 1800 Lord Wellesley founded the Fort William College to train civil servants. However, from 1806, the Fort William College was replaced by Hailey Bury College in London to train civil servants.
Charter act of 1853 ended the companies’ patronage and provided for open competition in recruitment.

Note : Opium produced in north India by british and Forcible introduction of opium into Chinese markets led to Opium wars (1839-42).

British policy towards Indian States

1. Policy of Relative Isolationism (before 1740):

2. East India Company’s struggle for equality with Indian States from a position of subordination(1740-1765)

3. Policy of Ring- Fence(1765-1813)

4. Policy of Sub-ordinate Isolation (1813-57)

Subsidiary Alliance 1798 ::::

In 1798, Subsidiary Alliance was introduced by Lord Wellesley, first signed by Hyderabad.
Lord Wellesley (1898-1905) introduced it to counter Napoleon who reached Egypt and was planning to invade India via Red Sea.

External relations were surrendered to the care of the Company. No state was to declare war without the permission of the Company. Also, mediation of Company was required to negotiate with other states.
Company troops were required to be stationed within the territory of the states.
For the maintenance of these troops, larger states gave the sovereign rights over certain parts of their territory to the Company, while smaller states were required to pay in cash.
A British resident was required to stay in the state.
Company was not to interfere in the internal affairs.
States were required to take permission of the Company in employing Europeans.
Nawab of Hyderabad (1798 and 1800), rulers of Mysore (1800), Raja of Tanjore (1799), Nawab of Awadh(1801), the Peshwa (1801), Bhonsle Raja of Berar (1803), the Scindhia (1804) and Rajput states were made to sign treaties.

Nawab of Awadh : was asked to lapse due to Misbehaviour.

Doctrine of lapse (SJSBUJN)
Lord Dalhousie held that succession should never be allowed to go by adoption.
States annexed by the application of Doctrine of Lapses under Lord Dalhousie were Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambhalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854).

Treaty of Seringapatam in march 1792 by end of Third Anglo-Mysore War

- Signed between Tipu Sultan, Lord cornwalis , Nizam of hydrabad and Maratha Empire

- Under the terms of the treaty, Mysore ceded about one-half of its territories to the other signatories

- Large parts of Mysore kingdom was acquired by signatories

-Tipu Sultan’s two sons were being hostages under Lord cornwalis , the british

first cotton mill in India was set up as a spinning mill in Bombay in 1854. Spinning works by Women. Weaving works by Men.

Tipu Sultan’s Sword was made of High corbon steel known as Wootz steel produced in south India. The Sword has very sharp and water pattern edge.

Michael Faraday, the legendary scientist and discoverer of electricity and electromagnetism, spent four years studying the properties of Indian Wootz (1818-22). the Wootz steel making process, which was so widely known in south India.

Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784 in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

Treaty of Rajghat between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.

Treaty of Sugauli

A border clash resulted into war between NEPAL and British which ended with this treaty and British acquired hill stations such as Shimla, Mussorie and Nanital. Gorkhas joined the British Indian army in large numbers. Nepal also withdrew from Sikkim.

Treaty of Sagauli was signed on 2 December 1815 and ratified by 4 March 1816 between the East India Company and King of Nepal following the Anglo-Nepalese War. Some Nepalese controlled land was ceded to British East India Company.

Treaty of Yandabo

First Burma War (1824-26)was fought in wake of Burmese expansion westwards and their occupation of Arakan and Manipur.

British forces occupied Rangoon in 1824. Finally peace was established in 1826 with this treaty.

Burma recognized the Manipur as an independent state and the terms of treaty allowed the British to acquire most of the Burma’s coastline and also a firm base in Burma for future expansion. The other Burma wars were fought in 1852 and 1885 respectively.

Anglo–Mysore Wars

First Anglo–Mysore War (1767–1769) — Hyder Ali , Nizam of Hyderabad Vs British , Maratha

Second Anglo–Mysore War (1780–1784) — Rise of Sir Eyre Coote, the British commander who repeatedly defeated Hyder Ali. The war ended in 1784 with the Treaty of Mangalore, at which both sides agreed to restore the other's lands to the state existing before the war.

Third Anglo–Mysore War (1789–1792) — Tipu Sultan and an ally of France, invaded the state of Travancore in 1789, which was a British ally. The war ended after the 1792 siege of Seringapatam and the signing of the Treaty of Seringapatam, according to which Tipu had to surrender half of his kingdom to the British East India Company and its allies.

Fourth Anglo–Mysore War (1799) — British won a decisive victory at the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799. Tipu was killed during the defence of the city. Much of the remaining Mysorean territory was annexed by the British, the Nizam and the Marathas.

The remaining core, around Mysore restored to the Indian prince belonging to the Wodeyar dynasty, whose forefathers had been the actual rulers before Hyder Ali became the de facto ruler. The Wodeyars ruled the remnant state of Mysore until 1947, when it joined the Union of India.

Anglo–Maratha Wars

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82) — main cause for this war was the Struggle for power between Sawai Madhar Rao (supported by Nanaphadnavis) and Raghunath Rao(approached to British for help).

The British entered into a pact with Raghunath Rao at Surat in 1775. Raghunath Rao promised British to surrender Salsette and Bessien if the British install him as peshwa. The combined armies of British and Raghunath Rao attacked peshwa and succeeded. But all this was done by the Bombay Government without the permission of superior Government at Calcutta. In Calcutta council opponents of Warren Hasting were in Majority. They declared the treaty was unjust.

Nana Fadnavis entered into a treaty with British on March 1, 1776. It is called Purandhar treaty.

British troops marched to Poona and were defeated at Talegaon and compelled to sign Wadgaon treaty in January 1779.

Mahadaji sindia started negotiations and a treaty of Salbai was concluded on May 17, 1782 between British and Marathas and status quo was maintained. This treaty helped the British with the help of Marathas to recover their territories from Hyder Ali in Mysore.

Second Anglo-Maratha War 1803-05 — in 1803. Sindia, Holkar and Bhonsle fought in the second Anglo-Maratha war.

Lord Wellesley defeated the armies of Sindia and Bhonsle at Assaye in September 1803 and at Argaon in November, 1803. Then the treaty of Deogaon was concluded on December 17, 1803 between Raghuji Bhonsle and the company hence Bhonsle agreed to cede the english the province of Cuttack, Balasore and territory west of the river Warda and accepted the subsidiary alliance with British.

treaty of Surji Arjunagaon — region of ganga yamuna nad bundelkhand

treaty of Burhanpur (1804) — Sindia agreed to enter into subsidiary alliance

The company entered into peace treaty with Holkar in 1805 with Rajpurghat Treaty

Third Anglo-Maratha war(1817-18) — an invasion of Maratha territory in the course of operations against Pindari robber bands by the British governor-general, Lord Hastings. Peshwa’s forces, followed by those of the Bhonsle and Holkar, rose against the British (November 1817), but the Sindhia remained neutral. In Treaty of Gwalior, made Sindia a mere spectator in the Third Anglo-Maratha war.

Malhar Rao Holkar concluded the Treaty of Mandasor with British on January 6, 1818. Peshwa was dethroned and pensioned off. He was sent to Bithur near Kanpur. The British annexed all his territory. The British created kingdom of Satara out of Peshwa's lands to satisfy Marathas. The Maratha chiefs existed at the mercy of British after this war.

Annexation of Sindh

Four years later, most of the province (except for the State of Khairpur) was added to the Company's domain after victories at Miani and Dubba.first Aga Khan had helped the British in the conquest of Sindh and was granted a pension as a result. Finally Sindh was made part of British India's Bombay Presidency in 1847.

Anglo-Sikh Wars

First Anglo-Sikh war (1845-46) — The Sikh state in the Punjab had been built into a formidable power by the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled from 1801 to 1839. Within six years of his death, however, the government had broken down in a series of palace revolutions and assassinations.

Having determined to invade British India under the pretext of forestalling a British attack, the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River in Dec 1845. Sikhs were defeated in the four bloody and hard-fought battles of Mudki, Firozpur, Aliwal, and Sobraon. The British annexed Sikh lands east of the Sutlej and between it and the Beas River; Kashmir and Jammu were detached,

Second Sikh War (1848-49) — with the revolt of Mulraj, governor of Multan, in April 1848 Indecisive battles were fought at Ramnagar (November 22) and at Chilianwala (Jan. 13, 1849) before the final British victory at Gujarat (February 21). The Sikh army surrendered on March 12, and the Punjab was then annexed.

Impact of Political currents :

The court of directors thought that in order to renew their charter in 1833, they would have to bring in socio-economic reforms in India.

Lord Bentinck was advised to remove the most conspicuous abuses in the Indian society.

— purpose of Christian missionary activity in India was to spread Evangelisation(Conversion in Christianity). This found take a number of supporters in Britain. Charter act of 1813 lifted all restriction on the entry of missionaries of the U.K. into India.

— High duties were placed on Indian goods that were imported by Britain.

Postal System — in 1837, a public post, run by the Company's Government, was established in the Company's territory in India.

in 1850 to evaluate the Indian postal system, Act XVII of 1837 was superseded by the Indian Postal Act of 1854.

Telegraph — in 1852, Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, sought permission from the Court of Directors of the Company for the construction of telegraph lines from Calcutta to Agra, Agra to Bombay, Agra to Peshawar, and Bombay to Madras,

By February 1855 all the proposed telegraph lines had been constructed and were being used to send paid messages.

Note : It should be noted that during the Indian rebellion of 1857, more than 700 miles of Telegraph lines were destroyed by the rebel forces, mainly in the North-Western Provinces.

