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COMPILATION OF
DAILY CLASS NOTES

MODERN HISTORY

Batch : Sankalp - 2024

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Topic
Lecture – 1 Introduction & Fragmented Polity
Lecture – 2 Fragmented Polity II
Lecture – 3 Marathas and the Advent of the Europeans
Lecture – 4 Advent of the Europeans – II
Lecture – 5 Rise of East India Company
Lecture – 6 Rise of East India Company – II
Lecture – 7 Rise of East India Company III
Lecture – 8 Rise of East India Company - Governor Generals
Lecture – 9 Rise of EIC – Diplomacy
Lecture – 10 Various Acts till 1858
Lecture – 11 Various Acts and British Policies
Lecture – 12 British Economic Policy
Lecture – 13 British Policies II
Lecture – 14 British Policies – Education
Lecture – 15 British Policies – Education II
Lecture – 16 Revolts Before 1857
Lecture – 17 Revolt before 1857 – II
Lecture – 18 Tribal Revolts

Lecture – 19 Revolt of 1857

Lecture – 20 Social Reform Movement

Lecture – 21 Social Reform Movement II

Lecture – 22 Social Reform Movement III

Lecture – 23 Social Reformers – IV

Lecture – 24 Social Reform Movement V

Lecture – 25 Other Religious Movement

Lecture – 26 Caste Movements

Lecture – 27 Political Awakening

Lecture – 28 Moderates Era 1885 – 1905

Lecture – 29 Moderates Achievements and Lord Curzon

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Lecture – 30 Lord Curzon and the Rise of Extremism

Lecture – 31 Extremist Era 1905 -1919

Lecture – 32 Extremist Era II

Lecture – 33 Extremists Era III – Home Rule and Government of India Act 1919

Lecture – 34 Gandhian Era

Lecture – 35 Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movement

Lecture – 36 Aftermath of the Non-Cooperation

Lecture – 37 Civil Disobedience Movement

Lecture – 38 Revolutionary

Lecture – 39 Congress Ministries and WW – II

Lecture – 40 World War Dilemma and Cripps Mission

Lecture – 41 Quit India Movement

Lecture – 42 Transfer of Power and INA

Lecture – 43 Freedom and Communalism

Lecture – 44 Impact of Socialism

Lecture – 45 Working Class Movement and Agrarian Discontent

Lecture – 46 Various British Policies

Lecture – 47 Various British Policies II

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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 01
Introduction & Fragmented
Polity
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Introduction & Fragmented Polity

Macro View of Modern India:

Basics and Background:

 Babur (1526-1530 AD): First Battle of Panipat (1526) took place, where Babur decisively defeated Ibrahim
Lodhi and established the Mughal Dynasty.
 Akbar (1556-1605): He succeeded the throne after his
father Humayun’s death. In 1556, in the second battle
of Panipat, he defeated Hemu (Sur’s wazir).
 Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system in his
administration. Akbar could expand his empire
because of these strong Mansabdars, hence, it was
also called a ‘war state’.
 There was also another system for the assignment
of revenue of a particular territory to the nobles for
their services to the state. It was known as the
Jagirdari system and was an integral part of the Mansabdari System.
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Mansabdari System & Army:

 It was required for a strong army.
 It was not hereditary, directly appointed, promoted and removed by the emperor.
 Every officer was assigned a rank (Mansab).
 Minimum Mansab was ranked 10 and the maximum was 10,000.
 Akbar granted the mansab of 7000 to Mirza Aziz Koka and Raja Maan Singh.
 The ranks were divided into Zat and Sawar.

 Shahjahan (1628-1658): Succeeded Jahangir and ascended the throne in 1628. He was a great patroniser of
architecture, he built the Taj Mahal; Moti Masjid; Sheesh Mahal and Mussamman Burj at Agra; Red Fort with
its Rang Mahal, Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-Khas at Delhi; Jama Masjid in Delhi (red stone); etc. This led to
the huge expense in the Mughal treasury.
 Aurangzeb (1658-1707): Shah Jahan’s zeal for construction had depleted the treasury. Aurangzeb’s long wars
in the south had further drained the exchequer. Aurangzeb expanded his empire to a large extent of the Indian
sub-continent; thus his reigning period was also called a ‘territorial climax’.
 Aurangzeb had to face multiple other issues, regional groups and rebels like Jats, Marathas and Sikhs;
multiple wars; Jagirdari crisis; Aurangzeb’s bigoted religious policy further exacerbated the situation; etc.
In 1707, Aurangzeb died.

Major Reasons for the Decline of the Mughal Empire:

 Wars of Succession: The Mughals did not follow any law of succession like the law of primogeniture.
Consequently, each time a ruler died, a war of succession between the brothers for the throne started. This
weakened the Mughal Empire, especially after Aurangzeb. The nobles, by siding with one contender or the
other, increased their own power.
 Aurangzeb’s Policies: Aurangzeb failed to realize that the vast Mughal Empire depended on the willing
support of the people. He lost the support of the Rajputs who had contributed greatly to the strength of the
Empire. They had acted as pillars of support, but Aurangzeb’s policy turned them into bitter foes.
 Weak Successors: Later Mughals were weak and became victims of the intrigues and conspiracies of the
faction-ridden nobles. They were inefficient generals and incapable of suppressing revolts. The absence of a
strong ruler, an efficient bureaucracy and a capable army made the Mughal Empire weak.
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 Shifting Allegiance of zamindars: Zamindars were the hereditary owners of their lands. They helped in the
collection of revenue and in local administrations for which they also maintained soldiers. During the reign of
Aurangzeb, there was a marked increase in the power of zamindars. The ‘Regional loyalties’ were encouraged
and many Zamindars helped Nobles to take advantage of the weakness of the empire and carve independent
territories for themselves.
 Jagirdari Crisis: The nobles (Jagirdars/Mansabdars) during the Mughals were granted large Jagirs (lands).
By the end of Aurangzeb’s rule, the number of Jagirdars/Mansabdars increased significantly but the land was
limited. So, the Mughals had to carve out their own land to pacify the Jagirdars.
 Conflict among Nobles: Nobles in the Mughal empire were divided on the line of Religion, Homeland and
Tribe. The mutual rivalry among Mughals increased and the weak Emperor failed to put a check on this.
 Rise of Regional aspiration: Right from the time of Aurangzeb regional groups like Jats, Marathas and Sikhs
started defying the authority of the Mughal emperor with the aspiration of creating their own Independent
Kingdom. They did not succeed in their effort but this drew the Mughals into continuous warfare causing the
weakening of the empire.
 Failure of the Mughal economy: Shah Jahan’s zeal for construction had depleted the treasury. Aurangzeb’s
long wars in the south had further drained the exchequer. Frequent wars, the luxurious lifestyle of the emperor
and amirs, and the reduction in Khalisa land (under the direct control of the emperor), all of this resulted in
expenditure which was much higher than income. All this made the empire Economically unstable.
 Rise of independent states: The Great Mughals were efficient and exercised control over ministers and the
army, but the later Mughals were poor administrators. As a result, the distant provinces became independent.
The rise of independent states like Bengal, Oudh, Hyderabad, etc. ultimately led to the disintegration of the
Mughal Empire.
 External Invasions: The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali resulted in huge loss of wealth.
 Lack of Scientific Progresses: Almost no technological advancement fueled the stagnancy of the empire. Due
to this Mughal Military became obsolete and its administration inefficient.
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Later Mughals:

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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 02
Fragmented Polity II
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Fragmented Polity II
Later Mughals:

 During the first half of the Eighteenth century, the Mughal Empire showed signs of dissolution. The successors
of Aurangzeb were weak and dissolute and were at the mercy of their intriguing ministers.
 After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, a war of succession began amongst his three surviving sons.
 Muazzam was the governor of Kabul,
 Azam was the governor of Gujarat, and
 Kam Baksh was the governor of Deccan.
 Azam turned to Ahmednagar and proclaimed himself emperor.
 Kam Baksh too declared himself the sovereign ruler and conquered important places such as Gulbarga and
Hyderabad.
 Muazzam defeated both:
 Azam at Jajau in 1707 and
 Kam Baksh near Hyderabad in 1708.
 Muazzam ascended the Mughal throne with the title of Bahadur Shah I.

Bahadur Shah (1707-1712):

 An elderly man (65-year-old) assumed the title of Bahadur Shah I. He
could not pay due attention to the administration. Khafi Khan called him
Shah-i-Bekhabar (Ignorant King). He died in 1712. (Khafi Khan, author
of Muntakhab ul lubab, died in 1833)
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 Bahadur Shah followed a policy of compromise and conciliation and tried to conciliate the Rajputs, the
Marathas, the Bundelas, the Jats and the Sikhs.
 During his reign the Marathas and the Sikhs became more powerful.
 Sikhs:
 Reconciled with Guru Gobind Singh and granted him high mansab.
 After the death of the Guru, the Sikhs once again raised a revolt under the leadership of Banda
Bahadur.
 The Mughal authority defeated Banda Bahadur at Lohgarh, a fort built by Guru Gobind Singh. That
was however recovered in 1712 by the Sikhs.
 Rajputs:
 To have better control over Marwar and Amber, he forced Ajit Singh of Marwar to submit to the
Mughal authority.
 He made attempts to garrison Amber and replace Jai Singh with his younger brother Vijay Singh.
 Both Ajit Singh and Jai Singh were later restored but their demand for high mansabs (ranks) and
offices of subahdars of important provinces were not accepted.
 Marathas:
 Shahu, son of Sambhaji who was in Mughal captivity was released in 1707.
 He granted Sardeshmukhi of the Deccan but not the chauth.
 He also did not recognize Shahu as the rightful Maratha king thus keeping the fight for supremacy
going between Tarabai and Shahu.
 Marathas thus remained dissatisfied.
 Bahadur Shah made peace with Chhatrasal, the Bundela chief and the Jat chief Churaman who joined him in
the campaign against Banda Bahadur.
 He adopted a more tolerant attitude towards the Hindus.
 There was however a deterioration in the field of administration in his reign because he lavishly granted jagirs
and promotions.
 Previously, the contest for power was between the royal princes; the nobles had merely backed and sided with
them. Now they were aspirants to the throne or power.
 After him, the war of succession was fought among his four sons, Jahandar Shah, Rafi-us-Shan, Azim-us-Shan
and Jahan Shah.
 Jahandar Shah was a weak ruler and came to the throne chiefly – with the help of Zulfikar Khan (Irani party),
the powerful noble who made the wazir (prime minister).
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Jahandar Shah (1712-1713):

 He was a clever man and advocated a friendly policy towards the Rajput’s, Marathas and the Hindu chieftains
not only to strengthen his own position but to ensure the survival of the empire.
 He abandoned the policies of Aurangzeb and adopted a liberal attitude towards the Hindus. He abolished the
jizya tax.
 Zulfikar Khan tried to improve the finances by checking the reckless growth of jagirs and offices and forced
the mansabdars to maintain their official quota of troops.
 But he also introduced the evil practice of revenue farming or Ijarah system.
 The government established contact with the revenue farmers and middlemen who paid the government a fixed
amount while they were free to collect whatever they could from the peasants.
 This oppressed the peasantry to a great extent.
 He was defeated and killed by his nephew Farrukh Siyar (son of Azim us shan) at Agra with the help of Sayyid
brothers.
 Zulfikar Khan was soon executed by the orders of the new emperor.

Sayyid Brothers:
 The two Sayyid brothers were Abdulla Khan and Hussain Ali Khan.
 The exertions of these two brothers won Farrukh Siyar his empire.
 Farrukh Siyar ascended the throne in 1713 and they actually played the part of king-makers during the period
1713-1720.

Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719):
 Jahandar Shah’s position was challenged by Farrukhsiyar who with the help of the Sayyid brothers (Abdullah
Khan and Hussain Ali - Hindustani party, known as ‘King Makers’), defeated and killed Jahandar Shah.
 The Sayyid brothers soon acquired dominant control over the affairs of the state. They were given the offices
of Wazir and Mir Bakshi respectively.
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 Farrukh Siyar's reign saw the execution of Sikh leader Banda Bahadur.
 Supported by Sayyid Brothers:
 Abdulla khan-Wazir
 Hussain Ali khan- Mir Bakshi
 He followed a policy of religious tolerance by abolishing Jaziya and Pilgrimage tax.
 The English East India Company was granted trading privileges including exemption of custom duties for its
trade through Bengal.
 Farman:
 Permission was granted to purchase 38 villages surrounding the three already held by the company
(Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata, the predecessor of modern Calcutta).
 The Company was also granted trading privileges in Bengal and further fortification of Calcutta.
 This grant was instrumental in the setting up of business and the colonisation of Bengal, later to be followed
by the rest of India, by the East India Company.
 Killed by Sayyid brothers with the help of Marathas (Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath).
 It was the first time in the history of Mughals that an emperor was killed by his nobles.

Muhammad Shah (1719-1748):

 In 1719, the Sayyid brothers killed Farrukhsiyar and raised in quick succession Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-
daula.
 Roshan Akhtar, the son of Jahan Shah was placed on the throne under the title of Muhammad Shah.
 He was a pleasure-seeking youth.
 He led to the development of khayal.
 During his time Urdu language developed.
 The Sayyid brothers followed a policy of religious tolerance.
 They abolished the jizya as well as the pilgrimage tax at many places. In order to maintain harmony, they
advocated a policy of associating Hindu chiefs and nobles with Muslim nobles.
 In their struggle against Farrukh Siyar, the Sayyid brothers sided with the Rajput’s and the Marathas. Ajit
Singh of Marwar and Jai Singh of Amber were won over by giving them high positions in the administration.
 Alliance was made with Churaman Jat and later placated Shahu by granting him Shivaji’s Swaraj and the right
to collect the chauth and sardeshmukhi in six provinces of the Deccan.
 In return Shahu promised them help in the Deccan with fifteen thousand soldiers.
 The efforts made by the Sayyid brothers did not yield great results because:
 They constantly faced rival factions and conspiracies in the court.
 The financial position of the empire was also dwindling as the rebellious elements refused to pay the land
tax.
 This led to increased indiscipline amongst the soldiers.
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 The hostile nobles united themselves under the leadership of Nizam-ul-Mulk (Turani Party) of the Deccan.
Further the murder of Farrukh Siyar created a wave of terror and repulsion against the Sayyid brothers who
were looked down upon as traitors.
 They were branded as anti-Islamic for their policies.
 The anti-Sayyid nobles were strongly backed by Muhammad Shah who wanted to free him-self from the hold
of the brothers and they were helped by Nizam ul Mulk.
 In 1720, Hussain Ali was killed by the rebellious nobles and Abdullah Khan died in 1722 after he was defeated
at Agra. This ended the rule of the Sayyid brothers in the Mughal Empire.
 After the fall of the Sayyid brothers Muhammad Shah had a long reign (1719 - 48) to save the empire. Mughal
rule was still held in high esteem by the people.
 The Mughal army, especially the artillery, was still the most important force; administration in northern India
had deteriorated but not collapsed entirely. The Maratha sardars were still confined to the south and the
Rajput’s were loyal to the Mughals.
 He was the most pleasure-loving ruler of loose morals and is therefore called Muhammad Shah ‘Rangila’.
He was not a good ruler.
 His first Wazir after the fall of the Sayyid brothers was Muhammad Amin Khan. After his death Nizam-
ul-Mulk was appointed the wazir in 1722.
 But instead of supporting Nizam, the emperor suspected his own ministers.
 The attempts to reform the administration proved futile and disgusted with the inability and fickle mindedness
of the emperor the Nizam chose to pursue his own ambitions. He gave up his office in 1724 and proceeded to
the south and founded the state of Hyderabad.
 Saadat Khan carved out a state of Oudh. Murshid Quli Khan became virtually independent in Bengal, Bihar,
and Orissa.
 Baji Rao - I raided Delhi in March 1737 with a small army of just 500 horsemen.
 The already declining Mughal Empire received another fatal blow when the Persian monarch, Nadir Shah
invaded India in 1739 (Battle of Karnal).
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Emergence of Regional Powers:

 The decline of Mughal Empire resulted in the emergence of basically
three types of states:
 Successor States: These were such states which did not challenge
the authority of the Mughal Empire but established a virtually
independent and hereditary authority. E.g., Awadh, Bengal and
Hyderabad.
 Independent Kingdoms: These states were the result of the
destabilisation of Mughal control over the provinces. E.g., Mysore,
Kerala and Rajput states.
 The New States: These were the states set up by the rebels against
the Mughal Empire. E.g., Marathas, Sikhs, Jats.
 The Carnatic region is the peninsular South Indian region between the
Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency
and in the modern states of Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh.

Nadir Shah’s Invasion (1738-39):

 The Battle of Karnal in 1739 was the supreme triumph of Nadir Shah, the great Persian king and military
commander.
 The already declining Mughal Empire received another fatal blow when the Persian monarch, Nadir Shah
invaded India in 1738-39.
 Attracted to India by her fabulous wealth. The bankrupt Persian Empire found an easy prey in the weak Mughal
rule with loose defences on the north-west frontier and used the golden opportunity
 The disunity amongst the nobles too proved an added advantage for the invaders. The two armies met at Karnal
in 1739 and the Mughals suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Nadir Shah.
 Emperor Muhammad Shah was taken prisoner and Nadir Shah marched on to Delhi
 He plundered the royal treasury at his own pleasure and carried back the immense wealth from India. He took
the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and the jewel studded Peacock throne of Shahjahan. Collected more than
70cr from the official treasury of nobles.
 Nadir Shah’s invasion inflicted heavy damage on the Mughal Empire and its dwindling image suffered a severe
blow.
 The invasion affected the imperial finances and the economic life of the people adversely.
 Mughals lost strategically important territory west to Indus including Kabul made India once again vulnerable
to the attack from North west.

Ahmed Shah Bahadur (1748-1754):

 The death of emperor Muhammad Shah in 1748 saw the beginning of bitter struggles among power hungry
nobles of Turani and Irani factions.
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 His successor Ahmad Shah born of Udham Bai, a public dancing girl, ascended the throne but was unable to
cope with the disintegrating forces. He left the affairs of state in the hands of Udham Bai.
 Udham Bai given the title of Qibla-i-Alam was a lady of poor intellect who ruled with the help of her paramour,
Javid Khan (a notorious eunuch).
 The weak defences of the northwest encouraged Ahmad Shah Abdali:
 He invaded India twice in 1749 and 1752, when he marched up to Delhi.
 The emperor, with a view to buy peace and save Delhi from devastation, ceded Punjab and Multan to
Abdali.
 Imad-ul-Mulk ousted the Wazir Safdar Jang and became the wazir. Ahmad Shah was blinded and deposed by
this new wazir.

Alamgir II (1754-1759):
 After the removal of Ahmad Shah, Imad-ul-Mulk raised Azizuddin, Jahandar Shah’s son on the throne who
styled himself after Aurangzeb as Alamgir II.
 The military and financial position of the empire during this period became worse to the extent that the
emperor’s household troops carried off the articles from the houses of the wazirs and nobles and sold them
into the market.
 Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded Delhi in 1757 and the imperial city was plundered.
 The relations between Alamgir II and Wazir Imad-ul-Mulk were not satisfactory and the latter got him
murdered in 1759.
 During his reign the Battle of Plassey was fought in 1757.

Shah Alam II or Ali Gauhar (1760-1806):

 Abdali named Shah Alam ll as emperor and Najib-ud-daulah as Mir Bakshi.
 Shah Alam II ascended the throne in 1759. But, the unscrupulous Imad-ul-Mulk did not let him sit at rest. He
had to wander from place to place.
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 He was also known as a fugitive Mughal emperor for not entering Delhi for 12 years. In these years Najib-ud-
daulah and Rohilla leaders had held over Delhi.
 In 1764 he allied with Mir Qasim of Bengal and Shuja-ud-daulah of Awadh in the Battle of Buxar.
 He was defeated in battle and signed the Treaty of Allahabad (1765) under which he gave diwani rights of
Bengal, Odisha and Bihar to Britishers. Alam got districts of Kora and Allahabad.
 In 1771 Marathas returned to Delhi and Shah Alam ll ruled under Maratha suzerainty.
 In 1772, Marathas took him to Delhi, where he stayed till 1803. He had a battle with Rohilla leaders supported
by Marathas.
 In 1803, the British captured Delhi and the Mughal emperor became the pensioners of the English.

Akbar II (1806-1837):
 He was told to give away his titles.
 He gave the title of “Raja” to Ram Mohan Roy.
 He asked for increment in pension
 In 1835, the coins bearing the names of Mughal emperors were stopped.

Bahadur Shah II (1837-1857):

 His pen name was Zafar and he was the face of the revolt of 1857.
 After the defeat at the hands of the British, he was deported to Rangoon and died there in 1862.
 He was the last Mughal emperor. In legal terms the rule of the Mughal Empire came to an end in 1858 with
Queen Victoria Proclamation.
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Rise of Marathas:

Sambhaji:
 He was the elder son of Shivaji. He defeated his brother Rajaram.
 He supported Akbar II, the rebellious son of Aurangzeb.
 In 1681 Aurangzeb reached Deccan in pursuit of his son Akbar II
 In 1686 the annexation of Bijapur took place.
 In 1687 the annexation of Golkonda took place.
 In 1689, Sambhaji was captured and executed which unleashed Maratha sardars.

Rajaram:
 He succeeded the throne with the help of the minister.
 He also fled to the east coast (Jinji).
 The Mughal captured Rajgarh along with Sambhaji's wife and son Shahu but Rajaram escaped.
 In 1703, Aurangzeb opened negotiations but then retreated.
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Tarabai and Shivaji II:

 Rajaram was succeeded by his minor son Shivaji II, under the guardianship of his mother Tarabai.
 Tarabai sent Dhanaji Jadhav to oust Shahu, but Dhanaji was won over by Shahu.
 In 1707, with the help of a Chitpavan Brahman named Balaji Vishwanath, Shahu was successful in defeating
Tarabai at the Battle of Khed and she went away to Kolhapur, establishing the Royal House of Kolhapur.

Shahu (1707-1749):
 He was released by the Mughal emperor Bahadur shah which led to the start of civil war.
 He defeated Tarabai’s army.
 In his reign the rise of Peshwas and transformation of the Maratha kingdom into an empire based on the
principle of confederacy was evident.

Revenue System:
 The revenue administration was based on Mughal & Deccani states.
 Land was measured by the rod called lathi and classified as:
1. Paddy fields
2. Garden lands and
3. Hilly tracts
 Shivaji reduced the powers of Deshmukh and Kulkarni.
 Shivaji appointed his revenue officials called Karkuns.
 Shivaji also discouraged revenue farming.
 Chauth and Sardheshmukhi were two major sources of revenue and were collected in neighbouring areas of
Mughal/Deccan sultans.
 Chauth: ¼ of the revenue paid to Mughals in order to avoid Maratha raids.
 Sardeshmukhi: Additional levy of 10% on the lands where Marathas claim hereditary rights.
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Rise of Marathas after 1707:

 The decline of the Mughal Empire presented a huge opportunity to the Marathas to rise.
 By the mid-18th century, they were aspiring to rule the North Indian Empire and had acquired the role of
Kingmakers in the Mughal court.
 However, the defeat in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and death of Peshwa Madhavrao I (1772) weakened
the control of Peshwa over confederacy.
 The chiefs united on occasion but most often quarrelled among themselves resulting in the weakening of the
empire.

Peshwas:
 Pant Pradhan who handles finance and general administration out of Ashta Pradhans.
 Later, they became more important and functioned as Prime Minister.
 They focused on intelligence and a centralised intelligence department was created.

Ashta Pradhan:
 Ashta Pradhan was a system of ministerial delegation in the Maratha empire.
 The council is credited with having implemented good governance practices in the Maratha heartland, as
well as for the success of the military campaigns against the Mughal Empire.

Important Peshwas in Medieval India:

 Sonpat Dalbir 1640-1652 was the 1st Peshwa.
 Morpant Triyambak Pingale 1657 - 1683 assisted Shivaji.
 Ramchandra Pant Amatya:
 He was allotted hukumat panha by Rajaram.
 He was replaced by Tarabai in 1698.
 He wrote Adnyapatra.
 The royal edict on the principles of Maratha policy written in Modi Marathi.
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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 03
Marathas and the Advent of
the Europeans
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Marathas and the Advent of the Europeans

Balaji Vishwanath (1713-20):
 He got the title Senakarate (organiser of forces) from Shahu.
 He is known for making the Peshwa post hereditary and making it powerful.
 He supported Shahu and received the help of other Maratha Sardars for the same.
 In 1719, he successfully obtained Maratha rights from Farukhsiyar such as
 Recognition of Shahu as Maratha King.
 Permission to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from 6 Mughal provinces of Deccan including
Carnatic and Mysore.
 He assisted the Sayyid Brothers in deposing the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719.

Bajirao (1720-40):
 He was the eldest son of Balaji Vishwanath.
 He was called “Thorale” meaning elder Bajirao.
 He was a great exponent of Guerrilla tactics after Shivaji.
 He was known as the most influential of the nine Peshwas.
 He formulated the policy of Northward expansion so that Maratha could rein from Attock to Cuttack.
 He is said to have fought for the establishment of "Hindu Pad Padshahi" (Hindu Empire).
 Nizam-ul-Mulk was the arch rival and conspired against him with the house of Kolhapur. Nizam got defeated
at Palkhed and Bhopal and had to grant Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of 6 provinces of Deccan.
 In 1722, he captured Salsette and Bassein from the Portuguese.
 In 1728, he shifted administrative capital from Satara to Pune.
 He initiated the system of confederacy among the Maratha chiefs which they were supposed to administer
autonomously.
 3

 He helped conquer Central India (Malwa) and Rajputana and extended his dominions into Gujarat in the
northwest and Deccan in the south.
 He raided Mughal Delhi in 1737. He fought in over 41 battles and is one of the few to have never lost a
single battle.
 He died at the age of 40 of sudden fever in camp while going to Delhi.
 In order to manage the rapidly increasing empire, Baji Rao I organised a confederacy of prominent Maratha
chiefs. Each Chief was assigned a sphere of influence which he was supposed to conquer and rule in the name
of Maratha King Shahu.
Rulers Areas ruled State
Bhonsle Thanjavur State Tamil Nadu
Ghorpade Mudhol State Karnataka
Gaekwad Baroda State Gujarat
Newalkar Jhansi State Uttar Pradesh
Holkars Indore State Madhya Pradesh
Puars (or Pawars) Dewas State Madhya Pradesh
Dhar State Madhya Pradesh
Chhatarpur State Madhya Pradesh
Scindia Gwalior State Madhya Pradesh
Balaji Bajirao (1740-61):
 He was also known as Nanasaheb Peshwa.
 He extended the Maratha territories into most of North-West, East and Central India.
 In 1749, Shahuji died without an issue, however, Tarabai had introduced Ramraja as the grandson of
Rajaram (later found to be imposter)
 In 1750, by the Sangola Agreement of 1750, the Maratha King became a roi faineant (do-nothing king) and
the Mayor of the palace and the Peshwa emerged as the
real and effective head of the Maratha Confederacy.
(Ramraja was retained as titular Chatrapati)
 It was under his leadership that the Maratha Empire
reached its peak.
 He defeated Alivardi Khan - Nawab of Bengal and 1/3rd of
the Indian subcontinent came under the Marathas.
 In 1752, he entered into an Agreement with the Mughals
and gave assurance to protect the Mughal empire from
internal and external enemies for which Chauth of North
West provinces and the total revenue of Agra and Ajmer
would be collected by Marathas.
 In 1758, he captured Attock (on the banks of the Indus River)
and Peshawar in the Battle of Attock.
 4

 Honouring the above agreement, they fought Ahmed Shah Abdali

when he invaded again but his general and nephew Sadashiv Rao
lost the Third Battle of Panipat against Ahmad Shah Abdali in
1761.
 He could not cope up with the defeat and the loss of his son
Vishwas Rao and his nephew Sadashiv Rao and thus, he died.
 Balaji Bajirao contributed to the development of the city of Pune,
which was the seat of the Peshwas.
Ahmed Shah Abdali/Durrani:
 He was the General of Nadir Shah.
 Ahmad Shah Abdali, the successor of Nadir Shah, invaded the
kingdom for the first time during Muhammad Shah’s reign in 1748.
 He raided India in 1748,1749, 1752, 1756-57, 1759, 1767.
 Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded 8 times and raided till Mathura.
 In 1757, he captured Delhi and left behind an Afghan caretaker to watch over the Mughal emperor.
 He recognised Alamgir II as the Mughal Emperor and the Rohilla chief Najib-ud-Daula as Mir Bakshi of
the empire, who was to act as the personal Supreme Agent of Abdali.
 In 1758, Najib-ud-Daula was expelled from Delhi by Maratha chief, Raghunath Rao, who also captured
Punjab.
 Ahmed Shah Abdali, thus, returned to India to take revenge from the Marathas and defeated them in the
Third Battle of Panipat.
Madhav Rao I (1761-1772):
 He tackled internal dissensions.
 He defeated not only Nizam but also Mysore and was made to
pay tribute.
 He reasserted control over Northern India by defeating Rohillas
and subjugating Jats and Rajput states.
 During his tenure, Maratha's power recovered from the losses
suffered during the Third Battle of Panipat, a phenomenon
known as Maratha Resurrection.
 He repaired the recently weakened administration, treasury and
accounts of the Maratha Empire.
 In 1772, he brought back Emperor Shah Alam to Delhi.
 He saw the division of the Maratha empire into semi-
independent states in which Gaekwads, Holkars and Scindias
were important.
 He died of tuberculosis in 1772.
 5

Narayan-Rao (1772-73):
 He was assassinated on Raghunath Rao’s order.
Raghunath Rao (1773 – 1774):
 He was responsible for extending the Maratha empire to the zenith in the North as a General yet he saw
the decline of Maratha power in North India.
 He seized the throne but was not recognised and later overthrown.
 He was deposed by Nana Phadnis.
 He went to the British for help in the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775 – 82).
 In the Battle of Talegaon (1776), Nana Phadnavis defeated the British leading to the signing of the
Treaty of Purandar, 1776 and the Treaty of Salbai, 1782.
 This restored the status quo but the English retained Salsette and dropped the cause of Raghunath Rao.
Sawai Madhav Rao (1774 – 1795):
 He was the son of Narayan Rao and was crowned when he was just 40 days old.
 His empire was managed by Nana Phadnavis with a 12-member regency council called Barabhai Council.
Baji Rao II (1796 - 1818):
 He was the son of Raghunath Rao and the last Peshwa.
 He was the weakest and most incompetent Peshwa.
 In 1802, he signed the Treaty of Bassein with the British which gave them effective control over the
Maratha region, Deccan and Western India.
 In 1818, in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, he was defeated by the British and pensioned.
 The territories of Peshwa were annexed.
 His adopted son was Nana Sahib.
Decline of the Maratha Power:
 The Successors of Shivaji were very weak and inefficient. Real power passed into the hands of the Peshwa.
Under Sahu, the office of the Peshwa also became hereditary.
 Though the first two Peshwas were
empire-builders, the Maratha power
received a staggering blow at the Third
Battle of Panipat in 1761. Marathas lost
the cream of their army and their
political prestige suffered.
 Most of all, their defeat gave an
opportunity to the English East India
Company to consolidate their power in
Bengal and South India.
 In the absence of a settled system, the
state descended into a terrible engine
of oppression. Unfortunately, most of the eminent leaders died towards the end of the eighteenth century.
 6

 Ahalya Bai Holker died in 1765.

 Peshwa Madhav Rao II in 1795.
 Nana Phadnavis in 1800.
 There was an absence of central authority. In the words of J.N. Sarkar, “the cohesion of the peoples in the
Maratha state was not organic but artificial, accidental and therefore precarious.”
 They did not try to develop a new economy and they were mainly interested in raising revenue from the
helpless peasantry.
 The English were superior to the Marathas in the game of diplomacy. They divided the mutually warring
Maratha Sardars and overpowered them in separate battles.
Advent of Europeans:
 What led Europeans to find a new sea route to India?
 In the 7th century, the Roman Empire declined and
Arabs established their dominance in Egypt and
Persia.
 Due to this, direct contact between Europe and India
declined which in turn affected the easy accessibility
to Indian commodities like spices, silk, precious
stones, etc.
 Again in 1453, Constantinople (Istanbul) was
captured by Ottoman Turks who were consistently
rising in power.
 Due to this, merchandise from India going to Europe
had to go through Arab intermediaries.
 The Red Sea trade route was controlled by the Islamic rulers who used to impose heavy tariffs on
goods traveling from India to Europe.
 The control of all land and sea routes compelled Europeans to find a new way to trade with India.
Political Condition in Europe in the 15th Century:
 In 1453, Constantinople fell into the hands of Ottoman Turks.
 This transfer of power led to a tussle between Christians and Muslims.
 The Ottoman rulers controlled the land and sea routes to Asian countries and proclaimed their
authority over the route for trade and related activities.
 During this period, Christians dominated the region and were influenced by the church (orthodox ideology,
no innovation, dark age period).
 Spread of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the exodus of Christians (from Constantinople) back to Europe.
 The migrated Christians challenged the authority of the church over Europe.
 This opposing and protesting ideology against the church is considered the rise of the Renaissance.
 These changes compelled Europeans to come out of the dark age and lead to renaissance.
 7

 Europe in the Fifteenth Century:

 Feudalism in society, the
Church was dominating the
region and way of life.
 Reform started by migrating
Christians into two groups,
i.e., Catholic and
Protestant.
 The reform led to the
development of scientific
temperament like
discovering new routes,
technological advancements,
and changes in cultural
ideology.
 During this time, the rise of mercantilism in Europe was evident.
Impact of Renaissance:
 Renaissance and economic development in Europe during the 15th century was another factor which led to
the exploration of a new sea route to India.
 During this period, Europe was going through a phase of technological advancement. It made great advances
in shipbuilding and navigation.
 The introduction of improved plough
and scientific agriculture increased the
area under cultivation which contributed
immensely to the economic development
of Europe.
 As a result of increased prosperity, the
demand for luxury goods, spices (For the
newly developing meat industry) etc from
India increased.
 To cater to all these demands, the
exploration of a direct sea route to India
was now inevitable.
 8

Important Concepts:
Capitalism:
 It is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private
owners for profit, rather than by the state.
 It is a system based on profit making.
 The capital accumulates and looks for new venues of investment.
Mercantilism (17th Century):
 It is an economic system of trade that spanned from the 16th century to the 18th century.
 Mercantilism is based on the principle that the world's wealth was static, and consequently, many European
nations attempted to accumulate the largest possible share of that wealth by maximising their exports and
by limiting their imports via tariffs (protectionism).
 Gold and silver were the most desirable that could be accessed from trade.
 It was based on the acquisition of colonies, through the market, which eventually became a supplier of raw
materials.

The Adventure Begins:

 The North Europeans were ready to aid Portugal and Spain with men and money to start the sea voyage.
Genoese were ready to provide ships and technical knowledge.
 Prince Henry of Portugal (nicknamed as navigator) was keen to find all the routes that connected India to
Europe.
 Treaty of Tordesillas: It was signed between Portugal and Spain which divided the non-Christian world
between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic.
 As per the treaty, everything east of the line fell under the dominance of Portugal and everything
west went to Spain.
 9

 The situation was, thus, prepared for Portugal's intrusion towards India.
 In 1498, the first Portugal Ship arrived in India. It was led by Vasco de Gama.
Important Explorations:
Christopher Columbus Vasco da Gama
 He was from Spain.  He was from Portugal.
 He found America instead of India in 1492.  He found India through the Cape of Good Hope and
reached Calicut in 1498.

Portuguese:
 Before the advent of the Portuguese, the seaborne trade between India and the West was in the hands of the
Arabs.
 The Portuguese not only asserted their naval superiority by overthrowing the Arabs but also conquered large
territories in India.
Vasco Da Gama (1498):
 He found a sea route to India through the Cape of Good Hope.
 He reached Calicut in May 1498.
 He sent a couple of his men to Ponnani to meet with the ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin. Over the objections
of Arab merchants, Gama managed to secure a letter of concession for trading rights from Zamorin, Calicut's
Hindu ruler.
 But the Portuguese were unable to pay the prescribed customs duties and price of his goods in gold.
 Also, the Portuguese wanted to monopolize the eastern trade by expelling competitors, especially the
Arabs.
 Kochi became the Head Quarter of the Portuguese Empire in India (later it was replaced by Goa).


PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 04
Advent of the Europeans - II
 2

Advent of the Europeans - II

Pedro Alvares Cabral:
 Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived in India in 1500.
 This marked the arrival of Europeans to Brazil on the way, to trade for pepper and other spices, negotiating
and establishing a factory at Calicut.
 Matters worsened when the Portuguese
factory at Calicut was attacked by surprise
by the locals, resulting in the death of more
than fifty Portuguese.
 Cabral was outraged and seized ten Arab
merchant ships anchored in the harbor,
killing about six hundred of their crew and
confiscating their cargo before burning the
ships.
 Cabral also ordered his ships to bombard
Calicut for an entire day in retaliation for
the violation of the agreement.
 In Cochin and Cannanore Cabral succeeded in making advantageous treaties with the local rulers.

Vasco Da Gama (1501):

 Vasco da Gama sailed to India again in 1501, where the ruler was willing to sign a treaty.
 Gama this time made a call to expel all Muslims (Arabs) from Calicut which was vehemently turned down.
He bombarded the city and captured several rice vessels. Established trading factory at Cannanore.
 Gradually, Calicut, Cannanore and Cochin became important trade centres for the Portuguese.
 Expanded trade and set up first and second factories in Cochin and Kollam.
 In his time period Portugal king declared direct control over Portuguese areas in India.

Francisco D’ Almeida (1505 - 09):

 He was appointed Viceroy of India (3 years term) appointed by King Manuel I of Portugal.
 Advised to set up four forts on the southwestern Indian coast: at Anjediva Island (Goa), Cannanore, Cochin
and Kilwa (Tanzania).
 He was told to destroy Muslim trade by seizing Aden, Ormuz (Persian Gulf) and Malacca.
 He was encountered by Zamorin.
 His vision was the Blue water policy (Cartaze System):
 3

 The Blue Water Policy was the fortification of the Indian Ocean, not for the security but for the
establishment of Portuguese business in the
Indian ocean.
 He wanted to build strong naval power rather than
strong fortresses as they have lesser manpower.
 There was a threat from the Sultan of Egypt who
raised a fleet against them in the Red sea.
 He conquered Kilwa, erected forts in Anjediva,
Cochin, Cannanore,
 He refused to cede office until after the Battle of
Diu.
 He died at Table Bay, on return voyage, March
1510.
 He fought in the Battle of Diu and Chaul.

“3G” Concept (Gold, God, and Glory):

 It describes the motives generating the overseas exploration, expansion, and conquests that allowed various
European countries to rise to world power between 1400 and 1750.
 "God" refers to the militant crusading and missionary traditions of Christianity,
 "Glory" alludes to the competition between monarchies.
 "Gold" refers to the search for material gain through acquiring and selling Asian spices, African slaves,
American metals, and other resources.

Battle of Chaul (1508):

 Chaul is located 60 km south of Mumbai.
 The Portuguese squadron under command of Lourenco de Almeida (son of Francisco) was attacked by a
combined Mamluk Egyptian and Gujarat Sultanate fleet at Chaul and Dabul respectively.
 Lourenco de Almeida lost his life after a fierce fight in this battle.
 The battle ended in a Mamluk victory.
 It followed the Siege of Cannanore (1507) in which a Portuguese garrison successfully resisted an attack by
Southern Indian rulers.
 This was the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the Indian Ocean.
 The combined forces of Mahmud Begada (Gujarat); Sultan of Egypt and Zamorin fought against the
Portuguese and defeated them as well.

Battle of Diu (1509):

 The naval battle was fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the
Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut
with support of the Republic of Venice.
 4

 The great Muslim alliance was soundly defeated, easing the Portuguese strategy of controlling the Indian
Ocean to route trade down the Cape of Good Hope, circumventing the traditional spice route controlled by the
Arabs and the Venetians through the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

Alfonso De Albuquerque (1509 – 1515):

 Under Albuquerque, the Portuguese firmly established their hold on the mainland in India and made the
Portuguese flag supreme on the Indian Ocean.
 He conquered Goa in 1510 from Bijapur (abolition of Sati) and established their domination from Hormuz
in the Persian Gulf to Malacca in Malaya.
 Goa became the first bit of Indian territory to be under a European power since the time of Alexander.
 Albuquerque bolstered Portuguese stranglehold by introducing a permit system for other ships and
exercising control over the major ship building centres in the region.
 But their power began to decline because their trading method was piratical and they indulged in human
cruelties.

Importance of Goa:
 It was a crucial trading port of Arabian and Persian war-horses to India unloading exclusively at Goa.
 This region was considered as the most valuable source of income due to trade and strategic importance.
 Capturing Goa would help the Portuguese to control trade in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
 Setting up a strong naval base at Goa gives a signal to the regional kingdom for caution.

Cultural aspect of Albuquerque’s Rule:

 Sati was abolished. Portuguese men were encouraged to take local wives and settle in India. Its purpose was
to encourage a permanent Portuguese population in India.
 In Goa and the provinces in the North, they settled as local landlords, building new roads and irrigation
systems and introducing new crops like cashews and tobacco.
 In cities such as Goa and Cochin, they settled as artisans and master craftsmen besides being traders.
 Most of these Portuguese started looking upon their new settlements, rather than Portugal, as their home.
 However, bitter persecution of Muslims was one serious drawback of Albuquerque’s rule.
 Albuquerque also fortified Goa in order to increase its commercial importance.

Diplomatic Aspect of Albuquerque:

 It developed a good relationship with Vijayanagar because both had a common enemy that was the Deccan
Sultanate.
 In 1520, Krishna Deva Raya gifted a fort.
 Both kingdoms sent embassies to each other.
 Trade flourished and especially horse trade in which horses were supplied to Vijaynagar from Europe.

Vacuum Period (1515 – 1529):

 It is referred to as the vacuum period due to the absence of much development in trade and strategic matters.
 5

Nino da Cunha (1529 – 1538):

 Total six governors came in this vacuum period, Vasco Da Gama who came it's third time was appointed
viceroy in 1524. He died in Cochin.
 In another development in 1526 King John III granted the city of Goa and its town hall the same legal status
as Lisbon.
 Became governor in 1529.
 He shifted their Headquarter from Cochin to Goa.
 Bahadur Shah of Gujarat secured help from the Portuguese. Ceded the island of Bassein. Promised a base in
Diu.
 Bahadur was killed in 1537.
 Also tried increasing influence in Bengal by settling Portuguese nationals there. Hoogly became the
headquarters in Bengal.

Portuguese Administration:
 The Portuguese Administration was headed by Viceroy with the help of a council.
 Vedor Da Fazenda was responsible for revenue, and the cargoes and dispatch of fleets.

Favourable Condition for Portuguese in India:

 Except Gujrat the northern part was divided among many small powers. In Deccan, the Bahmani kingdom
was weak and breaking into parts.
 In the far east, the imperial decree of the Chinese emperor limited the navigation reach of Chinese ships. So
no challenge from this side.
 The Arab merchants had nothing to match the organisation and unity of the Portuguese.
 Also, the Portuguese had cannons on their ships which put them in a much advantageous position.

Portuguese Administration:
 Reach of Portuguese occupation in India
➢ On the West Coast: Goa, from Mumbai to Daman & Diu to the approaches to Gujrat.
➢ In South: Mangalore, Cannanore, Cochin, calicut.
➢ In East: San Thome (In Chennai) and Nagapattinam (In Andhra), Hooghly in Bengal.
 Portuguese who were the first Europeans to come to India were also the last to leave with the recapture of Goa
by the Indian Govt in 1961.

Portuguese lose favour with Mughals:

 Portuguese acts of piracy resulted in conflict with the Mughal empire.
 In 1613, Portuguese offended Jahangir by capturing and plundering Mughal ships. Enraged by this,
Jahangir ordered Muqarrab Khan to obtain compensation.
 Finally, during the reign of Shah Jahan, the advantages which the Portuguese enjoyed in Mughal court were
lost forever.
 6

 Capture of Hooghly: On the basis of an imperial farman 1579, the Portuguese had settled down on a river
bank which was a short distance from Satgaon in Bengal to carry on their trading activities.
 Over the years, they strengthened their position by constructing big buildings which led to the migration
of the trade from Satgaon to the new port known as Hooghly.
 Portuguese settled in Hooghly after migrating from Satgaon in Bengal.
 There they monopolised the manufacture of salt, built a custom house of their own and imposed a strict
levy on tobacco which had become an important article of trade since its introduction at the beginning of
the 17th century.
 The Portuguese not only made money as traders but also started a cruel slave trade by purchasing or
seizing Hindu and Muslim children, whom they brought up as Christians.
 In the course of their nefarious activities, they seized two slave girls of Mumtaz Mahal.
 On June 24, 1632, the siege of Hooghly began, ending in its capture three months later.
 Shah Jahan ordered the Bengal Governor Qasim Khan to take action against the Portuguese.
 A siege of Hooghly finally led to the Portuguese fleeing. The Mughals suffered a loss of 1,000 men, but
also took 400 prisoners to Agra. The prisoners were offered the option to convert to Islam or become
slaves. The persecution of Christians continued for some time after which it died down gradually.

Reason for the Decline of Portuguese:

 By the 18th century, Portuguese in India had lost their commercial influence:
 Reasons:
 Rise of estranged relations with powerful Mughals.
 Rise of Marathas (They captured Salsette and Bassein from Portuguese).
 Religious activities of the Portuguese gave rise to political fears.
 Their antagonism for the Muslims and zeal for conversion to Christianity made both Hindus and Muslims
resentful.
 They earned the reputation of sea pirates.
 The discovery of Brazil diverted their colonising activities to the west.
 The discovery of Brazil diverted their colonising activities to the west.
 Union of Spain and Portugal in 1580 dragged Portugal into Spain’s war with England and Holland, badly
affecting Portugal’s monopoly of trade with India.
 Arrival of Dutch and English. They had great resources which Portugal couldn’t match. One by one
Portuguese possession fell into the hands of Dutch and English.
 Goa which remained with Portuguese lost its importance with the fall of Vijayanagar.
 However, it cannot be denied that the Portuguese exercised tremendous social, economic and cultural
influence, especially in the western coasts.
 7

Positive Influences of Portuguese on India:

 The Portuguese greatly enriched the Indian vocabulary and medical science. The first treatise on the medical
plants of India was written by a Portuguese scholar Garcia da Orta.
 Similarly, the introduction of printing and the establishment of seminaries for the training of the Indian
priests were other valuable contributions of the Portuguese.
 Portuguese ships were technically very advanced. This was adapted by Indian builders for their own use.
 The Portuguese influence is also visible on the ecclesiastical architecture of India, especially in Deccan.
 The credit for popularising the ornate Manuel Esque architecture in the western coast also goes to the
Portuguese.
 The art of silversmith and goldsmith flourished at Goa which became a centre of elaborate filigree work,
fretted foliage work and metal work embedding jewels.
 An arranged political system like viceroy, Vedor Da Fazenda.
 They enhanced economic development like trade, Commerce, printing press and cultivation of cash crops.
 They brought the knowledge of advanced military tactics like Gun boat diplomacy, Navy, multi deck ship, use
of cannon in ship and use of body armour.
 They abolished Sati Pratha, and promoted Indo-Portuguese culture.

Portuguese Architecture:
 The Portuguese brought with them the Iberian style of architecture.
 They initially built trading posts and warehouses, which were later
remodelled into fortified towns along the coastlines.
 They also introduced the concept of 'Patio houses' and 'Baroque style'
developed in the late 16th century in Europe to express the strength of the
Church.

Iberian style: It refers to the art of Spain and Portugal after the Classical Age and before Romanesque art and
architecture
 A patio home is a dwelling that shares at least one
wall with another home, and usually doesn't rise
higher than one and-a-half stories tall.
 The Baroque style is characterised by exaggerated
motion and clear detail used to produce drama,
exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting,
architecture, literature, dance, and music. It is
applied in church to express the strength of the
church.
 It involved use of contrasting colours and
elaborate, detailed and theatrical design to create a dramatic effect.
 8

Bassein Fort (Vesai Fort):

 It was fortified by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat in 1532 AD.
 It is famous for the Corinthian pillared hall and the Porte de Mer (The Sea
Gate).
 It is also popular for the cathedral of St. Joseph.

Diu Fort:
 It was built in 1535 AD on the coast of Diu Island.
 The fort has a lighthouse and canons are placed on the walls.
 It has three churches inside the fort complex namely: St. Thomas Church, St. Paul's Church, and Church of
St. Francis of Assisi.

Francis Xavier (1506 – 1552):

 He was a Navarrese Catholic missionary and saint who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus.
 He was born in Javier in the Kingdom of Navarre (in present-day Spain).
 He was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and
chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534.
 He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in
evangelization work, most notably in India.
 He arrived in Goa 1542.
 Goa Inquisition was proposed by Francis Xavier, his letter to the king of Portugal, John III, asked for a special
minister whose sole office would be to further Christianity in Goa.
 He was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas.
 In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than
he had enjoyed in India.
 He was about to extend his missionary preaching to China when he died on Shangchuan Island.
 He was considered to be one of the greatest missionaries.
 9

 He was first buried on a beach at Shangchuan Island. His body was taken from the island in February 1553
and temporarily buried in St. Paul's Church in Portuguese Malacca on 22 March 1553.
 Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after 15 April 1553, and moved it to his house. On
11 December 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa.

British-Portuguese Conquest:
 In 1608, the arrival of William Hawkins to the court of Jahangir and stayed in Agra till 1611 convinced him
to grant permission to open a factory on the west coast.
 This permission was not liked by the governor of Gujarat and Portuguese.
 In 1611 Battle of Swally (near Surat) took place between Portuguese and Britishers in which the Portuguese
lost.
 Hence, the English East India Company set up its first factory in Surat in 1613 and this marked the end
of Portuguese European power.

Dutch (1605 - 1759):

 The first assault upon the Portuguese monopoly for Eastern trade came from the Dutch.
 The Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602. It was empowered to carry on war, conclude treaties,
possess territories and build fortresses.
 In 1605, the Dutch Captured Amboyna (Indonesia) from the Portuguese and gradually established their
influence in the Spice Islands.
 In 1605, they established their factory at Masulipatnam.
 Nagapatam in Madras and Chinsura in Bengal were their principal strongholds. But soon their Indian
possessions were eventually conquered by the English.
 Their other principal factories in India were at Surat, Bimlipatam, Karaikal, Chinsura, Baaranagar,
Kasimbazar, Balasore, Patna and Cochin.
 Initially their Headquarter was at Pulicat later shifted to Nagapattinam.
 10

 Dutch replaced Portuguese.

 The first assault upon the Portuguese monopoly for Eastern trade came from the Dutch. They monopolised the
business of black pepper and spices
 Dutch trade in India: Silk, cotton, Indigo, Rice, Opium
 In 1667, Fierce Battle between English and Dutch led to an agreement by which the British agreed to
withdraw all their claims from Indonesia and the Dutch retired from India and focused more on Indonesia.
(Not entirely)
 In 1759, Battle of Bedara Dutch were defeated by the Britishers in India which led to total collapse.
 They tried their hands on the minting of coinages. As their trade flourished, they established mints at Cochin,
Masulipatnam, Nagapatam Pondicherry and Pulicat. Even more, Gold pagoda with an image of Lord
Venkateswara, (God Vishnu) was issued at Pulicat mint. The coins issued by the Dutch were all modelled on
the local coinages.
 Note: The Dutch were not interested in building an empire in India. Their main concern was profitable trade.

Features of Dutch Trading:

 The cartel system existing in Europe led to expansion of trade.
 The trade took place in Indigo, Silk, Salt, Petrez, Opium and Rice.
 The textile trade was highly popular.
 The Dutch East India company was the first company to issue shares.

British- Dutch Conflict:

 In 1623, the conflict of Aboyna in which the Dutch massacred ten Englishmen and nine Japanese. In 1667
settlement took place and EIC withdrew from Indonesia.
 The Anglo Dutch war took place in 1672-74) and as a result Surat and Bombay got disconnected.
 In the year 1759, the Dutch were defeated by the English in the decisive Battle of Bedara (Bengal) ended
Dutch power in India.
 The Dutch presence on the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1605 to 1825.
 The Dutch India was divided into the governorates Dutch Ceylon and Dutch Coromandel, the commandment
Dutch Malabar, and the directorates Dutch Bengal and Dutch Suratte.
 In the second half of the eighteenth century the Dutch lost their influence.

John Seely:
 “Our acquisition of India was made blindly. Nothing great that has ever been done by Englishman was done so
unintentionally and so accidentally as the conquest of India”.

British (1608-1947):
 The Success of these European powers and the high profits they made inflamed the imagination of the
merchants of English. They also made attempts to participate in such profitable commerce.
 In 1599, John Mildenhall, a merchant adventurer of London, came to India. He travelled to India through
Persia, reached Agra in 1603 and spoke with the Akbar.
 11

 A group called ‘the Merchant Adventurers’ was formed in 1599.

 On 31st December, 1600, Queen Elizabeth granted a Charter to the Company named 'The Governor and
Company of Merchants of London Trading in the East Indies' the right to carry on trade with all countries
of the East. This company is commonly known as the English East India Company.
 The first governor of the company was Thomas Smith and commander of the first voyage to India was James
Lancaster who commanded the ship called Red Dragon. (visited Nicobar and Sumatra).
 It was a joint stock company and initially had 125 shareholders with capital of 68,373 Pounds Sterling. The
capital was raised to 429,000 Pounds Sterling when voyages were undertaken on the first joint-stock account.
It was also called John company initially.
 For a few years, the English East India Company confined its activities to the spice trade with Java, Sumatra
and the Moluccas.
 It was in 1608 that the first attempt was made to establish the first factory in Surat.
 For several years Smythe served as one of the navy's chief commissioners. Smythe was an original adventurer
(shareholder) of the Somers Isles Company on its formation in 1615, having and also served as Governor (in
England, with a Deputy Governor serving in the colony itself).
 Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 and James I became the king of England. He sent Captain William to the court
of Jahangir in 1608 to obtain royal favours who arrived India in the ship “Hector”.
 This ship was captured by Portuguese who tried to assert their rights on all the ports and trade. Hawkins
somehow escaped and reached Agra in 1609.
 As Hawkins knew the Turki language well, he conversed with the emperor in that language without the aid of
an interpreter. He developed close relations with Jahangir, who fondly called him English Khan.
 He persuaded the emperor to grant a commission for an English Factory at Surat but that permission was
withdrawn under pressure of Portuguese Viceroy.
 Hawkins tried to reverse the decision but the mission to establish a factory at Surat didn’t succeed due to
opposition from Portuguese.
 In 1611, Captain Henry Middleton was able to get permission to start a factory in Surat from the local Mughal
governors. But he needed to fight a battle with the Portuguese.
 Under him, the British defeated the Portuguese in 1611 in the Battle of Bombay. However, royal permission
was still needed to make the factory sustainable.
 Meanwhile the British established their 1st factory at Masulipatnam in 1611.
 Battle of Swally Hole 1612
 It was fought with the Portuguese in 1612. The Portuguese invaded the factory at Surat.
 Captain, Thomas Best, sank four Portuguese galleons off the Surat coast with his two ships, Red Dragon and
Hosiander. This marked the decline of portuguese.
 This impressed Jahangir who granted English permission to establish a factory at Surat under Thomas
Aldworth.
 The British established the 1st factory in the Mughal empire at Surat 1613.
 12

 In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe reached the Mughal court. Roe remained at Jahangir’s court from the end of 1615
till the end of 1618 and he succeeded in securing several privileges for the company, particularly the
permission to erect factories in many places (Agra, Ahmedabad and Baroch).
 Now they got farman to establish their factories in all parts of the Mughal empire. He was able to get a royal
order “Farman” to local authorities sanctioning English Trade at Surat at reasonable terms.
 With this Farman, the English Factory got legal authority and a permanent basis. A branch factory at
Masulipatnam was established after a few days.
 Conditions in the South were more favourable to them as they did not have to face a strong Indian government
there.
 They opened their first factory in the South at Masulipatnam (1611), Aramgaon (1626) , Amboyna Massacre
1623 (Indonesia).
 The Britishers were thrown out of Indonesia by the Dutch and now full focus was on expansion of commercial
activities in India.
 Sir Thomas Roe was successful in obtaining two farmans from the Mughal Court confirming free trade with
exemption from inland toll.
 Treaty between India and England was not possible as England was too small for this.
 The Amboyna massacre was the 1623 torture and execution on Ambon Island (present-day Ambon, Maluku,
Indonesia) of twenty men, including ten of whom were in the service of the English East India Company, and
Japanese and Portuguese traders, by agents of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), on accusations of
treason.
 It was the result of the intense rivalry between the East India companies of England and the United Provinces
in the spice trade and remained a source of tension between the two nations until late in the 17th century.

Important Internal Development:

 1625: Judicial Powers to the company by Britain.
 1661: The company was empowered to send ships of war with men and ammunition for the safety of its
positions overseas.
 1683: They could declare war and make peace and raise and maintain the Army.
 1680s: Their intention was to secure British dominion in India.

British Vs Aurangzeb:
 In 1688, English captured Hooghly and declared war with Aurangzeb but was defeated and soon came back
on humble treaties.
 Aurangzeb pardoned and took compensation of 1.5 Lakh.
 In 1632, Golden Farman were issued by Sultan of Golkonda allowing English to trade freely from the ports of
Golkonda with the right to trade in for a fixed customs duty.
 In 1633, the English moved east and started factories at Hariharpur in Mahanadi Delta and Balasore in Orissa.
 In 1639, Francis Day received permission to build a fortified factory at Madras received from the ruler of
Chandragiri.
 13

 It later became Fort St. George and replaced Masulipatnam as headquarters of the English settlement in south
India. It was the first territorial possession and was the first presidency. It was elevated to a Presidency, under
the leadership of the first president, Aaron Baker.
 In 1690, Britishers bought the fort Devanampattinam (Madras) and renamed it Fort St. David.
 In 1662, The Portuguese gave the island of Bombay to King Charles II of England as Dowry for marrying a
Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza. Gerald Aungier was the first governor. Bombay replaced Surat as
Headquarter in 1687.

Bengal:
 In 1651, Shah Shuja, the subedar of Bengal allowed English to trade in Bengal in return of annual payment of
Rs 3000. The British established factories at Hugli in 1651 and soon after at Kasimbazar, Rajmahal and Patna.
 In 1667, the English obtained the royal farman to trade in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
 In 1690 there was the establishment of a factory at Sutanati by Job Charnock. Fortified at 1696 (Fort William
named in 1700).
 In 1691, the Governor of Bengal gave the English Company Dastaks (Free trade passes) on the payment of a
fixed duty.
 In 1698, they also got Zamindari rights for Govindpur, Kalikata and Sutanati. This region later became
Calcutta.
 In 1700, the British established Fort William at Calcutta. It became the seat of eastern presidency with Sir
Charles Eyre as its first President.
 In 1714, an English mission led by John Surman to the court of Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar secured three
famous farmans in 1717 after the Emperor was cured of a painful disease by the English Surgeon William
Hamilton, giving the company many valuable privileges in Bengal, Gujrat and Hyderabad.
 The farmans were regarded as the Magna Carta of the company. The Nawabs of Bengal, however, showed
scant regard for the imperial farman.

Farman by Farukhsiyar:
 In 1717, Farrukhsiyar issued a farman giving the British East India Company the right to reside and trade in
the Mughal Empire.
 They were allowed to trade freely, except for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees. This was because William
Hamilton, a surgeon associated with the company cured Farrukhsiyar of a disease.
 The company was given the right to issue dastak (passes) for the movement of goods. But not for company
servants who were allowed to trade though and were supposed to pay the same taxes as Indian merchants.
 The farman allowed the British East-India company to carry out duty-free trade in the province of Bengal.
 In Hyderabad the company retained its privileges of freedom of duties. In Madras required to pay only existing
rent.
 In Surat, it was exempted from all dues for a payment of Rs 10,000.
 The Company’s coins minted at Bombay were to have currency throughout the Mughal Empire.
 The Company could rent more territory around Bombay.
 14

1744-64 - Anglo French Rivalry:

 1757 - Battle of Plassey: The British defeated Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud Daula and from this point the rise
of the British empire started.
 1759 - Battle of Bedara (West Bengal): The British defeated the Dutch.
 1760 - Battle of Wandiwash (Tamil Nadu): The British defeated the French.

Self-Study:
Danes (Denmark):
 The Danish EIC was established in 1616 and in 1620 they established a factory at Tranquebar (TN) and
Tanjore (TN).
 Their principal settlement was at Serampore, Calcutta.
 They were better known for their missionary activities rather than commerce.
 The then Danish colony include today's town of:
 Tharangambadi Tamil Nadu,
 Serampore West Bengal
 Nicobar Islands
 In 1755 founded a colony Fredericknagore (Serampore, Bengal) which was later occupied by English.
 After the mid-1770s Danes became weak and bankrupt and Serampore transferred to Danish Crown.
 Serampore is famous for the cultural and educational activities of missionaries.
 In 1845 Denmark ceded Serampore to Britain and ended Danish presence in Bengal.

Danish Architecture:
 The Danish fleet led by Ove Gjedde landed in Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) in 1620, after an almost 2
year expedition during which they sailed through England, Africa.
 Initially they settled at Masulipatnam.
 As Tranquebar was the Danish outpost
in India for over 200 years.
 Their town planning was laid out in
squares and canals.
 Some of the Danish architecture style
buildings are:
 Towngate and landporten
 The Danish Fort
 New Jerusalem Church
 15

Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg:
 Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg was the first Protestant missionary to land in India, sent as a royal missionary
by King Frederick IV, from the Kingdom of Denmark.
 They landed at Tranquebar 1707.
 They attended the local school, sat amongst the village children, and learnt Tamil. He set up a Tamil
seminary in 1707, and preached Christianity to the villagers.
 In 1711, he convinced the Martin Luther University at Halle to start scholarly study into the Tamil
language.
 In 1715, translated the Bible into Tamil and helped set up India's first printing press at Tranquebar, with
Tamil being the first Indian language to be printed.
 They championed the cause of women's education and for abolition of the caste system, and gained the
respect of the local people.
 They established the very first school for girls in India at Tranquebar in 1707.
 Between 1717 and 1718, he helped establish the New Jerusalem Church at Tranquebar for the use of the
native people, conducting services in Tamil.
 Ziegenbalg died on 23 February 1719, aged 37, and is buried in the New Jerusalem Church.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 05
Rise of East India
Company
 2

Rise of East India Company

JOB CHARNOCK AND CALCUTTA:

In News: Recently, an archaeological excavation in Kolkata has provided further evidence of
human habitation in the city from centuries before the time British administrator Job Charnock
was said to have founded the city.
About:
 Charnock worked for the East India Company.
 He was historically credited with founding the city in 1690 when the Company was
consolidating its trade business in Bengal.
 Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the area was under the rule of the Bengal Sultanate
of the Mughals.
Issue:
 The view about Charnock being the founder was challenged, and in 2003, Calcutta High
Court declared that Charnock ought not to be regarded as the founder.
 It ordered the government to purge his name from all textbooks and official documents
containing the history of the city’s founding.
 The court found that a “highly civilised society” and “an important trading centre” had
existed on the site long before Charnock established his settlement.
Historical references:
 The site is mentioned in Bipradas Pipilai’s Manasa Mangala (1495) and Abul Fazl’s Ain-
I-Akbari (1596).

French (1664-1760):
 The French established their 1st factory at Surat.
 The French headquarters was at Pondicherry.
 They develop their strong hold in South India.
 They also had a cordial relation with Mysore.
 3

Anglo French Rivalry:

 In 1742, Dupleix became French governor of India.
 During the period of 1744-63, Anglo French wars or Carnatic wars took place.
 In 1754, Dupleix was called back.
 In 1760, the decisive Battle of Wandiwash took place and French forces were defeated by the British.
 In 1763, The Treaty of Paris was signed, which returned Chandernagore and Pondicherry to France.
 The French were late in making an appearance on the Indian coasts. They were the last European to come to
India
 In 1664, the French East India Company was formed during the reign of Louis XIV by Colbert. It was
granted a 50-year monopoly to trade in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. The company was also granted
concession for the island of Madagascar.
 In 1667, the first French factory was set up in Surat with Francis caron as Director General.
 In 1669, another French factory came up in Masulipatnam.
 In 1673, French established a township at Chandannagar near Calcutta given by a Bengal ruler near Calcutta.
 In 1674, they founded Pondicherry on the Madras coast and soon became a flourishing settlement under
Francois Martin who had received it as a village from Bijapur Sher Khan Lodhi. It became the French
capital and other French settlements were Mahe, Karaikal and Yanaon, Balasore & Kasimbazar. Also, got
control over Mauritius & Reunion Island. But the European rivalries adversely influenced the position of the
French in India.
 In 1693 Dutch snatched Pondicherry but then restored it under Treaty of Ryswick.
 Anglo-French rivalry in India began with the outbreak of the Austrian war of succession (1740-48) and
ended with the conclusion of the Seven Years War (1756-63).
 After 1740, political motives began to overshadow the desire for commercial gain and Dupleix began to
cherish the ambition of a French Empire in India. As a result, for nearly 20 years from 1744 to 1763, a
conflict broke out between the French and the English, known as Carnatic Wars.
 British vs French: In 1742, Britain and France started fighting in Europe.
The first Carnatic war (1746-48)/Inconclusive:
 It was also called ‘Battle of St. Thome’. It was an extension
of the Anglo-French war in Europe which was caused by the
Austrian war of succession. Hostilities in 1746.
 Immediate Cause:
 The English Navy under Barnet seized some French
ships.
 France retaliated by seizing Madras in 1946 with the help
of a fleet from Mauritius under Admiral La
Bourdonnias (French Governor of Mauritius). Madras
besieged by land and sea.
 4

 On 21st September 1746 the city was captured and Robert Clive was taken as Prisoner of War.
 La Bourdonnais was bribed and tried to ransom the city.
 Dupleix recaptured Madras but could not capture Fort St. David.
 The French army was led by Dupleix.
 English also tried but failed to capture Pondicherry in October 1748.
 Nawab Anwar-ud-din of Carnatic fought from the side of English.
 A small French army defeated the large army of Nawab at St. Thome. This was an eye-opener for Europeans
as they realised that even a small disciplined army can defeat a much larger Indian army.
 The fight was between Captain Paradise and Mahfuz Khan, however, the Indian army lost.
 Anwar had asked the trade companies to maintain peace in the land and was told by Dupleix that Madras
would be surrendered to him after capturing. Dupleix took a U-turn.
 Result: Ended with the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle concluded in 1748 which brought the Austrian war of
succession to a conclusion. Madras was handed back to the English and French and in turn got territory in
North America.
The Second Carnatic War (1749-54):
 Dupleix wanted to increase his power and French Political influence in southern India.
 He interfered in local dynastic disputes to defeat English.
 Immediate Cause:
 Hyderabad:
 The death of Nizam-ul-Mulk (1748) provided an opportunity.
 The accession of Nasir Jung (Son of Nizam-ul-Mulk) to the throne of Hyderabad was opposed by
Muzaffar Jung, Grandson of Nawab.
 The French supported Muzaffar Jung, the English Supported Nasir Jung.
 Carnatic:
 The release of Chanda Sahib (Son in law of Dost Ali).
 The appointment of Anwar-ud-din as nawab resented Chanda Sahib.
 The French supported Chanda Sahib & English Anwar-uddin.
 The Carnatic region is the region of peninsular South India lying between the Eastern Ghats and the
Bay of Bengal in the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh.
Course of the War:
 The combined army of Muzaffar Jung, Chanda Sahib and the French, defeated and killed Anwar-ud-din at
the Battle of Ambur in 1749.
 Muzaffar Jung became the Subedar of Deccan and granted Pondicherry and Masulipatnam to the French.
Also, surrendered some districts in Northern Circars to the French.
 Dupleix became the governor of Mughal territories to the south of River Krishna.
 5

 The French army under Bussy was stationed at Hyderabad.

 Robert Clive (then an agent of English East India Company) with 210 men attacked Arcot (Capital of
Carnatic).
 Chanda Sahib rushed with 4000 men to get it back but failed even after 53 days seize.
 Robert Clive basically wanted to drive Chanda Sahib’s army from Trichinopoly.
 Then Mysore, Tanjore and Maratha Chief Morari Rao came to the aid of Trichinopoly and Robert Clive.
 Trichinopoly was relieved of its seizure and General Law of France and Chanda Sahib remained cooped in
the island of Srirangam.
 General Law of France and Chanda Sahib were forced to surrender. Chanda Sahib was executed.
 English under Robert Clive who captured Arcot so as to support Muhammad Ali (son of late Nawab) in
defeating the French.
 Dupleix was called back and replaced by Godehu.
Result:
 The Second Carnatic War took place between 1749-54 and concluded with the Treaty of Pondicherry
concluded by the French Governor Godeheu in 1755.
 As per the treaty both companies agreed to stay away from quarrel on Indian princely states.
 As a result of this war, the influences of the British increased in Carnatic as well as in Hyderabad as
Muhammed Ali and Salbat Jung, respectively were well disposed towards the British.
 Once again due to the outbreak of the seven years’ war in Europe, hostilities took the shape of a Third
Carnatic war between the British and the French.
 The French wanted to revive their influence again but ultimately the fate of the French was sealed and they
were made to give up their ambitious desire for political power.
 The Carnatic wars ended in the resounding victory of the British, which ultimately resulted in the
establishment of British hegemony in India.
Third Carnatic War:
 Seven years’ war started in Europe. Britain and France were on the opposite side.
 In 1758, the French army under Count de Lally captured the English fort of St David and Vizianagaram. This
offended English.
 In the Battle of Wandiwash,1760, the English won. General Eyre Coote of the English defeated the French
army under Count Thomas Arthur de Lally. Lally gallantly defended Pondicherry for 8 months but
ultimately surrendered in Jan,1761.
 France also lost Jinji and Mahe and French power in India reduced to its lowest.
 Treaty of Peace of Paris (1763) restored French factories in India but French political influence totally
disappeared from India. It was decided once for all that English not French were to become master of India.
 Note:
 Natives served in both the British and French army as sepoys.
 English gained greater control after the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
 6

What led to English success and French failure?

 As the English East India Company was a private enterprise, it could take instant decisions without waiting
for the government's approval.
 The French company on the other hand were government owned which slowed down the decision making.
 The English Navy being superior was able to cut down vital links between India and France.
 English held important places like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, whereas French had only Pondicherry.
 The French Subordinated their commercial interest to territorial ambition which made the French company
short of funds. The British never neglected their commercial interest.
 English had many superior commanders like Robert Clive, Sir Eyre Coote, Major Strigner Lawrence, while
French had only Dupleix.
Why did English Won and other European lost Powers?
 Ownership of the Company: English EIC was privately owned and controlled by a board of Directors.
While French and Portugal EIC were largely owned by the states (>60%). The shareholders of the French
and Portugal EIC took little interest in promoting prosperity of the company as they were guaranteed a
dividend by the state.
 Naval Superiority: Britain had not only the largest but the most advanced navy of its time.
 Industrial Revolution (IR): The IR started early in England and reached other European countries late. This
helped England to maintain its hegemony.
 Military skills and Discipline: The British soldiers were disciplined, equipped with technological
developments. Also, it had able commanders who used new tactics in warfare.
 Stable Government: Britain had a stable Government and an efficient monarch. The other European powers
like France, Portugal and Dutch saw many political turmoils in their home state from time to time which
hurled their operation outside.
 Lesser Zeal for Religion: Britain was less interested in spreading Christianity as compared to France and
Portugal. This made their rule more acceptable.
 Use of Debt Market: Britain made significant use of the debt market to fund its war. The Bank of England
sold the government's debt to the money market on the promise of a decent return on Britain defeating rival
countries like France and Spain. Britain was thus able to spend much more on its military as compared to its
rivals.
Marakkar:
 When the hereditary chiefs of the navy of Zamorins, the royals of Calicut (Kozhikode) in 12th through 18th
century, faced Vasco de Gama and his men as rivals in trade followed by grave battles leading to bloodshed,
a rich Muslim marine merchant, Ismail Marakkar helped the Zamorin and gave his seamen to fight
against the Portuguese in several battles between AD 1500 and AD 1600.
 Kunjali Marakkar I (1520 – 1531), Kunjali Marakkar II (1531 – 1571), Kunjali Marakkar III (1571 – 1595)
and Kunjali Marakkar IV (1595 – 1600) had fought eighty years of relentless war against the Portuguese.
 They had no warships, cannons and technology to match the Portuguese; instead had brilliant war strategies,
qualities to lead the pack and excelled at guerrilla warfare at sea.
 7

 Some of the family members of Kunjali Marakkar who were engaged in trade had moved to the coastal
regions of Tamil Nadu.
 At Madhavan Kurichi, a small village in Thoothukkudi,
Tamil Nadu there is a Perumal temple with a painted image
of a ship and the legendary Kunjali is worshipped here.
 According to historical records, the honorific title of
‘Kunjali’ was bestowed by the Zamorin on the Commandants
of his Naval force in recognition of their prowess in maritime
warfare.
 The peace treaty, the Zamorin signed with the Portuguese in
1528 that allowed them to build a fort at Ponnani, which was
a strategic position. This was the first instance when the
relation between the Zamorin and the Muslim seamen turned
sour. This was a major turn in Kunjali Marakkar history.
 Kunjali-IV gained popularity not only among his people but he assisted other enemies of the Portuguese like
the Rani of Ullal and Sultan of Bijapur.
 In 1598, the Portuguese convinced the Zamorin that Marakkar IV intended to take over his Kingdom to
create a Muslim empire. In an act of betrayal, the Zamorin joined hands with the Portuguese who brutally
killed him.
 A museum dedicated to Kunjali Marakkars has been built in Thiruvananthapuram.

For Self Study:

Dutch (1605 - 1759):
 The first assault upon the Portuguese monopoly for Eastern trade came
from the Dutch (Netherland).
 The Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602.
 To protect that state’s trade in the Indian Ocean.
 To assist in the Dutch war of independence from Spain.
 The company prospered through most of the 17th century as the
instrument of the powerful Dutch commercial empire in the East Indies
(present-day Indonesia).
 It was dissolved in 1799.
 Trade monopoly in the waters between the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and the Straits of
Magellan between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
 It was empowered to carry on war, conclude treaties, possess territories and build fortresses.
 In 1605, the Dutch Captured Amboyna (Indonesia) from the Portuguese and gradually established their
influence in the Spice Islands.
 In 1605, they established their Factory at Masulipatnam.
 Initially their Headquarter was at Pulicat later shifted to Nagapattinam.
 8

 They were looking for textiles to exchange with the spices they traded in the East Indies
 Nagapatam in Madras and Chinsura in Bengal were their principal strongholds.
 But soon their Indian possessions were eventually conquered by the English.
 Their other principal factories in India were at Surat, Bimlipatam, Karaikal, Chinsura, Baaranagar,
Kasimbazar, Balasore, Patna and Cochin.
 The Dutch replaced Portuguese.

Battle of Colachel:
 Battle of Colachel in which the Dutch were defeated by the army of Marthandavarma, Maharaja
of Travancore.
 De Lannoy was a Dutch official who was captured in this battle and made great contributions to
the Travancore army.

 They tried their hands on the minting of coinages. As their trade

flourished, they established mints at Cochin, Masulipatnam,
Nagapatam Pondicherry and Pulicat.
 The coins issued by the Dutch were all modelled on the local
coinages.
 Hortus Malabaricus, the first treatise on medicinal plants in
Kerala, was compiled by Hendrik Van Rheede.

Features of Dutch Trading:

 Monopolised the business of black pepper and
spices.
 Dutch trade in India: Silk, cotton, Indigo, Rice,
Opium, Saltpeter
 The Cartel system existing in Europe led to
expansion of trade.
 Textile trade was highly popular.
 Dutch East India company was the first company to
issue shares.
Note: The Dutch were not interested in building an empire
in India. Their main concern was profitable trade.
 9

Dutch Governor Generals:

Anthony Van Diemen:
 He was the Governor-general (1636-1645), of Dutch East Indies.
 He died in 1648.
 Dutch power was established in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) via Trincomalee.
 1638 van Diemen intensified the Dutch attack on Portuguese holdings in Asia with an invasion of Ceylon
(Sri Lanka).
 By 1644 the Dutch had conquered Ceylon’s cinnamon-producing areas and had established posts on India’s
Coromandel Coast.
 He was also associated with Discovery of Tasmania.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen:
 He was the Governor-general (1617-1629), of Dutch East Indies.
 He died on September 21, 1629 (aged 42) Jakarta Indonesia.
 He was known for founding Batavia.
 He played a major role in the Amboina Massacre.
 Shortly after his departure from Batavia, a few Englishmen in Amboina, suspected of complicity in a plot to
take over the Dutch settlement, were questioned, tortured, and sentenced to death by the Dutch. This was
considered murder in England, and Coen was held morally responsible.
 Coen was temporarily forbidden to return to the Indies.
 He went back for the last time in 1627, travelling incognito.
British - Dutch Conflict:
March 1620 that the Dutch and English trading companies had reached an agreement in London: each would let
the other engage in trading activities in the existing settlements, without interference, and a joint fleet would be
outfitted against common enemies.
 Amboina massacre - In 1623 the conflict of Aboyna in which Dutch massacred ten Englishmen and nine
japanese
 In 1667, Fierce Battle between English and Dutch led to an agreement by which the British agreed to
withdraw all their claims from Indonesia and the Dutch retired from India and focused more on Indonesia.
(Not entirely)
 The Anglo Dutch war broke out and it lasted for two years 1672-74.
 As a result, the Surat and Bombay got disconnected
 In 1759, the Dutch were defeated by the English in the decisive Battle of Bedara (Bengal) ended Dutch
power in India.
 Dutch presence on the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1605 to 1825.
 10

 Dutch India was divided into:

1. Governorates:
 Dutch Ceylon
 Dutch Coromandel
2. Commandment - Dutch Malabar
3. Directorates:
 Dutch Bengal
 Dutch Suratte.
 In the second half of the eighteenth century the Dutch lost their influence.
 By the end of the 18th century, the company became corrupt and seriously in debt. The Dutch government
eventually revoked the company’s charter and in 1799 took over its debts and possessions.
Dutch Coromandel:
 It was a governorate of the Dutch East India Company from 1610, until the company's liquidation in 1798.
 Dutch presence in the region began with the capture of
Pulicat from the Portuguese.
 Coromandel remained a colony of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands until 1825, when it was relinquished to the
British according to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824.
 Masulipatnam Factory [1605 - 1756] was the first Dutch
factory on the Coromandel Coast of India and abandoned in
1756.
 Nizampatnam Factory [1606 - 1668] was the second
Dutch factory on the Coromandel Coast and abandoned in
1668.
 Fort Geldria (Pulicat) and factory (1613 - 1825):
 After having been granted permission to establish a
factory in Pulicat in 1608, the local ruler allowed the
Dutch to build a fort in 1613.
 It was the source for the supply of cotton for the Dutch.
 It remained the principal Dutch fort on the Coromandel
Coast until 1690, when the headquarters changed to
Nagapattinam.
 In 1694, large portions of the artillery were shipped to
Nagapattinam
 After the latter's loss to the British in 1781, Fort Geldria was reinstated as the capital of the colony.
 In 1804, Fort Geldria was blown up by British forces.
 11

Pondicherry:
 The history of Puducherry can broadly be classified in two periods- Pre-Colonial period and Colonial Period.
 Pre-Colonial Period:
 The Pre-Colonial period started with the reign of the Pallavas who continued to rule the empire
from 325 A.D. – 900 A.D., then came the Chola dynasty for the time period from 900 A.D. –
1279 A.D., continued by Pandya Dynasty from 1279 A.D. -1370 A.D.
 During 14th Century, it was under the rule of the Naikship of Gingee denoting the Vijayanagar
Empire from 1370 A.D. – 1614 A.D which was conquered by the Sultan of Bijapur and he
continued for the phase from 1614 A.D. - 1638 A.D.
 It was during the period of the Sultan when the Portuguese and Danish merchants used the place
as the trading center.
 Colonial Period:
 The colonial period started with the Portuguese as they were the first Europeans to trade in textile
in 1521 and subsequently with the Dutch and the Danes in the 17th century.
 Portuguese established a factory in Puducherry at the beginning of 16th c, but were compelled to leave a
century later by the ruler of Gingee, who found them unfriendly.
 After that the Danes shortly set up an establishment in Puducherry.
 Then Dutch who had also set up trading posts in Porto Novo and Cuddalore.
 The French, who had trading centres in the North, Mahe and Madras were invited to open a trading centre in
Puducherry by the new ruler of Gingee to compete with the Dutch.
 During the Nine Years' War, the Dutch East India Company laid siege to the French fort of Pondicherry in
1693, whose commander Francois Martin surrendered on 6 September of the same year. Pondicherry was
restored to French rule in 1699, owing to the provisions of the Treaty of Ryswick.
 In spite of a treaty between the English and French not to interfere in local politics, the intrigues continued.
Subsequently France sent Lally Tollendal to regain the French losses and chase the English out of India.
After an initial success they razed Fort St. David in Cuddalore to the ground, but strategic mistakes by Lally
led to the loss of the Hyderabad region and the siege of Puducherry in 1760. In 1761 Puducherry was razed
to the ground in revenge and lay in ruins for 4 years.
 In 1765 the town was returned to France after a peace treaty with England in Europe.
 In the next 50 years Puducherry changed hands between France and England with wars and peace treaties.
 On November 1, 1954, the French possessions in India were de facto transferred to the Indian Union and
Puducherry became a Union Territory and finally ratified in 1962.
Dutch Malabar:
 Also known by the name of its main settlement Cochin.
 The battle between the Dutch and the Portuguese started in December 1661.
 1661 and 1795 - started with the capture of Portuguese Quilon, and ended with the conquest of Malabar by
the British in 1795.

 12

 They had military outposts in 11 locations: Alleppey, Ayacotta, Chendamangalam, Pappinivattom,

Ponnani, Pallipuram, Cranganore, Chetwai, Cannanore, Cochin (7 January 1663 – 1795), and Quilon.
 The Kingdom of Cochin was an ally of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch enlarged the Royal Palace
built by the Portuguese at Mattancheri for the King of Cochin, which from then on became known as the
"Dutch Palace''.
 In 1744, an impressive palace later called Bolgatty Palace, was erected on Bolghatty Island for the Dutch
Governors.
 The Dutch contributed a monumental work called Hortus Indicus Malabaricus on the medicinal properties of
Malabar plants.
 In Cochin, the Dutch established an orphanage for poor European children and a leper asylum on Vypin.


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 06
Rise of East India
Company - II
 2

Rise of East India Company – II

Columbian Exchange:
 The terms Old World and New World are used in reference
to the Age of Exploration.
 The Old World refers to Europe, Africa, and Asia, while the
New World refers to North America, South America, and the
Caribbean.
 This system of naming these two different “worlds” is largely
Eurocentric.
 The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian
interchange, named for Christopher Columbus, was the
widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human
populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the
Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th
centuries.
 It also relates to European colonisation and trade following
Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage. Invasive species,
including communicable diseases, were a by-product of the
Exchange.
 Old World to New World: Coffee, wheat, cotton, barley,
rice, sugarcane and sugar beet, etc.
 New World to Old World: Avocado, cashew, cocoa bean,
potato, maize, rubber, tobacco, etc.
Imperialism:
 Imperialism is a political system in which a rich and powerful country controls other countries (colonies)
which are not as rich and powerful as itself while colonialism is the practice by which a powerful country
controls another country or countries, in order to become richer.
Britain’s Imperialism and White Man’s Burden:
 The imperial history of Britain starts with the conquest of Ireland in the 16th Century.
 The English emerged as the ‘New Romans’ conquesting territories one after the other.
 The English considered it as a ‘White Man’s Burden’.
 3

British Conquest: Accidental or Intentional?

Accidental
 A school of historians led by John Seeley believes
that the British conquest of India was totally
unintentional and accidental.
 It believes that the English were unwillingly
drawn into the political turmoil created by 
Indians themselves.
Intentional
 The other group of historians believe that the
British came to India with a clear intention of
establishing a large and powerful empire and
they worked on it bit by bit over the years.

 However, both the opinions are somewhat overstated.

 Initially, perhaps, the company started acquiring territories just to promote and protect their trade interests.
This happened when they realised how easily they could pit one ruler against the other and in the process
acquire new territories.
 But later on, the British Government in England and their administrators in India worked on a clear-cut plan
to acquire territories and establish an empire.
 A desire for quick profits, personal ambitions of individuals, plain avarice and effect of political
development in Europe were some of the factors which made Britishers to increase their political clout in
India.
 Sometimes the British waged wars to protect their commercial interest and at other times to protect their
Indian allies from potential rivals.
Bengal:
 Bengal had the designation of being the richest province of the Mughal Empire.
 Area: Its area included present day West Bengal, and Bangladesh. The authority of Nawab of Bengal
extended to present-day Bihar and Orissa.
 Trade:
 Bengal used to export many products to European markets including saltpetre, rice, Indigo, pepper,
sugar, silk, cotton, textile, handicrafts,
etc.
 Bengal’s commercial interest can be
realised from the fact that nearly 60%
of the British imports from Asia
consisted of goods from Bengal.
 The English East India Company was
allowed to trade freely in Bengal with
an annual sum of Rs 3000/annum
being paid to the Mughals. However,
the value of goods exported by them
was more than Rs 50,000.
 4

English & Bengal:

 English trade in Bengal started with the establishment of factories in Balasore, Hooghly, Kasimbazar,
Patna and Dacca.
 Commercial settlement of Britishers in Bengal began in the 1690s with the foundation of Calcutta.
 Note: When the rest of India was engulfed in inter border disputes, Maratha invasion, Jat revolt, Nadir Shah
and Ahmed Shah Abdali invasion, Bengal was at peace which contributed its prosperity.
 Murshid Quli Khan was appointed Dewan of Bengal in 1700 and founded a new dynasty of Nawabs in
Bengal during the weak rule of Aurangzeb’s successors.
 Later, in 1713 Murshid Quli Khan was appointed by Farrukhsiyar as Governor of Bengal and founded the
independent state.
 In 1719 he was added to Orissa to the charge.
 He monitored foreign trade, and was a capable administrator.
 During his time period trade and commerce flourished in Bengal.
 In 1727, Shuja ud din succeeded (son in law of Murshid).
 In 1733, Bihar was added to the governorship by Rangeela.
 In 1739 he died and was succeeded by his son Sarfaraz Khan.
 In 1740, Alivardi Khan (Dy governor of Bihar), rebelled and killed Sarfaraz and seized power. Also, sent
2 Cr rupees to the Mughal emperor to get his consent.
 In 1746, the emperor asked him for money but he gave no heed.
 Thus, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa were virtually independent, troubled by frequent Maratha raids and thus
created solid defence for the same.
 Murshid Quli Khan’s successor, Alivardi Khan proved a strong and capable ruler, who asserted complete
independence. He was a sworn enemy of the Europeans but the embarrassing activities of the Marathas
forced him to sign a treaty with them whereby:
 He handed over a part of Orissa
 Promised a chauth of 12 lakhs a year.
 Alivardi Khan died in 1756. He had no male heir and he had designated his favourite grandson Siraj-ud-
daula as his successor.
Siraj-ud-Daulah (1756-57):
 Challenges before Siraj-ud-Daulah:
 He had faced many troubles:
 Shaukat Jang: He was the cousin of Siraj and Nawab of Purnea.
 Ghasiti Begum: Hostile aunt of Siraj.
 5

 Mir Jafar: A rebellious commander, husband of Alivardi Khan’s sister, alarmed (Hindu) subject
population.
 Jagat Seth, Omichand, Rai Ballabh, Rai Durlabh and others opposed him.
 He defeated Shaukat Jang and killed him in a battle.
 Siraj also developed a strong contempt for the English because:
 English Fortifications in Calcutta.
 Misuse of Dastaks by the English.
 Company gave asylum to a political fugitive Krishna Das, son of Raj Ballabh and fled with treasures.
 The British assumed that the Nawab would be under French’s influence.
 He seized the English factory at Kasimbazar, marched upon Calcutta and captured it.
 Black Hole incident of Calcutta (Kolkata) describes how British prisoners were held captive by the
army of the Nawab of Bengal, for one night, in the 'black hole' of Fort William in Calcutta. The total
number of prisoners locked in the black hole was probably 146, of whom 23 came out alive.
 Madras authorities dispatched a naval force under Admiral Watson and a land force under Robert Clive.
 He recaptured Calcutta by the Treaty of Alinagar (Feb, 1757) which was concluded between the English
and Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah.
 Then Clive chose to fight the Nawab with the weapon of political conspiracy. Clive arranged a conspiracy in
which Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh Jagat Seth and Omi Chand joined.
 Clive was now in search of a pretext to make war. He charged the Nawab with violating the treaty of
Alinagar and led an expedition against him.
Battle of Plassey:
 The Fight:
 On June 23, 1757, Battle of Plassey was fought. It was a mere Skirmish.
 Mir Jafar was offered the position of nawab who would help the company in lieu of its services. Due to
this, the English had won the battle even before it was fought.
 Siraj-ud-Daulah was murdered by Mir Jafar’s son Miran.
 Mir Jafar became the Nawab of Bengal.
 He was offered a large sum of money to the company along with the zamindari of 24 parganas.
Significance of the Battle of Plassey:
 It laid the foundation of the British Empire in India and established the supremacy of the English Military in
Bengal.
 English's main rival French was ousted.
 English got grants of territories. The revenue from them helped them to further strengthen their military.
 English sovereignty over Calcutta was recognised.
 The English put their resident at the court of Nawab to better control his affairs.
 6

 The English got the Zamindari of 24 parganas.

 The English demanded compensation from Nawab for losses.
 English became a major contender of the Indian empire Drain of wealth started.
Removal of Mir Jafar:
 Mir Jafar was removed and Mir Qasim became Nawab of Bengal.
 The continuous interference from Clive upset Mir Jafar.
 He entered into a conspiracy with the Dutch at Chinsurah.
 But the Dutch faced defeat at the hands of the English in the Battle of Bedara 1759, so the conspiracy got
foiled. Enraged by Mir Jafar, the Company pressured him to resign.
 Mir Qasim, the son in law of Mir Jafar, and Miran’s son was supported by Vansittart.
The Treaty of 1760:
 The English East India Company signed the Treaty of 1760 with Mir Qasim and was made as the new
Nawab of Bengal.
 Important features of the treaty were as follows:
 By this treaty Mir Qasim gave districts of Burdwan, Midnapur and Chittagong to the British along with
the half of the share in the chunam trade of Sylhet.
 Mir Qasim also agreed to pay off the outstanding dues to the Company and gave five lakh rupees
towards war efforts.
 They had the same enemies and friends.
 Mir Jafar resigned with a pension of 1500.
Mir Qasim:
 Mir Qasim was a ruler of considerable administrative ability.
 He got his forces trained after the modern lines.
 He dismissed the incompetent and corrupt generals.
 He recruited new troops for the army.
 A 16,000 strong Mughal-styled cavalry was formed.
 A European-styled 25,000 strong infantry was formed.
 He set up a new intelligence network.
 He established factories for the manufacture of guns at Monghyr (near Patna).
 He shifted his capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr.
 Soon, because of the conflict for sovereign power, misuse of dastaks and the abolition of all duties on
internal trade by Nawab, clashes with the company started.
 Mir Jafar was brought back on the throne in 1763.
 7

Oudh:
Nawab Reign
Saadat Ali Khan I 1722 – 19th March 1739
Muhammad Muqim 1739 – 5th October 1754
Jalal-ud-din Haider Abul Mansur Khan 1754 – 26th January 1775
Muhammad Yahya Mirza Amani 26th January 1775 – 20th April 1797
Wazir Ali Khan 21st September 1797 – 21st January 1798
Saadat Ali Khan II 21st January 1798 – 11th July 1814
Ghazi-ud-din Haider 11th July 1814 – 19th October 1827
Nasir-ud-din Haider Shah 19th October 1827 – 7th July 1837
Muhammad Ali Shah 7th July 1837 – 7th May 1842
Amjad Ali Shah 7th May 1842 – 13th February 1847
Wajid Ali Shah 13th February 1847 – 11th February 1856
Begum Hazrat Mahal 11th February 1856 – 5th July 1857
Wife of Wajid Ali Shah and mother of Birjis Qadra.
Birjis Qadr 5th July 1857 – 3rd March 1858 (in rebellion)
 8

Saadat Khan Burhan Ul Mulk (1722 – 39):

 He helped Rangeela against Sayyid brothers.
 In 1720-22, he was appointed as Governor of Agra. He administered it through his deputy Nilkanth Nagar.
 Rangeela appointed him as governor of Oudh to drive him out of the capital.
 He converted Oudh into an independent kingdom.
 In 1739, he was called to Delhi to assist against Nadir Shah.
 He fought bravely at Karnal but was taken prisoner for his conspiracy. (He induced Nadir to invade Delhi but
at Delhi Nadir asked for 20CR. He was helpless and committed suicide.
 As he had no son so his son in law and nephew, Safdar Jang, succeeded him at Oudh. Mohd Shah issued
firman accepting it.
 In 1748, Mughal Ahmed Shah appointed Safdar as his Wazir.
 So, now the successors were called Nawab-Wazirs.
Shuja-ud-Daulah (1754 – 75):
 He fought along with Shah Alam II and Mir Qasim at the Battle of Buxar 1764 against the British.
 He lost Allahabad and Kara and made a defence treaty with the British 1765.
The Battle of Buxar - Prelude to the Battle:
 There was an open defiance of Qasim's authority by Ram Narayan.
 Misuse of Dastaks by the English:
 Local merchants faced unequal competition.
 The British sold their product to local merchants.
 The Company officials engaged in private trade.
 The coercive methods to get goods at cheaper rates.
 The Nawab-Company tussled over transit duty that led to wars.
 Mir Kasim fled to Awadh and formed a confederacy with a view to recover Bengal.
 Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daulah
 Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II
The Battle:
 Mir Qasim asked Shuja (1754-75) to help to which he agreed.
 A battle was fought in 1764 and the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula and Shah Alam-II were
defeated by Major Munro at Buxar.
 Oudh became dependent on the company.
 The British became de facto rulers of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (Bengal Subah).
 The most important aspect of the battle was that the British defeated not only the Nawab of Bengal but also
the Emperor of India.
 9

 On the other hand, Mir Jafar, handed over the districts like Midnapore, Burdwan and Chittagong to the
English.
 It led to the duty-free trade in Bengal, except for a duty of 2 per cent on salt.
 After Mir Jafar’s death, his son Nazam -ud-Daulah was made Nawab.
 But real power vested with Naib Subedars who could be appointed by English.
Return of Clive (1765 – 67):
 Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 12th August 1765:
 Between the Mughal Shah Alam II and Robert Clive.
 Marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of British rule in India.
Terms of the Agreement:
Oudh:
 Nawab surrendered Allahabad and Kara to Shah Alam.
 He agreed to pay 50 lakh war indemnity to the company.
 The Company promised to support the Nawab against an
outside attack provided he paid for services of the troops.
 He confirmed Balwant Singh, Zamindar of Banaras,
possession of his full state.
Shah Alam II:
 The Mughal emperor Shah Alam handed over the Treaty of
Allahabad to Robert Clive which transferred tax collecting
rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (Bengal Subah) to the East India Company.
 The fugitive Shah Alam was taken under protection and was to reside at Allahabad.
 He was assigned to Allahabad and Kara.
 He had to issue firman granting Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to Britishers.
 In return would pay 26 lakhs annually and will be providing for the expenses of Nizamath of these provinces.
 Mughals had two main officers:
 Subahdar: He used to handle Nizamat i.e., defence, police, criminal justice.
 Diwan: He was the Chief Financial Officer was revenue incharge and civil justices.
 He did not annex Oudh and made it a buffer state against Afghans (Ahmad Shah Abdali) and Marathas.
 Also, Shuja-ud-Daulah became a grateful ally.
Bengal:
 The Dual system (Company and Nawab).
 The Company acquired real power by this system.
 The Diwani by the Mughal emperor was given to them.
 10

 They appointed deputy diwans for collection:

 Mohd Reza Khan for Bengal
 Raja Shitab Roy for Bihar
 Earlier they already took Nizamat functions from Nawab Nazm ud Daula.
 Responsibility of administration rested on the shoulders of Nawab of Bengal.
 The system proved the administrative breakdown and proved disastrous for the common people.
 Nawab, who was the nominee of the company and an English resident posted at the Durbar and used to
decide every matter of significance in the arrangement (Dual Government) a fatal divorce of power from
responsibility was inherent which led to most of the scandals and abuses speedily to their appearances.

 Finally in 1772, Warren Hastings abolished the system.

Clive's justification of Dual System:
 The open assumption of authority might unite other Indian princes against the English East India Company.
 Whether French, Dutch and Danes would acknowledge their subahship was doubtful and if they will pay
duty to them.
 Might create issues in Europe where France, Holland, Portugal or Sweden may create a united front against
Britishers.
 The adequate number of civil servants was missing.
 Court of Directors were not interested in territories but the commerce and finance
 The British Parliament might interfere if assumed authority.
Evil effects of the Dual System:
 It led to the administrative breakdown.
 It was also a major reason for the decline of agriculture during this time.
 It disrupted trade and commerce.
 It ruined the indigenous Industry and skills.
 There was an abrupt moral degradation.
 11

 The abuses of private trade reached its peak.

 The Indian administrators were open to illegitimate pressure
 There was a gross oppression of the peasantry.
 There was also an ongoing demand of the company for increasing the revenue.
 The merchants and weavers were forced to work for the English East India Company at far below the market
rates.
 It also seized by force textiles made for their rivals.
 The recalcitrant merchants were caned, jailed, or publicly humiliated.
Governor General of Bengal:
 Warren Hastings (1772-1785)
 John Macpherson (acting)
 Charles Cornwallis (1786-1893)
 John Shore (1793-1798)
 Alured Clarke (acting)
 Richard Wellesley (1798-1805)
 The Marquess Cornwallis (1805)
 Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting)
 The Lord Minto (1807-1813)
 Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1813-1823)
 John Adam (acting)
 The Lord Amherst (1823-1828)
 William Butterworth Bayley (acting)
 Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)
 Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting)
 The Lord Auckland (1836-42)
 The Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)
 William Wilberforce Bird (acting)
 Henry Hardinge (1844-48)
 The Earl of Dalhousie (1848-56)
 The Viscount Canning (1856-58)
 12

Nizam ul Mulk Asaf Jah of Hyderabad (1724 – 48):

 His real name was Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi.
 He got the title of Chin Qilich Khan by Aurangzeb.
 The Nizam-ul-Mulk title was awarded by Farrukhsiyar in 1713.
 Asaf Jah was awarded by Muhammad Shah in 1725.
 He was annoyed with Mughals.
 He marched to Deccan and found the state of Hyderabad.
 He was the founder of the Asaf Jaiah house of Hyderabad.
 He recognised Mughals sovereignty.
 In 1708, Zulfikar Khan conceived the plan of an independent deccan state, obtained the viceroyalty and
placed Daud Khan as deputy.
 In 1713, Zulfikar died. Kilich Khan got the viceroyalty of Deccan.
 In 1715, Hussain Ali (Sayyid bro) replaced him.
 In 1720, Hussain was assassinated. Kilich Khan reappointed as Subahdar of Deccan.
 In 1722, he became wazir at Delhi and added Malwa and Gujarat to the viceroyalty of Deccan.
 In 1723, he got frustrated with Rangeela and left for Deccan on the pretext of hunting.
 Muhammad Shah sent Mubraiz Khan as Viceroy of Deccan with the task to get Nizam dead or alive but he
failed.
 In 1724, he fought the Battle of Shaker Kheda, where Mubariz got
killed.
 In 1725, Muhammad left with no option but to confer viceroyalty of
Deccan to Nizam and conferred the title Asaf Jah.
 He was troubled by Marathas but cleverly diverted them to North India
(Baji Rao).
 He defended the Mughal empire on several occasions.
 He fought against Baji Rao and was defeated at Bhopal in 1737.
 He also fought against Nadir Shah at Karnal in 1739.
 He was a diplomat, benevolent ruler, established peace and order in the
Deccan, promoted agriculture and industry.


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 07
Rise of East India Company III
 2

Rise of East India Company III

Mysore:
 After the disintegration of Vijaynagar into several small Kingdoms, Wodeyar emerged as a Hindu kingdom of
Mysore in 1612.
 Chikka Krishna Wodeyar ruled from 1734-66.
 Mysore saw its emergence as a formidable state under the leadership of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan.
Haider Ali (1761 – 1782):
 He started his career as a horseman in the Mysore Army under Ministers Ninjaraj and Devraj.
 The repeated intrusion of Maratha and Nizam troops had made Mysore financially and politically weak.
 He received the title of “Fateh Haider Bahadur” or “the brave and victorious Lion”.
Emergence of Wodeyar Dynasty and Haider Ali:
 The emergence of Mysore required the leadership of someone with a high degree of military power and first-
rate diplomatic skill. This leadership was provided by Haider Ali.
 By 1761, he had become the de-facto ruler of Mysore.
 He raised quick cavalry and effective artillery with superior firearms in order to counter the intrusion of
Marathas and Nizam.
 With the help of the French, he set up an Arms factory at Dundigal and reorganised his troops on European
lines.
 He raided Maratha several times during 1774-76 after Madhavrao death and recovered all the territory he had
lost previously.
Rise of Haider Ali:
 Haider Ali had great diplomatic skill to outmanoeuvre his opponents.
 With his superior military skill, he captured Dod Ballapur, Sera, Bednar, and Hoskote.
 Marathas attacked Mysore and defeated Haidar Ali in 1764, 1766, and 1771.
 To buy peace, Haidar Ali had to give them large sums of money.
 The immediate cause for the British intervention was primarily the apprehension of the commercial loss in the
spice trade of Malabar due to the control of Haidar Ali over Malabar and a possible threat to the control of
Madras under the British.
 Further, the French alliance with Mysore hastened the British to follow and implement a more aggressive
expansionist policy in Mysore.
 Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan fought four wars:
1. The first Anglo-Mysore war (1767-69)
2. The second Anglo-Mysore war (1780-1784)
3. The third Anglo-Mysore war (1790-92) and
4. The fourth Anglo-Mysore war (1799)
 3

First Anglo-Mysore war (1767 – 69):

 The main causes of the First Anglo-Mysore war were Spice trade, Haider’s alliance with France and Haider's
ambition to drive the British away from the Carnatic and finally from India and the British realisation of the
threat posed to them by Haider.
 Haider fought against the combined forces of British, Nizam and Marathas.
 Haider succeeded in breaking the alliance and declaration of war on the British and eventually defeated the
British.
 As a result of it the panic-stricken Madras government concluded the humiliating Treaty of Madras in
1769 in which:
 Mutual restitution of each other's territories
 Defensive alliance to be formed and Prison of War exchange.
 Committing the English to help Haider Ali in case he was attacked by another power.
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780 – 84):
 What led to the Second Mysore war?
 In 1771, Mysore was attacked by Marathas. English didn’t aid Mysore.
 In 1772, Madhav Rao died, Haider Ali raided Maratha several times during 1774-76 and recovered all the
territory he had lost previously.
 Haider Ali accused English of the breach of the Treaty of Madras and realised that French was more
helpful in meeting his army’s need for guns, saltpetre and lead.
 Through Mahe (a French possession on Malabar Coast) some war material was brought for Mysore.
 At the same time American War of Independence (1775-83) was where the French fought the English
and it eventually increased the closeness between Mysore and French in this part of the world, this was a
cause of concern to the English.
 The English therefore tried to capture Mahe.
 Haider Ali regarded it to be under his protection and considered it as a direct challenge to his authority.
 4

The War Begins:

 The combined forces of Haider Ali, Marathas and Nizam fought against the English in the Second Anglo-
Mysore War.
 In 1781, he attacked Carnatic, captured Arcot and defeated the English Army under Colonel Baillie.
 English under Sir Eyre Coote successfully broke the alliance by detaching Marathas and Nizam.
 Haider fought bravely but was defeated at Porto Novo.
 Later, he attacked English by regrouping his forces and captured their commander Braithwaite.
Second War Ends - Treaty of Mangalore:
 Haider died of cancer but Tipu Sultan continued the war for 1 year but was inconclusive.
 East India Company received orders from company headquarters in London to bring an end to the war, and
entered negotiations with Tipu.
 Both the parties returned to each other territories that they had captured.
 The status quo ante bellum.
 The officials such as Warren Hastings found it extremely unfavourable.
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789 – 1792):
 Travancore had been a target of Tipu for acquisition or conquest:
 Indirect attempts to take over had failed in 1788,
 Archibald Campbell (Madras president) had warned Tipu that an attack on Travancore would be treated
as a declaration of war on the company as per the Treaty of Mangalore.
 The rajah of Travancore also angered Tipu by extending fortifications along his border
 Also, Travancore had purchased Jalkottal and Cannanore from the Dutch in the Cochin state.
 Cochin was Tipu’s feudatory.
 So, in April 1790, Tipu declared war against Travancore for the restoration of his rights.
 English sided with Travancore.
 In 1790, Tipu defeated English General Meadows.
 In 1791, Cornwallis marched with a large army to Seringapatam.
 With the combined support of Marathas and Nizam, the English attacked Seringapatam.
 Tipu fought bravely but ultimately lost.
 Tipu had to sign the Treaty of Seringapatam.
Treaty of Seringapatam - 1792:
 By this treaty nearly half of the Mysorean territory was taken over by the victors.
 Besides, war damage of three crore rupees was also taken from Tipu.
 Baramahal, Dindigul, Malabar went to English
 Marathas and Nizam got some territory.
 Half of the war indemnity was to be paid immediately.
 Rest was to be given in instalments, for which Tipu's two sons were taken as hostages.
 5

Fourth Mysore War - 1799:

 Between 1792-1799 both the forces reconstructed themselves.
 After fulfilling all the terms of the Treaty of Seringapatam, he got his sons released.
 In 1796, the Hindu ruler of the Wodeyar dynasty died. Tipu refused to regard his minor son as king and
declared himself as sultan.
 He also decided to avenge the humiliating defeat in the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
 During this time, Lord Wellesley replaced Sir John Sir as Governor General.
 Tipu wanted revenge for which he sought help from France, Turkey, Kabul etc.
 In 1798, Lord Wellesley became a new governor-general.
 The English wanted to eliminate him. Lord Wellesley accused Tipu of plotting against English with Nizam
and Marathas.
 Tipu also sent emissaries to Afghanistan, Kabul, Zaman Shah and Isle of France (Mauritius), Versailles.
 Lord Wellesley attacked Tipu.
 Tipu died defending at Seringapatam.
 He was defeated first by General Stuart and then by General Harris.
 The Marathas had been promised half of the territory of Tipu.
 By this time, the Nizam had already signed the Subsidiary Alliance.
 Tipu laid down his life fighting bravely. His family interned, and treasures were confiscated.
 Arthur Wellesley, brother of Lord Wellesley also participated in the war.
 Mysore was placed under the earlier Odayar family.
 Krishnaraj III was crowned after signing the subsidiary treaty.
 The Nizam was
given to the districts
of Gooty and
Gurramkonda.
 The possession of
Kanara, Wayanad,
Coimbatore,
Dwaraporam, and
Seringapatam.
 In 1831, William
Bentinck took
control of Mysore
on ground of
misgovernance.
 In 1881, Lord
Rippon restored
Mysore to its Ruler.
 6

British vs Marathas:
 7

Fall of the Maratha Power:

 The Successors of
Shivaji were very weak
and inefficient. Real
power passed into the
hands of the Peshwa.
Under Sahu, the office
of the Peshwa also
became hereditary.
 Though the first two
Peshwas were empire-
builders, the Maratha
power received a
staggering blow at the
Battle of Panipat in
1761. Marathas lost the
cream of their army and
their political prestige
suffered.
 Most of all, their defeat gave an opportunity to
the English East India Company to
consolidate their power in Bengal and South
India.
 In the absence of a settled system, the state
descended into a terrible engine of oppression.
 There was an absence of central authority. In
the words of J.N. Sarkar, “the cohesion of the
peoples in the Maratha state was not organic
but artificial, accidental and therefore
precarious.”
 They did not try to develop a new economy and they were mainly interested in raising revenue from the
helpless peasantry.
 The English were superior to the Marathas in the game of diplomacy. They divided the mutually warring
Maratha Sardars and overpowered them in separate battles.
 Unfortunately, most of the eminent leaders died towards the end of the eighteenth century.
 Ahalya Bai Holker died in 1765
 Peshwa Madhav Rao II in 1795
 Nana Phadnavis in 1800
 8

First Anglo Maratha War:

 The primary cause of the First Anglo-Maratha war was interference of the English government at Bombay in
the internal affairs of the Marathas.
 Peshwa Madhav Rao died in 1772.
 Madhav Rao was succeeded by his younger brother Narayan Rao.
 His uncle Raghunath Rao wanted to become the Peshwa and got him killed in 1773.
 Narayan Rao's widow, Gangabai, gave birth to a son after her husband's death.
 The newborn infant was named 'Sawai' Madhav Rao and he was legally the next Peshwa.
 The 12 Maratha chiefs led by Nana Fadnavis supported it.
 Raghunath Rao approached Bombay govt for help and signed the Treaty of Surat 1775 so as to gain the
empire with the help of English subsidiary troops.
 The Bombay government aimed to set up a Dual government at Poona (like Clive did in the past).
 By this treaty he also promised to cede Salsette and Bassein and refrain from entering into alliance with the
enemies of the company. English forces occupied Salsette and Bassein and fought an indecisive battle with
the Poona forces at Arras.
Treaty of Surat - 1775:
 By this treaty an English contingent of 2500 men was to be placed at the disposal of Raghoba for supporting
his candidature for the Peshwaship.
 Raghoba was to deposit jewellery worth Rs 6,00,000 as security in British custody as well as pay half a lakh
rupee every month for the upkeep of the army.
 He agreed to cede to the British Bassein, Salsette and four islands adjacent to Bombay.
 He also agreed to revenue share in Surat and Bharuch.
 Maratha raids into Bengal and the Carnatic were to cease and any peace made by Raghoba with the
authorities in Poona was not to exclude the English.
 The British Calcutta Council condemned the Treaty of Surat, sending Colonel Upton to Pune to annul it and
make a new treaty with the regency.
The Treaty of Purandar (March 1776):
 The Treaty of Purandar was annulled that of Surat, Raghunathrao was pensioned and his cause abandoned,
but the revenues of Salsette and Broach districts were retained by the British.
 The Bombay government rejected this and gave refuge to Raghunath.
 In 1777 the treaty was violated by Nana Phadnavis and granted a port to the French. This antagonised the
English now.
 9

Impact of American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783):

● The American war of Independence was fought between 1775 - 83 and by 1778 France had joined against
England.
● A French adventurer Chevalier de St. Lubin reached Poona and alarmed the Governor General. He ordered
seizure of all the French settlements in India and sent a large force under Goddard to strengthen the
Bombay army, he also neglected the Treaty of Purandar and sanctioned operations against Marathas.
● The Bombay Government sent a force under Col. Egerton was under Maratha attack. Finally the British
were forced to retreat back to Wadgaon, but were soon surrounded.

