British India: 1885-1947 The literal government in England took a tentative step foward self-government in In, 4 haonai Movement had arisen in India during the second half of the nineteen’ copoued iagaiy of Pork shape in the establishment of the Indian National Congress, a body ol a nized the benefits of intellectuals educated in the Western tradition. They were moderate, Med ne india as rapidly as British rule, and they requested that representative institutions be introduc possibly. med a more Gradually, however, the Congresss came to be dominated by Se ars ‘a difficult violent tone, There were many reasons for this increased agpresshace®, 1 autfered economically time for India. The country was visited by both plague and famine, and i ‘old. As the price of because its standard of value was silver, whereas the standard in England aa Bree tthe number of silver declined in terms of gold, Indian payments in London requiered a indian Mutiny left a rupees that would have discharged an equal obligation twenty years before. T MW ita baa legacy of bittemess, Indians tumed to their own religion and, to their own il tation dian who against Westerization, which many of them regarded as essentially evil. ind th teenth centixy, understood the West had been educated through reading the liberal writings of the nine! nificennd which made them realise how autocratic their government was. Many local grievan increased discontent. Anti-British feeling rose to new heights in the years between1898 and 1905, when Lord aE Viceroy. A violent campain in Bengal against many of his policies led to assassinations, throwing, and constant disturbance of the peace. ; . India eae governed by a Secretary of State from London and by a Viceroy in India, A mi executive council, whose members for the most part were the heads of large departments, assis 7 the Viceroy. There was also a legislative council composed of a much larger group of lesser as a Both councils were almost exclusively British. The country was divided into eleven provinces ine jer governors and lieutenant govemors, each with his own executive and legislative councils. The Ini - civil service, a body of about 1200 British officials of very high quality, was responsible for all kinds administration and often governed small areas within the provinces. In addition, in some 500 native states, intemal affairs were administered’ by native princes, but foreign relations were conducted through the British government. ; In 1908 the Liberals passed the Morley-Minto reforms , John Morley being Secretary for India and Lord Minto the Viceroy. These reforms included the appointment of an occasional Indian to the executive councils. The legislative councils were greatly englarged to include many Indians who were elected by constituencies representing various classes, interests and religions. Members of the legislative councils could criticize the proposals of the goverment, including financial proposals, but the executive could disregard these criticisms. Thus India received representative govemment of a restricted kind, with responsibility remaining in British hands, Nationalism in India increased greatly in intensity during the years following the First World War. ‘When hostilities began in 1914, there had been a burst of loyalty and enthusiasm in India for the British cause. India had offered generous assistance, and many Indians had been brought into the civil service to take the place of British officials called to war duties in other areas. But as the war dragged on year after year, enthusiasm gave way to disillusionmnet, Muslims disliked fighting against thelr coreligionists, the Turks, and resented the harsh terms of peace imposed on Turkey. British officials, . retuming to positions in India after the war, displaced the Indians who had been doing their work. A new constitution granted to India in 1919 was regarded as disappointing, for it did little more than make Indian ministers responsible for the less important parts of local government. Public opinion was alienated by two other events. One was a series of statues enlarging the powers of the govemment to ‘suppress plots and conspiracies, which were considered as oppresive. The other was the Amritsar Incident, a most unfortunate episode in which a British commander opened fire on an unarmed crowd that had assumed a threatening tone. ‘These were the circumstances which brought Mohandas K. Ghandi (the Mahatma, or great soul) to the fore as the leader of the national movement. Gandhi was a strange combination of saint and Fevolutionist, of holy man and cunning politician, modest yet dictatorial, gentle yet wholly unreasonable. He soon produced great changes. The nationalist movement had been largely confined to the educated classes, but he tumed it into a movement of the People. He transformed the Congress Party into a revolutionary body, pledged to overthrow the existing goverment by all peaceful means. The Congress became a kind of rival government to that of the British. Gandhi refused self. government by installments; he demanded it at once. It must be immediate, and it must be complete, In 1919 Ganchi began the first of his disobedience campaings, The people were instructed not to buy British goods and not to cooperate with the British government in any way. When in 1922 disobedience reached the stage of refusal to pay taxes, Gandhi was arrested, and his campaing temporarily subsided. A new wave of nationalist revolt swept over India in 1927. The rey by Sir John Simon, which recommended an extension of self-g ignored, and in 1930 Gandhi launched a new disobedience campaign, H Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, who sympathized y vith Indian aspirations tena series of round-table conferences between British ministers and Indian leaders, Very little was accomplished, but MacDonald obtained the passage of a New India Act in 1935, This axt entrusted, port of a British commission headed jovernement on the local level was Escaneado con CamScannerthe whole field of local Government to Indian ministers responsible to the provincial legislatures. It also envisaged a federal framework at the center, with a legislature and a Cabinet responsible to it, though the Viceroy still retained Control