‘Press’ in India

Press was introduced by the Portuguese in 16th century.

James Augustus Hickey published the first newspaper in India entitled The Bengal Gazette in 1780 but was seized in 1782 due to the outspoken criticism against the Governor General and the Chief Justice.

Censorship of Press Act, 1799

Lord Wellesley imposed almost wartime restrictions on the press and Pre- censorship was imposed but the restrictions were repealed by Lord Hasting and pre-censorship done away with in 1818.

Licensing Regulations for Press, 1823

Some regulations were mainly directed against the Vernacular newspapers.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s Mirat-ul-Akhbar(in Persian) was one of the newspapers that had to stop publication.

Charles Metcalfe, officiating Governor-General (1835-36) repealed this act.

RAILWAY

Although construction began first, in 1849, on the East Indian Railways line, it was the first-leg of the Bombay-Kalyan line—a 21-mile stretch from Bombay to Thane—that, in 1853, was the first to be completed.

The feasibility of a train network in India was comprehensively discussed by Lord Dalhousie in his Railway minute of 1853.

But it should be noted that the railway lines were not built out of the Indian exchequer but by private enterprise. Thus, it gave the English capital and enterprise a chance of investment. Subsequently, railway lines in India were mostly built by Indian companies under a system of ‘Government guarantee.’

Canals

In 1835–36, Sir Arthur Cotton successfully reinforced the Grand Anicut Dam in the Kaveri River Delta, and his success prompted more irrigation projects on the river. On theTungabhadra River, several low dams constructed by Krishna Deva Raya were also extended under British administration.

An irrigation system was felt necessary after the disastrous Agra famine of 1837–38, in which nearly 800,000 people died,

then The first new British work with no Indian antecedents was the Ganges Canal which was officially opened in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie.

Famines — During the rule of the East India Company India suffered from twelve famines and four severe scarcities. in Bengal famine of 1769-70, almost one-third of the population of Bengal province was wiped out

Education

Western education in India started due to the efforts of Christian missionaries, for whom, education was not an end-in-itself, but a means to evangelisation.
Early efforts to foster Oriental learning were through opening up of Calcutta Madrasa (1781) and Sanskrit college (Banaras 1792). Due to the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Ray Hindu College opened in Calcutta in 1817.
First beginning towards state administered education was made with the Charter act of 1813, when amount of one lakh rupees was sanctioned for education.
There was debate between the Orientalists and Anglicists. It went in favour of the Anglicists, when in the famous Macaulay’s minutes (1835), it was decided to use English as a means of education. It provided that the British Government ought to promote European literature and science among the natives of India.
A legislative Act of the Council of India in 1835 giving effect to a decision in 1835 by Lord William Bentinck to reallocate funds to spend on education and literature in India.

Asiatic Society founded in 1784 : William Jones, a supreme court judge in calcutta in 1783, set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal & started a journal called Asiatick researches. Jones and Colebrooke came to represent a particular attitude towards India and started searching ancient texts and legal documents of Hindu and Muslims in India and printed their research to aware the company officials about India. It was visualised as a centre for Asian studies including everything concerning man and nature within the geographical limits of the continent. It is located at Kolkata.

A madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law; and the Hindu College was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English.

Orientalists — Having scholarly knowledge of language and culture about Asia

Warren Hastings became to known as orientalist , took the initiative to set up the Calcutta Madrasa, and believed that the ancient customs of the country and Oriental learning ought to be the basis of British rule in India.

The Ijaradari system was introduced by Warren Hastings according to this the right to collect revenue was given to the highest bidder called contractor for a period of five years. Once they got the right to collect the taxes, the bankers had to promise to pay a fixed some of amount to the state.

This system was a failure because bidding was often not related to the actual productivity of the land.
The ijaradars were not interested in making improvements in land since the land was auctioned periodically.
The peasants were exploited by the contractors to extract more and more revenue.

in 1830 , Thomas Babington Macaulay reacted sharply on orient view of some british towards India. He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use.

Macaulay emphasised the need to teach english language to indians.

Following Macaulay’s Minute , English Education Act 1835 was passed in which english to be made medium of instruction in higher education and to stop promotion of oriental institutions such as calcutta madrasa and hindu college Benaras.These were seen

“Temples of darkness falling into decay”.

Wood’s Despatch — by Charles wood sent to Lord Dalhousie (then Gov. Gen.) in 1854 to promote spreading english learning and female education in India.

Wood suggested that

i) primary schools must adopt vernacular languages,

ii) high school must adopt Anglo vernacular language and

iii) on college level English medium for education.

This is known as Wood's despatch. Vocational and women's education were stressed upon. One of the most favourable step taken by the british for well being of indian orthodox society.

It recommended English as the medium of instruction for higher studies and vernaculars at school level.
It laid stress on female and vocational, education, and on teachers’ training.
It laid down that the education imparted in government institutions should be secular.
It recommended a system of grants-in-aid to encourage private enterprise.

Wood’s despatch recommendations :

An education department was to be set up in every province.
Universities on the model of the London university be established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
At least one government school be opened in every district.
Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid.
The Indian natives should be given training in their mother tongue also.
Provision was made for a systematic method of education from primary level to the university level.
The government should always support education for women.

In 1854, Wood’s dispatch made a departure from the policy and decided that the

medium of education would be mother tongue in primary,
mix of mother tongue and English in secondary and high school level, and
English in college and university education

Wood’s dispatch Objectives :

It emphasised once again the practical benefits of asystem of European learning, as opposed to Oriental knowledge.
The practical uses the Despatch pointed to was economic. European learning, would enable Indians to recognise the advantages that flow from the expansion of trade and commerce,
Introducing them to European ways of life, would change their tastes and desires, and create a demand for British goods, for Indians would begin to appreciate and buy things that were produced in Europe.
European learning would improve the moral character of Indians and would make them truthful and honest, and thus supply the Company with civil servants who could be trusted and depended upon.
The literature of the East was not only full of grave errors, it could also not instill in people a sense of duty and a commitment to work, nor could it develop the skills required for administration.

In 1857, while the sepoys rose in revolt in Meerut and Delhi, universities were being established in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school education.

Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 under the Governor Generalship and Viceroyalty of Lord Lytton, for better control of Indian language newspapers.

The purpose of the Act was to control the printing and circulation of seditious material, specifically that which could produce disaffection against the British Government in India in the minds of the masses. It was passed on the model of irish press laws. It provided the government extensive rights to censor report and editorial in vernacular press. At the time the Vernacular Press Act was passed, there were 35 vernacular papers in Bengal, including the Amrita Bazar Patrika.

Christian missionaries :

The argument for practical education was strongly criticized by the Christian missionaries in India in the nineteenth century. The missionaries felt that education should attempt to improve the moral character of the people, and morality could be improved only through Christian education.
Until 1813, the East India Company was opposed to missionary activities in India. It feared that missionary activities would provoke reaction amongst the local population and make them suspicious of British presence in India.
Unable to establish an institution within British-controlled territories, the missionaries set up a mission at Serampore in an area under the control of the Danish East India Company.
A printing press was set up in 1800 and a college established in 1818. Over the 19th century, missionary schools were set up all over India.

After 1857, however, the British government in India was reluctant to directly support missionary education. There was a feeling that any strong attack on local customs, practices, beliefs and religious ideas might enrage “native” opinion.

Serirampore Mission (Near hoobly river ) was set up by William Carrey in Jan 1800 to promote British Baptism and missionaries for christianity promotion.

Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore reacted against Western education. Gandhi ji told that English education has enslaved us.

Tagore started Shanti Niketan in 1901

Gandhiji opposed western civilisation and worship of machine and technology. BUT Tagore wanted to combine western education with indian tradition. He emphasised to teach science and technology along with art,music,dance at ShantiNiketan. he believed learning in a natural environment

Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilisation and its worship of machines and technology. Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern Western civilisation with what he saw as the best within Indian tradition. He emphasized the need to teach science and technology at Santiniketan, along with art, music and dance.

Hunter Commission was appointed by Lord Ripon in 1882 to review the working of the educational system in India recommended for the expansion and improvement of the elementary education of the masses.

Welby Commission in 1895

Dadabhai Naoroji in his famous book Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India wrote his Drain Theory.
He showed how India’s wealth was going away to England in the form of: (a) salaries,(b)savings, (c) pensions, (d) payments to British troops in India and (e) profits of the British companies.
The British Government was forced to appoint the Welby Commission, with Dadabhai as the first Indian as its member, to enquire into the Matter of unnecessary expenditures by the British Indian government.
The Welby Commission's report, published in 1900, showed a number of cases where excessive or unjust payments had been made by the Indian government.
This improved the economic condition of India by reducing excessive expenditure

Bangabhasha Prakasika Sabha was formed in 1836 by associates of Rammohun Roy.

The British Indian Association – 1851 Bengal

It was created after amalgamating the “Landholders Society” (established in 1838 by Dwarkanath Tagore) and “Bengal British India Society” (set up in 1839 in England primarily as a result of the efforts of William Adam, who had come to India and befriended Raja Ram Mohan Roy ) on 31 October 1851.
This was the first political organisation that brought the Indian Together. Its establishment meant Indians had come together and could no longer be ignored. It developed enormous hopes amongst the Indians about their future
The President of the first committee of this organisation was Raja Radhakanta Deb, while Debendranath Tagore was its secretary.
The newspaper of this society was “Hindu patriot” which adopted a strongly critical political tone. Its editor Harish Chandra Mukherjee wrote in the Hindu Patriot on 14 January 1858.
In the wake of the upcoming charter act (of 1853) in 1852, this organisation sent a delegation to England, pleading for separation of Judiciary with executive, higher posts and pays for Indians, abolition of salt duty and inclusion of Indians in the legislative councils. But all expectations were negated by the Charter Act of 1853.