The Course of War:

 The English and the Maratha armies met on the outskirts of Pune.
 Mahadji lured the English army into the ghats near Talegaon.
 He trapped the English from all sides and attacked the English supply base at Khopoli.
 He took the measures aligning with scorched earth policy, burning farmland and poisoning wells.
 The English surrendered by mid-January 1779 and signed the Treaty of Wadgaon.
 By this treaty the English returned all acquired territories
 Thus, the advantages of Treaty of Purandar were lost.
Treaty of Salbai - 1782:
 In the meanwhile, Warren Hastings rejected the Treaty of Wadgaon.
 Colonel Goddard captured Ahmedabad and Bassein in 1780.
 Captain Popham captured Gwalior in August 1780 (Scindia).
 In 1781, under General Camac, the English finally defeated Sindhia at Sipri.
 Scindia proposed a new treaty which was ratified by Hastings and by Phadnavis.
 The main provisions of the Treaty of Salbai were:
 Salsette should continue in the possession of the English.
 Bassein and other territories conquered since the Treaty of Purandar (1776) should be restored to the
Marathas.
 In Gujarat, Fateh Singh Gaekwad should remain in possession of the territory.
 The English should not offer any further support to Raghunathrao.
 Haidar Ali should return all the territory taken from the English and the Nawab of Arcot.
 The English should enjoy the privileges of trade as before.
 The Peshwa should not support any other European nation.
 Mahadji Scindia should be the mutual guarantor.
 The status quo was maintained which gave the British 20 years of peace with the Marathas.
 The treaty also enabled the British to have free hand in Mysore.
 10

Maratha Confederacy:
 After the fall of Mysore in 1799–1800, the Marathas
were the only major power left.
 The Maratha Empire confederacy of five major
chiefs:
1. The Peshwa (Prime Minister) capital city of
Poona,
2. The Gaekwad chief of Baroda,
3. The Scindia chief of Gwalior,
4. The Holkar chief of Indore, and
5. The Bhonsle chief of Nagpur.
 The Maratha chiefs were engaged in internal
quarrels among themselves. The British had
repeatedly offered a subsidiary treaty to the Peshwa
and Scindia, but Nana Fadnavis refused strongly.
Second Anglo Maratha War (1803 – 05):
 Richard Wellesley (1798-1805) was the Governor General.
 Towards the war:
 In 1795, Peshwa Madhavrao Narayan committed suicide.
 Bajirao II, the worthless son of Raghunath Rao, became the Peshwa and Nana Phadnavis became the
Chief minister.
 There were internal conflicts, which gave the English an opportunity to intervene. Nana Phadnavis died in
1800.
 The course of War:
 In 1801, the Peshwa brutally murdered the brother of Jaswantrao Holkar, Vithuji.
 Jaswant fought against the combined forces of Scindia and Bajirao II and defeated them in 1802.
 He made Vinayakrao, son of Amritrao, Peshwa seat. As a result of it Bajirao II fled to Bassein.
 On December 31, 1802 signed a treaty with the English.
Treaty of Bassein - 1802:
 Bajirao II had to maintain a subsidiary force of 6000 infantry with a proportionate artillery, the annual
expense of which was estimated to be Rs 26 lakh.
 Bajirao II agreed not to entertain any foreign national hostile to the British in his service.
 He needed to accept British intercession to settle his differences with the Nizam and the Gaekwad and not to
negotiate with any other state his differences with the two of them.
 Bajirao II had to surrender the city of Surat to the British.
 He also needs to give up all claims for Chauth on the Nizam’s dominions; and thus, this treaty is regarded as
the "death knell of the Maratha Empire”.
 11

Significance of the Treaty of Bassein:

 The Treaty is sometimes regarded as something which gave the English the key to India.
 The Treaty gave the opportunity to station a Permanent English force in the Maratha territory and gave huge
strategic benefits to the English. This made the company's troops much evenly distributed and rushed to crisis
anywhere without much delay.
 The Company already had troops in Mysore, Hyderabad, and Lucknow.
 The company was now in a position to expand its area of influence in a much effective way.
 The acceptance of the Subsidiary Alliance on the part of the Peshwa disgusted the Maratha chieftains; in
particular, the Scindia rulers of Gwalior and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar contested the agreement.
 The British had available over 53,000 men to help accomplish their goals. The British won decisively.
 British forces were led by Arthur Wellesley.
 In 1804, Yashwantrao Holkar made an attempt to form a coalition of Indian rulers to fight against the English.
 Treaties signed:
 1803 - Bhonsle → Treaty of Deogaon
 1803 - Scindia → Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon
 1806 - Holkar → Treaty of Rajpurghat
 By these above treaties, all were reduced to vassalage.
Battle of Assaye:
● The Battle of Assaye was fought between Maratha and British forces on 23 September 1803.
● The Maratha forces were defeated and this British victory was a decisive moment in the colonial
subjugation of the Indian subcontinent.

Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817 – 18):

 Lord Hastings made the imperialistic design of imposing British paramountcy.
 During his tenure the Charter Act of 1813, the East India Company’s monopoly of trade in India (except tea
and China) was ended. The company needed more markets.
 Pindaris were attached to the Maratha armies as mercenaries.
 They started plundering neighbouring territories, including those of the Company.
 The English charged the Marathas with giving shelter to the Pindaris.
 Pindari leaders like Amir Khan and Karim Khan surrendered, while Chitu Khan fled into the jungles.
 The Treaty of Bassein, was seen as an absolute surrender of independence.
 Lord Hastings' actions taken against the Pindaris were seen as a transgression of the sovereignty of the
Maratha.
 The United Maratha confederacy under Baji Rao II started the Third Anglo-Maratha War.
 Maratha made a desperate last attempt to regain their independence and prestige in 1817.
 This led in organising a united front of the Maratha Chiefs and was taken over by the Peshwa who were
uneasy under the rigid control exercised by the British Resident.
 However, once again the Marathas failed to evolve any plan of action.
 12

 The Peshwa attacked the British Residency at Poona in 1817.

 Appa Saheb of Nagpur attacked the Residency at Nagpur
 Madhav Rao Holkar made preparations for war.
 The political and administrative conditions of all the Maratha were confused and inefficient.
 Jaswant Rao Holkar had died, which made Tulsi Bai, Holkar's favourite mistress, who came to the helm of
affairs in Poona.
 Bhonsle at Nagpur and Scindia at
Gwalior grew weak.
 The Peshwa was defeated at
Khirki, Bhonsle at Sitabuldi and
Holkar at Mahidpur.
 Some important treaties were
signed. These were:
 Treaty of Poona - Peshwa
 Treaty of Gwalior - Scindia
 Treaty of Mandasor - Holkar
 In June 1818, the Peshwa finally
surrendered and as a result of it:
 Maratha confederacy dissolved
 Peshwaship abolished
 Bajirao became pensioner at Bithur, near Kanpur
 Pratap Singh, a lineal descendant of Shivaji, was made ruler of Satara
Why Marathas Lost?
 Inefficient Leadership: Maratha leaders such as Bajirao II, Daulatrao Scindia, and Jaswant Rao were
inefficient and selfish leaders. Their leadership was of no match in front of English officials like Elphinstone,
John Malcolm and Arthur Wellesley.
 Inefficient Political Organisation: The confederation of Maratha Empire was loose, first under Chhatrapati
and later Peshwa. Hostilities existed among different confederations which made the empire internally very
weak.
 Inferior Military: The inferiority of Marathas to English was in terms of: weak organisation of forces,
inferior firearms, ineffective leadership. Treachery played a pivotal role in weakening the Maratha army.
Negligible use of artillery.
 Unstable Economic Policy: Marathas failed to evolve a sound economic policy to ensure smooth flow of
revenue. Lack of industries and foreign trade led to lack of revenue.
 Defective Nature of State: Marathas’ rise was on account religion-national movement. The cohesion of
people was not organic but artificial and accidental.
 Effort towards educating and unifying people was lacking. On the other hand, English were highly
organised and clear in their approach.
 13

 Diplomatic skills of English: It helped them in winning allies and isolating enemies. English maintained an
organised network of spies while Marathas were ignorant and lacked information about their enemies.
 Progressive outlook of English: English was rejuvenated by the Renaissance. They were deeply indulged in
scientific innovations, ocean exploration and acquisition of colonies. On the other hand Indians were deeply
engulfed in old dogmas and superstitions.
 With respect to the fall of Marathas it can be well said that: English attacked a divided house which
started crumbling with the first push.

Self-Study: Treaty with other Marathas is for reference only

 In 1803 Raghuji Bhosle and the Company concluded the treaty of Deogaon in the course of the Second
Anglo-Maratha War.
 Under the treaty Bhonsle agreed to cede the province of Cuttack including Balasore which gave the Company
control over a continuous stretch of the eastern seaboard and linked the presidencies of Bengal and Madras.
 He expels all foreigners from his service.
 14

 In 1803, the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of
Assaye and Battle of Laswari:
 Cede all territory between the Ganga and the Yamuna.
 Gave up his control over the imperial cities of Delhi and Agra as well as the Rajput states.
 He has an accredited minister at his court.
 He surrenders parts of Bundelkhand, Ahmednagar, Broach and territories west of the Ajanta hills.
 He accepted the Treaty of Bassein.
 He renounced all claims on the Peshwa, the Mughal emperor, the Nizam, the Gaikwad and the English
Company and to accept the latter as a sovereign authority.
 He decided not to employ in his service any European without the consent of the British.
 In return, the Company promised to provide Sindhia a force of 6 battalions of infantry, its expenses being
defrayed from the revenues of lands ceded by him.
 Restore Bhonsle Asirgarh, Burhanpur, Powanghur and Dohud and territories in Khandesh and Gujarat
depending on these forts.
 By the supplementary treaty of Burhanpur (1804) the British agreed to support him with a subsidiary
force.
 The British started hostilities against Yashwantrao Holkar. The Treaty of Rajpurghat, signed on 24
December 1805, forced Holkar to give up Tonk, Rampura, and Bundi.
Treaty of Rajpurghat (1805):
 To renounce all claims to the area north of the Bundi hills.
 Never to entertain in his service any European.
 On their part, the British promised:
 Not to disturb Holkar's possessions in Mewar and Malwa or interfere with the rulers south of the
Chambal.
 To restore those of his possessions situated south of the River Tapti.
Punjab before Ranjit Singh:
 Guru Gobind Singh transformed the Sikhs into a militant sect to defend their religion and liberties.
 After Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Bahadur assumed the leadership of Sikhs. He revolted against the Mughals
during Bahadur Shah's reign.
 In 1715, Farrukhsiyar defeated and killed Banda Bahadur, for which the Sikhs faced a major setback.
 The Sikh polity became leaderless and got divided into Bandai (Liberal) and Tat Khalsa (Orthodox).
 In 1784, Kapur Singh Fazullapuria united the Sikhs under Dal Khalsa.
 Two sections emerged out of it:
1. Budha Dal: Army of veterans
2. Taruna Dal: Army of young.
 Invasion by Ahmed Shah Abdali helped Sikhs to wrest the benefit of instability and organise themselves
better.
 15

 They consolidated themselves into misls which were a military brotherhood and had democratic set-up.
 12 misls: Alluwalia, bhangi, Dallewwalia, Faizulapuria, kanhaiya, krosasinghiya, Nakkai, Nishaniya,
Phulakiya, Ramgarhiya, Sukerchakiya.
 Misl was administered by Gurumatta Sangh, a socio-political and economic system.
 The credit for organising the misls and strengthening the strong kingdom goes to Ranjit Singh of
Sukerchakia misl.
 Ranjit Singh (1792-1839) belonged to Sukerchakia Misl.
 He Captured Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.
 He was a military genius. It is said that he possessed one of the largest armies in Asia.
 He was very tolerant towards other religions. Most
of his trustworthy nobles were non-sikhs.
 He signed a Tripartite treaty (1838) with Lord
Auckland and Shah Shuja to place the latter on the
thrones of Afghanistan by invasion.
 A French visitor to the court of Ranjit Singh,
Compared Ranjit Singh with Napoleon Bonaparte.
 Political instability that started in Punjab after the
death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 and quick succession
of rulers in the Punjab and the high handedness of
the military and Sikhs allies like Prime Minister
Rajan Lal Singh, the Commander-in-Chief Misar
Tej Singh and Dogra Raja Gulab Singh made the
British intervention possible.
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PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 08
Rise of East India Company
- Governor Generals
 2

Rise of East India Company - Governor Generals

Sukarchakiya Misl and Ranjit Singh:

 All the important misls (except Sukarchakiya) were in the state of disintegration.
 Afghanistan was engulfed in civil war.
 Ranjit Singh adopted a ruthless policy of ‘blood and iron’.
 He carved out for himself a kingdom in central Punjab.
Ranjit Singh (1792-1839):
 He belonged to Sukerchakia Misl.
 He captured Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.
 He was a military genius. It is said that he possessed one of the largest armies in Asia.
 He was very tolerant towards other religions. Most of his trustworthy nobles were non-sikhs.
 In 1799, he was appointed as a governor of Lahore by Zaman Shah (Afghan ruler) and made it a political
capital.
 In 1805, he acquired Jammu & Amritsar and as a result Amritsar as the religious capital of Punjab also
came under the rule of Ranjit Singh.
 He maintained good relations with Dogras and Nepalese and enlisted them in his army.
Ranjit Singh and the English:
 The prospects of Franco-Russian invasion of India alarmed
the English.
 In 1807, Charles Metcalfe offered Ranjit Singh to accept the
proposal of alliance.
 English would remain neutral in case of a Sikh-Afghan
war.
 The English would accept Ranjit Singh, sovereign of
Punjab including the Malwa territories.
 But the negotiations failed.
 But, once Napoleonic danger receded, English became more assertive, Ranjit Singh agreed to sign the
Treaty of Amritsar in 1809.
Tilsit Alliance:
 In 1807, the alliance of Tilsit - Alexander I of Russia was joined by Napoleon of France.
 The alliance had a condition of combined invasion of India by Land route.
 This compelled the British to create a barrier b/w India and Russia.
 3

Punjab under Ranjit Singh:

 Napoleon's victories in Europe had alarmed the British, who, fearing a French attack on the country through
Afghanistan, decided to win the Sikhs over to their side and sent a young officer, Charles Theophilus
Metcalfe, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh's court with an offer of friendship.
 Metcalfe met the Maharaja in his camp at Khem Karan, near Kasur, on 12 September 1808, taking with him
a large number of presents sent by the Governor-General of India. He told him how the English wished to
have friendly relations with him and presented to him the draft of a treaty.
 Ranjit Singh did not credit the theory that the British had made the proposal to him because of the danger
from Napoleon. On the other hand, he showed his willingness to cooperate with the British, provided the
latter recognized his claim of paramountcy over all the Sikhs.
 He suspected that the real object of the British was to put a seal on his southern boundary and draw a
permanent line between his dominions and their own. Finally, the Treaty of Amritsar was signed in
Amritsar, on the 25th April, 1809, by Mr. Charles Theophilus Metcalfe & Ranjit Singh.
Treaty of Amritsar - 1809:
 The Treaty was signed between Ranjit Singh and Charles Metcalfe in 1809.
 The perpetual friendship shall subsist between the British Government and the State of Lahore.
 The British will have no concern with the territories
and subjects of the Rajah to the northward of the
Sutlej.
 The Rajah will never maintain in the territory
occupied by him and his dependents on the left
bank of the River Sutlej, more troops than are
necessary for the internal duties of that territory,
nor commit or suffer any encroachments.
 In the event of a violation, this Treaty shall be
considered to be null and void.
 The treaty was significant both in terms of
immediate as well as potential effects.
 It checked the ambitions of Ranjit Singh to extend
his rule over the entire Sikh nation by accepting the
river Sutlej as the boundary line.
 The Result was he directed his energies towards west and captured:
 Multan (1818)
 Kashmir (1819)
 Peshawar (1834)
Anglo-Afghan Relation:
 In Persia the English influence was getting diminished and Russian influence was increasing.
 4

 After the Treaty of Turkmanchai in 1828 (concluded Russo-Persian war), English had firm belief that
Russia could invade India.
 In such a scenario, English wanted to create Afghanistan as a buffer state to protect their Indian occupation
from potential Russian invasion.
 There were three conflicts in 1839–42; 1878–80 and 1919.
 Britain tried to extend its control over Afghanistan and to oppose Russia so as to have influence in
Afghanistan.
 Ranjit Singh signed the Tripartite Treaty (1838) with Lord Auckland and Shah Shuja to place the latter on
the thrones of Afghanistan by invasion.
 However, he refused to give access to the British Army through his territory to attack Dost Mohammed, the
Afghan Amir.
 Raja Ranjit Singh had a weak position vis-a-vis the Company from 1809 to 1839.
 Despite this, he took no step to organise a coalition of other Indian princes or maintain a balance of power.
 After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the region witnessed political instability due to the quick succession
of rulers in the Punjab
 The high handedness of the military and Sikhs allies like:
 Prime Minister Rajan Lal Singh,
 The Commander-in-Chief Misar Tej Singh
 Dogra Raja Gulab Singh
 All these issues made the British intervention possible.
Punjab After Ranjit Singh:
Beginning of Court Factions:
 Kharak Singh:
 He was Ranjit Singh’s son and successor.
 He was not efficient and thus court factions became active.
 Kharak Singh’s sudden death in 1839 and accidental death of his son, Prince Nau Nihal Singh 1840
left Punjab in a state of anarchy.
 The quarrel over succession provided an opportunity for decisive action by the English.
 Chand Kaur (1841):
 Chand Kaur was the wife of Kharak Singh and became the only female ruler of Sikh Empire.
 She assumed the title of Malika Muqaddasa.
 She was abdicated in 73 days.
 Sher Singh (1841 - 43):
 He was also the son of Ranjit Singh but was murdered in 1843.
 Thereafter discontent was growing among the troops as a result of irregularity of payment.
 5

 Moreover, the appointment of unworthy officers led to indiscipline.

 The Lahore government permitted the British troops to pass through its territory for his Afghan
conquest.
 These marches resulted in commotion and economic dislocation in Punjab.
Rani Jindal and Daleep Singh (1843 – 49):
 Daleep Singh, a minor son of Ranjit Singh, proclaimed as Maharaja in 1843, while Rani Jindan was a
regent.
 Hira Singh Dogra was a wazir. However, he was murdered in 1844.
 Jawahar Singh became the new wazir, he was the brother of Rani Jindan and he was also killed in 1845 by
the Army.
 Lal Singh became the new wazir, he was a lover of Rani Jindan. He won over the army and Teja Singh was
appointed as the commander of the army.
First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46):
The causes of the First Anglo-Sikh War was as follows:
 The power struggle between the court and army.
 The annexation of Gwalior, Sindh in 1841 annexation and the Afghanistan campaign in 1842.
 Increase in the number of English troops stationed near
the border with the Lahore kingdom.
 The crossing of the River Sutlej by the Sikh army on
December 11, 1845 provided the justification to the
English to declare war.
Course of the War:
 In December 1845 - with 20,000 to 30,000 British
troops and 50000 Sikhs under command of Lal Singh.
 The treachery of Lal Singh and Teja Singh caused
five successive defeats to the Sikhs and Lahore fell to
the British forces on February 20, 1846.
Treaty of Lahore (March 8, 1846):
 The conclusion of Anglo-Sikh war forced the Sikhs to sign a humiliating treaty on March 8, 1846.
 The main features of the treaty were:
 War indemnity of 1 crore rupees,
 The Jalandhar Doab (between Beas & Sutlej) was annexed,
 British resident at Lahore were under Henry Lawrence
 The strength of the Sikh army was reduced,
 Daleep Singh was recognised as the ruler under Rani Jindan as regent and Lal Singh as wazir,
 6

 Since the Sikhs were not able to pay the entire war indemnity, Kashmir, including Jammu, was sold to
Gulab Singh in lieu of Rupees 75 lakh.
 Treaty of Bhairowal (1846):
 The Sikhs were unhappy with the transfer of Kashmir Sikhs rebelled.
 Rani Jindan was removed as regent.
 The council for regency of Punjab was set up with 8 Sikh sardars presided over by Resident Henry
Lawrence.
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49):
The causes of the First Anglo-Sikh War was as follows:
 The defeat in the first Anglo-Sikh War.
 The treaties of Lahore and Bhairowal were highly humiliating.
 Inhuman treatment to Rani Jindan, sent to Benares as a pensioner.
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49):
 Mulraj, the governor of Multan on being replaced, revolted and murdered two English officers.
 Sher Singh was sent to suppress the revolt, but he himself joined Mulraj, leading to a mass uprising in
Multan.
 Lord Dalhousie, a hardcore expansionist, got the pretext to annex Punjab completely.
Course of the War:
 Lord Dalhousie himself proceeded to Punjab. Three important battles fought:
1. Battle of Ramnagar, led by Sir Hugh Gough, the commander-in-chief of the Company.
2. Battle of Chillianwala, in January 1849.
3. Battle of Gujrat, in February 1849.
 The Sikh army surrendered at Rawalpindi and Afghans chased out of India.
Result at the end of the War:
 It surrendered the Sikh army and Sher Singh in 1849 and subsequently the English annexed the Punjab.
 Dalhousie for his service was given thanks and promotion by the British Parliament.
 Three-member board to govern Punjab with Lawrence brothers (Henry & John) and Charles Mansel.
 In 1853, the board was nullified and Punjab was placed under a chief commissioner.
 John Lawrence became the first chief commissioner.
 Significance: Both sides developed mutual respect for each other’s fighting spirit. Sikhs fought on the
British side at many occasions including in the 1857 revolt.
 They were accompanied in other campaigns and wars until the Indian independence in 1947.
 7

Sindh:
 In the 18th century, Sindh was ruled by the Kallora chiefs.
 In 1758, an English factory was built at Thatta.
 In 1761, Ghulam Shah ratified the earlier treaty and excluded
other Europeans from trading there.
 This advantage was enjoyed by the English up to 1775. Later
Sarfaraz ruled and closed the factory.
Rise of Talpura Amirs
 In the 1770s, the Baloch tribe of Talpura, started settling in
Sindh.
 The Talpuras rose in influence and power very quickly and in
1783 established their total control over Sindh under the
leadership of Mir Fateh Ali Khan.
 The ruler Mir Fateh Khan ruled the country with his
brothers known as Char Yar.
 In 1800, Mir died and his brothers divided the kingdom
among themselves. They called themselves Amirs.
Gradual Ascendancy over Sindh:
 There was a belief that Napoleon was conspiring with Tipu Sultan to invade India.
 Lord Wellesley counteracts the alliance of the French, Tipu Sultan and Shah Zaman - the Kabul monarch.
 Tipu Sultan tried increasing influence in Sindh.
 Mir Fatah declined Lord Wellesley’s proposals.
 As a result, the British agent Crow left Sindh.
Tilsit Alliance:
 In 1807, the alliance of Tilsit - Alexander I of Russia was joined by Napoleon of France.
 The alliance had a condition of combined invasion of India by Land route.
 This compelled the British to create a barrier between India and Russia.
 8

Treaty of ‘Eternal Friendship’ - 1807:

 The British wanted to create a barrier between Russia and
British India.
 As per the treaty Charles Metcalfe was sent to Lahore,
Elphinstone to Kabul, Malcolm to Teheran and Nicholas Smith
to Sindh.
 Amirs agreed to a treaty and it was their first-ever treaty with
the English.
 Both the sides agreed to:
 exclude the French from Sindh.
 Exchange agents
 The Treaty was renewed in 1820 with the exclusion of
Americans.
Treaty of 1832:
 William Bentinck sent Colonel Pottinger to Sindh to sign a treaty with the Amirs:
 Free passage through Sindh would be allowed to the English traders.
 No English merchant would settle down in Sindh.
 Tariff rates could be altered by the Amirs if found high and no military dues or tolls would be
demanded.
 The Amirs would work with the Raja of Jodhpur to put down the robbers of Kachchh.
 The old treaties were confirmed and the parties would not be jealous of each other.
Lord Auckland and Sindh (1838):
 He started preparation for a possible Russian invasion.
 The English consolidated their position in Sindh and it was a first step for their plans for Afghanistan.
 The treaty can’t coerce Punjab.
 The fight between Punjab and Sindh led to a new treaty with the East India Company.
 The Company assured protection to the Amirs.
 The Company troops would be kept in the capital at the Amir’s expense or
 Alternatively, the English would be given suitable concessions in return.
 Amirs agreed reluctantly and the treaty provided the British to establish the presence of a British resident
who could go anywhere he liked escorted by English troops.
 Soon Sindh turned into a British protectorate.
Tripartite Treaty of 1838:
 Tripartite treaty (1838) - Ranjit Singh, Lord Auckland and Shah Shuja to place the latter on the thrones of
Afghanistan by invasion.
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 Ranjit Singh agreed to British mediation in his disputes with the Amirs.
 The treaty made Emperor Shah Shuja to give up his sovereign rights in Sindh.
 Main objective was:
 To obtain finances for the Afghan adventure.
 Amirs’ territory operation against Afghanistan through Sindh.
Sindh Accepts Subsidiary Alliance (1839):
 The Company persuaded Amirs:
 to pay the money,
 to consent to the abrogation 1832 treaty.
 Under threat of superior force, Amirs accepted a new treaty:
 British subsidiary force to be stationed at Shikarpur and Bukkar.
 Pay Rs 3 lakh annually for the maintenance of the Company’s troops.
 No negotiations with foreign states without Company.
 Provide a storeroom at Karachi for military supplies.
 Abolishing all tolls on the Indus.
 Furnish an auxiliary force for the Afghan war if required.
Capitulation of Sindh:
 Amirs of Sindh did not liked:
 The 1st Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42), fought their soil.
 The presence of the British troops in their region.
 They were asked to pay for all this, which they did.
 They were neither rewarded nor thanked, but were charged with hostility.
 They were also charged with treasonable activities against the British.
 Ellenborough, was in a precarious position due to the:
 Recent Afghan war reverses.
 He sent Outram to Sindh to negotiate a new treaty in which Amirs were required:
 to cede important provinces as the price of their past transgressions,
 to supply fuel to the Company’s steamers plying on the Indus.
 And to stop minting coins.
 Also, a succession dispute intervened through Napier and started a war when the Amirs rose in revolt.
Battle of Miani & Battle of Dobo:
 Battle of Miani & Battle of Dobo, wherein 3000 British troops defeated 12,000 Baluchis in
1843 under Charles Napier.
 Amirs made captives and banished from Sindh.
 In 1843, under GG Ellenborough, Sindh was merged into the British Empire and Charles Napier
was appointed its first governor.
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Criticisms of the Conquest of Sindh:

 Historians criticised the acquisition of Sindh and condemned it in the following ways:
 As per their understanding the causes were manufactured.
 The First Afghan War, the English suffered terribly and faced a loss of prestige.
 To compensate, they annexed Sindh.
 The roads and rivers were opened for British Trade by a treaty in 1832.
 Amirs were made to sign a subsidiary treaty in 1839.
 The story of winning Sindh starts from a dispatch of Charles James Napier to Sindh who was appointed as
Major General in the command of the army of the Bombay Presidency.
 Lord Auckland had been recalled and Lord Ellenborough was placed as a governor general.
 Sindh was annexed in 1843 after a brief campaign by Sir Charles Napier.
“We have no right to seize Sindh, yet we shall do so, and a very advantageous, useful, humane piece of
rascality it will be.” — Charles Napier

Why and how did the British become the Master of India?
 The entire process of annexation and consolidation of the British empire in India took almost 100 years.
During this period English relied on both
war and administrative policies to
impose their power.
 They even resorted to using various
unscrupulous tactics to exploit regional
politics and finally to consolidate their
own rule over the entire India.
Major factors that led to the success of
English:
 Superior Arms, Military and Strategy:
 The English firearms included
muskets and cannons which were
better than Indian arms in speed and range.
 Indian officers and the ranks could never match their British counterparts. Many Indian rulers employed
European officers to train their troops, but in the absence of originality they became mare imitators.
 Military Discipline and Regular Salary:
 Discipline in the military and payment of regular salary helped the English to buy the loyalty of their
soldiers.
 While Indian rulers were dependent on personal retinues or a rabble of mercenary elements who could
turn rebellious or join the opponents when the going was not good.
 Civil Discipline and fair selection system:
 The company officers and troops were given charge on the basis of their reliability and skill.
 11

 While the Indian administrators and the military officers were appointed on the basis of caste and
personal relation.
 As a result, the leadership on the Indian side remained weak and the military officers often tended to be
rebellious and disloyal in order to pursue their own self-interest.
 Brilliant leadership and the support of second line leaders:
 English officers like Clive, Warren Hastings, Elphinstone, Munro, Marquess of Dalhousie, etc.
displayed a rare quality of leadership.
 They were backed by the long list of secondary leaders like Sir Eyre Coote, Lord Lake, Arthur
Wellesley, who fought not only for the
leaders but also for the cause of glory
for their country.
 Indian rulers too had brilliant leaders
like Haider Ali, Tipu Sultan, Chin
Kilich Khan, Madhu Rao Sindhia and
Jaswant Rao Holkar, but they often
lacked a team of second line of trained
personnel.
 Also, they were fighting for personal or
dynastic advancement.
 They often supported the British
against the neighbouring rulers; the consciousness of India was missing.
 Strong Financial Backup:
 The company was earning huge profits in trade with India and the rest of the world. It had adequate
income to finance its wars. Also, because of their superiority in sea Power, this vast number of resources
they possess were available to them in times of need.
 Nationalism:
 Britishers were making huge economical advances and were fueled with Nationalism.
 Indians on the other hand were weak, divided among themselves and drowned deep into ignorance and
religious backwardness.
 Lack of materialist vision was also a cause of their defeat at the hands of the British.
Self-Study:
Rohellas and Bangash Pathans:
 In Gangetic Valley the Rohillas and Bangash Pathan carved out independent principalities for themselves.
 Rohillkhand and the kingdom of Bangash Pathan were the result of large-scale Afghan migration from the
17th century onwards into India.
 Daud Khan was awarded the Katehr region (Rohillkhand) in the then northern India by Aurangzeb to
suppress Rajput uprisings, which had affected this region.
 His adopted son, Ali Mohammad, succeeded him in 1721 and taking advantage of Nadir Shah’s invasion
set up a small kingdom of Rohilkhand in the Himalayan Foothills between Kumaon and Ganga. He became
so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the centre.
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 Ali Muhammad Khan died, leaving his six sons behind. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan
at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand.
 As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars including Najib-ud-Daula who got aligned with
Abdali. He also convinced Shuja-ul-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh, to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against
the Marathas.
 Muhammad Khan Bangash, who belonged to the Bangash tribe, became the first Nawab of Farrukhabad in
1713 in Uttar Pradesh, India. He named the city after then Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar.
 The Bangash Nawabs encouraged merchants and bankers to come and settle here. Also, established the
Farrukhabad mint known for quality.
 The third Nawab, Ahmad Khan Bangash, took part in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 and supported
Ahmad Shah.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 09
Rise of EIC – Diplomacy
 2

Rise of EIC – Diplomacy

Governor General of Bengal:
 Warren Hastings (1772 - 1785)
 John Macpherson (Acting)
 Charles Cornwallis (1786–1893)
 John Shore (1793–1798)
 Alured Clarke (Acting)
 Richard Wellesley (1798–1805)
 The Marquess Cornwallis (1805)
 Sir George Barlow, Bt (Acting)
 The Lord Minto (1807–1813)
 Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1813–1823)
 John Adam (Acting)
 The Lord Amherst (1823-1828)
 William Butterworth Bayley (Acting)
 Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)
 Charles Metcalfe, Bt (Acting)
 The Lord Auckland (1836-42)
 The Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)
 William Wilberforce Bird (Acting)
 Henry Hardinge (1844-48)
 The Earl of Dalhousie (1848-56)
 The Viscount Canning (1856-58)
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Rise of EIC:

Rise and Expansion of British rule in India II:

 Governor General's Role in expansion:
 Ring fence (1757 - 1813)
 Policy of Subordinate isolation (1813 - 1858)
 Policy of subordinate union (1858 - 1935)
 Policy of equal federation (1935 - 47)
 British Policies
 Various Acts of Britain
British Administrative Policy and extension of Paramountcy:
 The expansion and consolidation of British paramountcy between 1757-1857 was carried out through a two-
fold method:
1. Policy of annexation by conquest and war.
2. Policy of annexation by diplomacy and administrative mechanisms.
 Some major administrative measures taken by British were:
 Ring Fence (1757 – 1813):
 The policy of Ring Fence was carried on by Warren Hastings chiefly to safeguard the
company's frontier from Marathas and Afghan invaders.
 Basically, Ring fence was the policy of defence of a neighbour's frontier in order to safeguard its
own frontier, by creating Buffer Zones around it.
 4

 The states brought under the Ring fence were assured of protection from external aggression but at
their own cost.
 These states were required to maintain subsidiary forces which were to be organised, equipped and
commanded by the officers of the company, who in turn were to be paid by the states.
 E.g., Awadh was brought under the Ring fence to safeguard Bengal from Marathas and Afghan
invaders.
 The British came to India in 1600 as traders in the form of the East India Company, which
had the exclusive right of trading in India under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I.
 In 1765, Clive the then Governor of Bengal secured from Shah Alam II, the powerless and effete
Mughal emperor the Diwani (rights over revenue and civil justice) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,
stipulating in return to pay the emperor an annual subsidy of 26 lakhs of rupees.
 Also, the Nawab of Bengal became a mere pensioner; the company was to pay him a fixed annual
sum of Rs. 53 lakhs for the support of the Nizamat. Clive thus established a Double Government
with the Company as Diwan, and the Nawab as Nazim (Nizamat).
 The acquisition of the Diwani of Bengal and the introduction of the Double Government system by
Clive in 1765 became an important building block for the British empire.
 Under the dual system, the Nawab was limited to the position of a figurehead and the
administration was in the hands of the Deputy Nawab, who was the nominee of the company and
an English resident posted at the Durbar and the used to decide every matter of significance in the
arrangement (Dual Government) a fatal divorce of power from responsibility was inherent which
lead to most of the scandals and abuses speedily to their appearances.
 In the first place, the abuses of private trade reached its peak because the Indian administrators in
this arrangement were open to illegitimate pressure, and unable to restrict the misconduct of the
company's servants.
 And secondly, the ongoing demands of the company for increasing the revenue eventually
resulted in gross oppression of the peasantry.
Clive as the founder of British Empire:
 He reached Madras in 1742 as a writer (clerk), but soon he joined the army.
 The siege of Arcot (1751) turned the scales against the French in the Carnatic.
 In 1753, he returned to England and again back to India in 1755.
 In Bengal, he won the Battle of Plassey (1757) and reduced Mir Jafar to the position of a mere puppet of the
English. He returned back to England in 1760.
 After the victory of Buxar, Clive was sent out to India again as governor and commander-in-chief of the
British possession in Bengal.
 On his arrival in 1765, he concluded a Treaty of Allahabad. This was a master stroke of Clive’s policy.
 By this treaty, he made Oudh a buffer state and legalised the holdings of the company in Bengal.
 5

 By his dual system, in Bengal (1765-72), he made the company a great power but with no responsibility.
 He forced the company’s servants to sign covenants forbidding them to receive presents or to carry on
private inland trade.
 He also organised the Society of Trade.
 Above all, he transformed a mere trading body into a territorial power.
 In 1772, Parliament opened an inquiry into the company's practices in India.
 Questioned about some of the large sums of money he had received while in India, Clive pointed out that
they were not contrary to accepted company practice, and defended his behaviour by stating "I stand
astonished at my own moderation" given opportunities for greater gain.
 The hearings highlighted the need for reform of the company; a vote to censure Clive for his actions failed.
 Later in 1772, Clive was honored with Knight of the Bath and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of
Shropshire.
 Robert Clive died in 1774.
Warren Hastings (1772-1785):
 “If Clive was the founder of the British Empire in India, Warren Hastings was its’ administrative
organiser’.
 When he was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1772, the dual system of administration was transferred to
the Servants of the Company. The Nawab was deprived of even a nominal share in administration.
 Hastings wanted not so much to increase the company’s possession as to consolidate and strengthen what it
had already got.
 He helped the Nawab of Oudh in his designs upon Rohilkhand to maintain Oudh as a strong buffer state.
 In the First Maratha war and Second Mysore war, he showed great diplomatic power.
 The first Anglo-Maratha war was brought to a close by the famous Treaty of Salbai in 1782.
 It saved the British from the combined opposition of Indian powers.
 In war with Haider Ali, Warren Hastings bribed the Nizam.
 Treaty of Mangalore (1784) gave peace for some time with Mysore.
 Regulating Act of 1773, Act of 1781 and Pitt’s India Act was passed during his reign.
 He established Calcutta Madrasa.
 Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded by Sir William Jones in 1784 during his tenure.
 His strained relation with Maharaja of Bengal Chait Singh led to impeachment in England.
 On return to England, Hastings was impeached in the House of Commons for alleged crimes in India,
notably embezzlement, extortion and coercion, and an alleged judicial killing of Maharaja Nandakumar.
 His prosecution was managed by MPs including Edmund Burke, encouraged by Sir Philip Francis.
 The House of Lords acquitted him of all charges on 24 April 1795.
Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793):
 6

 Cornwallis was anxious to maintain peace and neutrality and to avoid entanglements with the Indian
states.
 But, the third Mysore War was an exception. To fight Tipu Sultan, he concluded alliance with the Nizam and
the Marathas.
 By the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792), Tipu agreed to cede half his dominions, to pay a large war
indemnity and to surrender two of his sons as hostages.
 He introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal.
 In his administrative reforms, Cornwallis built a superstructure where the foundations had been laid by
Warren Hastings.
 He tried to purify the administration. His Judicial reforms were embodied in the famous Cornwallis code. It
was based on the principle of separation of powers.
 He introduced Permanent Revenue Settlement in 1793.
 He tried to organise civil services but the exclusion of Indians from high posts was a short-sighted measure.
Expansion under Lord Wellesley (1798-1805):
 When Lord Wellesley came to India, the British were locked in a life and death struggle with France all over
the world. So, he decided to raise the East India Company to a predominant position in India through an
aggressive policy.
 He relied on three methods:
1. System of Subsidiary Alliances,
2. Outright war
3. Assumption of the territories of previously subordinated rulers.
Subsidiary Alliance:
 The author and originator of this policy was not Wellesley but Dupleix, the French Governor.
 Dupleix devised it and implemented it and later the same was followed by the British from Clive to
Wellesley.
 The British in return were to defend the state from its enemies and follow a policy of non-interference in
their Internal matters.
 Result of Subsidiary Alliance:
 Subsidiary Alliance brought immense gain for the company by extending area under the influence and
at the same time buying peace in its territories, thus helping them in both expanding and consolidating
their empire.
4 stages of application of Subsidiary Alliance:
1. Stage I: Company offered to help a friendly Indian state with its troops to fight any war the state might be
engaged in.
 7

2. Stage II: Making a common cause with the now friendly

Indian state and taking the field with its own soldiers and States under Subsidiary Alliance:
those of the state.
Hyderabad (1798)
3. Stage III: Here the Indian ally was asked for money not
men. The company promised that it would recruit, train and Mysore (1799)
maintain a fixed number of soldiers under British officers. Tanjore (1799)
The troops were to be available for the personal use of
Rulers and to protect it against any aggression- All for a Awadh (1801)
fixed sum of money. Peshwa (Dec 1802)
4. Stage IV: The protection money was fixed exorbitantly
Berar (1803)
high. When the states failed to pay it was asked to cede a
part of its territory to the company. Scindia (1804)
 Through British residence, the company often interfered in Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bundi and Bharatpur,
the internal matters of the state and hastened the process of its
eventual annexation. Holkars (1818)

 The first subsidiary treaty was signed with the Nizam of

Hyderabad in 1798.
 By the Treaty of Bassein (1802), Peshwa Baji Rao II entered into a subsidiary alliance with the English.
 The Nawab of Oudh was also forced to sign a Subsidiary treaty.
 Wellesley dealt with Mysore, Carnatic, Tanjore and Surat even more sternly.
 The policy was designed in such a way that it served the main interest of the British East India Company in
expanding its hold in new territories of its allies without spending money from its coffers and to make these
allies its dependencies.
 In reality for the Indian states, it was
 Huge burden on economy
 Caused internal decay of state
 Indirectly it made the state its subject
 Highly profitable to British
Lord Hastings (1813-1822):
 Paramountcy Policy:
 The company claimed that it could annex or threaten to annex any Indian state since its power was
superior or paramount. This was seen as the foundational model for various British initiatives that came
later.
 It means EIC powers were greater than those of Indian states and that they were supreme or paramount.
 Establishment of British Paramountcy in India:
 The break-up of the Maratha confederacy was a remarkable achievement of Lord Hastings.
 8

 The second Anglo-Maratha War had shattered the power of the Maratha Chiefs but not their spirit.
 The Peshwa, Holkar and Bhonsle were defeated one by one and the Maratha confederacy was dissolved.
The Peshwa was deported to Bithur.
 Paramountcy:
 The subsidiary idea was somewhere more dignified as the state was treated at par
 But in Paramountcy the states were annexed and became subjects
 Major states were Nepal and Maratha.
Anglo-Nepal Relation:
 Gorkha ruled over Nepal after annexing it from the successors of Ranjit Malla of Bhatgaon in 1760. They
started their expansion towards the south and in the process, they captured Butwal and Sheoraj.
 This brought them into conflict with the English headed at that time by Lord Hastings. The war broke out
and ended with the Treaty of Sugauli 1816.
 As per the terms of Treaty:
 A British resident was to be stationed in Nepal.
 Garhwal and Kumaon were ceded to British and Nepal pulled down its claims over Terai.
 Nepal also agreed to withdraw from Sikkim.
 The agreement reaped many benefits to the British:
 British expansion reached up to the Himalayas’.
 Its trading with Central Asia got easier.
 Hill stations like Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital came under British Possession.
 Large number of Gorkhas joined the British Army.
 During his reign the Ryotwari System was established in Madras by Thomas Munro (Governor of
Madras).
 Lord Hastings started an all-out drive against the Pindaris and exterminated them by 1818.
 Rajputana also came under British protection.
 Thus, Lord Hastings succeeded in establishing in unmistakable terms the political sovereignty of England
over the whole of India. He fought 28 battles and won 120 fortresses.
Completion of the task of conquering the whole of India (1818 to 1857):
 By 1818, the entire Indian sub-continent except the Punjab and Sindh had been brought under British
control.
 9

 The British fear of the expansion of the Russian Empire

towards the east and the commercial possibilities of the
Indus were the main causes for the British annexation
of Sindh.
 Lord Auckland had forced the Amirs to sign the
subsidiary Treaty in 1839.
 But, in spite of previous assurances that its territorial
integrity would be respected, Sindh was annexed in
1843 after a brief campaign by Sir Charles Napier
under Lord Ellenborough.
Lord William Bentinck (1828 – 1835):
 Abolition of Sati and suppression of Thagi was done during his reign.
 Charter Act of 1833 through which Governor General of Bengal was made Governor General of India came
up.
 The British Annexation took place during his tenure:
 Mysore -1831
 Coorg- 1834
 Central Cachar - 1834
 Resolution of 1835 and Macaulay’s Minute which advocated the promotion of western Science and
Education through the Medium of English came up during his time.
 He abolished the provincial court of appeal appointed by Cornwallis.
At the Frontiers:

Northern Frontier Eastern Frontier

 Lord Auckland led the First Afghan war.  Lord Amherst fought the First Burma war 1823-
 Lord Ellenborough annexed Sindh (1843). 28.

 Henry Hardinge started Sikh war and annexed  William Bentinck annexed Cachar and Coorg.
Sutlej (Punjab)
Lord Dalhousie (1848-56):
 He was an imperialist. He was not prepared to leave any opportunity of acquiring territory. His annexations
were both ‘War’ and ‘Peace’.
 Annexation of war was based on the right of conquest and peace came by application of the Doctrine of
Lapse.
 He advanced the policy of annexations by conquest:
1. Punjab (1849)- by 2nd Anglo Sikh war.
 10

2. Pegu or lower Burma (1852)

3. Sikkim
Doctrine of Lapse:
 As per the doctrine, the adopted son of a ruler could not be the heir of the state. It was for the Paramount
Power (British) to decide whether to allow the adopted son to rule the state or to annex it. The doctrine was
stated to be based on Hindu law and customs.
 The Doctrine of Lapse was not invented by Dalhousie, it can be traced to early 1834 when the court of
director had laid down the guideline in case of failed lineal successors. (Annexed Maandavi 1839, Kolaba &
Jalaun in 1840).
Lord Dalhousie (1848-56):
 He aggressively used the policy to acquire a number of Indian states but he was not the originator of the
Doctrine of lapse.
 During his rule, several states fell under the doctrine of lapse and Dalhousie left no stone unturned to take
full advantage of the opportunity and bring a large number of Indian states under British Control.
 Dalhousie’s predecessors acted on the general principle of avoiding annexation if it could be avoided, while
Dalhousie acted on the principle of annexing it if it could be annexed.
 States brought under Doctrine of lapse: Satara (1848), Jaitpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Jhansi (1854),
Nagpur (1854), Jaitpur (Bundelkhand), Sambalpur (Orissa), Baghat (M.P), Udaipur.

Kittur Uprising [Karnataka]:

 Chief of Kittur in 1824 leaving no male heir so this became a ground of annexation of the state (Doctrine of
Lapse).
 Rani Chinnamma, widow of the chief, revolted and declared independence.
 She led an armed rebellion against the British East India Company (BEIC) in 1824 in defiance of the
doctrine of lapse in an attempt to maintain Indian control over the region, but was defeated and died
imprisoned.
 One of the first female rulers to rebel against British rule, she has become a folk hero in Karnataka and symbol
of the independence movement in India.
 So, it is debatable whether Doctrine of Lapse was devised by Lord Dalhousie in 1848, though he arguably made
it official by documenting.

 Annexation on the pretext of Misrule: Oudh was the unfortunate state that fell a victim to this instrument
of Dalhousie (1856).
 Case of Berar: The arrears of the subsidy due against the Nawab went on accumulating. So, Dalhousie took
away the cotton-producing province of Berar from the Nizam in 1853.
 Thus, Dalhousie went too far and too fast. His annexations and escheats worsened the situation. It burst out
in 1857, a year after lord Dalhousie left India.
 11

Military Reform by Dalhousie:

 He extended the British empire up to Punjab and Sindh in the west.
 The shifting of headquarter of Bengal artillery from Calcutta to Meerut and permanent headquarter of army
were shifted to Shimla.

Other Important Policies:

 Wood’s Education dispatch of 1854 came up which advocated opening of Anglo-vernacular schools and
government colleges.
 Railway Minute, 1853: Set up the first Railway line between Bombay and Thane.
 During his tenure 4000 miles of Telegraph was set up to connect Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
 He brought in the Postal Reforms.
 Social reforms like Widow Remarriage Act 1856 came up.
 Educational & Social Reforms:
 He had a strong personal commitment to the establishment of a national system of education in India.
 He ensured the successful administration of the provisions contained in the 1854 Wood’s dispatch.
 He abandoned infiltration theory and provided articulated scheme of education
 Dalhousie declared that no single change was likely to produce more important and beneficial consequences
than female education.
 The Educational dispatch of 1854 favoured Women's education.
 There was a shift in government policy under him from higher education for the elite towards mass
education for both.
 He along with Bethune are credited with changing policy in favour of Women's education. Dalhousie even
personally supported the Bethune Women school from his own money set up by Bethune after his death.
 Before he left for England, he took personal interest and introduced the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act,
1856, permitting widow remarriage which became an act after being approved by his successor, Lord
Canning.
 Railway helped to transport a large number of natural resources like coal and metal from inland to export to
Britain.
 Administration:
 In Administration he asserted his control over even minor military affairs, and when Sir Charles Napier
ordered certain allowances, given as compensation for the dearness of provisions, to be granted to the sepoys
on a system which had not been sanctioned from headquarters, and threatened to repeat the offence, the
Governor-General rebuked him to such a degree that Napier resigned his command.
 Development of Infrastructure (Dalhousie):
 An imperial system of telegraphs followed.
 12

 The first link of railway communication was completed in 1855, and well-considered plans mapped out the
course of other lines and their method of administration.
 Dalhousie encouraged private enterprise to develop railways in India for the good of the people and also to
reduce absolute dependence on the government.
 However, as an authoritarian, utilitarian ruler, Dalhousie brought the railways under state control-attempting
to bring the greatest benefit to India from the expanding network.
 Railway helped to transport a large number of natural resources like coal and metal from inland to export to
Britain.
 Ganges Canal was completed; and despite the cost of wars in the Punjab and Burma, liberal provision was
made for metalled roads and bridges.
 The construction of massive irrigation works such as the 350-mile Ganges Canal, which contains thousands
of miles of distributaries was a substantial project that was particularly beneficial for the largely agricultural
India.
 Increasing irrigated area resulted in an increase in population.
 Reforms to improve the condition of the increased population such as immunisation and establishment of
educational institutions were never implemented.
 Set up a separate Public Works department (earlier with the military) and laid down a modern postal system.
 Europeanization and consolidation of authority were the keynote of his policy.
 In his administration Dalhousie vigorously asserted his control over even minor military affairs:
 Sir Charles Napier resignation over dearness allowance to sepoys,
 He was equally careful of the well-being of the European soldiers, providing them with healthy
recreations and public gardens.
 He created an imperial system of post-offices and he also worked on reducing the rates of carrying letters
and introducing postage stamps.
 He created the department of public instruction.
 He freed converts to other religions from the loss of their civil rights
 He inaugurated the system of administrative reports and enlarged the Legislative Council of India.
 He played a significant role in the welfare of British economic interests
 He gave encouragement to the culture of tea.
 He worked in the protection of forests, Dalhousie also worked on the preservation of ancient and historic
monuments.
 With the object of making the civil administration more European, he closed what he considered to be the
useless college in Calcutta for the education of young civilians:
 He established a European system of training, training them in mufassal stations and subjecting them to
departmental examinations.
 13

 Bengal, long ruled by the Governor-General or his delegate, was placed under its own Lieutenant-
Governor in May 1854.
 The military boards were swept away:
 The higher commands in an army selection took the place of seniority
 The clothing and a stud department were created.
 The medical service underwent complete reorganisation.
 A department of public works was established in each presidency, and engineering colleges were provided.
Important Battles at a Glance:
Battle of Khed (1707) Sahu defeated Tara Bai

Battle of Palkhed (1728) Baji Rao I defeated the Nizam

Battle of Bhopal (1737) Baji Rao I defeated the Nizam

Battle of Udaigir (1760) Marathas defeated the Nizams

Third Battle of Panipat Ahmed Shah Abadli defeated the Marathas

(1761)

Battle of Manihari (1756) Siraj-ud-daulah defeated his rival Saukat

Jang

Battle of Plassey (June The English defeated Siraj-ud-daulah

1757)

Battle of Bidara (Nov 1759) The English defeated the Dutch

Battle of Buxar (Oct 1764) The English defeated the combined forces of
Mir Qasim, Shuja Ud-daulah and Shah Alam
II

First Anglo-Mysore war Fought between Haider Ali and the English.
(1766-69) Finally, peace was restored

Battle of Chiukunali (1771) The Marathas defeated Haider Ali

Second Anglo Mysore War Fought between the English and Haider Ali
later carried on by Tipu Sultan
(1780-84)

Third Anglo-Mysore war The English defeated Tipu Sultan

(1789-92)
 14

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War The English defeated Tipu Sultan

(1799)

First Anglo-Sikh War The English defeated the Sikhs

(1845-46)

Second Anglo-Sikh War The English defeated the Sikhs and finally
(1848-49) annexed Punjab

Battle of Gujarat (1849) The English defeated the Sikhs

Battle of Shakrakhed The Nizam defeated Mubariz Khan

(1724)

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 10
Various Acts till 1858
 2

Various Acts till 1858

Background:
 The acquisition of the Diwani of Bengal and the introduction of the Double Government system by Clive
in 1765 became an important building block for the British empire.
 In England, the aspect of this dual governance which attracted chief attention was the immense wealth which
the company was expected to derive from the revenues of Bengal, estimated at £4,000,000 per annum.

 Some, including Pitt, held that the crown should now take over the governmental authority which the
company has now assumed, but this view was held by few.
 In 1767, the first intervention of parliament in the company affairs came in the form of a demand for a share
of the plunder to the extent of £ 4,00,000 (pound) per annum.
 However, under the dual system, the Nawab was limited to the position of a figurehead and the
administration was in the hands of the Deputy Nawab, whose was the nominee of the company and an
English resident posted at the Durbar and the used to decide every matter of significance in the arrangement
(Dual Government) a fatal divorce of power from responsibility was inherent which led to most of the
scandals and abuses speedily to their appearances.
 3

 The abuses of private trade reached its peak because the Indian administrators in this arrangement were
open to illegitimate pressure, and unable to restrict the misconduct of the company's servants.
 The ongoing demands of the company for increasing the revenue eventually resulted in gross oppression
of the peasantry.
 In 1769, when the company was in debt of about £ 6 million, a dividend of 12.5% was declared, though
the Directors had to conceal facts and falsify accounts. And when the News of the famine in Bengal 1770 and
Haider Ali's successful onslaught into the Carnatic war reached England,
 The company's stock showed a spectacular decline and before long rumours got abroad of the company's
true financial position.
 In sheer desperation, the Directors of the company applied to the Bank of England for a loan of £
1,000,000 and while doing so they signed the death warrant of the company's independence.
 As this resulted in the appointment of a select committee to enquire into the company's affairs which was
presided over by General Burgoyne who while proposing a resolution for the appointment of the committee
declared: "The most atrocious abuses that even stained the name of civil government called for redress… if
by some means sovereignty and law are not separated from trade, India and Great Britain will be suck &
overwhelmed never to rise again".
 In 1772, they declared another dividend of 12.5% and they asked the Government for a loan of £ 1 million.
The Discrepancy was so glaring
that it caused the House of
Commons to appoint a second
(secret) committee to investigate
the reasons for it.
 It became a very debatable and
interesting question that why
should a company go bankrupt,
when its servants were returning
with their pockets bulging with
gold.
 Consequently, the committee
issued their reports. As expected, these were highly condemnatory in nature. Subsequently two Acts of
Parliament were passed.
 The first granted the company a loan of £ 140,000 at 4% interest on certain terms and conditions.
 While the second was the Regulation Act of 1773.
 Lot of opposition came from the East India Company and its supporters.
 This act is of great constitutional significance as it was the first move by the British Government towards
the centralization of administration in India and to control and regulate the affairs of the East India
Company.
 4

Why did Britain pass Acts?

 Corruption in company officials and their high-income leads to widespread jealousy against them.
 Display of Parliamentary supremacy over East India Company.
 On the contrary East India Company applied for a loan which became a pretext to pass such laws.
 To establish a claim over the cake.
Broad overview of the Acts:
 Initial purpose was centralization of administration.
 Establishment of Various administrative institutions like Legislative council, executive council, Supreme
court etc.
 Later the acts were made to establish decentralisation of power.
 Incorporation of natives into Governance.
 Introduced the Rule of Law and the Procedures for Governance.
The Company Rule (1773-1858):
Regulating Act of 1773:
 Features of the Act: The Act remodelled the constitution of the company both in England and in India.
 In England:
○ It was provided that the Court of Directors, hitherto elected every year, was henceforth to be elected
for four years.
○ The number of
Directors was fixed at
24, out of which 1/4th
retiring every year.
○ Also, they were
required to lay before
the treasury all
correspondence from
India dealing with the
revenues and Before
the Secretary of State,
everything dealing with civil and military admonition. Thus, for the first time the British Cabinet was
given the right of controlling the India affairs.
 The Act designated the Governor of Bengal as the 'Governor General' of Bengal and created an
executive council of four members to assist him who were not employees of the company and especially
sent from England.
○ All decisions by majority but the Governor General will have a casting vote.
○ The first such Governor General was Lord Warren Hastings.
○ The councillors were Philip Francis, Claverin, Monson and Barwell.
 5

○ They were to hold office for a period of five years and could be removed earlier only by the king on
the recommendation of the Court of Directors (Quorum - 3 members).
○ Further, the Governor General in council was vested with the civil and military government of the
Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (Bengal, Bihar and Orissa).
○ It made the Governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies subordinate to the Governor of
Bengal who were supposed to send reports with respect to revenue, government.
1773 Act:
 “And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all cases whatsoever wherein any difference of opinion
shall arise upon any question proposed in any consultation, the said governor-general and council shall be
bound and concluded by the opinion and decision of the major part of those present: and if it shall
happen that, by the death or removal, or by the absence, of any of the members of the said council, such
governor-general and council shall happen to be equally divided; then, and in every such case, the said
governor-general, or in his absence, the eldest counsellor present, shall have a casting voice, and his opinion
shall be decisive and conclusive.”
 The Act also prohibited the servants of the company from engaging in any private trade or accepting
gifts or bribes from the natives. Thus, laying down the foundational principle of honest administration. Also
provided liberal salaries.
 The Act for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1774, so as to create an independent
judiciary to check the executive.
 Jurisdiction - Civil, criminal, admiralty and ecclesiastical matters.
 All public servants of the company were answerable to it.
 All British subjects (European/Indian) could seek redressal against any sort of oppression.
 Appeal against the decision could be made to the King in Council in England.
○ Sir Elijah Impey as Chief Justice.
○ Chambers, Lemaister and Hyde as the puisne judges.
Summary:
 The Act was the initiation of the centralization system.
 It was the first step of the British Parliament to control and regulate the affairs of the East India Company.
 It recognised the political as well as the administrative functions of East India Company.
 It laid the foundation of central administration in India.
Amending Act of 1781:
 This Act was remedial and supplementary in nature.
 This act exempted the actions of the public servants of the company done by them in their official capacity
from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Assessment of the Act of 1773:
 The Act was based on the principles of check and balances.
 The Regulating Act of 1773, tried to sail in an uncharted sea. It left the details of administration in India to
the devices of the company.
 6

 However, it tried to organise an honest and efficient supreme authority in Bengal, Madras & Bombay and to
protect against the abuse of their powers by the servants of the company.
 It was a failure and only added to Hasting’s difficulties instead of strengthening him.
 The Act was in operation for 11 years till it was superseded by the Pitt’s India Act of 1784.

Pitt's India Act of 1784:

 Features of the Act:
 The Act constituted a department of state in England Known as the "Board of Control". Whose special
function was to control the political affairs of the Court of Directors.
 The Act empowered the Board of Control to have access to all the company's papers and its approval
was mandatory with regards to all the dispatches that were not purely commercial, also, in case of
emergency the Board could send its own draft.
 Thus, the Act placed the civil and military government of the company in subordination in England.
 The President of the Board of Control was ultimately responsible for the government of British
India.
○ Board of Control members:
1. Chancellor of Exchequer
2. Secretary of state
3. 4 members of privy council
 However, the Act allowed the Court of Directors to manage the commercial affairs. Thus, introducing the
Dual System of governance by the company and by a parliamentary Board which lasted till 1858.
 The Act reduced the number of members of the Executive council to three, of whom the commander
in chief was to be one.
 7

 The Governor General Council having power over subordinate presidencies now included war,
diplomatic relations and revenue.
 The Governor General Council was made subordinate to the British government. Forbidden to declare
war without prior sanction of the Court of Directors.
 Introduced non-intervention in Princely states so as to avoid war.
 It also modified the councils of Madras and Bombay on the pattern of that of Bengal.
 The act was significant mainly for two reasons:
 The company's territories in India were for the first time called the British possessions in India.
 The British Government was given supreme control over the company's affairs and its
administration in India.
 Wars and Treaties were prohibited by this act.
 This act separated the Commercial functions of East India Company from Political functions.
○ Court of Directors to manage the Commercial functions.
○ The Board of Control will supervise and direct all operations of civil, revenue and military matters
of British possessions in India.

The Act of 1786:

 It was meant to bid Cornwallis to accept the Governor Generalship of India.
 He wanted to have the power of both the Governor general and the Commander in chief.
 This Act conceded this demand and also gave the power to override the council in extraordinary cases on his
own responsibility.
 Cornwallis set up a new revenue system which is known as the Permanent Settlement.
 Cornwallis also brought a system of Covenant Civil Servants. This system encouraged the “Patronage
system”.
 8

The Charter Act of 1793:

 The Act extended the Company’s commercial privileges for another 20 years.
 Company after paying expenses, interest, dividend, salaries from Indian revenues has to pay additional 5L
pounds to the British govt.
 Power of Governor General to override his council was extended to all future Governor Generals.
 Senior officials could not leave India without permission or will be considered as resignation
 The Company could licence individual/company’s employees to trade in India. This was called “privilege”
or “country trade” and paved the way for shipments of opium to China.
 Indian revenue was to be used to pay home government members.
 This practice continued up to 1919.
 By this Act the revenue administration was separated from judiciary functions and this led to the
disappearance of the Maal adalats.
 All laws relating to rights of persons and property be printed with translations in Indian language so that
people are aware of their rights and immunities.
 During this time industrial growth was evident in Britain.
 Thus, it also facilitated the system of Laissez faire - Lobbying.
Continental System of Napoleon (1806 -1814):
 It was the foreign policy of Napoleon Bonaparte against the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic
Wars.
 As a response to the naval blockade of the French coasts enacted by the British government on 16 May 1806,
Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree on 21 November 1806, which brought into effect a large-scale embargo
against British trade.
The Charter Act of 1813:
 Features:
 By this Act the monopoly of trade with India was abolished. Company could only retain its monopoly
over tea trade and Chinese trading.
 The Shareholders were given 10.5% dividend on revenue of India.
 Allotted 20 more years to East India Company to retain India and its revenue without detriment to the
sovereignty of the crown.
 One lakh rupees were to be spent for the education of Indians every year.
 Christian missionaries were permitted to come and preach the religion.
 Separate accounts for commercial transactions and territorial revenues to be maintained.
 The regulations of the councils of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta were now mandated to be put before the
British Parliament.
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PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 11
Various Acts and British
Policies
 2

Various Acts and British Policies

Before 1833:
 The Industrial Revolution led to the Machine Age.
 Changes in Socio Economic sphere:
 Cotton textile manufacturing has grown.
 Cheap products became available.
 Class consciousness emerged.
 Rise of the class of intelligentsia.
 In 1830, Whigs party came to power in Britain:
 Liberal principles emerged.
 The issues of Human rights became important.
 Reform Act in 1832 (electoral reforms) took place.
 Laissez faire became widely accepted.
 Laissez Faire is the policy of allowing private businesses to develop without government control.
 Slavery abolished in 1833.
 Factory Act 1833 - dignity of mankind being recognized.
 All these factors gave rise to the concept of political philosophy “Utilitarianism” which advocates maximum
happiness for maximum people. James Mill (disciple of Bentham) advocated it.
The Charter Act of 1833:
 The Act provided another lease of 20 years to the Company.
 It asked the Company to close its commercial business. Thus, lost monopoly over Tea and China trade as
well.
 The President of the Board of Council became the Minister of Indian Affairs.
 The Act declared complete power of the British Parliament over the Governor General Council.
 All restrictions on European immigration in India and acquisition of property was lifted.
 Indian Law commission was appointed resulting in IPC, CPC and CrPC etc. later.
 Governor General of Bengal became Governor General of India.
 The Governor General in Council was given the power to control, supervise and direct the civil and
military affairs of the company.
 Lord William Bentinck became the first Governor General of India.
 The Act enlarged the executive council of the Governor General by the addition of a Law Member for
legislative purposes.
 3

 He was not entitled to sit and vote at the meetings of the council but only for the purpose of law making
and on invitation.
 Also, a law commission was constituted with the purpose of consolidating, codifying and improving
India laws.
 Lord Macaulay was the first Law Member of the council and became president of the law commission.
 Bombay, Madras, Bengal and other territories were placed under the complete control of the Governor-
General-in Council.
 The Act created a new presidency of Agra.
 All revenues were to be raised under the authority of the Governor-General-in Council who was to have
complete control over the expenditure also.
 Also brought about legislative centralization.
 Governments of Madras and Bombay were drastically deprived of their powers of legislation. They were
left only with the right of proposing to the Governor-General-in-council projects of the laws which they
thought expedient.

Article 76 in the Constitution of India 1949:

 Attorney General for India:
 The president shall appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court to be
Attorney General for India.
 It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to give advice to the Government of India upon such legal
character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the President, and to discharge
the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other law for the time being in force.
 In the performance of these duties the Attorney General shall have right of audience in all courts in
the territory of India.
 The Attorney General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such
remuneration as the President may determine Conduct of Government Business.
 The Act attempted to introduce a system of open competition for selection of civil servants and stated
that the Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office and employment under the company.
 Also, provision was made for the training of civil servants at the company college at Haileybury
 However, this provision was neglected after strong opposition from the court of Directors.
As per the Section 87 of the Charter Act of 1833:
 “No Indian or natural born subject of the Crown resident in India to Dubai because only of his religion,
place of birth of different colour or any of them be disqualified for any place of office or employment under
the company”.
 “Not to ascertain qualification but to remove disqualification”, it was meant to repeal the provision of the
act of 1793 which excluded any but covenanted servants.
 4

 It also enjoined the Government of India to take measures of amelioration of the condition of slaves and
abolition of slavery in India. (Act V 1843 Slavery was abolished by Lord Ellenborough)
 By this Act, the control of the island of Saint Helena is transferred from the East India Company to the
Crown. (in the South Atlantic Ocean). Hence, it is called the Saint Helena Act as well.

Assessment of the Act of 1833:

 The act of 1833 undoubtedly brought about significant and far-reaching changes.
 The company having lost its commercial privileges could now concentrate on administration.
 Also, the provision for the codification of law was of great consequence as before 1833, the laws were so
imperfect that in most of the cases it was almost impossible to ascertain what exactly the law was.
 There were several types of laws enforceable in India and at times it used to become a difficult question
to decide which law was applicable in a particular case.
 Also, the provision concerning the abolition of slavery irrespective of religion, place of birth, descent and
colour is another laudable feature of the Act.
Summary:
 The Act was the climax of the centralization system.
 By this Act, the Company lost its commercial functions along with monopoly over tea trade and Chinese
trading.
 It provided the lease of 20 years to East India Company to retain India and its revenue was extended.
 The Act allowed European immigration and to buy property.
 The Act also provided the proposals of an open civil services exam but rejected by the Court of Directors.
 5

The Charter Act of 1853:

 Possessing a significant constitutional landmark, this act was the last of the series of Charter Acts.
 As the time approached for the renewal of the company's Charter, there was a growing demand that the
double Government of the company should be put to end because:
 The Court of Directors had outlived its usefulness and the existence of the Court of Directors along with
the Board of Control only resulting in unnecessary delay in the dispatch of business and under
expenditure.
 It was also felt that the existing legislative machinery under the charter Act of 1833 was inadequate.
 Voice was also raised against the Governor-General of India continuing also as the Governor of Bengal,
fearing that as long as he combined these functions, he could not be free from a bias in favour of Bengal.
 Also, great territorial and political changes had taken place since the Charter Act of 1833. (Punjab, Sind and
Pegu).
 Then there was a growing demand for the decentralisation of powers and for providing the people of India
a share in the management of their own affairs for which there was some support in England also.
 Thus, under these circumstances the British Parliament was called upon to renew the Charter.
Features of the Act:
 The Act renewed the powers of the company and allowed it to retain the possession of the India territories
and that too not for any specified period as the previous Acts had done but only until the Parliament should
otherwise provide.
 The number of the members of the Court of Directors was reduced from 24 to 18 out of which 6 were to
be nominated by the crown.
 The Court of Directors was dispossessed of its power of patronage as the services were now made open
to competitive examinations, in which no discrimination of any kind was to be made.
 To enforce this scheme a committee with Lord Macaulay as its president was appointed in 1854.
 Appointment was to be done only by open competition based on merit and was open to all. The report
recommended that only the ‘fittest’ be selected to the ICS.
 The Court of Directors was now empowered to constitute a new presidency or to alter the boundaries of the
existing ones to incorporate the newly acquired territories.
 Since 1833, two new provinces of Sind and Punjab were added
 It could also appoint a Lieutenant Governor for these provinces.
 In 1859, a Lt. Governor was appointed for Punjab.
 This also led to the creation of Assam, Burma and the Central Provinces.
 6

Article 3 in The Constitution of India 1949:

 Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States: Parliament may by
law:
(a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of
States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;
(b) increase the area of any State;
(c) diminish the area of any State;
(d) alter the boundaries of any State;
(e) alter the name of any State; Provided that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of
Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the
Bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to
the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the
reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed
has expired Explanation I In this article, in clauses (a) to (e), State includes a Union territory, but in the
proviso, State does not include a Union territory Explanation II The power conferred on Parliament by
clause (a) includes the power to form a new State or Union territory by uniting a part of any State or
Union territory to any other State or Union territory.

 Appointment of a separate governor for the Bengal Presidency so that the governor of Bengal is different
from the Governor-General.
 It introduced for the first time, local representation in the India (control) legislative council with no
association of Indian elements.
 Council’s conduct of work on the lines of British parliament.
 Executive council retained veto power.
 Out of the 6 new legislative members of the Governor-General's council, four members were appointed by
the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and North Western Provinces.
 Provincial representatives were to be civil servants of the company not less than a standing of 10
years.
 The Central legislature was formed. First time legislation treated as a special function of Government.
 Distinction between Legislative Councillors and executive councillors.
 The Act also empowered the crown to appoint a law commission in England to examine the reports and the
drafts of the Indian law commission which had by then ceased to exist, and recommended legislative
measures.
Summary:
 The lease to the company was extended indefinitely till further decision of Parliament.
 The Civil Services exams were made open, and for this Macaulay Committee 1854 was appointed.
 7

 The law member became the permanent member of the executive council.
 Additional six members were introduced for legislation.
 The Governor General could veto the Legislative Council.
The Act was an Assessment of the Charter Act of 1853:
 It was a compromise between two conflicting views.
 Those who favoured the retention of the company's territorial authority were satisfied by the pro vision that
the company should continue to govern India in trust for the crown until the Parliament should otherwise
direct.
 While those who wanted the substitution of Crown control for that of the company were now satisfied that
the number of directors were reduced from 24 to 18 of whom 6 were to be the nominees of the crown
and that the quorum was fixed at 10 so that when the meetings of the court were thinly attended, the
nominees of the Crown were able to have a majority.
 Eventually, the Directors lost their patronage. One of the main shortcomings in the act however was the
continued exclusion of the people of the land with the work of legislation.

 L1 = Chief justice of Calcutta Supreme court

 L2 = Judge of Calcutta supreme court
 L3, L4, L5, L6 = Representatives of Bengal, Madras, Bombay & NW provinces
The Crown’s Rule (1858 – 1947):
 The Act for the better Government of India 1858:
 Charter Act of 1853:
 East India Company was to retain the territories and the revenues in India in trust for the
Crown not for any specified period.
 Only until parliament should otherwise direct.
 Revolt of 1857 gave the opportunity for transferring control from the company to the Crown.
 8

 Lord Palmerston introduced the Bill for Better Government of India in the House of Commons in
February 1858.
 During the second reading the ministry was changed.
 Lord Derby, was the then United Kingdom Prime Minister.
 Disraeli as the chancellor of the exchequer succeeded and introduced a new Bill.
 The Act for the Better Government of India was passed in the British Parliament.
 Finally, the act got the Royal assent on August 2, 1858.
Features of the Act:
 The Act was also known as the Act for the Good Government of India.
 The Act abolished the East India Company.
 The Act transferred the powers of government, territories and revenues to the British Crown.
 As per the Act, India was to be governed by and in the name of her majesty.
 It ended the system of Double Government introduced by Pitt's India Act of 1784.
 The Crown appointed a Governor-General and the Governors of the Presidencies.
 The Act divided the patronage between the Crown, the Secretary of State and the authorities in India.
 It declared the Secretary of State for India as a corporate body, can be sued and be sued in England and
India.
Secretary of State for India:
 He was a member of the British Cabinet as well, accountable to parliament.
 The Board of control and the Court of director was abolished.
 The Act created a new office.
 It vested with complete authority and control over Indian administration
 The post was regarded as the Communication channel.
 The Secretary of State was assisted by a 15-member council of India:
 advisory body
 chairman - secretary of state.
 50% members having at least lived 10 years in India.
 The appointment to covenanted civil services were to be made by open competition under the rules laid
down by the secretary of state with the help of civil service commissioners.
Features of the Act:
 The post of Governor-General of India became the Viceroy of India.
 Direct representative of the crown in India,
 Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India.
 9

Queens’ Proclamation of 1858:

 Act was followed by Queen Victoria’s proclamation to “the Princes, Chiefs and Peoples of India,” in
Allahabad on 1st November 1858 [Magna Carta of the People of India]
“We hereby announce to the Native Princes of India that all treaties, engagements made with them by or under
the authority of the Honorable East India Company are by us accepted, and will be scrupulously maintained, and
We look for a like observance on their part. We desire no extensions of Our present territorial possessions; and
while We will permit no aggression upon Our dominions or Our Rights to be attempted with impunity, We shall
sanction no encroachment on those of others, We shall respect the rights, dignity, and honor of Native Princes
as Our own; and we desire that they—as well as our own subjects—should enjoy prosperity, and that social
advancement, which can only be secured by internal peace and good government. We hold ourselves bound to
the Natives of Our Indian territories by the same obligations of duty, which bind us to all Our other subjects, and
those obligations by the Blessing of God, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fulfill….
……And it is our further will that, so far as may be, our subjects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and
impartially admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may be qualified, by their education,
ability, and integrity, duly to discharge….
Major Changes:
 The Act made no interference in religion.
 The policy towards Princely states was:
 10

 Subordinate Union
 No more annexations of the princely states. Doctrine of lapse was null and void.
Assessment:
 The Secretaries of State for India who were appointed according to the act of 1858 were far able men than
the members of the boards of control had been.
 The British parliament was content with leaving the secretary of state alone to act as he pleased.
 They started managing the affairs of India so efficiently that there were no occasions for the parliament to
give any directions or interfere in their work.
 Also, as the most brilliant Englishmen had now entered the Indian Civil Service and were carrying on the
administrative work efficiently. It was thus thought ungenerous and unnecessary from the British point of
view, to criticise them.
 Thus, by this way developed the theory of trusting the man on the spot and supporting him and leaving
him alone.
 The members of parliament now realised that nothing was to be gained by interfering in the Indian affairs.
Thus, the interest of parliament in Indian affairs slackened after 1858.
Acts after 1858:
 The Indian Councils Act 1861
 The Indian Councils Act 1892
 The Indian Councils Act 1909
 The Government of India Act 1919
 The Government of India Act 1935
The Indian Independence Act 1947
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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 12
British Economic Policy
 2

British Economic Policy

Social conditions during the 18th Century:

Inequality:
❖ During the 18th century India became a land of contrasts as extreme poverty and extreme luxury existed
side by side.
❖ The common population lived at a bare subsistence level whereas the lives of the rich were full of lavishness.
❖ However, the lives of Indian masses were by and large better in the 18th century than it was under British rule.

Agriculture:
❖ The society was technologically backward.
❖ Peasants were forced to pay an exorbitant amount of rent to the zamindars and jagirdars.
❖ The situation got more intensified during the later Mughal period with the development of the jagirdari crisis
and the fall in state’s revenue.

Castes and Sects:

❖ Both Hindus and Muslims were divided into numerous castes and sects. Among Hindus, inter-caste marriage
and inter-dining were forbidden.
❖ Caste Panchayats existed to impose caste norms.
❖ Among Muslims, the sharif Muslims consisting of nobles, scholars, priests, etc. often looked upon ajlaf
Muslims in a way similar to how higher caste Hindus treated lower caste Hindus.
❖ Muslim nobles were divided on the lines of:
 3

➢ Shias and Sunnis and

➢ Irani, Afghan, Turani and Hindustani Muslims.

Position of Women:
❖ Patriarchal society and women possessed little individuality Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber and
of their own. Maratha General Parshuram Bhau tried
❖ Purdah, Sati, Child marriage, polygamy, and dowry for promoting widow remarriage but failed.
marriage were highly prevalent.

Slavery:
❖ Accounts of European travellers from the 17th century reveal the widespread prevalence of slavery in India.
❖ Some people were compelled to sell their offspring due to extreme poverty. Higher caste Rajputs and khatris
usually kept slave women for domestic work.
➢ Condition of Slaves:
✓ The condition of slaves in India was better than that in Europe.
✓ Slaves in India were treated as hereditary servants rather than as menials.
✓ Marriage used to take place among slaves and their offspring were considered free citizens.
✓ The advent of Europeans led to an increase in the slave trade in India.
✓ They used to purchase slaves from Bengal, Bihar and Assam and carry them to Europe and
America.
✓ Abyssinian slaves were sold at Surat, Madras and Calcutta.

Developments in Art and Culture:

❖ With the decline of the Mughals, newly emerged state courts like Hyderabad, Awadh, Lucknow, and Kashmir,
became the new centre for talented people to seek patronage.
❖ At Lucknow, Asaf-ul-Daula built Bada Imambada in 1784.
❖ In the mid-18th century, Sawai Jai Singh built the Pink City of Jaipur and prepared a set of timetables called
Zij Muhammad-Shahi to help people observe astronomy.
❖ Painting: New schools of painting came up. Paintings of Kangra and Rajputana became prominent and
revealed new vitality and taste.
❖ Urdu Poetry: Eminent poets like Mir, Sauda, Nazir and Mirza Ghalib emerged.
❖ In Punjabi, Heer Ranjha was composed by Warris Shah and in Sindhi, Shah Abdul Rashid composed Risalo.
❖ South:
➢ In Kerala, Padmanabhapuram Palace, famous for its architecture and mural painting was constructed.
➢ Malayalam Literature flourished under the patronage of the Travancore Ruler.
➢ Sittar Poetry helped in enriching the Tamil language.
 4

British Policy towards Indian Handicrafts:

❖ European companies began arriving on Indian soil from the 16th century.
❖ As far as the traditional handicraft industry and the production of objects of art were concerned, India was
already far ahead of other countries in the world.
❖ Textiles were the most important among the Indian industries:
➢ Its cotton, silk and woollen products were sought after all over the world.
➢ Particularly, the muslin of Dacca, carpets of Lahore, shawls of Kashmir, and the embroidery works of
Banaras were very famous.
❖ Dhotis and dupattas of Ahmedabad, Chikan of Lucknow, and silk borders of Nagpur had earned worldwide
fame.
❖ For their silk products some small towns of Bengal besides Malda and Murshidabad were very famous.
❖ Similarly, Kashmir, Punjab and western Rajasthan were famous for their woollen garments.
❖ Besides textiles, India was also known widely for its shipping, leather and metal industries.
❖ Indian fame as an industrial economy rested on the cutting and polishing of marble and other precious stones
and carving of ivory and sandalwood.
❖ Moradabad and Banaras were famous for brass, copper, and bronze utensils.
❖ Nashik, Poona, Hyderabad and Tanjore were famous for other metal works.
❖ Kutch, Sindh and Punjab were known for manufacturing arms.
❖ Kolhapur, Satara, Gorakhpur, Agra, Chittor and Balaghat had likewise earned a reputation for their glass
industries.
 5

Decline of the Indian Handicraft Industry:

❖ The Indian handicraft industry had begun to decline by the beginning of the 19th century. There were many
reasons for it.
❖ The policies followed by the English East India Company proved to be highly detrimental to the Indian
handicraft industry.
❖ The Indian market was flooded with cheap finished goods from Britain. It resulted in a steep decline in the sale
of Indian products both within and outside of the country.
❖ The Company encouraged the cultivation of raw silk in Bengal while imposing service restrictions on the
sale of its finished products.
❖ So, with the disappearance of the traditional dynasties, their nobility also passed into oblivion. This led to a
sharp decline in the demand for traditional luxury goods.
❖ Besides, the Industrial revolution led to the invention of new machinery in Europe. Power looms replaced
handlooms.
❖ Finally, the new communication and transport facilities brought about a revolution in public life.
❖ But now conditions were changed with the introduction of railways and steamer services. Concrete roads were
laid to connect the country’s agricultural hinterland.

Trade & Commerce:

❖ India during the 18th century was self-sufficient in handicrafts and agricultural products.
❖ Import was limited and gold and silver were the major imported items. India was known as the sink of precious
metals.
❖ India’s export was more than import. Its industrial and agricultural goods enjoyed huge demand in foreign
markets.
❖ Items of Import:
➢ From the Persian Gulf: Pearls, raw silk, wool, dates, and dried fruits.
➢ Arabica: Coffee, gold, drugs, honey.
➢ China: Tea, silk
➢ Africa: Ivory, drugs.
❖ Items of Export: Cotton textiles, raw silk, silk fibres, indigo, hardware, saltpetre, opium, rice, spices, precious
stones, and drugs.
❖ Important Trade Centres of the Textile Industry: Dacca, Murshidabad, Patna, Surat, Ahmedabad,
Chanderi, Masulipatam, etc. Kashmir was an important centre for woollen manufacturing.
❖ Ship-Building Industry: Maharashtra, Andhra, Bengal. Europeans used to buy Indian-made ships.
 6

Pre-Colonial Stage (1600-1757):

➢ The role of the East India Company was limited to the exchange of goods and profit came by selling
Indian goods abroad.
➢ There was jealousy raised in British manufacturers, by the popularity of Indian goods. Hence the law was
enacted and the English government imposed a heavy duty on the import of clothes.
 7

Colonial Stage (Post-1757):

❖ Era of Merchant Capitalism (Mercantilism):
➢ The East India Company adopted the policy of buying cheap and selling dear.
➢ They had monopoly over trade and political control over the trading countries.
➢ On the lines of these East India Company eliminated rival companies, dabbled in Indian politics and
waged wars to control the economy of India.
➢ For example - post Battle of Plassey East India Company used political power and position to exercise
monopolistic control over Indian trade and production to buy cheap and sell dear.
❖ Adopting Gomasta System:
➢ Earlier traders depended on Indian merchants (Dadni) to procure cloth by giving them advances which
used to go to artisans.
➢ After 1753, Gomasta (agent of the East India Company) replaced merchants. It resulted in the status
of merchants being reduced to commissioned brokers.
➢ Direct Agency System with which the company dispensed with the Indian middleman altogether.
➢ After the Battle of Buxar, East India Company acquired Diwani Rights of Bengal which severely
impoverished the peasants and pushed them into extreme poverty.
❖ Transfer of Funds:
➢ The company began using territorial revenue to pay for conquest of another region.
➢ Funds were used in financing the company’s export in Europe and investment in China.
➢ Also, these funds were used in buying Indian goods and exporting to Britain.
❖ Use of Coercion:
➢ Forcing artisans to buy raw cotton from and sell cloth to the company alone.
❖ Khatbandi System:
➢ To accept advances to produce cloth and then sell their product below the market price to the company.
❖ Ryoti System:
➢ The Company found it more profitable to use state power to coerce the small peasants into unprofitable
cultivation instead of engaging in direct production with hired labour.
❖ Domination of Markets and Producers:
➢ The collective monopoly established by merchants and companies in cotton cloth in Bengal to eliminate
rivals and set high prices to handicraftsmen. Results in the creation of a buyer’s market.
❖ Use of Import restriction:
➢ Indian textiles were subjected to heavy import duties on entering England resulting in the decline of Indian
export, the income of weavers and spinners falling and ruling out any possibility of capital accumulation
and technological innovation.
 8

❖ Era of Industrial Capitalism (1813-1858):

➢ India thrown open to Machine Foreign Goods: Monopoly of East India Company ended in 1813, and
commercial policy shifted to fulfil the need of British industry by making India a consumer market of
Britain's goods and supplier of raw material to Britain.
➢ Trade Discrimination: Heavy import duties in Britain for Indian products and free trade policy for
importing goods from Britain to India.
➢ De-industrialization of Indian Economy: Sanction led to the destruction of the local handicraft industry
and India was converted into an agrarian economy.
❖ Era of Fiscal Capitalism (1858-1947):
➢ British capitalist investment in India: Investment in the form of development like railway, postal not
for the development of the country but because it would ultimately help trade and export.
➢ “Opening UP”: It is referred to the stage where the country receives capital as well as innovation.

Economic Policy of East India Company:

❖ A far-sighted vision with a clawing strategy led the East India Company to survive in India. Some factors are:
➢ Coming as a Joint Stock Company: Joint stock structure allows to raise large capital and ensures
continuity of business for the long term. Also reduces the risk of collapse.
➢ Monopoly status: England gave monopoly status to East India Company for two reasons:
1. To promote foreign trade and accumulate home wealth.
2. Influence of rich merchants of East India Company in the monarch’s court.
➢ “Buy Cheap and Sell Dear” Approach: It refers to the purchase of goods at a cheap rate and the sale of
goods at higher rates, a special trade privilege acquired by East India Company by bribing and bullying
the successor states. This approach also ruled out the competition in the market.
➢ Generation of a new market: Industrial revolution in England raised the need for a new market,
especially for their cotton manufacturers and the need for more raw materials.
➢ Expansion of territories for Profit: Fortification of factories, militarising the trading station and crossing
the reasonable limits of local administration. Controlling the territories brought under land revenue,
threatening peasants and artisans ultimately shifting their role from the voyage system to territorial power
helped East India Company to increase its business profit and consolidate their greed of territorial
ambition.
➢ Shifting Financial Base: Shift from trade to land revenue due to following reasons:
✓ Threat to the monopolistic status of the company due to Doctrine of Free Trade promoted by
economist Adam Smith.
✓ Capital accumulation and emerging strong lobbies in England began to pursue the abolition of
monopoly.
✓ Merchants other than East India Company managed to make their way into Indian trade and the
company's own employees were not above temptation to set their own private trade.
 9

✓ Declining income from the trade financial base shifted from trade to land revenue, from business of
trade to business of government.
❖ Because of these factors, the Charter Act of 1813 ended the monopoly and complete closure in 1833.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 13
British Policies II
 2

British Policies II
Revenue Administration and Economic Policy of the British
 The British policies were mainly centered on gaining maximum income from land without caring much about
Indian interests of the cultivators.
 After the advent, they adopted three types of land tenures such as Zamindari System, Ryotwari System and
Mahalwari System.

⮚ Zamindari System (Permanent Settlement): Under this 19 per cent of the total area under the British
rule, i.e., Bengal, Bihar, Banaras, division of the Northern Western Provinces and northern Karnataka.
⮚ Ryotwari System: It covered about 51 per cent of the area under British rule comprising part of the
Bombay and Madras Presidencies, Assam and certain other parts of British India.
⮚ Mahalwari System: The third revenue system, called the Mahalwari Settlement, was introduced in 30
per cent of the total area under British rule i.e., the North Western Provinces, Central Provinces and the
Punjab with some variations.
 3

 Robert Clive did not annex Oudh but created it as a buffer state against Afghans (Ahmad Shah Abdali) and
Marathas. Also, Shuja ud Daula became a grateful ally. Annexation of Oudh would have put the
responsibility of protecting its frontier on the company.

Bengal
 Robert Clive introduced the Dual system of government (Company and Nawab).
 The Company acquired the real power.
 Diwani by the Mughal emperor was given to them.
 The Company appointed deputy diwans for collection
 Mohd Reza Khan for Bengal
 Raja Shitab Roy for Bihar
 Earlier they already took Nizamat functions from new Nawab Nazm-ud-Daula.
 The responsibility of administration rested on the shoulders of Nawab of Bengal.
 The system led to administrative breakdown and proved disastrous for the common people.

 Finally in 1772, Warren Hastings abolished the system.

 4

Great Bengal famine of 1770

 The crop failure took place in autumn 1768 and summer 1769, accompanying smallpox epidemic as well.
 The Company had farmed out tax collection on account of a shortage of trained administrators, and the
prevailing uncertainty may have worsened the famine's impact.
 Other factors adding to the pressure were:
 The grain merchants ceased offering grain advances to peasants, but the market mechanism for exporting
the merchants' grain to other regions remained in place.
 The Company purchased a large portion of rice for its army.
 The Company's private servants and their Indian Gomasthas created local monopolies of grain.
 By the end of 1769 rice prices had risen two-fold, and in 1770 they rose a further three-fold. In Bihar, the
continual passage of armies in the a lready drought-stricken countryside worsened the conditions. The
Company provided little mitigation through direct relief efforts; nor did it reduce taxes, though its options to
do so may have been limited
 In May 1770, the Court of Directors estimated that about one-third of the population (approx. ten million) had
perished.

Revenue Policy
 Warren Hastings resorted to evolving a new system of revenue administration. His idea was centralization.
 In 1772, created a 5-year settlement (quinquennial system) of land revenue. Bidding estates to the highest
bidder (Revenue Farming).
 5

 Assuming Zamindars were mere tax collectors and had no proprietary rights, no preference was given to
zamindar and sometimes they were discouraged from bidding.
 In 1773 Corrupt collectors are replaced by Indian Diwans, and 6 provincial councils supervised them. These
are under the control of the Committee of Revenue at Calcutta. (centralization)
 Impact
 It was a failure, that affected peasants; revenue farmers try to extort max from the cultivators
 Officer of East India Company participated in bidding through their servants (Hasting himself)
 Over-assessment of the land and very high state demand.
 Harshness in the method of collection — heavy arrears — default — revenue cultivators deserted the
field.
 After the failure of 1772
 In 1776 he changed the revenue admin to annual settlement, and preference was given to zamindars,
based on open auction to the highest bidder.
 In 1781, the Office of diwan, and the provincial council were abolished.
 The collector was appointed again but without having power in revenue settlement.
 Also, Kanungos were appointed again.
 The Committee of Revenue of Calcutta was in charge of the entire supervision.
 From the above measure we can tell that Warren Hastings failed to provide a satisfactory revenue
administration system.
1. The Permanent Settlement (Cornwallis)
 The other names were Jagirdari, Malguzari, Biswedari, and Istemrari Bandobast.
 His conspicuous administrative measure was the Permanent Land Revenue Settlement of Bengal. It was
extended to the provinces of Bihar and Orissa.
 Cornwallis at the time of his appointment was instructed by the Directors to find a satisfactory and
permanent solution to the problems of the land revenue system in order to protect the interests of both the
Company and the cultivators.

Few important facts:

 Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement.
 John Shore was the President of the board of revenue and he favoured giving ownership rights to zamindars, it
was supported by Cornwallis
 James Grunt was a record keeper and he was against giving ownership rights to zamindars

 Lord Cornwallis decided to abolish the annual lease system.

 He introduced a decennial (Ten years) settlement in 1790 which was subsequently declared to be
continuous in 1793.
 6

 Permanent Settlement was introduced first in Bengal and Bihar and later in the southern district of
Madras and Varanasi.
 It eventually spread all over northern India through a series of regulations dated till 1793.

 Key Features of Permanent Settlement

 The zamindars of Bengal were recognized as the owners of the land as long as they paid the revenue to
the East India Company.
 The amount of revenue that the zamindars had to pay to the Company was firmly fixed and would not be
raised under any circumstances.
 The ryots became tenants since they were considered the tillers of the soil.
 This settlement took away the administrative and judicial functions of the zamindars.
 The flagrant defect of this arrangement was that no attempt was made ever to survey the lands or to assess
their value.
 The impact of this system on the zamindars as well as on the ryots were disastrous. Many zamindars
defaulted on payments.
 The rich zamindars who led luxurious lives left their villages and migrated into towns.
 They entrusted their rent collection to agents who exacted all kinds of illegal taxes besides the legal ones
from the ryots. (Absentee landlordism)
 This had resulted in a great deal of misery amongst the peasants and farmers.
 However, this system proved to be a great boon to the zamindars and to the government of Bengal.
 It formed a regular income and stabilized the government of the Company** (short term)
 The zamindars prospered at the cost of the welfare of the tenants.
 In Permanent Settlement, Zamindar had to pay a fixed tax as long as he paid, remained the owner, and
have the right to sell, transfer, and mortgage. After death, it would be inherited by his he irs.
 In case of failure to pay tax, the government can snatch zamindari and auction the land.

 Negative Impact of Permanent Settlement

 On Zamindars
 Less share in the tax collection, Zamindar found it difficult to meet the high demand of Britishers
and ultimately lose their Zamindari.
 Division of land further into smaller estates and rented to sub-holders on the condition to pay fixed
rent. This raised the issue of subinfeudation and further exploitation of cultivators.
 7

 On Cultivators
 Taking hereditary rights of the land of peasants and giving it to Zamindars and reduced the status of
cultivators as tenants of Zamindars.
 Deprivation of rights included customary rights like the right to use pasture and forest lands,
irrigation, canals, fisheries, and protection against rent enhancement.
 High amounts of fixed revenue compelled the cultivators to fall into the misery of rack renting,
indebtedness and ejection.
 The illegal method adopted by Zamindars like beating, and non-repaying had crushed cultivators
under distress.

Bengal and the Zamindars

 The Company controlled and regulated zamindars in the following ways -
 Restricted their autonomy.
 Zamindars’ troops were disbanded.
 The customs duties were abolished.
 Their “cutcheries” (courts) were brought under the supervision of a Collector. The Collectorate emerged
as an alternative centre of authority.
 The Zamindars lost power from local justice and the local police.
 The bad harvests and low prices made payment of dues difficult for the ryots.
 At the time of rent collection,zamindar was accompanied by amlah (an officer of the Zamindar)
 The jotedars and mandals (rich ryots and village headmen) were happy to see zamindar in trouble.
 Zamindars could prosecute defaulters, but the judicial process was very long.
 The rise of the jotedars: Jotedars (rich peasants) emerged powerful during the same period.
 Jotedars acquired huge plots of land.
 Controlled local trade and moneylending
 Dominated poorer cultivators. Sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) laboured fields and handed over
half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.
 Exercised direct control over a considerable section of poor villagers.
 Prevented zamindari officials from executing their duties.
 Mobilised ryots dependent on them and delayed their payments.
 Jotedars often purchased estates at auction on failure.
 These were most powerful in North Bengal. Jotedars were also known as Haoladars/ gantidars/ mandals.
They had weakened the zamindari authority.
 8

 The jotedars of Dinajpur

 Jotedars used to cultivate large portions of lands.
 The zamindars have no power over them.
 They held more lands than they are entitled to by their pottahs (deeds of contract).
 Zamindars complained at the Fouzdarry Thanna (police station) for imprisonment and at the munsiff ’s
(a judicial officer at the lower court) cutcherry for being dishonoured.
 From the Fifth Report
 Fifth series of reports on the administration and activities of East India Company in India Submitted to
the British Parliament in 1813 & produced by a Select Committee Provided a picture of Rural Bengal in
the late eighteenth century.
 Exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power by overestimating the scale of losing land by
zamindars
 Over 800 pages out of 1002 pages included petitions of zamindars and ryots, reports of collectors,
revenue returns, revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras
 Referring to the condition of zamindars and the auction of lands, the Fifth Report stated:
 Revenue was not realised timely.
 Lands were exposed to auction periodically.
 Among the defaulters were some of the oldest families of the country (rajahs of Nuddea,
Rajeshaye, Bishenpore)
 dismemberment of estates threatened them with poverty and ruin.
 Zamindars were responsible for:Paying revenue to the company and Distributing the revenue
demand (jama) over villages.
 Each village ryot, big or small, paid rent to the zamindar.
 Jotedars gave out loans to other ryots and sold their produce.
 Ryots cultivated some land and gave out the rest to under-ryots on rent.
 Under-ryots paid rent to the ryots.
 9

 The zamindars resist

 The zamindars resisted in the following ways-
 Fictitious sale (benami purchases) was involved a series of manoeuvres, as in the case of Raja of
Burdwan.
 Some property was transferred to the mother of raja (property of women was not taken by the
company)
 Some property was auctioned by raja’s agents who refused to pay up the purchase money to the
company which at last made the state to sell it back to the zamindar at low price, benami purchases
were 15% fictitious.
 Zamindars Withheld the company’s revenue demand deliberately and the company rarely
recovered the unpaid balances.
 When any outsiders purchased at auction, they were not given possession and attacked by the
former zamindars agents.
 Ryots also resisted the entry of outsiders as being bound to their former zamindar, considering
themselves as praja (subjects).
2. Ryotwari Settlement
 In the year 1792, Thomas Munro and Alexander Reeds landed in Madras and founded no large
zamindar with large estates with whom land revenue settlement could be made.
 On the basis of their field assessment, they recommended the ryots (actual cultivators) and raised the
ryotwari system.
 Cultivators are recognised as owners of land and the tax on land is fixed by the government.
 Settlement under this system was revised after 20 to 30 years.
Introduction of Ryotwari System
 Sir Thomas Munro (1820-1827) introduced this system in the Madras Presidency on the recommendation of
Charles Reed.
⮚ The Ryotwari System was first implemented in the Baramahal district of Madras.
⮚ In 1925 it was introduced in Bombay.
⮚ It covered 51% area of British India. Out of all systems, it covered the maximum land area.
 It was introduced in Madras, Berar, Bombay and Assam.
 Provisions
 Under this settlement, the peasants were made the proprietor of the land. (Direct settlement).
 There was no intermediary between the peasant and the government.
 The Pattas were issued to the ryots on obtaining annual rents.
 As long as he paid the revenue in time, he was not evicted from the land.
 10

 Besides, the land revenue was fixed for a period from 20 to 40 years at a time.
 Every peasant was held personally responsible for the direct payment of land revenue to the government.
 The average income from different types of soil was estimated, the revenue-paying capacity of the
ryot was assessed and a proportion of the income was fixed as the share of the state.
 It was mostly collected in cash.
 Reformed system was presented in 1864, which immediately led to agricultural prosperity and expansion
of cultivation. But the system was interrupted by two famines in 1865-66 and 1876-78.
 Mechanism Involved
 For assessment of land survey of soil quality and field area needed to be conducted. It was a hectic task.
 In Madras, no surveys were carried out in many districts assessmentwere decided on the basis of
previous years, (putcut assessment).
 Compulsion to ryot to cultivate land against their wish and employ oppressive methods of collection
which led to the setting up of the Madras Torture Commission in 1854.
 In madras, Munro was appointed governor because the Madras government was always short of
funds and readily introduced the temporary Ryotwari System.
 Impoverishment of peasantry and the ruin of traditional agrarian structure under Ryotwari
contributed to the terrible Madras famine in 1867-78.
 Negative Impact
 The position of cultivator position became safer still it did not bring a system of peasant ownership of
lands.
 The rigid revenue collection system pushed ryots into the hands of moneylenders (chetty).
 As the government itself became a large Zamindar, it was entitled to raise revenue at will.
 The cultivator was left at the mercy of the collecting officers.
 This caused widespread oppression peasantry fell into extreme poverty.
 No relaxation to cultivators on high-rate revenue in case of crop failure.
 Harsh punishment on delayed payment.
Timeline of Ryotwari System
 1820: The 1st revenue settlement in Bombay. The revenue demand was so high that in many places peasants
left villages especially in areas of poor soil and fluctuating rainfall the problem was particularly acute.
 The 1830s: the problem became more severe. Steep decline in Prices of agricultural after 1832 and did not
recover for over 15 years which further reduced peasants’ income. At the same time famine struck in the
years 1832-34. 1/3 of the cattle of the Deccan were killed, and half the human population died. Those who
survived had no agricultural stocks to see them through the crisis. Revenue could rarely be paid without a
loan from a moneylender. But once a loan was taken, the ryot found it difficult to pay back. As debt mounted,
and loans remained unpaid, peasants’ dependence on moneylenders increased.
 1840s: high level of peasant indebtedness everywhere.
 11

Cotton Boom:
 Before the 1860s, 3/4 of raw cotton imports into Britain came from America.
1861: American Civil War broke out. Raw cotton imports from America fell < 3% of the normal. Messages
were sent to India and elsewhere to increase cotton exports to Britain. In Bombay, cotton merchants visited
the cotton districts to assess supplies and encourage cultivation and were keen to secure as much cotton a s
possible to meet the British demand. They gave advances to moneylenders who promised to secure the
produce. The ryots in the Deccan villages suddenly found access to seemingly limitless credit.
 Between 1860 and 1864 cotton acreage doubled. 1862: 90% cotton imports into Britain came from India.
 1865: Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily
declined. Export merchants and moneylenders in Maharashtra were no longer keen to give credit. Demand
for Indian cotton fall and cotton prices slide downwards. While credit dried up, the revenue demand
increased.
(1st revenue settlement 1820s and 2nd in 1830s). Now it was time for the next demand was increased
dramatically: from 50 to 100%. Moneylender now refused loans as he no longer had confidence in the ryots
capacity to repay. This annoyed the ryots. The movement also got support from the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha
co-founded by M G Ranade.
 Deccan Riots of 1875: The movement began at Supa, a village in Poona. (market centre where many
shopkeepers and moneylenders lived). Ryots from surrounding rural areas gathered and attacked the
shopkeepers, demanding their account books and debt bonds. They burnt account books, looted grain shops,
and in some cases set fire to the houses of sahukars. The revolt spread to Ahmednagar and then around 30
villages were affected.
 Repression: Police posts were established in villages and forced peasants to submit. Army was called in and
many were convicted. It took several months to bring the situation under control.
 Deccan Riots Commission: GOI pressured the Government of Bombay to set up a commission to
investigate the causes. Report was presented to the British Parliament in 1878.
 1879: Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act was passed which ensured that the farmers could not be arrested and
imprisoned if they were unable to pay their debts.
3. Mahalwari Settlement
 In 1833, the Mahalwari settlement was introduced in Punjab, the Central Provinces and parts of North
Western Provinces and the Gangetic Valley of British India. It was the synthesis of the Zamindari
System and Ryotwari System.
 The basic unit of revenue settlement was the village or group of villages or the Mahal.
 The ownership rights were vested with the peasants.
 As the village lands belonged jointly to the village community, the responsibility of paying the revenue
rested with the entire Mahal or the village community.
 So, the entire land of the village was measured at the time of fixing the revenue. Yet its benefit was
largely enjoyed by the government.

 Mahal: In British revenue records mahal is a revenue estate which may be a village or group of villages.
 12

Impact of Mahalwari System

 Since the government annually revised the revenue, the peasants did not have much benefit from removing
intermediaries between the government and the village.
 This led to some development in irrigation infrastructure, although the government mostly enjoyed the
substantial advantages of the system.
 The Mahalwari system was prevalent in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Northwest province, parts of Central India
and Punjab.
 The other two systems (PS) and Ryotwari covered the states of Punjab, Awadh and Agra, parts of Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh.
Regulation of 1822
 Holt Mackenzie first developed the idea of the Mahalwari system, emphasising the village headman to
collect revenue from village communities.
 This recommendation was legalised by the Regulation of 1822.
 Revenue was fixed:
 80% rental value when settlement with Zamindar
 95% rental value when the settlement was made with cultivators in common tenancy.
 These demands caused huge misery and the system failed under the weight of its harshness.
Regulation of 1833
 Provision of 1822 reviewed by William Bentinck and sought to improve and passed the Regulation of 1833.
 It fixed state demand at 66% of the rental value.
 Mahal was empowered to make internal adjustments and settlement was made for 30 years.
 Prescribed system of using average rents for different classes and first-time use of field maps and field
registers for assessment.
 Settlement took place under Robert Martins Bird (Father of Land Settlement in Northern India).
 Further rental demand was reduced in 1855 by Dalhousie from 66% to 50%.
Commercialisation of Agriculture
 It refers to the production of agricultural crops for sale rather than family consumption. Commercialised
crops included indigo, cotton, raw silk, opium, pepper, tea and sugar. Commercialisat ion under the East India
Company was under three categories:
 Forced Commercialisation: Commercialisation under company rule was a forced process.
 Selective Commercialisation:
 Earlier company exported textiles but after the industrial revolution, things changed. The cotton
industry grew in Britain and these industries faced threat from Indian goods. EIC brought
commercialisation of those crops and agri-products which would not compete with British products
and had demand in the European market.
 13

 The British brought Tea from China but China did not want British goods but demand for Indian
goods like ivory, raw cotton and opium. So, the company brought about the commercialisation of
these commodities in India. This trade to be known as the Triangular trade . [Calcutta - Canton -
London]
 At the cost of the drain of wealth:
 Earlier, there was little demand for British goods in India so the company exchanged goods with
gold and silver bullion. After the conquest of Bengal, the company made this purchase from
revenue collected from Indian subjects this was referred to as the drain of wealth from India.

The drain of wealth:

 Refers to the economic critique of colonial rule in India.
 Early nationalist described it as the constant one-way flow of wealth from India to England for which India
received no returns as 'Drain of Wealth'. It occurs when gold and silver flow out of a country as a result of an
adverse trade balance.

Home charges:
 During colonial rule in India, 'Home Charges' formed an important part of the drain of wealth from India.
 It refers to the expenditure incurred in Britain by the Secretary of State on behalf of India which include:
 Funds used to support the India Office in London.
 Funds used to pay salaries and pensions of British personnel engaged in India.
 Funds used for waging wars outside India in the context of neighbours by the British.
 Dividends on East India Stock
 To pay the interest on Home debt.
 In-service and retired pay to members of the Indian Military and Civil Services when at Home
 Charges of all descriptions paid in this country connected with the British troops serving in India and a
portion of the cost of transporting the British troops to and from India.

Crops For Europe

 The British realised that the countryside could also grow the crops that Europe required.
 By the late eighteenth century, the company was persuaded or forced cultivators to cultivate commercial
crops in India:
1. Opium and indigo
2. Jute in Bengal
3. Tea in Assam
4. Sugarcane in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh)
 14

5. Wheat in Punjab
6. Cotton in Maharashtra and Punjab
7. Rice in Madras.
 The British used a variety of methods to expand the cultivation of crops that they needed.
Story of Indigo: Does Colour Have a History?
 These two images of cotton prints show a kalamkari print created by
weavers of Andhra Pradesh in India.
 There is one thing common in the two prints: both use a rich blue
colour – commonly called indigo.
 This blue was produced from a plant called indigo.
 India was the biggest supplier of indigo in the world at that time.
Why The Demand for Indian Indigo?
 Indian indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy,
France and Britain to dye cloth.
 But the price of this was very high for small quantity.
 European cloth manufacturers depend on woad plant, which make violet and blue dyes.
 It is a temperate zone plant, so easily available in Europe.
 Grown in Northern Italy, Southern France, Germany, Britain.
 Weary of the competition woad manufacturers pressurized the govt to ban the import of indigo.
 Cloth dyers preferred indigo as a dye, because Indigo produced a rich blue colour, whereas the dye from
woad was pale and dull. So,
 The French began cultivating indigo in St Domingue in the Caribbean islands,
 The Portuguese in Brazil
 The English in Jamaica
 The Spanish in Venezuela and in many parts of North America.
 Between 1783 and 1789 the production of indigo in the world fell by half.
Britain Turns to India
 Rising demand for indigo in Europe, the Company expand the area of cultivation
in India.
 From the last decades of the eighteenth century, Bengal indigo came to dominate
the world market.
 By 1810, the indigo imported into Britain from Bengal gone up to 95% [1788 it
was 30%].
 15

 Commercial agents, Company officials, Scotsmen and Englishmen came to India and became planters
attracted by the prospect of high profits.

The Slave Revolt in St Domingue

 In the eighteenth century, French planters produced indigo and sugar in the French colony of St Domingue
in the Caribbean islands.
 The African slaves who worked on the plantations rose in rebellion in 1791, burning the plantations and
killing their rich planters.
 In 1792 France abolished slavery in the French colonies.
 These events led to the collapse of the indigo plantations on the Caribbean islands.

How Was Indigo Cultivated?

 There were two main systems of indigo cultivation – nij and ryoti.
 Nij Cultivation and Problems
 The planter either bought the land or rented it from other zamindars and produced indigo that he directly
controlled.
 But Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands, and these were all densely populated, it creates
difficult to expand the area.
 Planters needed large areas to cultivate indigo in plantations.
 They evict the peasants from the area. But this always led to conflicts and tension.
 Also, a large number of labours were not available because peasants were usually busy with their rice
cultivation.
 Nij cultivation also required many ploughs and bullocks.
 One bigha of indigo cultivation required two ploughs.
 Till the late nineteenth century, planters were therefore reluctant to expand the area under nij
cultivation. Only 25% under Nij.
Bigha: A unit of measurement of land. Before British rule, the size of this area varied. In Bengal the British
standardized it to about one-third of an acre.
 Indigo on the Land of Ryots
 Under this system, the British pressurised the village headmen to sign the contract (satta) on behalf of
the ryots.
 Those who signed the contract got cash advances from the planters at low rates of interest to produce
indigo.
 But the ryot should sow indigo over at least 25 percent of the area under his holding.
 The planter provided the seed and the drill, while the cultivators prepared the soil, sowed the seed and
looked after the crop and the cycle started all over again.
 The price ryots got for the indigo they produced was very low and the cycle of loans never ended.
 16

 Indigo had deep roots and it exhausted the soil rapidly.

 After an indigo harvest the land could not be sown with rice.

How Was Indigo Produced?

 Three or four vats (A fermenting or storage vessel) in the factory were needed to manufacture the dye.
 The leaves stripped off the indigo plant were first soaked in warm water in a vat (known as the fermenting
or steeper vat) for several hours.
 After the plants fermented, the liquid began to boil and bubble.
 Then the rotten leaves were taken out and the liquid drained into just below the first vat.
 In the second vat (known as the beater vat) the solution was continuously stirred and beaten with paddles.
 When the liquid gradually turned green and then blue, lime water was added to the vat.
 A muddy sediment settled at the bottom of the vat and a clear liquid rose to the surface.
 The liquid was drained off and the sediment – the indigo pulp – was transferred to another vat, and then
pressed and dried for sale.

Overall Impact of the Company Rule:

 It facilitated the Drain of wealth.
 Deindustrialisation- ultimately ruin the Artisans and handicraftsmen of India.
 It increased ruralisation
 It led to the impoverishment of peasantry
 The commercialisation of Indian Agriculture
 Famine and Poverty were evident which took place due to ill-framed policies and whims of climate.
 Printing of newspaper
 This led to the rise of the Indian Bourgeoisie.
 The development of Modern Industries took place after the 1850s.
 The Development of the Railway network.
Bourgeoisie: The middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional
attitudes. (In Marxist contexts) the capitalist class who own most of society's wealth and means of production.

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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 14
British Policies – Education
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British Policies – Education

Education system prevalent in India:
 The system of education prevalent during the 18th century was traditional and couldn’t match the rapid
developments in the west.
 It was confined to literature, Philosophy, law, religion and logic. Study of Natural and Physical science,
technology and geography was more or less absent.
 Elementary education was widespread. Hindu and Muslim elementary schools were called Pathshalas and
Maktabs.
 Low caste children attended schools in a few instances but the presence of females was rare.
 Chatuspathis or Tols in Bihar and Bengal were the centres of Higher education.
 Kasi (Varanasi), Tirhut (Mithila), Nadia (WB) and Utkal were the centres of Sanskrit education.
 Madrasahs were the institutes of higher learning for Persian and Arabic. Azimabad (Patna) was a famous
centre for Persian Education.
 Persian being the court language was learnt by both Hindus and Muslims.
Development of Education:
Important milestones:
 Charter Act 1813
 General Committee of Public Instruction 1823
 Wood's Dispatch 1854
 Hunter education commission 1882-83
 Indian Universities Act 1904
 1913 Resolution
 Sadler commission 1917-19
 Hartog committee 1929
 Wardha Scheme 1937
 Sargent Plan of education 1944
 Radhakrishnan Commission 1944-49
 UGC

 Robert Clive did not annex Oudh but created it as a buffer state against Afghans (Ahmad Shah Abdali) and
Marathas. Also, Shuja ud Daula became a grateful ally. Annexation of Oudh would have put the
responsibility of protecting its frontier on the company.
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Bengal
 Although the British had captured Bengal in 1757, the responsibility of imparting education remained only in
Indian hands.
 The study of ancient texts written in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit still continued.
 In 1781, Warren Hastings established a Madrasa in Calcutta to encourage the study of Muslim laws along
with Arabic and Persian languages.
 A decade later in 1791 due to the sincere efforts of the British resident, Jonathan Duncan, a Sanskrit College
was established to promote the study of Hindu laws and philosophy in Banaras .
 Fort William College was an academy and learning centre of Oriental studies established by Lord Wellesley.
 The East India Company began to adopt a dual policy in the sphere of education but it is discouraged.
 The prevalent system of oriental education gave importance to western education and the English language.
 The Charter Act of 1813 adopted a provision to spend one lakh rupees per annum for the spread of
education in India. Consequently, not even a single rupee out of the allocated funds could be spent on
education**.
 General Committee of Public Instruction 1823: The grant of one lakh rupees provided by the Charter Act
of 1813 was placed at the disposal of the Committee. Most of the members of the Committee were admirers
of classical or oriental learning and Thomas Babington Macaulay was the President.
 Contemporary British scholars were divided into two groups on the issue of the development of education in
India.
 One group, called the Orientalists, advocated the promotion of oriental subjects through Indian languages.
 The other group, called the Anglicists, argued the cause of western sciences and literature in the medium
of the English language.
 Orientalist was led by H.T. Princep and the Anglicists by Lord Macaulay.

How did the British see Education?

The tradition of Orientalism:
 William Jones was appointed as a junior judge at the Supreme Court in Calcutta in 1783.
 He was an expert in law and a linguist. He had known multiple languages like Greek, Arabic, French,
Persian, English etc. He learnt Sanskrit language, grammar and poetry from Indian pandits.
 He studied ancient Indian texts on various subjects.
 William Jones was accompanied by Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke & Nathaniel Halhed.
 He was into discovering ancient Indian heritage.
 He worked on mastering Indian languages.
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 He worked translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English.