of defense, foreign affairs and religious policy. The portion of the act thogeming provincial govemment went into effect in 1937 and made a fair beginning, The formation of the federal framework at the Center was deferred, pending negotiations with the native princes, and was still in abeyance at the beginning of the Second World War. Meanwhile, the Congi India, to be the one tru together and improved the strength of their organizations, the Muslim League. They found an able leader in the fiery and impressive Mr. Jinnah. Forming the Muslim League into a compact fighting Party, Jinnah declared that the Muslims would accept no constitution of either Hindu or British manufacture but would achieve their own destiny in their own way. The the country, Thus the Policy of partition, whi existence. During the Second World War the Congress party, refusing to fight for Britain until India was free, demanded immediate independence. The Muslim Le eague, taking a middle course, did not tell its 1@ end of the war, was prepared to grant India its from India, whatever the situation might be in that country, at a date no later than June 1948, Even so, Hindus and Muslims could not agree. To Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy, partition appeared the only possible solution. It was, moreover, a solution that must come quickly in order to Prevent a civil war. With great skill Mountbatten won both the Hindu Congress and the Muslim League to accept his proposals. On August 15, 1947, India was divided into the two independent states of India and Pakistan, They agreed to remain within the Commonwealth with Dominion status, India became a republic in 1950; Pakistan, in 1956. Escaneado con CamScannerMARATHAS (3) oven ena Companys terttoy |Z tnian states bound to East nla Company by trestles ' The expansion of Bt ti3h India to 1858 ty op [ZZ] nan states bond tbl by reales Sie Wy ED reas conquered and recy edt bth Yip =p iianeamtas one 1y00km ste 1000 mies v Escaneado con CamScannerEscaneado con CamScannerBRITISH INDIA - 1600 - 1885 DATE EVENT 1600 The East India Company (EIC) is formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India,” om hug 1615 The EIC acquires its firs territory jy Bombay : Other british trading centers: Madras aftd Calcutta, eu! ‘Knto 1748, The Anglo-French War in India: the two companies are at war, not as principals, but as allies of rival native princes. (French commander: Francois Dupleix. British commanders: S. Lawrence and Robert Clive.) British EIC: a sound, wealthy corporation. The largest trading organization in the kingdom. Of great influence with the government, to which it often lends money. French EIC: connected closely with the state, owes its origin to royal policy. Its directors are appointed by the king, The company obtains loans and grants from the government, Dupleix_is recalled from France (1754). The English are successful 1756 - 1760 The Seven Years’ War breaks out in Europe. Hostilities begin in India. The French are defeated at the battle of Wandiwash. Frese Lene shen as t 1787 The battle of Plassey. Robert Clive (EIC) defeats the Muslim leader of Bengal. The British control the province, with a puppet ruler as its head. Robert Clive engenders a spirit of plunder by making agreements in the name of the EIC and providing for gifts to himself and to other English officers. 1772 EIC in financial straits. The Company gets-a loan from the government, Parliament investigates the company and Robert Clive commits suicide. Warren Hastings becomes Governor General in Bengal: a great administrator. He surrounds himself wth a ring of friendly native powers. He loans English troops to his ally, the ruler of ih to supress some. AbRt chieftains known as the Rohillas. 1774 = Lord North’s Regulating Act sets up a council of four men to control Hastings, establishes a new supreme court in Bengal, and limits Hastings’ power over Madras and Bombay. 1774 The new counoil is divided and Hastings regains control. He is drawn into war with an alliance of the three most powerful native states in India, but is able to split the alliance and make peace. 1783 Fox’s Indian Bill intends to transfer all power over British India to a group of| commissioners in London, but Fox fails in his attempt and King George dismisses him from office. it 1784 Pitt’s India Act. The government of Bengal is to be controlled by the Cabinet Management of commerce and patronage are left to the EIC. The Cabinet influences major appointments of company officials in India, who receive their instructions in civil and military matters from the English government. A board af| control is established in London, presided over by a member of the Cabinet, 1786 The Supplementary Act increases the powers of the Governor General, whose council is reduced, from four to three, and who has complete control over Madras and Bombay. Lord Cornwall’ is appointed new Governor General, He’s not a servant of the company, but an officer of the Crown. A wise administrator, he steadily improves the 1798-1805 honesty and efficiency of English officials in India, Lord Waleed appointed Governor General. By wars, annexations and treaties he pushes the British frontier far up the Ganges Valley and brings most of southern India under British control. He makes subsidiary treaties with native princes, by which they receive British protection, and continue to rule the domestic affairs of their states. 1813-1822 Lord Hastings becomes Governor General. He fights and defeats the powerful Maratha chieftains who occupy central India. 1824-1826 A short war drives back the Burmese. b3 ‘mez 1836-1841 A war against Afhanistan, for fear of Russian infiltration among the Afghans, results in a sharp British defeat, Sarftyxnasto n ‘The British conquer Sind, on the lower reaches of the Indus River. The Sikhs. of the Punjab, invade British territory and are defeated. . 1849 ‘The British annex the Punjab_pan‘doo:b 1857 The Indian Mutiny 1858 The EIC is dissolved. Indian rule lies entirely in English hands: beginning of the Raj. The Board of Control is abolished. A Secretary of State for India governs from London, In India, The Governor General becomes a Viceroy. : 1877 Queen Victoria becomes the Empress of India Escaneado con CamScanner