The Bombay Association - 1852 by Dadabhai Naoroji and Madras Native Association - 1852 by Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty

In Bombay and Madras, there were two important first political organisations. The first political organisation of the Bombay Presidency was the Bombay Association which was started on 26 August 1852, to vent public grievances to the British.

The first organisation in the Madras Presidency to vent for the rights of Indians was the Madras Native Association which was established by Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty in 1849.

However, both of them were essentially local in character and so got disbanded in a few years.

East India Association in 1856 in London by Dadabhai Naoroji

The “Grand Old Man of India” Dadabhai Naoroji initiated establishment of East India Association, at London.

It was one of the predecessor organisations of the Indian National Congress in 1867. The idea was to present the correct information about India to the British Public and voice Indian Grievances. In 1869, this organisation opened branches in Bombay, Kolkata and Madras. It became defunct in 1880s.

Poona Sarvojanik Sabha in 1870 founded by Mahadev Govind Ranade.

It was a sociopolitical organisation in British India which started with the aim of working as a mediating body between the government and people of India and to popularise the peasants' legal rights. The organisation was a precursor to the Congress which started with its first session from Maharashtra itself. In 2016, Meera Pavagi was elected as the first woman President of the organisation.

The Indian League was started in 1875 by Sisir Kumar Ghosh with the object of “stimulating the sense of nationalism amongst the people” and of encouraging political education.

The Indian Association of Calcutta superseded the Indian League and was founded in 1876 by younger nationalists of Bengal led by Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose, who were getting discontented with the conservative and pro-landlord policies of the British Indian Association. The Indian Association of Calcutta was the most important of preCongress associations and aimed to create a strong public opinion on political questions, and unify Indian people on a common political programme.

The Madras Mahajana Sabha—1884

was an Indian nationalist organisation based in the Madras Presidency. Along with the Poona Sarvojanik Sabha, Bombay Presidency Association and the Indian Association, it is considered to be a predecessor of the Indian National Congress.

It was set up in may 1884 by M. Veeraraghavachariar, G. Subramania Iyer (founder of The Hindu and Swadeshmitram) and P. Anandacharlu

Deccan Education Society in 1884

Established by Vishnushastri Chiplunkar , Bal Gangadhar Tilak , Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi
Based in Pune, it runs 43 education establishments in Maharashtra

Indian National social conference

founded by M G Ranade and Raghunath Rao, the Indian social conference met annually from its first session in Madras in 1887. at the same time and venue as the Indian National congress. It focussed attention on the social importance; it could be called the social reform cell of the Indian National Congress, in fact. The Conference advocated inter-caste marriages, opposed polygamy and kulinism.

It launched the ‘Pledge Movement’ to inspire people to take a pledge against child marriage.

Punjab Hindu Sabha

founded in 1909 by leaders, U.N. Mukherji and Lal Chand to lay down the foundations of Hindu communal ideology and politics.
They directed their anger primarily against the National Congress for trying to unite Indians into a single nation and for ‘sacrificing Hindu interests’ to appease Muslims.
In his booklet, Self-Abnegation in Politics, Lal Chand described the Congress as the ‘self-inflicted misfortune’ of Hindus.

Bombay Triumvirate or 3 Stars of Bombay’s public life included Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta and K.T. Telang.

All these three veterans had started the Bombay Presidency Association in 1885.

MOVEMENTS in INDIA

Deoband Movement

The orthodox section among the Muslim ulema organised the Deoband Movement.
It was a revivalist movement whose twin objectives were :
(i) to propagate among the Muslims the pure teachings of the Koran and the Hadis and
(ii) to keep alive the spirit of jihad aganist the foreign rulers.
The new Deoband leader Mahmud-ul-Hasan (1851-1920) sought to impart a political and intellectual content to the religious ideas of the school. The liberal interpretation of Islam created a political awakening among its followers.

Punjab came under the spell of many social reforms.

Nirankari Movement founded by Baba Dayal Das . He insisted the worship of God as nirankar (formless).

Namdhari Movement was founded by Baba Ram Singh. His followers wore white clothes and gave up meat eating.

The Singh Sabhas started in Lahore and Amritsar in 1870 were aimed at reforming the Sikh society. They helped to set up the Khalsa College at Amritsar in 1892.They also encouraged Gurmukhi and Punjabi literature.

In 1920, the Akalis started a movement to remove the corrupt Mahants (priests) from the Sikh gurudwaras. The British government was forced to make laws on this matter. Later, the Akalis organised themselves into a political party.

Shuddhi movement

Derived from ancient rite of shuddhikaran, or purification, it was started by the Arya Samaj, and its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati and his followers like Swami Shraddhanand, who also worked on the Sangathan consolidation aspect of Hinduism, in North India, especially Punjab in early 1900s, though it gradually spread across India.

Shuddhi had a social reform agenda behind its belligerent rationale and was aimed at abolishing the practise of untouchability by converting outcasts from other religions to Hinduism and integrating them into the mainstream community by elevating their position, and instilling self-confidence and self-determination in them.

The movement strove to reduce the conversions of Hindus to Islam and Christianity, which were underway at the time.

Women in British Rule :

Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833) founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because they felt that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with. Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of Western education in the country and bring about greater freedom and equality for women. by his efforts Sati Pratha was banned in 1829 from India.

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar supported to widow remarriage. Widow remarriage act 1856 was passed by british.
In telugu speaking areas Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an association for widow remarriage.
in North ,Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the reform association called Arya Samaj in 1875 to reform hinduism, also supported widow remarriage.

Tarabai Shinde, a woman educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna.

Child marriage restraint act was passed in 1929. 18 yrs boy and 16 yrs girl could not marry.

The coolie ship carried low caste people to Mauritius for hard work. Madigas were an important untouchable caste of present-day Andhra Pradesh were working to clean and stitch of shoes and sandals.

Dr. ambedkar belonged to Mahar lower caste went to US for studies and came back to india in 1919 and started temple entry movement in 1927.

E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, or Periyar, as he was called, came from a middle-class started self respect movement to fight for dignity of untouchables. He was critic towards hindu scriptures , Ramayana and Bhagvad Gita as these texts were used to show superiority of Upper caste on lower caste and men over women. He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God-given. Untouchables had to free themselves, therefore, from all religions in order to achieve social equality.

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, a teacher at Hindu College, Calcutta, in the 1820s, promoted radical ideas and encouraged his pupils to question all authority. Referred to as the Young Bengal Movement . The students demanded education for women and freedom of expression.

The Young Bengal movement was a group of radical Bengali free thinkers emerging from Hindu College, Calcutta. The Young Bengals were inspired and excited by spirit of free thought and revolt against the existing social and religious structure of Hindu society.

Derozio joined Hindu College in 1828 and within a short period attracted students. The Academic Association, established in 1828 under the guidance of Derozio, arranged discussions on subjects such as free will, free ordination, fate, faith, the sacredness of truth

Singh sabha Movement for reforms in Sikhs. 1st at amritsar 1873 and 2nd in lahore 1879. It promoted education among the Sikhs, often combining modern instruction with Sikh teachings. in 1892 Khalsa college at amritsar was established.

Satnami movement was started by Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh to promote equality in humanity that is every human is equal. the meaning of satnami is truth and equality.

Theosophical Society :

It was founded in New York (USA) in 1875 by Madam H.P. Blavatsky, a Russian lady, and Henry Steel Olcott, an American colonel.
Its objectives were to form a universal brotherhood of man without any distinction of race, colour or creed and to promote the study of ancient religions and philosophies. The society also promotes meditative practices and wishes to promote the understanding of the neuroscience behind it.
Madame Blavatsky's first attempt to form a similar organization was made in Cairo. It did not succeed. She was then directed to meet Colonel H.S. Olcott with whose help she established in Adyar in Madras in 1882.
Later in 1893, Mrs. Annie Besant arrived in India and took over the leadership of the Society after the death of Olcott.
Mrs. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu School ( 1898 ) along with Madan Mohan Malaviya at Benaras which later developed into the Banaras Hindu University.

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatteii, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. It was declared as the National Song in 1937 through a resolution.

Jan Gan Man — It was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas.The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem.

The decennial Census of India has been conducted 15 times, As of 2011. While it has been conducted every 10 years, beginning in 1871, the first complete census was taken in the year 1881.

Post 1949, it has been conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. All the census since 1951 are conducted under 1948 Census of India Act.

1905 Bengal Division :

was announced by Viceroy Lord Curzon by dividing the bengal region in east and west on the basis of religions of Hindu and Muslim.
Hindus were outraged at what they recognised as a "divide and rule" policy, where the colonisers turned the native population against itself in order to rule, even though Curzon stressed it would produce administrative efficiency.
The partition animated the Muslims to form their own national organization on communal lines.
In order to appease Bengali sentiment, Bengal was reunited by Lord Hardinge in 1911, in response to the Swadeshi movement's riots in protest against the policy and the growing belief among Hindus that east Bengal would have its own courts and policies.

Boycott of foreign goods: This included boycott and public burning of foreign cloth, boycott of foreign made salt or sugar, refusal by washermen to wash foreign clothes. This form of protest met with great success at the practical and popular level.
Public meetings and processions: These emerged as major methods of mass mobilisation and simultaneously as forms of popular expression.
Corps of volunteers or ‘samitis: Samitis such as the Swadesh Bandhab Samiti of Ashwini Kumar Dutta emerged as a very popular and powerful method of mass mobilisation.
Imaginative use of traditional popular festivals and, melas: The idea was to use such occasions as a means of reaching out to the masses and spreading political messages. For instance, Tilak’s Ganapati and Shivaji festivals became a medium of swadeshi propaganda not only in western India, but also in Bengal. In, Bengal also, the traditional folk theatre forms were used for this purpose.