 He shared a deep respect for Indian culture.
 He believed in ancient Indian glory.
 The Asiatic Society of Bengal was set up by William Jones, Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel
Halhed.
 He published the journal- Asiatic Researches.
 He discovered the sacred and legal texts of ancient India, translating them, and making their findings
known to others. He wanted to know the real ideas and laws of the Hindus and Muslims.
 It was the basis of the future development of India.
 Munshi was a person who can read, write and teach Persian Vernacular.
 Many Britishers wanted to set up institutions to encourage the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit
and Persian literature and poetry.
 Some Britishers felt that Hindus and Muslims should be taught what they were already familiar with, instead
of alien subjects, to win the trust of "natives".
 Madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781- for the promotion of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law by
Warren Hastings.
 Hindu College was set up in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts.
 Many British officials argued for encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit languages and literature.
 However, the orientalist approach was criticised by many Britishers.
“Grave errors of the east”: Criticism of Orientalist vision of learning
 They considered that the knowledge of the East is full of errors and unscientific thought.
 Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted.
 James Mill attacked the Orientalists with the following points:
 He did not want the natives to be taught what they were familiar with to win their hearts.
 Aim of education was to be useful and practical
 As per his opinion, Indians should be imparted with scientific and technical advances of the West, rather
than with the poetry and sacred literature of the Orient.
 Thomas Babington Macaulay also criticised orientalists-
 According to him no branch of Eastern knowledge could be compared to what England had produced.
 He emphasised the need to teach the English language.
 He thought that teaching English will help Indians to read some of the finest literature in the world.
 Make Indians aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy.
 Help in civilising people, changing their tastes, values and culture.
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The Demand for Moral Education:

 Argument for practical education- criticised by Christian missionaries (19th century)
 They emphasised that Education should improve the moral character of the people, and morality could be
improved only through Christian education.
 East India Company opposed missionary activities in India till 1813.
 As it could provoke a reaction amongst the local population.
 This can make them suspicious of the British presence in India.
 They feared strong attacks on local customs, practices, beliefs and religious ideas might enrage "native"
opinion.
 East India Company opposed missionary activities in India till 1813.
 As it could provoke a reaction amongst the local population.
 This can make them suspicious of the British presence in India.
 They feared strong attacks on local customs, practices, beliefs and religious ideas might enrage "native"
opinion.
 Missionaries were unable to establish an institution within British-controlled territories.
 1st mission was established at Serampore near Calcutta (territory under the Danish East India Company).
 William Carey was a Scottish missionary who helped establish the Serampore Mission.
 Printing press was established in 1800 and a College was established in 1818.
 The British government was reluctant in India to support missionary education post-1857.
 In 1819, the Calcutta Female Juvenile Society was set up by Christian Missionaries.
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English Education (Charter Act 1813)

 Christian missionaries can travel to India now.
 Company should spend Rs. 1 Lakh every year on the education of Indians.
 It provided a ground for the revival and improvement of literature.
 The pronunciation of knowledge of sciences.
 The publicly funded education was not in vogue in England.
General committee of Public Instruction (Dominated by Orientalists)
 Planned to establish:
 Sanskrit college Calcutta
 Oriental college at Agra and Delhi
 Patronise tools and Madrasa
 But inclination towards English learning led to the establishment o
 Christian missionaries
 David Hare established schools in all India (English as medium).
 Calcutta School Book Society and Calcutta School Society promoted vernacular schools for elementary
education.
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy was against the establishment of Sanskrit College in Calcutta.
Babington Macaulay
 In 1834 he was a law member and he was also the President of the General Committee of Public Investors.
 1835 Macaulay minute on Indian education "a single shelf of a good European Library was worth the whole
native literature of India and Arabia."
 Education in European literature and science was inculcated through the medium of the English language.
 As per Macaulay, "a class of person between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of person Indian
in blood and colour, but English in taste and opinion, in morals and intellect."
 In 1829, after assuming the office of the Governor-General of India, Lord William Bentinck, emphasised
English as the medium of education in India.
 At the beginning of 1835, the 10 members of the General Committee of Public Instruction were clearly
divided into two equal groups
 Five members including the Chairman of the committee Lord Macaulay were in favour of adopting
English. Other five were in favour of oriental languages.
 In 1835 the Chairman of the committee, Lord Macaulay announced his famous Minute advocating the
Anglicists point of view.
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 Bentinck got the resolution passed on 7 March 1835 which declared that henceforth Government funds
would be utilised for the promotion of western literature and science through the medium of the English
language.
“Macaulayian system”
 The masses were not the aim. Through the process of Downward Filtration Theory, the English-educated
Indians will teach others and enrich vernaculars.
1. This policy was an attempt to create a system of education which educates only the upper strata of
society through English.
2. English became a court language and Persian was abolished as a court language.
3. Printings of English books were made free and available at a very low price.
4. English education gets more funding as compared to oriental learning.
5. In 1849, JED Bethune founded Bethune School.
6. Agriculture Institute was established at Pusa (Bihar)
7. The Engineering Institute was established at Roorkee.
 Under Lord Hardinge English education received an impetus as he passed a resolution according to which
persons with knowledge of western science and of English were to be given preference for public
employment.
 James Thomson, Lt Gov of NW Provinces (1843-53) developed a scheme for village education via vernacular
languages.
English Education Act of 1835:
 It was based on Macaulay’s minutes.
 English as the medium of instruction for higher education.
 Called for Stopping the promotion of Oriental institutions (Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College).
 These institutions were regarded as “temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay”.
 English textbooks produced.
Wood’s Dispatch
 Sir Charles Wood was a firm believer in the superiority of the English race and sent his famous Dispatch on
Education of India in 1854.
 This Dispatch evolved a comprehensive scheme of education with a larger vision so much so that it has been
styled as 'The Magna Carta of English Education in India.'
 Wood served as President of the Board of Control under Lord Aberdeen (1852-1855), in Lord Palmerston's
first administration (1855-1858), and as Secretary of State for India in Palmerston's second government
(1859-1866).
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 Almost all the recommendations were implemented.

 Aim of Government education policy was the teaching of western education.
 Medium of instruction:
 the English language is the perfect medium for higher education
 Vernacular primary schools
 It systematised the hierarchy from vernacular primary schools in villages at the bottom, followed by Anglo-
vernacular High Schools and an affiliated college at the district level, and affiliating universities in the
presidency towns.
 Educational institutions founded by private bodies were to be encouraged by government grants.
 A Department of Public instruction under the charge of the Director in every 5 provinces to review and
submit an annual report.
 A University should be set up in each Presidency town [Calcutta, Bombay and Madras]. It would be on the
model of London University with a Senate, Chancellor and vice chancellor and fellows, all nominated by the
government.
 It emphasised the importance of vocational instruction and the need for technical schools and colleges.
 Institutions for the training of teachers were to be set up.
 Female education was to be encouraged.
 Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General put the scheme into practice.
 The Department of Public Instruction was set up in each province.
 Universities were set up in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Allahabad in 1857 by Canning
 Consequently, within the next few years, Indian education became rapidly westernised.
 In 1882, Lord Ripon appointed a Commission under the chairmanship of Sir William Hunter to give
its report on the progress of education in India since 1854, as also to suggest measures to carry it further. It
was only to enquire into the working of the Universities.
 Missionaries were complaining in England that the education system is not as per Wood's Dispatch.
 This Commission endorsed the recommendations made in the Dispatch of 1854.
 Besides, it confined its recommendation to primary and secondary education:
 Education for commerce
 Wood's Dispatch /Educational Dispatch (1854) sent by the Court of Directors (East India
Company, London).
 Issued by Charles Wood (President of the Board of Control).
 It gave a new educational policy of India.
 It emphasised on European learning.
 It discarded orientalist education.
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 Under Dispatch, European learning will enable Indians to:

 Have an Economic Understanding.
 Recognise the flow of trade and commerce.
 Know the Importance of developing the resources.
 Change their tastes and desires.
 Create demand for British goods.
 It would also improve the moral character of Indians according to Britishers.
 Make them truthful and honest- supply the Company with civil servants.
 Instil in people a sense of duty and a commitment to work.
 Measures taken under Woods Dispatch
 Education departments to be set up.
 The system of university education started-universities established at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in
1857.
 Changes in the system of school education.

What Happened to the Local Schools?

 The report of William Adam:
⮚ There were over 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar with around 20 students each.
⮚ Schools Set up by wealthy people or the local community.
⮚ Sometimes started by a teacher (guru).
 Flexible education system:
 There was no fixed fee, no printed books, no separate school building, no benches or chairs, no
blackboards, no system of separate classes, no roll call registers, no annual examinations, and no regular
time-table.
 The classes were held under a banyan tree/ in the corner of a village shop or temple, or at the guru's home.
 Fees depended on the income of the parents.
 Oral teaching was provided.
 Topics and subjects taught according to the needs of students by Guru.
 guru interacted separately with groups of children with different levels of learning.
 Flexible system was suited to local needs-classes were not held during harvest time as rural children often
worked in the fields.
 The pathshala started once again when the crops had been cut and stored.
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New routines, new rules

 Up to the mid-19th century Company's major concern was higher education.
 There was no interference to local pathshalas.
 After 1854:
 New rules were made to improve vernacular education.
 The Company appointed a number of government pandits-each in charge of four to five schools.
 They visited the Pathshalas and improved the standard of teaching.
 Each guru was to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable.
 Teaching was based on textbooks.
 Learning was tested by an annual examination.
 Regular fee, regular classes, and fixed seats were there.
 New rules of discipline were made.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 15
British Policies –
Education II
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British Policies – Education II

Hunter Commission (1882-83):
 In 1882, Lord Ripon appointed a Commission under the chairmanship of Sir William Hunter to give its
report on the progress of education in India since 1854, as also to suggest measures to carry it further. It
was only to enquire into the working of the Universities.
 It underlined the state’s role in the extension and improvement of primary education and secondary
education.
 It underlined the transfer of control to district and municipal boards. They can levy cess for educational
purposes.
 It recommended Vernacular/local languages for medium of instruction at Primary level.
 It recommended two division of secondary education:
 Literary education leading to the entrance to university
 Vocational for commercial career.
 Encourage the private sector into education. It suggested Grants in aid systems and recognition of aided
schools as equal to the government institute in matters of privileges. Government should withdraw from
primary and secondary education.
 Noticed inadequate facilities for female education outside the presidencies.
 Aftermath of Hunter commission:
 Unprecedented growth and expansion of secondary and colleges.
 Due to Indian philanthropic activities a number of institutions sprang up in the country.
 Students were attracted to Indian and oriental studies as well
 Various teaching cum examining universities came up:
 Punjab University 1882
 Allahabad University 1887
 Rise of nationalism
 Officials especially Curzon didn't like it.
University Commission:
 Lord Curzon appointed a Universities Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Thomas Raleigh after a
Round Table Conference at Shimla.
 Mr. Syed Hussain Bilgrami and Sir Gurudas Banerjee also were included as members of the Commission.
The report of this Commission came out in 1904.
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 The government accepted the recommendations of the report and the Indian Universities Act was passed
(1904). Secondary and primary education was precluded.
 This act, in fact, aimed at tightening the government control over the educational institutions . It
increased the number of nominated members and reduced those of elected ones. In fact, this act reveals fully
the policy of centralization followed by Lord Curzon and was in a large measure responsible for his
unpopularity.
1. Universities were to make provision for:
 Promotion of study and Research,
 Appoint university professors and lecturers,
 Setup University labs and libraries and
 Undertake direct instructions of students.
2. Number of fellows of a university shall be:
 The number of fellows were 50-100.
 Normally hold office for a period of 6 years instead of for life.
 Most of the fellows to be nominated by govt. (Calcutta, Mumbai and Madras- 20 each | Others 15).
3. The Governor control over the universities were further increased:
 Veto the regulations passed by the Senate of a University.
 Government can make additions alterations in the regulations framed by the Senate and
 Even frame regulations itself over and above the head of the Senate.
4. Stricter conditions of affiliations for the private colleges were laid along with periodical inspection.
The private colleges were required to keep a proper standard of efficiency; government approval was
necessary for grant of affiliation or disaffiliation of colleges.
5. The Governor General in Council could define the territorial limits of a university or decide the
affiliation of colleges to University.
 In 1906, the State of Baroda introduced compulsory primary education throughout its territories. Now
Nationalists thought why not Government of India could do so.
 The government of India passed a Resolution on Education on 21st February, 1913.
 Government of India refused to recognise the principle of compulsory education:
 But accepted the policy of removal of illiteracy and
 Advocated the progress of education.
 It also recommended the setting up of residential and teaching universities.
 Urged provincial govt to provide free elementary education to poor section.
 Private efforts to be encouraged.
 The government of India set-up a Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Michael Sadler (1917).
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 The Commission submitted its recommendations in 1919.

 The main focus was to study and report on the problems of Calcutta university but its recommendations were
applicable to other universities also.
Dr. M. E. Sadler Commission 1917 (Vice Chancellor, University of Leeds):
 Indian Members: Ashutosh Mukherjee and Dr. Zia Ud Din Ahmad.
 It was formed to study the problems of Calcutta University and their recommendations were applicable to
other universities also.
 Their focus was complete-school to University.
 They observed that Secondary Education was necessary for the improvement of University education.
 Their observations were as follows:
 12-year school course.
 3-years degree after the intermediate stage.
 Centralised functioning of universities, unitary residential-teaching autonomous body.
 Recommended extended facilities for applied scientific and technological education, teachers training
and female education.
 Recommendations:
 The school course was to be for twelve years. After Matriculation, students had to pass an
Intermediate Examination from the Intermediate College. The Commission recommended setting up a
separate Board or even being attached to selected high schools.
 The duration of the degree course should be limited to three years. Honours courses should be distinct
from the regular pass courses.
 Autonomous institutions were to be given more encouragement.
 Centralised residential-teaching universities were to be encouraged. These institutions were also to
be given autonomy to facilitate their day-to-day working.
 Women education was to be encouraged in a big way. The establishment of a special Board of Women
Education in the Calcutta University besides many other facilities that would help more and more
women take up courses in school, colleges and Universities.
 Provisions of facilities were to be made for training teachers.
 Setting up the Department of Education at the Universities of Calcutta and Decca.
 The University was desired to provide courses in applied science and tech and also to recognise their
systematic and practical study by award of degrees and diplomas. The universities were also to provide
facilities for training of personnel for professional and vocational colleges.
 The Sadler Commission also suggested establishment of more Universities with a view to spread more
education and raise the literacy level in the country.
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 From 1916 - 21, seven more universities started:

 Patna University,
 Mysore University,
 Banaras University,
 Aligarh Muslim University,
 Decca University,
 Lucknow University and
 Osmania (Hyderabad) University.
 G.K. Karve at Pune established Indian Women University in 1916.
 Vishwabharti (1921) at Shantiniketan was established by Rabindranath Tagore.
 Indian Institute of Science (1911) at Bangalore, Forest Research Institute (1914) at Dehradun, Indian School
of Mines (1926) at Dhanbad were some of the famous institutes set up by the Government.
Education during the phase of 1921 – 1937:
 The Government of India Act, 1919 transferred the Department of Education to the control of popular
ministers in the various provinces, but the ministers had limited power and thus could not contribute much to
the progress of education.
 The Central Special Grant, liberally sanctioned since 1902, stopped.
 Further expansion happened by philanthropic efforts.
Bombay Primary Education Act: It was the first act in India via which the state accepted the principle of
compulsory primary education in a province. The Bill was introduced in the Legislative assembly of Bombay by
Vitthal Bhai Patel and the bill got passed as Bombay Primary Education Act 1918.

Hartog Committee - 1929:

 Sir Philip Joseph Hartog, was a British chemist and educationalist who undertook this role in England and
India. He has served under the Sadler Commission and has also been a vice chancellor of Dacca University
in 1921.
 Quantitative growth of education has compromised the quality and caused lowering of standards. This
Committee was appointed to survey the growth of education in British India.
 The Recommendations of the committee were as follows:
 Primary Education: Emphasis on the national importance of Primary Education.
 It condemned policy of hasty expansion or compulsion in education and recommended consolidation.
 Secondary Education: System was dominated by Matriculation examination and many undeserving
students led to University through this. It recommended a selective system for admission.
 Urged average Students to be diverted to Vocational Courses after the middle stage.
 Weakness of University education due to indiscriminate admissions.
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The Agenda for a National Education:

 In the early nineteenth century Indian thinkers started emphasising the need to spread education.
 Some Indians believed that Western education would help modernise India.
 Wanted British to open more schools, colleges and universities
 Spend more money on education.
“English Education has enslaved us”
 Some Indians like Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were against western education.
 Mahatma Gandhi’s view on colonial education:
 Created inferiority in Indian minds by making Western civilization superior.
 Western education has Enslaved Indians.
 Indians studying in western institutions began admiring British rule.
Gandhi’s Education Policy:
 He wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect.
 Indian languages to be the medium of instruction, as English made Indians “strangers in their own lands”
 He focused on oral knowledge rather than writing and reading.
 Practical knowledge than textbook knowledge.
 Education should develop a person's mind and soul.
 These led to the development of a system of national education.
Tagore’s “abode of peace”:
 In 1901, Rabindra Nath Tagore founded Shantiniketan (A village near Calcutta).
 According to him, school appeared suffocating and oppressive.
 He always admired founding a school where children were happy, free and creative, where they are able to
explore her own thoughts and desires.
 He emphasised on childhood - self learning period.
 He focused that creative learning should be encouraged only within a natural environment.
Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi had similar views on education.
 Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilization and its worship of machines and technology.
 Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern Western civilization with balance Indian tradition.
 Emphasised on teaching science and technology, along with art, music and dance.
Education as a Civilising Mission:
 Before the introduction of the Education Act in 1870, there was no widespread education for the population.
 Child labour was popular - as the poor children were not able to go school.
 Number of schools was limited to either Christian missionaries or local schools.
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 After Education Act:

 Government schools were opened,
 Compulsory schooling started.
 According to Thomas Arnold (1795 - 1842) (educational thinker and headmaster):
 Study of the classics, disciplined mind, he considered discipline necessary to become civilised adults,
needed to understand society’s notion of right/wrong.
Sri Aurobindo Ghose:
 Stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students.
 Education should be imparted in the vernacular so as to reach the largest number of people.
 Students should connect to their remaining roots.
 Utilise Modern Scientific discoveries and Western experiments in popular governments.
 Students should also learn some useful crafts.

Wardha scheme of Basic Education (1937):

 Mahatma Gandhi saw many defects in the present system of education as it was too costly and impractical.
 So, Gandhiji held a conference of educationists at Wardha in 1937 and the basic system of education was
approved. It has the following features:
 First Seven years - Free and Compulsory in mother tongue.
 Education was to be given through the medium of mother tongue.
 It should centre round a basic craft (Learning through activity).
 It should be a self-sufficient system. The system of education will be gradually able to cover the
remuneration of the teacher.
 Zakir Hussain Committee:
 Zakir Hussain committee worked out the details.
 The Dr. Zakir Hussain Committee consisted of 10 members. Prof. K. G. Saigidain, Arya
Nayakam, Vinova Bhave, Kaka Kalelkar, J. C. Kumarappa, Kishori Lal, Prof. K. T. Shah etc.
 The committee was appointed to prepare a detailed education plan and syllabus. It submitted its
reports, one in December, 1937 and the other in April, 1938. This report has since become the
fundamental document of the basic scheme and it is known as the Wardha Scheme of Education.
 It was approved by Mahatma Gandhi and was placed before the Indian National Congress at its
Haripura session held in March, 1938.
 8

 The first report 1937: It included the basic principles of the Wardha Scheme of education, its
aims, teachers and their training, organisation of schools, administration, inspection and inclusion
of craft centred education regarding handicrafts like spinning, weaving etc.
 The second report 1938: It dealt with Agriculture, Metal work, Wood craft and other basic
handicraft. An elaborate curriculum of all those subjects and ways and means to establish their
correlation with other subjects was also suggested.
 More conferences were held later and more committees were formed on this important subject. As
a result, more new features were added to this aspect of education which later on took the final
shape.
 The conference of 1945 at Sevagram characterised Basic Education as “education for life”.
The conference considered it as a radical and important revolution in social and economic structure
of Indian society, i.e., creating a new way of life. Since then, Basic education came to be known as
‘Nai Talim’.
 A conference of education ministers and educational workers was called by B.G. Kher in 1946,
took some important resolutions which affected the quality of Basic Education in different
provinces.
 Free, universal and compulsory education should be provided for all boys and girls between the
ages of 7-14.
 This education should be imparted in the mother-tongue of the child.
 All education should centre round some basic craft chosen with due regard to the capacity of
children and the needs of the locality.
 The committee suggested spinning and weaving, cardboard and wood work, leather work, kitchen-
gardening, agriculture and fishery as obviously suitable crafts.
 The selected craft should be both taught and practised so that the children are able to produce
articles which can be used and may be sold to meet part of the expenditure on the school.
 This craft must not be taught mechanically but its social and scientific implications were to be
studied side by side.
 In this craft-centred education all the subjects to be taught were to be integrally related to the
selected craft or the child’s physical and social environment.
Sergeant Plan of Education (1944):
 Sir John Sergeant, Educational Advisor to the Government of India made the following recommendations in
his scheme in 1944.
 Envisaged establishment of elementary schools and high schools.
 Children between the age limit 6-11 should be given compulsory and free education. 6-year course for
11-17.
 Adequate technical, commercial & arts education.
 9

 Only those students should join higher schools that were to profit by higher education.
 Admission to colleges should be restricted.
 Intermediate classes should be attached to schools while the degree courses were to be of three year
duration.
 2 types of high schools:
 Academic
 Technical and vocational school with different curriculum.
 Recommended abolition of intermediate course and the addition of extra year at a high school and
college.
 They envisaged a 40-year educational reconstruction plan which was reduced to 16 years by Kher
committee 1950.
Radha Krishnan committee 1948-49 (University Education Commission):
 It facilitates Indianisation of education.
 Starting rural universities, on the pattern of Jamia Millia Islamia, which was established in Okhla village
Delhi.
 Twelve years of pre-university educational courses.
 Emphasis was to be on subjects like agriculture, commerce, education, engineering, technology,
medicine and law which would develop the country’s intellectual resources by leaps and bounds.
 A university degree should not be considered as essential for the administrative services.
 The working days at the university should not be less than 180 days in a year, exclusive of examination days.
 Tutorials and seminars should be made a part of university activities to improve the standard of examination.
 University education should be placed on the concurrent list and a uniform system of examination should be
implemented.
 The salaries of teachers should be raised.
 A University Grants Commission should be set up to regulate and finance the universities.
 University Grants Commission 1953:
 The University Grants Commission (UGC) came into existence on 28th December, 1953 and became a
statutory Organization of the Government of India by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the
coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in
university education.






 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 16
Revolts Before 1857
 2

Revolts Before 1857

Civil Rebellions, Tribal Movement, Peasant Movements & Sepoy Mutinies (1757-1856):
Introduction:
 Post Battle of Plassey in 1757, the political control of the East India Company consolidated.
 The Company gained in the political sphere and it became imperative to introduce and implement
policies in the fields of land revenue, law and order, and set-up an administration.
 Implementation of such policies created turmoil in the Indian society and led to changes.
 Company’s main aim was to utilise the resources of India for the development of England.
 To achieve this East India Company had created dislocation in the socio-cultural, economic
and political life of the people. Some of the changes in Indian economy brought during this
period were:
 Promotion of British manufactured goods in Indian markets leading to destruction of
Indian handloom and handicraft industries.
 Huge transfer of wealth from India to England (Drain of Wealth).
 British Land Revenue Settlements, a heavy burden of new taxes, eviction of peasants
from their lands, encroachment on tribal lands. growth and strengthening of
exploitation in rural society along with the growth of intermediary revenue collectors
and tenants and money-lenders.
 Expansion of British revenue administration over tribal territories leading to the loss of
tribal people's hold over agricultural and forest land.
 The subsequent turmoil led to an outbreak of rebellion in different parts of the country.
 3

 Rebellions were not confined to the later period of the British Empire but were a constant feature
of it from its very beginning, culminating in the Revolt of 1857.
Impact:
 The appropriation of peasants’ surplus by the company and its agents, the increasing burden of
taxes made the peasants completely dependent on the mercy of the revenue intermediaries and
officials, the merchants and the money-lenders.
 The destruction of indigenous industry led to migration of large-scale workers from industry to
agriculture. The pressure on land increased but the land revenue and agricultural policy of the
government allowed little scope for the improvement of Indian agriculture.
Reason for these Uprising:
 Zamindars and Poligars: They were antagonised as they lost their land and sources of revenue
due to English.
 Power: These Zamindars were also deprived of the power (eg. policing, judge) they used to
enjoy earlier. The power now went to government officials.
 Artisans: The British destroyed the Indian handicraft industry. Due to this a large number of
artisans lost their jobs and faced economic distress.
 Antagonism: Replacement of Kings and Princes by Colonial Government impoverished the
artisans as they lost their traditional Patrons. This antagonised them.
 Priests: Priests, pandits and maulvis were dependent on zamindars, princes and feudal lords. Fall
of these classes directly affected the livelihood of priests.
 Foreign character of the British Rule: It always kept hurting the pride of natives.
Civil Rebellion:
 The resistance against the British rule which took place before the 1857 can be broadly classified
into four major types:
 Civil Rebellion:
 It includes those classes of uprisings which were led by the deposed native rulers, their
descendants, former zamindars, land lords, poligars (Land holders in South India), and
religious leaders.
 The mass support for the movement used to come from: Peasants (exploited for rent),
Artisans who lost their sources of income, Soldiers who were discriminated against and
mistreated.
 4

 Poligars:
 Feudal title for a class of territorial administrative and military governors appointed by the
Nayaka rulers of South India (notably Vijayanagara Empire, Madurai Nayakas and the
Kakatiya dynasty) during the 16th-18th centuries.

 Peasant Movement:
 It was protests against evictions, increase in rent of land and moneylenders’ greedy ways.
 Its aim was to achieve rights for peasants among other things
 Tribal Uprising:
 The tribals had been living peacefully and in harmony with nature for hundreds of years.
When the British came and introduced many changes in their way of life and also introduced
outsiders into their turf. This reduced them to the status of labourers and debtors from
masters of their own land.
 The uprisings were basically against this unwelcome intrusion and a fight for their
independence.
 5

 Non-Frontier Tribal movements - These are divided in three phases:

1. First Phase - 1795-1860: Santhal Rebellion and Khond uprising
2. Second Phase - 1860-1920: Munda uprising and Koya Rebellion.
3. Third Phase - 1920-1947: Rampa Rebellion and Chenchu tribal Movements
 Frontier Tribal Movements: Khasi Uprising, Singphos Rebellion and Rani Gaidiniliu’s Naga
Movement.

What were some broad characteristics of Civil Uprising?

 Though these uprising were separate in time and place, they represented common conditions:
 High rent, loss of livelihood.
 The semi-feudal leaders of the uprisings wanted to restore the old order. Thus, they were
backward looking in their approach.
 Localised nature of the uprising was an important characteristic.
Civil Rebellion:
The Sanyasi revolt or Fakir rebellion (1770s) - Jalpaiguri, WB:
 New economical world order and famine of 1770 as well as callousness of Britishers created new
threads in the society.
 Restrictions imposed on the visits of holy places estranged sanyasis along with the suppression of
farmers and zamindars.
 They used to fight against oppression, for the popular call and therefore they organised raids on
the company factories, treasuries and the armed forces.
 A large number of disbanded soldiers, small zamindars, and rural poor helped them.
 Warren Hastings handled them through military action.
 6

 Prominent leaders: Majnu Shah, Chirag Ali, Musa Shah, Bhawani Pathak and Debi
Chaudhurani.
 Equal participation of Hindus and Muslims was an important feature of the revolt.
 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote 2 novels referring to them in Anandmath 1881 and
Devi Chaudhurani.
Revolt in Midnapore and Dhalbhum (1766-74):
 Chuar Rebellion rose several times in the context of famine and land revenue demands
 In 1760 British captured Midnapore.
 The bringing in of new colonial rule by the company destroyed the cordial relationship between
the Zamindars and the ryots.
 In case of conflict between ryots and English, the Zamindars sided with the ryots.
 Important leaders: Damodar Singh, Jagannath Dhal.
Revolt of Moamarias (1769-99):
 Moamaries: Low caste peasants inspired by the teachings of Aniruddha Deva (1553-1624)
challenged the authority of Ahom kings.
 This weakened the king and others took advantage.
 The king of Darrang (Krishna Narayan), assisted by his band of burkandazes (The
demolished soldiers of Muslim armies and zamindars) revolted.
 Ahom king was bound to take help from the East India Company.
 Maomaries made Bhatiapur their Headquarter.
 Rangpur (Presently in Bangladesh) and Jorhat were the most affected regions.
 Ahom kingdom survived the rebellion but got weakened and fell to British rule later.
Civil Uprisings of Gorakhpur, Basti and Bahraich (1781):
 Warren Hastings in order to earn money to meet war needs against Marathas and Mysore
planned to make English officers as ijaradars (revenue farmers) in Awadh.
 Major Alexander Hannay was given the izara of this region. Severe oppression and exaction in
revenue collection.
 Hannay secured the izara of Bahraich and Gorakhpur to the amount of 22 Lakhs in 1 year.
 Basically, it was a secret experiment of the company to see how much surplus money is available
in practice.
 But Zamindars and cultivators revolted.
 Later suppressed, Hannay dismissed and Izara forcibly removed.
 7

The Revolt of the Raja of Vizianagaram 1794:

 Northern Circars, Andhra Pradesh:
 In 1758, Treaty signed between English and the ruler of Vizianagaram Ananda Gajapati
Raju to oust French from the Northern Circars.
 They successfully executed their mission but East India Company went back on their word
and refused to honour the terms of the treaty.
 Anand Raju died before he could take any action.
 East India Company acted in a very high-handed manner after acquisition of the Northern
Circars in 1765.
 The Company demanded a present of 3 lacs of the Raja apart from ordering to disband his
troops, on the Raja's refusal his state was annexed in 1793.
 This was a signal of Revolt in which the Raja Vijayaramaraju received full support of his
people and his troops.
 Raja lost his life in the Battle of Padmanabham in 1794.
 Later the company offered the state to the deceased Raja to his son and also reduced the
demand for presents.
Revolt of Dhundia in Bednur (1799-1800):
 Dhundia Wagh was a local Maratha leader and he was converted to Islam by Tipu Sultan.
 He was imprisoned due to his misadventures and released with
the fall of Seringapatam.
 In 1799, in Mysore, a fight took place between English and many
native leaders. Dhundia organised a force consisting of anti-
British elements and carved out a small territory for himself.
 Again in 1799 English defeated him and forced him to take
refuge in the Maratha region.
 He instigated disappointed princes to fight against the English
and he himself took on the leadership.
 In September 1800, he was killed fighting against British forces
under Lord Wellesley.
 Though Dhundia failed, he became a venerated leader of the
masses.
Resistance of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (1797; 1800-05):
 He was known as Kerala Simham (Lion of Kerala) or 'Pyche Raja'.
 Kerala Varma was the de-facto head of Kottayam in Malabar.
 He resisted Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and the British (1793 and 1805).
 Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92) extended English paramountcy over Kottayam.
 8

 Vira Varma, uncle of Pazhassi Raja, appointed as the Raja of Kottayam.

 High revenue target fixed by Company
 Levied exorbitant rates of tax on peasants.
 In 1793 there was a resistance by the peasants under Pazhassi Raja.
 He fought bravely using guerilla warfare.
 In 1797 a Peace treaty was signed.
 In 1800 there was a conflict over a dispute on Wayanad and started an insurgent warfare.
 Pazhassi Raja organised a force of Nairs, Mappilas and Pathans (unemployed soldiers after Tipu's
death).
 In November 1805, Kerala Simham died in a gunfight at Mavila Todu.
Revolt of Awadh (1799):
 Wazir Ali Khan, the 4th Nawab of Awadh ascended the throne in 1797 with the help of the East
India Company.
 But was later replaced by Saadat Ali Khan II as some differences grew with the East India
Company.
 Wazir Ali was granted a pension in Benaras.
 In 1799, Wazir Ali killed British resident George Frederik Cherry, and two other Europeans and
attacked the Magistrate.
 The incident became famous as the Massacre of Benaras.
 Wazir Ali organised an army of several thousand men against the British but was ultimately
defeated.
 He fled to Butwal and got asylum from the ruler of Jaipur. Arthur Wellesley requested the Raja of
Jaipur for extradition.
 Wazir Ali was extradited but on the condition that he will not be executed or imprisoned.
 1799 onwards he was in confinement at Fort William, Calcutta.
Uprising in Ganjam and Gumsur (1800, 1835-37) Odisha:
 Strikara Bhanj, a zamindar of Gumsur in Ganzam (Odisha) district refused to pay revenue in
1797.
 In 1800 he openly rebelled and defied public authority. He was joined by Jlani Deo [Vizianagar]
and Jagannath Deo [Pratapgiri].
 Jagannath Deo was captured in 1804 and transported to Masulipatnam but English had to assign
certain districts to Strikara Bhanj.
 Dhananjay Bhanj (Strikar’s son) compelled his father to leave the estate in 1807-08 and also
revolted against the East India Company but in 1815 he was forced to surrender.
 In agreement with the East India Company Strikara was restored as Zamindar.
 9

 1819 - 1830 he handled the estate but failed to pay the arrears retired in the favour of his son.
 His son Dhananjay Bhanj Rose revolted in 1835 on British occupation of Gumsur and Kolaida as
they failed to pay the arrears.
 The rebellion greatly diminished the power of the government. Though Dhananjaya died in 1835
the rebellion continued.
 Russel was brought in with full discretionary powers to suppress.
 Important leader Doora Bisayi was arrested and Gumsur zamindari was forfeited.
Uprisings in Palamu | Jharkhand 1800-02:
 There was a crisis of agrarian landlordism and feudal system.
 In 1800, Bhukhan Singh, a Chero chief rose in rebellion against landlordism and feudal system.
 It took Colonel Jones two years to suppress the revolt when Bhukhan Singh died in 1802 and
subsequently, the insurrection calmed down.
Poligars’ Revolt (1795-1805):
 Tinnevelly (TN) was the area of Poligars and they considered themselves independent sovereign
authorities within their respective territories.
 Major centres were Tinneveli, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Sivagiri, Madurai and North Arcot.
 In 1781, the Nawab of Arcot gave the management and control of Tinnevelly to the East India
Company. This caused resentment among the poligars.
 First Phase 1795 - 1799:
 The Poligars fought against the Company was over taxation and larger political dimensions.
 The English considered and treated the poligars as enemies.
 Kattabomman Nayakan:
 He led the insurrection.
 The Company forces were defeated by Veerapandiya Kattabomman
 The Company forces were finally able to defeat and Kattabomman fled into the Pudukottai
forests.
 There was a betrayal by Ettappan, the Raja of Pudukottai led to the capture of Kattabomman
and was hanged in a conspicuous place.
 A close associate, Subramania Pillai was also hanged and Soundara Pandian, another rebel,
brutally killed.
 The Palayam of Panjalanlankurichi and the estates of five other poligars who had joined the
rebellion were confiscated and the prominent poligars executed or sent to prison.
 The Second Phase 1801 – 1805 was more violent:
 The Poligars imprisoned in the Fort of Palamcottah escaped. They took control over many
forts and even captured Tuticorin.
 10

 British forces were soon reinforced from Malabar.

 The fugitives led by Oomathurai, brother of Kattabomman, joined the rebellion of the
‘Maradus’ led by Marathu Pandian.
 They were suppressed in October in 1801.
 Fort of Panjalankurichi was razed to the ground and name of the place was expunged from
all documents of the district.
 Meanwhile, Nawab surrendered to the British the civil, military administration of Carnatic.
 Between 1803-05, Poligars of North Arcot rose in rebellion when they were deprived of
their right to collect Kaval fees.
 Tamil Nadu's Kaval, or "watch," was a long-standing institution.
 KAVAL: Ancient institution in Tamil Nadu.
 It was a hereditary village police office with clear duties and responsibilities.
 Palayams of Chittur and Chandragiri were in lawless condition.
 Dispossessed poligar of Charagallu joined the audacious poligar of Yedaragunta.
 The British suppressed Rebels by February 1805.
 Several chiefs were mandated to reside in Madras.
 Some others received an 18% allowance on their estate's revenue.
 Vast area of South India was affected by the Poligar uprising.
Uprisings in Haryana Region (1803-1810):
 In 1803, Treaty of Surji-Arjungaon was signed by which Haryana and other possessions of
Scindia, was taken over.
 But people opposed the new setup. Opposition from Sikh chiefs of Ambala, Karnal, and Thanesar.
 Western Haryana region was under Muslim Bhatti Rajputs.
 Prominent Leaders:
 Zabita Khan of Sirsa & Rania
 Khan Bahadur Khan of Fatehabad
 After a number of failed efforts in November 1809 a large contingent under Col. Adams to attack
Fatehabad, Sirsa, and Rania. He was victorious in all the battles.
 People of Rohtak, Bhiwani, and the eastern part of Hisar were not ready to accept the authority of
the rulers chosen by the Company. Thus, they continued with rebellion.
 Lord Minto, Governor General, advised military action.
 British Resident at Delhi, Archibald Seton.
 In March 1810 sent a big force under Gardiner.
 The people of Bhiwani managed for some time but the British with their heavy artillery
breached the walls of the town and captured Bhiwani after a bloody battle.
 11

 The fort of Hansi was converted into a military cantonment.

Diwan Velu Thampi revolt (1808 – 09):
 In 1805, the state of Travancore agreed to a subsidiary alliance arrangement under Wellesley.
 They were resentful of the harsh terms and not able to pay the subsidy, thus fell in arrears.
 Also, the British resident of Travancore was meddling in the affairs of the state.
 Prime Minister (or Dalawa) Velu Thampi and Nair troops.
 Kundara Proclamation: Velu Thampi addressed a gathering in Kundra, openly calling to take up
arms against the British.
 A large force was used to restore peace.
 The Maharaja of Travancore defected to the side of the Company.
 Velu Thampi killed himself to avoid capture and rebellion petered out.
Disturbances in Bundelkhand (1808 – 12):
 The Second Anglo-Maratha Wars (1803 – 05) were put under the Presidency of Bengal.
 The Bundela chiefs offered resistance via forts (150):
 Lakshaman Dawa – Ajaygarh Fort
 Darya Singh – Kalanjar
 Gopal Singh – Ikranamah
Parlakimidi Outbreak:
 Parlakimidi is situated in the Ganjam district (Odisha).
 Here resistance was organised by Zamindars and Rajas.
 Company acquired Ganjam:
 Narayan Deo (Raja of Parlakimedi) resisted.
 The British dispatched an army under Colonel Peach and defeated Narayan Deo.
 They made Gajapathi Deo (Son of Narayan) a zamindar.
 But Narayan Deo and his son and brothers revolted again.
The Presidency of Madras appointed George Russell as commissioner of the region in 1832 and pacified
the region by 1834.


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 17
Revolt before 1857 - II
 2

Revolt before 1857 - II

Kutch or Cutch Rebellion (1816-32):
 In 1816, there was a treaty between the British and Maharaja Bharmal II of Kutch and power was vested
in the throne.
 There was a power struggle between the Maharaja and a group of chieftains, the British interfered in their
internal feuds.
 In 1819 Raja Bharmal II, Arab and African troops combined together with the intention of removing the
British.
 The chieftains also supported Raja.
 The British defeated and deposed Bharamal and placed his infant son on the throne.
 The British resident and regency council, various administrative innovations and excessive land assessment
caused deep resentment among the chieftains.
 The chieftains continued rebellion against British rule. After hearing about the British reverses in the Burma
War, the chiefs rose up in revolt and demanded the restoration of Bharamal II.
 After failed extensive military operations the Company’s authorities were forced to adopt a conciliatory
policy.
Rising at Bareilly (1816):
 The immediate cause of the revolt was the imposition of Police Tax. In March 1816, the revolt became
religious when Mufti Muhammad Aiwaz, gave a petition to the magistrate.
 When the police injured a woman while collecting tax, the situation got very tense. The followers of the Mufti
engaged in a fight against the police
 Several armed Muslims from Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Rampur rose in rebellion. They murdered the son of
Leycester (judge), following which heavy deployment of military forces suppressed the revolt.
Upsurge in Hathras (1817):
 Dayaram, a talukdar of villages in the district of Aligarh had a stronghold in the fort of Hathras.
 The fort was built strategically and was considered as the 'second Bharatpur'.
 The English concluded the settlement of Dayaram with Hathras' estate. However, Dayaram constantly failed
to pay arrears and committed acts of hostility by supporting government fugitives.
 In February 1817, the Company attacked Hathras in which Dayaram fought bravely and escaped unharmed.
But ultimately, he had to accept submission and settled with a pension.
 Another rebel Bhagwant Singh, Raja of Mursan, frightened to dismantle his fort, submitted to the
government.
Waghera Rising 1818 - 1820 (Maharashtra):
 A resentment against the alien rule coupled with the exactions of the Gaekwar of Baroda supported by the
British Government compelled the Waghera chiefs of Okha Mandal to take up arms.
 The Wagheras carried out inroads into British territory during 1818-19.
 A peace treaty was signed in November 1820.
 3

Kittur Uprising (Karnataka):

 Chief of Kittur in 1824 leaving no male heir so this became a ground of annexation of the state (Doctrine of
lapse).
 Rani Chennamma, widow of the chief, revolted and declared independence.
 She led an armed rebellion against the British East India Company (BEIC) in 1824 in defiance of the doctrine
of lapse but was defeated and died imprisoned.
 One of the first female rulers to rebel against British rule, she has become a folk hero in Karnataka and
symbol of the independence movement in India.
Ahom Revolt (1828):
 It occurred because during the 1st Burma war (1824-26) and the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, the British
had pledged to withdraw from Assam.
 They didn’t withdraw, rather tried incorporating Ahom into the company's dominion.
 The revolt was led by Gomdhar Konwar, Ahom’s prince. Assemblies close to Jorhat proclaimed him as king
in 1828.
 Other prominent leaders were Dhananjay Bongohain, Jaiream Khargaria Phukan.
 The British adopted a pacific policy and handed upper Assam to Maharaja Purandar Singh Narendra (Ahom
Prince) and a section was restored to the Assamese King.
Pagal Panthis (1825 – 1850):
 It was a semi-religious sect, constituting Hajong and Garo tribes of Mymensingh district.
 It was founded by Karam Shah, in the Northern districts of Bengal.
 Tipu was the son and successor of Karam Shah & was inspired by religious and political motives.
 He took the cause of tenants against oppression of the zamindars.
 Pagal Panthis refused to pay above a certain limit.
 They attacked the house of Zamindars.
 In 1825, Tipu captured Sherpur and assumed Royal power and spread their activities to the Garo Hills.
 Government suppressed the movement violently.
 The areas remained disturbed in the 1830s and 1840s.
Fariazis Revolts:
 They were followers of a Muslim sect founded by Haji Shariatullah of Faridpur, Eastern Bengal.
 They advocated radical religious, social and political changes.
 Shariatullah son Dudu Mian (1819-60) decided to remove the English intruders from Bengal.
 The sect supported the cause of tenants against Zamindar.
 The disturbances continued from 1838 to 1857.
 Most of them joined the ranks of the Wahabis.
Wahabi Movement:
 The Wahabi movement in India was founded by Syed Ahmed Barelvi during the 1830s (inspired by the
teachings of Abdul Wahab of Saudi and Shah Walliullah of Delhi).
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 The movement aimed at removing all the un-Islamic practices that had crept into the religion under various
influences. It aimed at revitalising the true spirit of Islam.
 It considered India as dar-ul-harb (land of war), to be converted into Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam).
 Initially the movement was directed against sikh but after the annexation of Punjab by the British, it was
directed against the British.
 Sithana in the North-West was chosen as the base. Though founded by Syed Ahmad, the movement was led
by Syed Mir Nisar Ali popularly known as Titu Mir. Titu Mir proclaimed the British as illegitimate rulers
and declared Muslims to be the rightful owners of the empire.
 Wahhabism significantly spread to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and North West. After the death of Sayyid
Ahmad in 1831, Patna became the centre of the Wahabi movement.
 The movement turned into an armed struggle during the revolt of 1857. The British undertook many measures
to suppress the Wahabis. The British called Wahabis as traitors and rebels. Military exercises were conducted
against the Wahabis and the British succeeded to subdue the movement by 1870.
 Note: Syed Ahmed Barelvi not to be confused with Syed Ahmed Khan (Aligarh Movement).
Kuka Movement (1840):
 It was established in Western Punjab by Bhagat Jawahar Mal (also known as Sian Saheb) in 1840.
 A significant movement leader after him was Baba Ram Singh (Namdhari Sikh sect was created by him).
 The movement was converted from a religious purity campaign to a political campaign after the British took
over Punjab.
 The Kuka Movement made the people aware of their serfdom and bondage. It evoked the feelings of self-
respect and sacrifice for the country. Within a few years, the followers of the Kuka Movement increased
manifold.
 They called for a boycott of British educational institutions and laws established by them. They were rigid
in their clothing and wore only hand-spun white attire. The Kuka followers actively propagated civil
disobedience.
Surat Salt Agitation (1844):
 The raising of salt duty in 1844 caused great discontent among the people.
 Salt tax was raised from 50 paise to 1 Rupee.
 The anti-government spirit turned into a strong anti-British spirit, even some Europeans were attacked.
 To face with the popular Revolt, the government withdrew the additional salt levy.
 Similarly in 1848, the government decision to introduce Bengal standard weights and measures had to be
withdrawn against the peoples determined bid to resolve to boycott and passive resistance.
Kolhapur and Sawantwadi Revolt:
 The hardships caused by the administrative organisations in the Kolhapur state after 1844 caused deep
resentment.
 The Gadkari is the hereditary military class in which garrisoned Maratha forts were disbanded. Faced with the
spectre of unemployment they rose in Revolt and occupied the forts of Samangad and Bhudargad.
 Similar discontent causes the Revolt in Sawantwadi.
 Several legal regulations were issued by the East India Company to put the area under control.
 5

Sambalpur Outbreaks [Odisha] (1827 – 1840):

 Frequent interference of the British in the internal affairs of the Sambalpur created many troubles in the
region.
 Surendra Nath (Veer Surendra Sai) led the rebellion in 1827.
 He was arrested by the British in 1840 and the outbreak was crushed.
Bundela Revolt:
 Oppressive revenue policies of EIC compelled the Bundelas to revolt under Madhukar Shah and Jawahar
Singh in 1842. He was captured and executed.
Phadke’s Revolt 1877:
 Vasudev Balwant Phadke geared up an armed revolt after the severe famine in Western India,
 He recruited young peasants and conducted political dacoities. He was the earliest national leader to do so.
 He was captured in 1879 and died in 1883. The rebellion faded out as well.
Naikdas Revolt (1858 – 59):
 Initially revolted under Roop Singh of Gujrat and again in 1868 under Joria Bhagat. Both were captured and
executed which ended the revolt as well.
Peasant Revolts before 1857:
The Rangpur Dhing 1783 (means rebellion) (now in Bangladesh):
 British control over Bengal after 1757 and their various land revenue experiments in Bengal to extract as
much as possible from peasants brought unbearable hardship for the common man.
 Rangpur and Dinajpur were two of the districts of Bengal which faced all kinds of illegal demands by the
East India Company and its revenue contractors.
 Harsh attitude of the revenue contractors and their exactions became a regular feature of peasant life. One
such revenue contractor was Debi Singh of Rangpur and Dinajpur. He and his agents created a reign of
terror in the two districts of northern Bengal.
 Taxes on the Zamindars were increased which actually were passed on from Zamindars to cultivators or
ryots.
 Ryots were not in a position to meet the growing demands of Debi Singh and his agents. Debi Singh and his
men used to beat and flog the peasants, burn their houses and destroy their crops and not even women were
spared.
 Peasants appealed to the company officials to redress their grievances. Their appeal however remained
unheeded.
 The uprising started on January 18, 1783, when peasants and zamindars took control of the Parganas of
Kakina, Kazirhat and Tepa in district Rangpur.
 Being deprived of justice the peasants took the law in their own hands. By beat of drum the rebel
peasants gathered a large number of peasants, armed with swords, shields, bows and arrows.
 They elected Dirjinarain as their leader and attacked the local cutcheries and store houses of crops of local
agents of the contractors and government officials. In many cases they snatched away the prisoners from the
government guards.
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 The rebels formed a government of their own, stopped payments of revenue to the existing government
and levied 'insurrection charges'/dhing kharcha to meet the expenses of the rebellion.
 Both Hindus and Muslims fought side by side in the insurrection. Ultimately the government's armed forces
took control of the situation and suppressed the revolt.
The Khurda Uprising 1817:
 Khurda, a small kingdom built up in the late 16th century in the south-eastern part of Odisha, was a populous
and well-cultivated territory consisting of 105 garhs, 60 large and 1109 small villages at the beginning of the
19th century.
 Its king, Raja Birakishore Dev had to earlier give up the possession of four parganas, the superintendence of
the Jagannath Temple and the administration of fourteen garjats (Princely States) to the Marathas under
compulsion.
 His son and successor, Mukunda Dev II was greatly disturbed with this loss of fortune.
 During the Anglo-Maratha conflict, he had entered into negotiations with the British to get back his lost
territories and the rights over the Jagannath Temple.
 After the occupation of Odisha in 1803, the British showed no inclination to oblige him on either score.
 Consequently, in alliance with other feudatory chiefs of Odisha and secret support of the Marathas, he tried to
assert his rights by force.
 This led to his deposition and annexation of his territories by the British.
 As a matter of consolation, he was only given the rights of management of the Jagannath Temple with a
grant amounting to a mere one-tenth of the revenue of his former estate and his residence was fixed at Puri.
 This unfair settlement commenced an era of oppressive foreign rule in Odisha, which paved the way for a
serious armed uprising in 1817.
 British policies bitterly affected the lives of the ex-militia of the state, the Paiks.
 The severity of the measure was compounded on account of an unreasonable increase in the demand of
revenue and also the oppressive ways of its collection.
 Consequently, there was large-scale desertion of people from Khurda between 1805 and 1817.
 Yet, the British went for a series of short-term settlements, each time increasing the demands, not recognising
either the productive capacity of the land or the paying capacity of the ryots.
 No leniency in case of natural calamities.
 Lands of defaulters were sold off to scheming revenue officials or speculators from Bengal.
 The hereditary Military Commander of the deposed king, Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mahapatra Bhramarabar Rai
or Buxi Jagabandhu as he was popularly known, was one among the dispossessed land-holders.
 He had in effect become a beggar, and for nearly two years survived on voluntary contributions from the
people of Khurda before deciding to fight for their grievances as well as his own.
 Over the years, what had added to these grievances were:
 The introduction of sicca rupee (silver currency) in the region,
 The insistence on payment of revenue in the new currency,
 The unprecedented rise in the prices of food-stuff and salt, which had become far-fetched following the
introduction of salt monopoly because of which the traditional salt makers of Odisha were deprived of
making salt,
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 The auction of local estates in Calcutta, which brought in absentee landlords from Bengal to Odisha.
 Besides, the insensitive and corrupt police system also made the situation worse for the armed uprising to take
a sinister shape.
 The uprising was set off on 29 March 1817 as the Paiks attacked the police station and other government
establishments at Banpur killing more than a hundred men and taking away a large amount of government
money.
 Soon, it's ripples spread in different directions with Khurda becoming its epicentre.
 The zamindars and ryots alike joined the Paiks with enthusiasm.
 Those who did not, were taken to task. A ‘no-rent campaign’ was also started.
 The British tried to dislodge the Paiks from their entrenched position but failed.
 On 14 April 1817, Buxi Jagabandhu, leading five to ten thousand Paiks and men of the Kandh tribe seized
Puri and declared the hesitant king, Mukunda Dev II as their ruler.
 The priests of the Jagannath Temple also extended the Paiks their full support.
 Seeing the situation going out of hand, the British clamped Martial Law.
 The King was quickly captured and sent to prison in Cuttack with his son.
 The Buxi with his close associate, Krushna Chandra Bhramarabar Rai, tried to cut off all communications
between Cuttack and Khurda as the uprising spread to the southern and the north-western parts of Odisha.
 Consequently, the British sent Major-General Martindell to clear off the area from the clutches of the Paiks
while at the same time announcing rewards for the arrest of Buxi Jagabandhu and his associates.
 In the ensuing operation hundreds of Paiks were killed, many fled to deep jungles and some returned home
under a scheme of amnesty.
 By May 1817 the uprising was mostly contained.
 However, outside Khurda it was sustained by Buxi Jagabandhu with the help of supporters like the Raja of
Kujung and the unflinching loyalty of the Paiks until his surrender in May 1825.
 On their part, the British henceforth adopted a policy of ‘leniency, indulgence and forbearance’ towards the
people of Khurda.
 The price of salt was reduced and necessary reforms were made in the police and the justice systems.
 Revenue officials found to be corrupt were dismissed and former land-holders were restored to their lands.
 The son of the king of Khurda, Ram Chandra Dev III was allowed to move to Puri and take charge of the
affairs of the Jagannath Temple with a grant of rupees twenty-four thousand.
 In sum, it was the first such popular anti-British armed uprising in Odisha, which had a far reaching effect on
the future of British administration in that part of the country. To merely call it a ‘Paik Rebellion’ will thus
be an understatement.


PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 18
Tribal Revolts
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Tribal Revolts

Nagar Revolt 1830:

❖ The Nagar Revolt, also known as the Nagara Peasant Rebellion, was an uprising in the Nagar region (present
day Shimoga district) of the Mysore kingdom, which began in August and September 1830.
❖ The rebels, consisting primarily of farmers and minor officials, were backed by the support of some local rulers
and mercenaries.
❖ The rebellion lasted for almost a year, but with the aid of the British East India Company, it was eventually
put down by the empire.
❖ The administration of the kingdom was taken over by the British East India Company on 9 October
1831 - a state of affairs that lasted for 50 years before the Wodeyars were re-established under the Crown's
aegis as rulers.

Moplah Uprising:
❖ Moplahs in Malabar revolted against hike in revenue, oppression by officials and reduction in field size.
❖ Between 1836-54, they rebelled 22 times. However, none of them became successful.
❖ Note: The second Moplah revolt occurred in the 1920s during the non-cooperation movement.

Tribal Uprisings:
Some were Hunters and Gatherers:
❖ Some tribal groups lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce.
❖ They exchanged goods of their need in return for their valuable forest produce, e.g., rice and grains or
they bought goods by small earnings they had.
❖ They used to do odd jobs in nearby villages.
➢ Khonds:

✓ They lived in the forests of Orissa.

✓ They went out on collective hunts.
✓ They used to distribute meat amongst themselves.
✓ Traders came around with things for sale, and sold
the goods at high prices.
✓ The moneylenders gave loans at a very high
interest that eventually led them to debt and
poverty. Hence, they consider them as the evil
outsiders.
✓ The tribals ate fruits and roots collected from the
forest and cooked food with the oil of the sal and
mahua.
✓ They used forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal
purposes.
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✓ They sold forest produce in the local markets.

✓ They supplied Kusum and Palash flowers to weavers and leather workers for colouring cloths and
leather.
➢ Baigas of Central India:
✓ They were reluctant to do work for others.
✓ They saw themselves as people of the forest and could live on the produce of the forest.
✓ Becoming labour is against the dignity of Baigas.

Some herded animals:

❖ Many tribals were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons for grass.
❖ Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders.
❖ Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds.
❖ Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.

Some took to settled Cultivation:

❖ Many tribal groups had begun settling down
before the nineteenth century, and cultivating
their fields in one place year after year.
❖ They began to use the plough, and gradually got
rights over the land they lived on.
❖ Mundas of Chota Nagpur: All members of the
clan were regarded as descendants of the original
settlers, who had first cleared the land.
❖ Land belonged to the clan as a whole, this was
known as Khantkutti system.
❖ The British officials saw settled tribal groups like
the Gonds and Santhals as more civilised than
hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators.

Tribal Uprisings:
❖ These were the most frequent and most violent of all uprisings.
❖ The Tribal uprisings in Colonial India can be broadly classified into two parts:
1. Mainland Tribal Uprisings.
2. Frontier Tribal Revolt - In North- East

Mainland Tribal Movements:

❖ Land and Forest rights were the most important factors which sparked these movements.
❖ Extension of agriculture in settled form led to loss of land among tribals and intrusion of outsiders in tribal
areas.
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❖ Shifting agriculture was curbed, Reserved forests were set up and restrictions were imposed on grazing.
All these combined to aggravate the misery of tribals.
❖ Exploitation at the hands of police, traders and money lenders added to their misery.
❖ Tribals had their own laws and customs. The imposition of general laws on them caused huge resentment.
❖ Intrusion of Christian Missionaries into their customs and tradition was also a major cause of resentment
among tribals.
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North-East Tribal Movement:

❖ The target of these movements was mostly political autonomy within British India or complete independence.
They were not concerned with the nationalist struggle.
❖ These movements were not forest based or agrarian revolt. They enjoyed a relatively high level of autonomy.
Also, the British entered these areas much later.
❖ Their duration was longer as compared to the non-frontier tribal movements.
❖ Khongjom Day is celebrated in Manipur to commemorate the warriors of Anglo Manipur war 1891.

Characteristics of Tribal Revolts:

❖ The acts of violence in these movements were not directed against all outsiders, but only rich money lenders
and landlords who were usually seen as the extension of colonial rule.
❖ Many uprisings were led by messiah-like figures.
❖ They used traditional arms such as axes, bows and arrows against the modern weapons of the government.

The Problem with Trade:

❖ During the nineteenth century, traders and moneylenders were coming into the forest, wanting to buy forest
produce, offering cash loans and asking them to work for wages.
❖ Indian silk was highly valued in European markets in the eighteenth century, so East India Company
encouraged silk production to meet the growing demand in Europe.
❖ Hazaribagh (in Jharkhand), was an area where the Santhals reared cocoons.
➢ Agents of traders gave loans to the tribal people and collected the cocoons.
➢ The middlemen sold these cocoons at higher prices at Gaya and Burdwan, but the growers were paid very
little.
➢ The silk growers earned very little.

The Search for Work:

❖ The situation of searching jobs for the tribals was worse.
❖ Tea plantations and Mining became an important industry from the late nineteenth century.
❖ Tribals were recruited to work in the tea plantations of Assam, coal mines of Jharkhand, paid them miserably
very low wages by contractors.
❖ Coal miners of Bihar, 1948: About 50 per cent of the miners in the Jharia and Raniganj coal mines of Bihar
were tribals in the 1920s. Work deep down in the dark and suffocating mines was dangerous and back-
breaking. In the 1920s over 2,000 workers died every year in the coal mines in India.

Tilka Manjhi:
❖ He was the revolutionary freedom fighter and tribal leader of Jharkhand.
❖ First Adivasi leader from Paharia (Hill Peoples) Community.
❖ During the severe famine 1770 people were dying of hunger. To save people, Tilka Manjhi looted the treasury
of the Company and distributed it among them. Many other tribes also joined the rebellion, after getting inspired
 6

from this noble act of Tilka. He continued to attack the British and their sycophantic allies. From 1771 to 1784,
he never surrendered.
❖ Tilka Manjhi attacked Augustus Cleveland, who was an East India Company administrator.
❖ Bhagalpur University was renamed after him as Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University.

Bhils Uprising:
❖ The uprising took place in Khandesh or North West Maharashtra during the period of 1817-19, 1825,1831
and 1846.
❖ They were basically aboriginal tribe in the Western Ghats.
❖ They controlled the mountain passes between Deccan and the north.
❖ Famine, economic distress, and misgovernance caused them to revolt against the company’s rule in 1817-19.
The revolt was led by Sewaram.
❖ Peshwa Bajirao II and his Lieutenant Trimbakji Dandlia are accused of inciting this revolt against the company.
❖ They suffered agrarian hardship and apprehension. Also, they were suppressed by the British.
❖ They got encouraged by the British reverses in Burma war and thus revolted in 1825. After a short span of
time the revolt erupted again in 1831 and 1846.
❖ Again in 1913, Govind Guru helped the Bhils of south Rajasthan to organise themselves against the British.

Koli:
❖ Kolis reside in the Sahyadri Hills of Gujarat-Maharashtra. Mostly concentrated in Ahmednagar district.
❖ The Koli uprising took place in the years 1824, 1829, 1839, 1844-48.
❖ Kolis were living in the neighbourhood and they were the rivals of Bhils.
❖ They were against the imposition of British rule and dismantlement of the forts of the Koli tribes.
❖ There was widespread unemployment under the Britishers.
❖ The revolt was finally suppressed.

Kol Uprising:
❖ The Kol Uprising erupted in the Chotanagpur & Singhbhum region during 1831-32.
❖ They had independent power for centuries but with the British penetration and application of British laws,
soon Raja of Chotanagpur started evicting tribal peasants and gave land to outsiders for higher rent.
❖ The primary reason behind such eviction was large scale transfer of lands from Kol to the British.
❖ The headmen to Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims farmers and money lenders who were oppressive and demanded
heavy taxes. [Outsiders = sud]
❖ Their plea for justice was unheard.
❖ In 1831, under the leadership of Buddho Bhagat, Kol rebels killed and burnt a thousand of outsiders’
properties. Wiped off the Raj from Chotanagpur.
❖ Their revolt was suppressed by large scale military action.
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Santhal or Hool Uprising:

❖ They concentrated mostly in the Rajmahal Hills, Santhal Pargana Bihar, and in 1855-56 they revolted against
the Britishers.
❖ Earlier they were scattered over Cuttack to Chota Nagpur and nearby areas.
❖ Driven out and settled in Rajmahal hills and called it Damin-e-koh (persian, meaning skirts of the hills).
❖ Under the Company, tribal lands were being leased out to non-tribals (diku) followed by oppression of
local police and European officers employed in construction of railways.
❖ They gave an ultimatum to the zamindars but it was unheard of.
❖ Thus, soon a revolt led by Sidhu and Kanhu erupted in the region. They declared the end of the company
rules and declared themselves independent.
❖ They started open insurrection against “unholy trinity” i.e., zamindars, mahajans and Government.
❖ The tribals were against the ill treatment at the hands of revenue officers, oppression of police and extortion
of landlords and money lenders.
❖ The Company rule virtually collapsed. The revolt was supported by low caste non-tribal peasants as well.
❖ Brutal counter insurgency and army was brought in. The Villages were burnt and 15,000-20,000/30,000-
50,000 Santhals were killed.
❖ The Government pacified the sentence by creating a new district called Santhal Pargana. It became illegal
for a Santhal to transfer land to a non-Santhal.
❖ After the Santhal rebellion, the British realised that the Santhals had to be kept satisfied and their reasonable
demands met if the Government wanted to rule this area.
❖ A separate district was created by the Act XXXVII of 1855 and it was given the name of Santhal Pargana,
perhaps to appease the Santhals.
❖ Steps were taken to redress the grievances of the Santhals and to give them a homeland with a sense of security.
❖ Later on, Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act (SPT Act) 1949 was enacted after independence for the safety and
special identity of this area. According to section 20 of SPT Act 1949, no transfer by a raiyat of his right in his
holding or among persons thereof, by sale, gift, mortgage, will, lease or any other contract or agreement
empress or employed shall be valid.

Chuar Uprising or revolt of Jungle Mahal:

❖ The uprising took place in Midnapore, Bengal during the phase of 1766-1774 and 1795 & 1816.
❖ Who were Chuars?
➢ The Chuars are the aboriginal tribes of Midnapur (WB).
➢ They were prominent in the hills between Barabhum and Ghatshila.
➢ Farming was not their permanent occupation.
➢ They used to change their occupation from farming to hunting at the bidding of jungle chiefs or zamindars.
❖ Note: The term Chuar is considered derogatory by some historians. They call it the Revolt of the Jungle Mahal.
❖ The Revolt:
➢ The Bengal famine of 1760, enhanced revenue demand and economic distress.
 8

➢ Prominent leaders were Madhab Singh, Raja Mohan Singh, Lachman Singh of Dulma, zamindar of
Juriah
✓ 1768: Jagannath Singh: Zamindars of Ghatsila
✓ 1771: Shyam Ganjan of Dhadka, Subla Singh of Kaliapal and Dubraj
✓ 1798: Durjon Singh, zamindar of Raipur
➢ There were disturbances till 1800. However, the British suppressed the revolt through use of force.

Hos and Munda:

❖ They were from the Chotanagpur and Singhbhum areas and they led a series of revolts against the British
in 1820, 1822 and 1831.
❖ The occupation of Singhbhum by the British and exploitation of tribals led to a large-scale resentment against
the British.
❖ Raja of Parahat organised Ho initially, but soon the Hos tribals were suppressed by the British.
❖ Later joined by Mundas in 1831, when Hos revolted again against the newly introduced revenue policy and
entry of Bengalis into their region.
❖ Their revolt challenged the Britishers and disturbance continued till 1837.
❖ Munda Rebellion:
➢ During 1895-1900, the Mudas rose again under Birsa Munda and it was popularly known as the Ulgulan,
meaning revolt.
➢ Bhagwan Birsa Munda ("Dharthi Aba"= father of the earth), as known amongst tribal, waged a
massive war against the British rule in mid-1890's.
➢ After the suppression of the first rising in 1895 the Birsa gave a call to the Munda's of a decisive war
against the British. After a series of concerted attacks for nearly two years on the places loyal to the
British, the Munda warriors started congregating on "Dombari Hill" at village "Sail Rakab" on the call
of Birsa.
➢ Adopted Guerilla warfare, attacked the British in Ranchi and Khunti. Several persons, mostly policemen,
were killed and nearly 100 buildings were set on fire. Struggle (Ulgulan) & "Abua Disun" (self-rule).
➢ Subsequently British forces attacked heavily and created “Topped Buru" - mound of dead. Birsa Munda
was nabbed while he was fast asleep at "Jamkopai" forest in Chakradharpur on March 3, 1900.
➢ He died in Ranchi jail on 9th June 1900.
Birsa Munda:
❖ Around the forests of Bohonda, Birsa was born in the mid-1870s.
❖ He grew up grazing sheep, playing the flute, and dancing in the local akhara.
❖ Because of poverty, his father moved from place to place in search of work.
❖ He heard tales of the Munda uprisings and saw the sirdars (leaders) of the community urging the people
to revolt. They spoke about the golden age.
❖ Birsa went to the local missionary school, in the sermons, he heard that it is possible for the Mundas to
attain the Kingdom of Heaven, and regain their lost rights.
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❖ Later Birsa also spent some time in the company of a prominent Vaishnav teacher, influenced by his many
ideas.
❖ Reforming the tribal society was the main aim of his movement.
❖ He told the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and
sorcery.
❖ In 1895, Birsa talked of a golden age -a satyug (the age of truth), urged his followers to recover that past,
lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised
cultivation to earn their living.
❖ Munda Raj - The political aim of the Birsa movement was to drive out missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu
landlords, and the government and set up a Munda Raj with Birsa at its head.
❖ The causes of this misery were the land policies of the British, Hindu landlords and moneylenders taking
over their land, and missionaries criticising their traditional culture.
❖ As the movement spread, the British arrested Birsa in 1895, convicted him on charges of rioting and jailed
him for two years.
❖ In 1897, he was released and again he urged the tribals to destroy “Ravana” (dikus and the Europeans)
and establish a kingdom under his leadership.
❖ They attacked police stations and churches, and raided the property of moneylenders and zamindars.
❖ They raised the white flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.
❖ In 1900, Birsa died of cholera and the movement came to an end.
❖ This movement was significant in:
1. Colonial government introduced laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken over by
dikus.
2. The tribal people got the capacity to protest against injustice and express their anger against colonial
rule.

Khond Uprisings 1837-56;

❖ Khonds inhabited the hilly tracts extending from Odisha to Srikakilam and Visakhapatnam.
❖ The reason for uprising were:
➢ Suppression of Human sacrifice by English,
➢ New taxes,
➢ The entry of Zamindars into their areas.
❖ The revolt was led by Charkha Bisnoi.
❖ Note: The 1914 Khond rebellion took place in order to gain autonomy by ending British rule.

Koya Revolt:
❖ They inhabited the eastern Godavari tract.
❖ They revolted in 1803, 1840, 1845, 1858, 1861, 1862, and in 1872 (under Tomma Sora).
❖ The reasons for their uprising were oppression by moneylenders and police, new regulations, denial of
customary rights over forest.
 10

❖ The Uprisings took place in Bhiwani in 1809.

❖ It was led by Jats of Haryana who fortified themselves and made strong resistance.

Khasi Uprising:
❖ They reside in the Khasi Hills of Assam and Meghalaya and revolted against the British in 1829-32.
❖ The Khasi uprising was led by Tirat Singh and Bar Manik.
❖ The British had occupied The Hills between Khasi and Jaintia and were planning to build a road connecting to
Sylhet.
❖ A large number of outsiders were brought to complete the project.
❖ The ruler of Nunklow, Tirat Singh resented the occupation of Jantia and Garo by the British.
❖ He revolted by organising Khasi, Garo, khamptis, Singphos.
❖ The movement was suppressed in 1833.

Later Revolts:
Bhills:
❖ Bhils revolted in the region of Banswara, Suthi Dungarpur-Rajasthan in 1913.
❖ The revolt was led by Govind Guru.
❖ The revolt began as a temperance and purification movement and developed into a movement for Bhil Raj.
❖ The revolt was suppressed by British armed intervention.

Oraons (Chotanagpur 1914-15):

❖ The uprising was led by Jatra Bhagat and Tana Bhagat.
❖ The revolt was started by Jatra Bhagat for monotheism.
❖ The abstention from meat, liquor & tribal dances and return to shifting cultivation.
❖ It developed links with Gandhian nationalism but was suppressed.

Kukis (Manipur 1917-19):

❖ The revolt was led by Jaonang. The resentment grew owing to the recruitment of forced labour and ban on
shifting cultivation. However, the revolt was finally suppressed.
<

Mundas (Ulgulan) (Chotanagpur 1899-1900):

❖ The revolt was led by Birsa Munda.
❖ They were against the erosion of their Khuntkatti land system.
❖ They were against the recruitment of forced labour (beth-begari) and the activities of Christian
missionaries.
❖ They attacked churches and police stations.
❖ Birsa Munda was taken prisoner by the British and the movement was suppressed.
 11

Ramosi Rising (Western Ghats):

❖ The hill tribes in the Western Ghats were not reconciled to British rule and the British pattern of
Administration.
❖ The Ramosis were employed in the Maratha administration.
❖ The annexation of Maratha territories led to loss of their employment and caused huge resentment against the
company rule.
❖ In 1822, their leader Chittoor Singh revolted and plundered the country around Satara.
❖ There were revolts again during 1825-26 and the area remained disturbed till 1829.
❖ Again, the disposition and management of Raja Pratap Singh of Satara in September 1839 caused widespread
resentment in the area during 1840-41.
❖ Narsing Rao Dattatreya Petkar collected a sizable number of troops, captured the Fort of Badami and hoisted
the flag of Raja Satara.
❖ The British finally restored order in the area.

Peasant and Tribal Rebellions & Other Important Tracts:

❖ Leadership came from within and it was well accepted and more effective.
❖ The mobilisation took place along the community lines.
❖ Religion was a symbol of bond & unity among the poor classes.
❖ Religion also gave birth to leaders:
⮚ Holy men who promised to achieve via supernatural means.
⮚ Messianism, magical powers.
❖ They believe empowerment was an act of god and divinely ordained and legitimate in terms of ideology and
motivations.
 12

Were Peasants & Tribal Peasants Revolts Political?

❖ The British created problems of law and order and rebels were equals to “primitive savages resisting
civilization”.
❖ As per the Nationalist scholars it was the Prehistory of modern nationalism.
❖ D. N. Dhanagare termed the phase as “Pre-political”.
❖ Ranajit Guha (1994) opined that “There was nothing in the militant movements of the rural masses that was
not political.”
❖ There was clear awareness of relations of power in rural society.
❖ The determination to overturn the structure of authority conscious of political sources of oppression. Their
targets of attack were Zamindars, Grahan.
❖ The identification of enemies and friends, it was open & public.
❖ The revolts were not ideal to termed it as crime, it was open and public and hence, it was political.

Urban Revolts:
❖ The Calcutta Bhadralok raised the issue of Santhals.
❖ There were Grain riots in 1823-38 against the monopoly of grain dealers and British officials.
❖ Helping them in Western India and Delhi.
❖ There were Rice riots in 1806-1858 in Vellore & South India. There was also a revolt in Vellore against the
threats to convert to Christianity.
❖ There were revolts by Artisans groups at Calcutta in 1789 Calcutta and at Surat in 1790 to 1800.
❖ During the phase of 1809 – 1818 Rohilkhand and Bengal also witnessed such revolts.
 13

Various Revolts, Region & Leaders Associated:

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 19
Revolt of 1857
 2

Revolt of 1857
Sepoys Mutiny:
 The East India Company needed a large Army to pursue territorial increase in India.
 Its demand for recruits increases its plan for expansion outside the boundaries of India and for Imperial
purposes to check.
 However, the sepoys found that the pay allowances and terms of services as they conquered more and more
territories for the master decreased.
 They shared all the discontent and grievances social, religious and economic that affected the civilians.
Development of Education:
HISTORY OF SEPOY MUTINY
A sepoy mutiny broke out in Bengal the British suppressed it, blowing away 30 sepoys
1764
from canon.
1806 The sepoy at Vellore mutinied but they were crushed.
1824 The 47th regiment at Barrackpore refused to go to Burma by sea-route.
1844 Seven battalions revolted on the question of salaries and Batta.
29th March 1857 Mangal Pandey, was hanged for firing on senior officers at Barrackpore in Bengal.
The sepoys of the 3rd Native Cavalry stationed at Meerut revolted on the issue of the
10th March 1857
greased cartridges and hence the revolt of 1857 started.
Vellore Mutiny 1806:
 In 1805, General Sir John Craddock, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, ordered a
change in the army's uniform that hurt the sentiments of both Hindu as well as Muslim soldiers.
 Hindus were prohibited from putting religious marks on their forehead.
 Muslims were forced to trim their moustaches and beards. Instead of the turban they were used to
wearing, they were asked to wear a round hat usually associated with Europeans.
 This naturally angered the soldiers. Those who protested were punished with whipping and sent out of the
army.
 Another trigger point was the defeat of Tipu Sultan in 1799 and after his death, his wives, children and
servants were confined to the city of Vellore.
 People were angry about the disrespect shown by the British to the erstwhile ruler's sons. An attack was
planned.
Surprise Strike:
 Vellore Fort that housed battalions of the British and Madras Infantry.
 That day was the wedding of one of Tipu Sultan's daughters.
 3

 Soon after midnight, around 500 Indian soldiers broke into the fort and murdered more than 100
unsuspecting soldiers who were sleeping.
 The outnumbered British were taken by surprise and they fled.
 In a fiercely symbolic gesture, the rebels took down the Union Jack (the flag of the U.K.) and replaced it
with the flag of Tipu Sultan.
 They then declared Tipu Sultan's second son as the king. A lack of clear leadership, however, caused the
rebellion to lose focus beyond this point.
 Meanwhile, the British started fighting back. Led by Sir Rollo Gillespie, a team of soldiers approached the
fort.
 They blew open its doors and shot dead 100 Indian soldiers who were still inside. A total of around 350
Indian sepoys were killed in the counter-attack.
 Tipu Sultan's family was eventually shifted to Calcutta. The revolt was suppressed within a day.
The Revolt of 1857:
Pattern of the Rebellion:
 Rumours and Prophecies:
 Rumours and prophecies played an important part in
moving people into action during the Revolt of 1857.
 A rumour spread swiftly that the new cartridges
introduced by Britishers were greased with the fat
of cows and pigs which would pollute their castes and
religion.
 The rumours about the British mixing the bone dust
of cows and pigs into the flour led people to avoid
touching the flour.
 Fear and suspicion about the British wanting to
convert Indians to Christianity.
 The rumour about the British rule coming to an end on
the centenary of the Battle of Plassey also reinforced
the call for a revolt.
 Indians believed the British policies to reform Indians
targeted their long-cherished customs and practices.
 The activities of Christian missionaries also created doubt and discomfort.
 The annexations on the pretext of the Doctrine of Lapse also made the people suspicious of British
intentions.
 Circulation of chapattis started (The Chapati Movement).
 4

Causes of the Indian Mutiny:

 The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was not a chance event but came to happen as one of the series of events that
aimed at ousting the English from the Indian mainland.
 Political Causes:
 The indiscriminate imperialistic policy of Lord Dalhousie played a dominating role in accelerating the
forces of revolt. His policy of naked imperialism resulting in a crash programme of annexations gave rise
to deep indignation among the Indian masses.
 Though the discontent against British rule had been accumulating for the last five years, yet it was under
Lord Dalhousie that it reached its climax.
 The annexations of Punjab, Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi alienated the goodwill of the Hindus while the
absorption of Oudh and other Muslim states estranged the sympathies of the Muslims.
 The annexation of the state of Oudh, which had been a loyal ally of the English for the last ninety years,
estranged the sympathies of her people.
 The charge of maladministration levelled against the Nawab of Oudh gave rise to a general political
discontent among the inhabitants of the state, who now began to conspire the overthrow of the English
yoke.
 The English had become a paramount power, but the shadow of the Mughal emperor was there to serve as
a thread of unity for the Indian powers.
 The English, who had in fact abrogated themselves to a paramount position could not realise this truth
and ceased to observe all respect and formalities towards the emperor which they had been doing till
1835.
 The Muslims were irritated by the thought that their supremacy over India was replaced by that of the
British.
 Economic Causes:
 Economic causes, too, played a remarkable role in bringing about the revolt of 1857. The rich resources
of India began to be exploited right and left which resulted in the destruction of Indian industry.
Consequently, poverty loomed large in India and a bulk of her population came to depend on agriculture.

John Sullivan – “The trade languishes, the capital decays, the people are impoverished, the English men
flourishes and acts like a sponge, drawing up riches from the banks of the Ganges and squeezing them down upon
the banks of the Thames.”
 5

 Donation of rent-free lands to individuals and religious

places had been a tradition in India since ancient times.
The grants having been very old, the people now did not
possess any documents to this effect.
 Lord William Bentinck asked the people, who enjoyed
rent - free lands, to produce the necessary documents. But
they could not be produced as they had been destroyed
due to the passage of time.
 So, all such lands were subjected to land revenue
which created an issue with these people because they
were economically hard hit.
 Many had to lose their lands as they could not pay the
revenue in time. Thus, this economic measure of
Bentinck victimised a large number of Indians who were
reduced to poverty and who, when the time became
favourable, joined the forces of revolt.
 The British government after the annexation of a state, made land settlements in it and tried every
measure to deprive the aristocracy of their lands and estates.
 A severe scrutiny of the claims of landed aristocracy was carried on as a result where of the once rich
zamindars and Taluqdars were reduced to poverty. These people had great influence among the
masses who shared their discontent and resentment.
 The Imam Commission (1852) at Bombay had led to the confiscation of about 20,000 estates in only
five years preceding the mutiny. Thus, these deposed aristocrats became the leaders of the revolt and tried
every nerve to overthrow British rule.
 After every annexation the ruler was deposed and the ministers were dismissed. The armies of the state
were disbanded and a few Englishmen came to fill up all these jobs. Thus, the field of employment was
very much narrowed down for the Indians.
 The disbanded soldiers were deprived of their very living and began to starve. 60,000 soldiers were
disbanded when Oudh was annexed in 1856. This disbanded soldier was sure to create anarchy and join
the forces of mutiny.
Awadh in Revolt:
 "A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day"
 Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as "a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day".
 The Kingdom of Awadh was annexed in 1856 by Governor General Lord Dalhousie.
 The Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on Awadh in 1801.
 6

 According to the alliance, the Nawab was required to disband his military force & allow the British to
position their troops within the kingdom and act in accordance with the advice of the British Resident
now attached to the court.
 Thus, the Nawab became dependent on the British.
 The British were keen to acquire Awadh as its soil was good for growing indigo and cotton and was
ideally located for trade.
 By early 1850s, major areas of Maratha land, doab, Punjab, Carnatic and Bengal were captured.
 Annexation of Awadh would complete the territorial annexation by the British.
 It was annexed on the grounds of maladministration.
 "The life was gone out of the body"
 Annexation of Awadh resulted in dissatisfaction and disappointment among Indian hearts.
 Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta.
 The British wrongly assumed that the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler; on the contrary he
was widely loved.
 "Angrez Bahadur ain, mulk lai linho" song became popular in memory of nawab i.e., Jan-i-Alam.
 Dissolution of court and culture of nawab which made many artists losing their livelihood.
 Firangi Raj and the end of a world:
 In Awadh, the revolt became an expression of popular resistance to an alien order.
 The annexation dispossessed the taluqdars of the region.
 Before this, taluqdars maintained armed retainers, built forts, and enjoyed a degree of autonomy.
 Britishers, unwilling to tolerate the power of the taluqdars, disarmed and destroyed their forts after
annexation.
 Britishers introduced the land revenue policy of Summary Settlement in 1856.
 This resulted in reduction of land under taluqdars from 67% to 38%.
 British land revenue officers believed that by replacing taluqdars with actual owners of the soil would
reduce exploitation of peasants
 However, this didn't happen as revenue flows for the state increased but the burden of demand on the
peasants did not decline.
 Over assessment of revenue demand by officials.
 Dispossession of taluqdars-breakdown of whole social order.
 Peasants were now directly exposed to the harsh revenue policies of the British and could no longer avail
loans in times of hardship or crop failure.
 Resistance during 1857 in Awadh was carried out by taluqdars and their peasants.
 7

 Many taluqdars joined Begum Hazrat Mahal (the wife of the Nawab) to fight against Britishers.
 Grievances of the peasants were carried by sepoys due to the majority of sepoys belonging to Awadh.
 Awadh was called "the nursery of the Bengal Army".
 Relationship of the sepoys with their superior white officers was changing. In the1820s both maintained
cordial relations.
 Post 1840s, officers developed a sense of superiority and discriminated against sepoys racially. Abuse and
physical violence became common.
 The close links existed between the sepoys and the rural world of North India.
 Large no. of sepoys of Bengal Army belonged to the villages of Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
 Changes and the threats perceived among sepoys and their family were quickly transmitted to the sepoy lines
and further to villages
 When the sepoys took up arms they were joined by the peasants.
Socio-Religious Causes:
 The attempts at Socio-religious reform were seen by a large section of the population as interference in the
social and religious domains of Indian society by outsiders.
 The introduction of the English education in preference to the Indian education, the abolition of sati, the
change in the Hindu law of inheritance, the abolition of female infanticide and the permission of
widow remarriage perturbed the orthodox mind who now became alarmed. They began to fear that the
Indian religion and purity would be polluted by the civilization of the mlecchas.
 Railways had been introduced in the country by Lord Dalhousie. The people of different religions and castes
had to sit in the same compartments and on the same seats. This was quite intolerable for the orthodox
Hindus who considered it a serious inroad upon their pious religion.
 It has been a wide practice with the conquerors to degrade the conquered, disrupt their social set-up,
condemn their religion and impoverish them with a view to attracting them to their own religion, thoughts
and practices.
 The English authorities encouraged their clergy to come to India as missionaries and to affect a large-scale
conversion of the Indian people to Christianity. Even in the military the bribes, promotions and rewards
were used to convert the sepoys to Christianity.
 In fact, the English attempts at conversion were as systematic as the policy of territorial aggression, though
this work had been entrusted to private missionaries mostly.
 The Hindu Law of Inheritance that stood in the way of conversion was modified and all the people of India
felt that their religion was in danger. For E.g., Religious Disability Act, 1856, modified Hindu customs
declaring that by changing religion a person is not debarred from inheriting ancestral property. The result
was great discontent and resentment.
 8

 Dalhousie's refusal to grant adoptions to the rulers of the states who died without any natural male heir added
fuel to the fire. A son, whether natural or adopted, is a religious necessity for a Hindu.
 The Hindu shastras define no difference between a natural and an adopted son. Dalhousie's doctrine of
lapse was, thus, taken as a serious inroad upon the Hindu religion by the Indian princes and the
people.
 Besides, the confiscation of religious grants and the naked condemnation of the Hindu and Muslim religions
by the English missionaries were greatly resented by the Indian masses.
 Influence of Events outside India: There were certain events which coincided with the 1857 revolt in
which British suffered serious losses like - First Afghan War (1838-42), Punjab Wars (1845-49),
Crimean Wars (1854-56), Santhal Rebellion (1855-57). They had psychological repercussions. It was felt
that the British could be defeated.
Discontent among Sepoys:
 The causes mentioned above were quite favourable for the revolt, yet nothing worthwhile could have been
achieved until and unless the Indian sepoys had joined it. Fortunately, or unfortunately the army became
dissatisfied and the situation became really dangerous for the English.
 The British forces had suffered serious reverses in the first Afghan War, which broke the spell of British
invincibility.
 The low salaries of the sepoys and the bad treatment that they were meted out enraged them. They began to
feel dissatisfied.
 The certain regulations introduced by Lord Canning intensified the feelings of resentment among the Indian
sepoys. (Post Office Act 1854) He made them pay regular postage for all their letters which were free
previously.
 The sepoys declared unfit for foreign service were not given pensions. Thus, the loyalty of the Indian sepoys
began to disappear.
 Besides the glaring disproportion between the numbers of British and native soldiers in India, the troops
were not properly distributed. Almost all the strategic points were in the hands of the native sepoys.
 Between Allahabad and Calcutta there was only one British regiment at Dinapore while places like Delhi and
Allahabad were in the hands of Indian sepoys. This favourable situation encouraged the Indian sepoys very
much and individual revolts began to spring up.
 The army was invariably headed and commanded by English men, but the real strength of the Company's
forces lay in the Indian regiments.
 Upon this, the General Services Enlistment Act 1856 of Lord Canning fanned the flame as it required all
the new recruits to serve anywhere in India and abroad.
 9

Immediate Cause:
 Lastly, the introduction of the Enfield Rifle served as a spark to open the mutiny. The cartridges' which were
used in these rifles were greased with cow's/pig's fat. This was highly objectionable to the Hindus and the
Muslims alike.
 Moreover, the soldiers had to bite them with their teeth before loading their guns. So long as the Indian
soldiers did not know about this fact, they used these cartridges. Encouraged by this, English setup factories
in India to manufacture these cartridges.
 The sepoys of Dum Dum, a cantonment near Barrackpore, where a factory of cartridges was set up, came
to know of the fact and a current of indignation ran through the rank and file of the army. The Hindus and the
Muslims considered it a deliberated inroad upon their religions.
 The country had already reached the ignition point and the greased cartridges precipitated the crisis.
 Behrampur (West Bengal) 2nd Feb 1857: 19th Bengal infantry Soldiers refused the new Enfield Rifles.
 Barrackpore: Mangal Pandey (29th March 1857) went a step ahead and fired upon the sergeant major of
his unit. He was arrested and executed and his regiment disbanded.
The Revolt Starts:
 The revolt began in Meerut on 10 May, 1857.
 It soon spreaded to Punjab, Narmada region, Bihar and Rajputana.
 90 men of the 3rd Native Cavalry refused to use greased cartridges.
 85 of these soldiers were disbanded and imprisoned for 10 years.
 This sparked a mutiny among soldiers in Meerut who released the imprisoned soldiers, killed their officers,
unfurled the banner of revolt and set for Delhi.
 In Delhi, Local infantry of Delhi joined the infantry coming from Meerut.
 Killed European officers including the political agent Simon Fraser, and seized the city.
 Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed as the emperor of India.
 By recognising Bahadur Shah as emperor, the sepoys transformed a soldier's mutiny into an All-India Revolt.
It led to rulers and chiefs (Rani Laxmi Bai, Nana Sahib) from different parts of India taking part in the revolt
by proclaiming their loyalty to Bahadur Shah.
What the Rebels Wanted?
 The Vision of Unity:
 The rebel proclamations in 1857 appealed to people to join the rebels.
 The rebellion was seen as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.
 Ishtahars issued reflect back pre-British Hindu-Muslim past and coexistence of different communities
earlier.
 In Bareilly in western Uttar Pradesh, in December 1857, the British spent Rs 50,000 to incite the Hindu
population against the Muslims but failed.
 10

Azamgarh Proclamation - 25th August 1857:

 Azamgarh Proclamation of August 25, 1857, was issued in the name of the Hindu-Muslim divide.
 The proclamation had denouncements of the tyranny and oppression of the English people.
 Besides, it also had a form of manifesto which sought to win the support of the influential quarters.
 It had various promises, including zamindari rights, attractive pay for soldiers, and "gratis" or the use of
government vessels of the tradesmen in India.
 While the proclamation also talked about Hindu Muslims, it called for their unity against the Christian
Missionaries who had arrived in India to convert the people from their religion.
 This proclamation was published in the Delhi Gazette in the midst of the "Great Mutiny" of 1857. The author
was most probably Firoz Shah, a grandson of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.
 The proclamation which was issued under the name of Bahadur Shah, who made a heartfelt request to the
people to come together and fight under the acceptance of both Mahavir and Muhammad.
 It was commendable that there was hardly any noticeable incident of religious divisions between the
community of Hindus and Muslim during the uprising despite attempts were carried out by the British to
create one.
 The British spent Rs 50000 in Bareilly, western Uttar Pradesh to instigate the Hindu community against the
Muslims but failed.
 Everyone's cause to participate in the war may be different but everyone found their common enemy in the
Britishers.
Civilian Participation:
 The sepoys were encouraged by the large participation of civilians particularly in the north western region
and Awadh.
 Participants included people from all sections majorly: Peasants, Artisans, Shopkeepers, Labourers,
Zamindars, Priests and Civil servants.
 Peasants attacked zamindars and moneylenders, destroying all records.
 Every sign of British Rule like the police station, courts, revenue office were attacked.
Leaders in Different Parts of India:
 Delhi: Bahadur Shah was the symbolic head. Real command lied with the court of soldiers led by General
Bakht Khan. The court had ten members: Six from the army and four from the civilian department. The
court conducted affairs of the state in the name of Bahadur Shah.
 Kanpur: Nana Sahib, the adopted son of last Peshwa Baji Rao II, led the revolt here. He expelled the British
from Kanpur, Commander Sir Hugh Wheeler surrendered but was killed. Nana Sahib recognised Bahadur
as Emperor and proclaimed himself the governor.
 11

 Lucknow: Leader was Begum Hazrat Mahal. Her son Birjis Qadir was proclaimed as Nawab and a regular
administration was organised with offices shared equally between Hindus and Muslims. British resident Sir
Henry Lawrence was killed.
 Bareilly: Leader was Khan Bahadur, a descendent of the former ruler of Rohilkhand.
 Bihar: Leader here was Kunwar Singh, a zamindar of Jagdishpur. He was deprived of his estate by the East
India Company.
 Faizabad: Leader here was Maulvi Ahmadullah, a native of Madras.
 Jhansi: Led by Rani Laxmibai. The most outstanding leader of the revolt. Lord Dalhousie had refused to
allow her adopted son to take the throne following the Doctrine of Lapse.
 She gave the battle cry: "Main apni jhansi nahi dungi"
 Tantia Tope, a close associate of Nana sahib joined her after the loss of Kanpur.
Sacrifices:
 Sacrifices were made by the common people and it was also immense:
 Shah Mal: A local villager in Pargana Baraut (U.P) organised peasants from 84 villages to rise against
the Britishers. Attacked Government building, sent supplies to sepoys in Delhi and cut all communication
link between British headquarter and Meerut.
 He set up headquarters in the bunglow of the irrigation department, which turned into a “hall of justice”,
resolving disputes and passing judgements.
Lines of Communication:
 Reason for the similarity in the pattern of the Revolt:
 The planning and coordination between different places.
 First, 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry refused to accept the new cartridges.
 Sepoys or their emissaries moved from one station to another, planning about the rebellion.
 Panchayats occurred at Kanpur sepoy lines every night.
 During movement from one place to other, sepoys motivated and encouraged others to join the rebellion.
 As in case of captain Hersey of Awadh:
 The 41st native infantry stationed at the same place persuaded Indian subordinates of Hersey.
 To either kill him or deliver him to prison.
 Sepoys lived in lines and shared a common lifestyle.
 Despite being of different castes & culture they decided and discussed their future together.
 The sepoys were the makers of their own rebellion.
 Leadership was not only hailed to members of royal family, ordinary men & women and religious leaders
were also given leadership at some places:
 Meerut – A fakir was considered the leader of the rebel.
 Lucknow – Many religious leaders and self-styled prophets gave direction to the destruction of British
rule.
 Borout, U.P. – Shah Mal mobilised the villagers of pargana.
 Singhbhum (Chotanagpur) – Gonoo, a tribal cultivator, became a rebel leader of the Kol tribals of the
region.
 12

Two Rebels of 1857:

Shah Mal:
 Jat cultivator of pargana Baraut in Uttar Pradesh whose kinship ties extended over chaurasee des (eighty-four
villages).
 Villagers found land revenue system under Britishers as oppressive:
 High revenue demand
 Its collection was inflexible.
 Shah Mal mobilised the headmen and cultivators
 He moved from village to village, collecting people to fight against injustice & oppression and he plundered
the houses of moneylenders and traders.
 Shah Mal displaced proprietors took back their lost land and he attacked government buildings.
 He sent supplies to the sepoys at Delhi.
 He stopped official communication between British headquarters and Meerut
 Raja Shah Mal turned an English officer’s bungalow into a “hall of justice”.
 He set up an effective network of intelligence. However, he was killed in battle in July 1857.
Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah:
 He played an important part in the revolt of 1857.
 He was Educated in Hyderabad and moved village to village preaching jihad (religious war).
 He was popularly called Danka Shah – the maulvi with the drum (danka).
 Many people started following him, which threatened Britishers.
 In 1856 after reaching Lucknow, he was stopped from preaching & jailed in Faizabad in 1857.
 He was elected leader by 22nd Native Infantry after release, he fought the Battle of Chinhat defeating British
forces under Henry Lawrence.
 Many believed he was invincible, and could not be killed by the British.
 The Suppression Begins:
 The British captured Delhi in September 1857 i.e., 4 months after the revolt began.
 Bahadur Shah Zafar was taken prisoner and exiled to Rangoon and thus Mughals were finally
extinguished.
 With the fall of Delhi, the focal point of revolt disappeared.
 Kanpur was captured by Sir Colin Campbell. Nana Sahib escaped to Nepal.
 Jhansi was captured by Sir Hugh Rose. Laxmibai died on the battlefield.
 By the end of 1859, British authority was fully established.
Repression:
 The British passed a series of laws to help them quell the insurgency caused by rebels.
 The entire North India was put under martial law.
 The military officers and even ordinary Britons were given the power to try and punish Indians suspected of
rebellion.
 The Britishers tried to suppress rebels by enacting new special laws and their reinforcements.
 The British forces attacked from two sides one from Calcutta and another from Punjab to reconquer Delhi.
 The attempts were started in June 1857 but the city was captured by late September as rebels from all over
north India joined to defend the capital.
 In Gangetic plains, the British reconquered the area by capturing village by village.
 The Britishers realised that they were dealing with a huge uprising at the start of the counter insurgency.
 According to Forsyth (a British Official), 3/4th of adult male participated in the rebellion from Awadh.
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 The Britishers used military power, broke unity among Indians by shaking hands with landlords.
 Rebel landlords were dispossessed and loyal were rewarded.
 Many landlords died out of starvation and illness.
Failure of the Mutiny:
 The Indian Mutiny, though a great effort, could not succeed, the fall of Delhi and the arrest of Emperor
Bahadur Shah marked the beginning of the suppression of the Mutiny.
 Lack of Arms and Ammunitions:
 The mutineers were very weak in equipment. Though the mutineers were mostly soldiers, yet they
could not expect any fresh supply of arms.
 The English had adequate equipment as they had several ordnance factories working for themselves.
Besides, they could get arms and other equipment from England also.
 The mutineers lacked discipline while the English forces were perfectly disciplined. This lack of
discipline and equipment was a dominant cause of the failure of the mutiny.
 Absence of Leadership:
 The mutineers, though they were burning with fervour against the British, had no good generals to
command themselves.
 The mutineers were generally sepoys. The leaders of the revolt like Rani Lakshmi Bai, Nana Sahib
were brave but lacked the military genius that makes good generals. On the other hand, the English
had competent generals like Campbell, Nicholson and Outram.
 The mutineers needed Baburs and Shivajis to command them, but unfortunately, they had none.
Emperor Bahadur Shah was too old to take the field. Though Bakht Khan and Tatya Tope were good
generals, yet they were commoners and the princes, aristocrats refused to obey them.
 The British were able to control an efficient and wide-spread system of telegraphs and postal
communication.
 Absence of Common Ideal:
 The common ideal of the restoration of Bahadur Shah to the throne of his ancestors had inspired the
mutineers in the beginning, but with the fall of Delhi and capture of the emperor, this ideal
disappeared.
 This absence of the common ideal dealt a death blow to the mutiny. Now the only ideal before the
mutineers was the destruction of the East India Company.
 This ideal was of a negative nature and could not affect the unity which the presence of the emperor
had done.
 The English now were able to sow the seeds of division among the mutineers by inciting the Hindus
and the Muslims against each other. So, the mutiny assumed the shape of individual efforts and
exploits and hence its failure.
 Mutual Differences among leaders
 Though all the forces of revolt were following the same policy, yet they had their mutual dissensions
which did not let them combine in action.
 The numerous units of the mutineers remained as separate armies and could not fight as one collective
whole.
 The English siege of Delhi which continued so long stands evidence to this fact. Had the mutineers
been able to sink their mutual differences and combine in their action, the history would have been
altogether different.
 Personal jealousies and individual leadership stood in the way of concerted action and hence the
suppression of the revolt.
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 Lack of Unity and absence of All India Participation:

 It is a pity that the force with which the English suppressed the revolt came from India.
 The southern part of the country, Punjab, the Sikh states, Rajputana and several zamindars and chiefs
never sided with the mutineers.
 Some of them remained as silent spectators while others supported the English. It is really a pity that
Indians, despite having paid heavily for their traitor, never learnt a lesson.
 Limited Resources:
 The resources of the mutineers were very limited as compared to those of the Company.
 The resources in men and money of southern India, Nepal, the Punjab etc. were at the disposal of the
Company while the mutineers had no rich territories to draw their resources from.
 The English had, by now, been free from the Crimean crisis and were able to concentrate their
resources in India.
 The cis-Sutlej Sikh states added to the British forces and supplied them with other equipment. Thus,
the lack of resources for the mutineers was an outstanding cause of the failure of the mutiny.
 No Unified Ideology:
 Those who led the revolt lacked a clear understanding of colonial rule.
 They went to Bahadur Shah to re-establish the rule of Mughals. This shows that they lacked a forward-
looking programme.
 They represented diverse elements, with differing grievances and concepts of current politics.
 The idea of modern nationalism was unknown to the leaders.
Results of the Mutiny:
 The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was suppressed with an iron hand
yet it produced far-reaching results.
 The most important political result of the Indian mutiny was
that the rule of the East India Company came to an end and
the Company’s Indian empire passed under the English
Crown.
 The Act of 1858 declared that — “India shall be governed by
and in the name of the Queen.”
 The Company protested strongly against its extinction. It sent
to the crown a petition drafted by John Stuart Mill, but to no
purpose.
 An Act for the Better Government of India was passed in
August 1858 and the government of the Indo-British Empire
was assumed by the Queen.
 All the treaties and engagements made by the Company with
the rulers of the Indian states were to be honoured by the
Crown. Renewal of these treaties was not compulsory.
 The Governor-General of India was to be called as such by the people of the directly administered
territories, but he was to be called Viceroy so far as the rulers of the Indian states were concerned.
 The mutiny marks a striking change in the British policy towards Indian states. The policy of subordinate
isolation was given up and the policy of subordinate union took its place. Further annexation of the Indian
states came to an end.
 The right of adoption and succession was assured to them. Every state was given a certificate of recognition.
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 The Doctrine of Lapse was totally discarded. The rulers could have no mutual relations without the British
mediation. A ceiling was fixed for the forces of the Indian states.
 The government promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state except in case of utter
misgovernment.
 The princes who had been helpful to the British in the Mutiny were awarded honorary titles and gifts of
money and land.
 The Nizam of Hyderabad was given back some of his territory annexed in 1853. His debt of $500,000
was written off.
 The rulers of Nepal, Gwalior, Bhopal, Baroda and Rajputana were amply rewarded. Many of them
were created ‘Knights.’
 Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the 1st Peshwa, was fighting for his title of Peshwaship. He ran to the jungles
of Nepal never to return again. Thus, the title of Peshwaship came to an end. A similar fate met the house
of the Mughals. With the death of Bahadur Shah extinguished the line of the emperors.
 With the transfer of all powers of the Company to the Crown, the forces of the Company had also been
transferred from the Company’s service to that of the Crown. A portion of the British forces protested against
this transfer as it had been affected without their consent.
 They demanded their discharge. Some cantonments at Allahabad, Meerut etc. made serious demonstrations
and there appeared a danger of serious collisions. So, the government was forced to discharge all who
desired so. This mutiny decreased the number of British armies by 10,000 soldiers.
 The difficulties of the Indian Mutiny and the White Mutiny necessitated a reconstruction of the army.
 The reconstruction which followed was based on two major changes. One was concerned with the future
organisation of the army while the other was related to the proportion between the Indian and the British
troops.
 It was decided that this proportion should not exceed 2: 1 and that the field and artillery should be
exclusively in the hands of the Europeans.
 The question of the organisation of the army gave rise to a controversy between the Indian and the Home
authorities. The local European troops, and the King’s forces were two wings of the European forces.
 While the Indian authorities wanted a majority of local European troops, then home authorities wanted to
amalgamate the two. At last, the amalgamation was affected in 1860 which gave a good sense of solidarity to
the British troops.
 Though the mutiny had been suppressed, yet it resulted in an alarming state of finances. The English had lost
the goodwill of the Indian masses and the reorganisation of the finances was not an easy job.
 This disorganisation of the finances caused a burden to the Indian people. The Indian debt increased
heavily and the Viceroy was forced to seek the advice of experts on this point.
 The mutiny drew the interest and attention of the government from external affairs to internal development.
It now began to think of ways and means for the internal reconstruction of India.
 The period from 1861 to 1899 is marked with an outstanding interest for the development of the
administrative policy of the government.
 Though this policy always aimed at the reconstruction that could develop India into a storehouse for raw
materials as well as a market for the manufactured goods, yet the period was comparatively calm.
 The control of the Secretary of State for India increased over the Indian affairs than it had been under the
Board of Control.
 Red Sea Cable was installed in 1870 which brought London and Simla within a few minutes’ reach of each
other.
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 One indirect effect of the Indian Mutiny was the rise of extremism in Indian politics. The excesses practised
during the mutiny created serious feelings of hostility between the Indians and the English which went as far
as to influence the political thought of India.
 The mutual estrangement between the two races led to an extremist attitude which manifested itself some
years later. The rise of extremist parties in India was the result of this indirect effect of the Indian Mutiny.
 As mentioned above, the mutiny widened the gulf between the Indians and the Europeans.
 Mere change of rulers could not remedy it. The Indians now began to think with a vengeance about the plans
and means of ending the British rule, though for the time being their hopes were dashed to the ground.
 On the other hand, the Englishmen began to hate the Indians still more. There was no hope of confidence
being restored.
 The Mutiny gave rise to a serious gulf between the Hindus and the Muslims. It was, in reality, due to the
incitement by the English given to both the communities during the Mutiny with a view to weakening their
might.
 The Muslims had participated more keenly in the Mutiny than the Hindus. Moreover, it was mostly the
Hindu princes who had supported the British.
 The Sikhs of Punjab had conquered Delhi and Lucknow. Thus, the Muslims came to have a grudge against
the Hindus. Though both the impressions were untrue, yet the gulf between the two went on widening.
 The English directly or indirectly encouraged this estrangement with a view to prolonging their domination
over the region.
 The Muslim civilization and culture which was the culture of the rulers was progressing by leaps and
bounds. But the new masters of India gave a set-back to the Muslim civilization. Urdu was replaced by
English and the Western civilization dominated.
 The Queen’s Proclamation of 1858 was marked by an assurance of religious freedom and equal treatment to
the Indians. It gave out a policy of justice, benevolence and religious tolerance and promised not to interfere
in the religious beliefs or the modes of worship of the Indians.
Significance of the Revolt:
 For the British: It brought out the shortcomings prevalent in the British Administration and Army. Had the
revolt not happened, these shortcomings would have never come to the forefront.
 For the Indians: The revolt imparted a major lesson to Indians to carry out the future course of freedom
struggle.
 It brought out the future grievances of soldiers and the commoners.
 The atrocities committed by both sides during the revolt shocked the Indian intellectuals who were
convinced not to take the route of violence in the future struggle against the British.
 The sacrifices made by commoners and leaders of the revolt kept on inspiring the masses. It fuelled them
with the idea of nationalism and new energy, which was ultimately tapped by Gandhi after 1920.
Nature of the Mutiny:
 Divergent Views:
 British historians like Kaye, Malleson, Trevelyan, Lawrence, Holmes have painted it as ‘a mutiny’
confined to the army which did not command the support of the people at large.
 Sir John Lawrence and Seeley thought it to be a Sepoy’s Mutiny and nothing more.
 It is difficult to agree with L.E.R. Rees said that the Revolt was ‘a war of fanatic religionists against
Christians.’
 Some English historians led by T.R. Holmes popularised the view that the Revolt of 1857 was ‘a conflict
between civilization and barbarism.’
 17

 Majumdar [1963], has commented, 'on the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the so-called
First National War of Independence of 1857 is neither first, nor national, nor a war of independence'.
 Sir James Outram and W. Tayler described the outbreak as the result of Hindu-Muslim conspiracy.
 It was a Regional specific mostly concentrated to North India.
 Disunity among the Bengali middle class, Punjab, Prince.
 Sepoy mutiny and civil rebellion already happened earlier.
 Benjamin Disraeli, [Chancellor of exchequer, 1858, later PM in 1874 -80] described it in the House of
commons in 1857 - ‘Is it a military mutiny or is it a national revolt’.
 V.D. Savarkar described it “a planned war of national independence….a war fought for swadharma and
swaraj”.
 Karl Marx 1857 described it as “what he [John Bull] considers a military mutiny is in truth a national
revolt”.
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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 20
Social Reform Movement
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Social Reform Movement

Nature of the Mutiny:
 Divergent Views:
 British historians like Kaye, Malleson, Trevelyan, Lawrence, Holmes have painted it as ‘a mutiny’
confined to the army which did not command the support of the people at large.
 Sir John Lawrence and Seeley thought it to be a Sepoy’s Mutiny and nothing more.
 It is difficult to agree with L.E.R. Rees said that the Revolt was ‘a war of fanatic religionists against
Christians.’
 Some English historians led by T.R. Holmes popularised the view that the Revolt of 1857 was ‘a conflict
between civilization and barbarism.’
 Majumdar [1963], has commented, 'on the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the so-called
First National War of Independence of 1857 is neither first, nor national, nor a war of independence'.
 Sir James Outram and W. Tayler described the outbreak as the result of Hindu-Muslim conspiracy.
 It was a Regional specific mostly concentrated to North India.
 Disunity among the Bengali middle class, Punjab, Prince.
 Sepoy mutiny and civil rebellion already happened earlier.
 Benjamin Disraeli, [Chancellor of exchequer, 1858, later PM in 1874 -80] described it in the House of
commons in 1857 - ‘Is it a military mutiny or is it a national revolt’.
 V.D. Savarkar described it “a planned war of national independence….a war fought for swadharma and
swaraj”.
 Karl Marx 1857 described it as “what he [John Bull] considers a military mutiny is in truth a national
revolt”.

Recent Studies are inclined towards National Revolt though no concept of nation in modern sense.
 Unlike earlier peasant revolts there was greater interconnection between the territories and the rebels were
open to influence from outside areas.
 Common distaste for British rule brought them against the authority of the company and they became their
target of attack and pitted against the same enemy.
 It was back to the old familiar order but not centralized Mughal rule.
⮚ Decentralized political order of the 18th century.
⮚ Provincial rulers with considerable autonomy.
⮚ Mughals as the source of legitimacy.

Search for Alternative Power:

 After the collapse of British rule, the rebel leadership wanted to restore the pre-British world of the eighteenth
century.
⮚ Culture of the court was restarted.
⮚ Appointments were made for various posts.
 3

⮚ Planning was done to fight Britishers.

⮚ Chains of command were laid down in the army.
 The administrative structures established by rebels initially aimed at meeting war demands.
 However, this rebel rule was short lived, in Awadh where the rebel lasted longest, plans of counter attack were
made.

Images of the Revolt:

 There are very few records on the rebels’ point of view-proclamation, letters and
notifications.
 Official accounts of colonial administration and military men left their versions in
letters and diaries, autobiography and official histories.
 The changing British attitudes were evident through the innumerable memos and
notes, assessments of situations.
 The stories of the revolt that were published in British newspapers and magazines
narrated in gory detail the violence of the mutineers.
 The pictorial images were produced by the British and Indians – paintings, pencil
drawings, cartoons, bazaar prints.
 Celebrating the Saviours:
⮚ British pictures-provoke a range of different emotions and
reactions.
⮚ Represent British heroes who saved English and repressed
rebels.
⮚ “Relief of Lucknow”, painted by Thomas Jones Barker in
1859: It represents the siege of Lucknow by mutineers and
celebrating the British victories by their heroes-Campbell,
Outram and Havelock.
⮚ The gestures of the heroes, triumphant horses, damaged
Residency, and dead and injured on the ground emphasised the British power.
⮚ The British paintings provide a sense among English that the time of trouble was past and the rebellion
was over; the British were the victors.
 English Women and the Honour of Britain:
⮚ The news of violence against women and children resulted in demand for revenge and retribution in
Britain.
⮚ The British government was asked for their protection and safety.
⮚ Artists expressed their sentiments through visual representations of trauma and suffering.
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⮚ “In Memoriam” painted by Joseph Noel Paton - depicts English women and
children huddled in a circle, looking helpless and innocent, seemingly waiting for
the inevitable – dishonour, violence and death.
⮚ Represents the rebels as violent and brutish without depicting them in the picture.
⮚ In some images women were shown as heroic figures. For example in
Ms.Wheeler’s painting where she is seen defending herself against the Sepoys at
Kanpur.
⮚ Also shows a woman's battle to save the honour of Christianity from a wider
perspective (as the bible is shown lying on the floor).
 Vengeance and Retribution:
⮚ Visual representations and news about the revolt resulted in anger and shocks in
Britain.
⮚ It was seen for the justice and British honour the
rebels were to be suppressed ruthlessly.
⮚ An image depicts an allegorical female figure of
justice with a sword in one hand and a shield in the
other expressing rage and desire for revenge.
⮚ Innumerable pictures and cartoons were published in
newspapers that sanctioned brutal repression and
violent reprisal.
⮚ “The British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal
Tiger” and "Justice” of Punch magazine were the
famous images.
 The Performance of Terror:
⮚ The rebels were blown from guns, or hanged from the gallows.
⮚ Images of their execution were circulated through journals.
⮚ For example – Images of executions of Indian soldiers in Peshawar also showed their bravery.

The White Mutiny:

 It occurred in the wake of the 1857 revolt.
 The reasons for the Mutiny:
⮚ Before 1861 two separate military forces used to operate under the company’s rule.
⮚ One was the Queen’s army and the other the army of the East India Company.
⮚ The company troops used to receive Batta or extra allowance when they served out of their home
country.
⮚ This Batta was stopped with the transfer of Power.
⮚ This infuriated the White soldiers and they rose in revolt.
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 No Time for Clemency:

⮚ Lord canning was mocked on suggesting to show mercy towards Indian
sepoys for gaining their loyalty
⮚ The cartoons were published in the pages of Punch, a British journal-
image “The clemency of Canning.” shows canning as a looming father
figure protecting an Indian sepoy who still holds an unsheathed sword in
one hand and a dagger in the other, both dripping with blood.
 Nationalist Imageries:
⮚ National movement (20th century)-draw inspiration from the events of
1857.
⮚ It was celebrated as the First War of Independence in which all the
sections of society came together to fight the foreign rule.
⮚ Art and literature contributed in keeping alive the memory of
1857.
⮚ Leaders of the revolt-represented as heroic figures.
⮚ Heroic poems were written.
⮚ Rani of Jhansi represented a masculine figure chasing the enemy.
 “Khoob lari mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi” famous lines
written by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.
 She is portrayed as the symbol of the determination to resist
injustice and alien rule.

Social Reform Movements:

Social Conditions in the 19th Century:

 Indian Society in the nineteenth century was characterized by social obscurantism and religious superstitions.
Hinduism, as Max Weber observed, had ‘become a compound of magic, animism and superstition.’
 The caste system was “the steel frame of Hinduism”:
 It divided the Hindu community into a multitude of almost hermetically sealed groups hierarchically
graded and based on birth.
 The humiliation of untouchability militates against human dignity.
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 The plight of women was horrible. The birth of a girl was unwelcome, her marriage a burden and her widow
hood inauspicious. Infanticide, child marriage, polygamy, the burning of widows etc. were interpreted as
religiously valid.
 The priests exercised an overwhelming and unhealthy influence on the minds of the people. Idolatry and
polytheism helped to reinforce their position.
 Various peripatetic groups were stereotyped into the colonial construct called Thugs who were believed to
have been members of a fraternity traditionally involved in robbery & ritual killings in the name of religion.

What were the Circumstances which led to Reforms?