Emphasis given to self-reliance or ‘atma shakti: This implied reassertion of national dignity, honour and confidence and social and economic regeneration of the villages.

There was limited participation of peasentry.

1906 Bang Bhang Movement :

Muslim League 1906 :

Dorabji tata (Son of Jamshedji ) and american Weld found iron ores near river subarnrekha in bihar where in Rajhara Hills had one of the finest ores in the world. Jamshedpur Town was set up and TISCO began producing steel in 1912.

Gadar Party 1913 :

It was an extremist revolutionary organisation founded by Punjabis, principally Sikhs in USA and Canada with the aim of securing India's independence from British rule.
The founding president of Ghadar Party was Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal was the co-founder of this party.
Lal Hardayal was In India till 1909, when he moved to Paris and associated himself with a newspaper Vande Mataram over there.
The Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast, known as the Gadar Party was founded in 1913 (dissolved in 1919)to free India from British slavery. The headquarters of the association was established initially at 436 Hill Street, San Francisco and named as “Yugantar Ashram.”
The GoI decided in 2013 to convert this memorial into a library and Museum.
The association began publishing a magazine, Gadar (revolt), for free distribution. The Gadar publication exposed the British imperialism and called upon the Indian people to unite and rise up against British rule and throw the British out of India. The publication Gadar, over a period of time, became well known among Indians and the Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast itself became known as the Gadar party.

In 1914, after the Komagata Maru tragedy, Lala Hardayal fled to Europe following an arrest by the United States government for spreading anarchist literature.

Ghadar MUTINY or Conspiracy, was a plan to initiate a pan-Indian mutiny in the British Indian Army in Feb 1915 to end British Raj in India.

Lucknow Pact 1916 : ( Reunite of INC & muslim league, Reunite of Extremists and Moderates, started Home rule league )

The agreement reached between INC & Muslim League at the joint session of both the parties held in Lucknow in December 1916.
Through the pact, the two parties agreed to allow overrepresentation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures. \
The Muslim League leaders agreed to join the Congress movement demanding Indian autonomy. Scholars cite this as an example of a consociational practice in Indian politics.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then a member of INC as well as the League, made both the parties reach an agreement to pressure the British government to adopt a more liberal approach to India and give Indians more authority to run their country, besides safeguarding basic Muslim demands. Jinnah is seen as the mastermind and architect of this pact.

The Lucknow Pact is seen as a beacon of hope of Hindu-Muslim unity. It established cordial relations between Muslim League and INC. Before the pact, both parties were viewed as rivals who opposed each other and worked in their own interests. However, the pact brought a change in that view.
The Lucknow Pact also established cordial relations between two prominent groups of INC – the "hot faction" Extremists GARAM DAL led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, Lal Bal Pal and moderates or the "soft faction", the NARAM DAL led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
It also paved way to the Home Rule League led by Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

—> Sarojini Naidu gave Jinnah, the chief architect of Lucknow Pact, the title of "the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity".

Indian Home Rule movement : In 1915, Annie Besant launched a campaign through her two papers, New India and Commonweal, and organized public meetings and conferences to demand that India be granted self-government on the lines of the White colonies after the War.

A movement in British India on the lines of Irish Home Rule movement and other home rule movements, lasted around 2 years between 1916–1918 and is believed to have set the stage for the independence movement under leadership of Annie Besant and Lokmanya B. G. Tilak.
It aims for a national alliance of leagues across India, specifically to demand Home Rule, or self-government within the British Empire for all of India. Hence to campaign for democracy in India and dominion status within the Empire.
The move created considerable excitement at the time, and attracted many members of INC and All India Muslim League, who had been allied since 1916 Lucknow Pact.
Unification of moderates and radicals as well as Unity between Muslim League and INC was a remarkable achievement of Annie Besant.
British government arrested Annie Besant in 1917 and this led to nationwide protests. Many moderate leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the movement.
The pressure of the movement, especially after Annie Besant's arrest, led to the Montague's declaration on 20 August 1917 which stated that "progressive realization of responsible government in India" was the policy of the British government.

After the Montagu Declaration the league agreed to suspend its expansion of the movement. After this the all moderate candidate gave up the membership of league.

In 1920, the All India Home Rule League elected Mahatma Gandhi as its president. In a year, the body merged into the Indian National Congress to form a united Indian political front

|||||||||||| Home Rule Flag ||||||||||||

Islington Commission published in 1917

Believed that entry to Indian Imperial Police Service be thrown open also to select Indians who had received their education in England.
Also recommended that the Police should have a cadre of their own and should NOT be headed by outsiders.
In 1924, it was proposed that the proportion of Indian officers in the Imperial Service should be fixed at 50%.

From 1921, direct appointments to the Indian Imperial Police were also made by an annual examination in India, open to all races, and over the next 26 years, the service was progressively Indianised.

SADDLER UNIVERSITY COMMISSION (1917-19) : The commission was set up to study and report on problems of Calcutta University but its recommendations were applicable more or less to other universities also. It reviewed the entire field from school education to university education.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed. The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers. Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and others felt that the government had no right to restrict people’s basic freedoms. They criticised the Act as “devilish” and tyrannical. Gandhiji asked the Indian people to observe 6 April 1919 as a day of non-violent opposition to this Act, as a day of “humiliation and prayer” and hartal (strike). Satyagraha Sabhas were set up to launch the movement.

THe Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all-India struggle against the British government although it was largely restricted to cities.

Whitley Commission 1917:

During World War I, in 1917, John Henry Whitley chaired a committee which produced a report on the ‘Relations of Employers and Employees’ identifying good industrial relations as a vital need for industrial relations.
Whitely proposed a system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers to address industrial unrests, which evolved as wage negotiating bodies over time. Councils were established from 1919.

Another important commission is Hunter Commission 1920 which is associated with Jallianwala Bagh inquiry.

NOTE : Hunter commission of Lord Ripon is different from this.

"Barber - Dhobi-Band" was a form of social boycott, in 1919 started by peasants in Pratapgarh District of UP.

Durand Line : Boundary line between India and Afghanistan demarcated by Sir Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat in the year 1896 is known as the Durand Line. It separated British India and Afghanistan. After partition, Pakistan inherited this line.

McMahon Line at 1914 in Simla Convention : McMahon Line is demarcation line between Tibetan region of China and North-east region of India proposed by British colonial Administrator Henry McMahon at 1914 Simla Convention signed between British and Tibetan representatives.

**************** ENTRY of GANDHI *****************

On 4 September 1888, he sailed from Bombay to London. In London, Gandhi studied law and jurisprudence and enrolled at the Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister. His childhood shyness and self withdrawal had continued through his teens, and he remained so when he arrived in London, but he joined a public speaking practice group and overcame this handicap to practise law.
Gandhi, at age 22, was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but he was forced to stop when he ran afoul of a British officer.
In 1893, a Muslim merchant in Kathiawar named Dada Abdullah contacted Gandhi. Abdullah owned a large successful shipping business in South Africa. His distant cousin in Johannesburg needed a lawyer, and they preferred someone with Kathiawari heritage. Gandhi inquired about his pay for the work and accepted to work as barrister in Colony of Natal in South Africa (Also a part of British empire).
He spent 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and politics
He helped found the Natal Indian Congress( presided by Dada Abdullah ) in 1894 and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force.
During Battle of Colenso in Africa, Gandhi and thirty-seven other Indians received the Queen's South Africa Medal.
At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September year 1906, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, for the first time in 1906.
In 1906, when the British declared war against the Zulu Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi at age 36, sympathised with the Zulus, and encouraged the Indian volunteers to help as an ambulance unit.
In 1910, Gandhi established an idealistic community called 'Tolstoy Farm' in Transvaal near Johannesburg, where he nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance. It became the headquarters of the campaign of satyagraha (non-violence) which he lead at that time.
Gandhi's ideas of protests, persuasion skills and public relations had emerged. He took these back to India in 1915.
Years later, Gandhi and his colleagues served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism, according to the Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.

Gandhi’s Inspirations :

Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by the words and message of H.P. Blavatsky and her mysterious Eastern Teachers who stood behind her and the Theosophical Movement. The famous motto of the Theosophical Movement is ―There is no religion higher than Truth.‖ With Theosophy and his destined 1889 meeting with Madame Blavatsky in his mind, Gandhi famously expressed it thus: ―There is no God higher than Truth.‖
Pranami Sect is a liberal blend of Shrimad Bhagwad Gita and Quran, Krishna and Allah and supports no caste system, no idol-worship, vegetarianism and non-violence. It finds a mention in Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography My Experiments With Truth as his mother, Putlibai, was a Pranami. Mahatma says, it is "a sect deriving the best of both the Quran and Gita, in search of one goal - God".
Western thinker John Ruskin's book 'Unto This Last' was one of the most decisive influences of Gandhiji's life. In Gandhiji's own words, "The book was impossible to lay aside, once I had begun it, it gripped me. I could not get any sleep that night." He translated it into Gujarati, entitling it as 'Sarvodaya', meaning the welfare of all.

Struggle for Indian independence (1915–1947)

Mahadev Desai (1 January 1892 – 15 August 1942) was an Indian independence activist and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to Gandhi's Socrates, as well as an Ananda to Gandhi's Buddha".

Gandhi has stated Gopal Krishna Gokhale & Leo Tolstoy as his political mentors. In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa on Gandhi’s invitation. He advised Gandhi to return to India and help it in its struggle to independence. At the request of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, conveyed to him by C. F. Andrews, Gandhi returned to India in 1915. Upon his return Gandhi received personal guidance from Gokhale about politics of India.
In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide but Despite his deep respect for Gokhale, however, Gandhi would reject Gokhale's faith in western institutions as a means of achieving political reform and ultimately chose not to become a member of Gokhale's Servants of India Society.

Servants of India Society was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, in 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. The Society organized many campaigns to promote education, sanitation, health care and fight the social evils of untouchability and discrimination, alcoholism, poverty, oppression of women and domestic abuse. The publication of The Hitavada, the organ of the Society in English from Nagpur commenced in 1911.

In 1917, Gandhi's first major achievement came with Champaran agitation in Bihar. As local peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price.
Raj Kumar Shukla invited MK Gandhi to visit Champaran in April 1917. The peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. He was joined by many young nationalists from all over India, including Brajkishore Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Acharya Kriplani, Ram Navami Prasad and later Jawaharlal Nehru. It was during this agitation, that first time Gandhi called Bapu (Father) by Sant raut and Mahatma (Great Soul).

Tinkathiya Arrangement by British : 3/20 i.e. 3 kaththa of 1 Bigha had to be cultivated for Indigo. .

The principal recommendation of Champaran Agrarian Enquiry Committee accepted was complete abolition of Tinkathia system. It was a major blow to the British planters who became resentful. But they could not prevent the passage of Champaran Agrarian Act in Bihar & Orissa Legislative Council on March 4, 1918.

——> When towards the end of the 19th century German synthetic dyes replaced indigo, the European planters demanded high rents and illegal dues from the peasants in order to maximise their profits before the peasants could shift to other crops. Besides, the peasants were forced to sell the produce at prices fixed by the Europeans.

The report of the Champaran Agrarian Enquiry Committee with the resolution of the Bihar Government on it is published. With one exception the report is unanimous and the principal recommendations are:

(1) Substitution of a purely voluntary system of growing indigo for Tinkathia system;

(2) continuance of temporary base system in estates under the Court of Wards and other measures designed to meet the grievances arising out of the existing practice. In regard to the first recommendation the resolution states that Tinkathia system, which there is ample evidence to show is not necessary to ensure continuance of indigo industry, has outlived its day and that in spite of periodic revisions of terms of engagement entered into by tenants the system is essentially unpopular and must necessarily give rise to friction between the planter and tenant.

In the second week of June 1917, confronted by the peasant testimonies Gandhi placed before them, the Bihar government appointed a Champaran Agrarian Enquiry Committee. It had seven members, including four ICS men as well as Gandhi. The chairman was an official from the Central Provinces. Through these committee meetings, Gandhi deepened his knowledge of the colonial State, of which he had, in 1917, an extremely imperfect understanding. (He was born and raised in princely India, and had spent much of his adult life overseas).

In 1918, During Kheda agitations Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad organising scores of supporters from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai Patel. Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation.
In 1918 of Ahmedabad Mill Strike , The Mill Owners wanted to withdraw the bonus whole workers of Mills demanded a 50% wage hike. The Mill Owners were willing to give only 20% wage hike. At this point, Gandhi was invited by Anasuya Ben Sarabai (belongs to industrialist Sarabhai family ) and her brother Ambalal Sarabhai, rich mill-owner of Ahmadabad towards the cause of the mill owners.

The Ahmadabad cotton mill strike was spearheaded by Gandhiji in 1918. Gandhiji did fast unto death to get 35% raise for the mill workers.

In 1932, Mahatma Gandhi began a “fast unto death” to protest the Communal award that gave separate electorates to the depressed classes.

In 1919, Khilafat movement , He sought political co-operation from Muslims in his fight against British imperialism by supporting the Ottoman Empire (Caliph) that war defeated in the World War.

Rowlatt Satyagraha : In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed. The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers. Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and others felt that the government had no right to restrict people’s basic freedoms. They criticised the Act as “devilish” and tyrannical. Gandhiji asked the Indian people to observe 6 April 1919 as a day of non-violent opposition to this Act, as a day of “humiliation and prayer” and hartal (strike). Satyagraha Sabhas were set up to launch the movement.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all-India struggle against the British government although it was largely restricted to cities.
In April 1919 there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them. The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression. On learning about the massacre, Rabindranath Tagore expressed the pain and anger of the country by renouncing his knighthood.

EKA Movement :

A peasant movement which surfaced in Hardoi, Bahraich and Sitapur during the end of 1921 by Madari Pasi, an offshoot of Non Cooperation Movement.
The initial thrust was given by the leaders of Congress and Khilafat movement.
The main reason for the movement was high rent, which was generally higher than 50% of recorded rent in some areas.
Oppression by thikadhars who were entrusted to collect rent and practice of share rent also contributed to this movement.

Moplah Rebellion or Malabar Rebellion 1921

It was an extended version of the Khilafat Movement in Kerala in 1921.
The Government had declared the Congress and Khilafat meetings illegal. So, a reaction in Kerala began against the crackdown of the British in Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar.
But the Khilafat meeting incited so much communal feelings among the Muslims peasants , known as Moplahs, that it turned out to become an anti-hindu movement from July 1921 onwards.
The violence began and the Moplahs attacked the police stations and took control of them. They also seized the courts, and the government treasuries.
It became a communal riot when the kudiyaan or tenant Moplahs attacked their Hindu jenmis or landlords and killed many of them. Thus the Hindu Landlords became the victims of the atrocities of the Moplahs.

The leaders of this rebellion were:

Variyankunnath Kunjahammed Haji,
Seethi Koya Thangal of Kumaranpathor
Ali Musliyar

For two some two months the administration remained in the hands of the rebels. The military as well as Police needed to withdraw from the burning areas. Finally the British forces suppressed the movement with greater difficulty. The situation was under control by the end of the 1921. This rebellion was so fearful that the government raised a special battalion, the Malabar Special Police (MSP).

Gandhi joined INC in 1920 and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Non-Cooperation Movement 1920 to 1922 :

It was a significant phase of the Indian independence movement from British rule, launched on 31st August, 1920 by MK Gandhi after infamous Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
It aimed to resist British rule in India through nonviolent means,"Ahimsa".
Protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts and picket liquor shops.
The ideas of Ahimsa and nonviolence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer of 1920.
Gandhi feared that the movement might lead to popular violence and called of after Chauri Chaura Incident on March 10, 1922,.

After Gandhi’s arrest (18th March 1922), there was disintegration, disorganisation and demoralisation among nationalist ranks.

A debate started among Congressmen on what to do during the transition period, i.e., the passive phase of the movement.
One section led by CR Das, Motilal Nehru and Ajmal Those advocating entry into legislative councils came to be known as the Swarajists, while the other school of thought led by Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari and M.A. Ansari came to be known as the ‘No-changers’.
The ‘No-changers’ opposed council entry, advocated, concentration on constructive work, and continuation of boycott and non-cooperation, and quiet preparation for resumption of the suspended civil disobedience programme.

Sarabandi (no tax) campaign of 1922 was led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. In this campaign, the peasants decided not to pay the taxes.

Swaraj Party, Swarajaya Party or Swarajya Party or Swarajist Party,

Established as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party, was a political party formed in India in January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of INC, that sought greater self-government and political freedom for the Indian people from the British Raj.
It was inspired by the concept of Swaraj.
The two most important leaders were CR Das, who was its president and Motilal Nehru, who was its secretary. Other prominent leaders included Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and SC Bose of Bengal, Vithalbhai Patel (Elder Bro of Sardar Patel) and other Congress leaders who were becoming dissatisfied with the Congress.
On the advice of Gandhi, the two groups decided to remain in the Congress but to work in their separate ways.
Das and Nehru thought of contesting elections to enter the legislative council with a view to obstructing a foreign government.
Many candidates of the Swaraj Party got elected to the central legislative assembly and provincial legislative council in the 1923 elections.
In these legislatures ,they strongly opposed the unjust government policies.
The establishment of fully responsible government for India, the convening of a round table conference to resolve the problems of Indians, and the releasing of certain political prisoners, were the resolutions in the central legislative council.
As a result of the Bengal Pact, the Swaraj Party won the most seats during elections to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1923.
With the death of CR Das in 1925, and with Motilal Nehru's return to the Congress in 1926, the Swaraj party was disintegrated.

In 1928, these two bills were enacted by British.

Public safety bill : Mainly to stop Communist movement in India by cutting it off from British & foreign communist organizations.

Trade dispute bill : Imprisonment and fine for striking workers and trade unions.

These type of bills and regulations of British government paved the way to Indian National Movement to perform on larger front. Finally in Constitution of India the democratic and liberty features were added which were being felt as important factors to run a socialist and democratic government and the quest for these type of democratic values were included in constn.

Nehru Committee Report , 1928 :

Following rejection of recommendations of Simon Commission by Indians, an all- party conference was held at Mumbai in May 1928 and appointed a drafting committee under Motilal Nehru to Draw up a constitution for India which was called “Nehru Committee Report“.
The report was submitted on August 28, 1928 at the Lucknow conference of all the parties which had main points as

India would be given Dominion status. This means independence within the British Commonwealth.
India will be a federation which shall have a bicameral legislature at the centre and Ministry would be responsible to the legislature.
Governor General of India would be the constitutional head of India and will have the same powers as that of British Crown.
There will be NO separate electorate.
The draft report also defined the citizenship and fundamental rights.