 Renaissance and the Impact of British Rule:
 The 19th century saw the emergence of modern views and ideas among the enlightened sections of
society.
 With the growth of colonial dominance, a new intelligentsia developed which recognized the need to
launch movements to reform social institutions and religious outlook.
 Socio-cultural reforms formed the major plank of all the intellectual endeavours of the nineteenth century.
 The beginning of English education played an important role in bringing the knowledge of some of the
advanced ideas of the western world. The new scientific outlook, the doctrine of rationalism and
humanism particularly impressed the English educated class.
 The new concept of secularization was born.
 Urbanization and modernization promoted a new outlook and erosion of orthodox way of living.
 Indian intellectuals closely scrutinized the country’s past and found that many beliefs and practices were
no longer of any use and needed to be discarded.
 Most of the great thinkers of this age wanted to recreate the glorious and splendid Indian culture and
civilization by reforming its social and religious structure.
 Neither a revival of the past nor a total break with tradition was contemplated.
 It is therefore, rightly said “The Socio-cultural regeneration of the India of the nineteenth century was
occasioned by the colonial presence, but not created by it.”
 Social Condition: The social condition as discussed earlier prevalent at that time made the reform
inevitable.
 Opposition to Western Culture: The coming up of colonial rule saw the intrusion of western culture in
Indian society. This gave a call to re-energise the traditional institutions and to realise the potential of
traditional culture.
 Awareness among Enlightened Indians: There was an awareness that the internal weakness within
India’s social structure has led it to a point where a vast country like it has been colonised by a handful of
Europeans. This realisation led to the imminent demand for social reform.
 Nationalism: The second half of the 19th century saw a rising tide of Nationalism and demand for
democracy. This also led to the movements to reform and democratise the social institutions and religious
outlook. The resolve to strengthen them was further strengthened by growth of nationalist sentiments,
emergence of new economic forces, spread of education and impact of western ideas.
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 Humanism: It is a philosophical stance that emphasises the individual and social potential and agency of
human beings. It considers human beings as the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
 Starting in the 20th century, humanist movements have typically been non-religious and aligned with
secularism. Most frequently, humanism refers to a non-theistic view centered on human agency, and
a reliance on science and reason rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the
world.
 Rationalism: It is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge"
or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".
 It is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual
and deductive"
 Individualism: It is the belief that individual people in society should have the right to make their own
decisions, etc., rather than being controlled by the government.

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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 21
Social Reform Movement
II
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Social Reform Movement II

Universalistic Approach:
❖ Though the reformers tried reforming the religion they belonged to, their perspective was universalistic.
➢ E.g., Raja Rammohan Roy considered different religions as national embodiments of universal theism.
He defended the basic principles of all religions such as: Monotheism of Vedas, Unitarianism of
Christianity.
➢ Also Syed Ahmed Khan said that all prophets have the same ‘Din’ (Faith), and every nation has different
prophets.
➢ Keshab Chandra Sen said that, “our position is not that truth is to be found in all religions, but that all
established religions of the world are true”.
❖ Note: Unitarianism is a form of Christianity that denies the doctrine of the Trinity.

Types of Reform Movements:

❖ Two Types of Reform Movements:
1. Reformist Movements: Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Aligarh Movement.
2. Revivalist Movements: Arya Samaj, Deoband movement.
❖ Both revivalist and reformist appealed (to varying degree) to bring back the lost purity of the religion.
❖ Social Reform: The social reforms were majorly based on the ideas of ‘Social Equality’ and ‘Equal worth
of all individuals’
❖ Reforms in the Early Years: They had a narrow social base, as it was limited to educated upper and middle-
class Indians. It was led by organisations such as Social Conference, Servants of Indian Society, and the
Christian Missionaries and enlightened individuals like Jyotiba Phule, K.T Karve, Gopalhari Deshmukh, K.T
Telang, Narayan Guru, D.V Karve, E.V Ramaswamy Naicker.
❖ Reforms in Later Years: They were successful in penetrating even the lower strata of society.
❖ By the beginning of the 19th century, the leadership of social reform was provided by the leaders of the
National Movement.
❖ Reformers used novels, dramas, poetry, and press to spread their ideas.
❖ Broadly these social reform movements had two agenda:
1. Betterment of the condition of women.
2. Removal of disabilities arising out of untouchability.

Methods Adopted to Spread Reform:

❖ Reform of Individual: Intellectuals believed that to bring reform in society, the change had to come from
within the individual themselves.
❖ Reform by Legislation: Some reformers believed that getting legislative sanction to evil practices could only
be curbed by that. Like widow remarriage, abolition of sati practice raising the age of marriage.
❖ Reform by Adopting Symbols of Change: It was adopted by individuals through activities like challenging
existing draconian rules of caste, untouchability by eating food with lower castes and defying other caste rules.
❖ Reform by Intellectual Work:
 3

➢ Education: It includes the spread of education to counter illiteracy and ignorance. Intellectual stressed
education to all sections of society and emphasis on the knowledge of science and technology.
➢ Vernacular Languages: Intellectual emphasis on spread of ideas of change propagated in vernacular
languages to get more penetration into the society and understandable to the common man.
➢ Emphasis on Rationality: Developing the rationalist critique of socio-religious reality by replacing faith
with rationality. Evaluation of socio-religious practices from the point of social utility.
➢ Role of Scripture: As priestly classes were blamed for distorting scripture knowledge, intellectuals
sought scriptural sanction.
❖ Reform through Social Work: Reformers realised that purely intellectual work would not be sufficient; it
should be aligned with social work. Contribution of Vidyasagar is a remarkable example.

Factors led to Reforms:

❖ Condition of Women:
➢ The society heavily leaned towards patriarchy. Women were given
lower social status and considered subordinate to men. This was
prevalent in both Hindus and Muslims women.
➢ Practices such as purdah, early marriage, ban on widow remarriage
and sati had always suppressed their desire to give expression to their
talents and energies.
➢ Among Hindus, women were denied the right to inherit property and
terminate an undesirable marriage.
➢ Among Muslims, they could inherit only half of the property as men
could. In matters of divorce, they didn’t have equal say as men.
➢ Polygamy was prevalent in both Hindus and Muslims.
➢ Their glorification as wives and mothers was the only way through which
society used to recognise their contributions.

Steps Taken to Address Such Issues:

❖ Basically, Individualism and Equality were the main focus of the reforms
concerning women. As the result of consistent effort of the reformers, a number of administrative measures
were brought in for the emancipation of the women, these were:
➢ Widow Remarriage: Brahmo Samaj kept the agenda of widow remarriage high on its agenda.
▪ Hindu Widow’s Act Remarriage Act of 1856 was passed legalising widow remarriage and
declaring issues from such marriages legitimate. It was mainly due to the effort of Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar that the act came into being.
▪ Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded the Widow Remarriage Association in the 1850s.
▪ In 1852, Karsandas Mulji started Satya Prakash in Gujarat advocating Widow Remarriage.
▪ In western India the work for widow remarriage was led by D.K Karve and in Madras by
Veeresalingam Pantulu.
 4

▪ D.K Karve also opened a Widow’s Home in Poona to provide vocational training to high caste
widows and give them an interest in life. Karve also set up Indian Women’s University at Bombay
in 1916.
▪ B.M Mabari, M. G. Ranade, K. Natarajan were also among the prominent figures advocating
widow remarriage.
➢ Abolition of Sati: As a result of consistent efforts by reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, the government
brought Regulation of 1829 abolishing the evil practice of Sati.
➢ Ban on Female Infanticide: The practice was highly prevalent in upper class Bengalis and Rajputs. The
Bengal Regulation Act of 1795 and 1804, declared infanticide illegal.
➢ In 1870, an Act passed to make it compulsory for parents to register the birth of all babies and also made
provision to verify the female children for some years after the birth.
➢ Curbing Child Marriage:
▪ Age of Consent Act (1891): It forbade the marriage of girls below 12 years of age.
▪ Sarda Act, 1930: Extended the marriage age to 18 for boys and 14 for girls.

Women’s Education:
❖ In 1849, JED Bethune founded the Bethune School in Calcutta for girls’ education.
❖ Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was associated with around 35 girls’ schools and is considered a pioneer in
children’s education.
❖ During this time the Woods Dispatch, 1854 stressed the need for female education.
❖ The Swadesi, and anti-partition movement and Home Rule Movement proved to be a major liberating
experience for women who till now were mainly home centred.
❖ Since non-cooperation women participated neck to neck with men, faced lathis, picked shops and went to jails.
❖ Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian woman to be the President of Indian National Congress.

Achievements of Reform Movements:

❖ Remarkable Legislations:
➢ The Regulation of 1829 (abolishing sati practice and punishing if done).
➢ Bengal Regulation of 1795 and 1804 (declaration of infanticide illegal).
➢ Government Act of 1870 making registration of child and verification of female child mandatory some
years after birth.
➢ Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act of 1856.
➢ Civil Marriage Act 1872: Prohibition of marriage if a girl is below 14 years of age and boy below 18.
➢ Age of consent Act 1891: Forbade the marriage of girls below the age of 12.
➢ Sharda Act 1929: Penal action on violation of Civil Marriage Act.
❖ The reform movement put emphasis on female education.
❖ It also played an important role in establishing a link between belief and society.
 5

Caste Based Exploitation and the Evil of Untouchability:

❖ In Hinduism, the caste of a person determines the status and relative purity of a person. The worst hit by the
caste-based discrimination were the untouchables. They were subject to disabilities which were humiliating
and inhuman.

Factors which led to Dilution of Caste Consciousness:

❖ British Rule:
➢ It led to creation of certain conditions which undermined caste consciousness to an extent. It brought the
concept of ‘Equality before’ the law.
➢ Administrative services were made open to all castes and the education system was on secular lines.
➢ Modern Commerce and Industry and modern means of communication provided equal opportunity even
to the people of lower caste to improve their well-being and rise to higher strata of society.
➢ Free buying and selling of land led to the upset caste equation.
❖ Role of Social Reform Movements: Organisations such as Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Ramakrishna
Mission, Social Conference, Arya Samaj worked relentlessly to improve the social condition of untouchables.
❖ National Movement:
➢ By bringing from the people of all sections of society together, national movements tended to infuse unity.
➢ The ideology which inspired the leaders and the whole freedom struggle was based on liberty and
equality.
➢ After 1937, congress ministries in several provinces worked for the emancipation of untouchables. Eg:
Introducing free education for them.
➢ Gandhi argued that ‘Shastra do not sanction untouchability and even if they did, they should be ignored’.
In 1932, he founded the All India Harijan Sangh.
➢ Spread of education and increasing awareness among lower castes themselves led them to assert their
rights regarding equality.
➢ In Maharashtra, Jyotiba Phule led a movement against Brahminical domination. He opened several girls’
schools
➢ B.R Ambedkar organised the All India Scheduled Caste federation.
➢ All India Depressed Classes Association was formed by several reformist leaders.
➢ During the 1920s, the Self-Respect Movement was organised, led by E.V Ramaswamy Naicker.
➢ Sri Narayan Guru led a lifelong struggle in Kerala against the upper caste domination. He coined a “One
religion, one caste and one God for mankind”.
➢ His disciple Sahadran Ayyapan changed it to “No religion, no caste and no God for mankind”.
❖ Polytheism and Idol Worship: Intellectuals denounced idol worshipping. They upheld the knowledge of
Upanishads and Vedas as way superior and emphasised the worship of one God, who was omnipresent,
omnipotent and omniscient.
❖ Misleading Rituals and Ceremonies: Discouraging all superstitious rituals as well as intermediation of
priestly classes as a deterrent to the development of an individual and society.
 6

❖ Thuggee: Campaign against thuggee was initiated in the 1830s by Lord Bentinck. Thuggee Act (XXX), 1836
was passed & Thuggee Department was created for prosecuting gangs seen as perpetrating a crime in the name
of religion but its elimination proved to be a difficult task.
➢ In 1839, Sir William Sleeman as head of Department claimed that thugee had been exterminated but in
reality, he began to realise difficulty in doing this and it was just a face-saving measure.

Rammohan Roy (1772-1833):

❖ Rammohan Roy was born in a Bengali Brahmin family at Radhanagar in 1774.
❖ In 1803, Roy accepted service under the East India Company.
❖ In 1814, Rammohan retired from service and settled in Calcutta and embarked on a glorious career of public
service and reform.
❖ His reform activities were accelerated after he settled down in Calcutta in 1814.
❖ He believed in monotheism. He wrote ‘Gift to Monotheists’ and translated into Bengali the Vedas and five
Upanishads to prove that ancient texts support monotheism.
❖ Rammohan Roy believed that Vedanta is based on reason and if the reason demanded even the departure from
the scripture is justified.
❖ In 1815, Rammohan Roy founded the Atmiya Sabha at Calcutta to propagate the monotheistic doctrines of
Hinduism and fight social evils.
❖ Calcutta Unitarian Committee was established by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and William
Adam in 1823
❖ Titles and Other Recognitions:
➢ Morning Star of Reform Movement in India
➢ The Father of Indian Renaissance
➢ Father of Modern India
➢ A Progenitor
➢ Raja by Akbar II
➢ Fellows of the “Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland”
➢ Ranked number 10 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of All Time.
❖ Roy’s ideas aimed at political uplift of masses by bringing in social reform. Thus, it can be said that he had
nationalist undertone.
❖ Advocated amalgamation of goods from both East as well as West.
❖ In Precepts of Jesus, he tried separating the moral and philosophical message of the New Testament from its
miracle stories.
❖ Supported modernisation keeping intact traditional philosophic system.
❖ In 1818, Roy launched his anti-sati movement and cited ancient texts to prove that no religion sanctioned
burning of women alive.
❖ In 1828, started the Brahmo Sabha to purify Hinduism. His primary purpose was to rid Hinduism of its evils
and to preach monotheism.
 7

❖ Brahmo Samaj advocated prayers, meditation and reading of Upanishads as a form of worship. It opposed
idolatry and meaningless rituals.
❖ In order to purify Hinduism, his work was based on two things: Reason and Vedas and Upanishads.
❖ He launched a crusade against the evil practice of Sati. His agitation bore fruit finally in 1829 when Lord
Bentinck enacted a law against that practice.
❖ He also launched a struggle against polygamy and the degraded condition of widows.
❖ He demanded women’s right to property.
❖ Rammohan Roy was a staunch supporter of English language and western science and learning.
❖ Contribution in Education:
➢ He aspired Indians to be benefitted from western scientific knowledge and progress. He emphasised on
fusion of knowledge from East to West.
➢ He assisted David Hare to establish Hindu College (now Presidency University) at Kolkata in 1817.
➢ He established ‘Vedanta College’ in Calcutta in which learning of both Indian and western social and
physical sciences was imparted.
➢ He also opened an English school at Calcutta.
❖ Roy’s attempt to spread modern ideas met with a strong opposition from orthodox elements like Radhakanta
Deb who formed Dharma Sabha to counter Brahmo samaj.
❖ He played an important role in building up public opinion on the political issues in the country. He discouraged
the exploitation practices of Zamindars. He advocated Indianisation of Services, freedom of press,
separation of the executive from judiciary, trial by jury and equality between Indian and European
Judges.
❖ He contributed to unite people and generated the feeling of nationalism which was completely absent in that
era through his journals, writing and debates.
❖ Enriched Bengali language by compiling a Bengali grammar book and evolving a modern elegant prose style.
❖ He was a political visionary and was highly active.
❖ He was an internationalist, libertarian and democrat in his orientation. To celebrate the success of the
Revolution in Spanish America in 1823, gave a public dinner.
❖ In 1830, he went to England as the Mughal Emperor’s representative to support his case.
❖ He died in Bristol (in 1833).
Quotes by Ram Mohan Roy (For Essay):
❖ “Just Consider How Terrible the Day of Your Death Will Be. Others Will Go On Speaking and You Will
Not Be Able to Argue Back.”
❖ “Truth and Virtue do not necessarily belong to wealth and Power and distinctions of big mansions.”
❖ “It is necessary that some change should take place in their religion.”
❖ “The greater our intercourse with European gentlemen, the greater will be our improvement in literary,
social, and political affairs.”
❖ “For wise and good men always feel disinclined to hurt those that are of much less strength than themselves.”
 8

Literary Works of Rammohan Roy:

❖ Books
➢ ‘Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin 1805 - (Gift to Monotheists) denouncing idol worship in Persian
➢ Vedanta (1815) |Bengali translation of Vedas and Upanishads, Ishopanishad (1816), Kathopanishad
(1817), Moonduk Upanishad (1819)
➢ The Precepts of Jesus - Guide to Peace and Happiness (1820)
➢ A Defence of Hindu Theism (1820)
➢ Gaudiya Vyakaran (Bengali Grammar) (1826)
➢ Brahmapasona (1828)
➢ Brahmasangeet (1829)
➢ The Universal Religion (1829)
➢ History of Indian Philosophy (1829)
❖ Religious Text: The trio of Carey, Vidyavagish, and Roy created a religious work "Maha Nirvana Tantra" and
positioned it as a religious text to "the One True God.
❖ Newspapers and Pamphlets:
➢ Sambad Kaumudi – Bengali Newspaper 1821
➢ Mirat ul Akhbar – Persian Newspaper 1822
➢ Pamphlet – An Exposition of Revenue & Judicial System in India (urged government that administration
& judiciary should be separated among other things)
Atmiya Samaj:
❖ It was started by Ram Mohan Roy in 1815 in Calcutta.
❖ It was a philosophical discussion circle in India conducting discussion and debate sessions on monotheistic
Hindu Vedantism and similar subjects and also used to promote free and collective thinking and social reform.
❖ In 1823, the association became defunct.
❖ Some of the notable people who joined this circle are Dwaraka Nath Tagore, Prasanna Coomar Tagore, Nanda
Kishore Bose, Brindaban Mitra, Sivaprasad Misra, Hariharananada Tirthaswami.
Analysis of Ram Mohan Roy
❖ Rammohan Roy’s mind was set at a synthesis of the best in the East and the West in the Indian setting.
❖ He is truly remembered as the ‘Modernizer of India’ because of his multifarious activities.
❖ His efforts towards social and religious reforms, his zeal for the spread of Western system of education, his
advocacy of civil rights, liberty of the press, support for constitutional movements in the world—all played a
part in promoting in India a liberal, cosmopolitan and modern outlook.
❖ In the field of social reform, his great objective was to get better treatment for women in society. The efforts
he made for the abolition of the barbarous and inhuman custom of sati are well known.
❖ He was far in advance of his contemporaries when he defended women’s rights to remarriage and pleaded for
change in the law of inheritance of property in favour of women.
❖ Rammohan Roy advocated prohibition of polygamous marriages and child marriages. Above all, he well
realized that women could not hope to get a status of social equality with men unless they received
opportunities for education. Hence, Roy became a strong supporter of women education.
 9

❖ Rammohan Roy launched a frontal attack on another evil of Hindu society - Casteism. He realized that the
caste system had reduced the social organism to a purely biological function and impeded growth of unity and
solidarity among the Indian people.
❖ His attitude towards religion and religious matters was utilitarian and he has been assessed as ‘a religious
Benthamite’.
❖ He judged different religions not so much from the point of view of the ‘basic truth’ in them but from their
social usefulness, his emphasis was on the ethico-religious thought common to all religions of the world. That
is why he emphasized the unity underlying all religions.
❖ His practical mind found expression in the foundation of the Brahmo Samaj which aimed at something to
which all religions could subscribe, namely the worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable and
Immutable Being, who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe’.
❖ Roy accepted British rule as a fait accompli and believed that it would work as a ‘regenerative force’ for the
advancement of India. In this matter Rammohan was a forerunner of the Indian Liberal thinkers of the 19th
century.
❖ Roy did not ask for responsible government, but did demand wide-ranging administrative reforms like a better
judicial set-up, separation of executive from judicial functions, wider share for Indians in the service and,
above all, liberty of the press.
Reforms:
Brahmo Samaj (The Society of God):
❖ Earliest modern Reform movement was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Dwarkanath Tagore in 1828.
(Initially Brahmo Sabha)
❖ He accepted the concept of one God as propounded by the Upanishads. For him God Was shapeless, invisible,
omnipresent and omnipotent, guiding the spirit of the universe and omniscient.
❖ Main objective of the brahmo Samaj: “the worship and the operation of the eternal unsearchable immutable
being Who is the author and preserver of the universe.
❖ Samaj had declared its opposition to Idol worship, Priesthood and sacrifices of any kind.
❖ Worship was performed through prayer, meditation and reading from the Upanishad.
❖ Emphasis on the “promotion of Charity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue and strengthening of the bonds of
union between men of all religious persuasions and creed.”
❖ He never wanted to establish a new religion and was interested in purifying Hinduism only. He was a devout
Hindu.
❖ It only attracted intellectuals and educationally enlightened Bengalis of the town.
❖ Orthodox Hindus under the Radhakanta Deb organised Dharam Sabha with the object of countering the
propaganda of Brahmo Samaj
❖ With the death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy there was no guiding leader to the movement.
❖ After the death of Ram Mohan Roy, the Brahmo tradition was carried forward by Debendranath Tagore.
❖ The Brahmo ideas spread in Maharashtra where Paramhansa Sabha was founded in 1849.
❖ Paramhansa Mandali (1840), secret socio-religious group, Bombay.
❖ Brahmo Samaj centres in Madras State were opened in Madras state.
❖ In Punjab the Dayal Singh implanted Brahmo ideas by opening of Dayal Singh College at Lahore in 1910.
 10

Debendranath Tagore (Father of Rabindranath Tagore):

❖ His father was the industrialist, Dwarkanath Tagore.
❖ He joined Brahmo Samaj in 1843 and infused a new life in the organisation.
❖ He fought for Widow remarriage and Women’s education.
❖ He had already headed Tattvabodhini Sabha in 1839 which was engaged in search
of spiritual truth and in 1839 started Tattvabodhini Patrika.
❖ This association of two gave strength to the movement.
❖ Debendranath Tagore worked on two facets:
➢ Within Hinduism the Brahmo Samaj was the reformist movement and
➢ He opposed the Christian missionaries for their criticism of Hinduism and
their attempts at conversion
❖ Tagore condemned Idol worship, discouraged pilgrimages, ceremonials and
penances among the Brahmos.
❖ Under his leadership branches of Samaj were established in various towns and the
Brahmo Samaj message is thread in the countryside of Bengal.
The Tagore Family Tree:

❖ He brought eminent thinkers within the fold of Samaj, which included- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and
Ashwini Kumar Dutt.
❖ Tagore revitalised Brahmo Samaj which started working on newer fronts like: widow remarriage, women’s
education, abolition of polygamy and improvement in ryot’s condition.
❖ He also composed selected passages from the Upanishads, which was known as Brahma Dharma.
 11

❖ Literary Work of Debendranath Tagore:

➢ Brahma Dharmo Grantho (1851)
➢ Atmatatto Bdya (1852)
➢ Brahma Dharmer Mot O Biswas (1860)
➢ Kalikata Bramha Samajer Baktrita (1862)
➢ Gyan O Dharmer Unnati (1893)
➢ Porolo O Mukti (1895)
➢ Tattvabodhini Patrika
❖ Keshab Chandra Sen:
❖ He joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1858 and soon after Tagore appointed him Acharya of the Brahmo Samaj.
❖ Published ‘The Indian Mirror’ to create awakening.
❖ The energy and eloquence of Keshab popularised the movement and the branches were opened outside Bengal
in the UP Punjab Bombay Madras and other towns.
❖ In Bengal itself there were 54 branches in 1865.
❖ Keshab liberal and Cosmopolitan outlook brought about a split in the Samaj, under his influence the Samaj
began to cut itself from the Hindu moorings and henceforth religious scriptures of every sect began to be read
in the Brahmo Samaj meetings.
❖ On the social front Keshab spoke against the caste system and advocated inter-caste marriages.
❖ To Devendra Nath these developments looked too radical and by virtue of its position as a sole trustee he
dismissed Keshab from the office of the Acharya in 1865.
❖ First Split in 1866: Keshav and his followers left the parent body and formed the Brahmo Samaj of India in
1866 Devendra Nath Samaj came to be known as the Adi Brahmo Samaj.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 22
Social Reform
Movement III
 2

Social Reform Movement III

Indian Reform Association 1870:
 Keshub Chandra Sen was the president of the organisation. It represented the secular side of the Brahmo
Samaj and included many who did not belong to the Brahmo Samaj.
 The objective was to put into practice some of the ideas that Sen was exposed to during his visit to Great
Britain.
 He was enthusiastic about the Unitarian social gospel, which he observed first hand during his trip abroad.
He seemed convinced that the reform efforts he witnessed in Britain could be duplicated in India.
 The Indian Reform Association was formed to promote "the social and moral reformation of the natives
of India.”
 The comprehensive objective of the Association was to be served through five departments of activity:
1. Cheap Literature:
 To disseminate useful scientific information amongst the masses through cheap journals and the
publication.
 A weekly newspaper, Sulava Samachar was published in Bengali.
2. Female Improvement:
 Female school was started in 1871 and later replaced by the Victoria Institution.
 Bamabodhini Patrika meant for women was published in 1864.
 Women of the normal school started the Bamahitaishiny Sabha (Society for the welfare of
women).
3. Education:
 Educate the labouring classes, and to instruct the middle classes in industrial arts.
 The Working Men’s Institution and the Industrial School were opened on 28 November 1870.
4. Temperance:
 Keshab Chandra Sen supported Peary Charan Sarkar on it.
 A monthly Bengali journal “Mad na garal” (Wine or Poison) under the editorial management of
Sivanath Sastri.
 After the collapse of the Indian Reform Association, Sen had formed an organisation of youth called
Band of Hope.
5. Charity:
 Under Bijoy Krishna Goswami provided medical assistance to those suffering from epidemic
malaria.
 3

Second Split - 1878:

 The next split in case of the Brahmo Samaj of India came in 1878.
 Some close disciples of Keshab began to regard him as an incarnation. This was not accepted by other
followers. He was progressive but also accused of authoritarianism.
 Keshab Chandra had Advocated:
 The minimum age for marriage of Brahmos but did not follow his own percept.
 In 1878, Keshav married his 13-year-old daughter with minor Hindu Maharaja Cooch Behar with all the
orthodox Hindu ceremonials. He justified his action that it was the will of God and he acted as per his
intuition.
 Most of his followers felt disgusted and set up Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Limitation of Brahmo Samaj:
 The influence was limited to educated Bengalis.
 It was weakened by an internal faction.
 The death of Raja Rammohan Roy left Samaj without a guiding soul.
 Activities were opposed by the Dharma Sabha.
Contribution of the Brahmo Samaj:
 In the context of Religion:
 It discarded faith in divine avatars.
 It denied that any scripture couldn't enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending human resource
reason and conscience.
 It denounced polytheism and Idol worship.
 It took no definite stand on the Doctrine of Karma and transmigration of soul and left it to
individual belief either way.
 At Social front Brahmo Samaj has influenced Hindu Society:
 It attacked many dogmas and superstitions.
 It condemned the prevailing Hindu prejudice against going abroad.
 It has criticised the caste system.
 It attacked casteism and untouchability (limited success).
 It Worked for Respectable Status for Women in Society:
 It condemned Sati and also worked for the abolition of the Purdah System.
 It discouraged child marriages and polygamy.
 It fought for widow remarriage.
 It also gave provision of educational facilities.
 4

 After marrying his daughter at the age of 14 some of his followers broke away, and he organised a new
society Naba Bidhan, or Nava Vidhana (“New Dispensation”) - continuing to preach a mixture of Hindu
philosophy and Christian theology.
 Keshab Chandra Sen laid the foundation stone of the mandir called the Tabernacle of New Dispensation.
 The newly constructed chapel was consecrated on 22nd August, 1869.

Prarthana Samaj:
 The Brahmo idea spread in Maharashtra where the Paramhansa Sabha was founded in 1849.
 In 1867, under the guidance of Keshab the Prarthana
Samaj was established in Bombay by Dr. Atmaram
Pandurang.
 It became popular after Mahadev Govind Ranade joined.
 It was spread to southern India by noted Telugu
Reformer and writer, Kandukuri Veeresalingam.
 The followers of Prarthana Samaj never looked upon
themselves simply as a movement within Hinduism.
 Apart from the worship of one God in western
India, the main emphasis has been on social reforms
and upon works rather than faith. They believe that
the true love of a God is in the service of God's
children. Their approach was not confrontation with
Hindu orthodoxy but they relied on education and
persuasion.
 5

 In the field of Social Reform, the focus was on:

 Disapproval of Caste System
 Raising the age of marriage for both males and females
 Widow Remarriage
 Women Education
 The Prominent Leaders of the Samaj were:
 Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade
 RG Bhandarkar
 Anji Chandavarkar
 The Depressed Class Mission, The Social Service League and the Deccan Education Society have done
creditable work in the field of social and educational reforms and a number of Brahmo Samaj centres are
opened in Madras state.
 In the Punjab, Dayal Singh trust sought to implant Brahmo ideas by the opening of Dayal Singh College at
Lahore in 1910.
 6

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio:

 He taught at the Hindu College. He was an Anglo-Indian teacher of the Hindu college.
 He preached the ideas of the French Revolution i.e., Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
 He was a free thinker and a rationalist.
 Surendranath Banerjee described Derozians as “the pioneers of modern civilisation of Bengal, the
conscript fathers of our race whose virtue will excite veneration and whose falling will be treated with
gentlest consideration.”
Young Bengal Movement:
 Inspired the ‘Young Bengal’ Movement which remained at its peak during the late 1820s and early 1830s.
The Young Bengal Movement was a group of radical Bengali free thinkers emerging from Hindu College,
Calcutta. They were also known as Derozians.
 Derozians, the followers of Derozio, were staunch rationalists; they measured everything on the yardstick of
reason.
 He organised debates where ideas and social norms were freely debated. In 1828, he motivated them to form
a literary and debating club called the Academic Association.
 In 1838, they formed ‘Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge’.
 His poetic works include "To India - My Native Land" and “The Fakeer of Jungheera”.
 Their Demands were:
 Induction of Indians in higher services.
 Protection of ryots from oppressive Zamindars.
 Better treatment to Indian labourers abroad in British colonies.
 Revision of Company’s charter.
 Freedom of press.
 Trial by jury.
 However, Derozians failed to have any long-term impact.
 7

 Reasons for their Failure:

 Their views were very radical and the society at that time was not ready to accept such radical
views.
 They lacked support from any social group or class.
 Lacked any real link with the masses.
Ishwar Chandra (Bandopadhyaya) Vidyasagar | 1820 | Midnapur:
 He received the title Vidyasagar for his outstanding academic
performance when he graduated from Sanskrit College. He was a great
Sanskrit Scholar.
 He was appointed as principal of Sanskrit College in 1851.
 He started a campaign in the support of Widow Remarriage, which soon
metamorphosed into a powerful movement.
 He opposed child marriage and polygamy and fought for women’s education.
 He worked for the rights of lower caste Hindus to study Sanskrit.
 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was one of the first members of Tattvabodhini
Sabha.
 Barna Parichay- An introduction to the Bengali alphabet is still the first book of a Bengali child. His
contribution to the alphabet, translation of several Sanskrit books, including Kalidas’s Shakuntala, has
helped Bengali literature, Vidyasagar wrote two volumes on the mistreatment of widows, which set the
tone for major social reform.

Works toward Education:

 He believed that the regeneration of India was possible only through education.
 He paved the way of the colleges and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier
reserved only for the Brahmins.
 His work was aimed at extending the benefits of learning to common people. He stressed upon instruction
through vernacular language.
 Having spent his early life in village Ishwar Chandra could realize the sorrowful condition of the womenfolk.
He introduced western thought in Sanskrit College to break the self-imposed isolation of Sanskritic
learning.
 He rightly believed that the emancipation of women was not possible as long as they remained ignorant.
Ishwar Chandra, therefore, took upon himself the task of promoting the cause of female education.
 He was the secretary of Bethune School for girls.
 He joined Fort William College as head of the Sanskrit department.
 Vidyasagar supported to break the priestly domination of scriptural knowledge, and for this he opened the
Sanskrit College to non-brahmins.
 8

Work for Women Upliftment:

 He started girls' schools in Bombay and Calcutta.
 He was also a crusader in opposition to the child marriage and polygamy.
 He was one of the pioneers of higher education for women.
 He collaborated with Drinkwater Bethune in establishing the Hindu Female School (at present known as
Bethune School and College) in 1849 and served as a secretary.
 Vidyasagar took initiative in pushing the Widow Remarriage Act ,1856. He was instrumental in passing the
Special Marriages Act of 1872.
 He wrote a book for women emancipation titled Bahuvivah and Bidhaba Bibaha.
Social Reforms:
 He initiated the concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the abolition of child-marriage and
polygamy.
 He demonstrated that the system of polygamy was not sanctioned by the ancient Hindu Shastras.
 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar took active part in proposing and pushing The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act
XV of 1856 in India during Governor-Generalship Lord Canning.
 He rejected the line of the Bhakti movement espoused by one of his contemporaries, Ram Krishna
Paramhans.
Literary Works:
 He earned the title of "Father of Bengali Prose".
 Publications:
 Upakramonika (An Introduction to Sanskrit Grammar) 1851
 Vetalapanchavingshati 1847
 Jeebancharit (1850);
 Bodhadoy (1851);
 Borno Porichoy (1854);
 Sitar Bonobash (1860).
 He was associated with Prestigious Journalistic Publications like:
 ‘Tattwabodhini Patrika’,
 ‘Some Prakash’, (started by him)
 ‘Sarbashubhankari Patrika’
 ‘Hindu Patriot’.
 Other textbooks:
 Bahubibaha, Bidhababibaha
 Badhoday (1851), Kathamala (1856),
 9

 Charitabali (1856) and Jibanchari (1859)

 Akhyanmavjari (Kathmala)
 Initiated Nari Siksha Bhandar for opening school for women.
 He helped revered Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt to relocate from France to England and study
for the bar.
 Michael Madhusudan gave him the epithet ‘Daya Sagar’ (ocean of generosity) for his selfless altruism.
 He translated William Shakespeare’s plays to Bengali.
 He conferred with Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire.

Ramkrishna Paramhansa:
 Ramakrishna fought against caste system and orthodoxy.
 He was a priest at Dakshineshwar temple of goddess Kali at Calcutta.
 He practised various difficult disciplines of the Tantrik path, and attained success in all of them.
 He had an observance of various elements from Tantra, Vaishnav Bhakti, and Advaita Vedanta, as well as
affinity with Christianity and Islam.
 Under guidance of Totapuri, he attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest spiritual experience mentioned in
the Hindu scriptures.
 He looked upon Jesus and Buddha as incarnations of God, and venerated the ten Sikh Gurus.
 10

 He expressed the quintessence of his twelve-year-long spiritual realizations in a

simple dictum: “Yato mat, tato path” means “As many faiths, so many
paths.”
 Ramakrishna came into contact with several leaders and members of Brahmo
Samaj and exerted much influence on them.
 His devotees include Narendranath, who years later, as Swami Vivekananda,
carried the universal message of Vedanta to different parts of the world,
revitalized Hinduism, and awakened the soul of India.
 In his views, all the religions were equal and were the different paths leading to
the same destination.
 Teaching of Ramkrishna Paramhans: Ramakrishna Paramhansa thinking was rooted in Indian thought and
culture although he recognised the truth in all religions.
 According to him, salvation has to be attained through the traditional ways of renunciation, bhakti and
meditation. He recognised the fundamental oneness of all religions. He emphasised that there are many ways
to God and to salvation.

Ramkrishna Paramhansa:
 Vedanta School
 Self-realization (Enlightenment) Order.
 Founder of Ramakrishna Order.
 Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta Bhakti yoga and Tantra.

 He said “Service of man is the service of God”.

 KC Sen adopted christianity but under the influence of Ramakrishna he accepted Hindu polytheism and
established the "New Dispensation" (Nava Vidhan) religious movement, based on Ramakrishna's
principles—"Worship of God as Mother".
 Mazumdar wrote the first English biography of Ramakrishna, entitled The Hindu Saint in the Theistic
Quarterly Review (1879), which played a vital role in introducing Ramakrishna to Westerners like the
German Indologist Max Muller.
Devotees and Disciples:
 He had sixteen direct disciples (other than Swami Vivekananda) who became monks of the Ramakrishna
Order; they are often considered his apostles. Swami Vivekananda was one of them.
 11

 His chief disciples consisted of:

 Grihasthas or the householders – Mahendranath Gupta, Girish Chandra
Ghosh, Mahendra Lal Sarkar, Akshay Kumar Sen and others.
 A small group of women disciples, including Gauri Ma and Yogin Ma. A few
of them were initiated into sanyasa through mantra deeksha. Gauri Ma
founded the Saradesvari Ashram at Barrackpore, which was dedicated to the
education and upliftment of women.
 Mahendranath Gupta, a householder and the author of Sri-Sri-Ramakrishna-
Kathamrita.
Swami Vivekananda:
 His original name is Narendranath Datt. He was a follower of RamKrishna
Paramhansa.
 Attended World conference of Religion at Chicago in 1893. He spoke about a need in which the Balance of
Materialism of the West and the Spiritualization of the East should be blended to create new harmony.
He stressed the need for a healthy balance between spiritualism and materialism. Attended Congress of
history of religions at Paris 1900.
 Teaching of Vivekananda:
 Vivekanand emerged as the preacher of Neo Hinduism.
 He subscribes to vedanta and considers it fully rational.
 He was against Untouchability, caste system and oppression of the poor by the rich.
 In 1897, founded the Ramakrishna mission to carry on humanitarian and social work. (Headquarter at
Belur).
 Ramkrishna Mission has always been in the forefront of social reform.
 His mission was to bridge the gap between Paramarth (service) and Vyavahara (Behaviour) and between
spirituality and day to day life.
 He believed that the philosophy of vedas will make Hindus a better Hindu and a christian a better christian.
 He envisaged a new culture where materialism of the west and spiritualism of east would be blended to make
humankind more harmonious.
 Vivekanand never gave any political message though his speeches and writings infused pride amongst the
youth.
 He stressed on the connection with the world which helps in fusion of ideas and culture.
 Influenced by his guru’s teaching he explained that the best way to serve God was to serve mankind.
 He called upon the Indians to imbibe a spirit of liberty, equality and free thinking.
 Vivekananda was influenced by western ideas such as Universalism, via Unitarian missionaries who
collaborated with the Brahmo Samaj.
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1. Vivekananda popularized the notion of involution, a term which Vivekananda probably took from
Western Theosophists, notably Helena Blavatsky.
Organisation Association:
 In 1880, Narendranath Dutta (Vivekananda) joined Keshab Chandra Sen's Nava Vidhan.
 Narendra became a member of a Freemasonry lodge at some point before 1884.
 From 1881 to 1884, he was also active in Sen's Band of Hope, which tried to discourage youths from
smoking and drinking.
 Subhas Chandra Bose wrote: “So far as Bengal is concerned, Vivekanand may be regarded as the spiritual
father of the modern national movement.”
 National Youth Day in India is observed on his birthday, 12 January every year.
 The day he delivered his masterful speech at the Parliament of Religions, 11 September 1893, is "World
Brotherhood Day".
 Literary Work:
 Bartaman Bharat, meaning "Present Day India
 Sangeet Kalpataru (with Vaishnav Charan Basak)
 Karma Yoga
 Raja Yoga
 Vedanta Philosophy: An address before the Graduate Philosophical Society and Lectures on Jnâna
Yoga, Vedânta Society, New York.
 Lectures from Colombo to Almora
 Bartaman Bharat (in Bengali), Udbodhan
 My Master
 The Baker and Taylor Company, New York.
 In 1887 compiled a Bengali song anthology named Sangeet Kalpataru.
 Two journals were founded: Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbodhan in Bengali.
 Vivekananda composed "Khandana Bhava–Bandhana", a prayer song dedicated to Ramakrishna, in
1898.
 He taught Shukla-Yajur-Veda, Sanskrit grammar and the philosophy of yoga to pupils on his last day.
The Ramakrishna Movement:
 The Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897, 11 years after the death of Ramkrishna.
 Brahmo Samaj appealed to the rationalist Bengali but the average Bengali found more emotional satisfaction
in the cult of Bhakti and yoga.
 The teachings of Ramakrishna Mission are based on ancient and traditional concepts amidst increasing
Westernization and modernization.
 13

 Unlike Arya Samaj they recognised image worship but emphasised on essential spirit not the symbols or
rituals.
 He stood for selfless devotion to God with a view to the ultimate absorption in Him. This spirituality and
compassion for suffering humanity inspired all.
 Broadly the movement had two Objectives:
1. To establish a band of monks who would be dedicated to a life of renunciation and practical spirituality.
These monks would spread the message of vedanta. (For the fulfilment of the first objective, Paramhans
founded Ramakrishna Math.)
2. To carry on preaching, philanthropic and charitable work with the help of lay disciples. In doing so,
treat everyone equally irrespective of caste, creed, color and gender. (The second objective was taken up
by Swami Vivekananda after founding Ramkrishna Mission in 1897.)
 Ramakrishna Movement has as its common characteristics certain traditions and values. Some of these are
enumerated below:
 No miracle-mongering.
 Modern outlook
 Non-sectarian approach
 Love and Hospitality
 From the Ramakrishna Movement, the Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) evolved. It was founded by
Vivekananda in 1897.
 It mainly propagates the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta–Advaita Vedanta and Four Yogic Ideals– Jnana,
Bhakti, Karma, and Raja yoga.
 It carries out extensive educational and philanthropic work in India and abroad.
 The aims and ideals of the Mission are purely spiritual and humanitarian and have no connection with
politics.
 The service activities are based on the message of "Jiva is Shiva" from Ramakrishna and Vivekananda's
message of "Daridra Narayana" to indicate that service to the poor is service to God.
 The Motto of the organisation is Atmano Mokshartham Jagad-hitaya Cha (it means For one's own
salvation, and for the good of the world).
 The ideology of Ramakrishna Math and mission is that the universe arises and sustains in infinite pure
consciousness or Brahman.
 Brahman is immanent in all beings as the Atman which is man's true self and source of all happiness. But
owing to ignorance, he identifies himself with his body and mind and runs after sense pleasures. This is the
cause of all evil and suffering.
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 As ignorance is removed, the Atman manifests itself more and more. This manifestation of potential divinity
is the essence of true religion. This can be realized by one of the 4 yogas or by all of them.
 The Vedanta Society of the City of New York, incorporated in 1898, is the oldest branch of the
Ramakrishna Mission in the United States.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 23
Social Reformers – IV
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Social Reformers – IV
Dayanand Saraswati (1824 – 1883):
 Dayananda Saraswati or Mulshankar was from a Brahmin family from Gujarat.
 His father was a Vedic teacher and scholar so he learned Vedic literature, logic, philosophy, ethics etc. and
yoga. He became ascetic.
 He was the first to call Swarajya – “India for Indians”.
 He was the founder of Arya Samaj (1875 Bombay). Few years later established the headquarters at Lahore.
 He attacked idolatry, polytheism, and superstitions practices.
 He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedas and
that Hindus had been misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandisement. For this mission, he founded
the Arya Samaj.
 Dayananda advocated the Doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation.
 He emphasised the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God.
 However, his bent towards the Vedas which he regarded as infallible gave his teachings an orthodox hue.

Dayananda Saraswati and The Arya Samaj (1875):

 Arya Samaj was the outcome of reaction to Western influences.
 It was revivalist in form but not in content.
 The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand, who rejected Western Ideas and sought to revive the
ancient religion of the Aryans.
 In 1875, he formally organised the Arya Samaj unit at Bombay. Later the
headquarters were established at Lahore.
 It was a monotheistic Indian Hindu Reform Movement that promoted values and
practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas.
 It was the first Hindu organisation to introduce proselytization in Hinduism. For Ex-
Shuddhi Movement.
 Dayananda for the rest of his life toured to propagate.
 Dayanand’s ideal was:
 To Unite India - Religiously, Socially and Nationally.
 Aryan Religion to be the common religion of all.
 To make a classless and casteless Society.
 Make India free from foreign rule.
 Teachings of Dayananda Saraswati:
 Aryan Religion to be the common religion, society to be classless and casteless.
 He wanted to unite India on the religious, social and national front and make India free from any
foreign domination.
 He put emphasis on Vedas. He gave the slogan “Go Back to Veda” .
 3

 He discarded the authority of purana and accused them for spreading evil practices including idol
worship and superstitions. Discarded other practices including idolatry, polytheism, superstitions and
sacrifices.
 He created his own interpretation of Veda and published in his famous creation named Satyartha
Prakash.
 Dayananda Saraswati rejected the philosophy of Maya (explained that soul is part of God and man’s
objective is to escape the evil world and seek union with God) and supported that God, Soul and Matter
were distinct and eternal entities.
 He also rejected the concept of ‘Niyati (Destiny)’ and supported the Doctrine of Karma. He justified
that every individual had to work out his own salvation by right deeds.
 Mulashankar denied the caste system based on birth but he supported the Vedic notion of four Varna
Systems based on occupation.

10 Principles of Arya Samaj:

1. God is the primary source of all true knowledge.
2. God who is All-truth, All-knowledge, almighty, immortal, creator of Universe alone is worthy of
worship.
3. Vedas are the books of true knowledge.
4. An Arya should always be ready to accept truth and abundant untruth.
5. All actions must confirm to dharma i.e., after due consideration of right and wrong.
6. The principal aim of Samaj is to promote the world's well-being - material, spiritual and social.
7. All people should be treated with love and Justice.
8. Ignorance should be dispelled and knowledge increased.
9. Everybody should consider his own progress to depend on the upliftment of all others.
10. Social well-being of mankind should be placed above the individual’s well-being.

 He exhorted Hindus to accept social reforms, including the importance of cows for national prosperity as
well as the adoption of Hindi as the national language for national integration.
 He inspired Hindus to aspire for Swarajya (self-governance), nationalism, and spiritualism. He
advocated equal rights and respect to women and advocated for the education of all children, regardless
of gender.
 In 1869, he won a debate against 27 scholars and 12 expert pandits, where the main topic was "Do the
Vedas Uphold Deity Worship?”

Shuddhi Movement:
 To bring back the individuals to Hinduism who were either voluntarily or involuntarily converted to
other religions like Islam or Christianity.
 Shuddhi or purification was imparted to those who sought their way back to Hinduism and the Samaj did an
excellent work in penetrating the various strata of society, taking back the depressed classes into the folds of
Hinduism.
 4

Dayananda Saraswati’s Contributions:

 He worked on the promotion of equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian
scriptures, and his commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi.
 He opposed child marriage, advocated the remarriage of widows.
 He also opened Vedic Study to members of all castes, and founded many educational and charitable
institutions.
 He emphasised on brotherhood of man, equality of sexes and importance of justice, love and charity towards
all.
 In education, he contributed by establishing Vedic Schools and Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Institution (DAV).
DAV was inspired from the Anglo Vedic School established in Lahore in 1886. He also established Gurukul
Pathshala in Hardwar in 1902.
 As a disciple of Hindu organisation, he succeeded in protecting Hindu society from the onslaught of
Christianity and Islam. E.g., Shuddhi Movement.
 He raised the slogan of “India for Hindus” and infused the seed of intense patriotism.
 The Arya Samaj gave many eminent leaders Lala Hans Raj, Pandit Guru Dutt and Lala Lajpat Rai.
 It succeeded in undermining the superiority of the white Race and re-installing a sense of pride among the
Hindus.
 The Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society was limited to the English education to elite only while
Dayanand’s principles was for Indian masses for every class of society and due this his movement spread to
large areas in several parts of the country specially in Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Literary Work and Contribution of Dayanand Saraswati:

 Bhagwat Khandanam or Paakhand Khandan or Vaishnavmat Khandan.
 Gautam Ahilya ki katha.
 Bhranti Nivaran.
 Bhrmocchedan.
 AnuBhrmocchedan.
 GokarunaNidhi.
 Chaturved Vishay Suchi.
 Gadarbh Taapni Upanishad
 Hugli Shastrarth tatha Pratima Pujan Vichar
 Jaalandhar Shastrarth
 Satyasatya Vivek (Bareily Shastrarth)
 Satyadharm Vichar (Mela Chandapur)
 Kashi Shastrarth (1880)
 Arya Samaj ke Niyam aur Upniyam (30 November 1874)
 Updesh Manjari
 Vedang Prakash (Set of 16 Books).
 5

Vedic School:
 The Vedic School was established between 1869 and 1873.
 Dayananda Saraswati established Gurukul (Vedic Schools) which emphasised Vedic Values, Culture.
 The schools gave separate education to boys and girls based on ancient Vedic principles. The Vedic School
System was also to relieve Indians from the pattern of a British education.
 The first Vedic School was established at Farrukhabad (UP) in 1869.
 More emphasis was given to the study of Sanskrit scriptural texts.
 According to Dayananda Saraswati, the Vedas were “India's Rock of Ages” - the true original seed of
Hinduism. His motto was “Go back to the Vedas”.
 He gave his own interpretation of the Vedas and disregarded the authority of the latter Hindu scriptures like -
The Puranas (the work of lesser men and responsible for the evil practices of Idol worship and other
superstitious beliefs in Hindu religion).
 Dayanand condemned Idol worship and praised the unity of Godhead. These views are published in his
Satyartha Prakash.
 Dayanand launched a frontal attack on idolatry, polytheism, belief in magic charms, animal sacrifices, feeding
the dead that had kept into Hindu Religion in the 19th Century.
 He rejected the popular Hindu philosophy which held that the physical world is an illusion and that man's soul
is merely a part of God, temporarily separated from God. Mulashankar was against this belief; he held that
God, Soul and Matter were distinct and eternal entities and every individual
had to work out his own salvation in the light of the eternal principles governing
human conduct.
 In rejecting monism, he also gave a serious blow to the popular belief in
predetermination.
 He accepted the Doctrine of Karma but rejected the Theory of Niyati.
 He challenged the dominant position of Brahmin in the society and strongly
condemned the Caste System.
 He advocated equal status of Women, pleaded for widow remarriage and also
condemned child marriages.
Monism: It is a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in a particular sphere,
such as that between matter and mind, or God and the world.

For him “Back to the Vedas”:

 Call for revival of Vedic learning and Vedic purity of religion and not revival of Vedic times.
 He accepted modernity and displayed a patriotic attitude to national problems.
 Arya Samaj was based on his principles on the authority of Vedas conditioned by Rationalism and
Utilitarianism.

Achievements of Dayananda Saraswati:

 Social Reforms
 Spread of Education
 6

 DAV Institutions at Lahore in 1886 (Modern and Classical Indian Studies)

 Gurukul Pathshala at Haridwar 1902 (orthodox opinion)
 Gave self-confidence and self-reliance to the Hindus
 Undermined superiority of white race
 Shuddhi movement to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism
 Participated at Political front, advocated India for Indians
 Message for masses of India when other movements appealed to intellectuals
 Flourished in Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Shiv Narayan Agnihotri (1850-1829):

 At the age of 16, Agnihotri entered the government-sponsored Thompson
Engineering College in Roorkee, and in 1873 he took a position as a drawing master
in the Government School of Lahore.
 He was a Hindu social reformer who emerged as a leading member of the Brahmo
Samaj (Society of God).
 As a Brahmo Samaj leader, Agnihotri engaged in theological disputes with the Arya
Samaj movement and in polemical exchanges especially with its founder Dayanand
Saraswati.
 In 1887, Agnihotri founded the Dev Samaj/Deva Sadan at Lahore, rejecting
Brahmo rationalism and drawing on the concept of the Guru as an enlightened soul
as its central tenet, while retaining elements of Brahmo Reformism.
 He advocated vegetarianism, the social integration of castes, the education of women, widow remarriage and
the elimination of child marriage. Adultery, polygamy and other 'unnatural crimes' were outlawed and hard
work was stressed with members being urged to lead a useful life and shun excessive ceremonial expenses.
 Dev Samaj followed the philosophy propounded by the founder in religious texts named as Dev Shastra.
 Initially upholding the worship of God, from 1892 Agnihotri advocated dual worship of himself and God
claiming a status of near divinity.
 In 1895, the Society underwent a change and became essentially atheistic in its ideology when Agnihotri
rejected the worship of God and taught instead that the Religious Philosophy as written in the Dev Shastra.
 This shows that Deva Samaj was established as a theistic society and emerged as an atheistic society which
denied the existence of gods and emphasis on ethical conduct.
 His main target of criticism remained the Arya Samaj and he was able to produce a large volume of
propagandist literature throughout his life.
 7

Western India - Reform Movement in Western India

Status of Society:
 The wave of reform reached in Western India when Maharashtrian society
was grabbed by Varnashrama Dharma according to which society was
divided into hierarchical order consisting of Brahmans, Kshatriyas,
Vaishyas and Shudras.
 Rights were unequal, social interaction was maintained by strict rules on
the basis of purity and pollution.
 In society lower caste i.e., Shudras were deprived of various rights
whereas Brahmans enjoyed higher status due to monopoly in the matters
of religion and learning. In the British era, Brahman took English
education and dominated colonial administration as well as the society.

Nature of Reform:
 The Reform Movement was divided into two parts:
1. Early Radical Reformers: Jyotiba Phule, Vishnu Bhikaji Gokhale etc. These reformers believe
revolutionary reorganisation of traditional society on the principles of equality and rationality. Their efforts
grew a sense of awareness in the depressed class people regarding various forms of discrimination.
2. Later Moderate Reformers: MG Ranade, Ganesh Venkatesh Joshi etc. who believed in return to past
society with some alteration.

Early Radical Reformers:

Balshastri Jambhekar (1812-46)

 He was known as the Father of Marathi journalism.
 Balshastri Jambhekar had grasped correctly the importance and power of the print media in the coming times
during British Rule in India.
 He is considered as the pioneer of the intellectual movement in Maharashtra.
 8

 The newspaper Darpan in 1832 was born out of this patriotism and social awareness. It was the first Marathi
newspaper to raise awareness of social change, such as the widow's remarriage, and to introduce more people
to the scientific method of life.
 He challenged the Brahmanical orthodox.
 His associates in this phase included people like Govind Kunte and Bhau Mahajan.
 He attacked theology and tried to convert popular Hinduism.
 He founded 'The Bombay Native General Library'.
 In 1840, he introduced Digdarshan, which published essays on science and history.
 The Bombay Native General Library and the Native Improvement Society was founded by Jambhekar
where the branch was the Students’ Literary as well as Scientific Library.
 He was the first Indian to have published research papers in the quarterly journal of the Asiatic Society and
first person to print Dnyaneshwari in 1845.
 He was also well known as the first professor of Hindi in the Elphinstone College, Mumbai.
 The day of publication of the first issue of Darpan is 6 January and it is celebrated as the Journalist Day in
Maharashtra in his memory.

Dadoba Pandurang (1814-82):

 He was a social reformer as an opponent of rituals and caste, while supporting widow-remarriage and education
for women.
 He had two brothers Atmaram Pandurang and Bhaskarrao Pandurang Tarkhadkar, his daughter Annapurna
was the first girl in Maharashtra who went foreign for study.
 He was the leader of the first reform organisation (Paramhansa Mandali) of Maharashtra in the 19th century.
 He founded and presided over the Upayukta Jnanprasarak Sabha, a students' literary
and scientific society which met to discuss various topics every alternate Thursday.
 His Literary Work:
 Pandurang's major contribution was the grammar of Marathi.
 Maharashtra Bhasheche Vyakaran published in 1836.
 Yashoda Pandurangi
 Dharam Vivechan
 Paramhamsik Bramhadharma
 A Hindu Gentleman's Reflections respecting the works of Swedenborg
 The absurdity of the Holi Festival as it is now practised by the Hindus.
 Shishubodh and Vidhavasrumarjan
 He wrote Dharam Vivechan under the pen-name of Ek Jagadwasi Arya.

Paramhans Mandali:
 The Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1849 in Maharashtra.
 Founders of Paramhans Mandali were Dadoba Pandurang, Durgaram Mehtaji and Balshastri Jambhekar
and their colleagues.
 9

 It was a secret socio-religious group, it had close links with Manav Dharma Sabha.
 They believed in one God and aimed at breaking caste rules.
 At their meeting they had food cooked by lower caste people.
 Also advocated widow’s remarriage and women's education.
 Branches of the Paramhansa Mandalis existed in Poona, Satara etc.

Bhaskar Pandurang Tarkhadkar (1816-47):

 He emerged as militant critic of colonial rule in India
 He wrote a series of letters in the Bengal Gazette with the pen name A Hindoo.
 Due to his critical letters the pro-Indian editor of Bengal Gazette, Dr. George Buist had to resign.

Karsandas Mulji (1832-1871):

 He was one of the pioneer Indian social reformers working for the cause of women emancipation.
 He was a prominent member of the “Bombay Intelligentsia”.
 Mulji’s early life was devoid of comfort as he was disowned by his family due to his views on widow
remarriage.
 He started the weekly journal Satya Prakash in Gujarati in 1852 to advocate widow remarriage.
 His place in Indian history as a reformer is due to the Maharaj libel case in 1862 which earned him the title of
“a Reformer, a Martin Luther of the Banian Cast”.
 His article titled ‘Hinduo No Asli Dharam Ane Atyar Na Pakhandi Mato’ ('The Primitive Religion of the
Hindus and the Present Heterodox Opinions') in Satya Prakash, criticised Vaishnava Archaryas/Pushtimarg or
Vallabhacharya Sampradaya for their behaviour, which resulted in the Maharaj Libel Case in 1862.
 Satyaprakash merged with the Rast Goftar in 1861, and the merged continued publishing under the latter name
until 1921.
 Rast Goftar, Gulamikhat and Stribodh magazines written by him.
 He wrote articles like Maharajo ne vinanti (Request to Mahara) and Dharmguruo ni satta (Power of religious
leaders).

Gopal Hari Deshmukh 1823 - 1892:

 He was a social reformer and rationalist from Maharashtra. He held the post of a judge under British raj, but
wrote for a weekly Prabhakar (wrote 100 letters Shatapatren) under the pen name of Lokahitawadi on social
reform issues.
 10

 His father was the treasurer of Bapu Gokhale, the general of Bajirao II during the Third Anglo-Maratha War.
 He advocated a reorganisation of Indian society on rational principles and modern, humanistic, secular values.
 He charged Hindu orthodoxy and supported social and religious equality.
 Lokahitawadi wrote, 'Enforced widowhood is a murder of a living human being. It involves the killing of
human passions, feelings and emotions. You are butchering your own daughters in cold blood. Should
not your blood boil with rage?’
 He promoted emancipation (liberation) and education of women, and wrote against arranged child marriages,
dowry system, and polygamy, all of which were prevalent in India in his times.
 He was the first to consider the factors that contributed to our loss of independence.
He blamed the loss on eight factors, which he dubbed "Hindushashtak" (eight
aggregate causes of the ruin of Hindus).
 He took a leadership role in founding Gyan Prakash, Indu Prakash, and Lokhitwadi
periodicals in Maharashtra.
 His popular saying is that ‘If religion does not sanction social reform, then change
the religion.’
 He initiated a weekly magazine named as Hitechhu.
 He wrote Panipat war, Kalyug, Jatibhed, Lankecha Itihas. He also translated
some English works into Marathi.
 The Shatapatree is an outspoken, impatient, and penetrating analysis of society's ills.
 He wrote a book called Svadhyaya Athava Aryavidyancha Krama, Vichar ani Pariksana (study of the sequence
of Aryan learnings, thought, and review), which is more moderate in diction and contains the views of an
experienced, mature reformer.
 The 'Shatapatree' and the 'Svadhaya' are the keys to unlocking Lok hitwadi's mysteries. Both books
essentially teach the same thing, but the latter is more clearly devoted to the Vedic era.

Vishnu Bhikaji Gokhale (1825-71):

 He is also known as Vishnubawa Brahamchari.
 He denounced the caste system and advocated for oneness.
 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky quoted Vishnu Bawa Brahmachâri in her writings on Yoga.
 Literary Work:
 Bhavarthasindhu (sea of devotion).
 Vedoktadharmaprakasha (Light of Vedic Religion).
 Vedokta Dharmaprakasha (the Principle of Hindu Religion).
 True Religion Defined
 Some Things the Aryans Knew
 The Marathi avatar of The Communist Manifesto.
 11


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 24
Social Reform
Movement V
 2

Social Reform Movement V

Gopal Hari Deshmukh (1823 - 1892):
 He was a social reformer and rationalist from Maharashtra. He held the post
of a judge under British Raj, but wrote for a weekly Prabhakar (wrote 100 letters
Shatapatren) under the pen name of Lokahitawadi on social reform issues.
 His father was the treasurer of Bapu Gokhale, the general of Bajirao II during the
Third Anglo-Maratha War.
 He advocated a reorganization of Indian society on rational principles and
modern, humanistic, secular values.
 He charged Hindu orthodoxy and supported social and religious equality.
 Lokahitawadi wrote, 'Enforced widowhood is a murder of a living human being.
It involves the killing of human passions, feelings and emotions. You are
butchering your own daughters in cold blood. Should not your blood boil with
rage?’
 He promoted emancipation (liberation) and education of women, and wrote against arranged child marriages,
dowry system, and polygamy, all of which were prevalent in India in his times.
 He was the first to consider the factors that contributed to our loss of independence. He blamed the loss on
eight factors, which he dubbed "Hindushashtak" (eight aggregate causes of the ruin of Hindus).
 He took a leadership role in founding Gyan Prakash, Indu Prakash, and Lokhitwadi periodicals in
Maharashtra.
 His popular saying is that ‘If religion does not sanction social reform, then change the religion.’
 He initiated a weekly magazine named as Hitechhu.
 He wrote about the Panipat war, Kalyug, Jatibhed, Lankecha Itihas. He also translated some English works
into Marathi.
 The Shatapatree is an outspoken, impatient, and penetrating analysis of society's ills.
 He wrote a book called Svadhyaya Athava Aryavidyancha Krama, Vichar ani Pariksana (study of the
sequence of Aryan learnings, thought, and review), which is more moderate in diction and contains the
views of an experienced, mature reformer.
 The 'Shatapatree' and the 'Svadhaya' are the keys to unlocking Lokhitwadi's mysteries. Both books
essentially teach the same thing, but the latter is more clearly devoted to the Vedic era.
Vishnu Bhikaji Gokhale (1825-71):
 He is also known as Vishnubawa Brahamchari.
 He denounced the caste system and advocated for oneness.
 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky quoted Vishnu Bawa Brahmachâri in her writings on
Yoga.
 Literary Work:
 Bhavarthasindhu (Sea of Devotion).
 Vedoktadharmaprakasha (Light of Vedic Religion).
 Vedokta Dharmaprakasha (the Principle of Hindu Religion).
 3

 True Religion Defined

 Some Things the Aryans Knew
 The Marathi avatar of The Communist Manifesto.

Later Phase of Reform Movement in Western India:

Vishnu Parshuram Shastri Pandit (1827-76)
 He was active in agitation for female emancipation.
 He established Indu Prakash in 1862, an Anglo-Marathi periodical published from Bombay in the late 1800s
and early 1900s.
 He participated in the Widow Marriage (Vidhava Vivah) Movement.
 He founded:
 Widow Remarriage Association in 1850.
 Vidhava Vivaha Uttejaka Mandal in 1865.
 He set an example by marrying a widow.
 He had written:
 Bramhan Kanya Vivah,
 English - Marathi Dictionary,
 Vidhava Vivah,
 Sanskrit Dictionary
 Smrutishastra etc.
 4

Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837-1925):

 R.G. Bhandarkar was born in Malvan in Sindhudurg district of
Maharashtra.
 He was an Indian Scholar, Orientalist, and Social Reformer.
 He acquired the Maharishi Title owing to his profound scholarship.
 Along with Mahadev Govind Ranade, Bhandarkar was among the first
graduates in 1862 from Bombay University.
 Bhandarkar became a member of Paramhansa Sabha.
 In 1885, Bhandarkar with Vaman Abaji Modak, and Justice Ranade
established the Maharashtra Girls Education Society (MGE).
 The Pune Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1870 with the contribution of Ranade and Bhandarkar.
 He formed the Tukaram Society in 1901 which aimed to understand the meaning of some difficult Abhangs
(poetic compositions) of Saint Tukaram.
 The society is the parent body of the first native run girls' high school in Pune popularly known as
Huzurpaga.
 The establishment of the school and its curriculum were vehemently opposed by Nationalist leader
Lokmanya Tilak in his newspapers, the Mahratta and Kesari.
Mahadev Govind Ranade (Justice Ranade) (1842-1901):
 He was an Indian scholar, social reformer, judge and author.
 M.G. Ranade was an alumnus of Elphinstone College, Bombay.
 Ranade became a subordinate judge in Pune in 1871.
 He was deeply influenced by western culture and the colonial state.
 His activities ranged from religious reform to public education to reform within the
Indian family, and in every area.
 He was prone to see little virtue in Indian custom and tradition and to strive for re-
forming the subject into the mould of what prevailed in the west.
 He held that the caste system is evil in Indian society and religious reform was a prerequisite for social
reform.
 He campaigned against the 'Purdah System'.
 Mahadev Govind Ranade summarised the aim of the Indian social reform movement as 'Humanize,
Equalise and Spiritualize’.
 Justice Ranade also received the title of Rao Bahadur.
 Mahadev Govind Ranade was an Indian social reformer, a distinguished scholar and founding member of
Indian National Congress.
 He was among the foremost reformers who denounced the caste system and untouchability.
 He advocated social reforms such as widow re-marriage, liberation of women and emancipation of the
oppressed classes.
 5

 As a judge, he exercised his powers to promote equality of the sexes, the spread of education, rescuing
children and widows from social injustices, and protection of agricultural workers and land tenants from
exploitation.
 He always advocated the use of constitutional and legal ways for attaining freedom and bringing in social
reforms.
 Later, he became involved in the working of a number of institutions aiming at social, economic and political
advancement of India such as the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Social Conference, Industrial Conference and
the Prarthana Samaj.
Prarthana Samaj:
 The Samaj was started by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang 1867 with the help of Keshab Chandra Sen.
 Emphasised on monotheism and ‘on works’ rather than faith.
 It relied on education and persuasion and avoided confrontation with orthodox elements.
 The Samaj fought against caste orthodoxy, polytheism and priestly domination.
 The Samaj was later joined by Mahadev Govind Ranade, NG Chandravarkar and RG Bhandarkar.
 Members held a meeting at the home of Atmaram Pandurang and publicly pledged to certain reforms,
including:
 Denunciation of the Caste System
 Encouragement of Widow Remarriage
 Encouragement of Female Education
 Abolition of Child Marriage.
Indian Social Conference:
 The Indian Social Conference was founded by M.G Ranade and Raghunath Rao.
 The conference met annually and at the same time and place as the Indian National Congress. Its first session
was in Madras.
 It could be called the Social Reform Cell of the Indian National Conference.
 Issues taken up were mostly on Inter Caste Marriage, Opposition to Polygamy and Kulinism.
 It launched pledge movement to inspire people to take pledge against child marriage.
Contribution of MG Ranade:
 He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress (INC) party.
 He helped to establish the Vaktruttvottejak Sabha, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, Maharashtra
Granthottejak Sabha, and the Prarthana Samaj, and edited a Bombay Anglo-Marathi daily paper, the
Induprakash, founded on his ideology of social and religious reform.
 He founded the Indian National Social Conference with Raghunath Rao in 1887. It integrated with the Indian
National Congress as a social reform cell of the Indian National Congress.
 He launched Pledge Movement to create awareness among people for prohibition of child marriage.
 6

MG Ranade’s Famous Statement:

 “Every nation which desires economical advance has to take care that its urban population bear an increasing
ratio to its rural masses with every advance it seeks to make.”
 He founded the Social Conference Movement, which he supported till his death.
 In 1861, Ranade co-founded the 'Widow Marriage Association' along with Vishnu Pandit.
 Ranade inspired many other Indian social reformers, most notably the educator and legislator Gopal
Krishna Gokhale, who carried on Ranade’s reform work after his death.
 Ranade helped to revive an independent school of “Indian Political Economy”.
 His notable Literary Work: ‘Rise of Maratha Power’.
KT Telang (Kashinath Trimbak Telang):
 KT Telang was born in a Marathi Brahmin family in 1850.
 He became a judge in the Bombay High Court in 1889.
 He and his fellow Bombay lawyers, Pherozshah Mehta and Badruddin Tyabji were the founders of the
Bombay Presidency Association 1885.
 His deep knowledge of ancient Hindu scriptures and great command over Sanskrit along with English made
him a big name in Hindu laws.
 He played an important role in introducing compulsory primary education in Bombay.
 He was syndic of the university from 1881, and vice-chancellor from 1892 until his death. (He was the first
Indian Vice-Chancellor). In that year also he was elected President of the Bombay Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society. These two offices had never been held by a native of India before.
 In 1884, the decoration of C.I.E. conferred on him in the Birthday Honours for the recognition of his services
as a member of Hunter Commission. Hunter Commission appointed by the colonial government to deal with
the educational system of India.
 He was the secretary of the reception committee for the inaugural meeting of the Indian National Congress in
1885.
 K.T. Telang was a prominent member of the Bombay Triumvirate. Pherozeshah Mehta and Badruddin
Tyabji were the other members of the Triumvirate.
Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar (1850-82):
 He was a Marathi writer, whose writings have influence on modern
Marathi prose style.
 He was the son of the writer and scholar Krushnashastri Chiplunkar.
 Krushnashastri Chiplunkar was a social activist and a Marathi writer
from Maharashtra.
 In 1880, he founded (together with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and Bal Gangadhar Tilak) the newspapers Kesari
(in Marathi) and Mahratta (in English).
 7

 In 1878, Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar founded another monthly publication named Kavyetihas Sangraha,
with a vision of better familiarising the readers with the poetry and history of Maharashtra.
 He established two printing presses, namely Aryabhushan Press and Chitrashala Press. He also opened a
bookshop named Kitabkhana.
 His Contribution:
 Publishing Nibandhmala, a monthly Marathi magazine dedicated to reform in society.
 Aamachya Deshachi Sthiti (The State of our Nation) and Mudranasvatantry (Freedom of the Press) are
two of his influential political articles.
 Along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he founded the New English School in Pune.
 Both created Deccan Education Society with Gopal Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and other
prominent reformers at that time.
 He also established Fergusson College with Tilak and Agarkar.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-95):
 He was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, India.
 He was the co-founder of multiple educational institutes such as the New English School, the Deccan
Education Society and Fergusson College along with Tilak, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, Mahadev Ballal
Namjoshi, V. S. Apte, V. B. Kelkar, M. S. Gole and N. K. Dharap.
 He was the first editor of the weekly Kesari and founder and editor of a periodical, Sudharak.
 He was the second Principal of Fergusson College.
 He campaigned against the injustices of untouchability and the caste system.
 Publications:
 Futke Nashib (Biography)
 Alankar Mimmansa
 Dongarichy Turangatil 101 divas (1882)
 Marathi translation of Hamlet
Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi (1851-1911):
 In 1898, the Mumbai government conferred on him the title of Rao Bahadur.
 He provided brilliant critique of the economic policy of the colonial government.
 He emphasised on the importance of education for the change in society.
Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar:
 He is considered as a pioneer philosopher of his time and emerged as a great
leader of the Prarthana Samaj.
 He took the leadership reins from Mahadev Govind Ranade.
 He became the Vice chancellor of the University of Bombay.
 He presided over the INC session in 1900. After that he took a break from politics
and dedicated his time towards judiciary.
 8

 He became the head of the All-India Moderates Conference in 1918 along with Surendranath Banerjea
and Dinshaw Wacha.
 He was knighted in the 1910 New Year Honours List.
 In 1920, he raised his voice against the report of the Hunter Committee on the Jallianwala Bagh
atrocities. Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by his bold step and later on his advice called off his Civil
Disobedience campaign in 1921.
Dhondo Keshav Karve:
 Dhondo Keshav Karve was popularly known as Maharshi Karve.
 He was a social reformer in India in the field of women's welfare.
 He advocated widow remarriage and he himself married a widow.
 Karve was a pioneer in promoting widows' education.
 In 1896, Karve started the first widow’s school in Pune.
 He founded the first women's university in India - SNDT (Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey)
Women's University in 1916.
 During 1891–1914, Karve taught mathematics at Fergusson College in Pune, Maharashtra.
 In the year 1896 he established Widow’s Home in Poona where he encouraged women to skill themselves in
teaching and nursing.
 Karve wrote two Autobiographical Works: Atmawrutta (1928) in Marathi, and Looking Back (1936) in
English.
 The Marathi play Himalayachi Saavli ("The Shadow of the Himalayas") by Vasant Kanetkar, published
in 1972, is loosely based on the life of Karve.
 Awards and honours: The Government of India conferred him with Padma Vibhushan in 1955 and Bharat
Ratna in 1958.
Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912):
 He was born in a Marathi Family and brought up in Bengal due to this he
became the bridge between reform movements in Bengal and Maharashtra.
 He worked as teacher, writer, activist and journalist due to which he was one of
the major architects of the Indian Renaissance.
 He was the editor of Hitwadi (Bengali) newspaper.
 Aurobindo Ghosh has written that the credit for the first use of the word
'Swarajya' goes to Deuskar.
 His political teacher was Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
 One of the most influential works which contributed to the enlightened class of
the Renaissance period was his work 'Desher Katha' published in 1904.
 In Surat Split when the Congress was divided into the Extremist and the Moderates the owner of the Hitwadi
asked Deuskar to write an editorial in the Hitwadi against the Extremist and Tilak. He refused to write
editorial articles against Tilak as a result he had to resign from the post of editor of Hitavadi.
 9

 Later, when Hitavadi's managers requested him to become editor again, Deuskar accepted it.
 He was appointed as a teacher of Bengali language and Indian history at the National Council of Education,
Calcutta.
Desher Katha:
 The book was first published in 1904.
 It had an immense impact on young minds during the Swadeshi Movement.
 It informed masses about street plays and folk songs and had assumed the status of mandatory reading for an
entire generation of swadeshi activists.
 In 1905, its fifth edition launched, looking at its popularity the British government had banned the book in
1910 and confiscated all the copies.
 The theme of this book tells the act of Britishers how they exploited India ruthlessly. It also summarised the
work of MG Ranade and D. Naoroji in a popular idiom and warned in its concluding chapters against the
colonial state’s “hypnotic conquest mind”.

Behramji M. Malabari (1853-1912):

 He was born in Baroda, Gujarat.
 He was an Indian poet, publicist, author and Parsi social reformer.
 He is remembered as the ardent advocacy of women’s right and his campaign against child marriage and
enforced widowhood.
 In 1875, Malabari published a volume of poems in Gujarati, followed in 1877 by The Indian Muse in
English Garb, which attracted attention in England.
 In 1880, he became the editor of Indian Spectre (English language daily), who edited for twenty years until
it was merged into the Voice of India, which Malabari had already been editing together with Dadabhai
Naoroji and William Wedderburn since 1883.
 In 1901, he became editor of the monthly East and West.
 Malabari wrote not only editorials in his own magazine, but also letters to the editors of The Times, about the
case of Rukhmabai, a child bride who was ordered to live with her husband in 1885.
 Rukhmabai case editorials attracted widespread attention to the issue, and it was "largely due to his
efforts" and William Thomas Stead's agitation in the Pall Mall Gazette that the Criminal Law
Amendment Act of 1885 and the Age of Consent Act (which governed the age of consent for females in
Britain and India) in 1891 were passed.
 In 1875, he published ‘Nitivinod’ (Pleasure of Morality), a compilation of Gujarati poems he wrote and
published.
 Behramji’s work found many admirers, including Florence Nightingale and Max Muller.
 10

Seva Sadan:
 In 1885, he founded Seva Sadan along with his friend Diwan Dayaram Gidumal, which took care of those
women who were exploited and neglected by society.
 It took care of women exploited and discarded by society.
 Provided these women with education, medical services, etc.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915):
 He was a prominent social and political leader of India during the Indian
National Movement.
 He was honoured with the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire.
 Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive a university education,
Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884.
 He was exposed to Western political thought and became a great admirer of
theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke.
 He had a great influence on the social works of Justice Mahadev Govind
Ranade in his life. He was named as the ‛Protege Son’ i.e., Manas Putra of
Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade.
 Gokhale assisted M.G. Ranade to start the Sarvajanik Sabha Journal.
 He is considered as one of the greatest Indian liberal.
 Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the founder of the Servants of India
Society.
 In 1889, he joined Congress. In 1905, he was elected the president of Indian National Congress.
 He was also the Political Guru of Mahatma Gandhi.
 Servant of India Society:
 In 1905, Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded Servant of India Society after leaving Deccan Education
Society for the expansion of Indian education.
 He believed that India would only be possible when a new generation of Indians became educated as to
their civil and patriotic duty to their country and to each other.
 Objective of the Servant of India Society was to provide opportunities to Indians and gain political
education which was not provided by existing educational institutions of Indian Civil Service.
 Gokhale wrote that "The Servants of India Society will train men prepared to devote their lives to the
cause of the country in a religious spirit, and will seek to promote, by all constitutional means, the
national interests of the Indian people."
 The Servant of India Society actively participated in promotion of education and health and took various
initiatives to fight social evils of poverty, untouchability, exploitation, alcoholism, oppression of
women.
 The Servant of India Society in 1911 began to publish its organ the Hitwada in English from Nagpur.
 11

Narayan Malhar Joshi (1879-1955):

 He was an Indian trade union leader and follower of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
 His Contribution:
 Social Service League (1911)
 All India Trade Union Congress (1920)
 All India Trade Union Federation (1930)
 Social Service League:
 The aim of the Social Service League was to secure for the masses better and reasonable conditions of
life and work.
 Narayan Malhar Joshi, a follower of Gokhale, founded the Social Service League in Bombay.
 They organized numerous schools, reading rooms, libraries, day nurseries and cooperative societies.
 Their duties included police work in court, legal aid and counselling for the poor and illiterate, visits to
slum dwellers, gymnasiums and theatre, hygiene activities, medical and boy club services and scout
corpses.
 All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC):
 It is the oldest trade union federation in India.
 He started AITUC with Lala Lajpat Rai and served as general secretary of AITUC from 1925 to 1929
and again from 1940 to 1948.
 All India Trade Union Federation (AITUF)
 In 1931, Joshi left AITUC and started AITUF.
Ramabai Ranade (1862-1924):
 She was a Marathi women’s rights activist and reformer. She was most popular during 1893 to 1901 for her
social activities.
 At the age of 11, she was married to Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade.
 M.G. Ranade devoted his time to make Ramabai Ranade an ideal woman so that she can actively participate
in social and educational reform. As his efforts she spent all her life making women self-reliant and
economically independent.
 She actively worked for the next 25 years for women’s education, legal rights, equal status, and general
awakening.
 She also fought against the system of child marriage.
 Ramabai was the founder of a women's institution called Seva Sadan in Bombay & Pune.
 At the urging of Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar and Mr. Bhajekar, Ramabai chaired the first session of
India Women Conference held in Bombay in 1904.
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 Pune Seva Sadan:

 In 1915, Ramabai Ranade helped the Pune Seva Sadan to be registered as a society. It expanded its old
educational departments and also started new ones. It developed a Women’s Training College, three
hostels, one of them for medical students and other for probationer nurses.
 In 1924, when Ramabai died, the Pune Seva Sadan was training more than one thousand women in
different departments.
 In 1908, Parsee social reformer, B. M. Malbari & Dayaram Gidumal came up with the idea of founding
a home for women and training Indian women, they then turned to Ramabai, for her guidance and help
for starting a Society and thus Seva Sadan (Bombay) came into being.
 She also worked for Prarthana Samaj.
 She established a branch of Arya Mahila Samaj in the city.
 She established the Hindu Ladies Social and Literary Club in Bombay.
 She started a number of classes to train women in languages, general knowledge, tailoring and handwork.
 Her Autobiography is known as Amachya Ayushyatil Kahi Athavani in Marathi.

 Bharat Stree Mahamandal was a women's organisation in India founded by Sarala Devi Chaudhurani in
Allahabad in 1910.
 One of the primary goals of the organisation was to promote female education, which at that time was not
well developed.
 Its objectives included promotion of education for women, abolition of the purdah system and improvement
in the socio-economic and political status of women all over India.
 Ramabai Ranade founded the Ladies Social Conference (Bharat Mahila Parishad).
 13

 In the 1890s, she founded the Mukti Mission at Kedgaon village, near Pune.
 The All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC), was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to
improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle other women's
rights issues.
Gyan Prasarak Mandali (1848):
 Also known as Students’ Literary and Scientific Society.
 Had two Branches - Marathi and Gujarati.
 It organised lectures on popular science and social questions.
 One of its aims was to start school for girls.
Southern India:
Kandukari Veersalingam Puntulu (1848-1919):
 He was a social reformer and Telugu writer from the Madras Presidency, British
India.
 He was known as the Father of Modern Telugu Prose.
 He had been credited to spread Brahmo activities to South India. Influenced by the
ideology of Brahmo Samaj he constructed a temple known as 'Brahmo Mandir' in
1887.
 He started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874.
 Built the 'Hithakarini School' in 1908 in Andhra Pradesh.
 He was one of the early social reformers who encouraged the education of women and the remarriage of
widows.
 His novel Rajasekhara Charitramu is considered to be the first novel in Telugu literature.
 He is often considered as the Raja Rammohan Roy of Andhra.
Caste Associations in Madras Presidency:
 The influence of socio-cultural awakening acquired a distinct form in the Madras Presidency and the
emergence of caste associations of various kinds.
 These socio-cultural associations stressed on a common heritage of caste members and aspired to reform in
socio-religious practices.
 Some of the associations are as follow:
 Kongu Vella Sangam of Gounder Caste
 Tamil Nadu Vokkaliga and Lingayat Associations in Mysore
 Sri Narayan Guru Dharma Paripalana Yogam of the Ezhavas of Kerala (SNDP Yogam, 1902)
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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 25
Other Religious Movement
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Other Religious Movement

Age of Consent Act 1891:
 The Civil marriage Act of 1872 made the marriage age of girls less than 14 years prohibited; it had a limited
application on other religions such as Hindus, Muslims and Parsee faiths.
 Thus, the tireless efforts of a Parsi reformer named B.M. Malabari, were rewarded by the enactment of the
Age of Consent Act (1891) which prohibited the marriage of girls below the age of 12.

Rakhmabai Case:
 Dr. Rakhmabai was an Indian physician and feminist who was also one of the first woman doctors to practise
in colonial India. She was married as a child bride, which led to a landmark judicial battle during the phase of
1884 and 1888.
 She at the young age of eleven married Dadaji Bhikaji of nineteen years old at that time. Twelve years after
their marriage, in 1885, Bhikaji filed a petition with the court seeking the "restitution of conjugal rights."
 The Rakhmabai Defense Committee was founded by Pandita Ramabai and Behramji Malabari to defend her.
 The litigation went on for four years before Dadji received an out-of-court settlement in 1888.
 Thus, the case was instrumental in the development of the Age of Consent Act in 1891.

Theosophical Movement
 Theosophy is derived from the Greek word ‘theosophia’ meaning "God's wisdom".
 It refers to systems of esoteric philosophy concerning, or seeking direct knowledge of, presumed mysteries of
being and nature, particularly concerning the nature of divinity.
 Its essence is in its referring to hidden knowledge or wisdom that offers the individual enlightenment and
salvation.
 It was started by Theosophical society.

Theosophical Society
 It was founded by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in New York in 1875.
 In 1882, the headquarters of the Society were established in Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai) in India.
 It was inspired from Indian traditional thought and philosophy.
 Objectives
 Promote Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race,
creed, sex, caste or colour.
 Encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
 Investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
 It welcomes everyone who supports its three objects, regardless of belief,
social custom or marriage status.
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Views of Theosophical Society

 They were opposed to conversions and believed in the transmigration of soul and occult mysticism.
 It was an integral part of the revival of Hinduism in India which also brought about a certain degree of social
solidarity.
 The theosophists also worked for the abolition of caste, untouchability and believed in the philosophy of
assimilation.
 It draws inspiration from the philosophy of Upanishads, Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta.
 Believed that a relationship could be established between a person’s soul and God by meditation, prayer, etc.
 They genuinely worked towards social acceptability and integration of the
marginalized sections.

Philosophical Outlook
 Universal Brotherhood
 Belief in theory of Karma
 Belief in Reincarnation
 There exists a Consciousness Universal and Individual
 Immortality of Man

Contribution of Annie Besant

 Annie Besant born in Ireland in 1847, she was initially linked to the socialist movement in Ireland, came to
India in 1893.
 In 1893, Besant represented the Theosophical society at the world parliament of religion in Chicago.
 In 1907, following the death of Olcott, Mrs Annie Besant was elected President of the Theosophical Society.
 She laid the foundation of the Central Hindu College, Benaras in 1898 where both Hindu religion and
western scientific education was taught. Later that college developed into Banaras Hindu University in 1916
by Madan Mohan Malviya.
 The Theosophical Society met with limited success, but as a movement of westerners glorifying Indian culture
and philosophy, it gave the much needed self-respect and pride to Indians fighting colonial rule.
 In 1916 she also formed the Home Rule League on the lines of the Irish Home Rule movement.
 She did much for the cause of women and founded the Women's Indian Association.
 She also published 'Common weal' and 'New India'.
 She became the first female President of the Indian National Constitution.

Miscellaneous Movements:
Dharma Sabha:
 It was formed in 1830 in Calcutta by Radhakanta Deb.
 Its objective was to counter the ongoing social reform movements led by protagonists such as Raja Ram
Mohun Roy and Henry Derozio.
 It filed an appeal in the Privy Council against the ban on Sati by Lord William Bentinck.
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 Campaigned against the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 and submitted a petition against the proposal
with nearly four times more support than the one submitted for it by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Ved Samaj:
 Ved Samaj was established by Keshab Chandra Sen and K. Sridharalu Naidu in 1864.
 K. Sridharalu Naidu visited Calcutta and after returning in 1871 he renamed Veda Samaj as Brahmo Samaj of
Southern India.
 The Samaj worked on the translation of Brahmo Dharma into Tamil and Telugu.

Bharat Dharma Mahamadala:

 Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya was a prominent figure of this movement.
 It was an organisation of orthodox educated Hindus.
 Its aim was to defend the orthodox Hinduism against the teaching of Arya Samaj, the theosophists and
Ramakrishna Mission.
 It was formed by combining orthodox organisations such as Sanathan Dharm Sabha, Dharm Mahaparishad
(South India), Dharm Mahamandali (Bengal).
 Its objective is to spread Sanatan Dharma and Hindu culture.
 A part of it known as Sanatan Dharm Sabha was recognised to strengthen Hinduism.

Madan Mohan Malviya:

 He condemned untouchability and became a key leader of the Harijan Movement.
 He opposed religious and caste barriers that existed in the society.
 He presided over the formation of Harijan Sevak Sangh.
 He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna (2015).

Jat-Pat Todak Mandal:

 He presented Bhai Parmanand's initiative to the annual Congress of Arya Samaj.
 In 1922, in Lahore it was aimed at abolition of the untouchability and caste system.

Radhaswami Movement:
 He started in Agra in 1860 by Swami Shiv Dayal Singh (Tulsi Ram).
 He believed in supremacy of one God, supremacy of Guru, a company of pious people (satsang) and a
simple social life.
 They don’t call for renunciation of worldly life for spiritual attainment.
 It rejected the concept of sacred rituals, scripture and pilgrimages. He believed in one supreme being,
supremacy of the guru, company of pious people and simple social life.

Muslim Reform Movements

Wahabi movements:
 It was revivalist movement whose objective was to purify Islam by rooting out non-Islamic practices which
crept in Muslim society through ages.
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 It offered a tough and well-planned challenge to Britishers' draconian rule in India from 1830s to 1860s. It was
the first Muslim movement against western influence.
 Initially the movement was directed against Sikh but after the annexation of Punjab by the British, it was
directed against the British.
 Movement was led by Abdul Wahab of Arabia and Delhi’s saint Shah Waliullah Dehlavi.
 In the case of India their ideology was carried out by Syed Ahmad Barelvi (Syed Ahmad of Barelvi) and Shah
Abdul Aziz.

Suppression of Wahabi Movement

 The Britishers estimated the potential danger of the influence of Wahabi’s operation from Sithana in the
background as a possible war between Great Britain getting involved in a war with Afghanistan or Russia.
 In the 1860s, the colonial government had launched a series of attacks on Wahabi base of operations in Sithana;
at the same time in India several cases were registered against Wahabis.
 General Bakht Khan the leader of mutineers at Delhi during the revolt of 1857 was also a Wahabi.
 The movement lost its edge though the Wahabi Fanatics continued to help the frontier hill tribes encounters
with English in the 1880s and 1890s.
 In the 1870s term sedition was added in the Indian Penal code to outlaw speech that attempted to
disaffection and resentment towards the government established by law in India.

Saiyid Ahmad of Rai Bareli (1786-1831)

 He was considered the founder of the Wahabi Movement in India.
 Highly influenced by the teachings of Abdul Wahab of Arabia.
 Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Ahmed Barelvi popularised the teaching of Walliullah but also gave them
political colour.
 He aimed at creating a homeland for the Muslims.
 The beginning was made by introducing Ftawa given by Abdul Aziz. It considered India as dar-ul-harb
(land of war), to be converted into Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam).
 Barelvi gave his first doctrines in Rohilkhand. He appointed spiritual agents known as Khalifas.
 He Discouraged all accretions and innovation in Islam and advocated a return to the pure Islam and
society of Arabia.
 He aimed at restoring Muslim power in India by ousting Sikhs in Punjab and British in Bengal.
 He presented doctrines of Hijrat in front of the whole Muslim community in India.
 Syed Ahmad had a countrywide organization with an elaborate secret code for its working.
 He was strong at Sithana in the North-Western tribal belt and Patna through which he had his missions in
Hyderabad, Madras, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bombay.
 Wahhabism significantly spread to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and North West. After the death of Sayyid
Ahmad in 1831, Patna became the center of the Wahabi movement.
 He captured Peshawar in the 1830s but lost to Sikhs and was killed in the Battle of Balakot against Sikhs
(1831).
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 After his death his followers were recognised as Maulvis.

 In the year 1849 after the British annexed Punjab and jihad was directed against Britishers.
 Wahabis played an insignificant role in spreading anti-British sentiment during the revolt of 1857.
 The movement turned into an armed struggle during the revolt of 1857.

Titu Mir’s Movement:

 During the period of 1820s to 1830s in Bengal a religious movement called Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya under
the leadership of Titu Mir (Syed Mir Nisar Ali).
 Titu Mir preached Wahabi doctrine in Barasat in 1827.
 His followers came mainly from the poor Muslim peasants and weavers who organised into a community
with distinctive dress and beard as markers of identity.
 He advocated a reform in the mode of dress to distinguish Muslim and Hindus.
 This movement was against the customs and beliefs which had been adopted from Hinduism and
Christianity.
 Titu organised a peasant agitation of the Muslim peasants of Bengal against the Hindu landlords and indigo
planters.
 Mir was killed in a clash with Britishers in 1831.

Faraizi Movement:
 It was founded by Hazi-Shariat-Allah. In 1818, the movement protected the rights of tenants to a great extent.
 It was led by Haji Shariatullah in Eastern Bengal to give up un-Islamic practices and act upon their duties as
Muslims.
 The Faraizi movement was widely received in the districts of Dhaka, Faridpur, Barisal,
Mymensingh and Comilla.
 They began as a peasant movement but later turned into a religious sect
supporting radical religious and socio-political changes.
 After the 1840s the movement became revolutionary under the leadership of Hazi’s
son Dudu Mian.
 Dudu Mian propagated an egalitarian ideology.
 He organised paramilitary forces armed with clubs to fight Hindu landlords and police.
 He opposed the right of the zamindars to collect tax, set up a parallel government
in some parts of Bengal and even established village courts.
 The leader of the Faraizis was called Ustad or teacher, and his disciples xagrid or students, instead of using the
terms like pir and murid.
 A person so initiated into the Faraizi fold was called Tawbar Muslim or Mumin.
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Mohammedan Literary Society (1863):

 It was founded by Nawab Abdul Latif in 1863 in Kolkata.
 The patron of the society was the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The society used Arabic, English, Persian,
and Urdu languages.
 The education of Muslim youth in English medium schools that would allow them to compete with their
English and Hindu peers.
 It campaigned for the utilization of the Mohsin Fund and drew attention of the British government to the
educational needs of the Muslim community of India.
 It survived till 1930, at which point its name changed to Muslim Institute of Calcutta.

Deoband School (Darul-Uloom Deoband) 1866:

 It was a revivalist movement and was organised by the orthodox section among the Muslim Ulema.
 Its foundation was laid in 1866 by Md Qasim Nanotvi and Rashid Ahmed Gangohi in Deoband, Saharanpur
(United Provinces)
 Two Objectives of Deoband School:
1. Propagating the pure teachings of Qurans
2. Reviving spirit of Jihad against Britishers.
 The form of instructions imparted by Deoband was in the original Islamic religion.
 The Deoband School welcomed the formation of congress in 1885.
 It issued a fatwa against Syed Ahmed Khan.
 Leaders of Deoband School:
⮚ Mahmud -ul-Hasan added political and intellectual content to the religious idea of school.
⮚ Shibli Nimani introduced English and western science.

Status of Muslims Post-1857

 After crushing Wahabis and the emergence of Bahadur Shah II was appealed to head the revolt, British
portrayed that revolt of 1857 was plotting of Muslims.
 But post 1870s the image of Muslims changed due to several scholars like Syed Ahmad Khan justified the
misconception about Muslims.
 Syed Ahmad Khan wrote a booklet “Asab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind” (Causes of Indian Revolt) in which he
cleared all allegations on Muslims and blamed EIC divisive policy.
 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan found out that Muslim society to be educationally, socially and culturally backward.
He blamed the prevailing education system for the degrading state of the Muslim society.

Aligarh Movement:
 The objective of this movement was to give respectable and dignified status to Muslims in society.
 Its main aim was the push to establish a modern system of Western–style scientific education for the
Muslim population of British India.
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 This deficiency led to the Aligarh Movement. The epicentre of the foundation of the Muhammadan Anglo-
Oriental College in 1875.
 It was a movement of Muslim renaissance with widespread implication for religion, politics, culture and
society of India.
 Main focus of movement
 Loyalty to Britishers.
 Modern western education for the Muslims to compete with peers.
 The movement had a profound impact on the Muslim society compared to the other powerful but less adaptable
movements of the 19th century.
 It emerged as a liberal, modern trend among the Muslims intelligentsia based on Mohammedan Anglo
Oriental College, Aligarh (founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in 1875)
 Aim of Aligarh Movement:
 Spreading modern education among Indian Muslims without weakening their allegiance to Islam.
 Bring in social reforms among Muslims related to purdah, polygamy, widow’s remarriage, women’s
education, slavery, divorce, etc.
 Its ideology was based on the liberal interpretation of the Quran.
⮚ It sought to harmonise Islam with modern liberal culture.

Sayyid Ahmed Khan (1817-98)

 He was in judicial service and was loyal to the British in the 1857 Revolt. He retired from the service in
1876.
 In 1878, he became a member of the Imperial Legislative Council.
 In 1888, he was awarded with Knighthood by the British Government.
 Sayyid Ahmed Khan strived hard to incorporate modern idea into Islam and to promote modern education
among Muslims
 He urged the Muslims to reject the decadent medieval thought and to imbibe modern scientific knowledge and
outlook. He condemned Piri and Muridi.
 He advocated his ideas through the magazine Tahdhib ul Akhlaq. He also wrote “Commentaries on the
Quran”.
 He advocated the removal of the Purdah system from Muslim women.
 In 1875 he founded Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh.
 It became Aligarh Muslim University 1920 where education was imparted in both
1. Western Arts and Sciences
2. Muslim Religion
 Initially, Sayyid Ahmed Khan was a highly secular person.
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Contribution of Syed Ahmad

In Education
 In 1859 he established Gulshan School at Muradabad.
 In 1862 he founded the Victoria School at Ghazipur.
 He founded the Translation Society in Ghazipur in 1863 to translate major works in the field of sciences and
modern arts into Urdu. Later renamed as the Scientific Society and moved to Aligarh.
⮚ The Society released two journals – The Aligarh Institute Gazette and the Tehzeeb-ul-Akhlaq, known
as the Mohammedan Social Reformer in English.
 In 1866 the British Indian Association was established at Aligarh with the intention of addressing the political
needs of the people.
 In 1868 he established Bihar Scientific Society. It launched a fortnightly newspaper, Akhbarul Akhyar.
 A debating club was founded at MAO College by Sir Syed in 1884.
 In 1886 Sir Syed founded the Muhammedan Educational Congress. Later the name was changed to All
India Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1890.
 Sayyid Ahmed Khan also founded the United Patriotic Association in 1888 along with Raja Sivaprasad of
Beneras to promote political co-operation with the British and ensure Muslim participation in the British
Indian Government.

Social Reform
 He opposed the custom of polygamy and purdah system and spread of education among women. He
believed in tolerance policy and rational outlook.
 He attacked the system of Piri and muridi (pirs claimed to be followers’ Sufi school) and denounced the
institution of caste discrimination.
 He spread progressive social ideas through his magazines Tehzib-ul-Akhlaq.
 His other literary work is Tuhfa-i-hasan and the Loyal Muhammadans of India.

Religious Reform
 Sayyid Ahmed Khan showed respect to all religions against religious fanaticism and bigotry.

Ahmadiyya Movement 1889 | Punjab

 The movement was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahamad of Qadiyan (1839-1908), who began his career as a
defender of Islam against the invasion of Arya Samaj and Christian missionaries.
 In 1889, he claimed to be the Masih and the Mahdi and later became a Hindu convert to the religion of Krishna
and Jesus, returning to the earth.
 The Ahmadian movement adorned itself, like the Brahmo Samaj, with the religious principles of the human
universe. It is based on liberal principles.
 He was heavily influenced by the western theosophy of freedom, as well as the Hindu reform movement.
 The movement focused on Non-Violence and Tolerance of other faiths.
 Ahmadiyyas opposed Jihad or the holy war against non-Muslims and emphasised brotherly relations among
all people.
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 The organization spread western liberation education to Indian Muslims and established a network of
schools and colleges for that purpose.
 Mirza Ghulam Ahamad was a supporter of the Deoband school, Shibli Numani, chose to incorporate English
language and European science into education.
 He founded Nadwatal Ulama and Darul Uloom in Lucknow in 1894-96.
 He believed in the ideology of Congress and the cooperation between Muslims and Hindus in India to
create a world where they could both live in peace.

Tablighi Jamaat | 1927 (Proselytizing Society)

 It is an Islamic missionary movement that focuses on urging Muslims to return to practising their religion as
it was practised during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and particularly in matters of ritual,
dress and personal behaviour.
 The organisation is estimated to have between 12 million to 80 million adherents worldwide, with the majority
living in South Asia. It has been deemed as one of the most influential religious movements in 20th century
Islam.
 It was established in 1927 by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in the Mewat region of India, it began as an
offshoot of the Deobandi movement, and as a response to perceived deterioration of moral values and a
supposed neglect of the aspects of Islam. The movement aims for the spiritual reformation of Islam by working
at the grassroots level.
 The teachings of Tabligh Jamaat are expressed in "Six Principles"
1. Kalimah (Declaration of faith)
2. Salah (Prayer)
3. Ilm-o-zikr (Knowledge)
4. Ikraam-e-Muslim (Respect of Muslim)
5. Ikhlas-e-Niyyat (Sincerity of intention)
6. Dawat-o-Tableegh (Proselytizaton)
 Tablighi Jamaat denies any affiliation in politics and fiqh (jurisprudence), focusing instead on the Quran and
Hadith. However, the group has been accused of political links.
 The group expresses a non-violent ideological stance, although individual members of the group have been
convicted of terrorism.

Muslim Organization/Movements
ORGS & MOVEMENTS FOUNDERS & LEADERS AIM OF FORMATION
1. Wahabi movements Shah Walliulah (Shah Abdul Revivalist in nature it aimed at creating a “homeland
(Tariquah- Aziz. Syed Ahmed Barevli) for Muslims.
Muhammediyan (Punjab 1840).
2. Deoband movement Muhammad Qasim To propagate among the Muslims the teaching of the
(Darul ulum) Wanatavi and Rashid Ahmed Quran. No western education
Gangoli (Deoband-
Saharanpur 1866)
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3. Nadwah-ul-Ulama Maulana Shibli and others To reorganise Muslim education system, develop
(Lucknow 1894). religious, science, reform Muslim morals and put an
end to the theological controversies within Islam.
4. Ahi-I-Hadis (People of Maulana Syed Nizir Hussain They preach the saying of the prophet and the Quran
the Hadis) (Punjab). as the ultimate authority on Islam.

5. Ahi-i-Quran (People of Maulavi Abdullah Chakralvi To preach the teaching of the Quran as the ultimate
the Quran) (Punjab). authority on Islam.

6. Ahmadiya Movement Mirza Gulam Ahmed The movement was based on the universal religion of
(Quadiani in Punjab 1869). all humanity. It aimed at spreading western liberal
education among the Indian Muslims.

7. Aligarh Movement Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Based on the liberal interpretation of the Quran. It
others (Aligarh 1870s). aimed at spreading western and scientific education
among the Muslim masses.

8. Arhar Movement Muhammed Ali Hakim They disliked the loyalist policies of Aligarh School
Ajmal Khan. Maulana Zafar and advocated active participation in the national
Ali & Hasan Iman movement.

Sikh Reform Movements

Basics and Background
 Sikh community did not keep aloof from the path of socio and religious reform.
 Guru Nanak founded Sikhism as a result of social protest against social evils. He emphasised on good action
and honest living.
 From the time of birth and expansion, Sikhism established its own rituals and institutions.
 The various gurus of Sikhism did a little addition/change in it but Sikh rule established by Ranjit Singh saw
the introduction of pomp and show in religious places, giving rise to very evils that the Sikh gurus had
condemned which further arose the need of reform.
 Nirankaris is a sect of the Sikhs born of a reform movement which arose in northwest Punjab in the middle
of the nineteenth century (1817-98) aiming to restore the purity of Sikh belief and custom.

Nirankari Movement
 It was a reform movement founded by Baba Dyal Das in northwest Punjab in 1851. (Present day Rawalpindi).
 It sought to restore the practices and beliefs of Sikhs back to the era when Guru Nanak was alive. This
movement emerged in the aftermath of the end of Sikh Empire and the Sikh history after Ranjit Singh's death.
 Its principles include:
⮚ Strongly opposing idol worship of human gurus, worship of tombs, graves,and representing the
"formless" God with any image. Instead he re-emphasized the Sikh belief in Nirankar the Formless One.
⮚ Nirankaris strongly oppose representing the "formless" God with any image, and believe that the true
Sikh faith is based on nam simaran (remembering and repeating God's name).
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⮚ Prohibition of the consumption of alcohol and tobacco.

⮚ They believe in very simple, inexpensive wedding ceremonies called "Anand Karaj", a term related to
one found among Khalsa Sikhs.
⮚ Marriage rituals take place in the presence of Guru Granth. No other rituals are performed like
dancing, singing, dowry etc. It gets formal recognition under Anand Marriage Act of 1909.
⮚ Their devotional practice was to repeat the formless God's name as the mantra, Dhan, Dhan Nirankar,
meaning "Glory, glory to the Formless One".
 The early worship houses of Nirankaris were called Dharamshala, rather than gurdwara.
 The Nirankari Sikhs dispose of their dead in rivers in contrast to burial or cremation.
 Nirankaris believe that a human guru to interpret the scripture and guide Sikhs is a necessity.
 The main differentiation of Nirankari from orthodox Sikh belief is the continuation of the line of human Gurus
after Guru Gobind Singh, as they eventually reverted to treating their leaders as living Gurus or gods.
 Nirankaris do not believe in the orthodox view that there were only ten living Gurus in Sikhism and the Guru
Granth Sahib is a closed scripture and that last Guru of Sikhism.
 They revere the Guru Granth Sahib, but also have living Gurus (satguru) that they revere and who sits near the
scripture.

Namdhari (Kuka Movement):

 Namdhari, also called Kuka, an austere sect within Sikhism.
 It differs from mainstream Sikhs chiefly in that it believes that the lineage of Sikh Gurus did not end with
Guru Gobind Singh, thus continuing the succession of Sikh Gurus through the centuries from Guru Nanak Dev
to the present day.
 The Namdhari Movement was started by Bhagat Jawahar Singh and Balak Singh in 1840.
 Under Baba Ram Singh it emerged as a strong socio-religious movement. He preached worshiping one God
and challenged all evil of society like caste system, female infanticide, early marriage and bartering of
daughters in marriage.
 Abstaining from drinking, stealing, adultery, falsehood, slandering, back-biting and cheating and consumption
of beef was strictly forbidden.
 The protection of cattle was one of the most ardently held values of the Namdharis.
 13

 They considered the women equal to men and initiated them through baptism and allowed them to remarry
when widowed.
 Some violence in Amritsar and Rajkot (on cow slaughtering) clashed with the government and later Ram Singh
was deported to Rangoon.

Kuka Movement 1840:

 It was established in Western Punjab by Bhagat Jawahar Mal (also known as Sian Saheb) in 1840.
 A significant movement leader after him was Baba Ram Singh. (Namdhari Sikh sect was created by him)
 The movement was converted from a religious purity campaign to a political campaign after the British took
over Punjab.
 The Kuka Movement made the people aware of their serfdom and bondage. It evoked the feelings of self-
respect and sacrifice for the country.
 Within a few years, the followers of the Kuka Movement increased manifold. They called for a boycott of
British educational institutions and laws established by them. They were rigid in their clothing and wore
only hand-spun white attire. The Kuka followers actively propagated civil disobedience.
 Its basic principle was to abolish the caste system and similar discrimination among Sikh community,
discouraging meat consumption along with alcohol and drugs, allowing for widow remarriage, intermarriages,
and encouraging women to come out of seclusion.
 The concept of Swadeshi and non-cooperation were propagated by them long before it became part of our
national movement.
 As the movement became popular it was crushed during the phase of 1863 – 1862.
 In 1872 Ram Singh was deported to Rangoon.
 The Namdhari Movement, of which the Kuka Movement was the most important phase, aimed at overthrowing
British rule.
 The Namdharis were also known as “Kukas” because of their trademark style of reciting the “Gurbani”
(Sayings/Teachings of the Guru). This style was in a high-pitched voice called “Kook” in Punjabi. Thus, the
Namdharis were also called “Kukas”.

Singh Sabha Movement:

 It was founded in 1873 in Amritsar.
 Factor responsible for movement
⮚ Movement emerged as a reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements
(Brahmo Samajis, Arya Samaj) and Muslims (Aligarh movement and Ahmadiyah).
⮚ Recent suppression of Kukis led to the dissolution of Sikh empire. Khalsa lost its prestige to revive when
this movement started.
⮚ Lack of education was leading to the spread of social evil practices.
 Movement broadly had two objectives:
1. To make modern western education available to Sikhs.
2. To counter proselytising activities of Christian missionaries as well as Hindu revivalists.
 For the spread of modern education Khalsa School was established throughout the Punjab. Khalsa College at
Amritsar was built in 1892.
 14

Akali Movement (Gurudwara Reform Movement)

 It was a campaign to bring reform in the gurdwaras (the Sikh places of worship) in India during the early
1920s.
 Earlier in 1799 Sikhism went through many changes during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Endowments
in terms of property and privileges to Gurudwaras made hereditary Mahants rich and they began to live
luxurious lives.
 After the British conquest of Punjab in 1849, Britishers took control over Golden Temple and Akal Takht and
appointed a ten-member committee headed by a Sarbarah (commander) for management.
 Appointment of Sarbarah did not feel responsible to the people but was only interested in pleasing his
appointing authority.
 They indulged in all sorts of evil practices like misappropriation of offerings, missing shrine properties for
immoral activities. Not allowing low caste Mazhabi Sikhs to offer their prayer in the temple directly.
 Akali Jathas (band of volunteers) of Sikhs of Amritsar thought of creating public awareness on the subject and
defying the corrupt priests and took control.
 They formed the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee.
 An agitation was launched against the take-over of Toshkhana (Treasury) and management of Golden Temple
known as “Treasury Key Affairs”.
 Key Affairs agitation and overlapping with Non-cooperation movement strengthen the support for the demand
of Golden Temple management. As a result, the Punjab Government handed over the management to SGPC,
Baba Kharak Singh.
 Punjab Government passed Sikh Gurudwaras and Shrines Act, 1922 stating the nomination of committee
by government. Akali leaders rejected.
 After suspension of Non-cooperation in 1922 Punjab Government started fencing Akali reformers which
resulted in another agitation known as Guru ka Bagh Morcha.
 The Punjab government did not handle the blow of hidden rage for handing over keys of management and
arrested Akali volunteers on allegation that they were cutting trees in Guru ka Bagh Morcha (dry woods were
said to be private property of Mahant).
 In answer to this over 5000 of reformers protested and were arrested and no space left in jail and they were
beaten mercilessly and this peaceful suffering of the Akalis won sympathy of the whole nation and Akalis were
released and allowed to cut wood from Bagh.
 This successful agitation of Akalis was catalysing the congress to spread its ideology in the section of
peasants of Punjab and likely to influence the Sikh soldiers in the British Army.
 To keep hold over Akalis volunteers’ government passed the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 to give Sikh
community a legal right to elect functionaries to manage their gurudwaras and abolishing the hereditary
control of the Mahants and adopting democratic control without any social discrimination. Women were
also given the right to vote at par with men.
 15

Importance of Movement
 It instils the sense of social, religious and political awakening among the common people and people
belonging to Sikh princely states.
 Trained them to organise, protest and how to fight oppression in these princely states.
 Post Akali movement people continue to fight under leadership of Sardar Seva Singh Thikriwala.
 The Akali Movement was regional but not communal in nature.

Movement among the Sikhs:

 To bring to the Sikh community the
benefits of Western enlightenment
through modern education and counter
the activities of the Christian
missionaries as well as Hindu
1. Singh Sabha Founded at Amritsar in 1873 by the
revivalists.
Movement Sikh leaders.
 Opened Khalsa schools and colleges in
Punjab.
 It preached worship of one God through
prayer and meditation. The movement
2. Namdhari or the Bhagat Jawahar Mal (Sain Sahib) in was politico-religious in nature and
Kuka Movement Punjab in 1840 Baba Ram Singh, aimed at preserving Sikh sovereignty.
greatest leader.
 It preached against the idol worship of
human Gurus and believed in the
3. Nirankari Baba Dayal Das (Punjab) formless God.
Movement  It disapproved of the worship of tombs
and graves.

 To purify the management of Sikh

Gurudwaras and liberate it from the
4. Akali Movement Started in 1920 by Akali leaders control of corrupt Mahants.
 Sectarian or regional but not communal.
 Participated in national struggle

Parsi Reform Movements

Rehnumai Mazdayasan Sabha (Bombay, 1851)
 The Western-educated progressive Parsis like Dadabhai Naoroji, J.B. Wacha, S.S. Bengali and Naoroji
Furdonji in 1851 founded the Rahanumai Mazdayasanan Sabha (Religious Reform Association).
 16

 Objectives:
 For the regeneration of the social condition of the Parsis
 Restoration of the Zoroastrian religion to its pristine purity.
 Reforms:
 The newspaper Rast Goftar spreaded the message of the reform movement.
 Rast Goftar ("The Truth Teller") was an Anglo-Gujarati paper operating in Bombay that was started
in 1851 by Dadabhai Naoroji and Khurshedji Cama and championed social reform among Parsis in
Western India.
 The Sabha criticised the elaborate ceremonies in marriage and funerals so it stood for uniform laws
of inheritance and marriage for the Parsi community.
 Improving the status of Parsi women in society.
 It challenged the Purdah system.
 It also advocated for an increase in the age of marriage and to support girl education.


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 26
Caste
Movements
 2

Caste Movements
Caste Movements:
 Next to the issue of women emancipation, the caste system became the second most important issue of social
reforms.
 The Shudras were subjected to all kinds of social discrimination.
 In the beginning of the 19th century the castes of India had been split into innumerable sub castes on the
basis of birth.
 In the meantime, a new social consciousness also dawned among the Indians.
 Mahatma Gandhi made the removal of untouchability a part of his constructive programme. He brought out
a paper, The Harijan, and also organised the Harijan Sevak Sangh.
 Dr. Bhimrao Amzbedkar dedicated his entire life for the welfare of the downtrodden.
 In Bombay, he formed a Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha in July 1924 for this purpose.
 Later, he also organised the Akhil Bharatiya Dalit Varg Sabha to fight against caste oppression.