Anushilan Samiti

was a Bengali Indian organisation that existed in the first quarter of the 20th century, and propounded revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India.
The organisation arose from a conglomeration of local youth groups and gyms (Akhra) in Bengal in 1902.
It had two prominent if somewhat independent arms in East and West Bengal identified as Dhaka Anushilan Samiti centred in Dhaka and the Jugantar group (centred at Calcutta) respectively.
Between its foundations in 1906 to its gradual dissolution through 1930s, the Samiti collaborated with other revolutionary organisations in India and abroad.
Led by notable revolutionaries of the likes of Aurobindo Ghosh, Rash Behari Bose(threw bomb on Viceroy in 1912 Delhi conspiracy case) and Jatindranath Mukherjee, the Samiti was involved in a number of noted incidences of revolutionary terrorism against British interests and administration in India.
These included the early attempts to assassinate British Raj officials, the 1912 attempt on the life of Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge (on the occasion of transferring the capital of British India from Calcutta to New Delhi), and the Sedetious conspiracy during World War I.

Defence of India Act 1915 was first applied during the First Lahore Conspiracy trial in the aftermath of the failed Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915, and was instrumental in crushing the Ghadr movement in Punjab and the Anushilan Samiti in Bengal.

The secret society of revolutionaries Abhinava Bharat was organized by V D Savarkar in 1903.

Free India Society was a political organization of Indian students in England, committed to obtaining the independence of India from British rule. It was founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha

A left-wing Indian association that sought to foment revolution against British Raj by gathering together worker and peasant youths.
It was founded by Bhagat Singh in March 1926^.and was a more public face of the HRA Hindustan Republican Association.
Bhagat Singh was fully and consciously secular— 2 of the 6 rules drafted by Bhagat for the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha were that its members would have nothing to do with communal bodies and that they would propagate a general feeling of tolerance among people, considering religion to be a matter of personal belief.

HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Revolutionary Association)

The Revolutionary Org was formed by Bhagat Singh, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Sukhdev Thapar in 1928 at Firozshah Kotla, Delhi.
HRA’s written constitution & published manifesto titled The Revolutionary were produced as evidence in Kakori conspiracy case of 1925.
Sachindra Sanyal wrote a manifesto for the HRA entitled Revolutionary.
The Founding Council of HRA had decided to preach revolutionary and communist principles, and the HRA Manifesto (1925) declared that the “HRA stood for abolition of all systems which made exploitation of man by man possible”.
HRA’s main organ Revolutionary had proposed nationalization of railways and other means of transport and of heavy industries such as ship building and steel.
HRA had also decided to start labor and peasant organizations and work for an organized and armed revolution”.
During their last days (late 1920s). These revolutionaries had started moving away from individual heroic action and terrorism towards mass politics.
Even before his arrest, Bhagat Singh had moved away from belief in terrorism and individual heroic action to Marxism and the belief that a popular broad-based movement alone could lead to a successful revolution.
In other words, revolution could only be “by the masses, for the masses”. And leads to abolition of capitalism and class domination.

All-India Kisan Sabha :

Kisan Sabha Movement which led to the formation of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of INC had its roots in organization of peasants in Kisan Sabhas.
The initiative to organise peasants into Kisan Sabhas was taken by active members of Home Rule League in UP - Gauri Shankar Misra, Indra Narain Dwivedi supported by Madan Mohan Malviya.
In the mid-1920, Baba Ramchandra emerged as the leader of peasants in Avadh and led a few hundred tenants from Jaunpur and Pratapgarh districts to Allahabad and apprised Jawaharlal Nehru of the conditions of the peasants.
JL Nehru made several visits to the rural areas and developed close contacts with the Kisan Sabha Movement.

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was the name of the peasants front of the undivided Communist Party of India, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 1936 at Lucknow Session of INC.
It later split into 2 organisations known by the same name: AIKS (Ajoy Bhavan) and AIKS (Ashoka Road).

UP Kisan sabhas set up in 1918, had established 450 branches in 173 tehsils of the province by mid-1919. It was started in U.P. in 1926-27 with main demands centred on problems of tenants, such as giving tenants occupancy rights, abolishing non-rent extraction and forced labour, cancelling all rent arrears, reducing rent and water rates. These movements did not show much interest in problems of agricultural labourers & later led to the establishment of Khet Mazdoor Sabha in 1959.

Bihar Kisan Sabha, started in 1927 under Swami Sahajanand Saraswati. It was the strongest section of the All-India Kisan Sabha. With passage of Zamindari Abolition Act,1949, the movements disappeared.

In 1946, All India Kisan Sabha started the Tebhaga movement in BENGAL, demanding that tenants be allowed to keep two-thirds of the produce. The movement received the massive support from agricultural labourers. The movement declined in 1947 due to crackdowns by the police, and the divisions that developed within the movement along religious lines.

MN Roy Manabendra Nath Roy :

Born as Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century.
Roy was a founder of Mexican Communist Party in 1917 and Communist Party of India in October 1920 at Tashkent.
He was also a delegate to congresses of the Communist International(founded by Lenin 1919-1943) held in Moscow during the summer of 1920 and Russia's aide to China.
Following the rise of Joseph Stalin, Roy left the mainline communist movement to pursue an independent radical politics.
Among with his followers He formed “Bombay Provincial Working Class Party” in 1933 with aim to 'establishment of a socialist state involving the destruction of capitalism and control of the economic life of the country by workers' and peasants' councils' and the immediate objective of the party was national independence from British colonial rule.
In 1936 Faizpur session of INC presided by JL Nehru, Roy in his speech suggested to form Constituent Assembly in Free India.
In 1940 Roy was instrumental in the formation of RDF Radical Democratic Party, an organisation in which he played a leading role for much of the decade of the 1940s.
In the aftermath of World War II Roy moved away from Marxism to espouse the philosophy of Radical Humanism, attempting to chart a third course between liberalism and communism.

Communism in India

MN Roy was associated with Communist Party of India (CPI) set up at Tashkent in 1920. The CPI called upon all its members to enroll themselves as members of the Congress, form a strong left-wing in all its organs, cooperate with all other radical nationalists, and make an effort to transform the Congress into a more radical mass - based organization.
Bolshevik Party of India was established in 1939 by N. Dutt Mazumdar.
Revolutionary Communist Party was launched by Saumyendranath Tagore in 1942
Bolshevik-Leninist Party was announced in 1941 by a group of Trotskyite revolutionaries like Indra Sen and Ajit Roy.
Each of these was a dissident Communist group and claimed to be the fittest party for leading the 'Indian Revolution.'
Most of these parties centred around personalities and became defunct after the central figure disappeared.

Chittagong Armory Raid 1930 :

On April 18, 1930, there was an attempt to raid the armory of the Police and Auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armory in Bengal.

The leader of this conspiracy & raid was Surya Sen.

Other patriots included Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Nirmal Sen, Ambika Chakrobarty, Naresh Roy, Sasanka Datta, Ardhendu Dastidar, Harigopal Bal , Tarakeswar Dastidar, Ananta Singh, Jiban Ghoshal, Anand Gupta, Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Dutta.
The armory of the police was captured by Ganesh Ghosh. Lokenath Bal took over the Auxiliary Force armory.

Salt Satyagraha 1930 & Civil Disobedience Movement

Mahatma Gandhi was authorized by the Congress Working Committee to determine the time, place and issue on which the Civil Disobedience was to be launched.
He took the decision to break the salt law first, on which the British had imposed a duty, affecting the poorest of the poor.
Salt Satyagraha began with the Dandi March on March 12, 1930 and was the part of the first phase of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Gandhi led the Dandi march from Sabarmati Ashram to the sea coast near the village of Dandi. In this journey of 24 days and covering a distance of 390 kilometer, thousands of people joined him. He reached Dandi on April 6, 1930, and broke the salt law.
This triggered the Civil Disobedience Movement and millions of Indians jumped in the tumult.
Beginning of Civil Disobedience Movement Breaking of the salt law was the formal inauguration of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
A programme was outlined, which included the following:

Violation of the laws such as Salt Law
Non payment of Land Revenue, Taxes and Rent
Boycott of courts of law, legislatures, elections, Government functionaries, Schools and Colleges.
Peaceful picketing of shops that sold foreign goods.
Mass strikes and processions.
Picketing of shops that sold liquor.
Boycott of Civil Services, Military and Police services.

The Government came into action by putting the law breakers in jails and suppressing them by police firings, lathicharge and other means.
60 Thousand people were arrested in less than one year.
Those who dis not pay taxes, the properties were confiscated.
Gandhi and all important leaders were arrested and placed behind the bars.

Facts of Civil Disobedience Movement

It marked in fact a major step forward in the emancipation of Indian women due to their large scale participation.
Unlike Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience did not coincide with any major labour upsurge.
Muslim participation remained low throughout the Civil Disobedience years.
In U.P., for instance, where the Congress - Khilafat alliance had been so formidable in 1921-22, very few Civil Disobedience prisoners in Allahabad between 1930 and 1933 were Muslims.
yet another contrast lay in the evident decline in the older, more purely intelligentsia forms of protest like lawyers giving up their practice and students leaving official institutions to start national schools and colleges.
Gandhi at the Lahore Congress rejected a call for boycott of schools and courts as unpractical—'I do not see today the atmosphere about us necessary for such boycott.'
A Bihar Congress report of July 1930 admitted that there had been 'practically no response from lawyers and students.
The lag in respect of labour and the urban intelligentsia was counter-balanced, however, by the massive response obtained from business groups and large sections of the peasantry.

Karachi resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy 1931 (After 1 week of execution of Bhagat Singh)

As presided by Sardar Patel , It was adopted by INC along with endorsement of Gandhi Irwin Pact & reiterated the goal of "Poorna Swaraj".
The resolution which was drafted by Gandhi, admired the bravery and sacrifice of the three martyrs (Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev).
Some important aspects of the KARACHI resolutions were:

Basic civil rights of freedom of speech, Freedom of Press, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association,
Equality before law
Elections on the basis of Universal Adult Franchise
Free and compulsory primary education
Substantial reduction in rent and taxes
Better conditions for workers including a living wage, limited hours of work
Protection of women and peasants
Government ownership or control of key industries, mines, and transport
Protection of Minorities

Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis (1910 in India – 1942 in China), aka in Chinese name Ke Dihua, was one of the five Indian physicians dispatched to China to provide medical assistance during Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. Known for his dedication and perseverance, he has been regarded as an example for Sino-Indian friendship and collaboration. He joined the Eighth Route Army led by Mao Jedong and provided his life in medical service for the army.

1st Roundtable Conference

Gandhi Irwin Pact :

Poona Pact 1932 :

The pact provided for reservations for depressed classes, NOT separate electorates.
According to the Communal Award, the depressed classes were considered as a separate community and as such provisions were made for separate electorates for them.
Mahatma Gandhi protested against the Communal Award and went on a fast unto death in the Yeravada jail of Pune in 1932.
Finally, an agreement was reached between Dr Ambedkar and Gandhi which came to be called as the Poona Pact.
The agreement was signed by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and some Dalit leaders at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, to break Mahathma Gandhi's fast unto death.
The British Government also approved of it. Accordingly, 148 seats in different Provincial Legislatures were reserved for the Depressed Classes in place of 71 as provided in the Communal Award by Ramsay McDonald British PM.

Harijan Sevak Sangh 1932 is a non-profit organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in to eradicate untouchability in India, working for Harijan or Dalit people and upliftment of scheduled castes of India. It is headquartered at Kingsway Camp in Delhi, with branches in 26 states across India.
Gandhi founded All India Anti Untouchability League, to remove untouchability in the society, which later renamed as Harijan Sevak Sangh ("Servants of Untouchables Society"). At the time industrialist Ghanshyam Das Birla was its founding president with Amritlal Takkar as its SecretaryProf. Sankar Kumar Sanyal is its present president.

Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in 1934 was founded as a socialist caucus within INC & Its members rejected what they saw as anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi Ji as well as sectarian attitude of the Communist Party of India towards the Congress Party. It got split from INC & advocated decentralized socialism in which co-operatives, trade unions, independent farmers, and local authorities would hold a substantial share of the economic power.
Founding Members -- Jai Prakash Narayan JP , Rambriksh Benipuri , Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Narendra Deva
CSP got dissolved in 1948.

GOI Act 1935 Government of India Act 1935 :

It replaced dyarchy.
Provinces were granted autonomy and separate legal identity i.e. provincial autonomy.
Provinces were freed from “the superintendence, direction” of the secretary of state & governor-general.
Provinces henceforth derived their legal authority directly from the British Crown.
Provinces were given independent financial powers and resources.
Provincial governments could borrow money on their own security

Hilton-Young Commission for RBI :

1926 — Royal Commission on Indian Currency (Hilton Young Commission) recommends the establishment of a central bank to be called the 'Reserve Bank of India'.
1931 — Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee revives the issue of the establishment of RBI as the Central Bank for India.
5 March 1934 — Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 constitutes the statutory basis on which RBI is established.
Hence Reserve Bank of India was set up on the basis of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance also known as the Hilton-Young Commission. RBI was based on the ideas that Ambedkar presented to the Hilton Young Commission.

The combined struggles of the Indian people bore fruit when the Government of India Act of 1935 prescribed provincial autonomy and the government announced elections to the provincial legislatures in 1937. The Congress formed governments in 7 out of 11 PROVINCES.

National Planning Committee 1938 :

Efforts taken to develop planning through National Planning Committee set up under Congress President Subhash Bose in 1938.
National Planning Committee set up under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru. It consisted of 15 members.

Tripuri (Near Jabalpur) crisis of the INC 1939

S.C. Bose contended for the presidentship of Congress and he defeated Pattabhi Sitaramaiya, candidate of Gandhi.
Gandhi declared the defeat of Pattabhi as his own defeat.
Ultimately in April 1939, S.C. Bose resigned and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made new President. In May 1939, S.C. Bose founded a new party 'Forward Block' at Makur, Unnao.
In August 1939, S.C. Bose was removed from the post of President of All India Congress committee and Bengal Congress Committee and was declared unfit for any post in Congress for the next 3 years.

AIFB All India Forward Bloc 1939

A left-wing nationalist political party of INC was formed in 1939 by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had resigned from the presidency of the Indian National Congress after being out manoeuvred (manipulate) by M. K. Gandhi
Following Independence and Partition, the party national council met in Varanasi February 1948. The national council meeting was also preceded by a decision of the Indian National Congress in the beginning of the year to expel all dissenting tendencies within the Congress, including the Forward Bloc. The party decided to renounce any links with the Congress once and for all, and reconstruct itself as an independent opposition party
The party subscribes to Left-wing nationalism; Socialism; Anti-Imperialism; and Marxism.
The party is still active in India. AIFB has branches throughout the country, but the main strength of the party is concentrated in West Bengal. It is part of the Left Front government in there, and Forward Bloc has various ministers in the state government.

Indian Independence League :

INA Indian National Army

The idea of the INA was first conceived in Malaya(Malaysia) by Captain Mohan Singh(organised and led the First Indian National Army in South East Asia during World War II), an Indian officer of the British Indian Army, when he decided not to join the retreating British army and instead went to the Japanese for help.
The Japanese had till then only encouraged civilian Indians to form anti-British organizations but had no conception of forming a military wing consisting of Indians.

India in WW II : In 1939, Indian nationalists were angry that British Governor-General of India, Lord Linlithgow, had brought India into World war II without consultation with them. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided.

Atlantic Charter 1941

Released in 1941, it defined the Allied goals of leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States for the postwar WW II.
It stated the ideal goals of the war – no territorial aggrandisement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people, self-determination; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations.
Adherents of the Atlantic Charter signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, which became the basis for the modern United Nations.
The Atlantic Charter set goals for the postwar world and inspired many of the international agreements that shaped the world thereafter.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the postwar independence of European colonies, and much more are derived from the Atlantic Charter

August Offer 1940 :

Hitler’s astounding success and the fall of Belgium, Holland and France put England in a conciliatory mood. To get Indian cooperation in the war effort, the viceroy announced the August Offer (August 1940) which proposed:

Dominion status as the objective for India
Expansion of viceroy’s executive council
Setting up of a constituent assembly after the war. Indians would decide the constitution according to their social, economic and political conceptions, subject to fulfilment of the obligation of the Government regarding defence, minority rights, treaties with states, all India services.
No future constitution to be adopted without the consent of minorities.

Individual Satyagraha 1941 : was launched in opposition to August Offer's proposal of granting dominion status to India, which was rejected by INC.

The aims of the Individual Satyagraha conducted as S. Gopal has put it, ‘at a low temperature and in very small doses’ were explained as follows by Gandhiji in a letter to the Viceroy : ”The Congress is as much opposed to victory for Nazism as any Britisher can be. But their objective cannot be carried to the extent of their participation in the war. And since you and the Secretary of State for India have declared that the whole of India is voluntarily helping the war effort, it becomes necessary to make clear that the vast majority of the people of India are not interested in it. They make no distinction between Nazism and the double autocracy that rules India.“
Thus, the Individual Satyagraha had a dual purpose

giving expression to the Indian people’s strong political feeling
gave the British Government further opportunity to peacefully accept the Indian demands.

Hence It informed to British about the lack of interest of Indians in the World war. It was to prepare the people for the impending struggle.

Cripps Mission Mar 1942 :

The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.
The mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Privy Seal which held the rank of a senior minister, and leader of the House of Commons.
Cripps belonged to the left-wing Labour Party, traditionally sympathetic to Indian self-rule, but was also a member of the coalition War Cabinet led by the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had long been the leader of the movement to block Indian independence.
The main proposals of the mission were as follows.

An Indian Union with a dominion status would be set up. it would be free to decide its relations with the Commonwealth and free to participate in. the United Nations and other international bodies.
After the end of the war, a constituent assembly would be convened to frame a new constitution. Members of this assembly would be partly elected by the provincial assemblies through proportional representation and partly nominated by the princes.
The British Government would accept the new constitution subject to two conditions:

(i) Any province not willing to join the Union could have a separate constitution and form a separate Union,

(ii) The new Constitution making body and the British Government would negotiate a treaty to effect the transfer of power and to safeguard racial and religious minorities.

In the meantime, defence of India would remain in British hands and the governor-general’s powers would remain intact.

The making of the constitution was to be solely in Indian hands now (and not “mainly” in Indian hands—as contained in the August Offer). A concrete plan was provided for the constituent, assembly.

Quit India Movement Aug 1942 :

A movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule of India.
Significant feature of the Quit India Movement :

Formation of underground Networks and underground communication.
Emergence of what came to be known as parallel governments in some parts of the country.
The first one was proclaimed in Ballia, in East U P, in August 1942 under the leadership of Chittu Pandey, who called himself a Gandhian. Though it succeeded in getting the Collector to hand over power and release all the arrested Congress leaders, it could not survive for long and when the soldiers marched in, a week after the parallel government was formed, they found that the leaders had fled.’ In Tamluk in the Midnapur district of Bengal, the Jatiya Sarkar came into existence on 17 December, 1942 and lasted till September 1944. Tamluk was an area where Gandhian constructive work had made considerable headway and it was also the scene of earlier mass struggles.
It was leaderless movement As Mahatma Gandhi and Other leaders were in Jail.