Jyotiba Phule 1827 - 1890:

 Jyotiba Phule was born in a low caste, Mali family.
 He was a social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra.
 He studied books and scriptures and found out that the caste system reserved a lifelong slavery of Shudras.
 3

 He realised the principle of equality, completely rejected the caste system,

authoritarian family System and subordination of women, and rejected rituals
and subordinations.
 His views on the principle of rationality:
 He alleged that Vedas and Aryans had imposed caste system upon
Dravidians.
 He believed education is the only factor to liberate from this evil practice
of caste system.
 He accused Brahman responsible for keeping women uneducated and
slaves to men.
 He was also critical of the Indian National Congress for neglecting the
lower caste.
 Jyotiba Phule’s contribution:
 His work mostly aimed at securing social justice for the weaker section.
 He opposed untouchability, priestly or Brahmin domination, belief in social equality and uplift of
the lower castes by educating them.
 He opened a number of schools and orphanages for children and women.
 He worked on eradication of untouchability and the caste system and for his efforts in educating
women and oppressed caste people.
 He and his wife, Savitribai Phule, were pioneers of women's education in India.
 In 1851 Jyotiba Phule and his wife started a new Girl's school in Pune.
 In 1854 he was the first Indian to start a school for the untouchables.
 He played an important role in the widow remarriage movement in Maharashtra.
 He started Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873 to attain equal rights for the people of lower castes.
 He was elected as a member of the Poona Municipal committee in 1876.
 Sarvajanik Satyadharma and Gulamgiri were some of his prominent works.
 Jyotiba Phule’s aim was the complete abolition of the caste system and socio-economic inequalities.
 He opened a girls' school at Poona and pioneered widow remarriage in Maharashtra.
Satyashodhak Samaj:
 The Satya Shodhak Samaj was founded by Jyotiba Phule in 1873.
 The Samaj had a mission for education and increased social rights and political access for underprivileged
groups, focused especially on women, Shudras, and Dalits in Maharashtra.
 The organisation fought against upper caste domination and Brahminical hierarchy.
 It influenced the Peasant Revolts and the non-Brahman Movement.
 4

 The leadership of the samaj was provided by the people from backward classes.
 Its major aims were Social Services, Women’s education and education of lower caste.
 Jyotiba Phule’s aim was the complete abolition of the caste system and socio-economic inequalities.
 After the death of Phule it was revived in the early 20th century by the Maratha ruler of the princely state
of Kolhapur, Shahu Maharaj.
Awareness Through Printing Media:
 Deen Bandhu, 1877 in Pune: It was a Marathi Journal exposing the oppression attitude of Vedic traditions.
 Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873): It was a book by Phule expressing his views on the roots of Shudras slavery.
 Shetkaryacha Asud, 1881: It was a book which provided solutions to farmers and peasant problems.
 Isara, 1885: It was a pamphlet that published Jyotiba Phule's idea on economic concern of the agrarian
classes. He is credited to introduce the peasant class in Indian politics.
Other Published Work of Jyotibha Phule:
 Tritiya Ratna
 Brahmananche Kasab
 Powada : Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosle Yancha,
 Powada: Vidya Khatya Til Brahman Pantoji
 Manav Mahammand (Muhammad) (Abhang)
 Gulamgiri,
 Shetkaryacha Asud
 Satsar Ank
 Ishara
 Gramjoshya
 Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak
 Akhand Adi Kavya Rachna
 Asprushyanchi Kaifiyat
The Depressed Class Mission Society:
 It was founded by Vitthal Ramaji Shinde in 1906 at Bombay.
 It was launched by the Prarthana Samaj as an independent association to organize educational facilities
for lower castes.
 Aims of Depressed Classes mission were:
 To try to get rid of untouchability.
 To provide educational facilities to the untouchables.
 To start schools, hostels, and hospitals for the untouchables.
 To solve their social problems.
 5

Bahujan Samaj:
 It was founded by Mukundrao Patil in 1910 at Satara, Maharashtra.
 It opposed the exploitation of the lower caste by the upper caste Brahmins, landlords, merchants and
moneylenders.
Vitthal Ramji Shinde (1873-1944):
 He was one of the most important social and religious reformers in Maharashtra.
 His greatest contribution was to attempt to eradicate the practice of untouchability and bring about
equality to the depressed classes in Indian society.
 His early spiritual awakening came from his reading of Sant Tukaram, Sant Eknath and Sant Ramdas of
Maharashtra.
 He was selected by Prarthana Samaj to go to England in 1901, to study comparative religion at Manchester
College, Oxford.
 Contribution of Vitthal Ramji Shinde:
 In 1905 he established a night school for the children of untouchables in Pune.
 In 1906 he established the Depressed Classes Mission in (Bombay).
 In 1910 he founded Murali Pratibandhak Sabha.
 In 1912 he organised the Asprushyata Niwaran Parishad.
 In 1917 he succeeded in getting the Indian National Congress to pass a resolution condemning the
practice of untouchability.
 In 1919 he gave evidence before the Southborough Franchise Committee, asking for special
representation for the untouchable castes.
 In 1933 he published his book Bhartiya Asprushyatecha Prashna ("India’s untouchability
question").
B. R. Ambedkar (1891 -1956):
 He was born in Mahar (untouchable) caste at Mhow.
 His Educational Qualifications:
 He completed his Graduation from Elphinstone college.
 He did his Masters and Phd from Columbia University.
 He did another Phd from London School of Economics.
 He completed his Law degree from Grey’s inn.
 He was a Jurist by profession.
 He had experienced the worst form of casteist discrimination during his
childhood. He fought against upper caste tyranny throughout his life.
 He organised the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, while
several other leaders of the depressed classes founded the All-India
Depressed Classes Association.
 6

 Ambedkar condemned the hierarchical and insular caste system as a whole, and advocated the annihilation
of the institution of caste for the real progress of the nation.
 The struggle of the depressed classes led to the provision of special representation for these classes in the
Government of India Act, 1935.
 He resorted to methods of agitation and launched Satyagraha to establish the civic right of the untouchables
to enter the Hindu temples and draw water from public wells.
 He worked for the moral and material progress of the untouchables throughout his life.
 In July 1924, Ambedkar started an organization in Bombay called ‘Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha’
[Depressed classes institute] for the moral and material progress of the untouchables.
 In 1927 he founded Samaj Samata Sangh to preach social equality.
 He published Bahishkrit Bharat, a Marathi fortnightly and Janata, a weekly.
 In 1930 founded the Depressed Class Federation, entered national politics and raised the demand of the
sectoral electorate.
 He attended all 3 Round Table Conference (also Tej Bahadur Sapru) as official nominee which led to
communal award 1932 and ended with Poona Pact with Gandhiji.
 He formed the Independent Labour Party in 1936.
 He became a member of Bombay legislative Council in 1937.
 In April 1942, he founded the All Scheduled Caste Federation as an all-India party which was the
successor organization of the Independent Labour Party, later it evolved into a Republic Party of India.
 He served in the Governor General executive council as a member for labour.
 He formed the People's Education Society for teaching untouchables in 1945.
 Bhimrao Ambedkar was appointed the Law Minister in the Interim government and also the chairman of the
constituent Assembly Drafting committee.
 In 1956 he converted into Buddhism. Later, he announced that Scheduled castes would leave Hindu fold
altogether. He along with many followers embraced Buddhism.
 Mahad Satyagraha or Chavdar Tale Satyagraha was a satyagraha led by B. R. Ambedkar on 20 March
1927 to allow untouchables to use water in a public tank in Mahad (currently in Raigad district),
Maharashtra. The day (20 March) is observed as Social Empowerment Day in India.
 Literary work of B.R. Ambedkar:
 Castes in India
 Ambedkar in the Bombay Legislature, with the Simon Commission and at the Round Table
Conferences, 1927–1939
 Philosophy of Hinduism
 Riddles in Hinduism
 7

 Essays on Untouchables and Untouchability

 The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India
 The Untouchables Who Were They And Why They Became Untouchables?
 The Annihilation of Caste
 Who Were the Shudras?
 Pakistan or the Partition of India
 What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables; Mr. Gandhi and the Emancipation of the
Untouchables
 Ambedkar as member of the Governor General's Executive Council (1942–46)
 The Buddha and his Dhamma
Aruvippuram Movement:
 It started in 1888 when Sri Narayan Guru, despite belonging to the lower caste
installed an idol of Shiva in Aruvippuram (Kerala) to show that consecration
of god’s image is not the monopoly of the Brahmins.
 The event inspired a number of socio-religious reform movements especially the
Temple Entry Movement.
Non-Brahmin movement in Kerala:
 Shri Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam or the S.N.D.P. Movement.
 The movement was formed in 1902-23 at Kerala by Shri Narayan Guru, Dr.
Palpu and Kumaran Asan.
 Shri Narayan Guru was the leader of Ezhava caste (untouchable) and established SNDP.
 It opposed religious disabilities against lower castes, believed in social equality, attacked Brahmin
domination and worked for the upliftment of lower castes by educating them.
 It demanded free entry of the people of lower castes to the temples.
 The movement gave Two Point Programme to uplift Ezhavas:
1. Give up the practice of untouchability below their caste.
2. Built a number of temples and opened for all castes.
 He simplified the rituals regarding marriage, worship and funerals.
 He was successful in transforming the untouchable groups into a backward class and criticized the Congress
and Mahatma Gandhi for the lip sympathy towards the lower caste.
 He gave the slogan “One religion, One caste and One God for Mankind”.
 8

Temple Entry Movement:

 The seed of the movement was sown by Sri Narayan Guru in Kerala along with N Kumaran Asan and TK
Madhavan.
 In 1924 Vaikom Satyagraha led by K.P Kesava demanded throwing open of temples and roads to
untouchables.
 The satyagraha was joined by ‘jathas’ from Punjab and Madurai.
 Gandhi took a tour to Kerala to give his support to the movement.
 In 1931 the movement was organised again when the Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended.
 The Poet Subramaniam Tirumambu (singing sword of Kerala) led a group of 16 volunteers to
Guruvayur.
 P.Krishna Pillai and A.K Gopalan were among the Satyagrahis.
 Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25), led by K P Kesava was a movement in Travancore, against untouchability
in Hindu society.
 The movement was centered at the Shiva temple at Vaikom, near Kottayam.
 It aimed at securing freedom of movement for all sections of society through the public roads leading to the
Temple. Although it was not able to secure entry of lower castes in the temple but managed to open roads
around the temple for use.
Guruvayur Satyagraha, (1931):
 It started in 1931 in Kerala for the entry of untouchables inside the temple.
 The protest led by K. Kelappan (Kerala Gandhi); he did a 12-day long hunger strike of Kelappan attracted
attention.
 Temple Entry Proclamation, 1936
 As a result of protest, the Maharaja of Travancore proclaimed the temple open for all people without any
discrimination on the basis of caste.
 Temples in Malabar and the rest of Madras presidency felt its impact.
Self-Respect Movement in Tamil Nadu:
 Tamil texts like Pathupattu, Manimekalai and Silappatikaram portrayed the actual Dravidian civilization
which is different from Aryans and Sanskrit culture.
 It was also believed that Aryans brought a caste system. It was this rediscovered sense of distinct identity
which led to the rise of non-Brahmanical movements.
Justice Party:
 The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation (SILF) was a political party in the Madras
Presidency of British India.
 It was established in 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by
T. M. Nair, P. Theagaraya Chetty and Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal.
 9

 It claimed to represent the interest of all non-Brahman communities; it also included people from Muslim,
Christians and untouchables.
 The Party further broadened his vision to reform and regenerate non-Brahmanical society and culture. To
follow this vision leaders like Ramaswamy Naikar launched a separate Self-
Respect movement.
EV Ramaswamy Naicker (1879-1973):
 He opposed the caste system at his young age.
 He joined Congress in 1919 and in the year 1924 he became hero of Vaikom
Satyagraha.
 He abandoned Hindu mythology.
 In 1925 he started the Self-respect Movement.
 In 1927 broke off with Gandhi on Varnashrana dharma. His followers are called
(Thantai and Periyar).
 The causes of decline
 It was limited to upper class non-brahmin castes.
 The merging with justice changes the character of Periyar.
Self-Respect Movement:
 In 1925, it was started by E.V. Ramaswami Naicker also known as ‘Periyar’
in Madras (Tamil Nadu).
 The anti-Brahmin and Hindu Orthodoxy radical movement, which advocated
weddings without priests, forcible temple entry, total defiance of Hindu social
laws and also theism at times.
 Periyar and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressure the govt. to take measures to
remove the inequality, untouchability, manual scavenging system etc) even while other nationalist
forerunners focused on the struggle for political independence.
 The Self-Respect Movement was described from the beginning as "dedicated to the goal of giving non-
Brahmins a sense of pride based on their Dravidian past".
 Contribution of Ramasamy
 He criticised Brahminical domination and caste system.
 He alleged that religion is responsible for exploitation of the lower class and women.
 Rejected religion and scriptures as guiding principles of social organisation.
 He rejected Hinduism as an instrument of Brahmanical control.
 10

 He staged a protest against the imposition of Hindi on Dravidians.

 He supported non-brahmins to refuse the services of priests in various ceremonies (marriage) and
popularised the self-respect movement.
 He advocated the freedom of women and giving them equal rights, widow remarriage.
 In 1939 he was elected president of the Justice Party.
 C N Annadurai continued the movement.
 In 1944 renamed the Party as Dravida Kazhagham (Dravidian Federation).
 In 1949 the Party split into Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (Dravidian Progressive Federation).
 In 1962 Anna was elected to Rajya Sabha
 In 1967 DMK formed the government in Tamil Nadu and Annadurai as CM. He demanded greater
autonomy for states.
Non-Brahmin Movement in Karnataka
Vokkaligas and Lingayat Associations:
 During 1918 the non-brahmin movement was headed by the Vokkaligas and Lingayat association.
 A committee was formed headed by Sir Lesle Miller its recommendation was submitted to the government
and the government passed an order for an equitable representation.
 This non-Brahmin movement started inclining towards national movements and merged with Indian National
Congress and due to this non-Brahmin group began to lose and it converted into Backward classes
movements.
Vokkaligara Sangha:
 The anti-Brahmin movement in Mysore launched in 1905.
 The community organisation that was founded in 1986 in Bangalore.
 It aimed to promote the social, cultural and educational aspirations of the Vokkaliga community.
Self-respect movement in Andhra region:
Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary:
 He was born in Andhra region.
 He challenged the authority of sacred text.
 He supported emancipation of the women and the Shudras from the “slavery of Shashtra”.
 In his Kurukshetra Sangramam he explained that Kauravas were more upright than the Pandavas and
pandavas had no right to rule.
 In Sambuka Vadha explained the thoughts from Ramayana.

 Vivah Vidhi explained marriage rights in Telugu and this book talks about the ritual rule for shudras.
 11

Harijan Sevak Sangh:

 It was started in 1932 by Mahatma Gandhi at Pune.
 Gandhi founded All India Anti Untouchability League, to remove untouchability in
the society, which was later renamed.
 An all-India organization for the removal of untouchability and all social
discriminations against untouchables and other lower castes. To provide medical,
educational and technical facilities to untouchables.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 27
Political Awakening
 2

Political Awakening
Growth of Modern Political Ideas:
 Favoured by -
 Industrialization
 Urbanisation
 Print Capitalism
 Act of 1861-1892
 Responsible Factors:
 Impact of British rule
 Coming up with the idea of Nationalism and the right to self-determination.
 Political unity of India
 Establishment of peace and administrative unification of India
 Means of transport and communications
 Modern education
 Modern Press
 Rise of middle class
 Historical researches
 Contemporary European movements
 Socio-religious reforms
 Racialism
 Economic exploitation
 Lord Lytton
 Ilbert Bill controversy
Print Capitalism:
 It is a theory underlying the concept of a nation, as a group that forms an imagined community, that emerges
with a common language and discourse that is generated from the use of the printing press, proliferated by a
capitalist marketplace.
 Capitalist entrepreneurs printed their books and media in the vernacular (instead of exclusive script
languages) in order to maximise circulation.
Factors and Forces that led to the rise of the National Movement:
 Indian Nationalism was partly the product of a world-wide upsurge of the concepts of nationalism and
right of self-determination initiated by the French Revolution, partly the results of Indian Renaissance, partly
the offshoot of modernization initiated by the British in India and partly developed as a strong
reaction to British imperial policies in India."
 Impact of British Rule: Modern methods of rule to establish their stronghold on the country. Modernisation
came in this package along with the imperial character of the rule which struck at the hearts of Indians.
 3

 For the first time from the Himalayas to KanyaKumari and from Assam to Khyber Pass came under one rule.
This political unity gave the sense of unification of India. This was never seen before.
1. Peace, Administrative and Economic Unification under British rule played an important role in the
national awakening. Pax Britannica brought prolonged peace. Administration followed a system which did
not change with the change of power or officers.
 Indian civil services, unified judicial setup, and codified civil and criminal laws throughout the
country - All this helped in creating the political unity which supplemented the cultural unity which
was already existing in India.
 Britishers were successful in creating a state larger than those created by Mauryans and Mughals.
Pax Britannica (Latin for "British Peace", modelled after Pax Romana) was the period of relative peace between
the Great Powers during which the British Empire became the global hegemonic power and adopted the role of a
global police force.
 Unification helped in the following ways: The destruction of local self-sufficient economy and the
introduction of modern trade and industries on an all-India scale had increasingly made India’s
economic life a single whole and interlinked the economic fate of the people living in different parts of
country consequently, the economic crisis in one part of the country started being experienced in the
other parts also. The feeling of oneness generated a common set of grievances and prepared them for a
concerted action.
 According to A.R. Desai, modern means of transport were a formidable force in unifying the Indian
people. Better railways and posts and telegraphs made it possible for nationalist to meet at a place,
exchange their views and easily correspond with one another.
 Why were Britishers interested in developing the modern means of transport?
 The necessity of administrative convenience.
 Defend its territories in India from external forces.
 Urge for economic penetration and economic exploitation of India.
2. Economic Exploitation: Interests of all classes of Indian Society were hurt under the British rule. The
continuous drain of wealth from India resulted in Stagnation of the Indian economy. India came to be one
of the poorest countries of the world and had been reduced to a storehouse of raw material and a market
for manufactured goods. Periodical famines became a regular feature of Indian economic life. The export
of food grains even during famine years alienated even the most loyal supporters of the British regime.
3. Western Thought and Education: It played an important role in the birth and growth of Indian
Nationalism. The introduction and spread of English made it the lingua franca of the country and the
educated persons from different parts of the country began to understand each other well. The writings of
Rousseau, J.S. Mill Voltaire and political deeds of Mazzini, Garibaldi taught them the lessons of freedom
and patriotism.
 4

4. Contemporary European movements: It brought Nationalist ideas to India as well. Liberation movement
of Greece and Italy and especially Ireland influenced the nationalists.
5. Rise of new urban Middle class Intelligentia: They learnt English for employment and prestige. Because
of education and proximity to the rulers brought them to the forefront. This middle class also provided
leadership.
 According to Percival Spear, “The new middle class was a well-integrated all-India class with varied
backgrounds but a common foreground of knowledge, ideas and values.. It was a minority of Indian
society but a dynamic minority. It had a sense of unity of purpose and of hope.”
6. Socio-religious Movements: The organisation like Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj etc. brought Renaissance
in the country. It helped in bringing together different sections of the society by removing the social evils
which was the major cause of split in the society.
7. Role of Press: The latter half of the 19th century saw an unprecedented growth of Indian-owned English and
vernacular newspapers. Newspapers like the Indian Mirror, the Bengali, the Amrita Bazar Patrika, the
Hindu Patriot, Indu Prakash, The Kohinoor etc. created a strong public opinion against the excesses of
the colonial administration and played a significant role in mustering patriotism. The press also helped the
nationalists to convey their views easily to the masses. By 1875, there were 400 Indian owned newspapers.
8. The writings and researches of great scholars: Both European and Indian (like Sir William Jones, Max
Muller, Jacoby, R.D. Bhandarkar, H.P. Shastri, M.G. Ranade etc.) revealed the greatness of India’s past
which filled the people with a sense of pride. They began to look forward to an era when India would again
achieve her glory. The progressive character of socio-religious reform movements sought to remove social
evils which divided the Indian society, e.g., Raja Rammohan Roy.
Timeline of Events:
 1850: Lex Loci Act brought the right of converts to inherit ancestral property. [Caste disabilities removal
Act]
 1860: It imposed income tax, it reverberated with nationwide protest.
 1865: The imposed income tax was withdrawn.
 1867: Reimposed as certificate tax 1% on all trades and professions.
 1868: Converted to fall fledged income tax.
 1870: Increased rates by 3⅛% in 1870.
 After 1857: The establishment of universities in 3 Presidencies.
 1882: The Education became free enterprise
 Number of college students:
 1894: 18,571
 1874: 4499
 5

 Swami Dayanand, Swami Vivekananda etc. drew the attention of the Hindu society towards the
greatness of its ancient culture. The confidence so gained helped the nationalists to demolish colonial
myths that Indians were destined to be ruled by foreigners.
 There was also another aspect of British rule which aided the growth of Indian nationalism. They
practiced a form of hidden but universal apartheid. They considered Indians uncivilised and inferior.
Even the qualified Indians were not appointed to high posts. They called themselves the “master race”.
 However, the theory put forward by the European Scholars which suggested that the Indo-Aryans
belonged to the same ethnic group from which other European nations evolved gave the much-
needed psychological boost to the Indians. The confidence they gained fuelled the national movement.
9. The reactionary policies of Lord Lytton (1876-80): It further gave an impetus to national awakening.
 The maximum age limit for the I.C.S. examination was reduced from 21 years to 19 years, thus making
it impossible for Indians to compete for it.
 The magnificent Durbar at Delhi in 1877 to proclaim the assumption of imperial title by queen
Victoria, when the country was in the severe grip of famine, solicited the remark from a Calcutta
journalist that ‘Nero was fiddling while Rome was burning’.
 The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 imposed restrictions on newspapers and journals printed in Indian
languages.
Lord Lytton (1876-80)
 He was undoubtedly a "man of ideas".
 He was known in the literary world as "Owen Meredith" Poet. He was a good Novelist and Essayist.
 Lord Lytton was the nominee of the conservative government of Disraeli.
 To appease the Lancashire lobby, Lytton abolished import duties on 29 Articles and this made the
imports of British textiles cheaper into India.
 The Sea Customs Act of 1878 provided the basis for implementing the official
bias in favour of imports from Britain.
 The Royal Titles Act (1876) awarding Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-
e-hind (Queen Empress of India).
 The appointment of the Famine Commission (Strachey) in 1878 during the
period of Lord Lytton, which was reformed later.
 The Arms Act (1878) made it a criminal offence to keep an arm without
licence [3 years imprisonment/time/both/racial].
 The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 authorised the Post offices to search and siege any Vernacular writings
of seditious nature.
 Lytton proposed the closing of Covenanted Civil Services for Indians:
 6

 Age was reduced from 21 to 19.

 Proposed the plan of Statutory Civil Services (Abolished 8 years later).
 He provoked the Second Afghan War.
Timeline for Statutory Civil Services
 Charter Act of 1833: all offices in India were on the basis Merit.
 Charter Act of 1853: Covenanted Civil Services in London.
 In 1864, Satyendra Nath Tagore became the first Indian Civil Servant.
 Very few Indians were selected as Civil Servants.
 In the 1870s demand for at least 20% Indian representation came into the picture. However, Europeans
didn't want an Indian Civil Servant.
 1862-75: 40 Indians competed for the exam and only 10 selected.
 Lytton Proposed for Statutory Civil Services, where there will be a nomination from a noble family. He
reduced the maximum age to 19 years. However, later it was abolished.
Lord Ripon (1880-84)
 According to Lord Ripon "The duty of the age" is Democracy.
 He believed in every man's share in the government.
 According to him Self-government is the highest and noble principle.
 He said "Judge Me by my acts not by my words".
 He removed the Arms Act as it has some racial issues.
 He repealed the Vernacular Press Act in 1882.
 He enacted the first Factory Act (1881)
 Regulate and improve the condition of labour.
 In the case of factories with mechanical power, employing at least 100
employees.
 Prohibited employment of children below the age of 7 years.
 Working hours of Children between the ages 7-12 were too limited for a
maximum of 9 hours.
 Dangerous machinery should be fenced.
 Appointment of inspectors to monitor any discrepancies.
 He brought resolution on Local Self Government (1882). Thus, he was also known as the Father of Local
self-government.
 He appointed the Hunter commission on Education (1882).
 Resolution on land revenue policy.
 7

 Rendition of Mysore.
 Florence Nightingale gave him the title of "Saviour of India".
 He wanted to remove the disparity in judiciary, thus he brought the llbert Bill (1883-84).
 CP llbert was the law member.
Ilbert Bill Controversy
 The Ilbert Bill controversy also raised questions.
 Ripon's government sought to abolish the racial discrimination and wanted to empower Indian
magistrates to try European subjects.
 All the Europeans living in India strongly opposed this, Bill. Ripon had to modify the bill which almost
defeated the original purpose. But it made it amply clear that the British were deeply jealous and full of
hatred for Indians.
 This controversy compelled the people to take measures to have an all-Indian National congress, founded in
Dec. 1885, was the first organised expression of the Indian national movement on an all-India Scale. It had,
however, many predecessors.
Predecessors of the Indian National Congress:

Early political associations

Political Association in Bengal

 Contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy

 Rammohan Roy emerged as the great leader influenced by western ideas.
 His priority to the problems of Indian people made people believe him and associated with them. For
example- some benevolent provisions of the Charter Act of 1833 were his efforts.

Bangbhasha Prakashika Sabha 1836

 It was founded by the associates of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

 It was the first organised political association of India.
 8

 The organisation majorly worked for:

 reform of administrative association of Indians
 spread of education,
 pushing forward Indian demands to the British parliament.

Landholders’ Society (Zamindari Association) 1838

 It was the political organisation for zamindars.

 The founders were prominent zamindars of Bengal such as Bhabani Charan Bandyopadhyay;
Dwarkanath Tagore; Prasanna Kumar Tagore; Radhakanta Deb; Ramkamal Sen.
 They organised political activity and also made some constitutional approach.
 Their Demands were:
 promotion of landholders' interests
 securing a halt to the resumption of rent-free tenures
 extension of the permanent settlement of land all over India
 grant of lease of waste land to their occupants.
 demand for reform of the judiciary, the police and the revenue departments was also on its agenda.

William Adam - Christian Missionary

 In 1818 William Adam was working in Calcutta to master Sanskrit and Bengali.
 He was engaged in creating a translation of the New Testament in Bengali.
 He worked with Ram Mohan Roy and also a member of the Calcutta Unitarian Society (later eclipsed by
Brahmo Samaj)
 Later he returned to Britain.

British India Society 1839

 George Thompson was the head of the Society.

 The Society was founded in England with the efforts of William Adam (friend of Raja Ram Mohan Roy)
George Thompson (abolitionist), William Ednis, and Major General Briggs.
 After visiting Raja Ram Mohan Roy in India, returned to England, and formed the Society concerned about
ethical practice in India and from 1843 had a branch society in Bengal.
 The Society issued a newspaper ‘British Indian Advocate’ from 1841 edited by Professor William Adam.

Bengal British India Society 1843

 It was formed by George Thompson during his visit in India in 1843, with an objective to secure the
welfare, and advance the interests of all classes of Indian subjects by lawful and peaceful means.
 It includes the Young Bengal group.
 9

 The primary objective was to secure the welfare and advance the interests of all classes of Indian subjects by
lawful and peaceful means.
 It was the rival to Landholders society.
 The society was engaged in lobbying the bureaucracy and petitioning the government.
 The society also sent petitions urging the government for increasing employment of Indians in public
offices and for judicial reforms.
 Objective of Bengal British India Society:
 To collect and disseminate information relating to the actual condition of the people in British India.
 To employ peaceful and lawful means to secure the welfare and interest of all classes of citizens.
 But neither the Bengal British India Society nor the Zamindari Association could achieve much,
although in the growth of political parties in India they played pioneering roles. Both languished by 1850.
British Indian Association 1851
 It was created in 1851 in Bengal by combining the objectives of the "Landholders Society" (considered
as aristocracy of wealth) and "British India Society" (aristocracy of intelligence).
 The first President of the British Indian Association was Raja Radhakanta Deb, and secretary was
Debendranath Tagore.
 In 1852 its branches created:
 Bombay (Bombay Association).
 Madras (Madras Native Association).
 British Indian Association sent a petition to the British Parliament demanding:
 Establishment of a separate legislature of popular character.
 Separation of executive from judiciary.
 Reduction in salaries of higher officials.
 Abolition of salt duty, akbari and stamp duties.
 These demands were partially accepted in the Charter Act of 1853.
India League (1875)
 Indian League was founded by Sisir Kumar Ghosh with the aim of stimulating the sense of nationalism
amongst the people and promoting political education.
 It was superseded by The Indian Association.
Sisir Kumar Ghosh
 He was the founder of the Amrita Bazar Patrika, a noted Bengali language newspaper in 1868.
 He was one of the first batch of students who passed in the first entrance examination of the Calcutta
University in 1857.
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Indian Association 1876

 It is the first avowed nationalist organisation founded in British India by Surendranath Banerjee and
Ananda Mohan Bose.
 Their aim was:
 "promoting by every legitimate means the political, intellectual and material advancement of the
people".
 Its objective also included establishing contact with the masses, spreading awareness among them.
 S.N. Banerjee declared that it is based on the theme of united India derived from the inspiration from
Mazzini.
 The Association attracted educated Indians and civic leaders from all parts of the country and kept its annual
subscription fees low at 5 rupees.
 It later merged with the Indian National Congress.
 Objective:
 To create strong public opinion on political questions.
 To unify Indian people in a common political programme.
 It organised an all-India Civil Services agitation in 1877 against reduction of age limit. It also demanded
holding of simultaneous civil service exams in England and India and indianisation of higher civil services.
Indian Civil Service Agitation
In the year 1876, Lytton reduced the maximum age for appearing in ICS to 19 from 21. Indian Association led
pan-India agitation known as Indian Civil Service Agitation.

 It led a campaign against the 'Arms Act' and the 'Vernacular Press Act'.
 It sponsored an all-India conference in Calcutta in 1883 which was attended by more than 100 delegates
from different parts of the country.
 Thus, it can be called the forerunner of Indian National Congress (INC) as an all-India nationalist
organisation.
 In 1886, it merged with the Indian National Congress.
Political Association in Bombay:
Bombay Association 1852
 It was the first political organisation in the Bombay Presidency founded by Jagannath Shankarsheth in
1852.
 It includes the leaders like Sir Jamshedji Jejeebhoy, Naoroji Fursungi, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad, Dadabhai Naoroji
and Vinayak Shankarshet.
 Sir Jamshedji Jejibhai was the first president of the organisation.
 11

 It was created on the theme of British India Association of Calcutta.

 The primary objectives were to send suggestions and petitions to the government to advance Indian interest.
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha 1870
 It was a socio-political organisation 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.
 It was formed by S. H. Chiplunkar, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Ganesh Vasudev Joshi.
 It worked in association with Bombay Presidency Association and contributed to political consciousness.
 It was considered as a precursor to the Indian National Congress because it has shaped many prominent
leaders of national movements Bal Gangadhar Tilak is one of them.
Bombay Presidency Association 1885
 It was founded in 1885 by Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang, Badruddin Tyabji, and others.
 The reactionary policies of Lytton and the Ilbert Bill controversy led to the formation of The Bombay
Presidency Association.
Political Association in Madras:
 Madras Native Association 1857
 It is the branch of Indian Association of Calcutta expanded in Madras. It lost its relevance in 1857.
 Madras Mahajan Sabha 1884
 In the year 1884, M. Veeraraghavachariar, G. Subramania Iyer and P. Anandacharlu formed the
Madras Mahajana Sabha.
 P. Rangaiah Naidu was elected President of the Sabha in 1885.
 It demanded the legislative council and greater representation to Indians.
 In September 1885, the Sabha in collaboration with the Bombay Presidency Association and the
Indian Association, sent a delegation to England.
 12

Political Association in England

East India Association (1866)
 It was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1866 in collaboration with Indians and retired British officials in
London.
 It superseded the London Indian Society and was a platform for discussing matters and ideas about India,
and to provide representation for Indians to the Government.
 The Association's first President was Lord Lyveden.
Political Association before and after 1858
Before 1858 After 1858
 Concentrate on high class people.  Dominated by educated class.
 Dominated by wealthy landed gentry.  Gradual widening gap between educated Indian
 High Subscription fees and Britishers.
 Promoted their class interest  Idea of nationalism was present.
 Active in their province and less active in the rest  Political strength came from young enthusiast
of the country. nationalist intellectuals.
 Praising the colonial rule
 These organisations were narrow in their scope and functioning.
 They dealt mainly with local issues. But the time was now ripe for the formation of an all-India political
organisation.
 The need for some sort of concert and co-ordination between the activities of these associations began to be
widely felt and expressed.
 The Indian Association organised 'National Conference' in Calcutta in 1883 and 1885.
Indian National Conference:
 Indian National Conference refers to a series of conference sessions generally considered to be the
predecessor of Indian National Congress.
 Surendranath Banerjee and his Indian Association of Calcutta organised the Indian National Conference.
 In December 1883 the first meeting of the Indian National Conference was held in which representatives
from all over India were invited.
 Anand Mohan Bose was the President.
 The second meeting was held in December 1885.
 But it was eclipsed by the Indian National Congress.

 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 28
Moderates Era
1885 - 1905
 2

Moderates Era 1885 - 1905

Anand Mohan Bose:
 Anand Mohan Bose and Surendranath Banerjea founded a nationalist organisation called the Indian National
Association in 1876.

 He was the first Indian Wrangler (a student who has completed the third year of the Mathematical
Tripos with first-class honours) of Cambridge University.

 In 1878 along with Shibnath Shastri, Sib Chandra Deb, Umesh Chandra Dutta and others founded the
Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. He was elected its first president.

 In 1879, founded the Chhatrasamaj, the student's wing of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj movement.

 In 1879, he founded the City College, Calcutta, as an initiative by the movement.

 He was associated with the "Indian League" founded by Sisir Kumar Ghosh.

 He protested against the acts like Vernacular Press Act and Civil Services Act.

Issues and Political work taken up by Pre-Congress Associations

 Campaigns were organised:

 The campaign was against over imposition of licence Tax and abolishing Import duties.

 It was organised for the demand of Indianisation of government services.

 The campaigns for opposition to the Afghan war (1878-80) and against Lytton’s Afghan adventure.

 The campaigns against the Vernacular Press act (1878), Indian arms Act (disarming Indian) 1878
and the Plantation Labour and the Inland Emigration Act (1881-82).

 It was also for the right to join the volunteer corps.

 The campaign was also held in support of the Ilbert bill.

 Campaign in Britain to vote for pro-India party.

 The campaign was also launched against the reduction in maximum age for appearing in Indian Civil
services.

 For continuous campaign on the need for an all-India association.

 There was a need for a campaign to raise a national fund to promote political agitation in India as
well as in England.
 3

Evolution of INC:
 Bulk of Resentment Against Colonial Rule: Exploitation and atrocities from
British rule had made place for disaffection. All progress of society was
hampered, the lowest section of society peasants and tribal people were in
continuous revolt. British Policies were against the welfare of people.
 Emergence of Intelligentsia: The Failure of revolt, uprising exposed the lack of
leadership. Post 1857 a new educated class emerged which is also referred to as
professional class or English educated elite, intelligentsia. Their way of revolt
was ideological, their minds were full of modernity, pride of their past they
began to identify the evil intention of Britishers.
 Inclusion of Art and Culture and media: Including plays, magazines, newspapers, mass rally gained
immense popularity which make people attach personally and somewhere this develops a sense of pride and
affection which ultimately result in nationalism.
 For instance Neel Darpan by Dinbandu Mitra Portrayed the pain and deplorable condition of
farmers. Anand Math by Bankim Chandra portrayed the Sanyasi Rebellion.
 Political Association: The emergence of various political associations and their work on ground level efforts
to root out evil practices in society had won the confidence of people.
 Different Approach: Till 1857 princes, kings, and rebellions were engaged with the British directly but this
time political association was winning over colonial rule by legislation and getting fruitful results motivating
people to rely on political upfront.

Allan Octavian Hume (4th June 1829 – 31st July 1912):

 He was a British civil servant, political reformer, ornithologist and
botanist who worked in British India.
 He was the founder of the Indian National Congress.
 A.O. Hume wanted to provide a democratic, representational government
to Indians.
 He was active in questioning the British Policies in India.
 As an administrator, he established a juvenile reformatory and free open
school in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.
 His Epithet:
 Father of Indian National Congress.
 Father of Indian Ornithology.
 4

Background Work on Establishing Congress:

 The final shape to the idea of establishment of an all-Indian organisation was given by a retired British
member of the Indian Civil Service who had settled at Shimla, A.O. Hume.
 Having won the approval of the viceroy Dufferin, Hume issued a circular inviting his chosen friends and
associates to the proposed conference in Poona in the last Week of December, 1885. But fate deprived Poona
of the honour of hosting the first congress.
 An outbreak of cholera there forced the organisers to shift the venue to Bombay at the eleventh hour.
Indian National Congress:
 Indian National Congress was founded by the English [retd.] Civil Servant A.O. Hume.
 AThe first session took place at Bombay in 1885 and it was headed by WC Bonerjee and attended by 72
delegates.
 Hereafter, Indian National Congress met every year in December in different parts of the country.
 Its earlier name was Indian National Union.
 The Primary Objectives of Indian National Congress:
 Promoting a friendly relationship between nationalist political workers from various parts of the
country.
 Creation and strengthening of the feeling of national unity, regardless of caste, religion or province.
 Formulation and presentation of common demands before the government.
 Lastly, training and organisation of public opinion in the country.
 Fact about first Meeting of Indian National Congress:
 Venue: Bombay in December 1885.
 President: WC Bonerjee (He was the first Indian to contest the election for the British House of
common).

Selected Opinion about INC

 Lord Dufferin: “INC represents only microscopic minorities”.
 Lord Curzon: “The congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my great ambitions while in India, is to assist it
to a peaceful demise”.
 Aurobindo Ghosh: “Indian National Congress is a begging institute”.
 Bal Gangadhar Tilak: “Indian National Congress should distinguish between begging and claiming the
rights”.
● Bipin Chandra Pal: “Indian National Congress playing with bubbles”.
 5

Safety Valve Theory:

 Lala Lajpat Rai maintained that the Indian National Congress was organised to serve as a ‘Safety-Valve’
for the growing unrest in the country and strengthen the British Empire.
 In recent research, however, the safety-valve theory has been thoroughly discredited. Historians now
more or less agree that the story of seven-volumes of secret report was a fiction.
 If the Indians had convened such a body on their own, there would have been unsurmountable opposition
from the officials.
 In this context, Bipan Chandra has remarked, “If Hume and other English liberals hoped to use the Congress
as a Safety-valve, the Congress leaders hoped to use Hume as a lightning conductor. And as later
developments show, it was the Congress leaders whose hopes were fulfilled.”
 Safety Valve Theory originated in 1913 from William Wedderburn's biography of Hume.
 In 1878 there were 7 volumes of secret reports.
 A.O. Hume met Lord Dufferin, they both decided to establish Congress.
 The ‘Conspiracy theory’ was put forward by R.P. Dutt, he stated that the Indian National Congress was
born to forestall popular uprising.
 In 1950 this theory proved to be wrong, reports not found.
 Dufferin's put papers that were ordered to Governor of Bombay Lord Reay. They feared that they might start
something like Irish Home Rule Leagues.
 In 1888 Lord Dufferin stated the Indian National Congress as 'Microscopic minority'.
 A. O. Hume was a political liberal who tried to create something like Her Majesty’s Opposition. He had
supported Lord Ripon and had similar discussion regarding:
 Native Press Association (elected S.N. Banerjee as leader)
 Indian Association
 National Conference in Calcutta
 Nationalist Party concept was already in the air
 During this time various nationwide protests were already conducted.
 The weaknesses of 1885 meeting:
 It was a meeting with uneven representation.
 The meeting was a total exclusion of the non-elite.
 Bengal slipped from leadership.
 The Representation in 1885 meet –
 6

 Bombay 38
 Madras 20
 Informed at last moment the representatives: Bengal 4; NWFP + Awadh 7 and Punjab 3
⮚ Though Western lead over Zamindars.

Lord Dufferin:
 He served as ambassador to Imperial Russia from 1879 to 1881 and to the
Ottoman Empire from 1881 to 1884.
 He served as Governor General of India and Viceroy from 1884 to 1888.
 He advanced the cause of the Indian Nationalists greatly during his terms.
 During his tenure:
 Imperial Service Corps: He laid the foundations for the modern Indian
Army by establishing the Imperial Service Corps, officered by Indians.
 The formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 took place.
 Dufferin Report (1888), on the Conditions of the Lower Classes of Population in Bengal.
 He portrayed the plight of the poor in Bengal, and was used by nationalists to counter the Anglo-
Indian claim that British rule had been beneficial to the poorest members of Indian society.
 On the basis of the report, he recommended the establishment of provincial and central councils with
Indian membership, a key demand of Congress at that time.
 Burmese War: The third Burmese war led to annexation of the whole of Burma and Burmese ruler was
exiled to India.
Imperial Service Troops:
 The Imperial Service Troops were forces raised by the princely states of the British Indian Empire. All
Indians are led by Indian officers.
 They were available for service alongside the Indian Army when such service was requested by the British
government.
 In 1900, the total numbers were 18,000 men approx.
 They were routinely inspected by British army officers and generally had the same equipment as soldiers
in the British Indian Army.
 Panjdeh Incident or the Battle of Kushka (1885) were an armed engagement between Afghanistan and the
Russian Empire, there was a diplomatic crisis
 Britain prepared for war but both sides backed down and the matter was settled diplomatically.
 7

 Meanwhile, they were supported well by the Princely States.

 Although their numbers were relatively small, the Imperial Service Troops were employed in China and
British Somaliland in the first decade of the 20th century, and later saw action in the First World War and
Second World War.

Moderates era 1885-1905:

 The moderates strived for political and social reforms through constitutional methods.
 Their major demands:
 Indianisation of administration
 Separation of executive from judiciary
 Welfare of state
 Agricultural banks
 Social reform
 Education
 Direct struggle was not on their list.
 They tried to expose the economic exploitation of India and oppose such economic policies.
 They created a feeling of nationalism and a public opinion against imperialism.
 They created a great impact on social reforms and the Early National Movement.
 8

Moderate’s Approach:
 The important moderate leaders include Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah
Mehta, D.E Wacha, W.C Bonerjee and S.N Banerjee.
 Moderates were staunch believers in liberalism and moderate politics.
 They believed that British rule was in India’s interest.
 They never aimed at directly challenging the colonial rule but to bring it as
close as possible to the national rule.
 Their method of struggle is popularly known as 3P’s- Prayer, Petition and
Protest.
 They believed that the British wanted to be just to the Indians but were not
aware of the real conditions and if they made the British aware of the real condition they will act in a just
manner.
 To achieve this, they worked on two fronts:
1. Create a strong public opinion and educate and unite the masses on common political questions.
2. Persuade the British government to introduce the reforms laid out by them.
 In 1889, A British committee of Indian National Congress was established in London as its organ.
 Dadabhai Naoroji spent a substantial portion of his life and income campaigning for India’s cause abroad.
 Methods of Work: (earned them the name ‘Moderates’)
 Constitutional agitation within the four walls of the law
 Slow, orderly political progress
 Presentation of public demands through resolutions, petitions, meetings etc.
 Educating Indian public opinion and British public opinion

Dadabhai Naoroji:
 He was known as the “Grand Old man of India”.
 In 1866, he founded the East India Association in London to raise the issues of India.
 He formed Rehnumai Mazdayasan Sabha and Rast Goftar was the mouthpiece of it.
 He became a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, representing Finsbury
Central between 1892 and 1895.
 He was the second Asian to be a British Member of Parliament.
 9

 The first Anglo-Indian as well as Asian descent Member of British Parliament was David Ochterlony
Dyce Sombre.
 He wrote “Poverty and Un-British rule in India” which propounded drain theory.
⮚ It was the main reason behind the creation of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure in 1896.
 He was the active congress leader of moderates’ faction and held presidentship for max times i.e., 3 times –
1886; 1893 and 1906.
 He was the first to use the term Swaraj in session in 1906.
 Major works:
 He started the Rast Goftar, an Anglo-Gujarati Newspaper in 1854.
 The manners and customs of the Parsees (Bombay, 1864).
 The European and Asiatic races (London, 1866).
 Admission of educated natives into the Indian Civil Service (London, 1868).
 The wants and means of India (London, 1876) Condition of India (Madras, 1882).
 Poverty of India.
 A Paper Read Before the Bombay Branch of the East India Association, Bombay, Ranima Union Press,
(1876).
 Lord Salisbury's Blackman (Lucknow, 1889).
 The Parsee Religion (1861).
 Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1902).

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915):

 He was the Political Guru of Gandhi and Jinnah.
 He was widely viewed as a political leader of the Indian
nationalist movement, but was mainly a social reforms leader;
 He believed such reforms would be best achieved by
working within existing British government
institutions, a position which earned him the enmity of
more aggressive nationalists such as Tilak.
 Undeterred by such opposition, Gokhale would work
directly with the British throughout his political career to
further his reform goals.
 He graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884.
 10

 He had a great influence on the social works of Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade in his life. Also called as
‘Protégé Son’ i.e., Manas Putr.
 Also, he was inspired by the admirers of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke.
 In 1899 he was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council.
 In 1901, he was elected to the Imperial Council of the Governor-General of India, and again on 22 May 1903
as non-officiating member representing Bombay Province.
 He was the founder of Servants of Indian society for the expansion of Indian education.
 In 1905 presided over the Benaras session of Indian National Congress and condemned the Partition of
Bengal.
 He rejected the title of knighthood and refused to accept a position in the Council of the Secretary of
State for India.
 His last public duty was to serve as a member of the Indian Public Service commission (1912-1915).

Pherozeshah Mehta (4 August 1845 – 5 November 1915):

 He was known as ‘The Lion of Bombay' and 'Uncrowned King of Bombay'.
 Pherozeshah Mehta was a Parsi politician and lawyer from Bombay.
 When the Bombay Presidency Association was established in 1885, Mehta
became its president, and remained so for the rest of his years.
 He encouraged Indians to obtain western education and embrace its culture to
uplift India.
 He contributed to many social causes for education, sanitation and health care in
the city and around India.
 He was one of the founding members and President of the Indian National
Congress in 1890 held at Calcutta.
 He was knighted by the British for his service to the law.
 He became the Municipal commissioner of Bombay Municipality in 1873 and its President four times –
1884, 1885, 1905 and 1911, also served as a member of Bombay's Municipal Corporation for six years.
 In 1910, he started ‘The Bombay Chronicle’, an English weekly newspaper, which became an important
nationalist voice of its time, and an important chronicler of the political upheavals of a volatile pre-
independent India.
 In the Presidential Address – Pherozeshah Mehta I.N.C. Session, 1890, Calcutta stated:
 11

 “All movements of the kind in which we are concerned pass through several phases as they run their
course. The first is one of ridicule. That is followed, as the movement progresses, by one of abuse, which
is usually succeeded by partial concession and misapprehension of aim, accompanied by warnings against
taking ‘big jumps into the unknown’.
 The final stage of all is a substantial adoption of the object of the movement, with some expression of
surprise that it was not adopted before. Well, gentlemen, we have pretty well passed the first two stages.
We have survived the ridicule, the abuse, and the misrepresentation.
 We have survived the charge of sedition and disloyalty. We have survived the charge of being a
microscopic minority. We have also survived the charge of being guilty of the atrocious crime of being
educated, and we have even managed to survive the grievous charge of being all Babus in disguise.”

Kadambini Ganguly:
 Kadambini Ganguly was one of the first Indian female doctors who practised
with a degree in modern medicine.
 She was the first Indian woman to practise medicine in India.
 Kadambini Ganguly was the first woman to gain admission to Calcutta
Medical College in 1884.
 She was the first woman speaker in the Indian National Congress.
 She along with Chandramukhi Basu were the first two female graduates from
India.
Drawbacks of the Moderates:
 They failed to reach the masses.
 Their influence was limited to the educated elite class.
 Somewhere they felt that Britishers presence was necessary for the modernisation of India.
 There was widespread dissatisfaction among the extremists and people.
Achievements of Moderates:
Economic Critique:
 The most significant historical contribution of the moderates was that they offered an economic critique of
colonialism. It was done by the moderate leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, R.C Dutt and D.E Wacha.
 They made an intensive study of all the aspects of contemporary colonial economic exploitation and arrived
at the conclusion that the sole objective of British economic imperialism was to establish the control of the
British economy over the Indian economy.
 12

 They complained of India’s growing poverty and economic backwardness. Dadabhai Naoroji declared that
the British rule was “an everlasting, increasing, and every day increasing foreign invasion,” that was “utterly,
though gradually, destroying the country.” Drain theory was the key theme of this economic critique of
colonialism.
 Moderates argued that British rule has transformed a self-sufficient Indian economy into a Colonial.
 Economy where it has become a supplier of raw materials, food stuffs and importer of finished goods- which
is continuously driving India into poverty.
 They were successful in creating All-India public opinion on this.
Constitutional Reforms:
 Condition of Legislature: The imperial legislative council formed under the Indian council Act 1861 was an
impotent body with no real power. Its purpose was to disguise official measures as having been passed by the
legislature.
 Apart from a few intellectuals such as Syed Ahmed Khan, Kristodas Pal, V.N Mandlik, K.L Nulkar
and Rashbehari Ghosh, those who were nominated to the legislative council were mostly the wealthy
and loyalists.
 From 1885-1892 the demands made by nationalists were centred around two aspects:
 Council Expansion: There was a greater participation of Indians.
 Council Reforms: More power and control over finances.
 Under the pressure of the early nationalists, the British parliament passed the Indian councils Act in
1892.
 However, the reforms failed to satisfy the nationalists. Now they demanded:
 Majority of elected Indians in the Council.
 Control over budget: Power to vote and amend. They gave the slogan ‘No taxation without
representation’
 Dadabhai Naoroji, G.K Gokhale and B.G Tilak went one step further and demanded self-government on
the lines of self- governing colonies in Australia and Canada.
 Although the council was impotent, the Nationalists were able to use it effectively, turning into a platform for
ventilating popular grievances, exposing defects in governance and raising basic economic issues.
Administrative Reforms:
 The early nationalists also worked incessantly for the reforms of an administrative system ridden with
corruption, inefficiency and oppression.
 Their major demands with respect to administrative reforms included:
 13

 Indianization of the higher grades of the administrative services on economic, political and moral
grounds.
 Separation of the Judiciary from Executive.
 They demanded for a Police reform.
 They opposed the aggressive foreign policy against India’s neighbours.
 They urged the opening of agricultural banks to provide loans to the farmers at the low rate of interest.
 They called for an increase in welfare expenditure and gave special focus on elementary education,
irrigation works, etc.
 They also demanded the better treatment of Indian labourers abroad in other British colonies.
Civil Reforms:
 The early nationalists were conscious of achievements and the need for civil rights. They put up a strong
defence of modern civil rights, namely, the freedoms of speech, the press, thought and association whenever
the government tried to curtail them.
 They were successful in making the public conscious about their civil rights. It was the result of this that
the arrest of Tilak and several journalists in 1897 and deportation of Natu Brothers without trial led to huge
public outrage.
 However, very few of the reforms for which the early nationalists agitated were introduced by the
government. But we cannot declare them as failures. Their record is quite bright if the immediate difficulties
of the task they had undertaken are kept in view.

Evaluation of the Early Nationalists (Moderates) – 1885-1905:

 Moderate politics remained quite limited in nature.
 Ashwini Kumar Datta described the congress as a “Three days tamasha”.
 Bipin Chandra Pal mocked it as a ‘begging institution’.
 Tilak said that “Indians could not achieve any success if we croak once a year like a frog.”
 Lord Dufferin also remarked at the St. Andrew’s Day dinner at Calcutta in November 1888 that Congress
represented only a “microscopic minority” of the Indian people.
 Role of Masses:
 In the era of moderate politics, the role played by masses was more or less Passive.
 Moderate leaders had no faith in the masses. They felt that masses were in general ignorant and
possessed conservative ideas.
 They believed that masses, which were divided into numerous divisions and sub-divisions, had to be
welded into one nation before they entered the political sphere.
 14

 They failed to realise that it was only during the freedom struggle and political participation, the masses
were to come together.
 Lack of a mass base prevented moderates from taking a strong position against the British Govt.
 But, according to Bipan Chandra, “the period from 1858 to 1905 was the seed time of Indian Nationalism
and the early nationalists sowed the Seeds Well and Deep. In spite of their many failures, the early
nationalists laid strong foundations for the national movement to grow upon and that they deserve a high
place among the makers of modern India.”
 They were able to create a national awakening with all Indians having a common interest.
 They made the Indians rally around a common programme against a common enemy i.e., British and thus
generated a feeling of belonging to one nation.
 They popularised modern ideas and trained people with political work.
 Most importantly they created a solid base for the upcoming militant and mass-based national movement.
More Achievements:
 The Public Service Commission established in 1886 also called Aitchison Commission, under Lieutenant
Governor (Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison) of Punjab by Lord Dufferin.
 Recommendations:
 Statutory Service to be abolished.
 Examination to be held in Britain only.
 Recommendations for strengthening Provincial Services.
 Indians also get employed in public service.
 Indian Councils Act of 1892 was also passed.
 The resolution in the House of commons for simultaneous examinations of ICS in London and India 1893 but
not implemented.
 The appointment of the Welby Commission on the matter of Indian expenditure in 1895.
 The Royal Commission on the Administration of Expenditure of India was set up to look into Indian
expenditures.
 The Membership included Lord Welby, Lord Chaman and T.R. Buchanan as Parliamentary
representatives, and William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, and William S. Caine as representatives
of Indian interests.
 This improved the economic condition of India by reducing excessive expenditure.
 The Drain theory was propounded by Dadabhai Naoroji, RC Dutta and Dinshaw Wacha.
 15

Issues:

 There was no concrete output from the moderates.

 The Moderates also had no mass popularity.

 The extremist faction already was in the pipeline and were annoyed.

 There was a rise of Education and unemployment during this phase.

 International events like the rise of Japan, and the defeat of Italy by Ethiopia.

 All these events brought the moderate era towards its ends.

 And the extremists took over the command of congress.

Sir William Wedderburn:

 He was the Congress President in both the Bombay Session, 1889, and Allahabad Session, 1910.

 Sir William Wedderburn was born in March 1838 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 In 1859 Wedderburn appeared for the Indian Civil Service examination.

 He left for India in 1860 and began official duty at Dharwar as an Assistant Collector. He was appointed
Acting Judicial Commissioner in Sindh and Judge of the Sadar Court in 1874. In 1882 he became the District
and Sessions Judge of Poona. At the time of his retirement in 1887, he was the Chief Secretary to the
Government of Bombay.
 16

 During his service in India, Wedderburn's attention was focussed on famine, the poverty of the Indian
peasantry, the problem of agricultural indebtedness and the question of reviving the ancient village
system. His concern with these problems brought him in touch with the Indian National Congress.

 After his retirement, Wedderburn threw his heart and soul into it. He presided over the fourth
Congress held in Bombay in 1889.

 He entered British Parliament in 1893 as a Liberal member and sought to voice India's grievances in the
House. He formed the Indian Parliamentary Committee with which he was associated as Chairman
from 1893 to 1900.

 In 1895, represented India on the Welby Commission (i.e., Royal Commission) on Indian Expenditure.

 He also began participating in the activities of the Indian Famine Union set up in June 1901, for
investigation into famines and proposing preventive measures.

 He came to India in 1904 to attend the 20th session of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, which
was presided over by Sir Henry Cotton.

 He was again invited in 1910 to preside over the 25th session.

 He remained the Chairman of the British Committee of the Congress from July 1889 until his death.

 As a liberal, William Wedderburn believed in the principle of self - government.

 Along with the founders of the Indian National Congress, he believed in the future of India in partnership
with the British Commonwealth and welcomed the formal proclamation made by the British Government
on 20 August 1917, that the goal of British policy in India was the progressive establishment of self-
government.

 Wedderburn's main contribution to the promotion of national consciousness was his life - long labour on
behalf of the Indian Reform Movement.

 The Montagu - Chelmsford Reforms were regarded by him as the crowning glory of his life's work.
“What are the practical objects of the Congress movement? They are to revive the national life, and to
increase the material prosperity of the country; and what better objects could we have before us? Lastly,
as regards our methods, they are open and constitutional, and based solely on India's reliance upon British
justice and love of fair play.” From the Presidential Address - William Wedderburn I.N.C. Session, 1889,
Bombay.
 17

Important Congress Session from 1885 - 1903

No. Name of President Year Place What to remember?

1. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee 1885 Bombay

2. Dadabhai Naoroji 1886 Calcutta

3. Badruddin Tyabji 1887 Madras Appeal made to Muslims to join hands with
other national leaders.

4. George Yule 1888 Allahabad First English President

5. William Wedderburn 1889 Bombay

6. Pherozeshah Mehta 1890 Calcutta

7. Anandacharlu 1891 Nagpur

8. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee 1892 Allahabad

9. Dadabhai Naoroji 1893 Lahore

10. Alfred Webb 1894 Madras

11. Surendranath Banerjee 1895 Poona

12. Rahimtulla M. Sayani 1896 Calcutta National song “Vande Mataram” sung for the
first time by Rabindranath Tagore.

13. C. Sankaran Nair 1897 Amravati

14. Anand Mohan Bose 1898 Madras

 18

15. Romesh Chunder Dutt 1899 Lucknow Demand for permanent fixation of land
revenue

16. N. G. Chandavarkar 1900 Lahore

17. Dinshaw Eduji Wacha 1901 Calcutta First time Gandhiji appeared on the Congress
platform

18. Surendranath Banerjee 1902 Ahmedabad

19. Lalmohan Ghosh 1903 Madras

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 29
Moderates Achievements
and Lord Curzon
 2

Moderates Achievements and Lord Curzon

The Crown’s Rule (1858-1947)
Background before the Act for the better Government of India 1858
 Charter Act of 1853
 The East Indian Company was to retain the territories and the revenues in India
in trust for the Crown not for any specified period.
 It was only until parliament should otherwise direct.
 Crisis of 1857
 It provided the opportunity for transferring control from the company to
the Crown.
 Lord Palmerston introduced the Bill for Better Government of India in the
House of Commons in February 1858.
 Ministry was changed in the second reading:
 Lord Derby, was the then UK Prime Minister.
 Disraeli as the chancellor of the exchequer succeeded.
 Disraeli introduced a new Bill.
 The Act for the Better government of India was passed.
 The Royal assent was received on August 2, 1858.
Features of the Act for the Better government of India or the Government of India Act, 1858
 It was known as the Act for the Good Government of India.
 It abolished the East India Company.
 It transferred the powers of government, territories and revenues to the British Crown.
 India was to be governed by and in the name of her majesty.
 It ended the system of Double Government introduced by Pitt's India Act of 1784
 The Crown to appoint a Governor-General and the Governors of the Presidencies.
 The Secretary of State for India (member of the British Cabinet as well).
 The Board of Control and the Court of Director was abolished.
 It created a new office of the Secretary of State.
 The Crown vested with complete authority and control over Indian administration
Communication channel of the Administration:
 A 15-member council of India [India Council].
 It is an advisory body.
 Its chairman was the secretary of state.
 It served in India min 10 years
 not away max 10 years
 3

 The appointment to covenanted civil services were to be made by open competition under the rules
laid down by the sec. of state with the help of civil service commissioners.
 The Governor- General of India became the Viceroy of India.
 He was the Direct representative of the crown in India,
 Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India.

Other major changes:

 No interference in religion
 Reorganisation of the army under the Jonathan Peel Commission.
 Policy towards Princely states with respect to Subordinate Union.
Acts after 1858:
 The Indian Councils Act 1861
 The Indian Councils Act 1892
 The Indian Councils Act 1909
 The Government of India Act 1919
 The Government of India Act 1935
 The Indian Independence Act 1947
Indian Councils Act 1861:
 Title
 An Act to make better Provision for the Constitution of the Council of the
Governor General of India, and for the Local Government of the several
Presidencies and Provinces of India, and for the temporary Government of
India in the event of a Vacancy in the Office of Governor General.
 The Act of 1858 brought changes in the Home Government.
 There was certain problem with the statements:
 Closer contacts with the Indian public opinion. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
was also vocal about this.
 The Charter act of 1833 legislation had been centralized in nature.
 The legislative council became a small parliament.
 Features:
 The Act added to the Viceroy's Executive council a fifth member who was to be a gentleman of legal
profession, i.e., a jurist rather than a technical lawyer.
 4

 The Act empowered the Viceroy to make rules for the more convenient transaction of business in
the council. This power was used by Lord Canning to introduce the portfolio system in the
Government of India.
Similar Provision in Constitution of India:
 Article 77 talks about the Conduct of business of the Government of India
1. All executive action of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the
President.
2. Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the President shall be authenticated in
such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the President, and the validity of an order or
instrument which is so authenticated shall nor be called in question on the ground that it is not an order
or instrument made or executed by the President.
3. The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the
Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.
 The Act also empowered the viceroy to issue ordinances, without the concurrence of the legislative
council, during an emergency. The span of the ordinance was 6 months.
Similar Provision in Constitution of India:
 Article 123 in The Constitution of India 1949
 Article 123 mandates the Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament.
1. If at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that
circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such
Ordinance as the circumstances appear to him to require
2. An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament,
but every such Ordinance.
 “Shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six
weeks from the …”

 Additional 6-12 legislative members were nominated by the Governor General.

 At least half should be non-official [50%].
 The beginning of representative institutions by involving the Indians in the law-making process.
 The viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members of his expanded council for a
term of 2 years.
Lord Canning (1858 – 1862)
 1862: Lord Canning nominated three Indians to his legislative council, the Raja of Benaras, the Maharaja of
Patiala and Sri Dinkar Rao.
 No statutory provisions for admission of Indians but in practice some of the non-officials seats
were offered to ‘natives of high rank’.
 5

 Process of decentralization by restoring the

legislative powers of the Bombay and Madras
Presidencies.
 This way it reversed the centralizing tendency that
started from the Regulating Act of 1773 and reached
its climax under the charter act of 1833.
 No laws would be valid unless assent given by the
Governor General.
 In certain matters like PnT, naval, military, currency,
prior approval is mandatory.
 It provided for the establishment of new legislative
councils for
 Bengal 1862
 North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) 1886
 Punjab 1897
 Function of the new councils were confined mainly to legislation.
 It expressly forbidden to transact any business except the consideration and enactment of
legislative measures before them.
 It could not entertain any motion except a motion for leave to introduce a bill or having
reference to a bill actually introduced.
 They could not inquire into grievances.
 They can’t Call for information or examine the conduct of the executive.
 The acts of administration could not be impinged nor were they to be defended in such
assemblies.
 Thus, the conduct of administration including all matters connected with finance remained under
the exclusive purview and control of the wholly official executive councils.
Assessment of the Act of 1861:
 Gradual construction and consolidation of the mechanical framework of the government.
 The three separate presidencies were brought into a common system.
 The legislative and administrative authority of the Governor-General-in-council was asserted over all the
provinces.
 The principle of identifying local needs.
 There was no attempt to demarcate the jurisdiction of the central and local legislatures.
 To conclude, no way established representative government in India on the model prevalent in England or
England's White colonies, in the functioning of the house of commons or the colonial representative
assemblies there were no limitations on the discussion of financial matters and taxation as provided for
in the Act of 1861.
 6

 Legislative Council at Centre

 Strictly limited to legislation
 No control over finances
Indian Councils Act 1861:

 It was nominated by Governor General | 2 years term | >=½ non officials.

 There were no statutory provisions for admission of Indians but in practice some of the non-officials seats
were offered to ‘natives of high rank’.
 The Legislative council at centre was strictly limited to legislation and would have no control over finances.
Viceroy's Executive Council:
 Secretary of State for India - 3 members.
 Queen - 2 members.
 It took charge of a separate department: home, revenue, military, law, and finance.
 The military Commander-in-Chief sat in with the council as an extraordinary member.
 The Viceroy was allowed, under the provisions of the Act, to overrule the council on affairs if he deemed it
necessary.
 In 1869, it gave the power to appoint all five members to the Crown.
 In 1874 a new member was added to be in charge of public works.
 So after 1874 there were 6 members in the executive council.
Acts after 1858:
 The Indian Councils Act 1861
 The Indian Councils Act 1892
 The Indian Councils Act 1909
 The Government of India Act 1919
 The Government of India Act 1935
 The Indian Independence Act 1947
 7

Indian Councils Act 1892 :

 The Indian Councils Act, 1892 was also known as the Lord Cross Act.
 The Conservative Ministry in England at the instance of Lord Cross,
Secretary of state of India, introduced in 1890 a bill in the House of Lords
on the basis of these proposals but it proceeded at a slow pace and was passed
only two years later.
 It exclusively deals with Legislative councils in India Powers, functions and
composition.
 Features of the Act of 1892
 With regards to the central legislature, the Act provided that the number
of additional members must not be less than 10 or more than 16.
 Also, it was subject to the approval of the Secretary of state in council.
 The Governor-General was to make regulations under which the nomination of the additional members
was to be made.
Lord Lansdowne (1888 – 1894)
 1891: The Age of consent act in which the marriage of girls below 12 years old is prohibited.
 1891: Factory Act amendment took place.
 1893: Setting up of Durand Commission (India-Afghanistan)
 The act also provided that two-fifths of the total members of the council were to be non-officials
who were to be partly nominated and partly elected.
 One of the significant features of the Indian Councils Act of 1892 was the principle of election.
 The process was described as a nomination made on the recommendation of certain bodies.
 8

 Universities,
 District boards,
 Municipalities,
 Zamindars,
 Trade bodies
 Chambers of commerce
 Above were empowered to recommend to provincial councils.
 The rights of the members of the legislatures were also increased.
 They were now entitled to express their views on financial statements which were henceforth to be
made on the floor of the legislature and give necessary suggestions for increasing or decreasing
revenue and expenditure.
 Although they were not empowered to move resolutions or divide the house in respect of any
financial question.
 However, they were empowered to put questions within certain limits to the Government on
matters of public interest after giving a notice of 6 days.
 With regards to the provincial legislatures: The Act increased the number of additional members
 Bombay and Madras - 8-20
 Bengal - 20 max
 NWFP and Oudh - max 15
Assessment of the Act of 1892:
 It questions the executive.
 It gave some powers over financial accounts and a budget. For ex - The general observation on the budget
and give necessary suggestions.
 The eminent Indian leaders now found their way in the legislatures. E.g.,
 Gopal Krishna Gokhale
 Asutosh Mookherji
 Ras Bihari Ghosh
 Surendra Nath Banerjee
Criticism:
 The critics pointed out that the system of election in the Act was a roundabout one.
 It was only a nomination.
 The government can accept or reject the nomination.
 Functions of the legislative councils.
 There were no provisions of supplementary questions.
 Any question could be disallowed and no remedy against it.
 The rules of elections were termed as unsatisfactory because several classes were over represented
while others did not get any representation at all.
 9

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 30
Lord Curzon and the Rise
of Extremism
 2

Lord Curzon & Rise of Extremism

Lord Curzon (1899-1905):
❖ He had travelled around the world such as Russia and Central Asia; Persia; Siam, Korea and Afghanistan
and Pamirs.
❖ He published several books describing central and eastern Asia and related policy issues.
❖ He also explored the source of the Amu Darya (Oxus).
❖ He knew the problems of Asia and their implications for British India.

Status of India before arrival of Curzon

❖ Famine and plague Outbreak (1896-97)
❖ Downfall of revenue
❖ Malfunctioning of Administration

Administrative Reforms under Curzon:

❖ Police
❖ Education
❖ Economic
❖ Judiciary
❖ Army
❖ Calcutta Corporation Act
❖ Indian Monuments Act
Administrative Reforms Police Commission 1902:
❖ Sir Andrew Fraser was appointed to oversee the police administration.
❖ He increased the salaries and strength in all provinces.
❖ He established training schools for officers and constables.
❖ He directed the recruitment in higher ranks.
❖ He set up a provincial police service.
❖ He created a central department of criminal intelligence under a director with subordinate departments.
Reforms in Education:
❖ Lord Curzon appointed a Universities Commission under the Chairmanship of Sir Thomas Raleigh after a
Round Table Conference at Shimla. Mr. Syed Hussain Bilgrami and Sir Gurudas Banerjee also were
included as members of the Commission.
❖ The report of this Commission came out in 1904. The government accepted the recommendations of the report
and the Indian Universities Act was passed in 1904. Secondary and primary education was precluded.
❖ This act, in fact, aimed at tightening the government control over the educational institutions. It increased
the number of nominated members and reduced those of elected ones.
❖ In fact, this act reveals fully the policy of centralization followed by Lord Curzon and was in a large measure
responsible for his unpopularity.
 3

1. Universities were to make provision for:

➢ The promotion of study and Research
➢ The appointment of university professors and lecturers
➢ To setup University labs and libraries and
➢ To undertake direct instructions of students.
2. Number of fellows of a universities shall be:
➢ Number was restricted to 50-100.
➢ Normally hold office for a period of 6 years instead of for life.
➢ Most of the fellows are nominated by the government. (Calcutta, Mumbai and Madras- 20 each | Others
15)
3. The Governor control over the universities were further increased:
➢ To veto the regulations passed by the Senate of a University.
➢ The Government can make additions alterations in the regulations framed by the Senate and
➢ Even frame regulations itself over and above the head of the Senate.
4. Stricter conditions of affiliations for the private colleges were laid along with periodical inspection. The
private colleges were required to keep a proper standard of efficiency; government approval was necessary for
grant of affiliation or disaffiliation of colleges.
5. The Governor general in Council could define the territorial limits of a university or decide the affiliation
of colleges to university.
Economic Reforms:
❖ Famine took place in Bengal and Bihar during 1899 to 1900.
❖ To oversee the condition, a Famine Commission under Sir Anthony MacDonnell was appointed.
❖ The relief reported was excessive.
❖ The Commission recommended:
➢ Administration of relief under Famine code.
➢ Suggested some preventive measures:
➢ Suspension and remission of land revenue.
➢ Agricultural banks for loans.
➢ Advance payment by the government.
➢ Indebtedness in Bombay Presidency.
➢ Agricultural Development:
▪ The Railways may be good for famine relief, but irrigation is good for famine prevention.
➢ The payment by the Task Force for able-bodied people.
❖ The rate of salt-tax was reduced by Curzon, from two-and-a-half rupees per maund (1 maund is equal to
approximately 37 kg) to one-and-a-third rupees per maund.
❖ Development of Railways
➢ Expert hired- Thomas Robertson.
 4

❖ The Department of Commerce and Industry was formed and they look after:
➢ The industrial and commercial interest.
➢ Railways
➢ Mines
➢ Ports
➢ Marines
➢ Factories
➢ PnT
Land Revenue:
❖ The New resolution took place on 16 January 1902.
❖ There was a greater elasticity in revenue collection.
❖ There was a reduction if the crop failed.
❖ Gradual increase of revenue if there is an increase in demand.
Irrigation 1901 Commission - Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff:
❖ The additional expenditure is 4.5 CR over 20 years.
❖ The Jhelum Canal was completed.
❖ Digging started for upper Jhelum, upper Chenab and Lower Bari Doab.
❖ The Punjab land alienation Act 1900 agricultural land could not be transferred for non-agriculture purposes.
❖ The Cooperative Credit Society Act 1904 provides agricultural loans at cheaper rates.
❖ The Imperial agriculture department was set up under the Inspector general.
Indian coinage and Paper currency Act 1899:
❖ The British currency was declared legal tender in India and a pound was declared equivalent to rupees fifteen.
❖ Tried for Gold standard but failed.
❖ Finally, Gold exchange standard Plan but only for foreign remittances.
Judicial Reforms:
❖ It aimed at improving the Judicial set up.
❖ The number of Judges at Calcutta High Court increased.
❖ The Salary and pension benefits of Judges of High Court as well as subordinate courts improved.
❖ The Indian code of Civil Procedure was revised.
❖ Though nothing substantial was done to improve the procedure followed or delay caused in decision of cases.
Army reforms:
❖ In 1902, Lord Kitchener came to India as the Commander-in-Chief and carried out much needed reforms in
the army. [Kitchener test]
➢ Northern command with HQ at Murree
➢ Southern command with HQ at Poona
 5

Lord Kitchener:
❖ 1902 appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, and arrived there to take up the position in November, in time to
be in charge during the January 1903 Delhi Durbar.
❖ He immediately began the task of reorganising the Indian Army.
❖ Kitchener's plan "The Reorganisation and Redistribution of the Army in India" recommended preparing
the Indian Army for any potential war by reducing the size of fixed garrisons and reorganising it into two
armies, to be commanded by Generals Sir Bindon Blood and George Luck.
Calcutta Corporation Act 1899:
❖ The act reduced the number of elected legislatures and increased the number of nominated officials to deprive
Indians from self-governance.
➢ 28 members of the Corporation resigned in protest.
Ancient Monuments Act 1904:
❖ The Act established an Archaeological Department under a director.
❖ It was assigned the responsibility of repair, restoration and protection of historical monuments.
❖ Lord Curzon asked the native rulers to take similar measures in their respective states and urged the provincial
governments to open museums for the safe preservation of rare objects.
Railway Reform:
❖ The Curzon era built more railway lines than any other viceroys.
❖ The Robertson Commission (1901) recommended creating a Railway Board.

Analysis of Curzon and its policies:

❖ He had an aspiration to bring “root and branch reform” of administration.
❖ He analysed Indian problems and formed a committee on it.
❖ He refused to meet the leaders of congress and even termed congress as “letting off of gas”.
❖ His attitude of enhancing efficiency to his policies rather than benefiting more people led him in darkness and
turned out to be the most hated person in India.

Foreign Policy of Curzon:

❖ The foreign policy of Curzon majorly revolved around the following:
➢ The Persian Gulf
➢ Tibet
➢ The NW Frontier
➢ Curzon – Kitchener controversy
❖ Curzon believed Russia to be the most likely threat to British India, Britain’s most valuable possession.
❖ In 1879 Russia had begun construction of the Trans Caspian Railway along the Silk Road.

What should be the ideal land frontier and how to protect it?
❖ According to Curzon it should be the North Western Area or Asiatic Area which comprises Arabia; Persia;
Afghanistan; Tibet; Siam (Thailand).
 6

❖ According to him, either the British or their allies should have them else their enemies would take over. He
considered it as the “Menace to our security”.

Persian Gulf:
❖ This region has special interest from the 17th century and also occupied important stations.
❖ British residents acted as arbiters in the Persian Gulf region.
❖ The Navy tackled piracy and enforced peace between fighting chiefs from Aden (Yemen) to Baluchistan.
❖ 1875 – 1900:
➢ European nations competing for colonies or
'spheres of influence'.
➢ Russia was thrusting southward as they needed a
port in the Persian Gulf.
➢ France also needs a cooling station.
➢ Germany wanted to extend the Berlin Baghdad
Railway to the Persian Gulf.
➢ Turkey also wants to re-establish suzerainty over
Kuwait.
➢ In 1892, English claimed to manage the Persian
Gulf but it was not accepted.
➢ In 1898, M. Ottawi, French Consul at Muscat secured a cooling station of Bandar Jissah from the Sultan
of Oman.
➢ Curzon sent Meade, supported by Admiral Douglas to Oman.
➢ Military action against the Sultan revoked the concession.
❖ 3 May 1903
➢ According to Lord Lansdowne, the British needed a naval or fortified base in the Persian Gulf.
➢ Lord Curzon personally visited the Persian Gulf region.
➢ Lord Curzon believed that if Russia succeeded to establish a base there then it would be a huge loss for
us.
➢ Lord Curzon also checked Russian interference in the Perso-Afghan dispute (old treaty of 1857 - Persia
and Afghanistan agreed to settle their differences through the British government.)
➢ In 1902 Curzon dispatched Sir Henry Mac Mohan for arbitration.

Tibet:
Background of English – Tibet Relations:
❖ In the 1770s George Bogle was sent as Company envoy by Lord Wellesley to find a trading opportunity in
Tibet.
❖ In 1866 British tried to obtain the ‘Consent of China’ for trade in this region but failed.
❖ In 1890 there was a dispute between Tibetan – Sikkim over boundary and the English saw this as an
opportunity.
 7

❖ Soon after, under the Sino

British Convention in 1890
demarcated the boundary
between Sikkim and Tibet
and discussed Indo – Tibet
trade which eventually led to
an agreement in 1893, but no
actual trade happened as
Tibet refused to accept the
agreement.
Arrival of Lord Curzon:
❖ By this time the Indo – Tibet
relation already reached a deadlock.
❖ The Chinese suzerainty over Tibet was ineffective.
❖ Viceroys sent letters but there was no response from the Tibetan end.
❖ By this time Russian influence at Lhasa grew.
➢ Dorjleff won the confidence of the Dalai Lama.
➢ Brought Russian Arms & Ammunition.
➢ Rumours of a secret Sino Russian Agreement have spread.
❖ In 1903 Curzon sent Colonel Younghusband and Gorkha regiment on special mission to Tibet to have an
agreement with Tibetans but Tibetans refused and non-violently protested against the intentions of the
British.
❖ Younghusband reached Gyantse and then Lhasa on 3rd Aug 1904 and the Dalai Lama fled away from the
region.
❖ Younghusband dictated terms with respect to Tibetan Policies:
➢ Tibet to pay integrity of Rs. 75 Lakh at 1 lakh/annum.
➢ The guarantee of Chumbi Valley
would be occupied by the British
Indian Government for 75 years.
➢ Setting up trade marts at Yatung,
Gyantse and Gangtok.
➢ Tibetans to respect the Sikkim
frontiers.
➢ Not to grant concession for rail, road,
stenograph to any foreign state.
➢ Britain to be given some control over
foreign affairs.
 8

❖ During this time Mr. Boodrick was the Secretary of State and he charged the British Indian Government for
disregarding his instructions.
❖ Russia was given assurance that no protectorate would be built and will not intervene in the internal affairs of
Tibet.
❖ British Indian Government defended Younghusband and called it an error of judgement, and thus the treaty
was revised:
❖ Indemnity = 25 lakh
❖ Chumbi valleys = evacuation after 3 years (evacuated in Jan 1908).
❖ In 1907 an Anglo Russian Convention took place and it was decided that any negotiation with Tibet can only
happen through China.

North West Frontier:

❖ Realistic common-sense policy towards tribes of NW frontier.

1. Withdrawal of British forces from advanced positions.
2. Employ tribal forces to defend tribal territory.
 9

3. Concentration of British forces in British territory behind them as safeguard.

4. Support and improvement of communication in the rear.
❖ In April 1902
➢ Darbar took place at Peshawar.
➢ Lord Curzon assured the tribal chief that the British aim was peace and non-aggression.
➢ North West Frontier Province was created in 1901.
➢ Shortcomings:
▪ The advanced positions could not be guarded well.
▪ British forces withdrew from Gilgit, Khyber, etc.
▪ Tribal militia were employed:
▪ Khyber rifles
▪ Khurrum militia
▪ They were trained and commanded by British officers.

Curzon – Kitchener controversy:

❖ The Executive Council had Commander in Chief and Representative of the Military department, hence created
a Dual control.
❖ Kitchener was the then Commander in Chief and also the Executive head of the army wanted to end this
dual control.
❖ In 1903, Edward Ellis modified the plan submitted by the Commander in Chief for Tibet.
❖ Kitchener to all offence came to India in 1902 and demanded end of this system by abolition of military
members and all funds to Commander in Chief.
➢ This was opposed by Lord Curzon as it may lead to military autocracy.
❖ In England 1902, the government was changed and A.J. Balfour became the new Prime Minister and
St. John Brodrick as Secretary of State.
➢ He was apprehensive of war with Russia.
➢ He didn't support the dual system.
➢ He might have supported Kitchener.
❖ Military Members were reduced to military supply members and duties are now more of Civilian
nature.
❖ Curzon suggested Sir Edmund Barrow as new Military Member.
➢ But Kitchener showed resentment because he thought he had the right to be consulted before the
appointment.
❖ There was a compromise and the Secretary of State did not approve Edmund Barrow and in August 1905 Lord
Curzon resigned.
 10

Extremist Phase (1905-1919)

Causes of the Rise of Extreme Nationalism
❖ Realisation that British rule is not in the Interest of Indians: Nationalist leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji,
Anand Charlu, R.N. Mudholkar, D.R. Wacha, G.K. Gokhale, R.C. Dutt, G.V. Joshi etc. examined thread-
bare the true nature of the British rule and they exposed the big gap between the professed aims and
practiced policy. The feeling was further substantiated by the following instances:
➢ In 1892, the Indian Council Act failed to satisfy the Nationalists.
➢ During 1896-1900 there was a severe famine that killed more than 90 lakhs people.
➢ Bubonic plague spread in large parts of Deccan followed by widespread riots.
➢ In 1897, Tilak was imprisoned on the charge of sedition and Natu Brothers were deported without trial.
They had killed W.C Rand, British Plague Commissioner for Pune and Lt Ayerst for the atrocities
committed by them.
➢ In 1898, there was an IPC section 124A (sedition) was made more draconian by introducing new
provisions under IPC section 156A.
➢ In 1899, the number of members in the Calcutta corporation was reduced.
➢ In 1904, the Official Secret Act was passed curbing freedom of Press.
➢ In 1904, the Indian University Act was brought in to ensure greater control of government over
universities.
❖ Frustration with Moderate Politics: This was definitely the major reason. The achievements of the moderates
appeared frustrating to the young educated. A large number of educated Indians were working on a low salary
in the administration.
➢ The younger nationalists described the 3P’s (Prayer, Petition and Protest) used by moderates as
Political Mendicancy (begging).
❖ Role of Intellectuals: Some of the great thinkers like Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rabindranath
Tagore etc. also stirred the people towards the path of extremism. Vivekanand gave new confidence to the
Indians in India’s past heritage. Swami Dayananda also exploded the myth of Western Superiority.
 11

❖ Events in other parts of the world:

➢ Some events which took place in the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century
broke the illusion of the superiority and invincibility of the western countries.
➢ The humiliating defeat of Italy at the hands of Ethiopia and the defeat of a large and powerful country
like Russia at the hands of a small country like Japan let out the secret that the western countries were
no more invincible. It thrilled the Indians with new hope and ambition.
➢ Nationalist movements in Russia, China, Ireland, Egypt and Persia also inspired the nationalists.
➢ It made them believe that united people ready to make sacrifices could take on the mightiest of the empire.
❖ Reactionary policy of Curzon:
➢ The Curzonian seven-year rule in India was full of Mission, commission and omission.
➢ The Curzonian administration magnified this nationalist angst further.
➢ The policies of Lord Curzon (1899-1905) provided immediate provocation for the rise of extremism.
➢ He refused to recognise India as a nation and spoke derogatorily of Indian character in general.
➢ His educational policy, his endeavour to extinguish local self-government.
➢ His frontier policy, his official secret Act, Indian University Act and above all the partition of Bengal, left
no doubts in Indian minds about the reactionary nature of British rule in India.
❖ Emergence of trained leadership: Without a trained band of political workers, it would have been difficult
to take the national movement to a higher political stage. Availability of trained leadership proved to be a
significant cause. Lal, Bal and Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal) inspired
the masses.
❖ Emergence of Militant School of Thought:
➢ A number of nationalist thinkers emerged who advocated a militant approach to political agitation.
➢ These nationalists included Raj Narain Bose, Ashwini Kumar Dutt, Aurobindo Ghosh, B.C Pal,
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, B.G Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai.
➢ The basic approach of this school of thought was:
▪ Hatred to foreign rule.
▪ Swaraj to be the ultimate goal.
▪ Relying on direct political action.
▪ Belief in the capacity of masses.
▪ Belief in personal sacrifice and true nationalist to always be ready for it.
❖ Reaction to Increasing Westernisation:
➢ New leadership felt that India’s own identity is getting submerged under colonial influence.
➢ Leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Dayananda Saraswati made the
young generation realise their self-worth.
➢ They exploded the myth of western superiority by representing the richness of Indian civilization in the
past.
➢ Dayananda gave the political message: India for the Indians.
 12

❖ Partition of Bengal:
➢ It was an example of Curzon’s maladministration.
➢ Stirred anger among people and inactivity from moderates raged extremists.
➢ One side Indian leaders were uniting people, Curzon divided.
❖ Rising unemployment: Educated class was rising and many were working with low salaries and others facing
unemployment. This crisis attracted youth to the idea of radical politics of extremists. Educated Indians were
convinced that to root out European imperialism needed European revolutionaries.
❖ Socio-religious and Cultural Reform: The ideas and preaching of Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra and
Dayanand were inspiring people and building new confidence and pride in their culture and values.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 31
Extremist Era 1905 -1919
 2

Extremist Era 1905 -1919

Few Important Facts about Lord Curzon

❖ During the First World War, Curzon was Leader of the House of Lords and from December 1916 served in
the small War Cabinet of Prime Minister David Lloyd George and in the War Policy Committee.
❖ He went on to serve as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the Foreign Office from 1919 to 1924.
❖ His Literary Works:
⮚ Russia in Central Asia in 1889 Anglo-Russian Question (1889)
⮚ Persia and the Persian Question (1892)
⮚ On the Indian Frontier
⮚ Problems of the Far East 1894
⮚ The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus, 1897
⮚ The Romanes Lecture 1907
⮚ Tales of Travel
⮚ Bodiam Castle Sussex

‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

❖ He believed in Swaraj and one of his famous quotes was “Swaraj is my Birth right and I will have it”.
❖ During 1856-1920, Tilak was active in the extremists movement and thus he was also called the “Father of
Indian unrest for Britishers”.
❖ He was a ferocious leader and a fearless speaker.
❖ He was also very popular among the people.
❖ He joined Congress in 1890. He was opposed to moderate ways and views and had a more radical and
aggressive stance against British rule.
❖ He was one of the first advocates of Swaraj or self-rule.
❖ Along with Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, he was called the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’ trio of extremist leaders.
❖ With Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, he started the New English School at Pune in 1876
and started their career as school teachers.
❖ In 1881 he started two weeklies, ‘Maratha’ in English and ‘Kesari’ in Marathi.
❖ In 1885 they set up the Deccan Education Society in order to start a college
which was later named after the then Governor of Bombay as the Ferguson
College.
❖ There was no revenue campaign in Maharashtra during famine 1896
❖ For seditious writing and speeches, he was imprisoned for 18 months.
 3

❖ He used the Ganesh Chaturthi and Shiv Jayanti (birth anniversary of Shivaji) festivals to create unity and
a national spirit among the people.
❖ Tilak led Swadeshi Movement 1905 during partition of Bengal and to promote it, Tilak with Jamshedji Tata
established Bombay Swadeshi Stores.
❖ He spent 6 years in Mandalay prison from 1908 to 1914 for writing articles
defending Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose.
❖ He was one of the founders of the All-India Home Rule League, along
with Annie Besant and G S Khaparde.
❖ He died at the start of the Non-cooperation movement.
❖ His Literary Work:
⮚ “The Orion or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas”.
⮚ “The Arctic Home in the Vedas”.
⮚ “Gita-Rahasya”.

Lala Lajpat Rai “Punjab Kesari”:

❖ He was born in 1865, at Ludhiana.
❖ He studied law at Government College, Lahore.
❖ In 1881, he joined Congress at the age of 16.
❖ He was associated with Arya Samaj and established DAV schools in Lahore with Hans raj in 1885.
❖ In 1893 Lala Lajpat Rai met Tilak at the Lahore session.
❖ He actively participated with Tilak in the swadeshi movement and was deported to Burma in 1907, but
returned in 1 year due to lack of evidence.
❖ In 1913, he set out for a lecture tour to Japan, England, and the United States, but could not return due to
World War I broke and remained overseas until 1920.
❖ He founded the Indian Home Rule league in USA 1917.
❖ He also worked as an editor of Punjabee.
❖ He was elected President of the Indian National Congress in the Calcutta Special Session of 1920.
❖ Literary Work
⮚ Unhappy India
⮚ Young India
⮚ Arya Samaj
⮚ England’s debt to India
⮚ Evolution of Japan
⮚ India’s will to freedom
⮚ The USA - A Hindus Impression
 4

⮚ Series of popular biographies on Mazzini, Garibaldi and Swami Dayanand.

⮚ ‘Message of the Bhagwad Gita’,
⮚ ‘Political Future of India’,
⮚ ‘Problem of National Education in India’
⮚ ‘The Depressed Classes’,
⮚ The travelogue ‘United States of America’.
❖ English Journals
⮚ The Regenerator of Aryavarta
⮚ The Punjabee
⮚ The People
❖ Urdu Weekly
⮚ Deshopakarak
⮚ Bande Matram
❖ Other Work
⮚ My story of deportation
⮚ The United States of America
⮚ England’s debt to America
❖ In 1921 he founded Servants of People Society at Lahore.
⮚ It is a non-profit social service organisation.
⮚ The society is devoted to "enlist and train national missionaries for the service of the motherland".
⮚ It was shifted to India, following the partition of India in 1947, and functioned from the residence of Lala
Achint Ram.
❖ He was associated with PNB and Lakshmi Insurance.
❖ He was imprisoned from 1921 to 1923 and elected to the legislative assembly on his release. He was associated
with the Swaraj Party.
❖ He died while protesting against the Simon commission.

Bipin Chandra Pal:

❖ He was known as the father of revolutionary thought in India.
❖ He started a weekly named Pradarshak.
❖ He was the assistant editor of Bengal Public Opinion and the Tribune.
❖ He edited Bande Mataram, an English newspaper with Aurobindo Ghosh.
❖ He preached Swadeshi, Boycott and National education.
 5

❖ He wrote several articles warning India of the changes happening around the world. Pal wrote under the title
"Our Real Danger".

Aurobindo Ghosh:
❖ He criticised moderates for their methods through his writings in Indu Prakash, New lamps for the old.
❖ He was the editor of the English newspaper Bande Mataram through which he advocated Passive Resistance.

Passive resistance: It commonly refers to actions of nonviolent protest or resistance to authority. The central
feature is the conscious choice by the actors to abstain from a violent response even in the face of violent
aggression.

❖ In the 1906 congress session he assisted in forming the fourfold objective of “Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott and
National education”.
❖ He became the principal of Bengal National college in Calcutta in 1906.
❖ He was arrested by the British in the Kennedy murder case 1908.
❖ He was arrested in the aftermath of charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy.
❖ He retired from politics and started his Ashram in Pondicherry.
❖ His publication of articles titled “New Lamps for the Old” in Indu Prakashan
which referred to congress as “proletariat”, “dying of consumption”.
❖ His major writings
⮚ The Life divine
⮚ Synthesis of Yoga
⮚ Savitri - A legend and a symbol and a Monthly Magazine “Arya”.

The Extremists differed from the Moderates in the following ways:

❖ Kind of Politics and demands: The politics of the moderate nationalists were founded on the belief that
British rule could be reformed from within. But the Extremists wanted to root out the alien rule from the
country. Swaraj was their main objective. Tilak declared in clear terms— “Swaraj is my birth right and I
shall have it.”
❖ Method of struggle: The moderates insisted on the use of constitutional methods only but the Extremists did
not hesitate to use extra-constitutional methods like boycott and passive resistance to achieve this objective.
❖ The moderates believed in improvement while the extremist in reconstruction.
❖ The moderates believed in cooperation but extremists in obstruction.
❖ Role of mass: The moderates believed that masses were not yet ready for participation in political work but
the Extremists had complete faith in the strength of the masses.
❖ Social Base: The social base of moderates included Zamindars and upper middle class while those of
extremists included educated middle and lower middle class in towns.
 6

❖ Attitude towards British: The moderates believed that the British People were just, righteous and freedom
loving. The extremists were neither admirers of western culture and civilization nor did they believe in
the British ruler’s sense of justice and fair play.
❖ Moderates believed in England’s providential mission in India while extremists rejected it as an illusion.
❖ Moderates believed that political connection with the British was in India’s interest, while extremists believed
that any connection with the British would result in exploitation of India.
❖ Moderates professed loyalty to the British crown while extremists believe that Britishers were unworthy of
claiming any loyalty.
❖ Ideology: The moderates derived their ideological inspiration from western liberal thoughts and European
history, While the ideological source of extremists were Indian history, cultural heritage and Hindu
traditional symbols.

Parameters Moderates Extremists

Philosophy British affinity or pro-British. Anti-British and pro-masses.

Aims Reform of the society was the major Swaraj was the major goal.
goal.

Methods 3 Ps (Prayer, Petition and Protest). Extra constitutional, Boycott, Swadeshi and
Passive Resistance.

Religion There was no religious angle. Conservative/Orthodox and vocal about

Hindu Revivalism.

Social Base Zamindar, Elites, Middle Class Middle Class Intelligentsia and Urban
Intelligentsia masses.

Activities of Extremism:
❖ The protest against the Age of Consent Bill on the ground that Britishers should not interfere in the personal
life of Indians.
❖ Organising festivals like Ganpati and Shivaji festival to inculcate the feeling of nationalism and propagate
their ideology.
❖ In a big act Tilak took control of “Poona Sarvajanik Sabha” by ousting Gokhale and Ranade. After that
Gokhale created Deccan Sabha which proved the faction between ideologies of both sections.
❖ Appeal to refusal paying revenue to the colonial government.
❖ Absence of Lala Lajpat during 1893 to 1900 congress session.

Plan of Action of Extremists:

❖ Adopting Swadeshi and boycott foreign goods- which proved to be jolt to Britishers
❖ Emphasis on National education- DAV, Pachaiyappa National College in Madras, Bengal Council of National
Education by Gurudas Banerjee.
 7

❖ Adopting Passive resistance approach which lately took shape of Non-cooperation

❖ Diversifying the role of Co-operative Organisation to human welfare.

Goal of extremists was Swaraj:

❖ B.G. Tilak: Indian Control over admin but not a Severance of relations with Great Britain.
❖ B. Pal: No self-government was possible under Britain Paramountcy and asked for complete autonomy
absolutely free and Britain control.
❖ Aurobindo: Swaraj absolute Political independence.
❖ For most Others: Self-rule within the imperial structure of Britain.

Hindu Revivalism:
❖ An attempt to define Indian nation in terms and Hindu religious symbols, myths & history.
❖ Reform movements in which various moderate leaders were involved.
❖ Bring changes within religion and bring it on the lines of modern liberal ideas
❖ National social conference was formed.
❖ Revivalism was born out of westernising forces and their critiques of Hindu civilization
 8

⮚ Sense of pride in everything Indians.

⮚ Glorious Hindu past degenerated under Muslim rule and was threatened by the British.

Bengal:
❖ By 1870’s Brahmo Samaj became weakened and it was the era of Ram Krishna and Vivekanand Movement,
though not a revivalism.
❖ Sasadhar Tarakchudamani were of the view that precedents in past for every modern discovery of west.
❖ There was an existence of missionary zeal.
❖ The orthodox Hindu used to condemn other reform bodies as elitist as they focus more on social service.
❖ The teaching was selectively employed for the revival purpose.
❖ The social service and thoughts on the evil of Hinduism were sidelined.
❖ Thought on the glory of Hindu past was more popular.
❖ Bharat Varsh Arya Dharma Pracharini Sabha worked on reviving Hinduism as per Vedas, Tantras and
Puranas.
❖ Bankim Chandra Chatterjee viewed Krishna as a modern politician and a nation builder. In his Anandmath
(1882), he portrayed the mother goddess as the icon for the nation and wrote the song Vande Mataram.
⮚ Though it was not orthodox ritualistic Hinduism, rather “Reconstituted Hinduism” – a rationalistic
Dharma.
⮚ Recognition of the elasticity and immense internal diversity.

Maharashtra:
❖ By 1890 Ranade and K.T. Telang were sidelined in the Prarthana Samaj.
❖ Between 1884-1887, the Rukhmabai Case was held at Bombay High Court.
❖ She was married as an infant to 22 year old husband Dadaji.
❖ She refused to recognize his conjugal rights.
❖ She lost the case and was threatened with imprisonment.
❖ Behramji Malabari and Pandita Ramabai formed the Rukhmabai Defence Committee.
❖ Pressure was on the British to pass the Consent Bill in 1891 to prevent early consummation of marriage
(garbhdhan).
⮚ The first act was passed in 1860 and had no opposition, it prohibited marriage below 10 years of age.
Later a New Act proposed the minimum age to be 12 years.
❖ All these events invited the powerful Hindu backlash from the orthodox.
❖ Their argument was that foreign rulers had no right to interfere into religion and society.
❖ In Maharashtra it was led by B.G. Tilak and his Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, they viewed that education not
legislation required to oppose evil.
❖ Though it was accepted in case of cow slaughter or recent Rukhmabai court ruling.
 9

❖ In 1890 death of all eleven-year-old girl Phulmani because of sexual abuse by her husband.
⮚ But Kesari and Mahratta still upheld the conservative view. This requires Hindu girls to marry before
puberty but consummation has to await puberty.
⮚ Sasadhar Tarakchudamani also wrote about this in Bengali.
❖ The Age of Consent Bill was passed in March 1891.
❖ Prof R.G. Bhandarkar of Poona Deccan College was of the view that Dharmashastra-marriages after puberty
were allowed in Hindu religion.
❖ Arya Samaj started the cow protection movement in 1893.
❖ In 1871, Kakas took up the cow protection issue to win more support from the masses.
❖ Gau Rakshmi Sabhas were established in UP, Madras, Bombay, Bengal, Bihar and also demanded for legal
ban. The first riot in Mau, Azamgarh took place, tension subsided in 1893.

Language controversy:
❖ Hindi and Urdu are more or less the same language in 2 different scripts, but Urdu was officially recognized.
❖ In 1860’s Hindi-Urdu controversy arose in the North Western Provinces and Awadh.
❖ The controversy again, revived in 1882 in Punjab and Central Provinces.
❖ In 1893 Nagari Pracharani Sabha was set up in Benaras.
❖ Bharatenda Harish Chandra he was the proponent of Classical Sanskrit Heritage of Hindi.
❖ But this led to a new rift among Hindu – Hindi and Urdu – Muslim. Later, Madan Mohan Malviya made it
political.
❖ In April, 1900, a Resolution by the government and North Western Provinces and Awadh gave Nagri equal
official status as Urdu. Anjumman-Tarriqqi-e-Urdu was established in response to it.
❖ Ganpati Festival in 1893 and Shivaji festival in 1896 was started by Tilak.
❖ In the 1820s Madras, Vibhuti Sangam was established.
❖ In 1840’s Dharma Sabha and the Theosophical Society was established in 1882 at Madras.

Background of Partition of Bengal 1905:

❖ The Partition has been discussed since the Orissa famine in 1866.
❖ Assam separated in 1874 with Sylhet, Goalpara and Cachar.
❖ In 1892 a proposal was made to transfer Chittagong to Assam.
❖ William Ward, the Chief Commissioner of Assam proposed the transfer
of Dacca and Mymensingh so that it can become Lt. governor province
with a separate Civil Service Cadre.
❖ The proposal was not favoured, only Lushai hills was transferred in
1897.
❖ In 1900 demand again rose
 10

⮚ European Tea planters demanded a Maritime outlet near Calcutta to reduce dependence on Assam-Bengal
railways.
⮚ Also, as per the Census 1901, the population of Bengal reached 78.5 mn.
⮚ Curzon Minute on Territorial Redistribution in India, published as Risley Papers (Dec, 1903).

Mere readjustment of political boundaries:

❖ Lord Curzon set on a personal tour in 1904 in Eastern Bengal and Assam.
❖ The reasons for partition of Bengal were:
⮚ Lawlessness and rise in crimes.
⮚ Lt. Governor could not handle these extended areas.
⮚ Similar steps were taken in North Western provinces in 1865.
⮚ The separation of Assam took place in 1874 under the High Commission.

❖ Partition:
⮚ Assam: Chittagong, Dacca, Mymensingh
⮚ Central Provinces: Chotanagpur
⮚ Bengal: Sambalpur and feudatory states from Central provinces, Ganjam district and Vizagapatnam from
Madras.
❖ Brodrik, the Secretary of State, accepted it but reluctantly.

The Partition of Bengal (1905):

❖ The worst and most-hated aspect of ‘Divide and rule’ policy of Lord Curzon was the partition of Bengal into
two Provinces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam.
 11

❖ It was a deliberate blow aimed at a growing solidarity of self-consciousness of the Bengali people. It was a
Machiavellian device to divide the people on the basis of religion. It was a master plan to destroy the nascent
nationalism in Bengal.
❖ Risley, Home secretary to the government of India, wrote in an official note: “Bengal united is a power.
Bengal divide will pull in several different ways.”

Opposition of partition of Bengal:

❖ The Bengali intelligentsia and the Nationalists vehemently opposed this deliberate attempt by the Government
of India to separate Hindu and Muslims.
❖ Lord Curzon wanted to create a Mohammadan province.
❖ According to Lord Curzon the protest was “partly unscruplous and partly misinformed”.
❖ Sir Andrew Fraser was the Lt. Governor and he opined that the opposition views regarding the partition of
Bengal was the vested interest of Calcutta Bar and Journalists.
❖ Lord Morley was the Secretary of State declared it as the “Settled fact”.

Political views and reactions:

❖ The political scenario was poisoned by the sentiments on both sides. The Indian sentiments were disregarded.
❖ Gokhale in Benaras session (1905): “The Viceroy had made up his mind. The official under him had
expressed approval. What business had the people to have an opinion of their own and to stand in the way? To
add insult to injury Lord Curzon described the opposition to his measures as ‘manufactured’ - an opposition
in which……”
❖ Lord Curzon made it a prestige issue and decided not to yield to pressure.
❖ Bengali youth accepted it as a challenge to their nationalism and pledged to undo it.
❖ Surendranath Banerjee became the leader of opposition and he was called the “Surrender not Banerjee”.
❖ Recent researches found out Curzon’s main motives were political and anyway, it was a blunder on Curzon’s
part and shattered Indo British relations forever.

Official Reason for the Partition of Bengal 1905:

❖ The official reason given for the partition was the administrative convenience as it had become too difficult
to administer Bengal with a population of 78 million.
❖ The partition intended to divide the Bengal on the following basis:
⮚ On the basis of language: Reducing the Bengalis to a minority in Bengal itself. The new Bengal to be
formed was to consist of 17 million Bengalis and 37 million Hindi and Oriya speakers.

On the basis of religion: Western half became Hindu majority and eastern half became Muslim majority. In order
to try to woo the Muslims, Curzon argued that Dacca could become the new capital of eastern Bengal.
   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 32
Extremist Era II
 2

Extremist Era II
Swadeshi Movement (1905):
Anti-Partition movement under ‘Moderates’ 1903-05:
 The moderates began to criticize the partition scheme ever since it was declared in December 1903 and
announced in January 1904.
 The leadership was provided by Surendranath Banerjee, Krishna Kumar Mitra and Prithwish Chandra Ray
who launched a powerful press campaign against the partition proposals.
 Method of protest: Petition, memoranda, propaganda and public meetings - 500 protest meetings were
held.
 Journals like Bengalee (Surendranath Banerjee) and Sanjibani (Krishna Kumar mitra) wrote
vehemently against it
 Indian National Congress opposed it and protests started all over the Bengal Petitions were signed and sent
to Government of India and Secretary of state.

Krishna Kumar Mitra:

 He was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist and leader of the Brahmo Samaj.
 He was remembered for his contributions to the Swadeshi movement through his journal Sanjibani.
 He published a series of articles on the condition of the Indian workers in the tea plantations of Assam
forcing the government to provide legal protection to tea garden workers.
 His famous literary work was Mahammad-Charita, Buddhadev-Charita and Bauddhadharmer
Sangksipta Bibaran.

Prafulla Chandra Ray:

 He was an eminent Bengali chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist and
philanthropist.
 Prafulla Chandra Ray established the first modern Indian research school in
chemistry and is regarded as the father of chemical science in India.
 He was honoured by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
 Prafulla Chandra Ray was the founder of Bengal Chemicals &
Pharmaceuticals, India's first pharmaceutical company.
 In 1879 he joined the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
 He participated in an essay competition held by the university for the best essay
on "India before and after the Mutiny."
 3

 He received the title of Jnanabaridi from Korotia College.

 He published “A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth
Century”.

Surendranath Banerjee (1848-1925):

 He founded the Indian National Association with Anand Mohan Bose
in 1876. He became its President twice in 1895 and 1902.
 He passed the competitive examination but as there was some trouble
over his exact age, he was declared disqualified.
 Differences arose when he repudiated Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms,
unlike Congress, and with many liberal leaders he left and founded
Indian National Liberation Federation in 1919.
 He was influenced by the writings of Italian nationalist Giuseppe
Mazzini.
 He edited “The Bengalee”, which was founded in 1862 by Girish
Chandra Ghosh).
 He was the first Indian journalist to be imprisoned.
 He made the Calcutta Municipal Corporation a more democratic body while serving as a minister in the
Bengal government.
 Surendranath Banerjee has written a book named, A Nation in Making, published in 1925.

Congress session at Bombay (December 1904):

 Henry Cotton, the ex-Chief commissioner of Assam, and chaired the Congress Session at Bombay in 1904.
 He opposed the idea of Partition. However, it all had no effect on the Curzon.
 The government ignored the voice of the movement and announced the partition in July 1905.
 On 7th August, 1905 a massive meeting was held in the Calcutta townhall and the formal Proclamation of
Swadeshi movement was made.
 After this the leaders dispersed to the various parts of Bengal to spread the message of Boycott of
Manchester cloth and Liverpool salt.
 On September 1, the government announced that partition was to be effected on 16 October, 1905.

16th October 1905 :

 The day was declared as “the Day of National mourning” throughout Bengal.
 Fasting and Hartal was observed in Calcutta.
 People fasted and walked barefooted to bathe together in Ganga.
 4

 Rabindranath Tagore composed “Amar Sonar Bangla” and it was sung by the crowds while marching in
the streets.
 Bande Mataram from Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath became the theme song of this movement.
 Both the Hindus and the Muslims observed Raksha Bandhan. Wristlets of coloured thread were exchanged
as a symbol of brotherhood, and the hearth kept unlit as a sign of mourning, called arandhan urged by
Ramendra Sunder Trivedi.
 Surendranath Banerjee and Anand Mohan Bose addressed a huge gathering and within hours Rs 50000 was
raised for the movement.
 Ananda Mohan Bose laid the foundation of Federation Hall to mark unity.
Congress Session at Benaras (1905):
 Gopal Krishna Gokhale chaired the Congress session.
 He condemned the idea of partition and supported the swadeshi and boycott movement.
 Mr. Gokhale remarked that:
 “Bengal’s heroic stand against the oppression of a harsh and uncontrolled bureaucracy has astonished
and gratified all India, and her sufferings have not been endured in vain, when they have helped to draw
closer all parts of the country in sympathy and aspiration.”
 Extremists wanted to:
 Extend the Boycott and Swadeshi movement outside Bengal.
 Include all forms of associations such as Govt services, law courts, legislative councils, etc. within the
boycott Programme.
 A strong resolution to support their programme.
 Moderates wanted to:
 Confine the movement to Bengal only.
 Avoid boycotts of councils.
 They rely on the constitutional method of protests.
 Compromise Reached: A relatively mild resolution was passed condemning the partition of Bengal and
reactionary policy of Curzon and supporting swadeshi and boycott programmes in Bengal. This helped in
avoiding the split.
Extremists took the command:
 They called for Passive resistance along with the Swadeshi and Boycott movement.
 Tilak saw it as an opportunity to wage an all India struggle and a mass movement, he used Ganapati a nd
Shivaji festivals to propagate Swadeshi ideas.
 The movement sparked to other provinces like Madras, Bombay etc.
 5

 The Swadeshi and Boycott movement was limited not only to Bengal, it soon spread to the rest of the
country.
 Tilak took the movement to different parts of India, especially Poona and Bombay.
 Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh
 Syed Haidar Raza in Delhi took the command of this movement.
 Chidambaram Pillai and Bipin Chandra Pal contributed greatly in the spread of the movement in
Madras presidency.
 Rawalpindi, Kangra, Jammu, Multan and Haridwar witnessed active participation.

Swadeshi Movement:
 The anti-partition agitation soon enlarged into a more broad-based movement, known as the Swadeshi
movement.

 Never before in the history of British India, was any measure of the government opposed so vehemently or
persistently with such unanimity.

 It has been identified four major trends in Bengali Swadeshi, namely.

 The moderate trend

 Constructive Swadeshi

 Political extremism

 Revolutionary developments

 Gradually it was realised that a more effective approach would need more precise tools.

 Swadeshi and boycott were incorporated into the protest.

 The idea was to hit at the profit of the government

 Public burning of foreign clothes

 Social boycott of people using foreign goods

 Boycott of shops selling it

 The focus was on self-reliance. It gave a boost to Indian industry and business and also helped indigenous
craftsmen.
 6

Why did the leadership of the movement pass to the Extremists?

 The moderates' method failed to bring any result.
 The Government's divide and rule policy had embittered the nationalists.
 The Government resorted to brutal Suppression including atrocities on students, ban on public singing of
Vande Mataram, suppression of freedom of press, arrest and deportation of nationalist leaders, etc.
 Extremists' method of struggle was based on Passive Resistance; Swadeshi and Boycott.
 Along with swadeshi and boycott, the extremists added a new element of Passive resistance which
included:
 Boycott of Govt schools and colleges
 Boycott of Govt services, courts, legislative Councils, municipalities, Govt titles, etc.
 The purpose was to make administration under the present condition impossible by an organised refusa l to
do anything that would help British commerce and administration.
 The Extremists tried to transform the anti-partition and swadeshi movement into a mass struggle and gave
the slogan of India’s Independence from foreign rule.
 Aurobindo Ghosh declared ‘Political freedom is the lifebreath of a nation’ He also said that we were
prepared for an armed struggle if required.
 In his articles at Bande Mataram he propounded the theory of ‘organised and relentless boycott’
including civil disobedience of unjust laws.
Various aspects of the movement:
 Boycott: It included boycott of foreign cloths, foreign made salt or sugar, refusal by priests to ritualise
marriages involving exchange of foreign goods, refusal by washermen to wash foreign cloths.
 Mass Mobilisation: It was done through public meetings and processions.
 Atmasakti: Emphasis was placed on Self-reliance or ‘Atmasakti’ was an important aspect of the Swadeshi
movement. It implied re-assertion of national dignity, honour and confidence. It included social reforms and
campaigns against caste oppression, early marriage, dowry system, etc.
 Samitis: (a corps of volunteer)
 During the swadeshi movement, many samitis such as Swadesh Bandhab Samiti of Ashwini Kumar
Dutt (Barisal, School teacher) emerged as a powerful means of mass mobilisation. - 159 branches.
 Other societies in Calcutta were:
 Dawn Society
 Anti-circular society
 Anushilan Samiti
 Brati
 7

 Suhrid
 Sadhena Samitis
⮚ In Tamil Nadu, Swadeshi Sangam was formed by V.O Chidambaram Pillai, Subramania Siva to
mobilise the local masses.
⮚ These samitis arose the masses through magic lanterns, swadeshi songs, providing physical and moral
training to the members, social work during famines and epidemics, training in swadeshi crafts and
arbitration courts, organisation of schools.

 National Education:
 Bhagabat Chatuspathi of Satish chandra Mukherjee,
 The Dawn Society,
 The Saraswat Ayatan of Brahmabandhab upadhyay
 Santiniketan Ashram of Rabindranath Tagore
 15th August 1906 - A ‘National council of Education’ was set up.
 Its aim was to organize a system of education (literary, scientific and technical on national lines
and under our control.
 Bengal National College with Aurobindo Ghose as principal was started in Calcutta.
 25 July 1906 Bengal Technical Institute was set up for technical education. (Later became College of
Engineering and Technology, Jadavpur)
 Funds were raised to send students to Japan for advanced learning.
 Bengal National school and college was established at Calcutta with Aurobindo Ghosh as principal.

Satish Chandra Mukherjee (1865-1948)

 He was the pioneer in establishing a system of national education in India.
 He was the founder-editor of the Dawn magazine (1897-1913).
 In 1889, he formulated the scheme for national education.
 In 1902 he organised the "Dawn Society" of culture, to protest against the Report of the Indian Universities
Commission, representing the inadequate university education imposed by the Government to fabricate
clerks for the merchant offices.

 Economy: It fostered the indigenous industrial and other enterprises.

 P.C. Ray organized Bengal chemical Swadeshi stores.
 Even the great poet Rabindranath Tagore helped to open a swadeshi store.
 8

 Swadeshi Enterprises: Swadeshi textile mills, soap factories, banks, insurance companies, etc. were
established. These enterprises were driven by Swadeshi zeal and not with profit motive.
 Mohini mills, Bange Laxmi cotton mills, calcutta potteries, National Tannery.

 Impact on culture:
 Tagore wrote Amar Sonar Bangla, which later became the national anthem of Bangladesh.
 In Tamil Nadu, Subramania Bharti (also known as Bharathiyar) wrote Sudesh Geetam.
 Use of Festivals and Melas: Leaders especially Tilak used Shivaji and Ganpati festivals to propagate
nationalist ideas and mobilise the masses.
 There was a flowering of nationalist poetry, prose and Journalism.
 Folk theatre like Jatras were popularized.
 Bengali folk music like Palligeet and Jarigan.
 Fairy tales such as Thakurmar Jhuli (written by Dakshinarajan Mitra Majumdar).
 In painting, Abanindranath Tagore broke the domination of Victorian naturalism over the Indian art
scene and drew inspiration from Ajanta, Mughal and Rajput paintings.
 Indian Society of Oriental Art was founded by brothers Gaganendranath Tagore and
Abanindranath Tagore in Calcutta in 1907. Following annual exhibitions of the Tagore School of
Art, showing the latest works of artists in the new movement in Indian painting (initiated by
Abanindranath Tagore, under the guidance of E.B. Havell) at the Government School of Art, Calcutta,
the Indian Society of Oriental Art was founded in 1907.
 Lord Kitchener was President.
 Norman Blount and Abanindranath Tagore (Secretaries)
 Nandlal Bose became the first recipient of scholarship offered by Indian Society of Oriental Art.