Desai - Liaquat Proposals Pact 1945 :

Gandhi directed Bhulabhai Jivanji Desai to make another attempt to appease Muslim league leaders and find a way out of the 1942-45 political deadlocks.
Desai (of INC in the Central Assembly) & a friend of Liaquat Ali (of Muslim League) met him in Jan 1945 gave him proposals for the formation of Interim Government at centre.
After Desai’s declaration, Liaquat Ali published the list of an agreement which given below:

Nomination of equal number of persons by both in the Central Executive.
Representation of the minorities in particular of the Schedule caste and the Sikhs.
The government was to be formed and was to function with the framework of the existing Government of India Act, 1935.

Conclusion : M.K Gandhi’s attempt to resolve the political deadlock by persuading Bhulabhai Jivanji Desai to make an attempt to appease the league leaders, but the proposal were NOT formally endorsed either by INC or MUSLIM League.

Direct Action Day 16 Aug 1946 : also known as Great Calcutta Killings (The Week of the Long Knives. Jinnah announced 16 August 1946 would be "Direct Action Day" for the purpose of winning the separate Muslim state ).

Wavell Offer or Simla Conference June 1945 :

With Gandhiji’s release on 6 May 1944, on medical grounds, political activity regained momentum. Constructive work became the main form of Congress activity, with a special emphasis on the reorganization of the Congress machinery.
Congress committees were revived under different names — Congress Workers Assemblies or Representative Assemblies of Congressmen — rendering the ban on Congress committees ineffective. The task of training workers, membership drives and fund collection was taken up. This reorganization of the Congress under the ‘cover’ of the constructive program was viewed with serious misgivings by the Government which saw it as an attempt to rebuild Congress influence and organization in the villages in preparation for the next round of struggle.
A strict watch was kept on these developments, but no repressive action was contemplated and the Viceroy’s energies were directed towards formulating an offer (known as the Wavell Offer or the Simla Conference) which would pre-empt a struggle by effecting an agreement with the Congress before the War with Japan ended. Hence it was not to end Quit India but to prevent any future struggles after Quit India.

Wavell Plan arrived at the Simla Conference June 1945 :

all the members of Viceroy’s Executive Council , except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, would be Indians.
There would be equal representation of high-caste Hindus and Muslims. Other minorities including low-caste Hindus, Shudders and Sikhs would be given representation in the Council.
It proposed for a future constitution of India, not its partition.
An all-Indian executive council except the governor-general and commander-in-chief Equal representation for caste Hindus and Muslims.
Muslim League wanted all Muslims to be its nominees and claimed a communal veto in the executive council.
Congress objected to it being painted purely as a caste Hindu party.

Cabinet Mission Plan 1946—Main Points

Rejection of the demand for a full-fledged Pakistan, because—the Pakistan so formed would include a large non-Muslim population-38% in the North-West and 48% in the North-East;
The very principle of communal self-determination would claim separation of Hindu-majority Western Bengal and Sikh- and Hindu dominated ‘Ambala and Jullundur divisions of Punjab (already some Sikh leaders were demanding a separate state if the country was partitioned).
Deep-seated regional ties would be disturbed if Bengal and Punjab were partitioned;
Partition would entail economic and administrative problems, for instance, the problem of communication between the western and eastern parts of Pakistan; and
The division of armed forces would be dangerous.
Grouping of existing provincial assemblies into three sections—

Section-A: Madras, Bombay, Central Provinces, United Provinces, Bihar and Orissa (Hindu-majority provinces).
Section-B: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province and Sindh (Muslim majority provinces).
Section-C: Bengal and Assam (Muslim-majority provinces). 230 A Brief History of Modern India

National Movement 1939-1947 231
Three-tier executive and legislature at provincial, section and union levels.
A constituent assembly to be elected by provincial assemblies by proportional representation (voting in three groups—General, Muslims, Sikhs). This constituent Assembly to be a 389-member body with provincial assemblies sending 292, chief commissioner’s provinces sending 4, and princely states sending 93 members. This was a good, democratic method not based on weightage.
In the constituent assembly, members from groups A, B and C were to sit separately to decide the constitution for provinces and if possible, for the groups also. Then, the whole constituent assembly (all three sections A, B and C combined) would sit together to formulate the Union constitution.
A common center would control defence, communication and external affairs. Communal questions in central legislature were to be decided by a simple majority of both communities present and voting.
Provinces were to have full autonomy and residual powers. Princely states were no longer to be under paramountcy of British Government They would be free to enter into an arrangement with successor governments or the British Government. After the first general elections, a province was to be free to come out of a group and after 10 years, a province was to be free to call for a reconsideration of the group or the Union constitution.

Meanwhile, an interim government to be formed from the constituent assembly.
Cabinet Mission was composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England

Sir Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India
Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade,
A.V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty

Royal Indian Navy MUTINY Feb 1946 :

encompasses a total strike and subsequent revolt by Indian sailors of the Royal Indian Navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay (Mumbai) harbour on 18 February 1946.
From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the revolt spread and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta, and ultimately came to involve over 10,000 sailors in 66 ships and shore establishments.
The news reached Karachi on the 19^th, upon which the HMIS Hindustan went on a lightning strike. Sympathetic token strikes took place in military establishments in Madras, Vishakhapatnam, Calcutta, Delhi.”
The mutiny was repressed with force by British troops and Royal Navy warships. Total casualties were 8 dead and 33 wounded. Only the Communist Party supported the strikers; the Congress and the Muslim League condemned it.

Hindu - Muslim communalism

Hindu communalism remained for many years a rather sickly child compared to the Muslim League. This was for several reasons.
The broader social reason was the greater and even dominant role of the zamindars, aristocrats and ex-bureaucrats among Muslims in general and even among the Muslim middle classes.
While among Parsis and Hindus, increasingly, it was the modern intelligentsia, with its emphasis on science, democracy and nationalism, and the bourgeois elements in general, which rapidly acquired intellectual, social, economic and political influence and hegemony, among Muslims the reactionary landlords and mullahs continued to exercise dominant influence or hegemony.
Landlords and traditional religious priests, whether Hindu or Muslim, were conservative and supporters of established, colonial authority. But while among Hindus, they were gradually losing positions of leadership, they continued to dominate among Muslims.
In this sense the weak position of the middle class among Muslims and its social and ideological backwardness contributed to the growth of Muslim communalism. There were other reasons for the relative weakness of Hindu communalism.
The colonial Government gave Hindu communalism few concessions and little support.

Rajagopalachari Formula or CR Plan :

Muslim League to endorse Congress demand for independence.
Muslim League to cooperate with Congress in forming a provisional government at centre.
After the end of the war, the entire population of Muslim majority areas in the North-West and North-East India to decide by a plebiscite, whether or not to form a separate sovereign state.
In case of acceptance of partition, agreement to be made jointly for safeguarding defence, commerce, communications, etc.
The above terms to be operative only if British transferred full powers to India.

Mountbatten Plan:

On the 3rd June, 1947 The Plan came & sought to effect an early transfer of power on the basis of Dominion Status to two successor states, India and Pakistan.
Congress was willing to accept Dominion Status for a while because it felt it must assume full power immediately and meet boldly the explosive situation in the country.
Hence the plan did not provide for complete independence.

Simla Agreement : 1972

Between India(Indira Gandhi , PM) and Pakistan( Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto , President) on 2 July 1972 in Simla (HP’s capital) after Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971 that led to independence of Bangladesh.
The agreement was ratified by the Parliaments of both the nations in same year.

LAHORE Declaration : 1999

The treaty of India (Mr. Vajpayee , PM) and Pakistan(Nawaj Shareef, President) to normalise the relations to ease up the military tensions in South Asia, signed in 1999, at the conclusion of a historic summit in Lahore and ratified by the parliaments of both countries the same year.
Under the terms of the treaty, a mutual understanding was reached towards the development of atomic arsenals and to avoid accidental and unauthorised operational use of nuclear weapons.
The Lahore Declaration brought added responsibility to both nations' leadership towards avoiding nuclear race, as well as both non-conventional and conventional conflicts. This event was significant in the history of Pakistan and it provided both countries an environment of mutual confidence.

Radcliffe Line : On 17th August 1947 the Radcliffe Line was declared as the boundary between India and Pakistan, following the Partition of India. The line is named after Sir Cyril Radcliffe who was commissioned to equitably divide 4,50,000 km sq of territory with 88 million people.

The opening of the Suez Canal further intensified British control over India’s foreign trade .

Midnight sessions in Indian Parliament:

August 14-15, 1947: The Constituent Assembly of India met in the Constitution Hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament) on the eve of the country’s Independence. It started at 11 p.m. and went on till after midnight.
August 14-15, 1972: To celebrate the silver jubilee of India’s Independence.
August 9, 1992 : To mark 50th anniversary of Quit India Movement.
August 14-15, 1997: To celebrate the golden jubilee of India’s Independence
July 1, 2017 : To implement GST

National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) :

was founded in 1951 with a view to promote and popularize the shooting sports in India.
The first speaker of Lok Sabha, Sh. G.V. Mavlankar was the founder and the first president of NRAI followed by Sh. Govind Vallabh Pant, Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sh. Y. B. Chauhan, Sh. G.S. Dhillon, Sh. Joginder Singh, and so on and so forth.
Presently the president of NRAI is Sh. Raninder Singh, a very keen and skilled shooter from Patiala Royal Family..

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MODERN HISTORY

Social Legislation under British Rule :

Desai - Liaquat Proposals Pact 1945 :

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