Subramania Bharti
 Chinnaswami Subramania Bharathi, also known as Bharathiyar (1882 – 1921), was a Tamil writer, poet,
journalist, Indian independence activist and a social reformer.
 The Government of India in 1987 instituted a highest National Subramanyam Bharti Award conferred along
with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in Hindi
literature.
 His notable works were Achamillai acchamillai, Panchali Sapatham, Pappa Pattu, Kannan Pattu, Kuyil Pattu,
etc. His poems and hymns were based on diverse themes like patriotism, relationship between man and god,
Russian and French revolutions, children, devotional, etc. He translated Vedic hymns, Bhagavad Gita and
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra into Tamil.
 9

 Around 1906, the movement began to take a new turn.

 Its goal no longer remained the mere abrogation of the partition but ‘Swaraj’.
 Religion was looked at by leaders like Aurobindo Ghosh as a means to reach the masses.
 Bhagavad Gita became a source of spiritual inspiration for the Swadeshi volunteers.
 The moderate and the extremist nationalists, students, women and the Muslims, all took part in the Swadeshi
Movement.
 The women came out of their homes for the first time and joined processions and picketing.
 The annulling of the partition of Bengal in 1911 was a symbol of the grand success of the Swadeshi
movement.

Carlyle Circular (22 October 1905):

 Carlyle the Chief Secretary of Bengal government declared a circular in order to control the movement:
 Schools and colleges were to be penalised if their students participated
 Disaffiliation
 Grants stopped
 Students barred from government jobs

Extent of mass participation in the movement:

 Students: Large scale student participation was observed in Bengal, Maharashtra, Madras, Guntur and
Salem.
 The Government resorted to a repressive attitude towards the students.
 Those found guilty of participation were disqualified for Government jobs.
 Women: Till now the women who were home-centred came out in large numbers and took part in picketing
and processions.
 Muslims: Some Muslims like Abdul Rashid, Maulana Azad (the one who joined the revolutionary group),
Liaqat Hussain and Ghaznavi.
 However by and large Muslim participation in the movement remained low.
 The upper and middle class Muslims led by Nawab Salimullah of Dacca supported
 The partition on the plea that it will give them muslim majority east Bengal.
 Muslim Peasants also stayed away from the movement.
 The use of Hindu festivals and Goddess for mass mobilisation also contributed in keeping the muslim
population away.
 10

The Muslim League (1906):

 When the nationalist movement started gaining strength, the British government began favouring upper class
Muslims to wean them away from the nationalist movement.
 They tried to win over the Muslims by telling them that they could make progress only if they became loyal
to the government.
 When some extremist Hindu leaders used religious beliefs and festivals to propagate nationalism, it provided
an opportunity to those Muslims who were pro-British to say that the nationalist movement was a movement
of Hindus only.
 Meeting at Lucknow in September 1906 - The first stage of its formation was this meeting with the
participation of representatives from all over India. The decision for reconsideration to form the all-Indian
Muslim political party was taken and further proceedings were adjourned until the next meeting of the All-
India Muhammadan Educational Conference.
 A Muslim deputation headed by Aga Khan met Lord Minto at Shimla on October-1, 1906 and presented
him a memorandum.

 All-India Muhammadan Educational conference.

 After this, Nawab Salimullah Khan of Dhaka called a conference in Dhaka (at Ahsan Manzil) and
the All India Muslim league was established at Dhaka on December 30, 1906.
 Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi from Lahore, suggested the name ‘All-India Muslim League’.
 Nawab Bakr-al-Mulk was elected its first president.
 The first meeting was attended by 3,000 delegates.
 The other founding members of the All-India Muslim League were Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Syed
Ameer Ali, and Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar.
 A London branch of the All-India Muslim League established in 1908 under the presidency of Amir Ali.

Mian Muhammad Shafi (1869-1932):

 In early 1906 organized a Muslim Association in Lahore.
 In 1906 he became a member of the Simla Deputation and All-India Muslim League was formed,
 In 1907 he established the Punjab Provincial Muslim League, a powerful branch of Muslim League.
 Between 1909 & 1912 he was nominated to the Provincial Legislative Council.
 In 1911, 1914, 1917 he was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council.
 In 1916 he was appointed a Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), Sir in 1919.
 In 1919 he was elected as the President of the Chief Court Bar.
 11

 Between 1919-24, he was the member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and managed
 Education Member, later health and law
 Setting up of the Muslim University of Aligarh.
 Acting Vice-President of the Governor-General's Executive Council 1922-25.
 In 1925, he was honoured with the Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI).
 In 1927 Muslim league session in Lahore and supported the government in the Simon commission.
 In 1930-31 he attended the first Round Table Conference.

Labour Participation:
 1905: 250 Bengali clerks of Burn company, Howrah protested against derogatory work conditions.
 There were Strikes in tramways, printing presses and Jute mills.
 In October 1905, the Printer’s union (labour union) was formed
 1906: Strikes were organised in East India Railway leading to formation of Railwaymen’s union.
 1906-08: Frequent strikes in jute mills were observed. Indian Millhands Union, Budge Budge was formed
organised by Ashwini Coomar Bannerji.
 In Tuticorin and Tirunelveli, Subramania Siva and Chidambaram Pillai led strikes in foreign-owned cotton
mills.
 Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh led Railway strikes in Rawalpindi (Punjab)
 Main Leaders of the Labour Participations were
 Ashwini Coomar Bannerjee
 Prabhat Kusum Roy Chowdhary
 Althanasius Apurba Kumar Ghosh
 The participation of peasants was negligible, only Barisal was an exception.

 Outside Bengal:
 All India reach was a significant feature of the movement. Leaders like Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajit
Singh (Bhagat Singh’s uncle) played a pivotal role in spreading the movement outside Bengal.
 During this time, the extremists’ ideas were propagated by
 New India: Bipin Chandra Pal (Editor)
 Vande Mataram: Aurobindo Ghosh (Editor)
 Sandhya: Brahmabandhab Upadhyay (Editor)
 Yugantar: Bhupendranath Dutta (Editor)
 12

Drawback of the Movement:

 The movement failed to create an effective organization or a party structure.
 There was severe government repression.
 It threw up an entire gamut of techniques that came to be associated with Gandhian politics—non-
cooperation, passive resistance, filling of British jails, social reform and constructive work but failed to give
these techniques a disciplined focus.
 The Surat split did much harm to the movement and helped the Government to suppress it easily.
 The movement became leaderless with most of the leaders either arrested or deported by 1908 and with
Aurobindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal retiring from active politics.
 The movement remained confined to the upper and middle classes and zamindars, and failed to reach
masses—especially the peasantry.
 The Non- cooperation and passive resistance remained mere ideas.
 The movement aroused the people but failed to tap the energy in an effective manner.

Drawback associated with the extremist leaders:

 The Extremist leaders had different perceptions of their goals. For ex: For Tilak Swaraj meant some form
of self-government while for Aurobindo it meant complete independence from foreign rule.
 The extremists proved to be social reactionaries. Their thoughts represented revivalist and obscurantist
views.
 Tilak's opposition to the Age of consent Bill, his organising of Ganpati and Shivaji festivals as national
festivals, his support to anti cow killing campaigns etc portrayed him as a Hindu nationalist.
 Similarly, B.C Pal and Aurobindo spoke of Hindu Nation and Hindu interests.
 All this contributed not only to alienating Muslims from the movement but also helped in breeding
communalism, the consequence of which India had to face in the times to come.

How the Swadeshi movement proved to be a major turning point in the history of the Indian Freedom
struggle?
 Participation: Hitherto untouched sections of society such as students, women workers, etc. participated
actively in the movement. From now on they were to form the base for all the upcoming national
movements.
 Techniques of struggle: From moderation to extremism, from revolutionary activities to incipient socialism,
from prayers, petition to passive resistance and non-cooperation, all the techniques of struggle emerged
during the Swadeshi movement.
 13

 Diversification: The movement was not only confined to the political sphere but also brought in its fold,
literature, art, science and industry.
 Readied the masses: It prepared the masses to take bold political positions in future and participate actively
in the upcoming freedom struggles.
 Ideology: The movement undermined the colonial ideologies and institutions.
 A lesson for future: The future struggle was to draw heavily from the experience gained during the
swadeshi movement.

Moderates Extremists

 They were opposed to the idea of an all India  They converted it into mass struggle.
struggle.  Their popularity helped them to reach masses and
 Their methods were not proving fruitful. were more effective. They were demanding Swaraj
 They were still negotiating with the British for
reforms while the movement was on.

Towards the Surat Split:

 The internal fights between the two factions; Moderates and Extremists in 1905 Benaras Session of Indian
National Congress (discussed above in the notes) led to the Split of Congress.
 Increasing Tension: In 1906 Lord Minto (Viceroy) and John Morley (Secretary of state) persuaded
moderates with promises of reforms in the Legislative Council.

December 1906:
 The Congress session at Calcutta was headed by Dadabhai Naoroji, he was respected by both the Moderates
and the Extremists, so split was avoided
 Dadabhai Naoroji declared that the goal of the Indian National Congress is self-government or swaraj
like the U.K or the colonies of Australia or Canada.
 14

 The resolution were passed on:

 Swadeshi
 Swaraj
 Boycott
 National education

National council of Education:

 It was created on 15 Aug 1906.
 A National college started and Aurobindo Ghosh became its principal.

Split in Surat Congress (Dec 1907):

 Rash Behari Ghosh was the President of the Surat Session of Indian National Congress in 1907.
 The ‘moderates’ and the ‘extremists’ could not remain united. At the
Congress session of 1907, held at Surat, the two groups came to a clash.
 The congress came completely under the domination of ‘moderate’ leaders
and the ‘extremists’ started functioning separately outside the congress.

 Causes of the Split:

 Issue of passing a resolution regarding the welcome of Prince of Wales
in Banaras Session (1905).
 Issue of giving national colour to the Swadeshi and Boycott movement
 Issue of Presidentship of the Congress.
 The Surat split was the most unfortunate incident in the history of the
congress. The youth took shelter to the terrorist activities.

What made extremists and moderates think that it would be beneficial to part their ways?
 After the Calcutta session extremists gave a call for wide passive resistance including boycott of schools,
colleges, councils, courts, etc.
 The extremists thought that the people have been aroused and the time has come to drive the Britishers out.

 Extremists on the other hand failed to realise that their plan of action needed the shield of protection
from moderates in order to prevent them from Govt repression.
 Moderates on the other hand were lured by the council reform about to come and wanted to slow down the
movement.
 At this stage moderates thought that it would be dangerous to associate themselves with the extremists.
 15

 Moderates felt that the activities of extremists would annoy the liberals in power in England which might
affect the council reform about to come.

 Moderates here failed to realise that the council reform was only meant to create a divide in the
Congress.
Reaction of the Government:
 Government resorted to severe actions to crush the movement.
 Even singing of Vande Mataram was banned. Meetings were restricted.

 Imprisonment, corporal punishment was common.

 Freedom of Press was also curbed to suppress the movement.

 Government tried to segregate Moderates from Extremists

 It brought five new laws to suppress the movement:

 The seditious meeting act 1907,

 Indian Newspaper act (Incitement to offence) Act 1908,

 Criminal law Amendment act 1908,

 Indian Press Act 1910.

 Tilak was tried for sedition in 1908 and sentenced to six years of jail for his writing in Kesari about the
bomb thrown in Muzaffarpur by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki.

The suppression:
 In 1907, Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh were deported to Mandalay for riots in Punjab. Later Lala left for
Britain.

 In 1908 Krishna Kumar Mitra and Ashwini Kumar Dutt were deported.

 In 1908 Tilak was given 6-year imprisonment.

 After being acquitted Aurobindo Ghosh retired to Pondicherry to start his ashrams.

 With the loss of Extremists leaders, Congress lost their touch with masses.

 Gradually the movement subdued.

December, 1911:
 King George V visited India and Delhi Durbar was held for coronation Here it was decided to transfer
the capital and annulment of the partition was announced.
 It was hoped that this would restore peace and dampen the spirit of nationalism.
 16

Aftermath of Surat Split:

 Moderates
 They were pacified through Morley Minto Reform 1909.
 The Legislative Council was expanded.
 Along with the clause of “Separate Electorates”.
 Extremists
 Tilak formed an extremist party but they decided to work as a part of Indian National Congress.
 They lost the protection of the moderates.
 Newspapers were suppressed.
 Leaders were imprisoned.
Factions in political/religious association in Modern Indian History:
 In Bengal
 There were differences of ideology within the Brahmo Samaj and bitter journalistic rivalry between the
newspaper groups, the Bengalee (moderate leader) and the Amrita Bazar Patrika (radical Motilal
Ghosh).
 Faction between Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal on the other over the editorship of Bande mataram.
 In Maharashtra
⮚ There was competition between Gokhale and Tilak for control of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.
 Madras had Mylapur faction Egmore faction and sub-urban elites. The Mylapore faction comprising
Chetpet Iyers and Vembakkam Iyengars, the Egmore faction led by the editor of The Hindu, Kasturi Ranga
Iyengar and the Salem nationalists led by C. Rajagopalachari. Another non-Brahmin faction rose to compete
with them and became the Justice party.
 Punjab
 Differences between Arya Samaj were divided after the death of D.Saraswati, between the more
moderate College group and the radical revivalist group.

Small Concept:
 Congress Session of 1907, 1908: Rashbihari Ghosh was the president of Indian National Congress’s Surat
session in 1907 and the Madras session of 1908.
 In 1908: The Congress delegate for now to be elected only by the Congress committee and associations
affiliated to the Congress. It resulted in the members of the Extremist party not attending the Congress
session called as Mehta Session/Congress.
 He was a politician, lawyer, social activist and philanthropist. He was one of the most vocal opponents of
radicalism or extremism and was part of the moderates.
 17

Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909:

 The Indian Councils Act of 1892 failed to satisfy the Indians in spite of the fact that it was an improvement
on the Indian Council Act of 1861.
 Though it had introduced the system of indirect elections and made the beginnings of the Parliamentary
form of government, yet the common people could get no representation in the government. So, they
clamored for more reforms.
1. Lord Curzon, who was the Viceroy of India from 1988 to 1905, was autocratic in attitude. He tried his
best to suppress the Indians and the awakening that was stirring them. He hated the Indians and aimed at
extinguishing the local self-government. His Convocation Address at the Calcutta University, educational
policy, amendment of Calcutta Corporation Act, the highly centralized regime and above all the partition
of Bengal had caused a wave of indignation throughout the country.
2. The Russo-Japanese War had ended in the defeat of Russia in 1905. This defeat of Russia—a great
European power—at the hands of Japan—a small eastern power—had given the Indians a new hope and
courage. The possibility that the West could be defeated by the East infused a new enthusiasm in the
leaders of India and they intensified their struggle.
3. The Indians were being treated very badly not only in countries like South Africa, Malaya, Ceylon, etc.
but in India too. The people were feeling that the government was inefficient.
4. The constant rise in the prices of articles of day-to-day use had hit the masses hard. Consequently, the
discontent was increasing day by day.
5. The weak constitutional programme of the Indian National Congress could not meet the satisfaction
of the people. So, the people now decided to resort to force. Boycott of English goods, terrorism and
murderous assaults became the order of the day. In spite of the repressive measures of the government the
tide of resentment continued. So, Lord Minto, the then Viceroy, came to the conclusion that only
sympathy and reform could pacify the Indians.
6. The Muslim League had come into being in 1906. A deputation of the Muslims waited on the
Governor- General requesting for separate electorates for Muslims. Lord Minto agreed to consider their
demand sympathetically. He recommended the demands of the Muslim deputation to Lord Morley, the
secretary of state for India, who acceded though after some hesitation.
7. The Ministry at London underwent a change and the Liberals came to power. The Parliament passed the
Indian Councils Act of 1909 which is popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms.

The Indian Councils Act, 1909:

 In August 1907 two Indians KG Gupta and Syed Hussain Bilgrami were made members of the Secretary
of State's India Council.
 18

 In India, on 24 March 1909, Mr. Satyendra Sinha was appointed a member of the Viceroy in the
Executive Council.
 Provisions of the Act: The size of the Legislatures, both at the Centre and in the Provinces, was enlarged
and so were their functions.
 Central Legislature: The number of 'additional' members here was now raised at the maximum to 60. The
Legislature was thus to consist of 69 members of whom 37 were to be officials while the remaining 32 non
officials.
 Of the officials, 9 were to be the ex-officio members, namely the Governor-General, seven ordinary
members (Executive Councilors) and one extraordinary member [commander-in-chief], while the
remaining 28 were to be nominated by the Governor General. Of the 32 non-officials, 5 were to be
nominated by the Governor-General while the remaining 27 were to be elected.
 For the elected members, it was declared that the territorial representation did not suit India and that
representation by classes and interests is the only practicable method of embodying the elective
principle in the constitution of the Indian Legislative Councils.
 Thus, of the 27 elected members, 13 were to come from the General Electorates,
 consisting of the non-official members of the legislatures of Bombay, Madras, Bengal and United
Provinces, each of which would send two members (=8).
 the non-official members of the legislatures of the Central Provinces, Assam, Bihar and Orissa, the
Punjab and Burma, each of which would send one member (=5).
 Of the remaining 14,
 12 were to come from Class Electorates;

 Six of them coming one each from the Landholders' constituencies in the six provinces of
Bombay, Madras, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, United Provinces and the Central Provinces; and

 Six being returned by the separate Muslim constituencies—one each from Madras, Bombay,
United Provinces and Bihar and Orissa (=4) and two from Bengal.
 The remaining 2 were to be returned from the Special electorates, one each from the Bengal and
Bombay Chambers of Commerce.

 Provincial Legislatures:
 The membership of the Legislative Councils of the different provinces was enlarged under the Act of
1909 was as follows: Burma, 16; Eastern Bengal and Assam, 41, Bengal, 52; Madras, Bombay and
United Provinces, 47 each; and Punjab, 25.
 19

 The Act provided for non-official majorities in the provinces. However, this did not mean non-official
elected majorities, as some of the non-officials were to be nominated by the Governors and through
these the official control over the Council was retained.
 In Madras, for example, the number of the non-officials was 26, while that of the officials 21. Of the
non- officials, however, only 21 were to be elected, while the remaining five were to be nominated by
the Governor.
 As these nominated members always sided with the Government, the officials were 'in a manner of
speaking in the majority'. The same was true of all other provinces.
 The elected members in the Provincial Legislatures were to be returned by different constituencies.
 In Bombay, for instance, out of the 21 elected members,
 6 were to be returned by the Special electorates consisting of the Bombay Corporation and the
Bombay University etc.,
 8 were to be returned by the General electorates consisting of District Boards and Municipalities
etc. and
 The remaining 7 were to be returned by Class electorates consisting of Muslims (returning 4) and
the Landlords (returning 3).
 The membership of the Executive Councils of Bengal, Madras and Bombay was raised to 4 and the
Government was empowered to constitute similar Councils for the Lieutenant-Governors as well.

 Functions of Legislative Councils:

 The functions of the Legislative Councils, both at the Centre and in the Provinces were also enlarged.
 Now the members were given the right of discussion and asking supplementary questions, the
Member in-charge for the latter being authorised to demand time, if he could not furnish the information
asked for on the spot.
 Detailed rules were laid down concerning the discussion of budgets in the Central Legislature .
 Members, though not empowered to vote, were empowered to
 move resolutions concerning additional grants to the Local Governments,
 any alteration in taxation, on a new loan, which might have been proposed in the financial
statement or the
 explanatory memorandum.
 The financial statement, it was further provided, before its submission in the Council, had to be referred to
its committee consisting of the Finance member (Chairman) and non-officials and nominated members on a
50:50 basis.
 20

 Rules were also laid down concerning discussion of matters of general public interest.
 Members could discuss these matters, moving resolutions on them and could also vote,
 Though the President was empowered to disallow the whole or a part of such resolutions, without
assigning any reason.
 Nor was the Government obliged to accept such resolutions, even if passed, whether concerning public
interest or concerning financial statements.
 There were, however, certain subjects which the members could not discuss under the Act. They could
not discuss the foreign relations of the Government of India and its relations with the Indian Princes, a
matter under adjudication of a court of law, expenditure on state railways, interest on debt etc.
 Assessment of the Act: The Reform of 1909 afforded no answer and could afford no answer to the Indian
political problem.
 Narrow franchises, indirect elections, limited powers of the Legislative Councils made a hotchpotch
of representative government. The real power remained with the Government and the Councils were left
with no functions but criticism.
 The Reforms created new problems in Indian politics. One such problem was the introduction of
separate electorates for Muslims , by which, according to Jawaharlal Nehru, a "political barrier was
created around them, isolating them from the rest of India and reversing the unifying and amalgamating
process which had been going on for centuries”.
 The Reforms of 1909 gave to the people of the country "the shadow rather than the substance." They
granted influence and not power. It left responsibility for government on one set of men while rapidly
transferring power to another set of men. It created a situation eminently calculated to exasperate the
executive and legislature with each other and thereby threw the British Government and the Indian
community at large into a posture of mutual antagonism.

Significance of the Indian Council Act 1909:

 This act, though it has been severely criticized, was an improvement of the Act of 1892.
 An Indian was taken as a member to the Central Executive.
 The Legislative Councils were enlarged and the representation was granted to Municipalities, District
Boards, Chambers of Commerce and the Universities. Supplementary questions were allowed.
 Though the power was entirely into the hands of bureaucracy, yet this act introduced democratic element.
Thus, a Constitutional Autocracy was established in India.
 As the democratic demands were ever on the increase, the act was sure to have a very short life. The
constitutional element soon began to challenge the autocratic element and it became self-evident that
ultimately autocracy was to go and yield place to the ascending democracy.
 21

 This act was certainly a landmark in the history of India. Only eight years later the British Government had to
declare that she aimed at giving responsible government to India.
 The inclusion of Indians in the legislative and Executive Councils of the Governor-General gave them a good
chance to give publicity to the ideas that had come into existence as a result of the national awakening in
India.
 Thus, the act has a great significance, though it did not introduce any responsible government. But it was a
milestone in the direction of a responsible government.
Criticism of the Indian Council Act 1909:
 The Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909 aimed at winning the cooperation of the Congress and at suppressing the
revolutionaries.
 Though, at first, this act assured great hopes to the Indian leaders , yet it came to be criticized severely on
account of its serious defects. The restricted and communal electorates duped all hopes.
 This act has been criticized on the following grounds:
1. No Responsible Government: The act did not establish any responsible government. Lord Morley never
aimed at granting responsible government to India. The Legislative Councils were given some more
powers only. The people got nothing and all the power remained still centralized.
 Lord Morley said — “If it could be said that this chapter of reforms led directly or necessarily upto
the establishment of the parliamentary system in India, I, for me, would have nothing at all to do
with it.”
 The people remained dissatisfied as they got nothing worthwhile. These reforms introduced
parliamentary structure but the responsibility remained absent. The executive was not made
responsible to the legislature.
2. Communal Electorates: This act introduced communal electorates. The Muslims came to have separate
electorates. They could vote for Muslim candidates only. Thus, the seeds of communalism were sown.
The elected candidates were never nationalist leaders. Later on Muslims came to have separate reserved
seats in the government jobs even. This communa l feeling went on gathering momentum. The acts of
1919 and 1935 extended these communal electorates to Sikhs and Indian Christians also. This communal
feeling reached its climax in course of time and culminated in the partition of India in 1947.
3. Narrow Franchise: This act introduced the system of indirect elections. The people got the right of
sending their representatives to Legislative Councils but they got no share in the government. Very few
people had the right to vote. The qualification for vote varied from place to place and from religion to
religion. Moreover, the elected candidates had no voice. They were kept in minority. The women were
not given any representation.
 22

4. Indirect Elections: The indirect system of election was another crowning defect of this act. The people
elected members for the local bodies and they further elected for Legislative Councils of the provinces.
These provincial legislators elected members for the Central Legislative Councils. Thus, people got no
representation in the government indeed. These elections were a mere shadow and had no reality or
substance in them.
5. Limited Powers of the Legislatures: Though the powers of the legislative councils were increased, yet
this increase was only nominal. In reality the powers of these councils were very limited. The legislators
could ask questions from the executive who were not bound to give answers. The legislators could pass
resolutions on public matters but their resolutions were no more than recommendations as the
government was not bound to accept them. They could discuss the budgets but with no powers to have a
direct control on the finance. Thus, the powers of the Legislature were very narrow and the government
was autocratic in nature.
6. Weakness of Non-official Members: Though in the provincial council, the non-official members were
to be in majority, yet they possessed no power. The official and nominated non-official members were
together more than the elected members and they were easily outvoted. However advisable arguments or
proposals might be advanced by these non-official members, at the time of voting they were opposed by
the official and nominated members. The main function of the official members was — “to vote with the
government and to vote against the non-official opposition.”
7. No Encouragement to Self-government: The people could directly vote for the local bodies and so the
people wanted the government to announce that the ultimate aim of the reforms was to grant self-
government to Indians. But it is a pity that these reforms remained silent on this point.
8. Curtailed Rights: The Governor-General-in-Council and the Governors-in-Council could frame rules
and regulations for the division of duties. These rules were so framed as to deprive the non-official
members of any substantial rights. These rules disabled several revolutionary members to fight elections.
 Thus, these reforms could not alter the despotic nature of the government with the result that the masses
remained discontented and hence the short life of the act.

Failure of the Indian Council Act 1909:

 In the light of the above criticism, it may safely be concluded that this act, though an improvement upon the
act of 1892, was a miserable failure. These reforms failed to give any power to the Indians.
 The Central Council was to have the official members in majority and Provincial Councils gave the
non-official members a majority in such a way that it was nothing more than a shadow of majority.
 The nominated non-official members were toadies of the government and so the elected members were
easily outvoted.
 23

 The communal electorates forced the elected members even to be faithful to the government so that they
might secure the interests of their communities. The Indians had little share in the government. The local
bodies which had been subjected to strict government control under the reactionary government of Curzon
were not emancipated so far.
 So, these reforms could not meet the satisfaction of the Indians. The extremists felt all the more disgusted
and carried on their activities of terrorism. The demand of Swaraj gathered momentum as a result of the utter
failure of these reforms.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 33
Extremists Era III – Home Rule
and Government of India Act
1919
 2

Extremists Era III – Home Rule and Government of India Act 1919

The Nationalists and World War I:

❖ World War I broke out between two coalitions: the Allies forces consisted of Britain; France; Russia; USA;
Italy and Japan and the Central Powers such as Germany; Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
❖ The First World War which broke out in August 1914, worked as a catalyst to the Indian National movement.
It accelerated its pace and defined its objectives in clear terms.
❖ It influenced the Indian national movement in many ways:
⮚ Almost all the parties helped the British government. They believed that they would get Swaraj after the
war was over.
⮚ Moderates supported the war as a matter of duty and extremists supported it in the hope that their
loyalty would be paid back by the British in the form of self-government.
⮚ The revolutionary movement received a fillip. They decided to utilize the opportunity to wage a war on
British rule and liberate the country.
⮚ White soldiers were drained (15K left once.)
✓ Ghadar Party in N. America
✓ Berlin Committee in Europe
✓ Indian soldiers mutiny in Singapore
⮚ In 1910 the Allahabad Session of the Indian National Congress was presided by Sir William
Wedderburn. In this session M.A. Jinnah denounced the separate electorate system that was
introduced by the Indian Council Act of 1909.
⮚ In 1911, the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress was presided by B.N. Dhar and it was in
this Congress Session first time there was a recital of Jana-Gana-Mana took place.

In India (June 1914):

❖ Tilak was released from jail.
❖ He restarted his struggle for Swaraj
❖ World War I led to high taxes, inflation etc. This became a feeding ground for a mass movement
❖ The leadership of the movement against the British was assumed by Tilak and Mrs. Annie Besant.

Home Rule Movement:

❖ The Home Rule Movement was launched by Mrs. Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak during the First World
War.
❖ Other prominent leaders of the movement were G.S Khaparde, S. Subramania Iyer, Josef Baptista, Md Ali
Jinnah.
❖ Annie Besant:
⮚ An Irish lady and a renowned worker of the Theosophical Society).
 3

⮚ She came to attend the Madras Session of the Congress in 1914, which was presided by
Bhupendranath Bose.
⮚ She said quite candidly that India neither wants to live like a baby in the imperialist creche nor does she
pray for independence in return for her tears. The movement demanded justice from the Empire as a
sovereign state and considered freedom as her birthright.

Dec 1915- Bombay session- S P Sinha:

❖ The Constitution of the Congress was altered to admit the delegates from the extremist section.
❖ Mrs. Annie Besant moved the resolution for starting Home Rule Leagues which was inspired by the Irish
Home Rule Movement. It was rejected.
❖ Initially Tilak decided to support Britain while others saw this as an opportunity to suppress Britain. This
required a mass movement.
❖ Two Home Rule Leagues were formed in 1915-16 under Tilak and Besant.

Tilak’s League:
❖ It was set up in April 1916 and was restricted to Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Central provinces and Berar.
❖ Poona was the headquarters of Tilak’s league.
❖ It had six branches.
❖ Its demands were Swaraj, formation of linguistic state and education
in vernacular.

Besant’s League:
❖ It was set up in September, 1916 in Madras and covered the rest of India
(including Bombay city).
❖ George Arundale was its organising secretary.
❖ B.W Wadia and C.P Ramaswamy Aiyer were also associated with it
❖ It had 200 branches and was loosely organised as compared to Tilak’s league.
❖ Mrs. Besant through her papers ‘New India’ and ‘Common Weal’ and Tilak through ‘Kesari’ and
‘Maratha’ started the propagation of the Home Rule Movement.
❖ It carried a much wider appeal than the earlier movements did.
❖ It also attracted the politically backward regions of Gujarat and Sindh.
❖ The main objectives were -
⮚ To attain Home rule for India within British empire
⮚ Same as that of Australia and New Zealand.
⮚ Tilak declared “Swaraj of today is within the empire and not independent of it”.
 4

⮚ It spread its ideas through political discussions, organising reading rooms and libraries, newspaper,
posters, religious songs.

Realisation:
❖ Moderates
⮚ They realised the importance of masses into any struggle.
⮚ They needed extremists so as to reach the masses.
⮚ Tilak was already active in the Home Rule Movement.
⮚ Gokhale and Ferozeshah Mehta had died in 1915.
❖ Congress
⮚ They recognised the importance of Muslim League.
⮚ They needed a united front to counter the British.
❖ Extremists
⮚ Tilak realised that he needed the shield of moderates.
⮚ He also requires the all-India political network for the success of any movement.
❖ Muslim League
⮚ They realised that the welfare of Muslims was not possible under the Imperial regime.
⮚ The global events shifted the alliance of Muslims away from the British.
⮚ Partition of Bengal was finally annulled in 1911.

Lucknow Merger (Lucknow Session of INC Dec, 1916):

❖ A.C Mazumdar was the Lucknow Session of the Indian National Congress Session in December, 1916.
❖ The Moderates welcomed Extremists back into the Congress.
❖ Reunion of the Moderate and the Extremists: It finally readmitted the Extremists led by Tilak to the
congress fold. As a result of this, the strength of the Indian National Congress increased which gave a new
impetus and vigour to the national movement.

What led to Unification of Extremists and Moderates?

❖ The old controversies which were the reason for the split became meaningless now.
❖ The realisation among both moderates and extremists that split had led to political inactivity.
❖ The vigorous effort from Annie Besant and Tilak for reunion. Tilak even declared that his intention was to
bring reform in the administration and not overthrow the government.
❖ The death of Gokhale and Pherozshah Mehta, who had led the moderate faction, facilitated the reunion.
 5

Lucknow Pact:
❖ The Congress and Muslim League decided to resolve their differences.
❖ The gulf between Hindus and Muslims was bridged.
❖ A joint scheme of reforms was adopted by both parties.
❖ The congress agreed to separate electorates for the Muslims and the league accepted the congress creed
of Swaraj.
❖ But it happened to be a temporary truce as Dr. R.C. Mazumdar has rightly remarked. “it laid the foundation on
which Pakistan was built thirty years later”.

What led to unification of Muslim League & Congress?

❖ Britain refused to help Turkey In its wars in the Balkans (1912-13) and with Italy (1911). Turkey was ruled
by Khalifa, the religious leader of muslims all over the world.
❖ The annulment of partition of Bengal in 1911. It antagonised those sections of Muslims who supported the
partition.
❖ The refusal of the Government to set up a university at Aligarh with power to affiliate colleges all over India.
❖ Younger league members were moving away from Aligarh school towards and taking a bolder nationalist
stand.
❖ The Calcutta Session of Muslim league, committed the league to work with other organisations for a system
of self-government suited to India, provided it doesn’t compromise its basic objective i.e., protection of the
interest of Indian Muslims.
❖ During the war Muslims also faced repression by the government.
⮚ Maulana Azad’s ‘Al Hilal’ and Muhammed Ali’s ‘Comrade’ faced suppression.
⮚ Ali Brothers, Maulana Azad and Hasrat Mohani were jailed.
❖ All this antagonised the younger section of Muslims and generated anti-imperialist feelings among them.
❖ Joint demands put forward by League and Congress after unification:
⮚ Government should declare that it would confer self- government on Indians at an early date.
⮚ Expansion of legislative council with the majority elected representative and confer more power to them.
⮚ Half of the members of Viceroy’s Executive Council should be Indians.
❖ After the Lucknow session, it became a joint effort of Congress, Muslim League and 2 Home Rule Leagues.
 6

❖ Tried to develop public opinion through discussion, reading, pamphlets and lectures on mass scale and with
high intensity.
❖ Fresh groups of people joined the national movement like urban professionals
⮚ Also, the new generation of Nehru joined the struggle
⮚ Many leaders like Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, C.R. Das, Madan Mohan
Malaviya, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Lala Lajpat Rai also joined this movement.
❖ The government got worried at the wide popularity of the movement and it came down with severe repression.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, for his untiring effort to forge unity between Hindu and Muslim Indians, Sarojini Naidu gave
him the title of “The Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”.

August Declaration (20 Aug 1917):

❖ Edwin Montague (Secretary of state) made a declaration in House of commons regarding future political
reforms
❖ It meant to increase association of Indians in administration and develop self-governing institutions.
❖ The statement read “The Govt policy is of an increasing participation of Indians in every branch of
administration and gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive
realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British empire”.
❖ The responsible government meant that the ruler was to be responsible to the elected representatives and not
only to the British Govt in London.
❖ Nationalists’ Response: No specific time frame was given and the Britishers were alone to decide the nature
and timing of responsible govt in India.

Calcutta Session of Indian National Congress, December 1917:

❖ Mrs. Annie Besant and two of her co-workers G.S. Arundale and V.P. Wadia was placed under house arrest
for 2 months in June 1917.
❖ This invited nationwide protests.
❖ After she was released, she was elected the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.

Women’s Indian Association:

❖ Women's Indian Association (WIA) was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant,
Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa.
⮚ To liberate women from the deplorable condition suffered in socio-economic and political matters
⮚ To fight against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system etc
 7

Suppression of the Movement:

❖ The Government came up with severe repression especially in Madras.
❖ Tilak was barred from entering Punjab and Delhi.
❖ Annie Besant along with her associates B.P Wadia and George Arundale was arrested in 1917.
❖ Besant’s arrest caused nationwide protest and S.Subramaniya Aiyer renounced his knighthood.

By 1919, the movement faded out, why?

❖ The movement had a lack of effective organisation.
❖ Communal riots in 1917-18 weakened the movement.
❖ Moderates who joined congress after Besant’s arrest were lured by the talks of reforms contained in Montagu’s
August statement which promised self-government as the long-term goal of the British Government.
❖ Moderates started making distance from the movement as extremists (especially Tilak) were planning passive
resistance.
❖ Montagu-Chelmsford reform of 1918 created division among leaders.
❖ Tilak had to go to England in 1918 in connection to a case.

The Government of India Act, 1919 (The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms):

❖ This act was enacted immediately after the First World War. There were several circumstances that led to its
enactment.

Circumstances Leading to It:

1. Failure of the Reforms of 1909: Minto-Morley Reforms had failed to satisfy the Indians because they got
nothing as a result of these reforms.
➢ They were given the right of taking part into the discussions only but with no powers to do anything. The
structure of the government was made something like parliamentary, but without any responsibility.
➢ The communal electorates, narrow franchise and several other defects of these reforms of 1909 failed to
satisfy the Indians. So, the people were clamouring for more demands.
2. Discontent among the Muslims:
⮚ Though the communal electorates had pleased the Muslims in 1909, yet soon they began to feel
dissatisfied on account of a variety of causes.
⮚ George. V, the Emperor of England, cancelled this partition in 1911 at the time of the Delhi Darbar.
It was a severe shock to their separatist activities.
⮚ The Balkan Wars of 1912-13 and the Turko – Italian War crushed Turkey and the English did not help
her.
⮚ Turkey being a Muslim country, the Indian Muslims resented the attitude of the British towards Turkey.
 8

Additional Circumstances leading to the passing of the Act:

❖ The Indian National Congress, shorn of its left wing, expressed its dissatisfaction at
(a) The excessive and unfairly preponderant share of representation given to the followers of one particular
religion.
(b) The unjust, invidious and humiliating distinctions made between Muslims and non-Muslims in the matter
of electorates, the franchise and the qualifications of the candidates.
(c) The wide, arbitrary and unreasonable disqualifications and restrictions for candidates seeking election to
the Councils.
(d) The general distrust of the educated classes.
(e) The unsatisfactory composition of the non- official majorities in the Provincial Councils, rendering them
ineffective and unreal."
❖ So great was the discontent among the people of India with the Minto-Morley Reforms that the British
Government had to resort to repressive measures to suppress the rising tide of discontent.
⮚ The Indian Press Act of 1910
⮚ Seditious Meetings Act of 1911
⮚ Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 1913
⮚ Defence of India Act of 1915
⮚ All these Acts provided for the trial of revolutionary offenders by a strong bench without appeal and for
the internment of suspects was a particularly obnoxious measure.
❖ Under the circumstances, the question of further constitutional reforms did not brook delay. A patent proof of
the wide awakening of the Indians at this stage was that they themselves formulated various schemes for
reforms for the consideration of the Government.
❖ Among those who put forward different schemes for the reforms were the nineteen members of the Central
Legislature, including Mr. Jinnah, Srinivasa Sastri and Surendranath Banerjee.

Joint demand of Congress and League (after Lucknow Pact)

❖ Self-government will be provided by the government at its top priority.
❖ One-third representation to Muslims in Central Government.
❖ Provision for separate electorates for all communities until a community demanded joint electorates.
❖ Proportional political representation to minorities. Providing minorities more representation in the government
than in proportional to share of their population.
❖ No bill concerning a community will be passed if raised concern/opposed by 3/4th members of that community
in the Legislative council.
❖ Separation of the executive from the judiciary.
❖ Salaries of the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs to be paid from British coffers and not the Indian funds.
 9

❖ Half the members of the Imperial Legislative Council were Indians.

❖ Members of the central legislative council should be increased to 150.
❖ All members to be elected directly on the basis of adult franchise except nominated.
❖ 4/5th of the members of the provincial legislatures to be elected and 1/5th to be nominated.
❖ Size of provincial legislature should not be less than 125 in the major provinces and from 50 to 75 in the minor
provinces.
❖ Members of the Legislative Council to elect their President themselves.
❖ The term of the legislative council should be five years.

3. Help in War remained unrewarded: The Indians had given unconditional co-operation to the English in
World War I. Huge assistance in men and money was given to the British. The Indian soldiers went overseas
to fight for the English. The Indian Exchequer was utilized by the British. The native princes made huge
contributions. The Indians now expected extensive rights of self-government in return.
4. Home Rule Movements: The British government, against the wishes of the Indian people, showed no sign of
giving anything to the Indians. Tilak and Mrs. Annie Besant started the Home Rule Movement. Tilak asserted
that freedom was the birthright of Indians. This movement alarmed the British as the Indians attacked their
sympathies with the movement. A general discontent prevailed.

Round Table scheme

❖ Round Table was a group formed to study imperial problems and believed that further council expansion without
the real powers will be detrimental.
❖ It proposed the idea of dyarchy in the provinces.
❖ Important members of the Round Table were Lionel Curtis and William Duke.

August Declaration:
❖ As discussed earlier it was declared on 20 Aug 1917 by the Secretary of State Edwin Montague in the House
of commons regarding future political reforms.
❖ The Declaration Titled
⮚ “Increasing association of Indians in every branch of administration, and the Gradual development of self-
governing Institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible governments in India as
an Integral part of the British Empire”.
❖ The Secretary of State came to India in November 1917 and discussed his scheme of reforms with the Viceroy,
Lord Chelmsford, and some eminent British civil servants and Indian politicians of all shades of opinion.
❖ A committee was appointed consisting of
⮚ Sir William Duke,
⮚ Earl of Donoughmore,
⮚ Bhupendra Nath Basu and
 10

⮚ Charles Robert
❖ The MP who had put the Question in the Commons in reply to which the Secretary of State had made the
Declaration which together with the Viceroy, helped Montagu to prepare the draft of a reform scheme which
was published in July 1918 and is called the Montagu-Chelmsford (the Montford) Report on the basis of which
the Government of India Act 1919 was drafted.

Special Congress Session, Bombay, August 1918:

❖ The Special Session was presided by Hasan Imam.
❖ He condemned the scheme as inadequate, unsatisfactory and disappointing.
❖ Moderates including Surendranath Banerjee and others favoured the reform and left the Congress.
⮚ All India Conference in Bombay and led to the formation of Indian Liberal
Federation in November 1918. They were called Liberals.
⮚ S.N. Banerjee defined his party as Friends of reforms and enemies of
revolution and led a deputation to Britain so as to support the reform.

Three British committees which sat in India from 1918 to 1919:

1. The Southborough Committee, referred to at the time as the Franchise
Committee, was chaired by Francis Hopwood, 1st Baron Southborough, and
recommended:
⮚ a scheme of territorial constituencies, urban and rural, the latter based on the existing land revenue
districts, together with communal representation for Mohammedans and Sikhs (as contemplated in the
original scheme) and for Indian Christians, Europeans, and Anglo-Indians and the representation of
special interests, including commerce and industry.
⮚ On 27th January 1919, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar submitted a memorandum and gave evidence regarding
discrimination faced by Dalits.
⮚ Meanwhile, the British women won the right to vote: the Representation of the People Act 1918
granted women older than 30 and with property the right to cast the ballot. Sophia Duleep Singh
was an important leader of this movement.
⮚ In 1917 Women’s Indian Association (WIA) was part of a 14 (all-women) member delegation led by
Sarojini Naidu that met the Montague Chelmsford Commission and argued that women be given the
franchise. The commission rejected the demands.
⮚ Throughout 1917, the Women’s Indian Association (WIA) intensely lobbied and established relations
with the major political groups in India on the question of women's voting rights.
✓ Indian National Congress at its annual sessions, began to regularly pass resolutions to remove
disqualifications for women voting,
✓ The Muslim League did the same
 11

Southborough Commission in 1918

❖ The Women’s Indian Association went all out, and leveraged the organizational machinery it had built and, in
cooperation with other women's organizations, demanded equal voting rights for women.
❖ Forty-five branches of the WIA and other women's organizations passed resolutions and sent them to the
Committee.
❖ Commission acknowledged that educated women might be qualified, but concluded that overall women were
not ready for the vote, nor would conservative sectors of society support their enfranchisement

Margaret Cousins:
❖ Margaret Cousins, the General Secretary of WIA responded to the Commission's
decision in a letter to the editor of The Hindu:
⮚ "On behalf of the members of the 46 Branches of the Women's Indian
Association, all of which have signed requisitions in favour of women
suffrage, I protest vigorously against the decision of the Southborough
Committee that the franchisee shall not be extended to women because,
forsooth, "the social conditions of India make it premature". Is this
handful of men better able to judge these conditions than were the thousands
of Indian delegates to the Bombay and Delhi Congresses? These latter were
the fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons of the women concerned and
knowing at first hand their social conditions, with full understanding of what
the necessary steps to women's voting would be... Are the considered
opinions of these representative bodies of Indian men and women to be flouted by these few Committee
members, some of the Englishmen already known to be opposed to the grant of the vote even to their own
Englishwomen and who are thus dated as behind the times?"

2. Home Administration: Headed by Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, and recommended "the
reorganisation of the Council of India, the appointment of High Commissioner for India in London, and placing
of charges on account of political and administrative work of Indian office on the British exchequer.
3. Feetham Function Committee: headed by Richard Feetham, and recommended "the allocation of subjects
between the centre and the provinces", as well as "the division of provincial subjects into the Reserved and
Transferred categories.
❖ The Act laid down in its Preamble the principles on which the reforms were to be progressively carried out in
India. These principles were more or less the same as embodied in the Declaration of August 20, 1917.
❖ An analysis of the Preamble brings out the following points:
⮚ British India is to remain an integral part of the British Empire.
⮚ Responsible Government in British India is the objective of the declared policy of Parliament.
⮚ Responsible Government is capable of progressive realisation only.
 12

❖ In order to achieve Responsible Government, it is necessary to provide for two things:

1. The increasing association of the Indians in every branch of administration and
2. The gradual development of self-governing institutions.
❖ Concurrently with the development of self- governing institutions in the
provinces, it is expedient to give to provinces in provincial matters the highest
measure of independence of the Government of India, which is compatible
with the due discharge by the latter of its own responsibilities.
❖ The significance of the Preamble was that what was already declared by
Montagu was now given a definite legal shape. The sovereignty of the British
Parliament over India was reasserted and the country was told in clear terms
of the basis of the future British action.

Main Provisions of the Act:

❖ Changes in the Home Government:
⮚ The Secretary of State for India who used to be paid out of the Indian revenues was now to be paid by
the British Exchequer, thus undoing an injustice dating from 1793.
⮚ Some of his functions were taken away from him and given to the High Commissioner for India who
was to be appointed and paid by the Government of India.
✓ This new functionary acted as the agent of the Governor-General-in-Council.
✓ He was to be in- charge of the Stores Department, the Indian Students Department, etc.
⮚ The control of the Secretary of State was reduced in the provincial sphere in India in so far as Transferred
Subjects were concerned but his control over the Centre remained as complete as before.

The curtailment of the powers and functions of the Secretary of State was done; it appears, in deference to the wishes
of the Congress which had passed a resolution at the 1916 session that "India must be governed from Delhi and
Shimla and not from Whitehall and Downing Street." The Act, however, met these wishes in a very small way.

⮚ This act effected some changes in the India House.

✓ The salaries of the Secretary of State and his council did not remain a burden on the Indian revenues.
✓ Its strength was reduced to members between eight and twelve.
✓ Its term of office was reduced to five years
✓ The salary of each member was increased from 1000 to 1200 a year.
✓ The Act transferred some powers of the Secretary of State to the Governor General-in-Council
and consequently his hold on the Indian affairs came to be relaxed to a certain extent.
✓ This act encouraged the defective electoral system by extending separate communal electorates to
the Sikhs.
 13

❖ Changes in the Government of India:

⮚ On the Executive Side the Act did not introduce responsible

government at the Centre though Indians were to have greater
influence there.
⮚ The number of Indians in the Governor-General's Executive
Council was raised to three in a Council of eight.
✓ The Indian members were entrusted with departments like that
of Law, Education, Labour, Health and Industries.
⮚ The new scheme of Government envisaged a division of Subjects into
the Central List and the Provincial List. A list of Central subjects was
drawn up which were to be administered by the Governor-General-in-
Council.
✓ Those subjects which were of national importance or which
related to more than one province, such as Foreign Affairs, Defence, Political Relations, Posts and
Telegraphs, Public Debt, Communications, Civil and Criminal Law and Procedure, etc., were
included in the Central List,
✓ While others which were only of provincial importance, such as Public Health, Local Self-
Government, Education, Medical Administration, Land Revenue Administration, Water Supply,
Famine Relief, Law and Order, Agriculture, etc., were included in the Provincial List.
✓ Any subject not specially transferred to the provinces was a Central subject.
⮚ This act made the Central Executive quite irresponsible. It could overrule the legislature and was not
responsible for it.
⮚ Comments on the Changes on the Executive side:
✓ The changes introduced in the Executive Council at the Centre left much to be desired.
✓ Though a step was taken towards increasing association of Indians by raising their strength to
three in a council of eight, yet the departments assigned to them were comparatively unimportant.
✓ Nor were these members made responsible to the Legislature. Placed as they were, they could not
but be the yes-men of the Viceroy.
✓ The division of subjects into two lists left much to be desired, the division was not clear-cut or
based upon proper considerations.
✓ Critics point out that while subjects like Commerce and law regarding Property were placed in
the Central List, important subjects like Excise and laws regarding Land Tenure were given to
the provinces.
✓ Although all subjects in the Provincial List were provincial for purposes of administration that was
not the case for purposes of legislation. Certain portions of them in regard to which uniformity in
legislation was considered desirable were made "subject to legislation by the Indian Legislature."
 14

▪ These were borrowing and taxing powers of local self-governing bodies, supplies and irrigation,
industrial matters including factories, electricity, etc.
✓ The chief executive authority still remained with the Governor General, who was a
representative of the Crown and was constantly in correspondence with the Secretary of State for
India.
✓ He exercised full control over his Councillors and enjoyed vast powers over the country. Thus, the
wishes of the people of the country in respect of the appointment, powers and functions of the
Governor-General were ignored in the Act.
❖ Changes on the Legislative side:
⮚ The Act set up a bicameral legislature at the Centre in place of the Imperial Council consisting of one
House. The two Houses now were to be the Council of State and the Central Legislative Assembly.
✓ The Council of State which was to be the Upper House was to consist of 60 members, 26 of
whom were to be nominated by the Governor-General and 34 were to be elected, introducing thereby
an elected majority.
▪ The 26 nominated members were to consist of 20 officials and 6 non-officials, while of the 34
elected members, 20 were to be elected by General constituencies, 10 by the Muslims, 3 by the
Europeans, and 1 by the Sikh constituencies.
▪ The Council of State was renewed partially every year, though a member held his seat for five
years.
▪ Its President was to be nominated by the Viceroy and its members were called "Honourable".
▪ Women were not entitled to become its members.
▪ The Governor-General could address the House, and he could summon, prorogue or dissolve
the house.
⮚ The franchise was extremely restricted.
✓ Income tax on the minimum income of Rs 10,000 a year or those paying minimum land revenue of Rs.
750 a year were entitled to vote.
✓ Either a person must be on the Senate of a University or he must have some past experience in some
Legislative Council of India, or he must be a title-holder.
✓ In 1920 the Population was 24 crores, but eligible to vote not more than 17,364
 15

⮚ The Act did not grant women suffrage, but included a clause that Indian provinces could enfranchise
women if they chose to do so. Furthermore, it did not allow women to stand in elections.
⮚ The Legislative Assembly which was to constitute the Lower House was to consist of
✓ 145 members, of whom 41 were to be nominated and 104 elected. Of the 41 nominated members,
26 were officials and 15 non-officials.
✓ Of the 104 elected members, 52 were to be returned by the General constituencies, 32 by the
Communal constituencies 30 by the Muslims and 2 by the Sikhs, and 20 by the Special
constituencies, 7 by the landholders, 9 by the Europeans and 4 by the Indian Commercial community.
✓ The life of the Assembly was to be three years but it could be extended by the Governor-General.
✓ NOTE: the last Assembly elected in 1936 was dissolved after ten years.
✓ The franchise here was much restricted though as compared to the Council of State it was not so
high.
✓ The minimum qualifications
▪ Either a person must be an occupant or an owner of a house of the minimum annual rental value
of Rs. 180, or
▪ He must be paying the municipal tax of Rs. 15 a year, or
▪ Must be paying an income tax on an income of not less than Rs. 2,000 a year or
▪ He must be paying a land revenue of at least Rs. 50 a year.
 16

▪ The number of persons who thus became entitled to vote stood at 909,874 in 1920.
➢ Distribution of seats among the different provinces was made on the basis of their so-called importance
and not on the basis of their population.
▪ For instance, both the Punjab and Bihar and Orissa were granted 12 seats each though the
population of the Punjab was only 2\3rd of that of Bihar and Orissa. The reason was the military
importance of the Punjab.
▪ Bombay and Madras were granted 16 seats each though the population of Bombay was only
half of that of Madras. The reason here was the commercial importance of Bombay.

Powers of the Central Legislature:

❖ The Central Legislature, constituted of the above-mentioned two Houses, was supposed to have been given
very wide powers.
❖ It could legislate for the whole of British India, for the Indian subjects and servants of the Government, whether
inside or outside the country.
❖ It could repeal or amend any law already existing in the country.
❖ The members were given the right to move resolutions and motions for adjournment of the House, to
consider urgent questions of public importance immediately.
❖ They had the right to ask questions and supplementaries, Short-notice questions could also be asked.
❖ The members enjoyed the right of freedom of speech.

Comparative Study of the Various Acts after Government of India Act 1858:
Indian Council Act 1861 Indian Council Act 1892 Indian Council Act Government of India Act
1909 1919

❖ Forbidden to transact ❖ Express their views on ❖ The budgets could ❖ The Central Legislature,
any business except the financial statements now be discussed constituted of the
consideration and which were henceforth elaborately. above-mentioned two
enactment of legislative to be made on the floor ❖ Resolutions on Houses, was supposed
measures before them. of the legislature, taxation, loans etc. to have been given very
❖ Can't entertain any ❖ Although they were not could be moved. wide powers.
motion except a motion empowered to move ❖ The members could ❖ It could legislate for the
for leave to introduce a resolutions or divide ask questions and whole of British India,
bill or having reference the house in respect of supplementary for the Indian subjects
to a bill actually any financial question. questions. -- and servants of the
introduced. ❖ However, they were Matters of public Government, whether
❖ Can't inquire into empowered to put interest could be inside or outside the
grievances, call for questions within certain discussed. country.
information or examine limits to the ❖ Though no ❖ It could repeal or amend
the conduct of the Government on matters discussion could any law already existing
executive. of public interest after take place on in the country.
 17

❖ The acts of giving a notice of 6 matters relating to ❖ The members were

administration could days. foreign countries or given the right to move
not be impinged nor the native rulers. resolutions and motions
were they to be for adjournment of the
defended in such House, to consider
assemblies. Thus, the urgent questions of
conduct of public importance
administration immediately.
including all matters ❖ They had the right to
connected with finance ask questions and
remained under the supplementaries, Short-
exclusive purview and notice questions could
control of the wholly also be asked.
official executive
councils. ❖ The members enjoyed
the right of freedom of
speech.

Provincial Government (Autonomy?)

❖ The provincial governments were to have more powers.
❖ The Provincial Legislature came to have elected members in majority. The members could ask questions
and supplementary questions as they came to have some hold on the budget also.
❖ The act effected a division of subjects between the Centre and the Provinces.
⮚ Defense, foreign policy, posts and telegraphs, communication and custom duties were to remain under
the center.
⮚ While the provinces came to have agriculture, public works, education, sanitation, health and local bodies.
❖ This measure introduced a responsible government in provinces to a certain extent.
❖ The government of India Act of 1919 introduced dyarchy in the provinces. The provincial departments came
to be divided into two categories — Reserved and Transferred.
1. Reserved departments were to be under honorable members responsible to the Governor
2. Transferred departments were to be under a minister responsible to the Legislative Council and the
Governor.

Significance of the Act:

❖ It laid the foundations of the provincial Autonomy which came to be achieved in full in 1935.
❖ It went as far as to relax the control of the Secretary of State over India and created the office of the High
Commissioner for India.
❖ It relieved the Indian Exchequer of the burden of the salaries of the India House and extended the powers of
the Governor-General.
 18

❖ The powers of the provinces were enlarged. Though the diarchy introduced by it and the encouragement
given by it to the communal electoral system constitute serious defects of this act, yet this act is an important
milestone in the constitutional development of India.
❖ It promised responsible government to the Indians and extended the powers of the provinces. The elected
members came to be in majority in the provincial Legislature.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 34
Gandhian Era
 2

Gandhian Era
Albert Einstein on Mahatma Gandhi:
 ”A leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority; a politician whose success rests not upon craft
nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious
fighter who has always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility, armed with resolve and
inflexible consistency, who has devoted all his strength to the uplifting of his people and the betterment of
their lot; a man who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and
thus at all times risen superior.”
Early Life of Gandhiji:
 Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), so pervasively dominated the
Indian scenario from 1919 to 1948 that this period is called the
‘Gandhian era’ in Indian history.
 He was born at Porbandar on 2nd Oct 1869.
 He married at 13 years of age to Kasturba Bai.
 He completed a degree of law from England. He joined the Bar
in England in 1891.
 Gandhiji’s patriotic sentiments were markedly reinforced by
his long stay abroad.
 He spent about three years-from October 1888 to June 1891- as a student in England.
 He was in South Africa almost continuously from 1893 to 1914.
 According to Sumit Sarkar,
 “The South African experience contributed in a number of different ways to the foundations of
Gandhian ideology and methods as well as to his later achievement in India. This involved careful
training of disciplined cadres (in the phoenix settlement and the Tolstoy Farm), non-violent
Satyagraha involving peaceful violation of specific laws (compulsory registration, entry permits, trade
licences etc.), mass courting of arrests, and occasional hartals and spectacular marches”.
Personal Life:
 He belonged to the Vaishya family and was highly influenced by Jainism and due to this he adopted
vegetarianism.
 Early Phase
 Inspired by plays Shravana Pitrabhakti Nataka and Harishchandra.
 Married to Kasturbai at the age of 13.
 3

 In England
 In 1884 went to England to study law, vegetarianism was a sizzling topic there inspired from “A plea
for Vegetarianism” by HS Salts. Gandhi joined the Vegetarian Society in England.
 During the time with the theologist he was asked to join it, he declined by saying “With my meagre
knowledge of my own religion I do not want to belong to any religious body”.
 He came in contact with theosophists like Madame Blavatsky and Mrs. Besant. Edwin Arnold’s translation
work “The Song Celestial” and “The light of Asia”, “Key to Theosophy” by Blavatsky.
 He met Narayan Hemachandra (Gujarati poet) and Debendranath Tagore.

 Return from England:

 In 1891, returning to India, he met Raychand (Shatavadhani) who influenced Gandhi by his
knowledge of scriptures and passion for self-realization.

 Trying some temporary jobs in India, in 1893 he went to Durban (Natal Province) in connection
with the Dada Abdullah and Co. case.

Indentured Labour
 During the 1860s, to work in sugarcane cultivation in South Africa, white planters asked permission from
the Indian Government to recruit workers over native Zulus for cultivation in Natal under indenture of 5
years. After expiration they can settle and enjoy full rights.
 As time passed Indian outgrew and became enterprising, held on trade and became owner of land that
antagonised Europeans.

In South Africa:
 In 1893 reached South Africa (1st Indian Barrister to arrive in South Africa) and
stayed for 20 years there fighting against apartheid and fighting for the rights of the
Indian community.
 Dada Abdulla, an Indian businessman invited him to become legal advisor. Gandhiji
faced severe racism there and decided to take a stand.
 Indians in South Africa: There were mainly 3 categories of Indians:
a. The Indentured labour mainly from South and North India who migrated to
South Africa after 1890 to work in sugar plantations. They were known as
Girmitiyas (closely related to word agreement).
b. The Merchants, mainly the Muslims.
c. The ex-indentured labourers who had settled there with their children after the
expiry of their contract.
 4

 Indians in South Africa were subject to inhuman racial discrimination. They were:
 called coolies
 marriages were not recognised
 undue taxes were laid. (According to Transvaal legislation of 1885 Indians had to pay 3 Euro for entry
into Transvaal.
 derogatory rules were imposed. For Ex- Denial of right to vote , they could reside in certain prescribed
locations only which were congested and insanitary, they couldn’t stay outdoors after 9 pm, could not use
public footpaths, etc.

Racial Discrimination with Gandhi:

 Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a train when travelling from
Durban to Pretoria.
 While travelling from Charles town to Johannesburg he was not
allowed to sit with white passengers despite having a ticket for
stagecoach.
 Humiliation of being coloured in public places.
 Due to his coloured skin, he was considered disgusting.
 Gandhi gathered Indians in Pretoria, addressed this issue and
asked people to be honest with their business, acquire good habits like sanitary and learning. Present their
problem in front of respective authorities.
 During this time the bill of the Natal government which was aimed to disenfranchise Indians urge d Gandhi to
come with struggle.
 During the stay in Pretorian and interaction with people Gandhi said, “I had learnt to find out the better
side of human nature and to enter men’s hearts. I realised that the true function of a lawyer was to
unite parties riven asunder”.
Gandhi and his political stance in South Africa:
 His political action in South Africa was categorised into two phases:
1. Moderate Phase (1894-1906)
2. Satyagraha/Civil Disobedience (1906-1914)

Moderate Phase:
 Launched Protest against discriminatory Natal Assembly Bill of 1894 also known as Disfranchisement Bill
or Franchise Bill which aimed to snatch the rights of Indians to elect members at Natal Legislative
Assembly. But the Natal government passed an amendment form.
 5

 Gandhi constituted a committee for formulating a plan that was considered as Gandhi’s first struggle in
South Africa., Gandhi sent a petition to England signed by Indians to the Secretary of State for colonies
(Lord Ripon) got support from masses and the media bill vetoed. Bill was passed with amendment ignoring
Indian opposition.
 The formation of Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1894 for association of Indians in struggle against
discrimination. A debating society named Colonial-born Indian Educational Association formed as an
offshoot of NIC.
 During the Formation of Natal Indian Congress, Gandhi wrote two pamphlets.
1. An appeal to every Briton in South Africa.
2. Indian Franchise-An Appeal
 Frustrated by the growing trade by Indians in Natal. The Natal government imposed an annual tax of 25
Euro on each indentured Indian. NIC raised this issue and the Indian government (Viceroy Elgin) put down
this proposal but allowed the Natal government to impose a poll tax of 3 Euro. After 20 years this tax was
abolished under Indian Relief Act 1914.
 Gathering support from India for the condition of indentured Indians in SA Gandhi went to India in 1896 and
wrote Green Pamphlet (green colour). He met various leaders, reformers, media, newspapers publishers to
raise the issue and as a result it gained attention in various parts of the world. Aftermath of this step Gandhi
was caught and lynched by European mob.
 During the Boer war (1899-1902) Gandhi formed a group of volunteers known as Natal Indian Ambulance
Corps to take care of the wounded for which Gandhiji was awarded the 'Kaiser-i-Hind'.
 In 1902, Gandhi resumed his struggle, established office in Johannesburg (largest population of Indian
concentrated) and later shifted to Phoenix, Durban. In 1903 started the journal Indian Opinion published by
Mansukhlal Nazar.
 Gandhi’s Ambulance Corps also contributed to the war between the Zulu Rebellion (Bambatha) and
Britishers in 1906.

Books and Gandhi during South Africa campaign:

 “A guide to Health”- Combination of several dietetics for Indian opinion by Gandhi.
 Gandhi translated John Ruskin’s “Unto this last” into Gujarati “Sarvodaya”. He summarised
 Good for individuals is contained in the good of all.
 Lawyer’s work is same as Barber’s, in as much as all have the same right of earning their livelihood from
their work.
 A life of labour which means the life of tiller of the soil and the handicrafts, is worth living.
 6

 Autobiography of Gandhi “My Experiment with Truth” is a combination of weekly articles published by him
in Navjivan.

Civil Disobedience Phase (1906-14):

 Mild response from the British Government to the entry fees to Indians in Transvaal. Gandhi launched Civil
Disobedience (Satyagraha).
 In 1906 a draft Asiatic law Amendment Ordinance (Black Law) was introduced
by the Transvaal Government. It required registration of Indians above eight in the
Registrar of Asiatic failing that guilty of an offence police had the right to encroach
into private houses and check for documents.
 Despite opposition to the Indian bill being passed Gandhi led a delegation to
England to withhold the assent but failed.
 After returning from England Gandhi formed the Passive Resistance
Association (later Satyagraha Association) to unite India to boycott permit
offices which blew up the authorities in response that many were jailed.
 Secretary Smuts met Gandhi assured to withdraw legislation but later he turned from his word, Gandhi
resumed Satyagraha and gave up his legal practice during the soaring heat of Satyagraha government
enacted Transvaal Immigration Restriction Bill 1907 not allowing new migrants from India. In this
phase Jamshedji Tata sent 25000 rupees as donation to Gandhi.
 Gandhi set up Tolstoy Farm with the support provided from Nizam of Hyderabad, Congress, Muslim
League and Hermann Kallenbach (Gandhi’s friend).

During 1911 -12

 Coronation of King George V took place, where brief agreement between government and Indians were
made.
 During this time G.K. Gokhale visited South Africa.
 Later Satyagraha included following
 Asiatic Registration Act
 Poll tax
 Immigration law
 A supreme court judgement invalidating marriages.
 There were rampant mass imprisonment and atrocities against the masses.
 G.K. Gokhale garnered support in India
 7

 It finally led to negotiations between Gandhi and Hardinge, General Smut and C.F. Andrews.
 The South African government considered major demands.
 General smuts passed India Relief Act 1914 by which:
 abolished poll tax on freed labours
 marriages accepted
 domicile certificate only required for entering in Union of South Africa

Gandhi’s struggle in South Africa:

 1894-1906: In this phase Gandhi resorted to moderate form of struggle.
 He sent petitions to authorities in South Africa and England hoping that once they are informed about the
plight of Indians, they will take sincere actions.
 He set up the Natal Indian Congress to unite Indians and started the newspaper Indian Opinion.
 1906-14: In this phase Gandhi’s Passive Resistance or Civil disobedience and named his method as
Satyagraha. He led Satyagraha against the following:
 Against Registration Certificates (1906): A new legislation made it compulsory for Indians to carry
registration certificates. To oppose this Gandhi formed the Passive Resistance Association. It was here
the method of Satyagraha evolved. Indians under Gandhi publicly burned the certificates.
 Against Migration of Indians: A new legislation-imposed restrictions on the migration of Indians. The
Indians under Gandhi defied this law by crossing from one province to another and refusing to produce a
licence.
 Against Poll Tax and invalidation of Indian marriages: A poll tax of 3 Pounds was imposed on poor
ex-indentured labourers. And a Supreme Court order invalidated all marriages not conducted according to
the Christian rites. This made marriages of Hindus, Muslims and Parsis there illegal and their children
illegitimate. Indians took this as an insult of their honour. Many women participated in the campaign.
 Against Transvaal Immigration Act: Indians protested against the act by migrating from Natal to
Transvaal.
 Poll tax: a tax levied on every adult, without reference to their income or resources.

What lessons did Gandhi learn in South Africa?

 Masses had immense capacity to participate in and sacrifice for a cause that moved them.
 Through a common cause people belonging to different classes, religion can be united.
 At times leaders have to take decisions unpopular with their supporters.
 He was able to evolve his own unique style of leadership and struggle known as Satyagraha.
 8

Fundamental principle of Gandhiji:

 Satya (Truth)
 Ahimsa (Non-Violence)
 Asteya (Non-stealing)
 Aparigraha (Non-possession)
 Brahmacharya (Self-control)
 Satyagraha: It derives its identity from the philosophy of Tolstoy (Russian Philosopher) who said that evil
could best be countered by non-violent resistance. Some basic characteristics of Satyagraha are:
 A satyagrahi would never submit to what he considers wrong. He was to always remain truthful, non-
violent and fearless.
 Non-cooperation and boycott are the basic principles on which a satyagrahi works.
 Methods of Satyagraha include non-payment of taxes and declining honour and positions of
authority.
 A satyagrahi should always be ready to accept suffering against the wrong doers. Suffering was to be a
part of his love for truth.
 A satyagrahi would have no ill-feeling for the wrong doers. Hatred would be alien to his nature.
 No matter what the consequences would be, a true satyagrahi would never bow before the evil doers.
 Satyagraha was not for the weak and cowards . Only the brave could practice it.

Techniques of Gandhiji:

Satyagraha Non cooperation Civil Disobedience Other programs

 It means invitation  It’s the duty of  Disobey unjust laws  Hindu-Muslim unity
or holding on to virtuous man to not and tyrants. program.
truth. to cooperate with  Extreme political  Upliftment of women.
 Based on doctrines evil doers. agitation.  Village reconstructions.
of truth and non-  It is a mild form of  As per him, more  Harijan welfare.
violence. agitation. dangerous than
● Promotion of Khadi.
 Inspired by armed rebellion.
Thoreau, Emerson
and Tolstoy.
 It involved Fasting
and Hartal.
 9

Gandhi's Ideology:
 For Ashis Nandy, he was a “counter modernist critic of the west.”.
 For Bhikhu Parekh, “a critique of modern civilization”.
 He made Satya and Ahimsa as the basis of the new social order that he envisaged.
 Freedom for India was to be won through non-violence and non-cooperation with the evil-doer.
 He believed in the superiority of the means and laid emphasis on practice than on theory.

Gandhi’s Philosophy
 His Philosophy was based on
 Vaishnav and Jainism
 Henry David Thoreau
 John Ruskin
 Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Leo Tolstoy
 He believed that philosophy must be rooted in India and its ancient civilization.
 The religion also had strong influence over him, he used religious idioms to mobilise masses (But it was not
revivalism of extremist phase).
 His Goal was moral and utopian, also unattainable and ever elusive.
 Swaraj, according to him, was a political goal, but never defined.
Spiritualistic thoughts:
 His method was highly empirical and pragmatic
 Various Aspects of Gandhian Ideology
 Satyagraha
 Ahimsa
 Swaraj
 Swadeshi
 Sarvodaya
Gandhi’s method of Mass Mobilisation:
 Trained and disciplined cadres
 Adopting Satyagraha
 Social reform and constructive program
 10

Factors that made Gandhi a Mass Leader:

 The Political Strategy of Gandhi made him the mass leader.
 Long drawn nature of Gandhian Struggle was fruitful in many ways.
 His constructive program not only evoked nationalism among the masses but also created a huge impact on
the society as well.
 Role of Ahimsa and participation of Women were the most effective in his struggle against the British.
 Rumour among the masses also played the role of a catalyst.
Literary Work of Gandhi:
 Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in 1909.
 He edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati, in Hindi and in the
English language.
 He published Indian Opinion while in South Africa and, Young India, in English,
and Navajivan, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India.
 His Famous Autobiography is “My experiments with Truth”.
 His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle
there.
 Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule , a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in
Gujarati of John Ruskin's ‘Unto This Last’ which was an early critique of political economy.
 Mahatma Gandhi wrote ‘Song from Prison’ while in the Yerwada Jail in Pune. It was a translation of
Upanishadic hymns and poems into English.

World War - I
 During this time, quintessentially the defence expenditure increased.
 There was a huge national debt that was more than 3 mn (1914-1923). In the form of War loans and takes.
 There were under production of food crops because of crop failures in 1918-19 and 1920-21 that affected UP,
Punjab, Bombay, Central Province, Bihar, Orissa along with the food exports to war fronts and outbreak of
influenza epidemic
 In the 1921 Census it is estimated that nearly 12 - 13 mn people died.
 To counter this financial crisis the Britishers put indirect taxation on trade and industry and also imposed
higher custom duties on companies excess profit tax.
 There was a forced recruitment to army
 11

 The Price/Profit from Agricultural export did not increase at same pace, hence,
 decline in export
 stockpiles
 commercial crops acreage
 Market crisis arose in 1917-19 and it led to various peasants’ protests, for example the Kisan Sabha
movement in UP in 1918.
 Growth of Industries took place Jute in the British Capital and Textiles in the Indian capital in Bombay and
Ahmedabad.
 Both the fiscal requirement and nationalist pressure forced the British to change in official policy towards
industrialisation.
 Business magnates were loyal to the British.
 Growth of the working class rose between 1911 – 1921 to 575K. They were affected by price rise and
frequent strikes affected all the centres.

Transition period of Gandhi (Time before coming to Indian Politics):

 After the eight-year long Satyagraha Movement (1906-1914). Gandhi
headed to India in between and wanted to see Gokhale who was in
London. On August 4, two days before he reached London, the First
World War was declared.
 On arrival in London, Gandhi heard that Gokhale had gone to Paris for
reasons of health. As war was going on English students had
volunteered to serve in the army and Gandhi provided all possible
help, organised Ambulance Corps (also in Boer war) which helped
the British at their tough time during war.
 12

 Gandhi was awarded the Kaisar-e-Hind Gold Medal in 1915 by lord Hardinge (returned in 1920 for the
Jallianwala massacre).
 He met with Sarojini Naidu and motivated her to put all efforts in her club the Lyceum which was
manufacturing clothes for soldiers.

 On the way to India

 There were objections to his views and many Indians were of the opinion that the war provided an
opportunity to get freedom for India and that Indians should assert themselves and claim their rights.
 Gandhi felt that England's difficulty should not be turned into India's opportunity. He insisted on
rendering all possible help to England. He organized an ambulance corps which, in spite of all
difficulties, helped the British in their time of need.
 After some time Gokhale returned to England and met Gandhiji.

 Then Gandhi had an attack of pleurisy and was advised by Dr. Jivraj Mehta to return to India. Gandhi was
still ill when Gokhale returned to India. Gandhiji returned as well.

 Kaisar-i-Hind Medal awarded by the British monarch to civilians of any nationality who rendered
distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj.

Return of Gandhiji:
 9th Jan 1915: He came back to India at the call of Gokhale
(his political Guru) and was given a warm welcome for his
partial victory in South Africa. Henceforth, irrespective of the
ebbs and peaks of the national struggle, Gandhiji acquired an
almost legendary fame and popularity among the Indian
masses that cut across religions, regional and communal lines.
Initially he took little interest in political matters.

 He was advised to travel the whole country to be

familiar with the current situation.
 Same year, he also set up his Indian ashram which was later shifted and was called Sabarmati Ashram
(June 1917).

 Incident of Gandhi-1:
 Viramgam Custom line, a tariff cordon between Kathiawar and British states, railway passengers was
harassed. Gandhi took this case and met with Lord Chelmsford after which cordon was removed this
marked the advent of Satyagraha in India.
 13

 Incident of Gandhi-2
 Tax on immigrants was abolished in 1914 in Natal. To abolish indenture labour Madan Mohan Malviya
passed a resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council for abolition but put it down. Gandhi started
touring India and raised this issue, feeling pressured by the government to abolish it. This was the second
case when the objective was achieved by the preparedness of Satyagraha.

Tour of the country:

 Gandhiji travelled British India for 1 year to get to know the land and its people.
 Made his first public appearance at the opening of Banaras Hindu University in 1916 where he was invited
in honour of his work in South Africa.
 The opening ceremony of nationalist university was also attended by many princes, philanthropists and
prominent leaders like Annie Besant.

A leader announce himself:

 In his speech he spoke about the lack of concern for the labouring poor of the country.
 Also mentioned opening of Benaras Hindu University as “certainly a most gorgeous show”.
 He showed his worry about the contrast between the “richly bedecked noblemen” present and “millions of
the poor” Indians who were absent.
 He regarded the salvation of India in farmers' hands instead of doctors, landlords, lawyers etc.
 Instead of adopting the tone of self-congratulation on opening of Benaras Hindu University, he emphasised
on reminding people about the peasants who constituted the majority of Indian population.
 His speech was a statement of intent and it was the first public announcement of Gandhiji’s own desire to
make Indian nationalism more proper.
 Gandhiji was presented with an opportunity to put his precepts into practice -
 During the annual congress session at Lucknow in 1916 he was approached by a peasant from
Champaran, Bihar for harsh treatment of peasants by British indigo planters.
Entry into Indian Politics:
 His entry into Indian politics occurred in the 1917-1918 period when he became involved in three local
issues. In these issues, Gandhi used the technique of Satyagraha and his victories in all these cases ultimately
paved the way for his emergence as an all-India leader.
 3 tests: 1917-18
1. Champaran Satyagraha 1917
2. Ahmedabad mill strike 1918
3. Kheda satyagraha 1918
 14

Champaran Satyagraha 1917 | Bihar

 The indigo farmers of Champaran were excessively oppressed
by the European planters.
 The Tinkathia system was in prevalence. They forced the
peasants to cultivate indigo on at least 3/20th part of their land
and sell it to them at rates fixed by the planters themselves.
 Towards the end of the 19th century, German synthetic dyes
replaced indigo. To cover up their losses, the Indigo planters
demanded high rent and illegal dues from the peasants before
they could shift to other crops. Beside this, the peasants were
forced to sell the indigo at a very low price fixed by the
Europeans.
 In 1917, Raj Kumar Shukla met Gandhi during the 1916
Congress Session and invited Gandhi to Champaran. The
commissioner of Champaran prohibited his entry and ordered
him to leave Champaran immediately. But Gandhiji refused and preferred to take the punishment.
 While going to Champaran to meet peasants, the Bihar Government felt threatened and declared him “a
danger to public peace”, Gandhi disobeyed and this act was considered as the first act of civil disobedience
in India.
 Ultimately, the local administration under Lt. Edward Frank Sly was forced to appoint the Champaran
Agrarian Committee with Gandhiji as one of its members. The committee recommended the abolition of
Tinkathia System and return of illegal dues extracted from the peasants.
 Recommendation of committee:
 Abolition of Tinkathia system along with various exactions.
 25% Refund of exactions from planters.
 The Champaran Agrarian Act of 1917 was passed including the recommendation of the committee.
 In this satyagraha, Rajendra Prasad, J.B. Kripalani, Mazhar-ul-Haq, Mahadeo Desai, Narhari parekh,
Brajkishor Prasad, Anugraha Narayan Sinha, Ramnavmi Prasad and Shambhusharan Verma and
many others were with Gandhiji.
 The hardships of the peasants got reduced. Civil Disobedience was tested in India for the first time.

Analysis
 Champaran was considered the first battle of civil disobedience in India.
 Massive supporters gathered from the peasant class along with the educated middle class.
 15

 Gandhiji got an understanding of the ground level culture like communication in local languages,
psychological analysis to gain support.
 Gandhi emerged as leader of the downtrodden.
 Brajkishore Prasad or "vakil babu" went on to become one of Gandhi’s most "esteemed" co-workers in
Champaran.

Ahmedabad mill strike | 1918

 It was a case of purely internal conflict between Gujrat mill-owners
and their workers. When the mill-owners decided to withdraw the
plague bonus, the workers opposed their decision.
 The mill owners were prepared to give a 20% increase but the
workers were demanding a 50% raise in the wages in view of the
price hike.
 The workers then turned to Anusuya Sarabhai for help. She
requested Gandhiji to help the workers. Anusuya Sarabhai was a
social worker and sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners
and President of Ahmedabad Mill Owners’ Association.
 Gandhi went through the whole case and did comparative study of
workers from Bombay and concluded that workers can demand upto 35% hike. Advised labour to go on
strike with conditions of non-violence, no molest back legs, not to depend on Alms and remain firm
until demand gets fulfilled.
 Gandhi used to discuss daily reports near Sabarmati River under Tree (Ek Tek Tree). Lacking the charm of
strike Gandhi went to hunger strike and this retain the enthusiasm
 In 1920, Anusuya Sarabhai founded Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association.
 Henceforth, Gandhiji intervened and used the weapon of the hunger-strike for the first time.
 The hunger-strike successfully won for the workers a 35% wage-increased.

Anasuya Sarabhai (1885-1972):

 A pioneer of the women’s labour movement in India.
 She along with Gandhiji founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association
(Majdoor Mahajan Sangh), India's oldest union of textile workers, in 1920 and
Kanyagruha, in 1927 to educate girls of the mills. Anasuya was made its lifelong
president of the Association by Gandhi.
 She was a close associate of Gandhi during his initial struggle of the Indian
Independence Movement and helped him establish his ashram at Sabarmati.
 16

 She went to England in 1912 to take a medical degree, but switched to the London School of Economics when
she realised the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree was in violation of her Jain beliefs.
 Whilst in England, she was influenced by the Fabian Society, and got involved in the Suffragette
movement.
 She decided to get involved in the labour movement after witnessing exhausted female mill workers returning
home after a 36-hour shift.
 She was the aunt of Indian scientist Vikram Sarabhai who is regarded as the father of the Indian space
program.

Fabian Society:
 It is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via
gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow.

Kheda Satyagraha:
 Kharif Crop had failed but the government was insisting on the payment of the revenue.
 The Rule was if <25% production then complete remission. At Bombay Barristers VJ Patel and JK Parekh
had already enquired and stated that it was the case of remission.
 Gandhiji asked them to hold the payment of taxes.
 Gandhiji along with Vallabhbhai Patel, Indulal Yagnik and many others toured the villages to encourage
the peasants. Sardar Vallabhai Patel joined Gandhiji here.
 Leaders like Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, Ravi Shankar Vyas helped Gandhi in the movement. The
movement was highly disciplined and unity was maintained. Later the government took revenue only from
those who could pay.

Long term Impact of the three movements:

 Gandhi successfully demonstrated the efficacy of Satyagraha to the people. He came to know the strength and
weakness of the masses, which helped him in future struggles. Mahatma Gandhi acquired the respect and
commitment of many, especially the youth.

Gandhi Till Now:

 He had familiarised himself with real India.
 He became one with India.
 He was already popular among the masses.
 He tested his techniques in various movements in South Africa and India as well.
 17

 All other leaders were exhausted.

 Now the time was right to take up mainstream politics.

Gandhi and World War-1:

 During Kheda Satyagraha Viceroy Chelmsford invited leaders including Gandhi to a war conference.
 Gandhi was reluctant to attend due to various reasons.
 There was absence of prominent leaders Tikak, Besant and Ali brothers (have support of large mass)
 It was against his morality to fight the British during the War.
 At last, he attended the handling of demand by Muslims to the Viceroy.
 Gandhi said “supporting Britain in its hour of need, India expects to be rewarded with Home rule”.

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 35
Non-Cooperation and
Khilafat Movement
 2

Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movement

Rowlatt Act:
 It is also known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act.
 In 1917 Justice Sidney Rowlatt committee (Sedition committee) was set up to investigate revolutionaries.
The publication of the report coincided with the Montagu-Chelmsford
Report.
 Government drafted two bills and enacted on March 1919, the
Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act which had provisions of:
 Continuation of wartime restrictions.
 Trial of offences by a special court comprising 3 High Court
Judges Court which could take into consideration evidence
not permissible under Indian Evidence Act.
 Habeas Corpus was suspended.
 No appeal could be made against the decision of this court.
 Search and arrest without warrant
 Detention without trial for up to 2 years.
 It allowed the arrest of Indians on mere suspicion of Treason.
 Even possession of a seditious newspaper was to be
considered as evidence for treason.
 This was meant to arm the government against possible uprising.
 Press was muzzled.
 All the elected Indian members
of the Legislative council -
Jinnah, Madan Mohan Malviya,
and Mazhar Ul Haq- resigned in
protest.
 The main aim of passing the Act
was to replace the wartime
Defence of India Act 1915 by a
permanent law so that the
wartime restrictions on freedom
of speech and expression can be
permanently imposed.
 Response -
 Indians considered this as humiliation.
 An attempt to conciliate the white opinion that had been offended by the August declaration.
 3

Gandhi on Anti-Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919):

 Gandhi criticised the bill especially the emergency power in hand of viceroy through ordinance were out of
all proportion. He condemned the bill as an “instrument of repression and distrust”.
 The provocative enactment of the Rowlatt Act (Revolutionary and Anarchical crimes Act) in 1919 made
Gandhiji turn to an all-India satyagraha campaign for the first time. He termed the act as ‘Black Act’.
 Gandhiji opposed not just the content of the bills, but also the manner in which they were foisted in the country
without regard to public opinion.
 He formed a Satyagraha Sabha on 24th February 1919 in Bombay to protest against the Rowlatt Bills.
Members took a pledge “to refuse civilly to obey these laws and such other laws as committee hitherto
appointed may think fit and we further affirm that in this struggle we will faithfully follow truth and refrain
from violence to life person or property”
 He utilised the Home Rule leagues and later renamed it as Swarajya Sabha in 1920. Its members pledged
to refuse civilly to obey these laws.

Supporters of Rowlatt Satyagraha:

 Most of the prominent leaders backed Gandhi’s idea which included Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Sankarlal Banker,
Umar Sobhani and BG Horniman and the young wing of Besant’s Home rule league.
 Other wings of Mahadev Desai, C. Rajagopalachari, Vijayaraghavachari and KR Iyer supported
Gandhi.
 This phase also witnessed the Ottoman defeat in WW1 and this raised concern in Indian muslims for the future
of Khilafat in Turkey. Gandhi was also supported by pan-islamic leaders Abdul Bari, MA Ansari and Jinnah.

Opposition to Rowlatt Satyagraha:

 The liberals like Surendra Nath Banarjee, Dinshaw Wacha, TB Sapru, Srinivas Sastri opposed Rowlatt
Satyagraha on the basis that it may create hurdles to the coming constitutional mechanism.
 Some were not habitual to the procedure adopted in Satyagraha.
 Annie Besant resented on the ground of resisting civilly. NC Kelkar and GS Kharpade also opposed Rowlatt
Satyagraha.

Rowlatt Satyagraha:
 On April 6, 1919, hartals were organised in almost all the important cities of the country. (In Delhi, a hartal
was observed on 30 March and then people were killed in police firing)
 Gandhiji started propagating his ideas and aimed even at peasants, poor and villages. A new energy was
imparted to the struggle. Political awakening started in the country.
 Gandhi intensified the agitation on 7th April. He selected four books including Hind Swaraj, Sarvodaya or
Universal Dawn (a paraphrase of John Ruskin’s Unto This Last), The Story of a Satyagrahi (a
paraphrase of the Defense and Death of Socrates by Plato), and The Life and Address of
Mustafa Kemal Pasha for Sale as an action of defiance against the government. Subsequently Gandhi was
arrested.
 Finally, a call for hartal was given on 8th April.
 4

 On 18th April, Gandhi decided to call off the Satyagraha because of the widespread violence particularly in
his home state in Ahmedabad city. He confessed publicly that he committed a ‘Himalayan blunder’ by offering
civil disobedience to people who were insufficiently prepared for the discipline of Satyagraha.

Protest in Punjab and Amritsar:

 Hartals were organising every day. Michael O’ Dwyer was Lt. Governor of Punjab due to massive protests
going on he handed over the administration to Brigadier General Dyer. Gen Dyer banned all meetings and
protests.
 He imprisoned many political leaders. The Rowlatt Act provoked great opposition in Punjab. The arrests of
two local leaders Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Kitchlew by Michael O’ Dyer (the Lt. Governor of Punjab) made the
situation even worse.
 Other Reasons for discontent in Punjab:
 Punjab was suffering from forceful recruitment for war under Governor Dyer (1912-19).
 There was also a severe repression of the Ghadar outbreak.
 The unity of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh was concerning Britishers.

Saifuddin Kitchlew:
 He was a lawyer and Muslim Nationalist leader.
 Saifuddin Kitchlew was a member of Indian National Congress, head and later
the General Secretary of the AICC (All India Congress Committee) in 1924.
 He was most remembered for the protests in Punjab after the implementation of
Rowlatt Act in March 1919, after which on 10 April, he and another leader
Satyapal, were secretly sent to Dharamsala.
 He was the founding member of Jamia Millia Islamia. He was awarded the
Stalin Peace Prize (now known as Lenin Peace Prize) in 1952.
 He was also the founding leader of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha (Indian Youth Congress), which rallied
hundreds of thousands of students and young Indians to nationalist causes.
 He started an Urdu daily Tanzim and was instrumental in the establishment of Swaraj Ashram in 1921
at Amritsar to train young men for national work and to promote Hindu-Muslim unity.
 Kitchlew supported a united Indian nationalism against British colonial rule and opposed the partition of
India, holding that a divided India would weaken Muslims, both economically and
politically.
Satyapal:
 He was a physician and political leader in Punjab.
 During the First World War, he received a temporary King's Commission as a
lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service, serving with distinction.
 Following the Rowlatt Act, he became active in the movement of non-cooperation
and non-violent resistance to British rule.
 5

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre | April, 13, 1919:

 The news of the arrest led to a hartal in Amritsar. On April 13, 1919, the Baisakhi day, about 20,000 people
(including women and children) gathered in Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the arrests of Dr. Kitchlew
and Dr. Satyapal.
 With a force of 90 Soldiers and two armoured cars equipped with machine guns Dyer reached the Jallianwala
Bagh and ordered his soldiers to open fire on the gathering.
 The people found themselves completely trapped. Waves of men fell on each other and many died of
suffocation. Firing continued for ten minutes and was not stopped till the entire ammunition was exhausted.
 Thousands were killed and injured, the crowd could not escape as the garden was walled from three sides
and Gen Dyer was firing from the fourth.
 Many similar atrocities were committed and the whole Punjab was put under martial law.
 The ghastly sight, however, failed to move the callous heart of Dyer who deliberately took no steps to provide
medical aid to the wounded. Over a thousand people were killed.
 After the massacre, martial law was clamped. Mahatma Gandhi called off the satyagraha looking at the
violence referred to as “Himalayan blunder” or “Himalayan Miscalculations”.
 Gandhiji returned the Kaiser-i-
Hind Gold Medal in 1920 for
the Jallianwala massacre.
 Rabindranath Tagore
renounced his Knighthood
status in protest of the
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

Analysis
 What emerged from this
agitation was that organizational
preparation was extremely
limited and patchy.
 The congress as an organization was hardly in the picture at all.
 The Satyagraha was more intense in cities than in rural areas.
 But the most important outcome of this agitation was the emergence of Gandhi as an all-India leader. It forced
him to plunge into national politics in a forceful manner.

Printing media and Gandhi during Rowlatt Satyagraha:

 BG Horniman arrested, he was the editor of the Bombay chronicle along with Umar Sabani, Shankar Lal
(managing young India)
 Gandhiji took editorship of these magazines and propagated the atrocities in Punjab.
 Umar and Banker started monthly magazines Navjivan.
 6

All India Khilafat Conference and Gandhi ji:

 All India Khilafat Conference (AIKC) invited Gandhi for Hindu-Muslim joint conference. The Khilafat
dilemma, post war celebration and cow slaughter were the key issues.
 Gandhi disagreed and refused for the cow slaughter issue as it was not fruitful for bargaining either for
Hindu or Muslims.
 Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Gandhi discussed the boycott of foreign goods and finally came to a common
act of Non-Cooperation. Gandhi felt convinced that Hindi-Urdu alone could become the lingua franca of India.

Hunter Commission:
 To inquire into the Jallianwala massacre, the British Government appointed a Disorders Inquiry committee,
popularly known as hunter commission after the name of its chairman Lord William Hunter.
 Purpose: To inquire into the recent disturbances in Bombay, Delhi and Punjab.
 The commission had three Indian members: Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, Pt Jagat Narayan, Sardar
Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Khan.
 Before the committee, General Dyer confessed that his intention was to strike terror throughout the Punjab and
reduce the morale of rebels.
 The report of the committee unanimously condemned Dyer’s action.
 However, the commission did not take any disciplinary action against Dyer because his actions were endorsed
by various superiors and later upheld by the Army Council.
 Also, before the Hunter Commission began its proceedings the Government passed the Indemnity Act for the
protection of its officers. The Act was termed as White Washing Bill by Motilal Nehru and others.
 In Britain Churchill condemned Dyer’s action and called it monstrous.
 In the end Dyer was found guilty for a ‘mistaken notion of duty’ and dismissed from his post. He was called
back to England but no legal action was taken against him.
 The Morning Post raised a sum of 26,000 pounds for Dyer. Rudyard Kipling was a famous contributor to the
fund.
 Strangely enough, the clergy of Golden temple, led by Arur Singh, honoured Dyer by declaring him as Sikh.
 A large number of citizens of Amritsar were subjected to the humiliation of crawling on their bellies along the
streets. It was followed by indiscriminate arrests, confiscation of properties and whipping of thousands of
innocent people.
 This national tragedy moved the whole nation.
 The great poet Rabindranath Tagore gave up his Knighthood and Gandhi gave up his title of Kaiser-i-
hind (Given for his work during the World War)
 Sir Shankaran Nayer resigned from the Governor General Executive council
 Mahatma Gandhi made up his mind to launch a Non-cooperation movement against the government.
 The Hunter commission report on the Punjab disturbances was described by Gandhi as a ‘white wash’.

1919 Congress session at Amritsar:

 Motilal Nehru became President of Indian National Congress.
 This was the session which marked the real entrance of Gandhi into congress politics.
 7

 Congress appointed its own committee including Motilal Nehru, Gandhi, C.R Das, Abbas Tyabji, and M.R
Jaykar. It strongly condemned the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
 The Congress supported the Khilafat Movement.
 The Jallianwala Massacre made Gandhi realise that India’s Independence from Britain was morally righteous.
 According to A.P.J Taylor, Jallianwala Bagh was a decisive moment when Indians were alienated from
British rule.
 Later Udham Singh, assassinated Michael O’Dwyer (the Lt Gov who presided over the British suppression
of 1919 in Punjab).

The Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement:

Condition before the non-cooperation and Khilafat movement.
 There was a strong feeling of discontent among all sections of Indian society because of the following reasons:
 As a result of the war, economic distress was at its peak. Prices of commodities rose sharply; production
of industries went down and the burden of taxes increased.
 The Rowlatt Act, imposition of martial law and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre exposed the brutal face
of the British empire.
 No action taken by Hunter committee on Punjab atrocities, endorsement of Gen Dyer's action by the house
of lords and British’s public solidarity to General Dyer proved to be an eyewash.
 Mont-ford reform had failed to satisfy the nationalist ranks.
 Post-war aftermath included crippled economy, inflation. All sections were suffering, ultimately seeding
anti-Britishers sentiments.
 Hindu-Muslim unity reached a new level during this period owing to:
 Lucknow Pact, 1916.
 Rowlatt Act: Agitation against it brought Hindus and Muslims together.
 Radical and younger Muslims leaders like Mohammed Ali, Abul Kalam, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasan
Imam had now become more influential. They carried strong anti-imperialist sentiment.

Khilafat Movement (1919-1922):

 The Ottoman Turkish empire was defeated in World War – I.
 There was sympathy with the Sultan of Turkey who was considered as the religious head of Muslim or
Khalifa (Caliphate).
 The Treaty of Sevres had imposed harsh terms on Turkey.
 The part played by Britain in the defeat of Turkey and the dismemberment of the Turkish empire in the first
world war offended the religious and historical sentiment of the Muslims, and caused them to adopt an
aggressive anti-British attitude.
 Muslims in India demanded that:
 Khalifa’s control over Muslims’ sacred places should be retained.
 Khalifa’s position should be restored
 Khalifa should be left with sufficient territory.
 8

 The two brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad organized a mass
movement of the Muslims known as the Khilafat movement.
 In 1918 Muslim League at Delhi session was held, where M.A. Ansari demanded the restoration of Arab lands
to the Caliph.

Khilafat Committee (Bombay, 1919):

 The All India Khilafat committee was set up by Muslim merchants. Some of its prominent leaders were the
Ali Brothers (Mohd. Ali and Shaukat Ali), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasrat
Mohani, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari etc.
 Seth Chotani (President) and Maulana Shaukat Ali (secretary)
 Confined to a moderate approach in favour of Khalifa.
 All India Khilafat Conference (November, 1919, Delhi)
 It took the path of Militant Muslim measures.
 Hasrat Mohani called for a boycott of British goods.
 Gandhiji felt that the movement provided an opportunity to reunite Hindus and Muslims. Mahatma
Gandhi was elected president of the All-India Khilafat conference in November, 1919.
 Withdraw all cooperation from the Government if demands were not met.
 February 1920
 A joint Hindu-Muslim deputation was sent to the viceroy, but failed.
 Gandhi announced that the issue of Punjab wrongs and constitutional advance had been overshadowed by
the Khilafat question and he would be launching a non-cooperation movement if the terms of the treaty
failed to satisfy the Indian Muslims.
 Calcutta Khilafat conference
 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the President.
 It favoured the Non-cooperation Movement.
 March 19 was observed as Khilafat day, previously it was
observed on Oct 17, 1919.
 15 May 1920
 The Treaty of Sevres, 1920 was signed between the Allies
of World War I and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
 The Central Khilafat Committee at Bombay decided to start Non-Cooperation in August.

Congress Stand on Khilafat Issue:

 Initially congress was not with Gandhi’s view to launch Non-cooperation on khilafat issue.
 Tilak was opposed to having an alliance with Muslims leaders over a religious issue.
 He was also doubtful about the method of Satyagraha as an effective weapon.
 However, despite initial opposition, congress later agreed to support the movement because:
 The movement was seen as an opportunity to rebuild Hindu-Muslim unity and bring the muslim masses
into the fold of national movement.
 9

 Constitutional struggle came to be seen

as an ineffective tool by the congress
especially after the Jallianwala incident.
 Congress realised that masses were
eager to give expression to their
discontent and decided to tap their
energy.
 Muslim League also decided to give full
support to the congress on the Khilafat issue.

Non-Cooperation Movement:
Common demands-
 Congress and Khilafat Committee zeroed
down to three common demands:
 Swaraj
 Redressal of khilafat issue
 Redressal of Punjab wrongs

Gandhi’s effort to adopt non-cooperation:

 Many leaders were quite dissatisfied with the
inclination towards Hindu-Muslim alliance
over a religious question.
 Lala Lajpat Rai and CR Das opposing the
agenda of Gandhi's idea of boycotting council
elections.
 But when placed in front of the Provincial
Congress committee of provinces it was approved
but rejected the concept of council boycott.
June
 The Central Khilafat Committee met at
Allahabad.
 It was attended by both Congress and Khilafat leaders, where a boycott program was accepted.
 Non-cooperation with the Government was to be started from 1st August.
 It includes boycotts of all Government jobs, titles and non-payment of taxes.
 Tilak was not in favour of Hindu-Muslim alliance over a religious question.
September
 Special Congress session at Calcutta presided by Lala Lajpat Rai.
 Congress approved the Non-cooperation programme till Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and swaraj
was established.
 10

 The Boycott Programme was to include:

 Boycott of Schools, colleges, legislative assembly and law courts and dispension of justice through
Panchayats.
 Boycott of foreign cloth and use of Khadi instead and renunciation of Government honours and titles.
 Civil Disobedience in the second phase to include resignation from government services and non-payment of
taxes.
 During the movement participants were to work for Hindu-Muslim unity and removal of untouchability.
 Supporters of Gandhi were Motilal Nehru, Jitendralal Banarajee, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Shaukat Ali,
Yakub Hasan.

Congress Session 1920 December Location - Nagpur

 C Vijayaraghavachariar was the President of the Nagpur Session of the Indian National Congress.
 A special session of the congress was convened at Calcutta on 4-9 September 1920, where Gandhi’s resolution
of non-cooperation was approved.
 The programme was then endorsed at the regular session of the Congress at Nagpur in December 1920, where
C.R. Das moved the resolution on non-cooperation.
 C Vijayaraghavachariar (President) supported the Khilafat movement.
 Congress endorsed “the non-violent non-cooperation resolution” and endorsed decision made in September
and details of NC were given
 Constructive Aspect
 Destructive Aspect
 Gandhiji was declared as the sole leader of the movement.
Achievement of Nagpur Session:
 Endorsement of the non-violent non-cooperation resolution.
 Introduction of new constitution of the congress party to transform into a real mass based political party.
 Working referred to as the Programme of Non-Cooperation Movement.

New constitution for Congress was framed:

 The Congress committees starting from mohalla to provinces were organised.
 All India committee of 350 members at apex.
 Working committee of 15 members.
 Provincial Congress Committees were organized on linguistic basis.
 Emphasis was given on the usage of Hindi language as far as possible.
 Membership to all men and women of more than 21 years of age and a reduced fee of 4 annas (25 paise)
annually.
 The goal was changed from “attainment of self-government by constitutional and legal means to
attainment of swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means”
 Swaraj meant “self-government within the empire if possible and outside if necessary”.
 11

 In this session Gandhi gave hope that with proper implementation of non-cooperation programmes, then
“Swaraj in one year” is possible to achieve.
 Many revolutionary groups also supported the non-cooperation movement and decided to suspend
their activities.
 Some prominent leaders left congress on the basis of methods of congress they believe in traditional
methods of Agitation leaders including Jinnah, GS Khaparde, Bipin Chandra Pal and Annie Besant.
 Surendranath Banerjee expressed no support and formed the Indian National Liberation Federation.
 Under destructive programme came: Surrender of titles and honorary offices, and resignation from
nominated seats in local bodies, refusal to attend official and non-official functions, gradual withdrawal of
children from government schools and colleges, boycott of British courts by lawyers and litigants, refusal on
the part of military clerical and labour classes to offer themselves as recruits for service in Mesopotamia,
boycott of elections to the legislative councils by candidates and voters and boycott of foreign goods.
 The constructive programme of the Non-cooperation movement comprised: founding of National schools
and colleges, promotion of Swadeshi, setting up of arbitration boards to take the place of courts, popularization
of charkha and Khadi and raising a volunteer corps.
 The AICC meeting at Vijaywada on March 31, 1921 outlined two more programmes:
1. To collect one crore rupees for the Tilak Swarajya Fund.
2. To introduce 20 lakh charkhas into Indian households, Gandhiji had promised that if the programme
was fully implemented, Swaraj would be ushered in within the year.
 Congress volunteer corps emerged as volunteer police.
 The movement was launched formally on 1 August, 1920 but according to Sumit Sarkar, “Four Phases may
be distinguished in what may be termed the official movement, specifically responding to successive calls
from the working committee”.

The course of the movement:

 Hindu Muslim unity was unprecedented. Swami Shraddhanand was to preach from Jama masjid.
 Boycott of courts, Government schools and colleges, elections, Government functions, titles was the most
common.
 The establishment of Panchayats took place.
 The establishment of national schools and colleges
 Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh
 Bihar Vidyapeeth
 Kashi Vidyapeeth
 Gujrat Vidyapeeth
 Swadeshi and Khadi were popularized.
 They also fought other social evils like untouchability and low status of women.
 Popular lawyers like J.L Nehru, CR Das, Rajendra Prasad, C Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel, Asaf
Ali, Rajendra Prasad left practice.
 Congress gave a call to local congress bodies to start Civil Disobedience if they think that people are ready.
 12

 No tax movement against union board taxes started in Midnapore (Bengal) and Guntur (A.P)
 In Assam, strikes were organised in Tea Plantation, steamer services and Assam-Bengal services. J.M
Sengupta was a prominent leader of these strikes.
 Many local movements emerged alongside the Non-Cooperation. These included Awadh Kisan Movement
(UP), Eka Movement (UP), Mappila Revolt (Malabar), Sikh Movement against Mahants (Punjab).

Khilafat Committee:
 The Khilafat Committee gave a call to Muslims to not to serve in the British Army.
 Ali Brothers were arrested for sedition.
 Gandhiji gave a call to all Indians not to serve the British.
 Prince of Wales was greeted with demonstrations
 In December 1921, the Ahmedabad session of the Indian National Congress took place where C R Das
(President) -in prison and Hakim Ajmal Khan played the role of acting president of Indian National
Congress.
 The Congress in this session was determined to continue the struggle and remain non-violent.
 13

People’s Participation:
 Middle Class
 Middle class led the movement in the beginning but there was a slowdown in their enthusiasm.
 In major cities like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, people’s response to Gandhi’s call was very
limited.
 His call for resignation from Government services and surrender of titles and honours was not taken
seriously.
 However, the young leaders like Rajendra Prasad (Bihar) and Vallabhai Patel (Gujrat) provided a
solid support base to the movement and helped it sustain.
 Business Class
 By and large the business class supported the movement as they had been benefited from Nationalists’
emphasis on swadeshi goods.
 Peasants
 Their participation was massive.
 In general, they turned against the landlords and the traders.
 Students
 They were an active participant of the movement. Thousands left colleges and schools to join national
schools and colleges.
 Women
 Large number of them gave up purdah to participate in picketing and protest. They offered their ornaments
to raise funds for Tilak swaraj Funds.
 Hindu-Muslim
 Exceptional representation of unity except certain incidents like Mopila Uprising. At some places even
two-third of those arrested were Muslims.

Government Response:
 In May,1921 the Government wanted Gandhi to urge the Ali brothers to remove those portions of speech which
suggested violence. Gandhi refused as he realised that the Government was trying to create a divide. The talks
between him and Lord Reading (1921-26) broke down.
 In December 1921, the Government came up with severe repression, Congress and khilafat committee actions
were declared illegal, Volunteer corps were declared illegal, public meetings were banned and press gagged.
 Political leaders except Gandhiji were arrested along with their followers.

Phases of Non-Cooperation Movement:

1. First (January to March 1921)
 Central emphasis was on students leaving government-controlled schools and colleges and lawyers giving
up practice.
 Major leaders contributed in this phase some of them are Subhash Chandra Bose, CR Das and many
more.
 14

2. Second (April to June 1921)

 In April, there was an effort at raising a Tilak Swaraj Fund.
 Membership of Congress reached a figure to 50 lakhs.
 The movement became more militant, with the beginning of boycott and organization of public bonfires
of foreign cloth.
 The prince of wales was greeted with a countrywide hartal on 17 November.
3. Third Phase (July 1921)
 Boycott of foreign clothes and boycotting the visit of Prince of Wales.
 Campaign including popularity of Charkha, khadi and Jail Bharo Andolan.
 Picketing of toddy shops became popular.
 To counter the expense of khadi, Gandhi started the idea of langot and acquired the image of Half-naked
Fakir (Winston Churchill called him as the half-naked fakir).
 Khilafat issued a circular to Muslims for not serving in the British Army. Ali Brothers arrested.
4. Fourth phase (between Nov. 1921 and Feb, 1922)
 It brought the government to its knees.
 Gandhiji decided that he would give a call to start a mass civil disobedience Movement and no tax
campaign from Bardoli (Surat) from 5th Feb if the demands were not accepted. The demands were:
 Release of Political prisoners.
 Removal of press control.
 But the movement was abruptly called off at Gandhi’s insistence, following the news of the burning-
alive of 22 policemen by angry peasants at Chauri-Chaura, in Gorakhpur district of U.P. on 5
February, 1922.
 Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose and many others recorded their utter
bewilderment on hearing the news.

Reach of movement and local variations:

United Provinces
 Non-cooperation well organised entangled with Kisan movements.
 Peasant riot under the influence of Baba Ram Chandra in northern side of UP. Demands- no-begar and rasad
(forced supplies), no nazrana (extra rent), no eviction from holdings.
 The Eka Movement started under Madari Pasi.
Bihar
 Issues overlapped with Non-Cooperation Movement like the right to graze cattle on Government. wastelands,
wearing sacred thread and the problem of cow protection from slaughter and empowering Farmers rights.
Champaran, Saran and Purnia epicentre.
Assam
 Issues of tea gardeners attracted the people towards the NCM and found expression in the movement. Hailing
Gandhi Maraj ki jai.
 15

Andhra
 Locals protested against forest laws by releasing cattle to forest and breaking grazing laws.
 Alluri Sitaram Raju organised tribals and channelised their demand with Non-Cooperation Movement.
Karnataka
 Mild response and Madras Presidency showed a not furious participation like other states.
Orissa
 Refusal of payment of Awabs by tenets of Kanika Raj.
 Awabs is miscellaneous cess levied on natives on subject of house tax, grazing etc.
Bengal
 Gandhian methods were not effective due to elitism.
 Tagore appreciated Gandhi’s effort but criticised his narrowness and charkha.
Rajasthan
 Non-Cooperation Movement driven by Peasant Movements.
 Bijola Movement in Mewar (excessive land revenue)
 Bhil Movement by Motilal Tejawat (adivasi movement against jagirdars for unfair taxes).
Punjab
 Non-Cooperation Movement linked with local Akali Movement (1920-25) for reform of administration of
gurudwara.
 Adopted Non-violence approach.
 It manifested tremendous communal unity among Sikh-Hindu-Muslim.
Maharashtra
 Due to different views of Tilak from Gandhi, the Non-Cooperation Movement did not gain that flow as was
expected.
 Violence occurred in the region like Malegaon.

Progress upto Chauri Chaura (1922):

 With the non-responsive attitude of the government Gandhi was compelled to launch Civil Disobedience as
an extension of Non-Cooperation.
 In the Ahmedabad Session, the president was CR Das, 1921, Gandhi appointed as main authority of the matter.
 Gandhi decided to launch Civil Disobedience and no tax campaign from Bardoli, Surat and the day on which
it was decided to launch violent Chauri Chaura incident took place (ablazing police station and killing) Gandhi
withdrew it.

Decline of Movement:
 The day Civil disobedience was going to be launched violence took place at Chauri Chaura in February 1922
as a result of this Gandhi withdrew the movement.
 Gandhi advised people to continue to pursue constructive work.
 On 12 February 1922 at Bardoli Bardoli resolution passed under which peasants were asked to pay taxes, and
tenants to pay rent. On 10 March Gandhi was arrested in his ashram for six years.
 16

 On the other side Khilafat also ended under Mustafa Kamal Pasha. Declared Turkey as a secular and
modern state. Pasha abolished the Caliphate itself in 1924.
 Gandhiji immediately decided to stop the movement
 Bardoli Resolution (12th February 1922): The Congress working Committee was called at Bardoli and
the decision to stop the movement was taken.
 It came as a shock to many Congressmen.
 Gandhiji was arrested and sentenced for 6-year imprisonment which was same as that of Tilak [trialed by Mr.
Broomfield]
 He made his historic speech at the court:
“I am here therefore, to invite and submit cheerfully to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me
for what in law is deliberate crime and what appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen.”
 The Khilafat issue
 Kemalist revolution in Turkey
 Leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha
 Caliphate was abolished
 Turkey turned to secularism
 Though all accepted the decision of Gandhiji but a faction was divided on the idea of future course of the
struggle
 Subhash Chandra Bose called this as “national calamity” in his autobiography “The Indian Struggle”.
Justice CN broomfield
 “It would be impossible to ignore the fact, that you are in a different category from any person I have ever tried
or I'm likely to try. It would be impossible to ignore the fact that in the eyes of the millions of your country man
you are a great patriotic leader even those who differ from use politics look upon you as a man of high ideals
and of even saintly life… if the course of events in India should make it possible for the government to reduce
the period and release you’ no one will the better please then I.”

An Appraisal of the movement:

 It was marked by the involvement of regions and classes that did not participate in the past in any
movement initiated by the congress. The united provinces became one of the strongest bases of the congress.
Bihar won Gandhi's praise. It also penetrated into the south. Of the four linguistic regions of south India, only
Karnataka remained largely unaffected.
 The capacity of the ‘poor dumb millions’ of India to take part in modern nationalist politics was also
demonstrated.
 The tremendous participation of Muslims was also an achievement. But, shortly after the movement was
called off, communalism became rampant all over the country.
 Mahatma Gandhi’s promise to achieve Swaraj within a year of launching the movement was not realized.
 Subhas Chandra Bose wrote in his autobiography, “To sound the order of retreat just when public
enthusiasm was reaching the boiling point, was nothing short of a national calamity”.
 17

 Overall, it has a significant place in the history of Indian national movement. The congress had become a force
to reckon with and thereafter it went from strength to strength.
 The Chauri Chaura incident showed that people are not ready to adopt non-violence.
 Movement deviated from original path to no-rent movement against zamindars.
 If movement was not stopped Britishers would have used all his force to suppress at any cost.
 During 1921 began to show signs of ebbing as people were returning to their respective work.

Struggle-truce-Struggle:
 No movement could be sustained forever.
 A halt is required to introspect over the weaknesses and to remove them.
 Also, to regain the energy to struggle.


 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 36
Aftermath of the Non-
Cooperation
Movement
 2

Aftermath of the Non-Cooperation Movement

The Swaraj Party (1923):
 After the suspension of the Non-cooperation movement the congress was left without any political
programme. There was a sharp difference of opinion among the congress leaders over the question of
participating in the councils and other legislative bodies.
 Some of the important leaders such as C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru advocated ‘Council entry’ wrecking the
councils from within. The majority did not approve of it. Therefore, the pro-council group formed the Swaraj
Party with Deshbandhu C.R. Das as president and Motilal Nehru as secretary.
 The Swaraj party accepted the congress programme in its entirety except in one respect — it would take part
in elections due later in the year.
Factors led to formation of Swaraj Party:
 Withdrawal of NCM: Initially Gandhi launched NCM
with the slogan “Swaraj in one year” sudden withdrawal
created disappointment among people.
 Creation of political vacuum: Gandhi was arrested and
there was no vision for future plans.
 Civil Disobedience Enquiry Committee: stated that the
country is not prepared for mass disobedience movement at
this point of time.
 To be in lead: Cancellation of Non-Cooperation Movement might give
chance to Britishers to dominate over nationalist. Immediate need for some
political initiative.
Evolution of Swaraj Party:
 1922 (Gaya Session): CR Das (President) Motilal (Secretary) forwarded
“either mending or ending the councils in congress, defeated by opposition led
by Rajagopalachari and both resigned from Congress.
 January, 1923: Announced new party Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party
(Swaraj Party). Recognised Congress program except to take part in council
elections also known as Nehru-Das proposal which further bifurcated into;
 Pro Changers (Swarajist): Involvement in constructive work with entry
in council. Leaders - CR Das, Motilal, Ajmal Khan, NC Kelkar, Subhas
Chandra Bose, Vithalbhai Patel, Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy.
 No Changers (Orthodox Gandhian): Focused on constructive work
only. Leaders like C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhai Patel, JL Nehru and MA Ansari were
part of this faction.
 3

Pro Changers or Swarajists:

● C R Das (Deshbandhu), Motilal Nehru, Ajmal Khan, NC Kelkar, Subhas Chandra Bose, Vithalbhai
Patel, Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy were the pro changers.
● They advocated fighting elections for legislative entry.
● To challenge and debate the government on all issues i.e., end or mend the council.
● They argued that council entry would not negate the constructive work but would open a new front of
struggle.
● In the time of political vacuum, council work will keep the masses enthusiastic and keep their morale high.’
● Entry of nationalist leaders into the council would prevent the Government from filling it with undesirable
elements.
● Most importantly, council was to be used as an arena for political struggle and not just demand
constitutional reform as earlier.
No changers
● The orthodox Gandhians like Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Ansari & C. Rajagopalachari belonged to
the no changers group.
● They focus:
 To train people for the upcoming struggle.
 Preach for khadi, swadeshi.
 Fight untouchability and lower status of women.
 To spread communal harmony through Hindu Muslim Unity.
● They argued that Parliamentary work will lead to neglect of constructive works, loss of revolutionary zeal
and political corruption.
 Special Congress Session in September 1923, at Delhi: Maulana Azad presided over the session where
Swarajists were allowed to contest in forthcoming election (in coming November) swept the polls in some
provinces.
 Congress session at Kakinada: Practice of non-cooperation within council and putting efforts in
constructive work this was done to fulfil its both agenda of congress and save party from another split.
Elections and Swarajists:
 The elections to the legislatures were held in November 1923 and they managed to do quite well despite
opposition from liberals
 They won 42 out of the 101 elective seats in the central Legislative Assembly, besides securing the support of
independents led by Jinnah and the liberals. They did valuable work in the legislatures.
 With their massive success, they are famous as the “Parliamentary wing of the Congress”.
Swaraj Party and stand of Gandhi:
 Gandhiji was released in 1924 on health grounds.
 4

 In 1924 AICC meeting at Ahmedabad

 Resolution of Gandhi aimed to eliminate Swarajists.
 Hand Spinning Resolution was mandatory for every office bearer (Congress) to spin 2000-yard yarn per
month failing that should be penalised.
 Members not in support of the council boycott were asked to resign.
 Adjusting the stand of Gandhi
 Britishers were expecting another split in party due to the hard stand of Gandhi. So, he lightened his stand
to strengthen the overall party.
 Close political and personal linkage to CR Das and Motilal.
 Council entry of Swarajist had already occurred and going against the “settled fact” would decipher as
weakness.
 Success of Swarajist in 1923 gave their vision and popularity to Gandhi.
 In 1924, attack on civil liberties, congress leaders in jail. Gandhi supported them by surrendering to
Swarajist as solidarity.
 Joint Statement
 In 1924, finally ending tussle between Swarajist and no-Changers by joint statement which stated:
o Swaraj party is an integral part of congress, deals with government and Swarajist will contribute
constructive work of Gandhi.
 Belgaum Session 1924 (now Belagavi)
 Gandhi was the President of the Congress Session (first and last).
 Gandhi’s decision was endorsed to recognise the work of Swarajists.
 Majority seats to Swarajist in the working committee.
 Focuses on constructive work of unity, eradication of untouchability as the main objective of Swaraj.
 Belgaum province, with barely seven districts, was in no way a match to the bigger cities with better
infrastructure. However, in the constitution adopted by the INC at Nagpur, it was decided to linguistically
reorganise the provinces and hence, in 1921, Karnataka was accorded a separate province status.
 The Belgaum session was proposed by Gangadhar Rao Deshpande and Srinivas Rao Koujalgi, who had
attended the Kakinada session in the previous year.
 Objectives
 Achieving Swaraj by people through all legitimate and peaceful ways.
 Swarajist will raise their voice for the right of the people to control the machinery and system of
government inside the legislature.
 Adopting the policy of “uniform, continuous and consistent obstruction” if the government puts down
their demand.
Permanent Publicity Bureau (PPB): In 1926 Session of Congress resolution for establishment of PPB to
educate and aware people about the importance of communal Harmony. Sarojini Naidu, M Nehru and Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad were in charge of this.
 5

Role of Swarajist:
 In Council
 Throw out all proposals by which bureaucracy consolidates its power. Refusing supplies and throwing
out the budget to compel them to recognize their rights.
 Support bills for healthy growth of national life and aiming for constructive programs of Congress.
 Adopting definite economic policy to prevent drain of wealth.
 Protecting the labour rights and lightning the relation between landlords and tenants.
 Outside Council
 Focus on communal harmony and communal unity.
 Eradicating untouchability.
 The control of nationalist over municipal affairs.
 To gain support of foreign nations for the support of swaraj.
 Gaining economic control of resources.
 Organisation of agricultural and industrial labour.
Swarajists achievement in legislature:
 Political aspirations
 The constitutional advancement leading to self-government, civil liberties, release of political prisoners.
 Challenging the repressive laws.
 Development of indigenous industries.
 In the 1924-25 election, the Swarajist formed a coalition with Madan Mohan Malviya, Jinnah and
emerged as Nationalist Party which dominated the proceedings.
 Resolutions
 Resolution in circulation by C. Vijayaraghavachariar demanding provincial autonomy and dominion
status.
 Motilal Nehru recommended a plan of full responsible government for the Round Table conference.
 Appointment of Reforms Enquiry Committee by Alexander Muddiman for defects in Act of 1919.
 Amendment to the recommendations of Lee Commission by majority votes.
 Backing for huge support from Bengal and Central Provinces Swaraj Party it created deadlock and compelled
the government to go with its special powers.
 In 1925, Vithalbhai Patel became president of the Central legislative Assembly.
 In 1928, they successfully defeated the Public Safety Bill through which the government aimed at deporting
the unwanted foreigners.
 The Public Safety Bill was being brought because the government was alarmed by the spread of
communist and socialist ideas. It believed that a crucial role is being played by the British and other
foreign activists sent by the comintern.
 They were successful in demonstrating the hollowness of Montford Reform.
 The Swarajists suffered a major set-back after the death of C.R. Das in 1925.
 For the various reasons in the election of 1926 Swarajist felt a jolt of defeat and lost ground.
 6

Constructive Work Done by No- Changers:

 Ashrams sprang up in several parts of the country where youths were involved to work among tribals and
lower caste and popularise the use of Khadi.
 National schools and colleges were set up. students here were educated in non-colonial ideologies.
 Work was done to bridge Hindu-Muslim unity, remove untouchability, flood relief and boycott of foreign
clothes.
 Done a good work on Hindu-Muslim Unity due to attachment to the ground reality.
 Various initiatives and awareness campaigns for adopting indigenous material with indigenous methods and
reviving indigenous industries (Khadi, Charkha, Khaddar).
 Both Segments have done commendable work in eradicating Untouchability.
 It performed dual work council entry as well as constructive work.
 As Swarajist owed political power to congress, constructive work provided a common platform to both the
factions of the Congress (the Swarajists and No-changers).
 Swarajist could not work to its full potential on Hindu-Muslim unity. As their rise witnessed the tension of
Hindu-Muslim Harmony. Their agenda of unity remains limited to desirability.
 Their contribution in Swadeshi agenda was ornamental like wearing Khadi in meetings. Their contribution
is not up to the mark as No-Changers.
 Swarajist has strongly supported prohibition of liquor from sale.
Limitations of Constructive work:
 National Education benefited only the urban lower middle class and rich peasants. National Education
attracted students during the movement only. The lure for degrees and jobs took back the students to official
schools and colleges.
 Khadi was costly, so its popularisation was not an easy task.
 When it comes to Untouchability, emphasis was given on the social aspect only while completely ignoring
the economic aspect. For eg: No action was taken to address the economic grievances of landless
labourers comprising mostly the untouchables.
Drawbacks:
 They failed to synchronise their legislative activities inside with mass struggle outside. They totally relied
on newspapers to communicate with the masses.
 Their ability to obstruct the council had its own limitations.
 They failed to carry on with their coalition partner because of their conflicting ideas.
 They failed to resist the perks and privileges.
 They failed to support the peasants’ cause in Bengal. Due to this they lost the support of Muslim members
who were pro-peasant.
Causes led to decline of Swarajist:
● Ground to office shift: Experienced leaders who were expected on ground were engaged in various sitting
committees. Motilal (Muddiman, Skeen i.e Sandhurst committee), Vithalbhai Patel (Speaker),
Ramaswamy Iyenger (Public Accounts Committee).
 7

 Continued obstruction of Swarajist led to the spirit of responsive cooperation. Government also became
aware to handle their thinking and further thus led to division of two wings: Responsivist and Non-
Cooperators.
 High Hat attitude: Leaders belonging to the high class whose attitude can be predicted by failing of
NCM they attached themselves with parliamentary politics without any concrete ideology. Lacking direct
mass action and distancing themselves from constructive work.
 Widen of Communal Angle: Post 1927, Counter of Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League were giving
challenges. Gandhi tried to settle their ideological conflict by Sabarmati Compromise but it failed.
 Fragmentation of Nationalist party into Swaraj Party (Congress party), Independent Party (Jinnah) and
Nationalist party (MMM, LLR, Hindu Mahasabha and some congressmen).
Split in Swarajists
 In 1925, following the death of CR Das. Communalism raised its ugly head. Some of the Swarajist legislators
could also not resist the pulls of parliamentary perquisites and position of status.
 Very soon, a group of ‘Responsivists’ arose in the party who wanted to work the reforms and to hold office
whenever possible. The Swarajists finally walked out of the Legislature in 1930 as a result of Lahore congress
resolution on Purna Swaraj.
 Non- Responsivists
o Motilal Nehru belonged to this group.
o They were accused of practicing such things as opposed to Hinduism.
 Responsivists
o Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, N.C Kelkar belonged to this group.
o Hindu Maha Sabha.
o They even offered support to Britishers so as to safeguard the interest of Hindus.
Motilal Nehru 1919 Amritsar Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre was condemned,
Boosted the Khilafat Movement.
Lala Lajpat Rai 1920 Calcutta (Special
Session)
C. Vijayaraghavachariar 1920 Nagpur Gandhian programme was adopted. A new
constitution of the Congress is formed.
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan 1921 Ahmedabad Harsat Mohani demanded for complete
Das (President) independence.
Hakim Ajmal Khan
(Acting President)
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan 1922 Gaya The Swarajya Party formed.
Das
Mohammad Ali Jouhar 1923 Kakinada
 8

Abul Kalam Azad 1923 Delhi (Special Maulana Abul Kalalm Azad became the youngest
Session) president of INC
Mohandas Gandhi 1924 Belgaum The only session where Gandhi Ji was the President
of INC
Sarojini Naidu 1925 Kanpur First Indian Woman President of INC

Socialism:
● Social and economic doctrine that calls for public instead of private ownership
or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view,
individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one
another.
● Everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and
everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in
it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the
benefit of all its members.
● As per socialists, true freedom and true equality require social control of the resources that provide the
basis for prosperity in any society.
● Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels made this point in the Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) when they
proclaimed that in a socialist society “the condition for the free development of each is the free development
of all”.
Caste Movements:
● These included
 Justice Party movement- Madras.
 Self-Respect Movement- Madras- E.V Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar)
 Satyashodhak samaj- Satara, Madras.
 Mahars under Ambedkar.
 Ezhavas under K. Ayyappan and K. Kesavan in Kerala.
 Yadavs in Bihar for improvement of Social Status.
 Unionist Party under Fazl-i- Hussain - Punjab
 9

The Second phase of the Revolutionary and Terrorist Movement:

 The suspension of Non-cooperation movement and the resultant gloom that descended on the nationalist
scene again created conditions calling for terrorist revolutionary activities.
 The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was founded at Kanpur in October 1924 by Sachindranath
Sanyal, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Ramprasad Bismil and Chandra Shekhar Azad. The most important
action of the HRA was the Kakori robbery.
 The imprisonment of most of the HRA leaders in the Kakori conspiracy case and the ensuing police
repression nearly finished off the HRA. After this some younger revolutionaries, inspired by socialist ideas,
established the HSRA (1928).
 The first revolutionary act of HSRA was the murder of Saunders at the Lahore railway station by Bhagat
Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Rajguru (in 1928).
 Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutta threw a bomb in the central Assembly on 8 April 1929.
 Most of the HSRA revolutionaries convicted in the Lahore conspiracy case Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and
Rajguru were hanged on March 23, 1931.
 In Bengal, Surya Sen masterminded the Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930). After this, some young woman
revolutionaries like Bina das, and Pritilata Waddedar participated. Surya Sen was arrested in February. 1933
and hanged.
 Death of Chandrashekhar Azad in 1931 and Surya Sen’s martyrdom in 1934, marked an end to the
prolonged saga of revolutionaries.
Lee Commission (1923):
 The Commission was appointed by the British government in 1923 to consider the ethnic composition of
the superior Indian public services of the government of India.
 Lord Lee of Fareham was Chairman, and there were equal numbers of Indian and British members.
 The Islington Commission’s report (1917) had recommended that 25 percent of the higher government
posts should go to Indians.
 That report had become a dead letter in 1918, when the Montagu-Chelmsford Report proposed Indian
appointments to one-third of the posts. Simultaneous examinations were instituted in London and New Delhi
in 1922. But by this time, because of political uncertainties, there was a shortage of British entrants.
 The Commission proposed in 1924
 40 % of future entrants should be British,
 40 percent Indians directly recruited, and
 20 percent Indians promoted from the provincial service.
 By 1947, more than half the service of about 1,000 members were Indians, many with long experience and
holding high positions.
 10

Other Important Committees

● Muddiman Committee 1924
● Simon Commission 1927
● Butler commission 1927
Muddiman Committee 1924:
Reforms enquiry committee (9 members)
1. Sir Alexander Muddiman (who had succeeded Sir Malcolm Hailey as Home Member) as Chairman
2. Sir Muhammad Shafi, Member of the Governor-General's Executive Council;
3. Maharajadhiraja Sir Bijay Chand Mahtab Bahadur of Burdwan;
4. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru;
5. Sir Arthur Froom;
6. Sir P.S. Sivaswami Iyer;
7. Sir Henry Moncrieff-Smith, Secretary to the Government of India, Legislative Department;
8. M.A.Jinnah and
9. Dr R. P. Paranjape.
 Majority: time elapsed is too short to judge.
 Minority: the reforms have failed and framing of the constitution is required.
Simon Commission (November, 1927)
Background
 As per the clause of GoI Act 1919 it was specified to set up a Indian Statutory
Commission (after 10 years of enactment of law) to inquire into the working of the
1919 Act and to propose further reforms, if needed. Although this concern was
raised that ten years is too short for analysing the functioning of the constitution.
 1919+10= 1929 then why in 1927?
 Political equation in Britain, Conservative party being challenged by Labour
party (election due in 1929) so conservative could not leave an important issue
as the issue of India.
 This phase was witnessing communal tussle within India, sending delegates convinced that India is unfit
for fresh instalment of constitutional government.
 Nationalist declared the 1919 Act to be inadequate and demanded reconsideration of the Act.
 Deviate the agitation sentiments that were growing rapidly.
 The influence of the Swarajya party in the legislature and pressure created by dynamic young men (SC
Bose and JL Nehru) on the government.
 11

Composition
 Sec. of State (Lord Birkenhead) announced the appointment of a 7 members commission, appointed by
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
 7 Members of Simon Commission (7 Members)
1. Sir John Simon (Liberal)
2. Clement Attlee (Labour)
3. Harry Levy-Lawson (Conservative)
4. Edward Cadogan (Conservative)
5. Vernon Hartshorn (Labour)
6. George Lane-Fox (Conservative)
7. Donald Howard (Conservative)
Focus Area of the Commission
 To improve the working system of the Government.
 To improve the growth of education.
 Development of representative institution
 Analysis of need, demand of responsible government, restrict or modification of responsible government.
 Examining the need for a second chamber of the local legislatures.
Concerns
 Not a Single Indian member to represent in the Commission. It was an all-British members Commission
and rejection to all nationalists.
 Ignoring Indians in matters related to India.
 Whole squad of Englishmen in commission will not put the complete picture of Indians.
 The British action was seen as a violation of the principle of self-determination and a deliberate insult to
the self-respect of the Indians.
Reaction
 Boycott of commission by Congress, a part of Muslim League, liberal foundation (Tej Bahadur Sapru), The
indian industrial and commercial congress, Hindu Mahasabha.
Simon Boycott Movement:
 Madras Congress Session in 1927 (president Dr. Ansari), boycott commission “every stage in every
form”.
 In the same session Nehru managed to get a resolution passed declaring Complete Independence as the goal
of the congress.
 When the Commission landed, they faced backlash from slogans like “Simon Go Back”. In almost every part
of the country. In Madras T. Prakasham (Andhra Kesari) led a huge protest.
 Boycott was welcomed by
 Anglo Indians, Hindu Mahasabha, Depressed classes.
 A faction of Muslim League under Jinnah, Unionists in Punjab and Justice Party in South.
 12

Delhi Proposal of Muslim League:

 With an aim to fill the gap between congress and League. In Dec 1927, Muslim league held a session in Delhi
and came up with their demands to be incorporated into the draft Constitution.
 TIt was accepted by the Madras session of Indian National Congress in 1927.
 The Proposals were:
 Joint Electorates with reserved seats of Muslims.
 One-Third or more representation of Muslims in the Central legislative assembly.
 Representation to Muslims in Punjab and Bengal in proportion to their population.
 Formation of three new Muslim majority provinces: Sindh, Balochistan and North Western Frontier
Province.
 With this Muslim league splitted, an annual session of league under the Presidentship of Sir Mian
Muhammad Shafi took place in Lahore.
Demands of Hindu Mahasabha:
 It opposed the creation of Muslim Majority Province and Reservation of seats for Muslims in Punjab
and Bengal. It also demanded a strictly unitary structure.
 Congress found itself in a dilemma with the League on one side and Hindu Mahasabha on the other.
 Congress tried to arrive at a compromise by including following proposal:
 Reservation of seats for Muslims only in Muslim-minority provinces.
 Sindh was detached from Bombay only after dominion status was granted.
 Unitary structure was proposed with residual power with centre.
All Parties Conference, May 1928:
 The All-Parties Conference was Chaired by MA Ansari.
 13

 Birkenhead challenged Indian nationalist to come up with a constitution acceptable to all sections of
society.
 Conference adopted on the basis of full Dominion responsible government.
 To draft a constitution appointment of a sub-committee under Motilal Nehru. Committee included
Motilal Nehru as chairman, Subhash Chandra Bose, Tej Bahadur Sapru, M.S Aney, Mangal Singh,
Ali Imam, Shuab Qureshi and G.R Pradhan.
 Presented the report at Lucknow in August 1928.
Nehru Report (1928):
 Main Recommendations:
 India must be given Dominion Status. However, a section advocated for Complete Independence).
 Principle of Separate communal electorates were rejected. Instead, it demanded joint electorate with
reservation of seats for Muslims at centre and in provinces where they were in minority (and not where
they were in majority like Punjab and Bengal)
 19 Fundamental Rights which included Universal adult suffrage, Equal right for women, and Right
to form Unions.
 Linguistic Provinces.
 Responsible government at the centre and provinces.
 Indian Parliament at centre to have:
o House of Representative (500 members) elected on Universal Adult Franchise. Term of 5 years.
o Senate (200 members) to have 7 years tenure.
o Central Government to be headed by the Governor General, appointed by British Govt but paid out of
Indian Revenue.
o Provinces to have 5-year tenure, headed by the Governor acting on the advice of the provincial
executive council.
o Full protection to Cultural and religious interests of Muslims.
o Hierarchy of Courts.
o Dissociation of the state from religion in any form.
 Characteristics of Nehru Report
 Purely national approach and it considered the country as whole not as heterogeneous division.
 Idealism spirit and accommodative stance.
 Finest and bold attempt by an Indian to tackle communalism.
 The Calcutta Session of the congress (1928) approved the Nehru Report and served an ultimatum on the
government to accept the Nehru report on or before December 31, 1929, failing which the party would launch
another mass movement. In the same year, the All Parties Conference at Calcutta failed to pass the
Nehru report.
Objections raised by Muslim League to Nehru Report:
 Congress-League Agreement of 1916 was rejected which had provision of ‘separate electorate’.
 14

 Non-Uniform distribution of seats, Muslim dominant region (N-W, N-E region) would be controlled by
them but in the central region they will always remain in minority.
 Jinnah termed the Nehru report as “Parting of the way” with Congress. Above objections were not
entertained. So, Jinnah joined the group of Aga Khan and Md. Shafi.
 These concerns had pushed Jinnah towards communalism and made many Muslim leaders hostile towards the
Civil Disobedience Movement.
All Party Conference at Calcutta:
 Jinnah opposed a few points. He proposed three amendments (Calcutta Amendment). Those were:
1. 1/3rd representation of Muslims in the central Assembly.
2. Reservation to Muslims in Bengal and Punjab in proportion to their population till adult suffrage was
established.
3. Residual power to provinces.
 This was challenged by M R Jayakar of Hindu Mahasabha.
 Jinnah’s proposal was not entertained.
 Nehru Report failed to satisfy Nationalists: Apart from League, Mahasabha and Sikh community, Nehru
Report failed to satisfy the younger Nationalists in congress like Jawaharlal Nehru and S.C Bose. They
regarded the Dominion status as a step backward.
 Dissatisfied with congress, Nehru and Bose together set up the Independence for India League, it was a
pressure group within the Congress.
 President - S Srinivas Iyengar
 Secretaries - Nehru and Bose
 Their Demands were:
o Counter Dominion status demanded.
o Demand for Complete Independence.
o Work for establishing the All Indian Republic on socialist lines.
Issue of Princely States:
 In 1927, States of Peoples Conference objective of self-governing institutions princely states felt threatened to
their supremacy and went to Britishers.
 Britishers appointed Butler Committee (Harcourt Butler) to emphasise on preserving states through
British paramountcy.
 Butler Committee (Indian states committee)
 Members: Harcourt Butler chairman, W S Holdsworth and S C Peel.
 Enquire into relation of states with Britain
 Recommendations:
o Paramountcy must remain supreme.
o States would not be transferred to an Indian government responsible to the Indian legislature without
their consent.
o It must fulfill its obligation, adopting and defining itself according to the shifting necessities of time
and progressive development of the states.
o Viceroy would act as agent of Britain.
 15

14 Points of Jinnah 1929:

 M. A. Jinnah did not accept the Nehru report and went ahead to propose his famous ‘Fourteen points’. It
included —
1. Separate electorate for Muslims to be retained and supplemented by other concessions, such as one-third
Muslim representation in the central cabinet, and in all provincial cabinets.
2. Provincial Autonomy.
3. Federal constitution with residual power to provinces.
4. No constitutional Amendment without states’ concurrence.
5. All legislatures and elected bodies to have adequate representation of Muslims and not reducing the
majority of Muslims in a province to a minority.
6. Adequate representations of Muslims in the services and self-governing bodies.
7. 1/3rd Muslim representation in the central legislative assembly.
8. 1/3rd members of every cabinet, whether central or provincial, to be Muslims.
9. No bill/legislature to be passed if 3/4th of a minority community considers it against their interest.
10. Any territorial redistribution not to affect Muslim majority in Punjab, Bengal and NWFP.
11. Separation of Sindh from Bombay.
12. Constitutional Reforms in NWFP and Balochistan.
13. Full religious freedom to all communities.
14. Protection of Muslim rights in religion, culture, education and language.
Impact:
● Emergence of Socialist ideas: The socialists not only demanded complete independence but major socio-
economic reform on socialist lines.
● Congress got a new issue to forge mass action.
● Lord Birkenhead’s challenge to produce an agreed constitution was accepted by various political parties and
thus the design of the Indian constitution started to emerge.
Note: B.R Ambedkar was appointed to work with the Simon Commission by Bombay Legislative
Council. In 1928 he went before the commission and argued for Universal Adult Franchise, Provincial
autonomy and Dyarchy at the centre. On behalf of Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha he submitted a memorandum
on rights and safeguards for depressed class.
The Recommendations of Simon commission:
 Report was submitted in 1930 and the proposals were as follows:
 Proposed abolition of dyarchy and giving provincial autonomy.
 Increase the members in provinces.
 No mention of dominion status.
 Governor to have discretionary power in internal security matters.
 Rejected transfer of power at centre.
 Governor Gen to have complete power to appoint the cabinet.
 16

 retention of communal electorate and its extension to other communities.

 No universal franchise.
 NWFP and Balochistan to get local legislature and representation at centre.
 Separation of Sindh from Bombay and Burma from India.
 Indianisation of the Indian army but retention of British forces too.
 Proposals rejected by major political parties & Lord Irwin declared that the Round Table conference will be
the final authority.
Nationalist Muslim Party:
1. Congress Muslim Party
 To counter Muslim league and claim Muslim leadership.
 The First session was at Bombay (July 1929).
 Main leaders were:
 Maulana Abul kalam Azad
 Khaliquzzaman (secretary)
 Dr. Sheikh Muhammad Alam
 Dr. MA Ansari (President)
2. Khudai Khidmatgars
 Khudai Khidmatgars were also called Red Shirts.
 The organization was formed under Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Dr Khan Sahib at North West
Frontier Province.
Congress Session at Calcutta (Dec’1928):
 Motilal Nehru was the President of this session.
 The Nehru report was accepted in this session.
 The Dominion status clause was not liked by youth which included J.L
Nehru, S.C Bose and Satyamurthy. They demanded Purna Swaraj or complete
Independence as their goal.
 2-year (later 1) grace period given to the government to accept demand for dominion status.
 If not accepted then the congress would demand for complete Independence and Civil Disobedience
would be launched.
 It laid to the formation of Foreign Cloth Boycott Committee for an aggressive form of boycott.
 All India Youth Congress was formed.



PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 37
Civil Disobedience
Movement
 2

Civil Disobedience Movement

1929:
❖ Gandhi travelled extensively preparing people for direct political action.
❖ Foreign Cloth Boycott committee was organised by the Congress Working Committee.
❖ In the Meerut Conspiracy case, a labour leader was arrested.
❖ On 8th April Bomb explosion in Central Legislative Assembly by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt.
❖ May - Ramsay Macdonald (Labour Party) came to power in England.
❖ Irwin’s statement (October) – Deepawali Declaration:
➢ Dominion status was the goal of the 1917 declaration.
➢ The Round Table Conference would be the final deciding point.
❖ Delhi Manifesto (Nov)
➢ The Round Table Conference should decide the scheme of dominion status.
➢ There was a Congress majority at the Round Table Conference.
➢ Viceroy Irwin rejected these demands on December 23, 1929, which led to the demand of Purna swaraj
in the Lahore session of Indian National Congress.

Lord Irwin 1926 - 1931:

❖ Timeline of Events:
➢ Simon Commission (1928)
➢ Nehru Report (1928)
➢ Death of Lala Lajpat Rai (1928)
➢ Fourteen Points of Jinnah (1929)
➢ Purna Swaraj declaration (1929)
➢ Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929)
❖ Bombing in Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt.
❖ "Deepavali Declaration" on 31 October 1929 (to grant India dominion status in due course).
❖ Appointment of "Hartog Committee" (1929) to survey the growth of education in British India.
❖ Launching of Civil disobedience movement with Salt March (1930)
❖ Dharasana Satyagraha (1930)
❖ First Round Table Conferences (1930)
❖ Allahabad Address by Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1930)
❖ Chittagong armoury raid in 1930
❖ Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931)
❖ Execution of Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar (1931).

Lahore Session of the Congress (Dec 1929):

❖ Since the one-year time limit set at the Calcutta session passed without a positive reply from the government
the Nehru Report was declared to have lapsed at the Lahore Session of the congress.
 3

❖ Jawaharlal Nehru was now made the president of the congress. The Lahore session occupies a unique
place in the history of Indian freedom struggle. It was during this session that a resolution for complete
Independence (Poorna Swarajya) was passed.
❖ In 1929 on 31 December, Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the newly adopted flag of tri-colour on the bank of
river Ravi.
❖ 26 January 1930 was fixed as the first Independence Day, which was to be
celebrated every year with the people taking the Independence Pledge that it
was “a crime against man and god to submit any longer” to British rule.
❖ Independence Pledge written by Mahatma Gandhi.
❖ This program met with massive people appeal with great success.
❖ Public meetings were held throughout the country in villages and towns and Independence Day pledge was
read out in local language and the National Flag was hoisted.
Presidential Address at the AICC Session, Lahore, December 29, 1929
“The Congress stands today for full democracy in India and fights for a democratic
state, not for socialism. It is anti-imperialist and strives for great changes in our
political and economic structure. I hope that the logic of events will lead it to
socialism for that seems to me the only remedy for India's ills. But the urgent and
vital problem for us today is political independence and the establishment of a
democratic state. And because of this, the Congress must line up with all the
progressive forces of the world and must stand for world peace....
We have great tasks ahead, great problems to solve both in India and in the
international sphere. Who can face and solve these problems in India but this great
organisation of ours, which has, through fifty years' efforts and sacrifice,
established its unchallengeable right to speak for the millions of India? Has it not
become the mirror of their hopes and desires, their urge to freedom, and the strong arm that will wrest this
freedom from unwilling and resisting hands? It started in a small way with a gallant band of pioneers, but even
then it represented a historic force and it drew to itself the goodwill of the Indian people. From year to year it
grew, faced inner conflicts whenever it wanted to advance and was held back by some of its members. But the
urge to go ahead was too great, the push from below increased, and though a few left us, unable to adjust
themselves to changing conditions, vast numbers of others joined the Congress. It became a great propaganda
machine dominating the public platform of India. But it was an amorphous mass and its organisational side was
weak, and effective action on a large scale was beyond its powers.
The coming of Gandhiji brought the peasant masses to the Congress, and the new constitution that was
adopted at his instance in Nagpur in 1920 tightened up the organisation, limited the number of delegates
according to population, and gave it strength and capacity for joint and effective action. That action followed
soon after on a countrywide scale and was repeated in later years. But the very success and prestige of the
Congress often drew undesirable elements to its fold and accentuated the defects of the Constitution. The
organisation was becoming unwieldy and slow of movement and capable of being exploited in local areas by
particular groups. Two years ago radical changes were made in the Constitution again at Gandhiji's instance.
 4

One of these was the fixation of the number of delegates according to membership, a change which has given a
greater reality to our elections and strengthened us organisationally. But still our organisational side lags far
behind the great prestige of the Congress, and there is a tendency for our committees to function in the air, cut
off from the rank and file.
It was partly to remedy this that the mass contacts resolution was passed by the Lucknow Congress, but
unhappily the committee that was in charge of this matter has not reported yet. The problem is a wider one than
was comprised in that resolution for it includes an overhauling of the Congress Constitution with the object of
making it a closer knit body, capable of disciplined and effective action. That action to be effective must be mass
action, and the essence of the strength of the Congress has been this mass basis and mass response to its calls.
But though that mass basis is there, it is not reflected in the organisational side, and hence an inherent weakness
in our activities.
We have seen the gradual transformation of the Congress from a small super-class body to one representing
the great body of the lower middle classes and later the masses of this country. As this drift to the masses
continued the political role of the organisation changed and is changing, for this political role is largely
determined by the economic roots of the organisation.
We are already and inevitably committed to this mass basis for without it there is no power or strength in
us. We have now to bring that into line with the organisation, so as to give our primary members great powers
of initiative and control, and opportunities for day-to-day activities. We have, in other words, to democratise the
Congress still further.”

Eleven Point Ultimatum:

❖ Abolition of salt tax
❖ 50% reduction in land revenue
❖ Protection of indigenous textile industry
❖ Reduction in military expenses
❖ Reduction in civil expenses
❖ Prohibition of intoxicants
❖ Reform in CID
❖ Right to possess arms for defence
❖ Reservation of coastal shipping for Indians
❖ Lower exchange ratio
❖ Release all political prisoners

❖ Gandhiji presented his demands to Lord Irwin and waited for 41 days.
❖ Gandhiji thus related the abstract concept of independence to certain specific grievances; but of all grievances,
salt tax seemed to be the most crucial one for many reasons. It affected all sections of the population and
had no divisive implications. It would not provoke government repression and finally, it could be made into a
highly emotive issue with great publicity value.
 5

❖ As Irwin was in no mood to compromise, the civil Disobedience movement was started by Gandhi on 12
March 1930 with his famous Dandi March. Together with 78 Chosen followers, Gandhi Walked nearly 375
km from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a village on the Gujarat Sea-Coast After a 24-day long march, he
symbolically broke the salt laws at Dandi on April 5. This attracted enormous publicity both in India and
overseas.

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34):

❖ On 31 January 1930, Gandhiji announced an 11 points ultimatum for Lord Irwin; if ignored, there was only
one way out: civil disobedience.
❖ It was a compromise formula, which included, according to Sumit Sarkar’s Classification.
➢ Six issues of general interest like reduction of military expenditure and civil service salaries, discharge
of political prisoners not convicted of murder, reform of the CID and changes in the arms act its’ popular
control and Accept Postal Reservation bill- Reducing
the price of postal stamps.
➢ Three specific demands (like lowering of the rupee-
sterling exchange rate, protective tariff on forcing
cloth and reservation of coastal traffic for Indian
shipping companies).
➢ Two basically peasant themes (50 percent reduction
of land revenue and its subjection to legislative
control and abolition of salt tax and government salt
monopoly).

Build-up factors for Civil Disobedience Movement:

❖ Calcutta Session 1928): Ultimatum for acceptance of Nehru report if not be ready for mass movement.
❖ Lahore Session, 1929): Declared Poorna Swaraj as its goal and announced the launching of a civil
Disobedience movement under Gandhi.
❖ Eleven points to Britishers.

Dandi March (12th March – 6th April 1930):

❖ The Dandi March was started from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi at Gujarat coast with 78 followers.
❖ Subhash Chandra Bose compared to Napoleon's March from Elba to Paris.
❖ 240 miles of distance was covered and Salt was collected at the beach.
❖ Before the beginning of the Dandi march, Gandhi gave the following direction to the people.
❖ Gandhiji declared:
➢ “The British rule in India” has brought about moral, material, cultural and spiritual ruination of this great
country. I regard this rule as a curse. I am out to destroy this system of government. Sedition has become
my religion. Ours is a non-violent battle. We are not to kill anybody but it is our dharma to see that the
curse of this government is blotted out.”
➢ Whenever possible Civil Disobedience of the salt law should be started.
 6

➢ Foreign liquor and cloth shops should be picketed.

➢ Lawyers can give up practice.
➢ Public can boycott law courts and resort to panchayats.
➢ Government servants can resign from their posts.
➢ Local leaders should be obeyed after Gandhi’s arrest.
❖ Why Salt?
➢ Salt tax was a universal problem and affected all people of all classes of society.
➢ Consumed by almost all people of various castes and classes of society. So, it had far reaching emotional
appeal.
➢ Manufacturing of salt also affords a small occupation yet psychologically important income.
➢ Breaking salt law represented the humble beginning of Civil Disobedience and violation showed the
power of non-violent struggle.

Dialogues
❖ The Salt March was notable for at least three reasons
➢ First, it was this event that first brought Mahatma Gandhi to world attention.
➢ Second, it was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers. The socialist
activist Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay had persuaded Gandhiji not to restrict the protests to men alone.
➢ Third, the Salt March made the British realize that their Raj would not last forever, and that they would
have to devolve some power to the Indians.

Impact of Salt Satyagraha in various parts of the country:

❖ Tamil Nadu: C. Rajagopalachari led a march from Tiruchirapalli to Vedaranniyam.
❖ In Malabar: K. Kelappan (known for Viakom Satyagraha) led a march from Calicut to Payyannur. P.
Krishna Pillai, who later founded the Kerala communist movement, heroically defended the National flag in
the face of police lathi charge on Calicut beach.
❖ In Assam: Satyagrahis walked from Sylhet to Naokhali (Bengal) to make salt. Strikes
were organised against the Cunningham Circular which banned students’ participation
in politics. Chandraprabha Saikiani incited aboriginal tribes to break forest laws.
❖ In Andhra: Sibarams (Camps) were set up in different districts as headquarters of
salt satyagraha.
❖ Orissa: Salt satyagraha was organised in the coastal regions by Gopabandhu
Chaudhary.
❖ Bihar: Salt satyagraha in Bihar began from Champaran and Saran district. As Bihar
is land locked, ponds were chosen as a place to break salt laws but it was merely a gesture. Ambika Kant Sinha
was a prominent leader here. Very soon the salt satyagraha in Bihar was replaced by powerful Chowkidari Tax
agitation.
 7

➢ In Chotanagpur, Bonga Manjhi and Somra Manjhi, influenced by Gandhism, led a movement in
Hazaribagh which combined socio-religious reform along Sanskritising lines in which followers were
asked to give up meat and liquor and wear khadi.
❖ Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested in April 1930 for breaking salt law.
❖ Gandhi was arrested in May 1930 when he announced that he would lead a raid on Dharasana Salt Works on
the west coast.
❖ After Gandhi’s arrest Congress Working Committee sanctioned the following:
➢ Non-Payment of revenue in Ryotwari areas.
➢ No Chowkidari tax campaign in zamindari areas.
➢ Violation of forest laws in central provinces.
❖ Soon this movement spread like wildfire throughout the length
and breadth of the country.
❖ Peshawar: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also called Badshah
Khan and frontier Gandhi, organised a volunteer brigade
Khudai Khidmatgars popularly known as red Shirts. He
started the first pashto political monthly Pakhtoon.
➢ On April 23, 1930, the arrest of congress leaders led to a huge mass demonstration in Peshawar.
➢ Martial law was imposed to restore normalcy.
➢ Here a section of Garhwal Rifles soldiers refused to fire on an unarmed crowd.
➢ The upsurge in NWFP with 92% Muslim population left the Britishers nervous as Muslims were
considered loyalists by the British.
❖ Dharsana: On May 21, 1930, Dharasana salt works were raided by Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib and Manilal
(Gandhi’s son).
❖ Bihar: No Chowkidari tax campaign was organised. A call was given for resignation of chowkidar and
influential members of chowkidari panchayat.
❖ Bengal: Anti Chowkidari tax and anti-union board tax campaign was organised.
❖ Gujarat: Campaign for non-payment of land revenue was organised.
❖ Maharashtra, Karnataka and Central Provinces: Forest laws were violated.
❖ Assam: Campaign against Cunningham Circular was organised. The circular forced parents, guardians and
students to furnish assurances of good behaviour.
❖ United Provinces: A no-revenue campaign was organised. Also, a call was given to zamindars too to refuse
payment of revenue to the Government.
❖ Manipur and Nagaland: Rani Gaidinliu (13yrs old), a naga spiritual leader, revolted against British rule. She
was captured in 1932 and given life imprisonment. The interim Government of 1946 finally ordered her release
from jail.

Regional Variation of Civil Disobedience Movement:

❖ Close proximity to Gandhi emerged as the epicentre of Gandhian Satyagraha. Kheda, Bardoli, Ahmedabad and
Gujarati community of Bombay region.
 8

❖ The easternmost Corner of India upto Manipur and Nagaland.

❖ There was a limited participation in regions which had less influence from congress. Maharashtra, Karnataka,
and Central Province.

Khudai Khidmatgar Movement (“Servants of God”):

❖ In 1929 the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement was led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
❖ The objective was to oppose the British in Northwest Frontier Province in a non-violent way.
❖ Inspired Pashtuns (Pathans) to use civil resistance to challenge British rule.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
❖ He was also known as Badshah Khan, Frontier or Simant Gandhi or Bacha Khan.
❖ Pashtun freedom fighter independence activist against British colonial rule in India.
❖ Political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition and lifelong pacifism.
❖ An advocate for Hindu−Muslim unity in the Indian subcontinent.
❖ Sharing similar ideologies and close
friendship with Mahatma Gandhi, Khan
was nicknamed Sarhadi
Gandhi/Frontier Gandhi by his close
associate Amir Chand Bombwal.
❖ In 1929, he founded the Khudai
Khidmatgar, an anti-colonial nonviolent
resistance movement.
❖ It was the first non-violent army of 100000 Pathans. Due to their red uniform
known as Red Shirt or Surkho Posh.
❖ The Khudai Khidmatgar success and popularity with the Indian people
eventually prompted the colonial government to launch numerous crackdowns
against Khan and his supporters.
❖ The Khudai Khidmatgar experienced some of the most severe repression of the
entire Indian independence movement.
❖ In 1931, he was offered the congress presidency but refused stating he is a soldier
and wanted to serve.
❖ In 1947, as a result of a plebiscite frontier province became a member of newly independent Pakistan his
disaffection towards Pakistan led him to raise the demand of Pashtunistan.
❖ He was named “Amnesty International Prisoner of the Year” in 1962.
❖ He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 1985.
❖ In 1987, he became the first foreign national to get Bharat Ratna.

Government Suppression:
❖ The British government, as usual, retaliated with repression.
❖ Over 90,000 Satyagrahis, including Gandhiji and other congress leaders, were imprisoned.
❖ The congress was declared illegal. The press was gagged.
 9

❖ The private properties and lands of thousands of people were confiscated for non-payment of taxes.
❖ South India in particular experienced repression in its most severe form.
❖ The police often beat up men just for wearing Khadi or Gandhi Caps.
❖ There was a nationwide suppression, lathi charge and firing.
❖ However, accepted the idea of arbitration by Tez Bahadur Sapru and M R Jayakar.

Government Suppression in first phase of CDM:

❖ Arrest of JL Nehru: In April 1930 he was arrested for breaking Salt law. This result in the weakening of
Gandhian confines of civil disobedience and led to several violent outbursts;
❖ Chittagong Armoury: Bengal revolutionary Surya Sen carried out this. In Bengal the whole CDM was
influenced by revolutionary terrorism.
❖ Arrest of Mahatma Gandhi: In May 1930, he was arrested and led to a massive wave of protest.
❖ Most massive impact was in Solapur: Textile workers went on strike after Gandhi’s arrest. Liquor shops and
symbols of Government authority such as railway stations, police stations, municipal buildings, etc were burnt
down. A virtual parallel Government was established which could only be restored after imposition of Martial
Law.

Dharasana Satyagraha:
❖ Dharsana Satyagraha took place on 21st May 1930.
❖ After the arrest of Nehru and Gandhi Sarojini Naidu, Imam Saheb and Manilal with 2000 satyagrahis broke
salt law. As a result, attacked by police and beaten harshly.
❖ It had extended its reach to non-divisive issues;
➢ Boycotting foreign goods and liquor.
➢ Non-payment of revenue in Ryotwari Areas
➢ No revenue no rent campaign- in UP (Agra and Rae Bareilly) No revenue by zamindars and no rent
by tenants.
➢ Campaign against Cunningham Circular- which prohibited students to take part in any political
activity.
➢ Anti-Chowkidari Tax: It began in Zamindari areas of Bihar. Rajendra Prasad and Abdul Bari emerged
as the main leaders.
➢ Forest Satyagraha: In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Central province.
❖ Impact
➢ Decline in foreign goods, Government revenue crashed, election to assembly boycotted.

Extent of mass Participation:

❖ Women: Gandhi put much emphasis on women’s participation and gave them a call to participate. They
participated in picketing liquor shops and foreign cloth shops. This was a huge liberating experience for women
as it marked their entry into the public space.
❖ Students: The students participated in huge numbers.
 10

❖ Muslims: It was nowhere near the non-cooperation movement. Muslim leaders appealed to the Muslim masses
to stay away from the movement. However, areas such as NWFP saw an overwhelming participation.
❖ Traders: They actively participated. In the areas of Tamil Nadu and Punjab they were highly active in
implementing boycotts.
❖ Tribals: Participation was high in Central provinces, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
❖ Workers: Participation was high in industrial areas of Madras, Calcutta, Bombay and Sholapur.
❖ Peasants: Highly active in U.P Bihar and Gujrat.
❖ Business Group: The business group was led by GD Birla, taking a collective oath to not trade in foreign
goods and strengthen indigenous industries.
❖ Forms of Mobilisation: It was carried out through Prabhat Pheris, Vanar Senas, Manjari Senas, Secret Patrikas
and Magic lantern Shows.

Difference between Civil Disobedience Movement and Non-Cooperation Movement:

Civil Disobedience Non-Cooperation Movement
❖ Stated objective was Complete Independence. ❖ Objective was a vaguely worded Swaraj.
❖ Focus was on violation of unjust laws. ❖ Focus was on non-cooperation with the British
❖ Participation from Intelligentsia such as lawyers Government.
giving up practice, students giving up college was ❖ Participation from Intelligentsia was high.
lower as compared to non-cooperation. ❖ Muslim Participation was high.
❖ Muslim Participation was very low. ❖ The movement saw huge labour upsurge.
❖ No major labour upsurge coincided with the ❖ less no. of people imprisoned.
movement. ❖ Congress’s organisational strength was weaker
❖ Number of those imprisoned was quite high. (3 than it was at the time of the civil disobedience
times more than non-cooperation). movement.
❖ Congress was organisationally stronger this time.
❖ In August 1930, Irwin reiterated the Round Table Conference and the goal of Dominion status. Motilal and
Jawaharlal Nehru were taken to Yerwada Jail to meet Gandhi to discuss the possibility of settlement. The
Demands put forward by them were:
➢ Right to secede from Britain.
➢ Complete National Government with control over defence and finance.
➢ An independent tribunal to settle Britain’s financial claims.
❖ The arbitration failed in August 1930.
❖ Gandhi denied the participation of Congress in the Round Table Conference.

Round Table Conferences:

❖ First Round Table Conference (1930): It was called in London to discuss the report of the Simon
commission. The congress boycotted it but other parties attended. It was like ‘Staging Ramlila without
Rama’.
 11

❖ Second Round Table Conference (1931): In this conference, Gandhiji participated as the sole representative
of the congress. The session soon got deadlocked on the communal question and demand of separate
electorates. No agreed solution could be formed and Gandhiji returned India empty-handed.
❖ Third Round Table Conference (1932): The Congress boycotted it. Only 46 delegates participated in it and
all of them were the ‘Yes men’ of the British government. Some important decisions on the future constitution
of India were taken in the conference which were published in a white paper. On the basis of this white paper,
the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed.

First Round-Table Conference (Nov 1930-Jan 1931):

❖ The First Round Table was held in London, it was chaired by Ramsay
MacDonald (PM, associated with the Labour Party).
❖ The conference was attended by 89 members (58 from British India, 16
from princely states,16 delegates from the three British political parties).
❖ The Congress boycotted it as it had launched the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
❖ Business class of India was also absent due to participation in the Civil
Disobedience Movement.
❖ Representatives to first Round Table Conference
➢ Muslim League: Aga Khan III, Jinnah, Md Zafarullah Khan, A.K Fazlul Haq and others.
➢ Hindu Mahasabha: B.S Moonje, M.R Jayakar, Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra Nath.
➢ Sikhs: Sardar Ujjal Singh and Sardar Sampuran Singh.
➢ Parsis: Phiroze Sethna, Cowasji Jehangir, Homi Mody.
➢ Women: Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, Radhabai Subbarayan.
➢ Liberals: Tej Bahadur Sapru, C.Y Chintamani, J.N Basu.
➢ Depressed Classes: B.R Ambedkar and Rettamalai Srinivasan.
➢ Justice Party: Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, Bhaskarrao Bhitojirao Jadhav, Sir A.P Patro.
➢ Labour: N.M Joshi, K. T. Paul, B. Shiva Rao.
❖ There were also representatives from Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, Landlords and
Universities.

Issues discussed:
❖ Dr B R Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for the ‘untouchables’.
❖ Federal structure
❖ Provincial constitution
❖ Provinces of Sindh and NWFP
❖ Minorities
❖ Defence services
❖ Franchise
❖ Executive responsibility to the legislature.
 12

❖ Tej Bahadur Sapru moved the idea of an All-India Federation.

➢ This was supported by the Muslim League.
➢ The princely states also supported this on the condition that their
internal sovereignty was maintained.

Outcome:
❖ In the absence of congress leaders many principles on reforms were
agreed upon, not much was implemented and the Congress Party carried
on its civil disobedience.
❖ The Conference was regarded as a failure.
❖ The British government understood the importance and the need for the
Congress Party to make any decision on India’s political future.
❖ The All India Federation of British was formed.
❖ Pitch to responsible government at the centre with reservation and safeguard.
❖ From the period of first Round Table Conference and launch of the second phase of Civil Disobedience it was
categorised as the “Truce Period”.
❖ It was because of a tussle between Congress and Government.
❖ This period will witness the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Karachi Session and second Round Table Conference.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact):

❖ The British authorities were keen to secure the cooperation of Gandhi and other congress leaders because they
realised that no scheme of constitutional reforms would succeed unless the congress party agreed to it.
❖ After prolonged talks, an agreement was signed between the two on March 5, 1931, known as Gandhi-Irwin
pact (Delhi Pact). (Discussion started on 14th Feb).
❖ According to this pact -
❖ Gandhiji agreed to discontinue the civil disobedience movement with immediate effect.
❖ The congress agreed to join the Second Round Table conference.
❖ Put down a boycott of foreign goods.
Terms on which Irwin agreed:
❖ Immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted of violence.
❖ Remission of all fines not yet collected.
❖ Return of all lands not yet sold to the third parties.
❖ Lenient treatment to the Government servants who had resigned.
❖ Right to make salt in coastal villages for personal consumption and not for sale.
❖ Right to peaceful picketing.
❖ Withdrawal of emergency ordinance.
❖ Return confiscated land not yet sold to a third party.
❖ Payment of indemnities to those who had suffered in the movements.
 13

Irwin refuses two of Gandhi’s Demands:

❖ Public inquiry into police excesses.
❖ Commutation of Bhagat Singh and his comrades Death sentence to Life
sentence.
Was Gandhi Irwin pact a retreat by Congress?
❖ It was not so because:
❖ Mass movements are short-lived.
❖ Unlike activists, the capacity of masses to make sacrifices are limited.
❖ There were signs of exhaustion after sept 1930, especially among merchants
and the shopkeepers who had participated enthusiastically.

March 1931 Congress (special) session at Karachi:

❖ Highlights
➢ Vallabh Bhai Patel president.
➢ Purna Swaraj was reiterated as the goal.
➢ Gandhi Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact) was endorsed.
➢ Resolution on Fundamental rights (drafted by J. Nehru)
➢ Resolution on the National Economic Program. (drafted by J. Nehru)
❖ Resolution Declared “In order to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include real
economic freedom of the starving million”.
❖ Just six days before the session Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed. Gandhi was shown Black
Flags on his way to Karachi.
❖ Resolution on Fundamental Rights
➢ Freedom of Speech and Press.
➢ Right to form an Association.
➢ Right to Assemble.
➢ Universal Adult Franchise.
➢ Equal legal rights irrespective of caste, colour and creed and sex.
➢ Neutrality of state in religious matters.
➢ Free and compulsory education.
➢ Protection of culture, language, script of minorities and linguistic groups.
❖ Resolution on National Economic Programme
➢ Substantial reduction in rent and revenue.
➢ Exemption from rent for uneconomic holding.
➢ Relief from agricultural indebtedness.
➢ Control of usury.
➢ Better working conditions and living wage including limited hours of work for workers.
 14

➢ Right to workers to form a Union.

➢ State ownership of key industries, mines and means of transportation.
❖ NOTE: Karachi Declaration formed the basic document of Congress’ socio-economic program.

Second Round Table Conference (Sept - Dec 1931):

❖ The Second Round Table Conference held in London.
❖ Again, the demand for separate electorates came up.
❖ The communal problem countered the national problem; hence it created a deadlock.
Representatives to second Round Table Conference
❖ Congress: Mahatma Gandhi was the sole representative from the Congress.
❖ Muslim League: Aga Khan III, Jinnah, Md Zafarullah Khan, A.K Fazlul Haq and others.
❖ Hindu Mahasabha: B.S Moonje, M.R Jayakar, Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra Nath.
❖ Sikhs: Sardar Ujjal Singh and Sardar Sampuran Singh.
❖ Parsis: Phiroze Sethna, Cowasji Jehangir, Homi Mody.
❖ Women: Sarojini Naidu, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, Radhabai Subbarayan.
❖ Liberals: Tej Bahadur Sapru, C.Y Chintamani, J.N Basu.
❖ Depressed Classes: B.R Ambedkar and Rettamalai Srinivasan.
❖ Justice Party: Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, Bhaskarrao Bhitojirao Jadhav, Sir A.P Patro.
❖ Labour: N.M Joshi, K. T. Paul, B.Shiva Rao.
❖ Industry: G.D Birla, Sir Purshottam Das Thakur and Maneckji Dadabhoy.
❖ Most of the representatives are the same as the first Round Table Conference.
❖ There were also representatives from Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, Landlords and
Universities, Burma, Sindh, Assam and Central Provinces and NWFP.
Why did the Second Round Table Conference fail?
❖ The Second Round Table Conference reached a deadlock on the question of the minorities. Muslims,
Depressed Classes, Christians and Anglo Indians demanded separate electorates.
❖ British PM Ramsay Macdonald had a cabinet dominated by conservatives. The conservatives led by Churchill
strongly objected to the British Government negotiating with the congress on equal basis.
❖ The delegates at the Round Table Conference were also dominated by the conservatives, loyalists, reactionary
and communal.
❖ Princes now were not interested in Federation.
Outcome of the Second Round Table Conference:
❖ The creation of two Muslim-Majority provinces: NWFP and Sindh.
❖ An Indian Consultative Committee was set up.
❖ Three Expert committees were set up- Finance, Franchise and States.
❖ The prospect of Communal Award was opened up, if Indians failed to agree among themselves.
❖ The negotiations at the Second Round Table Conference failed and Gandhiji returned empty-handed.
 15

Activities in the Truce Period: (Mar-Dec, 1931):

❖ Although the movement was formally suspended, the following events kept the fire burning:
➢ UP - Congress was leading the movement for a rent reduction and against eviction.
➢ In NWFP Khudai Khidmatgars led a peasant movement against the brutal method of tax collection by
the Government.
➢ In Bengal, there was resentment against the draconian ordinance and mass detention in the name of
suppressing terrorism.

Government Repression:
❖ In January 1932, the government struck again and arrested many congress leaders. The government had
issued a number of ordinances to crush national activities.
❖ The Government came up with a series of repressive ordinance which created a martial law like situation
arresting a large number of nationalists (more than 1 Lakh)
❖ Congress organisations at all levels were banned.
❖ Gandhi’s ashrams were occupied.
❖ Press was gagged and Nationalist literatures were banned.
❖ The new viceroy Willington had refused to meet Gandhi.
❖ Thus, it became essential to revive the civil disobedience movement against the highly repressive policy of the
government.

Tarapur Massacre of Bihar:

❖ The biggest Massacre carried out by the British police after the one in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919.
❖ 15th February, 1932 - a group of young freedom fighters planned to hoist an Indian national flag at Thana
Bhawan in Tarapur.
❖ Police were aware of the plan, and several officers were present at the spot.
❖ A 4,000-strong crowd pelted the police with stones, injuring an officer of the civil administration.
❖ The police responded by opening indiscriminate fire on the crowd. After about 75 rounds were fired, 34 bodies
were found at the spot, even though there were claims of an even larger number of deaths.
❖ But only 13 of the dead could be identified.
What Triggered the Protest?
❖ The hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru in Lahore on 23th March, 1931, sent a wave of grief and
anger around the country.
❖ In Munger, freedom fighters Srikrishna Singh, Nemdhari Singh, Nirapad Mukherjee, Pandit Dasrath Jha,
Basukinath Rai, Dinanath Sahay, and Jaymangal Shastri were arrested.
❖ A call given by the Congress leader Sardar Shardul Singh Kavishwar to raise the tricolour over government
buildings resonated in Tarapur.
 16

The Earl of Willingdon 1931 - 1936:

❖ Second Round Table Conference (1931)
❖ Announcement of Communal Award by Ramsay MacDonald (1932)
❖ Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar in 1932
❖ Third Round Table Conference (1932)
❖ Pakistan Declaration (1933)
❖ Foundation of Congress Socialist Party in 1934
❖ Government of India Act 1935
❖ Formation of All India Kisan Sabha in 1936
❖ Reserve Bank of India established by passing The Reserve Bank of India Act 1934.

Second Phase of Civil Disobedience Movement (1932-1934):

❖ It was restored and re-started by furious people.
❖ Less spread and influential as compared to the first one.
❖ Bombay and Bengal emerged as important centres because of the support of the Business class in Gujarat and
revolutionaries in Rajasthani.
Why was the movement short lived?
❖ Gandhi had no time to build the tempo.
❖ The masses were not prepared.
❖ Severe Government repression
❖ The congress officially suspended the movement in May, 1933 and withdrew it in May 1934.
❖ Gandhiji decided to withdraw himself from active politics to devote all his time to the cause of Harijans.
❖ Note: This phase of movement coincided with two popular upsurges in the Princely states - Kashmir and
Alwar.
❖ A widespread agitation throughout the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British Raj occurred in 1931
against the Maharaja's government.
❖ The Maharaja was forced to appoint the Glancy Commission to investigate the people's concerns. Various
political reforms were adopted including the introduction of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha
(legislative assembly).
❖ The movement also saw the rise of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah as the leader of Kashmiris. The movement
was funded by some well-to-do Muslim Zaildars and business houses.

Communal Award (August, 1932):

❖ The British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald announced the proposal on minority representation which is
known as ‘communal Award’. (On the recommendations of Indian Franchise Committee or Lothian
Committee).
❖ According to this Award, for the purpose of representation in provincial Legislatures the Indians were divided
into water tight compartments.
 17

❖ A certain number of seats were allotted to Muslims, Europeans and Sikhs, and members of these
communities were to vote in separate constituencies.
❖ There was also provision for separate electorates for Depressed classes as a separate community and separating
from the rest of the Hindus.
❖ It recommended:
➢ Doubling the seat in provincial legislature
➢ Separate electorate for minorities.
➢ Provision of reservation of 3% to women except in NWFP.
➢ Allocate seats to labour, landlords and industrialists.
❖ Congress’s Response: It rejected separate electorates and insisted on universal franchise. Earlier congress had
accepted a separate electorate in 1916 at that time congress did support this. It decided neither to accept nor
to reject the communal award.
❖ Gandhi’s Response: He saw the communal award as an attack on India’s unity and nationalism. He considered
it harmful to both Hinduism and the Depressed Classes since it provided no answer to the socially degraded
position of the depressed classes.
❖ Gandhi argued that the question of abolishing untouchability would get undermined once we start treating the
depressed classes as a separate political entity.
❖ Gandhi demanded that depressed classes should be elected through the joint and universal adult franchise.
He however was in favour of an increased number of reserved seats for the depressed classes.
Gandhiji in order to express the resentment against this award started fast unto death in Yerwada Jail (Pune)
on Sept. 20, 1932.

Poona Pact 1932:

❖ On the initiative of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, a settlement was signed on Sept. 25, 1932, known as
“Poona Pact”. Ambedkar, MC Rajah and Madan Mohan Malviya got together to persuade Gandhi.
According to the terms of this pact:
❖ This made BR Ambedkar to make an agreement with Gandhiji on behalf of depressed classes:
➢ The separate electorates for the depressed classes were abolished.
➢ It was agreed upon that seats will be reserved for the depressed classes but their election will be under a
joint electorate system.
❖ In provincial legislatures, 148 seats were reserved for them as against 71 seats given to them by the Award. In
the central legislature 18 percent seats were reserved for them.
❖ Adequate representation was given to Harijans in local bodies and public services.
❖ Financial aid was promised to promote literacy among the Harijans.
❖ Note: The Poona Pact was accepted by the Government as an amendment to the Communal Award.

Gandhi’s Harijan Campaign:

❖ Gandhi started the Harijan campaign right from the jail and worked vigorously on it after his release in August
1933. He set up the All-India Anti-Untouchability League in Sept 1932.
❖ He started the weekly Harijan in January 1933.
 18

❖ After his release from the jail, he shifted to Satyagraha Ashram in Wardha and vowed in 1930 not to return
to Sabarmati Ashram unless he gets swaraj.
❖ From Nov 1933 to July 1934, he toured the country propagating his message on Untouchability.
❖ He also set up Harijan Sewak Sangh. He urged political workers to go to the villages and work for the
upliftment of Harijans.
❖ He undertook two fasts during the period to show the seriousness of his efforts. He advocated for throwing
open the temples for the untouchables.
❖ He said “Hinduism dies if untouchability lives, untouchability has to die if hinduism is to live”.
❖ Throughout his campaign he had to face reactions from the orthodox section of the society. One of the most
significant impacts of Gandhi’s Harijan campaign was the increased participation of Harijans in the
national movement.
❖ Sometimes attacked by conservative groups, the government supported them by introducing the Temple Entry
Bill in August 1934.

Gandhi’s view on Caste:

❖ Gandhi distinguished b/w abolition of untouchability and abolition of caste system altogether.
❖ His view on the caste was different from Ambedkar’s who advocated the annihilation of caste system
altogether.
❖ Gandhi found nothing sinful about the Varnashrama System.
❖ He felt that untouchability was the product of castes based high and low and not a result of caste system itself.
He wanted to win the orthodox Hindus whom he called Sanatanis through persuasion and not through
compulsion.

Ideological Difference b/w Gandhi and Ambedkar:

❖ Gandhi had very little respect for Parliamentary democracy. He believed that democracy tends to get
converted into mass democracy with a propensity for domination by leaders.
❖ Ambedkar was a believer of mass democracy as he believed that it could act as a pressure on the government
with the advancement of the oppressed people.
❖ Ambedkar had certain principles which were very rigid.
❖ Gandhi had no rigid principles except his uncompromising notion of non-violence.
❖ Ambedkar politics was more about highlighting the disunity in Indian society.
❖ While Gandhi tried to show the unity of Indian politics.
❖ Gandhi believed that India always existed as a nation before the coming of Britishers, who broke India’s
cultural unity.
❖ Ambedkar on the other hand believed that Indian Unity was a byproduct of the legal system introduced by
Britishers.
❖ For Gandhi Gramraj was Ramraj and real independence for Indians.
❖ For Ambedkar, Indian Village denied equality, liberty and fraternity. He believed that Gramraj would lead to
the continuation of social hierarchy based on discrimination and inequality.
❖ Gandhi wanted to end the discrimination persistent in the caste system.
 19

❖ Ambedkar wanted total annihilation of the caste system.

❖ The two leaders differed in their approach with respect to the development of the depressed classes. Gandhi
renamed untouchables as Harijans while Ambedkar denounced it as a clever scheme.
❖ Ambedkar held that the centre of religion must be between man and man and not between man and god as
preached by Gandhi.
❖ Ambedkar denounced the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He believed that caste system and
untouchability are the result of Hindu scriptures.
❖ Gandhi on the other hand believed that the caste system in Hinduism has nothing to do with spirituality and
percepts.
❖ Ambedkar believed in separation of state and religion while Gandhi did not.
❖ Ambedkar held absolute non-violence as an end and relative violence as a means.
❖ Gandhi was a staunch believer in nonviolence and held no such distinction.
❖ Gandhi was not in favour of mechanisation of production. He held it responsible for the prevalence of
exploitative socio-economic inequality in the world.
❖ Ambedkar was a firm believer of mechanisation and modern industry.
❖ Gandhi viewed Untouchables as an integral part of Hinduism. He wanted to remove untouchability by the
acts of atonement.
❖ Ambedkar regarded untouchables as a separate religious minority and wanted to end untouchability through
acts and legislation.

Third Round Table Conference (November - December 1932):

❖ The Third Round Table Conference was held in London in 1932.
❖ The Congress abstained from the Conference. It was attended by lesser representatives.
❖ Main participants Agha Khan III, BR Ambedkar, NM Joshi, Ramasamy Mudaliar, Begum Jahanara
Shahnawaz, TB Sapru etc.
❖ Delegates agreed on all issues.
❖ Prepared white paper for Constitution of India it have proposals
➢ Federation
➢ Provincial Autonomy
➢ Dyarchy
❖ Safeguards which vested special power in the central and provincial executive.
❖ A joint Select Committee was constituted under Marquess of Linlithgow whose recommendation resulted
in the Government of India Act of 1935.

Decline of Civil Disobedience Movement-II:

❖ Due to its less impact compared to the first one weakens this movement.
❖ Congress leaders were thinking of reviving the Swarajist party in this phase.
❖ Several business groups of India collaborated with Britishers like Bombay Mills owner concluded Lees-Mody
Pact in 1933 to counter Japanese challenge.
 20

➢ Aligning with Lancashire out of fear of Japanese competition, British textile will be preferred.
➢ Britishers promise to buy more raw cotton from us.
➢ Sir William Clare-Lees and the Bombay Mill Owners Association (Sir Hormasji Pherozeshah Mody)
to check the rising imports of Japanese textile goods into India.
❖ Due to these factors Gandhi withdrew it in April 1934.

Sources of Act:
❖ Report of Simon Commission
❖ Report of All parties Conference also known as
Nehru Report
❖ Outcome of the discussion of all the three Round
Table Conferences
❖ The white paper published in Round Table
Conference
❖ Joint Selection Committee Report
❖ Lothian report

The Government of India Act, 1935:

❖ It was based on the white paper of the Indian
constitution prepared by Britishers after the third
Round Table Conference.
❖ It contained four major provisions
➢ All India Federation
➢ Provincial Autonomy
➢ Dyarchy at the centre
➢ Safeguard which vested special power in
the central and provincial executives.
❖ The Act was a lengthy and elaborate document,
dealing as it did with a highly complicated type
of federal constitution and seeking to provide
legal safeguards against misbehaviour of Indian
ministers and legislators.

Proposed All India Federation

❖ The Act contemplated the establishment of an All-India Federation in which Governors' Provinces and the
Chief Commissioners Provinces and those Indian States which might accede to be united were to be included.
❖ In the case of the States, accession to the Federation was voluntary, and the Federation could not be established
until
(a) A number of States, the rulers whereof were entitled to choose not less than half of the 104 seats of the
Council of State and
 21

(b) The aggregate population, which amounted to at least one-half of the total population of all the Indian
States, had acceded to the Federation.
❖ The terms on which a State joined the Federation were to be laid down in the Instrument of Accession.

The Federal Executive

❖ Dyarchy, rejected by the Simon Commission, was provided for in the Federal Executive.
❖ Defence, External Affairs, Ecclesiastical Affairs and the Administration of Tribal Areas were Reserved
in the hands of the Governor-General to be administered by him with the assistance of a maximum of three
Councillors to be appointed by him.
❖ The other Federal subjects would be administered by the Governor-General with the assistance and advice of
a Council of (not more than ten) Ministers to be chosen by him and to hold office during his pleasure but to
include representatives of Indian States and Minorities as laid down in an Instrument of Instructions to the
Governor-General, and to be responsible to the Federal Legislature.
❖ The Governor-General had 'special responsibilities' regarding certain specified subjects (e.g., the prevention
of any grave menace to the peace and tranquillity of India or any part thereof); in respect of these subjects he
had full freedom to accept or to reject the advice of the Ministers.

The Federal Legislature

❖ It was to have two chambers, the Council of State and the Federal Assembly.
Federal Assembly Council of State
❖ Tenure - 5 years ❖ Tenure: Permanent (1/3rd triennially)
❖ Total members: 375 ❖ Total members: 260
➢ British India - 250 - ➢ British India - 156
❖ Indirect Election ❖ Direct Election
➢ Indian States 125 (nominated) ➢ Indian States 104 max (nominated)

❖ Federal Assembly: The British Indian members were to be elected, not directly by the people as was to be the
case in regard to the Council of State but indirectly by the members of the Provincial Legislative
Assemblies on the system of proportional representation with the single transferable vote.
❖ States: The members were to be nominated by the Rulers.
❖ Eligibility for women voters was revised
➢ Under the act to include women aged 21 +
➢ Met the same property qualifications as men,
➢ Literate in any language in use in India,
➢ Who were wives or widows of a person who had paid income tax in the prior financial year or had served
in the Royal Military.

Comment
❖ In the Upper House the election was to be direct while in the Lower and theoretically more popular House
it was to be indirect, a feature deviating from the general practice.
 22

❖ The princes were to nominate one-third of the representatives in the Lower House and two-fifths in the
Upper House.

❖ For the purpose of choosing persons to fill the women's seats in the Federal Assembly there shall be for British
India electoral college consisting of such women as are members of Legislative Assembly of any Governors'
Province, and the person to fill a woman's seat allotted to any particular Province shall be chosen by the
members of the college.
 23

❖ Extent of Federal and Provincial laws

➢ Federal Legislature was to have power to make laws for the whole or any part of British India or for any
federate State while a
➢ Provincial Legislature was to make laws for the Province or any part thereof.
❖ Subject-matter of Federal and Provincial laws
➢ Federal Legislative List,
➢ Provincial Legislative List and
➢ Concurrent Legislative List.
➢ Residuary- legislative powers were vested in the Governor-General to decide in his sole discretion as to
under which list a particular subject fell.
❖ The powers of the Legislature were "cribbed, cabined and confined".
❖ Certain subjects were specially excluded from the purview and jurisdiction of Federal and Provincial
Legislatures {e.g., laws-affecting the British Sovereign or the Royal Family, or matters concerning the Army
Act, the Air Force Act, or the Law of Prize Courts, or any amendment to the 1935 Act, etc.)
❖ Discriminatory legislation against British commercial or other interests was banned. Besides, there were
many subjects of importance on which legislation could not be initiated without the previous sanction of the
Governor-General (in case of the Federal legislature) or of the Governor- General and the Governor (in case
of Provincial legislature).
❖ Non-votable items in the Federal budget constituted about four-fifths of its total. Rejected by the Federal
Assembly, any budget items could still be placed, by the direction of the Governor General, before the Council
of State. In case of disagreement between the two Houses, the Governor-General could summon a joint sitting
thereof, and even if a Bill was passed by both the Houses, he could veto it or send it back for reconsideration,
or reserve it for His Majesty's consideration, while even Acts assented to by the Governor-General could
be disallowed by the King-in-Council.
❖ Responsible Government with Safeguards
➢ Another significant feature of the Act of 1935 was the provision of responsible government with
safeguards. This feature of the Act has to be examined in
(a) The Federal structure and
(b) The Provinces
❖ The Federal Structure
➢ The Act made the Governor-General the pivot of the entire constitution of India. It was he who gave unity
and direction to its-diverse and often conflicting elements and who was expected to keep the ship of the
state on an even keel.
➢ He acted in three different ways or capacities:
(i) His was normally to act on the advice of his Ministers
(ii) He could act in his individual judgement. In connection with his Special Responsibilities, he could
and did act in his individual judgement, consulting but regarding or disregarding ministerial
advice.
 24

▪ His special responsibilities were in regard to

(a) Safeguarding the financial stability and credit of India,
(b) The prevention of any grave menace to- the peace or tranquillity of the country, or of any
part thereof,
(c) The protection of the legitimate interests of the minorities, the public servants and their
dependents,
(d) The prevention of commercial discrimination against goods of British or Burmese origin,
(e) Safeguarding the interests and the dignity of the rulers of the Indian States, and
(f) Securing of the due discharge of his own discretionary powers ;
(iii) There was a third category of matters in which he did not even consult his Ministers, but acted at his
discretion. Such matters were, inter alia,
(a) The Reserved Departments of Defence, External Affairs, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Tribal Areas
(to help him in his work he appointed three Councillors),
(b) Appointment and dismissal of the Council of Ministers,
(c) Ordinance-making and enacting Governor-General's Acts,
(d) Control over non-votable items, comprising about 80% of the budget,
(e) Issuing of instruction to Governors which were to be the latter's special responsibility,
(f) Powers of summoning a joint sitting of both Houses, of addressing the Legislatures, of sending
them messages about a certain bill or bills,
(g) According sanction to certain types of bills sought to be introduced in the Federal and Provincial
legislatures and using his authority.
❖ Stop discussion in any legislature at any time of any bill or to withhold his assent to any bill passed or to
reserve the same for His Majesty's consideration.
❖ Apart from these 'Departments' and 'Safeguards' — they were a legion indeed, the other departments were to
be administered by the Governor-General with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
❖ But in cases where the Governor-General was empowered to exercise his individual judgement, he might
disregard ministerial advice. The ministers would be chosen and summoned by him at his discretion and would
hold office during his pleasure.
❖ It was in this very limited way that 'responsibility' was to be introduced at the Federal Centre by the Act of
1935.

Provincial Autonomy:
Provincial Executive:
❖ As in the case of the Federation, the Executive authority of a province was vested in a Governor appointed to
represent the Crown in the province. His position was largely modelled on that of the Governor-General.
❖ The administration of the provincial affairs was to be ordinarily carried on by a Council of Ministers appointed
by the Governor from among the elected members of the provincial legislature and responsible to that body.
❖ The ministers held office during the Governor's pleasure and as such they carried on the administration with a
double sense of responsibility.
 25

❖ The Governor, like the Governor- General, did not only act as the constitutional head of the province merely
acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
➢ He had "special responsibilities" regarding certain specified subjects (i.e., the prevention of menace to
the peace or tranquillity of the province or any part thereof), while in the case of particular provinces like
the C.P. and Sind, circumstances necessitated a special rider to his such responsibilities.
➢ In the discharge of his 'special responsibilities', he was authorised to act in several matters at his discretion
without consulting his ministers, in others he exercised his individual judgement, after considering the
advice given to him by his ministers.
❖ If a question arose as to the capacity in which the Governor had to act to a particular case, whether as the
constitutional head or in his discretion or in his individual judgement, his decision on the question in his
discretion was to be final.
❖ In other words, the field of ministerial responsibility with respect to any particular matter was as wide or as
narrow as the Governor might choose to make it. There is no doubt that the Governor under the Act had
enormous powers (which included many legislative powers as well as over non-votable items, comprising
about 40% of the budget).
❖ The Governor could and in several cases actually did dismiss the ministers. He could also by a proclamation
take the entire or partial government of the province into his own hands (in the first instance for six months) if
he was satisfied that the government of the province could not be carried on in accordance with the normal
provisions of the Act.
Provincial Legislatures:
❖ The composition of the Provincial legislature naturally varied from province to province. In all Provincial
Legislative Assemblies all members were directly elected by the people.
❖ But in six provinces (Madras, Bombay, Bengal, the U.P., Bihar and Assam) there was a bicameral
Legislature consisting of a Legislative Council and a Legislative Assembly and in each of these Legislative
Councils a few seats were filled by the Governor through nomination.
 26

❖ The separatist system of representation by religious communities and other groups—instead of representation
by the general mass of the people usual in modern democracies—was a prominent feature of the Act of 1935.
❖ The electoral provisions of the Act were governed by the communal award of the British Government, as
modified by the Poona Pact in respect of the Scheduled Castes.
❖ Under it, seats in the legislatures were divided among various communities and groups.
❖ Besides, there were separate constituencies for General, Muslim, European, Anglo Indian, Indian Christian
and Sikh communities.
❖ All qualified electors who were not voters in a Muslim, European, Anglo-Indian, Indian Christian or
Sikh constituency were entitled to vote in a General constituency.
❖ Some of the General seat* were reserved for the Scheduled Castes. All the members of the Scheduled
Castes who were voters in a General constituency were to take part in a primary election for the purpose
of electing four candidates for each reserved seat.
❖ The four persons, so elected, were to be candidates for election by the General electorate.
❖ Except in Assam, seats allowed also were divided among various communities.
❖ Moreover, there were separate constituencies for Labour, Landholders, Commerce and Industry, etc.
❖ This communal award of the British Government accentuated the communal dissensions in the country,
which paved the way for the eventual partition of India.
❖ The number of seats in the various Legislative Assemblies was:
➢ 50 in the North-West Frontier Province,
➢ 60 each in Orissa and Sind,
➢ 108 in Assam,
 27

➢ 112 in the Central Provinces,

➢ 152 in Bihar,
➢ 175 each in the Punjab and Bombay,
➢ 215 in Madras,
➢ 228 in the United Provinces and
➢ 250 in Bengal.

Other Provisions of the Act of 1935:

❖ Federal Court, with original and appellate powers, to interpret the constitution, but even in this respect the
last word remained with the Privy Council in London.
❖ Establishment of
➢ Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country.
➢ Federal railway authority
▪ 7 members and free from the control of councillors and ministers.
▪ Directly reported to the Governor-General.
▪ The main idea behind the establishment of this authority was to confirm to the British stakeholder
that the investment they had made in the railway was safe.
▪ Federal Public Service Commission
▪ Provincial Public Service Commission
▪ Joint Public Service Commission for two or more provinces.
❖ The new constitution was rigid, the sole authority competent to amend it being the British Government.
➢ Though the introduction of Provincial Autonomy and of partial Responsible Government at the Centre
did diminish "Home" control over Indian affairs, yet where the Governor-General or the Governors acted
in their individual judgement or discretion, they were made strictly responsible to the Secretary of State.
➢ The Indian legislature could at the most pray for a constitutional change by submitting a resolution to the
constitution. It was an imposition on India by the British parliament.
❖ Apart from the control given to the Federation by the Instrument of Accession, the rights and obligations of
the Crown in respect of the Indian States remained unaffected.
➢ These rights and obligations were left in charge of the Crown Representative.
➢ The combination of the offices of the Governor-General and Crown Representative was allowed.
❖ Instead of the India Council of the Secretary of State (which was abolished by the Act) he was given advisors
who might or might not be consulted or whose advice followed or not, except in respect to the Services. The
Council was abolished because of much agitation in India against its persistent anti-Indian policies.
❖ Retention of Communal Electorate
➢ It further extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for
depressed classes (scheduled castes), women and labour (workers).The Muslims got 33 1/3 percent of
the seats in the Federal Legislature although their number was much less than one-third of the total
 28

population of British India. Even the workers and women got separate representation although they had
not asked for it.
❖ Reorganisation of provinces
➢ Sindh was separated from Bombay
➢ Split of Bihar and Orissa to become separate individual provinces
➢ New provinces - Sindh and Orissa.
❖ Separation of Burma
➢ Recommended by Simon Commission and it was accepted by the Government of India Act 1935.
➢ In 1935, the Burma Act was passed which proposed for a new Burma office which had the power to
establish Burma as a separate colony.
➢ Burma was separated in 1937.
❖ The Government of India Bill received the Royal assent in August 1935. The British Government decided that
Provincial autonomy would be introduced on April 1, 1937, leaving the Federation in abeyance—in fact the
Federation as visualized in the Act of 1935 never came into being. The electoral provisions began to operate
on July 3, 1936 and the provisions for Provincial autonomy on April 1, 1937.
➢ The operative part of the Act of 1935 remained in force till August 15, 1947, when it was amended by the
Independence of India Act, 1947.

Criticism of the Government of India Act 1935

❖ This act has been severely criticized by political critics. Though apparently it seemed to have given the Indians
a responsible government, yet in fact it gave nothing.
❖ It was parliamentary in form and theory while hollow and unreal in practice. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
condemned it as a new charter of slavery saying that it was a car with, “all brakes and no engine.”
❖ It could not satisfy the Indians and resulted in a constitutional deadlock.
❖ Even Mr. Jinnah described it as—“thoroughly rotten, fundamentally bad and totally unacceptable.”
❖ We can criticize this act on the following grounds:
➢ Defective Federation:
▪ The federation proposed by this act was highly defective. The British provinces were essentially to
be included in it while the native states could join it at will.
▪ The provinces had come to have a sort of responsible government while the native states were under
despotic rulers. The masses of these states had no right to represent themselves. Moreover, the
federation was given very limited powers and the Governor-General wielded vast powers. It could
never be a success. In the words of Keith—
▪ “The proposed federation was likely to fail due to the assertion of the controlling power of the
Governor-General backed by the conservative elements of the State and of British India.”
➢ No Real Autonomy:
▪ Though autonomy had been granted to the provinces, yet the Governors and the Governor-General
were armed with discretionary powers. These powers had made the responsible government set-
up in the provinces unreal and hollow.
 29

▪ The ultimate authority on almost every subject remained in the hands of the British and the Indians
were unable to run the administration to the benefit of their countrymen.
▪ Whenever the British interests came to be in danger, the Governor-General and the Governors
suppressed the nationalist and revolutionary movements by the use of their special powers. So the
autonomy was only theoretical and a mere illusion. In the words of Dr. Rajendra Prasad—
▪ “The wide powers vested in the Governor, Governor-General and also in the Crown and Parliament,
negative the very essence of the Provincial Autonomy—the great prize awarded to the Indians.”
➢ Communal Electorates:
▪ In spite of the strong protests of the Indian against the communal electorates, this act not only retained
this system but extended it also.
▪ It suited the British who were following a policy of ‘Divide and Rule.’ The Harijans labourers,
women, Anglo-Indians and Christians, came to have separate electorates. This act was injurious to
the interests of the Indians. That is why Y.C. Chintamani has said.
▪ “I venture to describe the Government of India Act as the anti-India Act.”
➢ It denied the Right of Self-determination:
▪ The Act denied the Indians the right of self-determination. How could then they frame an
independent constitution for themselves. This safeguarded the dominance of the British Parliament
and aimed at suppressing the demands of freedom.
▪ The inclusion of safeguards and reservations aimed at providing a cover under which the Governors
and the Governors-General could exercise unlimited powers as agents of the British Parliament.
▪ The above discussion goes as far as to clarify that the Government of India Act of 1935 was not
born for the Indians. The English had in fact no mind to grant independence to India. Even impartial
politicians like Atlee had said that this act had nothing like the Dominion Status even mentioned in
itself much less its grant.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 38
Revolutionary
 2

Revolutionary

Beginning of Revolutionary Activities:

 Revolutionary activities in India occurred in two phases:
 Phase I: It emerged from the fallout of the swadeshi and boycott
movement. It continued till 1917.
 Phase II: It emerged as a fallout of the non-cooperation
movement.
 After the decline of these movements (swadeshi, Non-cooperation),
the younger nationalists found no way left to give expressions to their
patriot energies.
 The extremists leaders gave a call to the youth to make sacrifices but
they failed to create an effective organisation to tap their energies.

 On finding all the avenues of peaceful protest closed and in the light of severe govt repression, the
youth found it meaningful to resort to revolutionary activities and expel the Britishers by force.
 The government's brutal suppression of swadeshi aided the growth of revolutionaries.
 Revolutionaries’ way of action: At that time the revolutionaries didn’t consider it meaningful to
create a violent mass revolution throughout the country.
 3

 Principle: “Western Imperialism could be countered by western methods”. They decided to

follow Russian Nihilists or Irish Nationalists.
 Method: Individual heroic actions like assassinating unpopular officials, traitors and
informers, conducting swadeshi dacoities, organising military conspiracies with expectations to
get help from the enemies of Britain. etc.
 The idea was to strike terror in the heart of Britishers, arouse common people and remove
the fear of authority from their mind.
Russian Nihilists:
 Nihilism (nihil 'nothing') is a philosophy that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of
human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values or meaning. Different nihilist
positions hold variously that human values are baseless, that life is meaningless, that knowledge is
impossible, or that some set of entities do not exist or are meaningless or pointless
 In Russia during 1860 – 1917, it was characterized with complete destruction and a revolutionary
movement that rejected the authority of state, church and family.
 It advocated social arrangement based on rational & material knowledge and individual freedom.
 Political nihilists were associated with clandestine political groups advocating terrorism and
assassinations.
Irish Nationalism:
 It was prevalent in the 18th century, inspired by the French revolution that repeatedly demanded
self govt. and autonomy from the British parliament, especially on Poyning’s law, which allowed
the British to rule Ireland.
 While Irish Radical republicanism advocated use of force to found a secular and egalitarian
republic, moderates advocated non-violent reformist nationalism.
Revolutionary Activity in various parts of India:
Maharashtra
 Ramosi Peasant Force (1879)
 It was started by Vasudev Balwant Phadke.
 They tried instigating armed revolt by disrupting
communication lines.
 It was suppressed prematurely.
 Chapekar Brothers (1897)
 Damodar and Bal Krishna were famously known as Chapekar Brothers.
 The first political murder of Europeans was committed at Poona on 22 June 1897 by the
Chapekar brothers (Damodar and Balkrishna) and Vasudev Hari (Chitpavan Brahmins).
 The target of the attack was Mr. Rand, but Lt. Ayerst was shot accidently.
 They killed Plague Commissioner W C Rand along with Ayrest for his atrocities.
 4

 The Special Plague Committee was formed under the Chairmanship of Rand, he was accused
of forceful steps and exploitation of people.
 During this trial Bal Gangadhar Tilak was continuously posting critical articles for their arrest
in his paper “Kesari and Maratha”.
 Later, both brothers along with Vasudev Deported without trial and hanged. Tilak was charged
with the incitement of murder and sedition and sentenced to 18 month imprisonment.
 Chitpavan Brahmins
 They were concentrated at Poona.
 Their forefathers served as Peshwas of the rulers of Maharashtra.
 Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Savarkar were Chitpavan
Brahmins.
 Bal Gangadhar Tilak popularised Ganpati and Shivaji
festival in 1893.
Savarkar Brothers:
 Ganesh and Vinayak Savarkar were famously known as Savarkar
Brothers.
 They found 2 secret societies:
 In 1899, Mitra Mela, a revolutionary organisation, was
founded by Vinayak Savarkar.
 In 1904, as Mitra mela gradually expanded it was renamed
Abhinava Bharat on the theme of “Mazzini’s Young Italy”.
 Savarkar wrote “Mazzini Charitra”.
 Activities of Savarkar
 VD Savarkar availed fellowship of Shyamji Krishna Verma’s
fellowship and took accommodation in India House to study
in London.
 He founded Free India Society in England, its work based on
the warfare on the lines of revolt of 1857.
 V. D. Savarkar was one first writer to recognise the 1857 revolt
as the first war of independence in his book “Indian War of
Independence” which was banned and Bhikaji Cama
circulated to France, Germany and Netherland.
 Assasination of Col. William Curzon: A protege of Savarkar, Madan Lal Dhingra shot
William Curzon Wyllie. Later, Madan Lal Dhingra was caught and hanged.
 5

Nasik Conspiracy:
 AMT Jackson, Magistrate of Nasik was shot dead by Anant Kanhere.
 Evidence found the connection to Savarkar for this killing and revealed the existence of Abhinav
Bharat.
 Later in charge of murder VD Savarkar was sentenced to life imprisonment and deported to
Andmans in 1910.
 Jackson was Indologist due to which, also known as Pandit Jackson because of his study on
India and its culture.
Vinayak Savarkar (1883 – 1966):
 He belonged to a Chitpavan Brahmin family.
 He was a lawyer and a freedom fighter.
 He was an alumni of Fergusson college in Pune.
 Later, he went to the United Kingdom to study Law.
 He was associated with India House and Free India Society.
 He denounced religious and orthodox beliefs.
 He assumed the title “Veer” for defending his village from
Muslim mobs.
 He was influenced by the Swadeshi Movement and “Lal-Bal-
Pal”.
 He wrote the magnum opus, “The Indian War of Independence”. Translated the biography of
Mazzini in Marathi.
 He went to Bhikaji Cama House in Paris.
 In 1910 he asked for asylum from France but France refused to do so and he was extradited and
brought to Andaman Cellular Jail.
 He was prisoned in the Andaman Cellular Jail. In 1922 he was brought to Ratnagiri Jail
(Maharashtra) and finally he was released in 1930.
 In 1924, he brought the concept of “Hindutva” ideology.
 His other famous literary work:
 “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?”
 “Transportation for life”,
 “Kale Pani” and “Gandhi Gondhal”.
 He was the first person to use the terms like “Hindutva", “Hindu Rashtra" and “Akhand
Bharat”.
 He also criticised Gandhi’s policies.
 In 1937 he became the president of the Hindu Mahasabha (1937-1943).
 6

 During the Second world war opposed the Quit India movement and supported armed training to
Hindus and gave the slogan, “Hinduise all politics and Militarise Hindudom”.
Madan Lal Dhingra:
 In 1905, he went to England in 1905 for studies and came in contact with independence activists
like Shyamji Krishna Varma and VD Savarkar.
 There he shot dead Col. William Wyllie.
 He had differences with his father on his political opinion.
Revolutionaries in Bengal:
 The militant nationalism developed in Bengal during the 1860s and 1870s.
 The primary focus was given on physical movement culture for which many Akhadas or gyms were
developed during this time.
 There were psychological attempts to break away from the colonial stereotype of effeminacy
imposed on Bengalis. For instance, Swami Vivekananda had strong muscles and nerves of steel.
 In 1902 Calcutta, Gym was started by Sarala Ghosal in Ballygunge. Atmonnatti Samiti by youth.
Anushilan samiti was started by Satish Chandra Basu.
 In 1906 Dacca Branch of Anushilan Samiti was started by Pulin Behari Das.
 All Bengal Conference of revolutionaries was held in December.
 The revolutionary groups also started a Weekly named Yugantar.
 In 1902, Midnapur Society was also founded.
Anushilan Samiti:
 The Anushilan Samiti was founded in 1902. The meaning of Anushilan
Samiti is “body building society”.
 There were three societies under this
 By Satish Chandra Basu and P. Mitra
 By Sarala Devi
 Jatin Banerjee (Niralamba Swami) and Aurobindo Ghosh along
with Barindranath Ghose (Barin).
 Barindra Kumar Ghosh founded “Jugantar” along with Bhupendranath
Dutta.
 Important leaders were: Barindra Kumar Ghosh (associated with Yugantar); Hemchandra
Qanungo; Jatindranath Banerjee; Pramotha Mitra; Aurobindo Ghosh (associated with Vande
Mataram)
 Till 1907 – 08, it remained insignificant and its activities mostly remained confined to giving
physical and moral training to the members.
 First Swadeshi Dacoity or robbery took place in Rangpur in August 1906.
 7

 They also set up a bomb manufacturing unit at Maniktala, Calcutta.

 Post Bengal partition, the Anushilan Samiti was divided into
 Dhaka Anushilan Samiti (1905-06)
 It was founded by Pulin Behari Das.
 The activities of Dacca (Dhaka) Anushilan Samiti spread to East Bengal.
 Having differences with the views of A. Ghosh it broke from Jugantar Group.
Barisal Conspiracy Case
 A trial of 44 Bengalis accused of revolt against the government, during investigation they found
document mention of Anushilan samiti inciting violence and proposal of killing Britishers.
 Pulin was transported to the Cellular Jail (Andamans) and Samiti was banned.

Pulin Behari Das (1877-1949):

 He was the founder-president of the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti.
 He was inspired by the success of Sarala Devi's akhada in Kolkata; he opened an akhara at
Tikatuli in 1903.
 In 1906, Bipin Chandra Pal and Pramatha Nath Mitra took a tour of Eastern Bengal and Assam.
They both met Pulin there.
 He was nominated to organise the Dhaka chapter of the Anushilan Samiti.
 In October, Pulin founded the Dhaka chapter with 80 young men.
 During the headship of Pulin Samiti organised “Barrah Dacoity”. To arrange arms and
ammunition.
 In 1918, Pulin was released and refused to accept the leadership of Gandhi.
 In 1920, he founded the Bharat Seva Sangh.
Pramathanath Mitra (1853 – 1910)
 He was widely known as P. Mitra, was a Bengali Indian Barrister and Indian Nationalist.
 He was among the earliest founding members of the Indian revolutionary organisation called
Anushilan Samiti.
Jugantor (Yugantar)
 Yugantar was started as a weekly in April 1906 by an inner circle within
Anushilan Samiti comprising:
 Barindra Kumar Ghosh
 Bhupendra nath Dutta
 Abinash Bhattacharya
 8

 Later it became a society itself and actively took part in various revolutionary activities.
 In 1907, the Yugantar group attempted to assassinate Sir Fuller, a very unpopular British
official and former Lt. Governor of East-Bengal and Assam.
 Sandhya and Yugantar (Jugantor) in Bengal and Kal in Maharashtra became journals advocating
revolutionary activities.
 In 1906, Yugantar Group had headquarters in Calcutta in western part of Bengal.
 It was formed by the inner and core circle of Anushilan Samiti.
 Main leaders were Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Bagha Jatin, Bhupendranath Dutta and Rash Behari
Bose.
 Out of these Barindra Kumar Ghosh and Bagha Jatin formed the Maniktala group responsible for
manufacturing of bombs.
 The members were sent to abroad for political and military training some were sent to:
 North America: Surendra Mohan Bose, Guran Ditt Kumar and Tarak Nath Das.
 Paris (France): Hemchandra Kanungo training under Russian Revolutionary.
Muzaffarpur Conspiracy:
 Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose threw bombs at Carriage occupied by Magistrate Douglas
Kingsford (Dist. Judge) and killed two women instead.
 Prafulla Chaki shot himself and Khudiram Bose was hanged to death.

 Yugantar planned to revolt Britishers with the help of Germans in the form of an Indo-German plot.
 Plan included import of German ammunitions by Birendranath Chattopadhyay also known as
“Chatto” for funding dacoities were done known as “taxicab dacoities” and “boat dacoties”.
 Bagha Jatin was killed during this activity.
Khudiram Bose (1889 – 1908):
 He was India’s youngest revolutionary, who was martyred in 1908.
 He was inspired by the Ghosh Brothers Lectures and teachings.
 He joined Anushilan Samiti.
Bhupendranath Dutta (1880-1961):
 He was the younger brother of Swami Vivekananda.
 He joined Brahmo Samaj led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore.
 He was an Indian revolutionary and a noted sociologist and anthropologist.
 Bhupendranath Dutta was closely associated with the Yugantar movement.
 He edited the Yugantar Patrika till his arrest and imprisonment in 1907.
 After release, he left India for the United States. After his arrival, he stayed at the "India House"
for a while
 9

 He took memberships of German Anthropological Society in 1920 and German Asiatic Society
in 1924.
 Later he joined the Indian National Congress.
 In 1927, he became a member of Bengal Regional Congress in 1927-28.
 In 1929, he was a member of the All-India Congress Committee. In the annual conference of Indian
National Congress organised in Karachi in 1930.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh (1880-1959):
 He was the brother of Aurobindo Ghosh and born in London.
 After returning to India, he started participating in revolutionary activities
with Bagha Jatin, he formed the Maniktala Group which collected arms
and manufactured bombs at Calcutta.
 He was among the founding members of Yugantar (Jugantar).
 He also worked on publishing Yugantar (Jugantar) in 1906.
 He was convicted in the Alipore and Maniktala Bomb Conspiracy case
and deported to Cellular Jail, Andaman.
 He was released in 1920 and after that he pursued journalism.
Alipore Bomb Conspiracy:
 Aftermath of Muzaffarpur conspiracy revealed Maniktala Bomb Factory.
 The Ghosh brothers (Aurobindo Ghosh and Barindra Kumar Ghosh) arrested for this trial known
as Alipore Bomb Conspiracy.
 During the trial, members of Yugantar, killed those favouring the Britishers for trial. DSP Samsul
Aslam was shot dead. Bagha Jatin was arrested and released. Again arrested in Howrah-Shibpur
conspiracy case (1910-11).
 Narendra Gosain (turned approver) was shot dead by two co accused Satyendranath Bose and
Kanailal Dutta in jail.
 Bagha Jatin was charged with conspiring to wage war and tampering loyalty of Indian soldiers (Jat
Regiment). Later Bagha Jatin was released.
 Barindra Kumar Ghosh was sentenced to death and Aurobindo was acquitted with the help of
Chittaranjan Das.
 Newspapers including the Sandhya, Yugantar in Calcutta and Kal in Maharashtra were
popular.
 Pamphlet
 Bhavani Mandir: published and penned by Aurobindo Ghosh (anonymously)
 Vartaman Rananiti: Barindra Kumar Ghose
 Mukti Kon Pathe: Abinah Chandra Bhattacharya
 10

Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)

 He was born in Calcutta. He was an Indian philosopher, Yoga Guru, Maharishi, poet, and
nationalist.
 In Baroda, Aurobindo joined the state service in 1893, working first in the Survey and Settlements
department, later moving to the Department of Revenue and then to the Secretariat.
 He had contributed many articles to Indu Prakash. Indu Prakash was an Anglo – Marathi
periodical published from Bombay in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
 Aurobindo Ghosh began writing a series of fiery articles under the title "New Lamps for Old"
where he strongly criticised the Congress for its moderate policy.
 He edited the newspaper like “Bande Mataram”.
 He was influenced by studies on rebellion and revolutions against England in medieval France and
the revolts in America and Italy. He favoured Non-cooperation and Passive resistance.
 In 1902 he formed Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta along with Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Bagha Jatin
or Jatin Mukherjee and Surendranath Tagore had established a series of youth clubs.
 He attended the 1906 Congress meeting headed by Dadabhai Naoroji and participated as a
councillor in forming the fourfold objectives of "Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott, and national
education".
 After Surat split, he went with extremists under the influence of Tilak.
 In 1908, he was arrested for the Alipore Conspiracy Case.
 His famous publications included Karmayogin in English and Dharma in Bengali.
 He was nominated twice for the Nobel prize without it being awarded, in 1943 for the Nobel award
in Literature and in 1950 for the Nobel award in Peace.
 In Pondichery he founded a community of spiritual seekers, which took shape as the Sri Aurobindo
Ashram in 1926.
 He believed that the basic principles of matter, life, and mind would be succeeded through
terrestrial evolution by the principle of supermind as an intermediate power between the two
spheres of the infinite and the finite.
 His Literary Works:
 An English newspaper called Bande Mataram (in 1905).
 Bases of Yoga
 Bhagavad Gita and Its Message
 The Future Evolution of Man
 Rebirth and Karma
 Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol
 Hour of God
 11

Revolutionary activities in Punjab:

 Revolutionary activities in Punjab were fuelled by frequent famine, high land revenue and
irrigation tax, practice of Begar, and events in Bengal.
 Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh organised extremist group Anjuman-i-Mohisban-i-Watan in
Lahore with its journal Bharat Mata.
 Other leaders included: Aga Haider, Syed Haider Raza, Bhai Parmanand, Lalchand Falak
(Radical poet).
 Lala Lajpat Rai brought out the journal ‘Punjabee’ with its motto of self-help at any cost.
 With severe government suppression the extremist phase in Punjab died out quickly.
 After this, Ajit Singh along with Sufi Amba Prasad, Lalchand, Bhai Parmanand,Lala
Hardayal developed into full scale revolutionaries.
 During the first World War, Rash Behari Bose lead Ghadr revolution in Punjab and by 1913,
started working with Bagha Jatin with the intent of extending Bengal plan to Punjab and upper
provinces (Zimmerman Plan)
NOTE: 'Begar' is a practice where the worker is forced to render service to the 'master' free of charge
or at a nominal remuneration.

 In 1907 Punjab was at unrest due to Punjab Colonisation Act 1906 according to which the
government promised to allot free land to ex-serviceman and peasants to arid areas of western
Punjab which were irrigated by drawing water from rivers. Later it refused and passed an Act which
mentioned that property of a person shall be transferred to the government in case the person died
without leaving any heirs.
 Affected people went to Lala Lajpat Rai and later accepted the leadership of Sardar Ajit Singh
(uncle of Bhagat Singh) to fight this cause.
In Punjab
 The Bharat Mata Society was formed by Sardar Ajit Singh.
 It was also known as “Anjuman-e-Muhibban-e-Watan.
 To organise people who prefer to go beyond moderate methods of the Congress.
 Major members were Mahashay Ghasita Ram and Sufi Amba Prasad.
 Planning to re-enact 1857 in 1907.
Pagdi Sambhal Jatta
The organisation was formed by Ajit Singh in 1907.
 The primary objective was to oppose the Colonisation Act, by delivering fiery speeches and
mass rallies.
 Banke Dayal gave the “Pagdi Sambhal Jatta” song at the Lyallpur rally.
 12

 Many prominent leaders were arrested, including Lalaji and Ajit and sent to Mandalay. They
were released after mass protests later Lalaji left for the USA and Ajit fled to Persia and
returned to India in March 1947. last breath on 15 August 1947.
 Lal Chand Falak, Bhai Parmananda and Lala Hardayal, Sufi Ambaprasad turned into
fully revolutionary.
Delhi
 Delhi Conspiracy Case (1912)
 In December 1912, Delhi Conspiracy case: Threw bomb at Lord Hardinge while he was
making official entry in the new capital of Delhi in a procession through Chandni Chowk.
 Basant Kumar Biswas, Amir Chand and Awadh Behari were convicted and executed.
 Rash Behari Bose evaded arrest due to disguise (in Dehradun).
Bhai Parmananda (1876-1947):
 He was the prominent leader of the Hindu Mahasabha and missionary with the Arya Samaj
movement.
 In 1905, he visited South Africa and stayed with Mahatma Gandhi as a Vedic missionary.
 In 1910, he visited Guinea, centre of Arya Samaj in the Caribbean.
 In 1911, he met Lala Hardayal and persuaded him to move to the USA.
 He was the founding member of the Ghadar Party and wrote a book for the Ghadar Party called
Tarikh-I-Hind.
 He was arrested in First Lahore Conspiracy Case and was sentenced to death in 1915 later
converted into imprisonment.
 He raised voice for harsh treatment of political prisoners and went on hunger strike.
 King-Emperor, George V, released him in 1920 as the result of a general amnesty order.
Madras:
 Vanchinathan Iyer (1886-1911), Tamil revolutionary assassinated British officer Ashe responsible
for firing on a crowd who were protesting the arrest of VO Chidambaram.
 He aided VVS Aiyar who was associated with Abhinav Bharat Society Pondicherry
branch.
 He was associated with Bharatha Matha Association.
V. V. S. Aiyar (1881-1925)
 He was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu.
 He was known as the father of modern Tamil short stories. He translated the Ramavatharam of
Kamban and Tirukkural into English.
 V.V.S Aiyar was the mentor of Vanchinathan.
 In London, Aiyar came into contact with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, at the India House.
 13

 Under Savarkar's influence Aiyar began to take an active role in the militant struggle for Indians.
 Aiyar wrote the book ‘A Study of Kamba Ramayana’.
 He was the editor of the newspaper Desabhaktan (Patriot).
Vanchinatha Iyer (1886 –1911)
 Vanchinathan participated in revolutionary activities against the Britishers.
 In 1911 he assassinated Robert Ashe, the district collector of Tirunelveli, who was also known as
Collector Dorai by shooting at point-blank range when Ashe's train had stopped at the Maniyachi
Station, enroute to Madras.
 He committed suicide thereafter. The railway station has since been renamed Vanchi Maniyachi.
 The mastermind behind the assassination was Nilakanta Brahmachari who went around the
Madras presidency in 1910 recruiting cadres and hatching plots against the British.
 Nilakanta Bramhachari, Vaanchinathan, and Shankar Krishna Aiyar found an organisation
called Bharatha Matha Association which plots the assassination of influential British men.
Outside India:
 London (England)
 Shyamaji Krishna Varma
 He founded the Indian Home Rule Society 1905 also known as India Home.
 The objective was to serve Indian students and promote nationalist, views support by
Dadabhai Naoroji and Madam Cama.
 He published a monthly Journal “The Indian Sociologist” later which was banned.
 Madan Lal Dhingra
 He assassinated Wyllie
 After visiting Shyamaji in London, he went to Paris.
 USA
 Lala Hardayal
 The Ghadar Movement was started by Lala Hardayal supported by Ram Chandra
and Barkatullah.
 They published a paper named Ghadar on the lines of 1857
 Later, Lala Hardayal left the USA.
 Germany
 Indian Independence Committee at Berlin in 1915, Berlin Committee for Indian
Independence backing of German Foreign Officers.
 Virendra Chattopadhyay with Hardayal and Bhupendra Dutta were associated with the
committee.
 The objective was to incite rebellion and supply arms.
 14

Shyamji Krishna Varma (1857-1930)

 He founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London
which rapidly developed as an organised meeting point for radical nationalists among Indian
students in Britain
 He served as the Divan of a number of Indian princely states in India.
 He was an admirer of Dayanand Saraswati's approach of cultural nationalism.
 In 1881 he represented India at the Berlin Congress of Orientalists.
 He supported Lokmanya Tilak during the Age of Consent bill controversy of 1890.
 He announced Indian fellowships of RS 1000 each were to be awarded to enable Indian graduates to
finish their education in England.
 He died in 1930. A memorial called Kranti Teerth was dedicated to him.
 India house
 In London, Shyamji Krishna Varma set up the India Home Rule Society popularly known as
the India House in 1905.
 He also published a monthly journal ‘The Indian Sociologists’ to espouse Indian causes.
 He also instituted six fellowships of Rs. 1000 each for qualified Indians visiting foreign
countries.
 Prominent Members were:
 Savarkar
 Hardayal
 Madanlal Dhingra
▪ In 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra shot dead Col. William Curzon Wyllie, political A.D.C to
the India office.
Madam Bhikaji Cama
 She operated revolutionary activities from Paris.
 Madame Bhikaji Cama was the co-founder of Paris Indian Society with Singh Rewabhai Rana
and Munchershah Burjorji Godrej.
 She has written ‘Bande Mataram’ (in response of ban of Vande Matram) and Madan’s Talwar (in
response of Madan’s arrest)
 Madam Bhikaji Cama and Sardar Singh Rana lived in Paris and attended the International
Socialist Congress at Stuttgart (Germany) in August, 1907.
 Madam Cama made a fiery speech exposing the disastrous results of British rule in India.
Tarak Nath Das
 Tarak Nath Das was born in Bengal.
 15

 He was the pioneering immigrant in the west coast of North America and organised the Asian
Indian immigrants in favour of the Indian independence movement.
 He established Hindustani Association in Vancouver in 1907.
 He founded the Swadesh Sevak Home with GD Kumar, for the children of the Asian Indian
immigrants at New Westminster.
 Tarak Nath Das was the founding member of the Ghadar Party.
 He was one of the first leaders of the Indian community in North America to start a paper called
‘Free Hindustan’.
Other Important Contributions of the Revolutionaries:
 Ramanath Puri issued a Circular-e-Azadi [San Francisco, US]
 G. D. Kumar set up a Swadeshi Sevak Home in Vancouver.
 Raja Mahendra Pratap and Barkatullah, with the support of Germany and Russia, set up the
provisional government of India in Kabul.
 With Pandurang Khankhoje (B. G. Tilak’s emissary), Tarak Nath Das founded the Indian
Independence League.
 Adhar Laskar arrived from Calcutta with funds sent by Jatin Mukherjee permitting Tarak to start
his journal Free Hindusthan in English as well as in Gurumukhi edition.
 Swadeshi Sevak (Servants of the Motherland) by Guran Ditt Kumar who came from Calcutta.
Lala Hardayal (1884-1939)
 He was born in Delhi.
 Lala Hardayal was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter who turned down a
career in the Indian Civil Service.
 He was associated with Shyam Krishna Varma, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Bhikaiji
Cama. He also drew inspiration from Giuseppe Mazzini, Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin.
 In 1907, he wrote a letter to “The Indian Sociologist” exploring the anarchist ideas and his critical
article to the government put him in the eye of Britishers.
 Lala Lajpat Rai advised him to go to Paris and became editor of the Vande Mataram.
 Then he went to Martinique, where he started living a life of austerity. An Arya Samaj Missionary,
Bhai Parmanand went there to look for him and found him lonely and isolated.
 In 1911, he then moved to the US and became involved in industrial unionism and served as
secretary of the San Francisco branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. There he came
across the farmers and their exploitation by the Canadians and British Government.
 With the passing of anti-immigrant laws by Canada. With the personal help of Teja Singh, Tarak
Nath Das and Arthur Pope he set up the Guru Govind Singh Sahib Educational Scholarship
for Indian students. With Shyamji Krishna Verma's India House in London, he established his
house as a home for these students.
 16

 On the attempt of throwing a bomb to the viceroy by Basant Biswas he was relieved that
revolutionary fire was still alive in India. He went to the Nalanda Club composed of nationalist
students to cheer up.
 In 1914, he was arrested by the United States government for spreading anarchist literature
and fled to Berlin. In Berlin he became instrumental to the formation of the Berlin Committee and
cooperated with the German Intelligence Bureau for the East.
Hindu German Conspiracy:
 The Hindu–German Conspiracy was a series of plans between 1914 and 1917 by Indian
nationalist groups to attempt Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Raj during World War I,
formulated between the Indian revolutionary underground and exiled or self-exiled nationalists who
formed, in the United States, the Ghadar Party the Indian independence committee or Berlin
committee
 The conspiracy was drawn up at the beginning of the war, with extensive support from the
German Foreign Office, the German consulate in San Francisco, as well as some support from
Ottoman Turkey and the Irish republican movement.
 The most prominent plan attempted to foment unrest and trigger a Pan-Indian mutiny in the
British Indian Army from Punjab to Singapore.
 This plot was planned to be executed in February 1915 with the aim of overthrowing British
rule over the Indian subcontinent.
 The February mutiny was ultimately thwarted when British intelligence infiltrated the
Ghadarite movement and arrested key figures.
 17

The Berlin Committee (Revolutionaries in Europe):

 The Berlin Committee for Indian Independence was established in 1915
 The Berlin Committee was founded by Virendra Nath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta,
Lala Hardayal and foreign office under Zimmerman Plan.
 These revolutionaries mobilised the Indian settlers abroad to send volunteers and arms to India.
 The committee mainly aimed to incite rebellion among Indian troops there and to organise an
armed invasion of British India to liberate the country.
 They sent missions to Baghdad, Persia, Turkey and Kabul to work among Indian troops and
Prisoner of Wars (PoWs) and to incite anti-British feeling among the people of these
countries.
 One mission was sent to Kabul under Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, Barkatullah and Obaidullah
Sindhi to organise Provincial Indian Government with the help of the crown prince Amanullah.
Mutiny in Singapore
 On 15 Feb 1915 there was a mutiny that took place in Singapore.
 The mutiny was organised by the Punjabi Muslim Infantry and Sikh regiment under Jamdar
Christi Khan, Jamadar Abdul Ghani, Subadar Daud Khan.
 It was crushed after a fierce battle.
Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (1880-1937)
 He was the brother of Sarojini Naidu and Harindranath Chattopadhyay.
 Virendranath Chattopadhyaya was a revolutionary who worked to overthrow the British Raj in
India using armed force.
 He created alliances with the Germans during World War I, was part of the Berlin Committee
organising Indian students in Europe against the British, and explored actions by the Japanese at the
time.
 He went to Moscow in 1920 to develop support by the Communists for the Indian movement,
including among Asians in Moscow who were working on revolutionary movements.
 He joined the German Communist Party.
 In 1908, at "India House" he came in contact with a number of important "agitators" from India
like G. S. Khaparde, Lajpat Rai, Har Dayal, Rambhuj Dutt and Bipin Chandra Pal.
 In November 1909, he edited the short-lived but virulent nationalist periodical Talvar (The
Sword).
 Upon reaching France, he joined the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO).
 He was also associated with the Berlin Committee.
 With the failure of the Indo-German Zimmermann Plan, in 1917 Chattopadhyaya opened a
new Bureau of the Independence Committee in Stockholm.
 18

 Virendranath Chattopadhyaya was arrested on 15 July 1937 during the Great Purge of Stalin and
was executed on 2 September 1937.
Government Retaliation
 Prevention of Seditious Meeting Act 1907
 To make better provision for the prevention of public meetings likely to promote sedition or to
cause a disturbance of public tranquillity was a 1907 act of the Imperial Legislative Council of
the British Raj enabling the government to prohibit political meetings.
 The Explosive Substance Act 1908
 As per this act, any person with any explosive substance commits any act either rashly or by
negligence that endangers human life or arises a situation that may cause hurt or injury to any
other person, then he/she shall be punished under IPC.
 The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908
 This act provided for the more speedy trial of certain offences, and for the prohibition of
“unlawful associations”, dangerous to the public peace.
 The Newspaper (Incitement to Offence Act) 1908
 It gave the magistrates power to confiscate press property that published objectionable material
likely to cause incitement to murder or acts of violence.
 This act was triggered by the Extremist nationalist activity during and after the Swadeshi
movement of 1906.
 The Press Act 1910
 The Act empowered the Local Governments to issue warrants against any newspaper or book
which contained seditious matters, were to be forfeited to his majesty.
 The Defence of India Rules 1915
 This act was designed to give the government of British India special powers to deal with
revolutionary and German-inspired threats during World War I (1914–18), especially in the
Punjab.
 A special legal tribunal was set up to deal with such cases without prior commitment and with
no appeal. Power was also taken for the internment of suspects.
Bagha Jatin (1879-1915)
 He was born as Jatindranath Mukherjee in Bengal.
 He was the founder member of Anushalin Samiti.
 He faced Royal Bengal Tiger face to face, awarded by the Bengal government, given the title
Bagha.
 In 1908, he contributed to found a branch of Anushilan Samiti in Darjeeling known as “Bandhab
Samiti”.
 He was the main mastermind behind “India – German” plotting.
 19

 He was caught and wounded during a faceoff with Britisher and later died in 1915.
 He had given the slogan “we shall die to awaken the nation”.
 His Contributions:
 He revitalised the organisation and strengthened the links of the organisation.
 Hideouts at Sunderbans.
 Created terror during WWI with the help of Zimmerman Plan or German plot
 His plan was to organise Guerrilla force to start an uprising in the country, with seizure of fort
william and mutiny in armed forces.
 During WW I, Jugantar (Yugantar) Party arranged to import German arms and ammunition
from abroad.
 Jatin asked Rash Behari Bose to take charge of upper India to create an all Indian uprising
under the “Zimmerman plan” or German plot.
 Raised funds through docaities called taxicab and boat docaities.
 He planned to organise a guerilla force for the same and organised capture of Fort William,
disruption of rail etc.
 Police located them while they were waiting for the arms in Balasore
 He died fighting in Balasore Orissa Sept 1915.
Rash Behari Bose
 He was known as "the most dangerous revolutionary in India”.
 He spread his reach in North India and worked in Indian Forest Institute (Dehradun).
 In 1912, he threw a bomb at Viceroy Hardinge.
 He was interested in revolutionary activities from early on in his life, he left Bengal to shun the
Alipore bomb case trials of (1908). At Dehradun he worked as a head clerk at the Forest Research
Institute.
 1912 assassination attempt on Lord Hardinge
 The attempt was made on 23 December 1912 after Lord Hardinge was returning from the Delhi
Durbar of King George V. He was attacked by Basanta Kumar Biswas a disciple of Amrendar
Chattarjee, but he missed the target and failed. The bomb was made by Manindra Nath
Nayak. Bose was hunted by the colonial police due to his active participation in the failed
assassination attempt directed at the Governor General and Viceroy Lord Charles Hardinge in
Delhi.
 Actually, Bose's aim was to prove to the world that Indians do not accept the subjection of his
country to foreign rule by consent, but by force of military power, which was successful.
Otherwise, he had no personal enmity with Lord Hardinge) He returned to Dehradun by the
night train and joined the office the next day as though nothing had happened. Further, he
 20

organised a meeting of loyal citizens of Dehradun to condemn the dastardly attack on the
Viceroy.
 Lord Hardinge, in his My Indian Years, described the whole incident in an interesting way. The
investigation following the assassination led to the Delhi Conspiracy Trial in which Besant
Kumar Viswas, Awadh Bihari and Amir Chand were convicted and executed.
 Through Amarendra Chatterjee of the Jugantar led by Jatin Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin), he secretly got
involved with the revolutionaries of Bengal and he came across eminent revolutionary members of
the Arya Samaj in the UP and the Punjab.
 During the flood relief work in Bengal in 1913, he came in contact with Jatin Mukherjee in whom
he "discovered a real leader of men," who "added a new impulse" to Rash Behari failing zeal.
 Thus, during World War I he became extensively involved as one of the leading figures of the
Ghadar Revolution that attempted to trigger a mutiny in India in February 1915. Trusted and
tried Ghadrites were sent to several cantonments to infiltrate into the army. The idea of the Ghadar
leaders was that with the war raging in Europe most of the soldiers had gone out of India and the
rest could be easily won over. The revolution failed and most of the revolutionaries were arrested.
 But Rash Behari managed to escape British intelligence and reached Japan in 1915 under the alias
of Priyanath Tagore, a relative of Rabindranath Tagore. There, Bose found shelter with various Pan-
Asian groups.
 From 1915–1918, he changed residences and identities numerous times, as the British kept pressing
the Japanese government for his extradition. He married the daughter of Aizo Soma and Kokko
Soma, the owners of Nakamuraya bakery in Tokyo and noted Pan-Asian supporters in 1918, and
became a Japanese citizen in 1923, living as a journalist and writer. It is also significant that he was
instrumental in introducing Indian-style curry in Japan. Though more expensive than the usual
"British-style" curry, it became quite popular, with Rash Bihari becoming known as "Bose of
Nakamuraya".
 Rash Behari Bose along with A M Nair was instrumental in persuading the Japanese authorities to
stand by the Indian nationalists and ultimately to officially actively support the Indian independence
struggle abroad. Bose convened a conference in Tokyo on 28–30 March 1942, which decided to
establish the Indian Independence League. At the conference, he moved a motion to raise an army
for Indian independence.
 He convened the second conference of the League at Bangkok on 22 June 1942. It was at this
conference that a resolution was adopted to invite Subhas Chandra Bose to join the League and take
its command as its president.
 The Indian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the Malaya and Burma fronts were
encouraged to join the Indian Independence League and become the soldiers of the Indian
National Army (INA), formed on 1 September 1942 as the military wing of Bose's Indian
 21

National League. He selected the flag for the Azad Hind movement and handed over the flag to
Subhas Chandra Bose.
 But although he handed over the power, his organisational structure remained, and it was on the
organisational spadework of Rash Behari Bose that Subhas Chandra Bose later built the
Indian National Army (also called 'Azad Hind Fauj'). Prior to his death caused by tuberculosis, the
Japanese Government honoured him with the Order of the Rising Sun (2nd grade).
Ghadar Movement
 With the outbreak of World War various revolutionary groups including Tilak’s and Besant’s Home
Rule league and Ghadar revolutionaries took advantage of the engagement of Britain in WWI.
 Lala Har Dayal was the moving spirit behind the organization of the Ghadar Party in 1913 at San
Francisco in the USA. Sohan Singh Bhakna was also a founder.
 A weekly paper ‘The Ghadar’ was started. It was published in Urdu, Gurumukhi, Marathi and
English.
 Ghadar published a series of Articles, entitled “Angrezi Raj Ka Kachcha chittha”. The Ghadritis
intended to bring about a revolt in India.
 It highlighted the issues of India like poverty, exploitation, recurring famine and many atrocities
done by Britishers.
 Circulated in America, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Malay states, Singapore, Trunidada and
Honduras.
 Their plans were encouraged by two events in 1914 – the Komagata Maru incident and the
outbreak of the First world war.
 Komagata Maru was the name of a ship, this incident created an explosive situation in the Punjab.
 The revolutionaries associated with Ghadar mainly included ex-soldiers and peasants who migrated
from Punjab to USA and Canada in search of better employment.
 They were based in the USA and Canada along the western pacific coast.
 They were denied entry to enter the USA and Canada and if they were allowed to settle they faced
many difficulties.
 Restrictive measures were imposed on them.
 The Secretary of State for India supported restrictive immigration laws, close interaction between
English and White undesirable and damaging British prestige.
 In 1908, Indians were restricted from entering Canada.
 According to Alien Land Law Indians were prohibited from purchasing land in the US.
 All these discrimination at foreign land led to rise in the fire of avenge to throw out British rule in
India.
 22

 Pre Ghadr Revolutionary Activities: Before 1913, pre Ghadr revolutionary activities had been
carried out by Ramdas Puri, G.D Kumar, Taraknath Das, Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal.
They set-up a Swadesh Sevak Home in Vancouver and United India House Seattle.
 In 1913, a priest named Bhagwan Singh openly preached violent means to overthrow British Rule.
 The prominent leaders of Ghadr were: Lala Hardayal, Bhai Parmanand, Bhagwan singh,
Kartar Singh Sarabha and Barkatullah.
Formation of Ghadar Party
 Pacific Coast Hindustan Association at Portland
 It was formed in 1913 and also termed as Hindi Association.
 Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected president.
 Lala Hardayal was the General secretary.
 Pt. Kashi Ram Maroli was the treasurer.
 Head Quarter was set up by the name of Yugantar Ashram at San Francisco.
 Hindustan Ghadar Party
 Hindustani Association changed to Hindustan Ghadar Party.
 Members expanded to Japan, China, Philippines, Malay, Singapore, Thailand, South
Africa and Mexico.
 Additional members were Baba Gurmukh Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Rahmat Ali Shah
and Bhai Parmanand.
 Principle and Ideology
 They had Secular Ideology.
 The main idea was to wage revolutionary war against the British in India. They believed that
“Indians can never be treated equal in foreign countries if they are enslaved in their own
countries.”
 They believed in transmission of Ideas to India and spread within masses.
 They also launched campaigns in North American farms and factories.
First Lahore Conspiracy Case (1915)
 A series of trials was held in Lahore and in the United States, in the aftermath of the failed Ghadar
conspiracy from 26 April to 13 September 1915.
 The backdrop of failed Ghadar Conspiracy, trial held at Lahore by special tribunal under Defence of
Indian Act 1915.
 Government jolted Ghaderites Out of a total of 291 convicted conspirators, 42 were executed, 114
got life sentences and 93 got varying terms of imprisonment.
 The uncovering of the conspiracy also saw the initiation of the Hindu German Conspiracy trial in
the United States.
 23

 After the release of some members, they formed Kirti and Communist Movements in Punjab.
 Hardayal set up the Indian independence Committee at Berlin with an objective to incite rebellion
within Indian troops and provide ammunition to revolutionaries.
 Raja Mahendra Pratap and Barkatullah aided the Amir of Afghanistan.
Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896-1915)
 He was an Indian revolutionary. He was 15-years old when he became a member of Ghadar Party.
 In 1912 Berkeley, he came into contact with Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna and
Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje, an agricultural scientist who formed the Pacific Coast
Hindustan Association in 1913.
 Sarabha left his studies and became the Ghadr Party’s youngest founding member.
 He worked shoulder to shoulder with the much older Ghadri “babas”, who began to call him
‘BalaJarnail (Boy general)’.
 With World War-I breaking out in July 1914, the Ghadris decided to return to India including
Sarabha.
 By 1915, the British began to arrest Ghadar party members and Sarabha was also arrested and put
on a trial in what came to be called the Lahore conspiracy case which resulted in the execution of
24 Ghadris.
 He was hanged to death in Lahore in 1915 (hardly 19 years old).
 Bhagat Singh often says that “Sarabha was his ustad.”
Komagata Maru Incident
 The Komagata Maru incident involved the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru on which a group
of citizens of the British Raj attempted to emigrate to Canada in 1914 but were denied entry and
forced to return to Calcutta. There they were fired upon by British police resulting in the deaths of
20 Sikhs.
 Komagata Maru sailed from British Hong Kong, via Shanghai, China, and Yokohama, Japan, to
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, British India.
Of them, 24 were admitted to Canada, but the other 352 passengers were not allowed to disembark
in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India. The passengers comprised 340 Sikhs, 24
Muslims, and 12 Hindus, all British subjects. This was one of several incidents in the early 20th
century in which exclusion laws in Canada and the United States were used to exclude immigrants
of Asian origin.
 Shore committee was set up under Hussain Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak and Balwant Singh and
funds were raised and protests organised. But after 2 months the ship was sent back to India.
 24

Note
 Justin Trudeau issued a formal statement of apology in the House of Commons for the Komagata
Maru incident.
 But Britain has not apologised or even accepted the formal responsibility to the massacre of Amritsar.
(Jallianwala Bagh Massacre).
 Inflamed by the Komagata Maru Incident and WW1, Ghadarites decided to launch all india violent
attacks to oust the Britishers from India.
 Kartar Singh Sarabha and Raghubar Dayal Gupta left for India.
 They contacted Bengal revolutionaries and asked Sachin Sanyal and Rash Behari Bose to lead the
movement.
 Dacoities were carried out in Punjab to raise funds. The raiders targeted mostly money lenders and
destroyed debt-records.
 The Ghadrites fixed the date of Feb 21, 1915 for armed revolt in Ferozpur, Lahore and
Rawalpindi garrison.
 However, the plan was foiled due to treachery. Rebellious regiments were disbanded and 45
Ghadrites were hanged.
 Rash Behari Bose fled to Japan from where he along with Abani Mukherjee made efforts to send
arms. Sachin Sanyal was transported for life.
Achievements of Ghadar Party
 The Ghadar Party successfully popularised the nationalist feeling in people who were divided in
self-interest of Britishers
 Raised a group of young members to channelise their energy to expel Britishers.
 Adopting secular Ideology, Ghaderites belong to different religions but still they stand together to
throw off British rule.
 They adopted the slogan of Bande Matram instead of any religious verses.
Miscellaneous Societies
 ‘The Arya Bandhav Samaj’ was formed under the inspiration of Tilak.
 Anant Laxman Karkare murdered Jackson (DM of Nasik).
 In Madras province, Nilkantha Brahmachari and Vanchi Aiyar founded a secret Bharat Mata
Association.
 Other Secret revolutionary societies were –
 Suhrid Samiti and Sadhana Samiti of Mymensingh,
 Swadesh Bandhav Samiti of Barisal,
 The Brati Samiti of Faridpur.
 25

 In 1905, Barindra Kumar Ghose published the Bhavani Mandir followed by the publication of
‘Vartaman Rananiti’.
 The Yugantar (edited by Bhupendranath Dutt) and Sandhya (edited by Brahmabandhab
Upadhyay) preached anti-British ideas.
 Another pamphlet ‘Mukti Kon Pathe’ (which way lies salvation?) exhorted the Indian soldiers to
supply arms to revolutionaries.
 Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh, Lalchand Falak and Bhai Parmanand were active in Punjab.
Suppression
 The suppression meted out to Ghadrites was the most brutal one since the revolt of 1857.
 The Defence of India Act was passed primarily with the purpose of quashing the Ghadar movement.
 Large scale detention without trial was made.
 Special courts were set up to give brutal punishments.
 A large no. of army men were court martialed.
 Apart from Ghadrites, even radical pan-Islamists were also actively participating in various
revolutionary activities. Ali brothers, Maulana Azad, Hasrat Mohani- were jailed.
Evaluation
 The most significant achievement of Ghadr was its achievement on the line of ideology. It preached
militant nationalism with a completely secular approach.
 It failed to achieve much because:
 Lack of effective organisation.
 Underestimation of the extent of preparation at every level- organisational, ideological,
financial and tactical.
 Perhaps Lala Hardayal was unsuited for the job of an organiser.
Reasons for declining first phase of revolutionary era
 Strong and draconian legislature by government
 Fading the response of people
 Influence of Gandhian principles
 Induction of new constitutional reforms, Act of 1919.
Factor contributed to the rise of second phase of revolutionaries
 Failure of Non-Cooperation
 Slow motion of the movement.
 Old and new organisations erupted in two broad strands one in northern and other in Bengal.

 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 39
Congress Ministries and WW - II
 2

Congress Ministries and WW - II

The Second phase of the Revolutionary Movement:

❖ Genesis
➢ The First World War saw repression and decline of revolutionaries but to gain confidence on Montagu-
Chelmsford reforms the government released many revolutionaries, many of them attended the Nagpur
session and joined Congress.
✓ During the jail term of revolutionaries, Gandhi and CR Das went to meet them and asked them to
join a non-violent movement.
➢ Yugantar Party came in support but another arm was not thinking on the same
line for instance, Sachindranath Sanyal. In 1938 Yugantar merged into
Congress, not Sanyal and others having similar stands like him.
➢ The suspension of Non-cooperation movement and the resultant gloom that
descended on the nationalist scene again created conditions calling for terrorist
revolutionary activities.
❖ The revival of the old Anushalin Samiti and Yugantar Samitis with more dynamic
revolutionaries like Sukhdev, Bhagwati Charan Vohara and Jogesh Chandra
Chatterjee.
❖ After the war there was an upsurge in working class trade unions. The revolutionaries wanted to harness the
potential of this new emergent class.
❖ Success of Russian Revolution, 1917.
❖ The emergence of communist groups with their emphasis on Marxism, Socialism and Proletariat
Working-Class people regarded collectively.
❖ Inciting journals such as Atmashakti, Sarathi and Bijoli.
❖ The novels and books such as Bandi Jiwan by Sachin Sanyal, Pather Dabi by Sharatchandra Chatterjee.
Northern India
❖ In 1922, Ramprasad Bismil attended Gaya session (1922) and criticised withdrawal of Non-Cooperation.
❖ Indian National Commerce divided:
⮚ Swarajist Party
⮚ Revolutionary Party
❖ In 1924, Bismil drafted the Yellow Paper Constitution and adopted it as the first committee meeting at
Kanpur.

Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)

❖ The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was founded at Kanpur in October 1924 by Sachindranath
Sanyal, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Ramprasad Bismil and Chandra Shekhar Azad.
❖ It led revolutionary activities in Punjab-UP-Bihar.
 3

❖ Its main aim was:

⮚ To overthrow the colonial government through an armed revolution.
⮚ To establish in its place the Federal Republic of United states of India
whose basic principle would be Universal Adult Franchise.
❖ The most important action of the HRA was the Kakori robbery.

1920’s Sachindra Nath Sanyal

❖ Sanyal was sentenced to life for his involvement in the conspiracy (Ghadar)
and was imprisoned at Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
where he wrote his book titled Bandi Jeevan (A Life of Captivity, 1922).
❖ He was briefly released from jail but when he continued to engage in anti-British activities, he was sent back
and his ancestral family home in Benaras was confiscated.
⮚ Following the end of the Non-cooperation movement in 1922, Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil and some
other revolutionaries who wanted an independent India and were prepared to use force to achieve their
goal, founded the Hindustan Republican Association in October 1924.
❖ He was the author of the HRA manifesto, titled ‘The Revolutionary’, that was distributed in large cities of
North India on 31 December 1924
❖ Sanyal was jailed for his involvement in the Kakori conspiracy but was among those conspirators released
from Naini Central Prison in August 1937.
❖ Sanyal has the unique distinction of having been sent to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair twice.

Kakori Conspiracy
❖ The most important action of the HRA was the Kakori robbery on 9 August 1925. Here the revolutionaries
held up the 8-Down train at Kakori (near lucknow) and looted the official railway cash.
❖ Conducted by:
⮚ Ram Prasad Bismil
⮚ Ashfaqullah Khan
⮚ Chandrashekhar Azad.
❖ Government crackdown after Kakori was severe.
❖ Four revolutionaries such as Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged.
 4

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)

❖ The imprisonment of most of the HRA leaders in the Kakori conspiracy case
and the ensuing police repression nearly finished off the HRA.
❖ After this some younger revolutionaries, inspired by socialist ideas, held a
historic meeting in Ferozshah Kotla of Delhi in sept 1928. It was joined by
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Bhagwaticharan Vohra, Bijoy Kumar Sinha,
Shiv Verma, Jaidev Kapoor.
❖ Under the leadership of Chandra Shekhar Azad, the name of HRA was
changed to HSRA (1928).
❖ HSRA adopted Socialism as its official goal.
❖ The first revolutionary act of HSRA was the murder of Saunders at the Lahore railway station by Bhagat Singh,
Chandra Shekhar Azad and Rajguru (in 1928).
❖ Most of the HSRA revolutionaries convicted in the Lahore conspiracy case Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and
Rajguru were hanged on March 23, 1931.

Saunders Murder Case (1928)

❖ On December 17, 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad, Sukhdev and Shivaram Rajguru shot and killed assistant
superintendent of police John Saunders. They were supported by Sukhdev Thapar and Chandrashekhar Azad.
❖ However, their original target was not Saunders but superintendent of police James Scott who had ordered his
men to lathi-charge protesters leading to the death of the nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai.
❖ They escaped and were sheltered by Durga Bhabhi (wife of Bhagwati Charan Vohra).

Bomb in Central Legislative Assembly 8th April 1929

❖ HSRA wanted people to know about its changed objective and need for
revolution by the masses.
❖ Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutta were asked to throw bombs to protest
against the passage of Public Safety Bill and Trade dispute Bill aimed at
curtailing the civil liberties of citizens in general and workers in particular.
❖ The aim was not to harm anyone but to make deaf hear.
❖ Objective: To get arrested and use the trial court as a forum for propaganda
to make the people familiar with their movement and ideology.
❖ Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were tried in Lahore Conspiracy Case II.
❖ In jail they protested against the horrible condition of prisoners through fasting.
❖ Jatin Das died after 64 days of hunger strike.
❖ Congress leaders organise the defence for the revolutionaries.
❖ Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on 23 March 1931.
❖ Chandrashekhar Azad: He was involved in a bid to blow Viceroy’s Irwin’s train near Delhi in Dec 1929. He
died in a police encounter in a park in Allahabad in February 1931.
 5

Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1907-1931)

❖ He was a charismatic Indian revolutionary.
❖ Born in Lyallpur district of Punjab in a family fully immersed in patriotism.
⮚ Sardar Bhagat Singh's father and his uncle Ajit Singh were active in progressive politics, taking part in the
agitation around the Canal Colonization Bill in 1907, and later the Ghadar Movement of 1914–1915.
❖ He joined the National College in Lahore, founded two years earlier by Lala Lajpat Rai.
❖ He also wrote for Kirti, the journal of the Kirti Kisan Party and for the Veer Arjun newspaper, published
in Delhi. He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.
❖ He and his counterparts Sukhdev, Bhagwati Charan Vohra, Bijoy Kumar Sinha and Shiv Kumar headed
their way towards Marxist and Socialist thoughts.
❖ In 1928, he was involved in Saunders Killing and during this he and Chandra
Shekhar Azad shot a Indian police head constable, Channan Singh, who
attempted to give chase as Singh and Rajguru fled.
❖ He was arrested for throwing a bomb in the assembly.
❖ Singh gained public sympathy after he joined fellow defendant Jatin Das in a
hunger strike, demanding better prison conditions for Indian prisoners, the
strike ending in Jatin Das's death from starvation in September 1929.
❖ Bhagat Singh was hanged in March 1931, aged 23.
❖ The contribution of Sardar Bhagat Singh in giving an ideological shift to the
revolutionary movement in India.
⮚ The Redevelopment of ideology: Few years before his arrest he had realised that no productive and
fruitful outcome can be gained through revolutionary terrorism and individual heroic action instead
of the popular mass movement are enough to liberate India.
✓ This ideological shift of revolution led Sardar Bhagat Singh to form “Naujawan Bharat Sabha”
(himself secretary) in 1926 on the lines of the Young Italy Movement of Mazzini.
✓ To propagate this revamp idea of revolution he targeted the students, peasants and workers. Sukhdev
also helped him in organising “Lahore Students Union” and Sardar used a magic lantern to deliver
his lectures.
⮚ Reshaping the revolution: He did not openly confess his views of opposition to terrorism method of
revolution because many other revolutionaries had laid down their lives. Instead, Bhagat Singh and his
comrades adopted a revolution free from violence and militancy.
⮚ Stand on Religion and Communalism: He criticised his mentor Lala Lajpat Rai for turning towards
communal politics by moving a political and ideological campaign against him.
⮚ Printing pamphlet titled “The Lost Leader” on the theme of Robert Browning's poem in which he
was critical of Wordsworth for turning against liberty.
⮚ Drafted rules for “Naujawan Sabha”:
✓ Keep distance from communal bodies and their ideas.
 6

✓ Presenting a spirit of tolerance and considering religion as a matter of personal beliefs of man.
✓ To support this, he had written “Why I am an atheist”.
<

In Bengal
❖ Revolutionaries carried out furious underground activities and openly worked for congress to win the trust of
the masses.
❖ They preferred to work underground at the same time contributing in constructive work with congress.
❖ Chittaranjan Das played a role of link between congress and revolutionaries. After his death congress divided
into two wings one led by SC Bose and other by JM Sengupta.
❖ Revolutionaries divided too in Jugantar (SC Bose supporter) and Anushilan (Sengupta supporter).
❖ Charles Tegart Case: In 1924, Gopinath Saha was arrested for attempting to kill Charles Tegart (Police
commissioner of calcutta), but he erroneously killed Mr. Ernest Day and for this he was hanged later.
⮚ After this a massive arrest of revolutionaries took place and major leaders were arrested.
⮚ After release they re-arranged themselves in a revolting group inspired by Russian and Irish
Revolutionaries.

Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930)

❖ Surya Sen was a teacher in the National School in Chittagong and was the secretary of Chittagong District
Congress Committee.
⮚ He participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
⮚ He was imprisoned from 1926-28 for revolutionary activities.
⮚ He wanted to show that it was possible to challenge the armed might of the British Empire.
⮚ For this he decided to organise an armed rebellion along with his associates Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh,
and Lokenath.
⮚ He conducted a raid in April 1930 on two main armouries of Chittagong to seize and supply arms to the
revolutionaries.
❖ The raid was conducted under the banner of Indian Republican Army - Chittagong Branch.
❖ After the raid, Surya Sen hoisted the national flag, took salute and proclaimed a provisional revolutionary
government and declared himself as president
❖ Revolutionaries escaped to Jalalabad Hills in response to British raids.
❖ In 1933, Surya Sen was arrested and hanged.
❖ The Chittagong raid gave a major confidence boost to the revolutionary minded youth. A firm belief developed
among them that the might of the British empire can be challenged through armed revolution. After this the
number of youths joining revolutionary armed groups increased significantly.
❖ Few years after his death, the killing of officials continued.
❖ Repression:
➢ The Government came up with severe repression using 20 repressive acts.
 7

➢ In Chittagong, several villages were burnt and fines were imposed on many of them.
➢ J.L Nehru was charged with sedition and jailed as praised the revolutionaries.

Decline in Revolutionary Activities

❖ The imprisonment of major and influential leaders led to the decline of revolutionary activities.
❖ In 1931, the assassination of Chandrashekhar Azad took place, which impacted revolutionary activities.
❖ The death of Sen also took place which affected revolutionary activities too.
❖ Adopting different paths like adopting Gandhian principles, Marxism and the left principles.
<

How was Phase II different from Phase I?

❖ Women participation in revolutionary groups increased significantly especially under Surya Sen.
❖ Prominent among them were:
⮚ Pritilata Waddedar died during the raid at Pahartali European Club.
⮚ Kalpana Dutt was arrested and tried with Surya Sen, given Life Sentence.
⮚ Shanti Ghosh and Sunita Chandheri (School girls of Comilla), shot dead the district magistrate.
⮚ Bina Das fired point black at the governor while receiving degree at the convocation.
❖ Group action instead of individual action became more prominent during this phase.
❖ Emphasis on Hindu religiosity decreased which facilitated the participation of Muslims.
❖ Community Participation: The Second phase witnessed the participation of Muslims in large numbers.
⮚ The Chittagong case had Mir Ahmed, Fakir Mian and Tunu Mian.
⮚ Muslim helped to escape Surya Sen.
⮚ Abdul Razzaqq Khan founded a revolt group in Calcutta.
⮚ Sirajul-Haq and Hamid-ul-Haq were punished for imprisonment in Andamans.
⮚ Dr. Fazlul Quader Chowdhury imprisoned in Andaman for involvement in Hijli Robbery.
⮚ Association of Razia Khatoon with Anushilan and Yugantar Samiti.

Shift in Revolutionary Ideology

❖ Bhagat Singh was among the first revolutionaries whose revolutionary ideas saw a shift from the past.
❖ Bhagat Singh before his arrest had given up his belief on individual heroic action and moved towards
Marxism.
❖ His belief in mass action made him establish Punjab Naujawan Sabha (1926) to carry out political work
among youth, peasants and workers.
❖ Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev also organised Lahore Students’ Union to carry out legal works among students.
❖ Bhagat Singh used to say “Real revolutionary armies are in factories and villages”.
 8

❖ In 1925, the HRA manifesto declared that it “HRA stood for abolition of all systems which made
exploitation of man by man possible…”.
❖ It decided to work for an organised armed rebellion.
❖ By the late 1920s, the revolution had started to move from individual heroic action to mass politics.
❖ Ramprasad Bismil, during his last days appealed the youth to give up the guns and not to work in
revolutionary conspiracies. Instead, he urged them to work in open movements.
❖ He also urged them to build Hindu- Muslim unity and unite all political groups under the leadership of
congress.
❖ The famous statements of revolutionaries elaborating their positions has been written in the book “The
Philosophy of Bomb” written by Bhagwaticharan Vohra.

Congress Ministries
❖ What to do after the withdrawal of the movement?
⮚ There were basically their perspectives that were put forward:
1. The first one advocated for constructive work on Gandhian lines.
2. The New Swarajists: The second one favored constitutional struggle and participation in the
elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. It was advocated by M.A Ansari, Asaf Ali,
Bhulabhai Desai, B.C Roy, Satytamurthy.
3. The Third one, advocated by leftist within the congress and led by Nehru opposed both constructive
works. They favored continuation of non-constitutional mass struggle.
⮚ Nehru considered the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience and council entry "a spiritual defeat",
"a surrender of ideas" and "a retreat from revolutionary to reformist mentality."
⮚ Nehru was against the Struggle - Truce - Struggle strategy and instead advocated for Struggle-
Victory Strategy.
⮚ However, ultimately, Nehru’s view was sidelined and congress approved council entry. In the Central
Legislative election of 1934, congress won 45 out of 75 seats.
Way Towards Constitutionalism
 9

Congress in local body election

❖ In 1934 Congress started participating in Local body elections.
❖ In 1934 Congress also participated in Central Legislative Assembly elections and won 44 seats.
❖ In 1935 in Madras Presidency, Congress Civic board was formed for local elections. (Municipality elections
in Madurai)
❖ These elections have experience to organise and manage elections at a large level.

Manifesto of Congress
❖ It was adopted by AICC in August.
❖ Rejection of Act of 1935.
❖ It declared that independence will give Indians a power to solve their issues.
❖ To end all oppressive acts and regulations was the task of congress.
❖ Promises:
⮚ Political established of civil liberty
⮚ Peasant welfare
⮚ Release of political prisoner
⮚ Untouchability eradication
⮚ Upliftment of women
⮚ Encouragement of indigenous products
⮚ Descent payment to workers and better condition of work
⮚ Protection of labour rights

Lucknow Session of April 1936

❖ The Congress leaders were inspired by the idea of socialism and emphasis on socialistic approach.
❖ 3 socialists in Congress Working Congress Jayprakash Narayan, Aacharya Narendra Dev and Achyut
Patwardhan.
❖ The session focused on the struggle for liberty.
❖ People of states = Right to self determination
❖ The assistance to the All India Agrarian Programme was adopted in the session.
❖ During this session the first meeting of the All-India Kisan Sabha was held under Swami Sahajanand
Saraswati.

Faizpur Session 1936

❖ The Faizpur Session was presided over by JL Nehru in December 1936.
❖ This was the first congress session in a rural area. Overall 50th session.
 10

❖ Resolution passed:
⮚ Condemning Italy’s aggression in Abyssinia and Japanese aggression in China.
⮚ Demanded constitutional assembly to frame a constitution.
❖ Adopted agrarian programme:
⮚ Reduction (50%) in rent & Revenue and exemption of uneconomic holding from it. Root out arrears of
rent.
⮚ Taxation of agricultural income
⮚ Abolition of feudal levies and forced labour
⮚ Promoting Cooperative farming
⮚ Modification of ejectment laws and recognition of peasant unions.
❖ No mention of abolition of Zamindari and Taluqdari System. But it was
a significant achievement of the Faizpur session.

Important Facts about Faizpur Session of INC:

❖ MN Roy joined INC in this session.
❖ Gandhi did not address a single election meeting and campaign.

❖ The 1935 Act was condemned by nearly all sections. Congress unanimously rejected the Act and instead
demanded a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of Universal Adult Franchise to frame a constitution
for Independent India.

1937 Provincial Election:

❖ Congress decided to fight the 1937 election with everyone agreeing to it. However, there was disagreement
over what to do after the election? If congress wins, should it accept the office or not?
❖ Two opinions emerged:
1. Leftist Argument: Nehru, S.C Bose, congress socialists and communists were opposed to acceptance of office
(ministry). They reasoned:
⮚ It would negate the rejection of the Act by the nationalists.
⮚ It would be like accepting responsibility without power.
⮚ It would take away the revolutionary character of the movement as the constitutional work would
sidetrack the main issues of freedom, economic and social justice and removal of poverty.
⮚ As a counter strategy, they proposed entry into the councils (not ministry) with an aim to create deadlock
i.e., the old Swarajist strategy.
2. Non-leftist Argument: Those in the congress who were in favour of accepting the office argued that the
work in legislature is only a short-term tactic as the option of mass-movement was not available at the time.
They argued that despite limited power, provincial ministries could be used to promote constructive work.
 11

❖ Gandhi’s Position: He initially opposed the acceptance of office but later agreed to give it a try. He advised
the congressmen to hold this office lightly and not tightly. He told them to see these offices as ‘Crowns of
thorns’.
❖ In 1936, the Bombay meetings of AICC decided in favour of contesting the election.
❖ AICC postponed their decision on office acceptance to post election.
❖ Federal part never came into force.
❖ Only the provincial part came into force in 1937.
❖ Elections were held in February 1937 in 11 provinces: Madras; Central provinces; Bihar; Orissa; UP;
Bombay; Assam; NWFP; Bengal; Punjab and Sindh.
⮚ Congress won in 6 provinces
⮚ Total seats 1585
⮚ Congress 707
⮚ Muslim league 106
✓ Muslim League lost badly and got only 51 out of 482 seats reserved for Muslims.
✓ Congress refused to share power with Muslim league.
✓ In March 1937, AICC sanctioned office acceptance overriding objections of Nehru and Congress
Socialist Party. [Gandhiji compromised and endorsed]

Issue of Office Acceptance: March 1937 AICC meeting

❖ It had been a quite debatable issue within the congress. There was a dilemma on whether office acceptance
would lead to co-option by the colonial state or whether ministries could be used to defeat the colonial strategy.
⮚ Argument (Against)
✓ They viewed it as “Cooperation with imperialism”.
✓ Diminish the revolutionary approach of national movement because the constitutional approach will
diminish the issues of freedom, liberty and social justice.
 12

✓ Supported by JL Nehru, SC Bose, NG Ranga, Sahajananda Saraswati.

⮚ Argument (Supportive)
✓ “Not led by council instead will lead the council approach”.
✓ Charm of mass movement has faded so council entry will be of short-term participation.

Rajendra Resolution
❖ The resolution put forward for the “conditional acceptance” of office. Gandhi also accepted.
❖ The Governor will not use special power to intervene in the functioning of ministries.
❖ The time when congress went to form ministries in the majority region, the governor refused to give assurance
on this due to the condition specified by congress.
❖ Government formed interim ministries in these regions (continued only for 6 months because of lack of
majority).
❖ Rajagopalachari and GD Birla, put all their effort to influence Congress Working Committee in favor of Office
acceptance.
❖ Gandhi finally gave a green signal.
Province Congress Prime Minister/Premiers
UP GB Pant
Bihar Krishna Sinha
CP NB Khare
Madras C. Rajagopalachari
Orissa Hare Krishna Mehtab
Bombay BG Kher
NWFP Dr. Khan Saheb
Sind congress supported Ministry of Hidayatullah
Assam Congress Supported Ministry of Gopinath Bordoloi
Bengal Fazlul Haq invited Congress later joined with League
Punjab not dominant to play any role.

Parliamentary Sub-Committee
❖ The Committee acted as central board formed with Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Rajendra
Babu as members.
❖ The primary objective was to counter the acts of Britishers to demolish the provincialization of Congress.
   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 40
World War Dilemma and
Cripps Mission
 2

World War Dilemma and Cripps Mission

28 Months of Congress Rule:
 After the 1937 Election, the congress working committee decided to accept office under the 1935 Act. In July
1937, congress ministries were formed in six provinces and later in the NWFP and Assam.
 These ministries tried their best to improve the condition of the people within the narrow limits of the powers
given to them under the Act of 1935.
 Achievements:
 They set up new standards of honesty and public service. They reduced their own salaries drastically to
Rs. 500 per month. Most of them travelled in the second or third class on the railways. They were easily
accessible to the common people.
 They changed the entire psychological atmosphere in the country. People felt as if they were breathing
the very air of victory.
Work done to ease curbs on Civil Liberties:
 Emergency laws such as Public Safety Acts were repealed.
 The ban on organizations such as Hindu Seva Dal and on some books were lifted.
 Press restrictions were also lifted and newspapers were taken out of the blacklist.
 Police powers were curbed and CID was stopped from shadowing politicians.
 Further, the political prisoners were released.
 Land confiscated during Civil Disobedience in Bombay was restored.
 Pensions of officials associated with civil disobedience were restored. Also returning leaders from political
exile.
Agrarian Reform Failed:
 Agrarian Reforms failed Congress ministries failed to abolish Zamindari and bring any substantial change in
the agrarian structure.
 They failed mainly because of the following constraints:
 Ministers did not have adequate powers.
 Inadequate financial resources.
 Zamindars had to be conciliated and neutralized before bringing any reform.
 Time constraint was also an issue.
Work for peasant protection/welfare:
 Bihar: Tenancy legislation (1937-38), abolished increased rent since 1911. Arrears on rent and rate of interest
were reduced. No illegal charging dues. Landlords share not more than 9/20 of production.
 UP: Tenancy Act 1939 was passed, giving all statutory tenants in Agra and Awadh full right to hold on land.
No arrest on non-payment of rent.
 Orissa: Tenancy Bill did not pass, mention of reduction of zamindari income from 50 to 60%.
 Madras: T. Prakashan Committee was formed which recommended virtual liquidation of the zamindari
system.
 3

 Bombay/CP and NWFP reform extended security of tenure to tenants were carried out.
 Passing of several debtor’s relief act provided regulation on money lender’s business.
 Liberating tied serfs (dublas)
 Abolition of grazing fees
Major Hindrances:
 Ministries did not have enough power and resources.
 Due to constraint of time Ministries could not do much to address the issues.
 There was a growing war possibility during 1938s.
 Also, the Congress runs states dominated by money lenders, capitalists and landlords.
 There was also a complex agrarian structure.
Labour Welfare:
 There was an advance in workers' interests kept in mind while promoting industrial peace.
 Efforts were made in reducing strikes and arbitration before restoring to strikes.
 Worked on the balance between labour and capitalists.
 Efforts were also made for improved conditions and secured wages.
 The Textile Enquiry Committee (Bombay) recommended an increase in wages, implemented.
 Industrial Dispute Act, 1938 passed replaces direct action with negotiations and arbitration.
 Labour Enquiry Committee (Headed by Rajendra Prasad) recommended increase in wages (min. 15 per
month), benefits and recognition of Left-dominated Majdur Sabha.
Wardha Scheme of Basic Education:
 All India National Education Conference (Wardha Educational Conference) held in 1937 and it was
presided by Mahatma Gandhi.
 Self-supporting schemes of Basic education (Nai Talim, Wardha Scheme) were put forward.
 The main objective was to learn through activity and roam near to manual productive work.
 Free and compulsory education in mother tongue for 7 years was promoted.
 Emphasis was given to vocational and manual training, production of handicraft.
 A Basic Education committee under Zakir Hussain was formed
 Introduction of basic craft education through industry and vocation.
 Teacher welfare schemes and promoting self-support to students.
 Non-inclusion of religion education.
 Recommendations were opposed by Muslim league.
Utilization of Office:
 According to the office acceptance strategy congress will promote mass mobilization.
 Organization of committees in villages.
 Setting up of congress grievances committee at district level.
 Congress police station and Panchayat for dispensing justice.
 Mass petitions to officials, States’ Peoples movement and mass literacy campaign were organized.
 4

Negative Aspects of Office Acceptance:

 Congress promoted civil liberties and permitted the organization to grow.
 “The National Front” weekly organ by Communist Party.
 “The Congress Socialist” by the Congress socialist party.
 “Kirti Lehar” by Kirti communists of Punjab. They were brought from Meerut because of the Unionist
Party led by Punjab.
 Civil liberties were taken to promote evolutionary activities in the form of protests.
 Tussle between Congress and Organization.
 The Ministry and Kisan Sabha in Bihar were formed.
 Left also accused the government's handling of peasant issues as depressing.
Challenges:
 Surfacing of party weakness: Personal and ideological strife.
 Indiscipline and corruption: many power-hungry opportunists induced in Congress.
 The Communist Party attacked the Congress and they were critical of the Congress.
 The Tripuri crisis and Bose’s resignation led to further trouble.
Social Welfare Reforms:
 Prohibition on liquor was imposed in certain areas.
 Measures were taken for the welfare of Harijans such as:
 Temple entry, use of public facilities, scholarships.
 Increase their number in public services, etc.
 Health and educational services were improved.
 Khadi was encouraged through subsidies.
 Prison reforms were undertaken.
 In 1938, the National planning Committee was set up under Subhas Chandra Bose.

Extra-Parliamentary work of Congress:

 Launched mass literacy campaign.
 Set up congress police stations and panchayats.
 A Congressional grievance committee was set up to present a mass petition to the Govt.
 People in states were incited.
Weaknesses:
 Factional squabbles within the congress:
 Indiscipline
 Corruption
 Suppression of leftist and use of CID against their leaders. E.g., In Bombay, K.M Munshi (Home minister)
used CID against the leftist.
 5

Evaluation:
 The work done by the congress ministries disapproved the myth that Indians were not fit to rule.
 Also, people were able to perceive how things were going to be after independence.
 Overall, their record was certainly positive. They resigned in October 1939 due to the deadlock created by
WW - II.
Haripura Session, 1938 (58th Session):
 Under the presidency of Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian National Congress (INC) was held at Haripura, Gujarat
in 1938.
 In this session, a resolution was passed:
 A six months ultimatum given to the British Government demanding independence for India, if British
fail then congress should launch an all-out struggle, to throw out the British from India.
 It was in this 1938 Haripura session when the differences between Gandhi and Bose surfaced over their
attitudes towards Great Britain.
Tripuri Crisis:
 In 1939, Subhash Chandra Bose stood again for the presidential race but as a representative of militant and
radical groups.
 This was, however, objected by Patel, Prasad and Kriplani on the ground that the president is the
constitutional head which represents unity of the nation.
 With support of Gandhi, leaders put Pattabhi Sitaramayya as presidential candidate.
 Bose termed leaders who opposed him as “Gandhists” and accused them of compromising to federalism.
 In the same year Bose won election, Gandhi was upset with his ideology and many members resigned
including Congress Working Committee members.
Tripuri Congress Session (near Jabalpur, MP, 1939):
 Govind Ballabh Pant passed a resolution, expressing faith in Gandhi’s leadership and old Congress Working
Committee and asked Bose to nominate his working committee on Gandhi’s recommendation.
 The resolution was passed by a huge majority, Bose resigned and subsequently Congress lost support from
Communist and Congress Socialists.
 Rajendra Prasad was elected as new president.
 Subhash Chandra Bose and his followers founded Forward Block (party) within congress.
 He called for an all India protest for what happened to him. As a result, he was removed as president of
Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and debarred from holding any office of congress for
three years.
Gandhi on Subhash Victory:
 Mahatma Gandhi said,
 “I am glad of his (Subhash’s) victory….and since I was instrumental in inducing Dr. Pattabhi not to
withdraw his name after Maulana Azad Sahib done so, the defeat is more mine than his….”.
 When Bose was asked to form working committee on recommendation of Gandhi
 6

 “…after all Subhash Babu is not the enemy of our country…he has suffered for it”. In His opinion, his is
the most forward and boldest policy and programme….the minority can only wish him all the best…”

Timeline of few important events:

 In 1927, an All-India States People's Conference (AISPC) formed, earlier Praja Mandals on moderate
demands
 Between 1920's and 1930's Congress approach was non-intervention.
 In the 1934 Bombay session, Congress explicitly resolved for non-intervention.
 In 1936, Congress Shift in policy, Nehru at the State People's conference stressed the need for mass
movement.
 In October 1937, Congress decided to provide moral and material support to people’s movement.
 Though Gandhiji was skeptical and cautious, he wanted to review this stand. At 1938 Haripura Session a
resolution was adopted to support the people's movement.
 In February 1939, Nehru accepted the presidentship of All-India States People's Conference (AISPC)
 Escalation started at Mysore, Jaipur, Rajkot, Travancore, Kashmir and Hyderabad.
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (18 April 1936 – 1 October 1943)
 7

 Indian provincial elections (1937)

 Indian entry into World War II (1939)
 Day of Deliverance (1939)
 Formation of All India Forward Bloc (1939)
 Lahore Resolution (1940)
 August Offer (1940)
 Cripps Mission (1942)
 Formation of Indian Legion (1942)
 Quit India Movement (1942)
 Formation of Indian National Army (1942)
 Bengal famine (1943)
Congress and World Affairs (1935-1939):
 By now Congress adopted a foreign policy based on condemning racism and imperialism.
 In the 1930s, Congress opposed imperialism in any part of the world and extended support to national
movements in Asia and Africa.
 Congress opposed fascism, raised in Italy, Germany and Japan.
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) is a regional communist party in India.
 The party was founded on 19 March 1940 by Tridib Chaudhuri and has its roots in the Bengali liberation
movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army.
Congress Ministries and their resignation on the outbreak of war:
 On the dawn of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 WW -II broke out with a German attack on
Poland.
 On 3 September 1939 Britain and France went for Poland’s aid.
 On the same day it was declared by Britain that India is supporting war, to clear the clouds on this in October
1939 ministers resigned office in protest.
 Gandhi considered this as a “bitter pill”.
 This step brought the Left and Right wing of Congress together on the issue of war.
 Also cleaned as the image of congress as power hungry than concern about the freedom of India.
Muslim League Reactions on Resignation of Congress Ministries:
 "Day of Deliverance" (Youm-e-Nijat) was a celebration day marked by the All-India Muslim League and
others on 22 December 1939. It was led by Muslim League president Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and intended to
rejoice the resignation of all members of the rival Congress party from provincial and central offices in protest
over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II alongside Britain.
 In 1938 and 1939, the Muslim League tried to bring light to the grievances of Muslims and Muslim groups in
Indian states run by Congress governments; the effort led to documents like the
 Pirpur Report: In 1938, Muslim sufferings under The Congress rule by A. K. Fazlul Huq and
 Sharif Report (Bihar Province): In 1938, documenting pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim bias under Congress
governments.
 8

 Supporters included the All-India Depressed Classes Association, Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar and the
Independent Labour Party, E. V. Ramasami, as well as some Parsis, and Anglo-Indians.

World War II 1939-45:

 On Sept 1, 1939 Germany attacked Poland and led to the outbreak of World War II.
 Most of the world powers were divided into two factions:
1. Allied Power consisting of the UK, France, USA, Russia and China.
2. Axis powers consisting of Germany, Italy and Japan.
“Man plans but the Success of his plans depend not on him but on the will of providence which is the supreme
arbiter of our destinies.” — M. K. Gandhi
 On 3 September 1939, the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow (1936-43), unilaterally associated India with the
British's declaration of War on Germany, without consulting the leaders of Indian political parties.
 It placed the Indian leaders in a difficult situation.
 The congress had in unequivocal terms condemned Fascism even before 1939 but they were also strongly
opposed to imperialism.
 Hence, it reacted strongly against this one-sided decision of the viceroy.
Congress’s Stand on World War II:
 The congress made it clear to the British government that India was always
willing to help England to the best of her might and ability provided the
latter makes a clear declaration to free India after the War.
 How far was it possible for an enslaved nation to aid others in their fight
for freedom?
 9

 The congress working committee, which met on September 10-14, 1939 at Wardha (Maharashtra) ,
stressed that “the issue of war and peace for India must be decided by the Indian people”.
 Congress’s Demand
 The Indians' cooperation in the war was possible only if two conditions were fulfilled. These were:
 After the war, constituent assembly should be convened to determine the political structure of free India.
 Some form of genuinely responsible Govt should be established at the centre immediately.
Congress Stand at Wardha (September 1939):
 Gandhiji
 His attitude was still that India should not seek her independence out of Britain’s ruin because that
was not the way of non-violence.
 He stood against fascism.
 He wanted to help allied powers against the axis powers but before that India should be given
freedom.
 Nehru
 He believed that justice was on the side of Britain, France and Poland.
 But he was also convinced that Britain, France and Poland were the imperialist powers and the war
was the result of their inner contradictions of capitalism maturing since WW – I.
 He was in favor of no Indian participation till freedom was granted to India. However, he was also
not in favor of mass struggle which could make the situation difficult for Britain.
 Subhash Chandra Bose
 Subhash Chandra Bose opposed the policy of cooperation and believed that Britain’s peril offered a
rare opportunity to India to achieve freedom.
 Both sides were not worth supporting.
 Instead, he insisted to use this opportunity against Britain
 Similar position by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan
Congress Working Commission Resolution at Wardha:
 India could not be a party to war being fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was being denied to
India.
 If Britain was fighting for democracy and freedom, it should prove it by ending imperialism in its colonies and
establishing full democracy in India.
 Government should declare its war aims and also how the principles of democracy were to be applied to India.
Government Response:
 Linlithgow tried to use Muslim League and Princes against the congress.
 He refused to define war aims beyond stating that Britain was resisting aggression.
 He said that the Government would consult representatives of several communities, parties and princes
and modify the GOI Act 1935 accordingly.
 Basically, the Britishers resorted to their old strategy of ‘Divide and Rule’. They had no intention of
loosening their hold in India during or after the war.
 In January 1940, Linlithgow stated that “Dominion status of Westminster type, after the war, is the
goal of British policy in India”.
Congress ministries resigned in Oct, 1939.
 10

 In Jan 1940, Linlithgow stated that “Dominion status of Westminster type, after the war, is the goal of British
policy in India”.
 Jinnah and Muslim League celebrated it as the Day of Deliverance and also received support from B.R.
Ambedkar.
Gandhi’s view of mass struggle:
 Congress was in a dilemma of mass struggle.
 Gandhi’s view on mass struggle
 He was not in favor of the mass struggle because he felt:
 The Allied cause was just.
 Lack of Hindu-Muslim unity could result in communal riots.
 Congress’s organization was weak.
 Masses were not ready.
 Gandhi advocated to strengthen congress’s organization, carrying political work among masses, and resort
to negotiation with Britishers.
 Note: These were the prime reasons why Gandhi later launched Individual satyagraha.
 Muslim League (1940)
 In March at Lahore – The Muslim League float the idea of Two Nation Theory was
 Elevated Muslims from status of ‘Minority’ to Nation. Jinnah became sole spokesperson.
 Grouping Muslims majority states as independent states (area not specified).
 Safeguard rights where Muslims are in minority.
 “Pakistan Resolution” was introduced by Fazlul Haq.
 Leftist
 However, the leftists within the congress led by S.C. Bose was in favor of an all-out mass struggle. They
felt that the masses were ready and were just waiting for the call.
 They accepted the Hindu-Muslim unity factor and weakness of Congress’s organization. But argued that
these would be strengthened only during the course of the movement.

The August Offer (Aug, 8, 1940):

 11

 Hitler’s continuous victories in Europe brought Britain at back foot. To seek India’s cooperation in war efforts
and to end the constitutional deadlock, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow made an offer which is known as ‘August
offer’. The main points of this offer were as below—
a) The Governor-General would invite a certain number of Indian representatives to join his Executive
council to set up a ‘War Advisory Council’.
b) The constitution-making body was to be set up after the war where mainly Indians would decide the
constitution subject to fulfillment of Government of India’s obligation regarding Defence, minority rights,
treaty with states, All India services.
c) It also proposed Dominion Status as the objective for India.
d) The British government would not transfer power to any system of government whose authority would
be denied by a “large and powerful element in India’s national life.” This was, in fact, an assurance to the
Muslim League.
 Congress rejected the ‘August Offer’. Jawaharlal Nehru said that the whole idea of dominion status, on
which the offer was based, was “as dead as a doornail.”
 Muslim league welcomed the veto given to it but reiterated that “it would not be satisfied with anything short
of the partition of India.”
 Significance:
 For the first time, the inherent right of Indians to frame their constitution was recognised.
 Congress’s demand to concede constituent assembly was accepted.
 Dominion status was explicitly offered.
 July 1941
 Viceroy’s executive council was expanded with 8 out of 12 members Indians. However, Britishers
remained in control of Defence, Finance and Home.
 The National Defence Council was set up whose function was purely advisory.
Ramgarh (presently Jharkhand) Session of 1940:
 Maulana Abul Azad declared that “India cannot endure Nazism and Fascism, but she is more tired of
British imperialism”.
 He passed a resolution declaring the need to launch a civil disobedience movement.
 Opposed by a coalition of left-wing groups (Congress socialist, communists and members of Kisan Sabha and
Forward block) all these held an anti-compromise conference at Ramgarh at Subhash Chandra Bose and
resolved to resist any adjustment with imperialism and prepare themselves for struggle.
Individual Satyagraha or Delhi Chalo Movement Oct 1940-41 (Ramgarh Congress- May 1940):
 Unsatisfied with the August offer, the Congress decided to launch Individual Satyagraha.
 Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer the Satyagraha and Nehru, the Second.
 About 25,000 people had gone to Jail by June, 1941.
 The aim was to show that nationalist patience was not due to Weakness and to express
people’s feeling that they made no distinction between Nazism and the double autocracy
that ruled India.
 12

 The demand of Satyagrahis would be freedom of speech against the war through an anti-war declaration. If the
Govt did not arrest them they would move into the villages and start a march towards Delhi. Hence the
movement is also called the Delhi Chalo Movement.
Changing equation of war by 1942:
 Britain was facing back-to-back defeat. Most disastrous defeat of Britain in the entire history of world power.
 On 22nd June 1941, an attack of Germany on Russia took place under Operation Barbarossa.
 On 7th Dec, Japan backed Germany and attacked Pearl Harbour and occupied the South East Asia region
including Philippines, Indonesia, Malay, Burma and Indo-China.
 Gandhi denounced “Asia for Asiatic” slogan of Japanese and asked Indian to denounce Japanese goods.
 In Dec 1941, Congress Working Committee passed a resolution that India would provide full support to Britain
if it agreed to give full independence after the war.
 During this time Gandhi stated that “Not Rajaji (Rajgopalchari) but Jawahar will be my successor…I know
that when I am gone, he will speak my language”.
 In 1941 the Individual Satyagraha eventually called off.
 In 1941, the eight-year-old ban on the communist party of India was revoked on the condition it would support
the government in war.
 On the other hand
 Germany captured most of Europe and attacked the Soviet Union.
 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma
 In March 1942 Japan reached Rangoon.
 Congress leaders were released in December 1941 and they were anxious to
defend India against Japan.
 The Congress Working Committee passes a resolution offering support if
following condition is fulfilled overriding the views of Gandhi and Nehru:
 full independence after war
 substance of power to be transferred immediately.


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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 41
Quit India Movement
 2

Quit India Movement

Cripps Mission (March 1942):

 Sir Stafford Cripps was assigned the duty of winning the cooperation of India and to pacify the Indian
leaders.
 The pressure exerted from the U.S., particularly after Japan attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor,
also had been responsible for this Cripps Mission.
 Sir Stafford Cripps was Chairman Member of the Labour party and Cabinet minister. He Favoured Indian
national Movement.
 Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad were the official negotiators for the congress.
 The important proposals offered by the Cripps were as below:
 Proposals of Interim settlement .
 The responsibility of India’s defence would remain with the British.
 To raise the resources of men, money and material with a view to assisting the British in war would
be the task of the Indian government.
Post- War Proposals:
 India shall be given dominion status. It would be free to decide its relations with the British
commonwealth and free to participate in the United Nations and other international bodies.
 A constitution making body will be created. Members of the Constituent assembly would be partly
elected through proportional representation partly nominated by princes.
 Indian states and provinces were given the right of remaining out of the India union in case they did not
approve of the new constitution.
 The new constitution making body would negotiate a treaty with the British Government to transfer
power and safeguard racial and religious minorities.
 In the meantime, defence of India would remain in British hands and the governor-general’s powers would
remain as it is.
Significance
 Constitution making was now solely in the hands of Indians. (Not ‘mainly Indians’ as in August offer).
 A concrete plan came into being for the formation of constituent assembly.
 Option was made available to provinces to have a separate constitution, thus creating a blueprint for India’s
partition.
 Indians were allowed a large share in the administration in the interim period.
 3

Why did the mission fail?

 Congress’ objections -
 Dominion status instead of complete independence.
 States were to be represented by nominees and not by elected representatives.
 Provinces were given the right to secede.
 No plan for immediate transfer of power.
 No real say in defence matters.
 Governor General’s supremacy was kept intact.
 Muslim League’s objection -
 Opposed the idea of a single Indian Union.
 It did not like the machinery for the creation of constituent assembly and procedure to decide on the
accession of provinces to the union.
 It was thought that the Cripps’ proposal denied the Muslims the right to self-determination.
 Other Groups’ objection
 Liberals considered secession to be against unity and security of India.
 The Hindu Mahasabha criticised the basis of the right to secede.
 Depressed class thought that partition will leave them at the mercy of caste Hindus.
 Sikhs objected that partition would take away Punjab from them.
 Other factors
 Cripps’ rigid “take it or leave it” attitude created a deadlock. Winston Churchill had called him back.
 The procedure of accession was not well defined.
 It was not clear who would implement and interpret the treaty for transfer of power.
 Mahatma Gandhi described the proposal as “Post dated cheque”.
Economic Impact of War:
 Initially it was beneficial.
 Commodity Price rises.
 Beneficial for industrialists, merchants & rich peasants.
 The war took away the bad effect of depression.
 Pressure of rent decreases.
By 1942:
 Scarcity crisis led to:
 Shortfall in rice supply
 Price index for grains rises to 60%
 Reasons for such a crisis were bad seasons, Burmese rice supply stopped, & Stringent
procurement policy.
 Poor were impacted with higher food prices.
 Rich were impacted with excess profit tax and forcible collection of war funds and also there
was a coercive sale of war bonds.
 4

The Quit India Movement (Aug, 1942):

Factors responsible for Quit India Movement:
 The Broke out of the Second World War (September 1, 1939).
 Included great powers and the majority of world countries.
 Viceroy Linlithgow dragged India into the wars without consulting the Indian leaders.
Why a movement now?
 After the failure of the Cripps mission there was a feeling of frustration among all sections of the people.
 The Japanese were virtually knocking at the doors of the country. There were fears of Britain following a
scorched Earth policy in Assam, Bengal and Orissa against the possible Japanese invasion.
 News of reverses suffered by British forces in South-East Asia and an imminent British collapse gave
confidence to the masses to express their discontent.
 The manner in which the British evacuated from South-East Asia leaving subjects to their fate exposed their
racist tendencies. There two roads were provided- Black for Indian refugees and white for Europeans.
 The national leaders were also willing to make the masses ready for the possible Japanese invasion.
 There was huge discontent among the masses because of rising prices and shortage of rice, salt, etc.
 Gandhiji was in a strange and uniquely militant mood.
 5

In May 1942
 He urged the British — “Leave India to God or to anarchy. This orderly disciplined anarchy should go,
and if as a result there is complete lawlessness, I would risk it.”
 Though the need for non-violence was always reiterated, the famous Quit India resolution was passed by
the Bombay session of the AICC on 8 August 1942.

Scorched-earth policy: It is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the
enemy while it is advancing through or withdrawing from a location. ... The practice can be carried out by
the military in enemy territory, or in its own home territory.

8th Aug 1942 at Gowalia Tank, Bombay:

 The All India Congress Committee passed the “Quit India Resolution”.
 It was to be launched under Leadership of Gandhiji.
 It was a part of the Non-violent Mass struggle.
 The meeting also resolved to:
 Demand an immediate end of British rule.
 Declare commitment of free India to defend itself against all types of fascism and imperialism.
 Form a provisional Government of India after British withdrawal.
 Sanction of civil disobedience movement against British rule.
 Gandhi was named the leader of the movement.
 Gandhi famously quoted “The biggest fight in my life”, “a fight to the finish”
 The historic August meeting at Gowalia Tank in Bombay generated popular enthusiasm.
 Gandhiji in his speech said “I am not going to be satisfied with anything short of complete freedom — Here
is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. The Mantra is: Do or Die. You may imprint it on your hearts and let
every breath of yours give expression to it. We shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery.”
 Gandhiji’s speech also contained specific instructions for different sections of the people. Those were:
 Government servants: Do not resign but declare your allegiance to the congress.
 Soldiers: Don’t leave the army but don’t fire upon the compatriots.
 Students: If confident, leave studies.
 Peasants: If zamindars are anti-government, pay mutually agreed rent. If zamindars are pro-
government, they do not pay rent.
 Princes: Support the masses and accept the sovereignty of your people.
 People of Princely states: Support the ruler only if he is anti-government. declare yourself to be a part
of the Indian nation.
 6

 This gave people a “psychological break”.

 Gandhi appealed ‘Everyone should consider themselves as a free man or woman’. And Choose their own
course of action if leaders were arrested.
 Mass Fury or “August Revolution” broke out and by far it was the most serious rebellion since 1857.
There was a violent and totally uncontrolled force
Government Reaction and the Movement:
 Gandhiji and the other prominent Congress leaders were arrested early in the morning of August 9.
 The movement thereafter passed through three phases.
1. During the first phase, there were hartals, boycotts and widespread destruction of the property of
the railways and post and telegraphs. This period of three to four days, also known as “the great
August uprising.”
2. In the second phase of the movement, the focus shifted to the countryside. This phase saw the
mushrooming of a large number of parallel governments lasting for a few days. (In Balia under
Chittu Pandey, Jatiya Sarkar in Midnapur, Prati Sarkar in Satara).
3. The third phase was characterized by revolutionary terrorist activities. The movement went
underground.
 The movement was also characterized as “spontaneous revolution” as no preconceived plan could have
produced such instantaneous and uniform results.
Recent Studies:
 It was not just an impulsive response of an unprepared populace.
 Though such a scale of violence was not premeditated by Congress Leadership.
 Last 2 decades of mass movement, where recently they were on radical tones under leadership of
AITUC, CSP, AIKS, Forward Block.
 Before 9th August Congress leaders drafted 12 Point programmes such as following Gandhian
methods, Industrial strikes, holding up of rail and telegraphs, non-payment of taxes, setting up of
parallel Governments.
 In circulation among Congress volunteers.
 Andhra Provincial Congress Committee.
 Clear instruction for these activities
 Gandhiji was ambivalent and he remarked on 5th August: “I do not ask for my own non-violence. You
can decide what you can do in this struggle”.
 On 8th August he said, “I trust the whole of India to launch upon a non-violent struggle. But even
deviated I shall not swerve. I shall not flinch, Do or Die and make the final sacrifice”.
 7

Three Phases:
1. Urban Revolt: There was an urban revolt such as Strikes, Boycott, picketing, etc.
2. Mid-August
 Countrywide peasant rebellion engaged in destruction of the communication system and attacked the
Government building formation of “National Government”also known as parallel governments..
3. Underground Activities:
 This was undertaken by the Socialists, Forward Bloc members, Gandhi ashramites, revolutionaries in
Bombay, Poona, Satara, Baroda and parts of UP, Bihar, Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra.
 Personalities involved: Ram Manohar Lohiya, Jayprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Usha
Mehta, Biju Patnaik, Chhotubhai Puranik, Achyut Patwardhan, Sucheta Kriplani, and R.P
Goenka.
 Radical group under J.P. Narayan engaged in guerrilla warfare at Indo – Nepal Border.
 Centrist Group under Aruna Asaf Ali (socialist) volunteers for sabotage.
 Sucheta Kripalani (Gandhian Group) but engaged in violent activities and sabotaging the war
communication system.
 Usha Mehta started an underground radio in Bombay.

Parallel Government:
 Many places witnessed temporary seizure of state control and there established a temporary government
often termed as swaraj.
 Ballia (August 1942, UP): first parallel government under Chittu Pandey (Sher-e-Ballia). He also
helped many congressmen to come out of jail.
 Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal): Jatiya Sarkar established under Satish Samant. Set up own department
of law and order, health, education, Agriculture etc. Contributing towards relief work, arbitration work
and forming armed Vidyut Vahini.
 Satara Maharashtra: formed the longest lasting parallel Government. “Prati Sarkar '' under Nana
Patil. Setup of Nyayadan Mandals (people’s court), set up village libraries and organised Gandhi
Marriage (allowed no ostentation, invited the untouchables etc.). Supported from the ruler of Aundh (a
Gandhian), a constitution framed by Gandhi. Prati Sarkar lasted till 1945.
 Talcher: Laxman Nayak important tribal and rebel leader of this region.
 Parallel governments were also established at Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Monghyr, Muzaffarpur.
Mass Participation:
 Youth: They remained in the forefront of this movement.
 Women: Included those like Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kriplani and Usha Mehta.
 Workers: They went on strikes and faced severe repression.
 Peasants: They formed the heart of the movement. Some zamindars also participated. This time the peasants
were against the authority and there was complete absence of anti-zamindar violence.
 8

 Government Officials: Participation was huge especially from those belonging to lower levels in police and
administration. This completely eroded Government loyalty.
 Muslims: They gave shelters to underground activists. No communal clashes were seen during the
movement.
 Princely states: Response was mild.
Reaction from Various Ends:
 Achyut Patwardhan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Sucheta Kriplani and Biju Patnaik
were the prominent leaders.
 The British put down the movement with ruthless brutality and the Congress was banned.
 The communists did not support the congress policy.
 The Hindu Mahasabha also repudiated the Congress policy.
 The Muslim League, too, called upon the Muslims to abstain from any participation in the movement.
 Main Storm Centres of the movement were eastern UP, Bihar, Midnapur, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Punjab and N.W.F.P were unusually quiet. The movement was relatively weak in Madras presidency,
except for scattered pockets like Guntur, coastal Andhra, Coimbatore and Ramnad. Among the big states,
Only Mysore was seriously affected.
 In one sense the movement of 1942 marked the culmination of the Indian Freedom Movement.
 The fire of this movement burnt all the talks of Dominion status into ashes, India now wanted nothing less
than complete independence.
 By the end of 1942, the August Revolution thoroughly crushed 92,000 people arrested by 1943.
Bihar:
 The most powerful movement as per recent studies was seen in Bihar.
 Kisan Sabha did the preparatory work at Patna.
 Students mobilized a rally at the secretariat and tried hoisting a flag at the assembly.
 Masses burnt railway stations, municipal buildings, post offices, etc.
 The local police seemed powerless and the army called on 12th August.
 Jamshedpur
 Strikes in Local constabulary. Also, 30,000 workers of TISCO participated in the strikes.
 Dalmia Nagar labour strikes were evident.
 Peasant Revolts broke out in every district.
 Students and Zamindars and merchants also supported the movement by supplying funds.
 Attacked and looted treasury buildings and Railway stations.
 Killed unarmed European officers in Public.
 Isolated police thanas were taken over and destroyed.
 Participation from all castes including the lower caste were evident.
 A Parallel Government set up at Barh by Gops & Dusadhs and announced their own Raj and levied
taxes.
 9

Ruthless suppression by Army:

 Army was given freehand and they resorted to activities like torture and burning down entire village.
 Underground movement sprang up, initially supported by the Congress Socialist Party.
 In 1943 Azad dastas or guerrilla bands were formed.
 Later, they got involved with dacoits, social crimes.
 Raids on ammunition depots, treasuries and Government offices.
 Movement was finally suppressed in 1944.
UP:
 Balia and BHU Students
 People attacked and looted rail stations and military supply trains.
 Took over thana and tehsil building and officers offered no resistance.
 Local Congress leaders established a parallel government.
 Chitty Pandey released the Gandhian leader, took control.
 Azamgarh and Ghazipur
 Arrival of BHU students mobilized peasants
 They destroyed rail tracks, stations, etc.
 Burn papers in Courts
Bengal:
 Mobilised by Kisan Sabhas and Forward Bloc
 Strongest protest was seen in this part of the country.
 Attacks on a police station by a 10-20 thousand crowd.
 Soon the British administration collapsed and the army called in.
 During this time Bengal was affected by the tidal wave and Cyclone, nearly 15 thousand died but the
local district Officer refused to help.
 Coastal areas of Medinapur
 Government destroyed 18,000 boats under the Denial Policy.
 It affected communication and it also impacted the economy.
 There was Price rise and Stringent procurement policy.
 Organized relief work was done.
 Settled 1600 cases in arbitration.
 Ran civil administration.
 Clashed with zamindars, merchants and officials.
 Bidyut Bahani trained volunteer corps.
 Bhagini Sena women’s volunteer corps.
 Biplabi was their Mouthpiece.
 10

 Parallel National Government

 Contai (Swaraj Panchayat).
 Tamluk (Tamralipta Jatiyo Sarkar).
Orissa:
 Malkangiri and Nabrangpur
 Laxman Naik assembled tribal and non-tribal peasants.
 They attacked liquor and opium shops.
 They declared that Gandhi raj has started.
 No payment of forest dues.
 Talcher (Princely State)
 It was led by Praja Mandal.
 They established “Chasi Mulia Raj”, a popular peasant utopia.
 Food, shelter and clothes for everyone.
 It became very popular and people from all directions flocked in to destroy Raj.
 Machine guns from RAF planes fell in May 1943.
 Rumors of “impending doom” ultimately inspired peasants
 Rescued prisoners attacked symbols of colonial authority.
 Stopped the police with uniform.
 Imposed chowkidar tax.
 They attacked zamindari cutcherries.
 Also, extorted paddy from the money lender.
 Princely state of Nilgiri & Dhanekal
 Tribal and Dalit peasants violated forest laws and were mobilized by Praja Mandal leaders.
Gandhi on Violence:
 Gandhi held the Government responsible for violence.
 In February 1943, he started fasting for 21 days at Aga Khan Palace Poona and it was directed against the
violence of the state.
 It gave a new sense of pride and confidence to the masses.
 Protests were organized and the activities were largely confined to hartals, strikes and demonstrations.
 Indian members of Viceroy’s council (MS Aney, NR Sarkar and HP Mody) who earlier supported the
repression of 1942 now resigned.
 People began demanding his release.
 Public morale was raised and anti-British feeling heightened.
 The high handedness of the government was exposed.
 On March 23, 1943, Pakistan Day was observed and their slogan was “Divide and Quit”.
 11

Famine (man-made) of 1943:

 Famine (man-made) of 1943 accompanied by epidemics, malnutrition and starvation). SW Bengal
was worst affected. (1.5-3 mn people died because:
 Food stuffs were diverted for the army.
 Rice imports from Burma and SE Asia were stopped.
 There was gross mismanagement and deliberate profiteering.
 rationing belated and confined to big cities.

Western India (Maharashtra):

 Satara Prati Sarkar out of bases created by non-Brahmin organization [Feb – Jun 1943]
 Elaborate organization structure and Nana Patil (known as Krantisinh).
 Seba dal (Volunteer corps) were formed.
 Tufan (village units) were formed.
 The establishment of People’s court took place known as Nyayadan mandals, supported by Congress
Socialist Party.
 Constructive programmes were organized.
 Armed Sabotage activity continued.
 Fought against local dacoits
 In August 1944, Gandhiji gave a call for surrender.
 They defied and continued with ‘Do or Die’ till election 1946.
 Ahmedabad and Baroda:
 Labour strikes
 Hartals
 Rioting
 Parallel Government – “Azad Government”
 Supported by Industrialists.
 3-5 months Industrial strikes on political demands and not for wages.
 “No revenue campaign” was not done to avoid confiscation of property.
Madras Presidencies:
 Responses were fairly moderate because C. Rajagopalachari opposed the movements.
 The presence of Socialists was absent.
 Strength of Constitutionalism.
 Opposition of Kerala Communists.
 Indifferences of Non-Brahmins.
 Southern challenges to the political campaign dominated the North.
 12

Government Actions:
 The government resorted to massive suppression and it was most brutal.
 Bomb, Machine guns, Tear gas, Wartime emergency powers and Army 57 Battalion were used to
suppress the movement.
 There were Military rule at various places.
 More than 10000 died and the Government succeeded in suppressing the movement.
 Thereafter no revolt till 1945 and created a political vacuum.
 By the end of 1942 August Revolution was crushed and 93,000 arrested by 1943.
Opposition to the Movement
 Muslim League:
 They did not approve of the campaign.
 Muslims stood aloof from the movement.
 But this opposition was not universal and active.
 There were no communal clashes.
 B.R. Ambedkar:
 He joined Viceroy’s executive council as a Labour member.
 He did not support the movement.
 There is evidence of Dalits participation and cross caste unity.
 Hindu Mahasabha:
 Condemned the movement and viewed it as ‘sterile, unjust and injurious to the Hindu cause’
o V.D. Savarkar, B.S. Munje, S.P. Mukherjee supported Britain war efforts, and RSS remained aloof
as well.
o N.C. Chatterjee supported the Quit India Movement and led to a vague official resolution.
 CPI:
 Soviet Russia joined in December 1941.
 Supported the British against ‘People’s war’.
 Despite this official stand many individual leaders joined the Quit India Movement.
 Trade union and Kisan Sabhas controlled by communists.
 Started losing their popularity.
Aftermath of the QIM – Congress drifted towards Constitutionalism
 Lessons for British
1. Difficult to tackle such mass movement without wartime emergency powers.
2. Keeping India by force was a very costly affair and readiness for negotiation and Orderly withdrawal.
3. Importance of Congress grew among the masses and also in the larger political spectrum.

 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 42
Transfer of Power and INA
 2

Transfer of Power and INA

Subhash Chandra Bose and INA:
❖ Subhash Chandra Bose was born in 1897, cuttack Bengal.
❖ In 1919, he graduated from Calcutta university.
❖ In 1920, he cleared the prestigious ICS examination with 4th position.
❖ In 1921, he resigned from ICS and Joined INC under the influence of C.R Das (his political guru) and M.K
Gandhi then in 1923 he became mayor of Calcutta.
❖ He Favoured labourers, women and dalit and he was supported by Rabindranath Tagore who called him
“Deshnayak”.
❖ In 1928, he opposed the Dominion status demanded in the Nehru Report.
❖ In 1938, he became president of INC at the Haripura session.
❖ In 1939, he became President of INC at the Tripuri session by defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya, afterwards
he resigned from Presidentship of INC and founded Forward bloc.
❖ In 1940, Subhash Chandra Bose was placed under house arrest.
❖ In 1941, he reached Peshawar under the pseudonym Ziauddin, helped by Bhagat Ram, from there he went
to Kabul, after Kabu he went to Russia and from Russia he went Germany to meet Hitler under the
pseudonym Orlando Mazzotta and with the help of Hitler he founded ‘Freedom Army’ (Mukti Sena)
consisting of prisoners of war of Indian origin captured by Germany and Italy. Here he was called ‘Netaji’ and
he gave the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ from free India centre, Germany.
❖ All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction
within the Indian National Congress in 1939, and it was led by Subhas Chandra Bose.
❖ The Forward Bloc of the Indian National Congress was formed on May 3, 1939 by Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose in Makur Unnao, of Uttar Pradesh, who had resigned from the presidency of the Indian National
Congress on 29 April after being outmanoeuvred by Gandhi.
❖ Initially the aim of the Forward Bloc was to rally all the leftwing sections within the Congress and develop
an alternative leadership inside the Congress and Bose became the president of the Forward Bloc and S.S.
Kavishar is its vice-president. A Forward Bloc Conference was held in Bombay at the end of June. At that
conference the constitution and programme of the Forward Bloc were approved.
❖ In August, the same year Bose began publishing a newspaper titled Forward Bloc. He travelled around the
country, rallying support for his new political project.
❖ In 1942, he met Rash Behari Bose at Tokyo and announced the formation of Azad Hind Fauz and the
Indian Independence league.
❖ In July 1943, under the pseudonym Abid Hussain met Japanese PM Tojo. Took the command of INA from
Rash Behari Bose.
❖ In Oct 1943, he formed the provincial Govt for free India at Singapore. Recognised by many countries H.C
Chatterjee- Finance portfolio, Lakshmi Swaminathan- Women Department, M.A Aiyer- Broadcasting and
gave the slogan -“Give me blood , I will give you freedom.”
 3

❖ In Nov 1943, he got Andaman Nicobar from the Japanese Army and renamed it to Shaheed and Swaraj
Dweep.
❖ In 1944, he addressed Gandhi as Father of Nation (first person to call him so) from Azad Hind Radio.
❖ In 1945, INA surrendered with the surrender of Japan.
❖ On Aug 18, 1945, Subash Chandra Bose died mysteriously in a plane crash in Taiwan.
❖ During the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalists,
who were feeling helpless and frustrated.

Indian National Army:

❖ He Formed “Azad Hind Fauj” in Singapore, to conduct military attack against the British and it was
Assisted by Rash Behari Bose.
❖ The organisation of INA was started by Mohan Singh in Malaya.
❖ Giani Pritam Singh and Japanese army officer Major Fujiwara encouraged Mohan Singh. Consists of:
➢ Captured soldiers
➢ Indian residents
❖ Subhash Chandra Bose became Netaji and gave the slogan of “JAI HIND.” He was proclaimed
Provisional Govt of Free India.
❖ INA joined the Japanese army in the Burma invasion.
❖ A women regiment called Rani Jhansi regiment was also formed.
❖ With the slogan of Chalo dilli they crossed the Indo Burma border and the Commander was Shahnawaz they
checked at Imphal.
❖ However discriminatory treatment by Japan like denial of arms and being made to do menial jobs demoralised
the INA units and Japan lost in 1944-45.
❖ INA was defeated and captured.

First phase of INA:

❖ Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauz) formed by Indian nationalists in Southeast Asia during WW2.
❖ The idea was conceived by Captain Mohan Singh supported by Giani Pritam Singh and Major Fujiwara.
❖ Fall of Singapore happened soon which led to Indian soldiers surrendering and handed over to Mohan Singh.
❖ First INA consisted of POWs aiming for India’s independence.
❖ INA got support and formed local leagues in Malay.

Second Phase of INA:

❖ It Signifies the arrival of SC Bose in Singapore and the revival of INA. (July 1943).
❖ On 5 July 1943 Raas Behari handed leadership to SC Bose and called by title “Netaji”

Role of Ras Bihari Bose in INA:

❖ He has been living in self-exile in Japan since WWI and mobilised Indians for armed struggle against
english.
 4

❖ In 1942, he conveyed a conference in Tokyo to Indians living in Malay to Burma and formed the “Indian
Independence League” also known as Bangkok Conference. It elected Rash Behari as president and resolved
to raise the INA.
❖ Mohan Singh was chosen as commander of INA and Subash invited to lead INA.

SC Bose and Germany Connection:

❖ In 1941 Bose with the support of Hitler formed Free India Radio in Berlin and Free India Legion (POW).
❖ Free Indian Legion also known as “Mukti Sena”, “Freedom Army”, “Indische Legion” and “Tiger Legion”.
❖ HQ is located at Dresden.

Bose, INA and its functions:

❖ Subhash Chandra Bose Set up 2 HQ at Singa. & Rangoon.
❖ In 1943 he set up a provisional government of free India (Azad Hind Sarkar), which declared war on the
Allies and recognised the Axis.
❖ The Japanese handed the administration of Andaman & Nicobar to Bose. visited Shaheed dweep and
Swaraj Dweep.
❖ He Formed Azad Hind Bank in 1944. (Rangoon)
❖ SC Bose became the first person to declare Gandhi as father of Nation.
❖ He Raised fighting brigades Azad, Gandhi, Nehru, Subash and Rani jhansi brigade (women).
❖ It held regular broadcasts from Azad Hind Radio.

Ideological Differences b/w Gandhi and Bose:

❖ Non-Violence: Gandhi was a staunch believer of Ahimsa and Satyagraha. He believed that an unarmed
mass had a little chance in succeeding in an armed rebellion. He considered violence as a weapon which creates
more problems than it solves and leaves behind Hatred and bitterness.
❖ Bose on the other hand believed that Gandhi’s strategy of nonviolence to be inadequate to secure India’s
freedom. He considered the civil disobedience movement to be important in paralysing the administration
but thought it important to be complemented by a total revolution which also included violence.
❖ Means and End: For Bose, the end was more important than the means. During WWII, he advocated for
seizing whatever opportunity was available to take advantage of the weakness of the Britishers. He did not
hesitate to take help from Nazis or the Fascists and later imperial japan.
❖ For Gandhi, means was equally important as goal. He had deep disliking for the ideologies of Nazis and
Fascists and never thought of taking their help to oust Britishers from India.
❖ Note: Bose admired the discipline of Nazis and Fascists but never supported their ideologies. He was against
the Fascist theory of racial superiority and their acceptance of capitalism. He just wanted to use Fascists and
Nazis against the Britishers.
❖ Form of Government: Bose believed that a democratic system in India would not be adequate to weed
out poverty and social inequality. In 1944, Bose in his speech at Tokyo university said “You cannot have a
so-called democratic system , if that system has to put through economic reforms on a socialist basis. Therefore
we must have a political system a state- of an authoritarian character.”
 5

❖ Also when Bose proclaimed the provisional Govt in 1943 he designated himself as Supreme Commander
of Indian National Army and also named himself as the head of the state, Prime minister and minister of war
and foreign affairs. He anticipated the position of Head of the state in Independent India. This according to
some scholars shows an authoritarian streak in Bose.
❖ In Bose’s opinion the political system of India should be a synthesis of Socialism and Fascism. He wanted
to incorporate the justice and equality of socialism with the discipline of Fascism.” He called this Samyavada.
❖ However Bose was not a Fascist. He stood firm for women empowerment, secularism and other liberal
ideas.
❖ Gandhi’s idea of state can be found in his book Hind Swaraj. He idealised his state as Ramrajya i.e utopia.
His state did not need any representative government, a constitution, army or police force. The idea of India
was modelled on the India of the past which is free of Capitalism, communism, exploitation and religious
violence. Gandhi’s Swaraj laid emphasis on self-government through individual and community
building.
❖ At individual level Gandhi’s swaraj was concerned with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment,
ceaseless self-purification and growing self reliance.
❖ Gandhi was not in favour of the Party System. He believed that the representative government could not
provide justice. He advocated a stateless society.
❖ Gandhi was opposed to centralisation. He believed in decentralisation- both economic and political.
❖ He imagined the society as composed of a large number of Village Republics. He imagined the village as a
basic unit and the people living there always abiding by the ideas of truth and non-violence.
❖ His idea of a village republic was basically a self-sufficient Panchayat to be governed by a group of 5
people elected annually.
❖ Militarism: Bose was deeply attracted to militarism and military discipline while Gandhi’s Ramrajya
had no place for militarism. It was to be based on Truth and Non-Violence. According to Gandhi, the military
has to be used only in a limited manner and only for the Self-Defence.
❖ Gandhi wanted revival of ancient villages in which agriculture prospered and industry was
decentralised. He never favoured large scale industrialisation.
❖ Gandhi believed that the capitalists who had earned a lot of wealth must share it with the entire society and
spend it on the welfare of people.
❖ For Bose on the other hand, economic freedom was the essence of Social and Political freedom.
❖ He favoured modernisation through industrialisation. Bose was impressed by the success of the Soviet
Union and believed socialism to be the basis of national reconstruction.
❖ Bose categorised industry into Heavy, medium and cottage industry. Heavy industry was to form the
backbone of the national economy.
❖ Caste and Untouchability: Gandhi had mainly three goals for society:
➢ Eradicating untouchability.
➢ Maintaining the Varna System.
➢ Strengthening tolerance, modesty and religiosity.
 6

❖ Gandhi found untouchability incompatible with swaraj and advocated for its eradication. He said that if
any Shastra propounded untouchability that shastra should be abandoned.
❖ However, Gandhi supported the Varna System. He believed that the laws of the caste were eternal and were
based on social harmony. He imagined each village of India to be divided into four Varna Systems with every
member of society doing his/her duty.
❖ Bose on the other hand wanted a socialist revolution that would bring about an end to the caste system.
In its place would come an egalitarian, casteless and classless society.

Women:
❖ Gandhi’s View: Gandhi not only brought women into the struggle for swaraj but also opposed various
social ills affecting women like Child Marriages, Dowry System, and Female infanticide and Treatment of
Widows.
❖ He declared men and women to be equal.
❖ However when it comes to roles of men and women Gandhi would be regarded as Patriarch and Traditional.
❖ In 1937 he wrote, “I do believe that women will not make a contribution to the world by mimicking or running
a race with men. She can run the race but she will not rise to great heights by mimicking the man. She has to
be the complement of man”
❖ Gandhi considered women to be the presiding deities of home. It was their dharma to take care of the home.
Gandhi said, “If women don’t follow their Dharma, People would be totally destroyed”.
❖ It is to be noted that Gandhi also said that Dharma did not imply brutish behaviour from men treating
women as a personal possession. Women should not tolerate ill-treatment from their husbands. But he didn’t
ask women to walk out of their homes and launch agitation against the abuse. He said that women should not
look at men for their protection. They must rely on their own strength.
❖ According to British historian Judith Brown Gandhi’s view on women does not represent the ‘Modern
women’ who aspire to be free- socially, economically and physically. She said that Gandhi preached the
female virtues of bravery and independence, and a capacity to bear suffering. The model he offered to Indian
women was a virtuous and faithful wife.
❖ Bose’s view: Bose considered women equal to men. This view is opposite to fascists and Nazis who
considered men as superior. In his Presidential address at the Maharashtra Provincial Conference in 1928 he
declared “The status of women should be raised and the women should be trained to take larger and more
intelligent roles. it is impossible for one half of the nation to win freedom without active participation of the
other half. ”
❖ In 1938, When he was Congress President (Haripura session), he formed a separate planning
commission for women. The commission was chaired by Rani Lakshmi Bai Rajawade.
❖ In 1943, he called women to serve in the INA and formed Rani Jhansi Regiment Commanded by Cpt Lakshmi
Swaminathan. They were neither discriminated against nor given special treatment as compared to men.
❖ Bose believed in Female emancipation. He wanted women to get all-round education which includes not
only literacy but also physical and vocational training.
 7

Education:
❖ Gandhi opposed the English system of education and use of English as a medium of instruction. He
advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls b/w 7-14 years of age in Vernacular.
❖ Gandhi’s concept of education was not merely imparting literacy. It took a holistic approach covering
physical training, imparting moral principles and personality development.
❖ According to Gandhi, “Literacy in itself is no education”.
❖ Gandhi believed that the purpose of education is not just to make a career and achieve social status. For
him education was a means to enlightenment. He wanted to incorporate Hindu Literature in the education
system as they inculcate discipline and self-restraint.
❖ He conceived the idea of Nai Talim in 1937. Its aim was to impart education which would lead to freedom
from ignorance, illiteracy, superstitions, etc The aim was holistic training of mind and body. Along with
academics, Nai Talim included manual labour, Handicrafts, art and drawing.
❖ Gandhi imagined self-sufficient villages. So wanted the education system to increase the efficiency of
students to take up tasks in those villages in order to make it self sufficient.

Bose’s View:
❖ Bose advocated higher education especially in technical and scientific fields as he visualised an Industrial
India.
❖ He said, “National Reconstruction is possible only with the aid of science and our scientists”.
❖ He wanted Indian students to be sent abroad so that when they return they can take up the task of
Industrialisation of India.

INA Surrender:-
❖ 20000 soldiers interrogated & sent back to India.

Classification
❖ White
➢ Persuaded to misled.
❖ Greys
➢ Released or rehabilitated in Army.
❖ Blacks
➢ To be court martialed.
➢ 10 trials took place.
❖ On 5th Nov 1st trial continued for 2 months.
❖ Mass upheaval took place on this day.
❖ All political parties including Muslim league demanded release.
❖ Communal harmony started then after.
❖ Protest meetings – INA easily got funded and closed shop Violence which led to riots (exp. Calcutta)
❖ American & British establishments attacked.
❖ Students and tax drivers and tramway labourers participated.
 8

❖ It was Similar in Karachi, Patna, Bombay all over. But revenue happened.
❖ Press censorship lifted – INA campaign reached public
❖ Demand for release took place.
❖ Congress leaders just released took the cause and became part of election campaign
❖ Subhash – martyred patriot, Political mobilisation
❖ The 1945 AICC meeting decided to define misguided patriots. Defence committee was formed.

INA Surrender:
❖ On 3 Jan 1946 – CIC remitted their sentence and set them free.All three came out of led fall as
heroes..Celebrated.Hear dissension in army and country.
❖ Another Trial – Captain Abdur Rashid Wanted Muslim League to defend him and not Congres Sentenced to 7
year rigorous punishment Sparked agitation in Calcutta again and other parts of the country.

Impacted Loyalty of Army:

RIAF
❖ Donated money
❖ Attended protest rallies in Uniform
❖ On Jan 1946 strike for various grievances
RIN MUTINY 1946
❖ In other words, for Congress the days of struggle were over; it was now looking forward to its new career as
the ruling party. For, after the war it was clear to everyone that the British would like to hand over power to
Indians sooner rather than later. Leaders like Nehru were anticipating in late 1945 that “Britain would leave
India within two or five years”. So it was time to negotiate for a peaceful transfer of power.
INA Trial:
❖ When the government announced their decision to prosecute some of the INA officers for treason, there was a
wave of nationalist protest.
❖ The government decided to put three main officers of INA – Shahnawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon on trial in November, 1945. They were tried in the historic hall of Delhi’s Red Fort.
❖ Bhulabhai Desai, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Kailashnath Katzu and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Asaf Ali acting as
defence counsels did their best to defend them.
❖ INA relief and enquiry committee was set up which distributed small sums of money and helped arrange
employment for the affected.The agitation for the release of INA prisoners was unprecedented and wide scale.
❖ It saw the extensive use of press and pamphlets to spread the message and garner support.
❖ INA Day was celebrated on 12 Nov and INA week from 5-11 Nov. Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, towns
of UP, and Punjab were the nerve centre of the movement. It even spread to Assam and Baluchistan.
❖ Form of agitation: Boycott, Fund collection, organising All India Kisan conference and All India Women’s
conference demanding release of prisoners.
❖ Supported by: Congress, Muslim League, Communist Party, Unionists, Akalis, Justice Party, RSS, Hindu
Mahasabha , Sikh league and others.
 9

❖ Even the members of armed forces supported the movement and attended meetings demanding release of
prisoners.
❖ Gandhiji called him as “Prince among patriots”
❖ Three major struggles took place in the winter of 1945-46 which changed the course of India’s freedom
struggle. These were:
➢ Nov, 1945 : In calcutta over INA trials.
➢ Feb, 1946 : In calcutta against seven year sentence to INA officer Rashid Ali.
➢ Feb, 1946 : Royal Indian Navy (RIN) mutiny in Bombay

R.I.N Mutiny (1946):

❖ On 18-23 February, 1946, a section of Indians serving in the royal Indian Navy mutinied in Bombay. It was
one of the most truly heroic, if also largely forgotten, episodes in the freedom struggle. They mutinied in
protest against racial discrimination. On 18 February, 1100 ratings in the Signals training establishment Talwar
went on hunger-Strike.

Reasons for strike :

❖ Racial discrimination- They demanded equal pay for Indian and European soldiers.
❖ Bad food.
❖ Abuse by superior officers.
❖ Arrest of ratings for inscribing ‘Quit India’ on HMIS Talwar.

INA Trials:
❖ Use of Indian troops in Indonesia, demanding their withdrawal.
❖ The rebellious ratings hoisted the tricolour, crescent and the hammer and sickle flags on the mast of the rebel
fleet. The strike call in Bombay was given by CPI and was supported by the congress socialists like Aruna
Asaf Ali and Achyut patwardhan. Both congress and league opposed. It was largely due to the efforts of
Vallabhbhai patel (and Jinnah) that the ratings surrendered.
❖ This was not much supported by Gandhiji and Muslim league
❖ The revolt of the Indian Naval ratings at Bombay, widespread discontent and strikes in the Indian Air Force, a
strike by the Indian signal corps at Jabalpur, had all proved that the nation was no longer in a mood to be
satisfied with vague promises.
❖ Sympathetic military strikes were organised in Karachi, Madras, Visakhapatnam, Calcutta, Delhi, Cochin,
Jamnagar, Andaman, Bahrain and Aden.
❖ However the movement was short-lived. Maratha battalion from bombay was called in. The ratings were
rounded up and the normalcy was restored.
❖ Note: RIN mutiny remained confined only to the urban centres while INA agitation reached the remotest
village.
❖ The official enquiry revealed that “majority of rating were politically concious”+influenced by INA.

Significance of these uprisings:

❖ Revolt in the armed forces had a liberating effect on the minds of people.
 10

❖ It was seen as the last nail in the coffin - marking the end of British imperialism in India.
❖ These uprisings compelled the British to give some concessions which included:
➢ The Government announced that only those INA members accused of murder or brutal treatment of fellow
prisoners would be brought to trial.
➢ Imprisonment sentences passed against the first batch were remitted in jan 1947.
➢ Decision was taken to send a cabinet mission to India
❖ Communal unity was witnessed during the movement. Muslim ratings went to the league and rest to congress
and socialists to seek advice.
❖ These upsurges were in the nature of direct and violent conflict with the authority. Thus only more militant
sections could participate.

Why the Congress and the Nationalist leaders did not extended their support to the uprisings?
❖ These uprisings could have gone out of control.
❖ Disciplined armed forces were vital in free India. Congress and Gandhi did not want to set any bad precedent
on which future mutiny in armed forces could be justified.
❖ It is also claimed that had the congress leader surrendered to the power play, a different path to the power play
could have emerged.
❖ These uprisings were significantly different from earlier national movements. They were violent and directly
challenged the authority while earlier movements were peaceful.
❖ Negotiation was an integral part of congress strategy, especially when Britishers were about to leave.

Solution A:
❖ Tebhaga means in 3 parts in 1946 the sharecroppers of Bengal began to assert that they would no longer pay a
half share of their crops to Jotedars but only 1/3rd and that before division.
❖ The crop would be stored in their khamars (Godowns) and not that of the Jotedars.

Muslim League:
❖ It lost to communalism.
❖ It Propagating “Two nation theory”
❖ It became strong during WWII.
❖ The Muslim base grew a lot.
❖ During 1946 elections- >85% votes of muslims.

British determined to leave India:

❖ It changes geopolitics.
❖ Due to continuous protests against the government and events like the INA and RIN mutiny.
❖ Change of power in Britain…Labour govt.

Transfer of Power:
❖ In 1944 CR FORMULA Gandhi Jinnah spoke.
❖ In 1945 Desai Liaquat pact and Wavell Plan at Shimla conference.
 11

❖ 1946 Cabinet mission.

❖ Interim government 1946-47.
❖ Constituent Assembly 1946-50.
❖ Mountbatten Plan in 1947.

RajaGopalachari Formula (1944):

❖ Muslim league to endorse congress demand for independence.
❖ He wanted the league to cooperate in forming a provisional Govt at the centre.
❖ A post-war commission to demarcate contiguous districts in N.W. and N.E. India where Muslims had an
absolute majority.
❖ Plebiscite of all inhabitants in such areas to decide whether they would prefer a separate Pakistan.
❖ Mutual agreement in case of separation to run certain essential common services like defence or
communication. And, implementation of the whole scheme only after full transfer of power by the British.
❖ Jinnah attacked the formula as offering only “a Shadow and a husk, a maimed, mutilated and moth-
eaten Pakistan.”
❖ He wanted only the Muslims of North-West and North-East to vote in the plebiscite and not the entire
population. He also opposed the idea of a common centre.
❖ Gandhi supported the formula.
❖ VD Savarkar opposed this formula.

Desai Liaquat Pact 1945:

❖ Bhulabhai Jivanji Desai and Liaqat Ali khan Nomination of equal members in central executive by congress
and league.
➢ 20% reserved seats for minorities.
➢ Not recognised by both parties.

Wavell Plan (June, 1945):

Churchill in June 1945 permitted Wavell to start negotiations with Indian leaders. On 14 June, Wavell ordered the
release of all congress working committee members and proposed a plan:-

Viceroy’s Executive Council:

❖ It would be immediately reconstituted and the number of its members would be increased.
❖ There is an equal representation of high class Hindus and the Muslims.
❖ Other minorities including low-caste Hindus, Dalits and Sikhs would be given representation.
❖ All the members of the Council, except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief would be Indians.
❖ GG to exercise veto on advice of ministers
❖ restructured council to work as interim govt within 1935 Act framework.
❖ Joint list to be submitted to the viceroy by the representatives of different parties for nomination to the
executive council if possible. Else separate list to be submitted.
❖ An Indian would be appointed as the member of Foreign Affairs in the Council. However, a British
Commissioner would be appointed to look after the matters relating to the trade.
 12

❖ Defence of India was to be in the hands of a British authority till Power was transferred.
❖ The executive would work within the existing constitution, but the door would be kept open for discussion on
a new constitution once the war had been finally won.

Why did the plan fail?

League’s Reservations:
❖ The league wanted all the muslim members to be league nominees. The League had a fear that since the aims
of other minorities (depressed class, sikhs, christians, etc) were the same as those of Congress , this
arrangement would reduce the league to one-third minority.
❖ Wavell wanted Khizr Hyatt Khan as the Muslim representative from western Punjab which was not acceptable
to the league.
❖ The League also wanted some kind of veto in the council with a decision opposed to muslims needing a two-
third approval.
Congress’ Reservations:
❖ Congress objected the plan as an attempt to reduce the congress to the status of a purely
❖ caste Hindu party. It insisted on its right to include members of all communities among its
❖ nominees.
❖ Also Wavell announced the breakdown of the talk thus giving the league a virtual veto.

Simla Conference (25 June – 14 July 1945):

❖ Abul Kalam Azad represented the congress at the Simla conference. The congress was not in favour of
accepting the congress as a purely caste Hindu party and insisted on its right to include members of all
communities among its nominees for the Executive.
❖ But, Jinnah sabotaged the conference by objecting to the inclusion of any non-league Muslims in the Executive
council, with the claim that the Muslim league was the sole representative of Indian Muslims.
❖ Wavell announced a breakdown of talks. Wavell in effect gave Jinnah the veto he was asking for, as no attempt
was made to call the League’s bluff and go ahead with forming an Executive excluding it if necessary.

Plan failed!
❖ Muslim league declared that only the league will speak for Indian Mislims and demanded a communal veto by
the league.
❖ Change in British Attitude towards India The attitude of the British government towards the Indian
national movement underwent a significant change after World War II. In General elections held in
England, Churchill’s conservative party was defeated and the Labour party came into power in England with
Attlee as the new prime minister. Nazi Germany had been destroyed, Japan surrendered after Hiroshima in
August 1945, and a tremendous anti-imperialist wave was sweeping through South-East Asia. The destructive
results of the War rendered England very weak from economic and military points of view. In this context,
Wavell announced general elections in the winter of 1945-46, for the last elections had been held in 1934 for
the centre and Abhishek in 1937 for the provinces. Unlike in 1937, now the league clearly established itself as
the dominant party among Muslims. The decisive shift in British policy really came about under mass pressure
 13

in the autumn and winter of 1945-46. The INA release movement and R.I.N. Mutiny had made it crystal clear
that the Indian masses were not ready to bear quietly the unjust policies of the British government any more.

1946:
❖ In July the Labour Party came to power and Clement Attlee became PM, Pethick Lawrence became secretary
of state.
❖ In Aug Central and provincial elections were announced.
❖ In September: it was announced that the constituent assembly would be formed and the govt is working as per
Cripps' offer.

Elections held in winters of 1945-46:

❖ Congress election campaign was for Nationalist aims assisted by INA trials (November 1945).

Election results:
Congress:
❖ Congress got 91% non muslim votes.
❖ Congress got 57/102 seats in central assembly
Provincial elections:
❖ majority in most provinces including NWFP and Assam except Bengal, Sindh and Punjab
Muslim League:
❖ Muslim League got 86.6 % muslim votes.
❖ Muslim League got 30 reserved seats in Central assembly
Provincial elections:
❖ Majority in Bengal and Sindh.
❖ In Punjab: Unionist-Congress- Akali coalition under Khizr hayat Khan assumed
❖ Power. This Franchise got 10% seats in provincial and 1% in central election.

Significance of election:
❖ INC emerged as the largest party.
❖ Muslim League won all muslim constituencies.
❖ The League had united muslim votes and established a bargaining power for a separate homeland in the last
general election in British India.

Change in British Attitude towards India:

❖ The attitude of the British government towards the Indian national movement underwent a significant change
after World War II. In General elections held in England, Churchill’s conservative party was defeated and the
Labour party came into power in England with Attlee as the new prime minister.
❖ Nazi Germany had been destroyed, Japan surrendered after Hiroshima in August 1945, and a tremendous anti-
imperialist wave was sweeping through South-East Asia. The destructive results of the War rendered England
very weak from economic and military points of view.
 14

❖ In this context, Wavell announced general elections in the winter of 1945-46, for the last elections had been
held in 1934 for the centre and in 1937 for the provinces.
❖ Unlike in 1937, now the league clearly established itself as the dominant party among Muslims.
❖ The decisive shift in British policy really came about under mass pressure in the autumn and winter of 1945-
46. The INA release movement and R.I.N. Mutiny had made it crystal clear that the Indian masses were not
ready to quietly bear the unjust policies of the British government any more.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 43
Freedom and
Communalism
 2

Freedom and Communalism

Election Results (1946):
Congress:
❖ Received 91% of non-Muslim votes.
❖ Won 57 out of 102 seats in central assembly
❖ Provincial elections:
➢ They got majority in most provinces including NWFP and Assam, except Bengal, Sindh and Punjab.
Muslim League
❖ Received 86.6 % of Muslim votes.
❖ Also, they got reserved 30 seats in the Central assembly.
❖ Provincial elections:
➢ They got majority in Bengal and Sindh
In Punjab:
❖ The Unionist-Congress-Akali coalition under Khizr Hayat Khan assumed power.
❖ Both were gradually marginalized by the end of World War – II.
In Bengal:
❖ In 1937 A.K. Fazlul Haq and his Krishak Praja Party (KMPP) formed a coalition government with Muslim
League.
❖ Fazlul Haq introduced the Pakistan resolution in 1940.
❖ In July 1941, both Haq and Khizr Hayat Khan agreed to Join Viceroys National Defence Council without
Jinnah's approval.
❖ Krishak Praja Party resigned from the coalition government with Muslim League and National Defence
Council and formed a coalition government with Hindu Maharashtra [SP Mukherjee].
❖ In 1943 it was toppled by Muslim League and the Governor.
➢ Muslim League ministry installed under Khawaja Nazimuddin.
➢ Pakistan - "a peasant Utopia” a tool for mobilization.
❖ The Unionist Party leader Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan died in December 1942.
❖ Khair Hayat Khan was expelled from Muslim League in 1944.
❖ The campaign for Pakistan started and a fatwa issued by 1946 all support drifted towards Muslim League.
❖ They helped in organizing the Lahore Session and Jinnah Sikandar Act of 1937 was passed. Later in 1946
Unionist, Akali and Congress coalition took place, but the Pakistan concept was already popular.
Franchise:
❖ 10% in provincial and 1% in central election.
Significance of election:
❖ Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party.
❖ Muslim league won all Muslim constituencies.
 3

❖ The League had united Muslim votes and established a bargaining power for a separate homeland.
❖ It was the last general election in British India.

Timeline of events pertaining to Transfer of Power

❖ In 1944 Gandhi and Jinnah talked on CR Formula.
❖ In 1945 Desai Liaquat pact and Wavell Plan at Shimala conference took place.
In 1946
❖ Cabinet mission (1946)
❖ Interim government (1946-47)
❖ Constituent Assembly (1946-50)
1947
❖ Mountbatten Plan (1947)

Change in British Attitude towards India:

❖ The attitude of the British government towards the Indian national movement underwent a significant change
after World War II. In General elections held in England, Churchill’s conservative party was defeated and the
Labour party came into power in England with Attlee as the new prime minister.
❖ Nazi Germany had been destroyed, Japan surrendered after Hiroshima in August 1945, and a tremendous anti-
imperialist wave was sweeping through South-East Asia. The destructive results of the War rendered England
very weak from economic and military points of view.
❖ In this context, Wavell announced general elections in the winter of 1945-46, for the last elections had been
held in 1934 for the centre and in 1937 for the provinces.
❖ Unlike in 1937, now the league clearly established itself as the dominant party among Muslims.
❖ The decisive shift in British policy really came about under mass pressure in the autumn and winter of 1945-
46.
❖ The INA release movement and R.I.N. Mutiny had made it crystal clear that the Indian masses were not ready
to quietly bear the unjust policies of the British government any more.

The Cabinet Mission (March, 1946):

❖ On March 24, 1946, the Mission comprising of three cabinet ministers —
❖ Lord Pethick Lawrence (secretary of state)
❖ Sir Stafford Cripps (President of Board of trade)
❖ A.V. Alexander (First lord of Admiralty), arrived in New Delhi.
❖ These ministers studied the Indian Situation. Numerous interviews and meetings took place. Attlee raised
congress hopes considerably by a statement promising speedy and full freedom and declaring that ‘though
mindful of the rights of minorities… we cannot allow a minority to place their veto on the advance of
the majority.’
❖ The difference between the political objectives of the congress and the league rendered any settlement
impossible.
❖ At last, the Cabinet Mission announced its own plan.
 4

❖ Its features were as below:

1. There should be a Union of India embracing British India and the states. It should handle defence, foreign
affairs, communications and finances.
2. The residuary subjects would be vested in the provinces and they were given full autonomy.
3. It envisaged a three-tier executive and legislature at provincial, section and union levels.
4. Grouping of existing provincial Assemblies into three sections—section A (Hindu Majority), section
B (Muslim Majority) and Section- C (Bengal and Assam).
5. In the constituent assembly, members from groups A, B, and C were to sit separately to decide the
constitution of provinces and, if possible, sections too. Then the whole constituent assembly would
determine the constitution of the Union.
6. An interim government would be set up consisting of
representatives of principal political parties.
7. The Paramountcy over the Indian states would come to an
end.
8. A constituent assembly would be formed. It would contain
389 members —
➢ 296 from British India and
➢ 93 from the India states.
▪ (to be elected by provincial Assemblies by proportional representation).
9. The demand for a full-fledged Pakistan was rejected.

Why did the mission reject the demand for Pakistan?

❖ The population so formed could have included a large non-Muslim population- 38% in North-West and 48%
in North-East.
❖ Communal self-determination could have claimed the separation of Hindu majority Western Bengal and Sikh
and Hindu dominated Ambala and Jalandhar divisions of Punjab.
❖ Regional ties could have been disturbed due to partition of Bengal and Punjab.
 5

❖ Economic and Administrative problems could have arised. For e.g., Problem of communication between
western and eastern Pakistan.
❖ Division of armed forces could have been dangerous.
Congress Muslim League
❖ Accepted election and constituent assembly. ❖ Accepted 6th June 1946.
❖ Rejected formation of interim government. ❖ Wished to form an interim government.
❖ Accepted 24th June 1946. ❖ Was not called.
❖ Nehru’s statement over grouping ❖ So it rejected the plan.
❖ 12 Aug 1946 at Wavells call to form an interim ❖ Later was called to join
government. ❖ Refused to participate in constituent assembly.
❖ Call for Direct Action from Aug 16.

Direct Action:
❖ It was started from 16 August 1946.
❖ It was called by Muslim League.
❖ Communal riots spread especially in Calcutta, Noakhali, Bihar and Garhmukteshwar and nearly 5000
were dead.

Interim Government (1946-47):

On 2nd September 1946
❖ A 14-member government was formed.
❖ Jawaharlal Nehru – Vice President of executive council
❖ Vallabhbhai Patel – Home
❖ C Rajagopalachari – Education
26th October 1946
❖ Wavell later brought Muslim League into the interim
government.
❖ Liaqat Ali- Finance ministry
❖ It was a struggle in disguise.
League’s obstructionist approach:
❖ The League did not attend the first meeting of the
constituent assembly held on December 9, 1946.
❖ They refused to attend informal meetings of the
cabinet.
❖ Liaqat Ali Khan as the finance minister hindered the
functioning of other ministries.
❖ The League's only purpose was to secure a foothold in the Government to fight for Pakistan.
❖ At last the league even demanded the dissolution of the constituent Assembly.
 6

Ministers of Interim Government:

Jawaharlal Nehru Vice President of Exe Council, External Affairs and Commonwealth
Relations
Vallabhbhai Patel Hoe, Information and Broadcasting
Baldev Singh Defence
John Mathai Industries and Supplies
C. Rajagopalachari Education
C.H Bhabha Works, Mines, Power
Rajendra Prasad Agriculture and Food
Jagjivan Ram Labour
Asaf Ali Railway
Liaqat Khan (Muslim League) Finance
Jogendra Nath Mandal (Muslim League) Law

Constituent Assembly (1946-50):

❖ First meeting held on 9th December 1946.
❖ The Objective Resolution was passed on 13th December.
❖ The League didn’t attend the constituent assembly meeting.

Transfer of Power and Appointment of Lord Mountbatten:

❖ The British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, announced on 20 February, 1947 that the British would transfer
power to India latest by June 30 1948. (Communal riots and tension in all parts)
❖ Atlee also announced the appointment of Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy in place of Lord Wavell. (Arrived
Feb 1947).
❖ After having discussion with the leaders of different political parties, Lord Mountbatten arrived at the
conclusion that it was impossible to have a compromise between the Congress and the League and the only
solution to the problem was the partition of the country.
❖ Although the Congress had always opposed the partition and Gandhiji had declared that the country would be
partitioned only on his dead body but now it had started appearing that in order to save the country from a
blood bath, there was no alternative but to accept the partition.

Why a fixed date for withdrawal?

❖ Government hoped that the fixed date would shock the parties into an agreement on the main question.
❖ Government wanted to avert the developing constitutional crisis.
❖ It wanted to convince Indians about British Sincerity.
❖ Government realised that an irreversible decline of Govt’s authority had taken place.
 7

Mountbatten Plan 1947:

❖ It was also called the June Third plan.
❖ India was to be partitioned into India and Pakistan.
❖ If partitioned two dominions and two constituent assemblies would be
created.
❖ The provinces of Assam and Bengal were to be divided.
❖ In Bengal and Punjab, Hindus and Muslims would separately decide on
partition. If a simple majority of either group voted for partition, then the
partition would be done.
❖ Sindh was too allowed to take its own decision.
❖ A bill would be passed in Britain for the same.
❖ Referendum was to be held in Sylhet and North West
Frontier Province to decide whether the people would
like to join India or Pakistan.
❖ The native states were to be free to join any Dominion
but their independence was ruled out.
❖ The accession of Hyderabad to Pakistan was ruled
out.
❖ The power was to be transferred on 15th August,
1947.
❖ A boundary commission would be set up to decide on
partition and mapping the territory.
❖ Mountbatten plan was essentially a plan for the
partition of India. It was to divide India but to retain
maximum unity
❖ Mountbatten advanced the date for the transfer of
power, believing the continuous contention between
the Congress and the Muslim League might lead to a collapse of the interim government.
❖ He chose the second anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, 15 August, as the date of power transfer.

Why did congress agree to dominion status despite its Purna Swaraj resolution way back in 1929?
❖ To ensure a peaceful and quick transfer of power.
❖ Congress considered it more important to assume authority asap in order to check spreading communal
tensions.
❖ It would have ensured the continuity of bureaucracy and army which was the need of the time.

Why did Britain put forward an early date of 15 August?

❖ Britain wanted to secure congress agreement to the dominion status.
❖ Britain was not willing to take the responsibility of exploitative communal situations.
 8

Plan Balkan:
❖ Between March - May 1947, Mountbatten envisaged a plan for power transfer.
❖ According to this, power was to be transferred to the separate provinces or to a confederation (if formed before
the power transfer).
❖ The various units thus formed would have the option to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. The plan
was abandoned after Nehru reacted violently to it.
❖ The name Balkan because the plan would have broken India into numerous independent nations as seen in the
Balkan region.
❖ On July 18, 1947, the British parliament ratified the Mountbatten Plan as the “Independence of India Act,
1947”. The Act was implemented on August 15, 1947. Power was handed over through meticulously planned
rituals and ceremonies.
❖ Pakistan became independent on 14 August. That night the Indian constituent Assembly met in a special
session, where at the stroke of midnight Nehru delivered his now famous “Tryst with Destiny” Speech. When
the rest of the world was fast asleep, India awoke to life and freedom.

Why did Congress accept Partition?

❖ Immediate transfer of power was necessary to arrest the communal violence and direct action.
❖ The partition plan ruled out the independence of princely states which if implemented could have led to the
Balkanisation of India.
❖ The autonomy of Muslim majority provinces was accepted at the time of Cripps’ mission.
❖ During the Gandhi-Jinnah talk, Gandhi accepted the right of self-determination of Muslim majority provinces.
❖ Gandhi and Congress had to accept partition because they failed to check communal violence. Also, it was
people who wanted the partition.
➢ Bengal and Punjab decided for partition.
➢ NWFP, Balochistan and Sindh favoured Pakistan.

Indian Independence Act 1947:

❖ It ratified the Mountbatten Plan in the British Parliament.
❖ It received assent on July 18.
❖ Two dominions with Two constituent assemblies to be formed.
❖ 15th Aug was decided as the date for setting up two dominions.
❖ Separate governor general for each dominion.
❖ The Partition was opposed by
➢ Gandhiji
➢ Hindu Mahasabha
➢ V.D. Savarkar
▪ He supported the idea of Akhand Hindustan
➢ Maulana Azad [wrote “India wins Freedom]
 9

India:
❖ Finally, India got freedom on 15 August 1947.
❖ Lord Mountbatten was requested to continue as Governor General and continued till 1948.
❖ Later, Lord Mountbatten was succeeded by C. Rajagopalachari (1948 – 1950).
❖ Finally, the enactment of the Constitution took place on 26th January 1950.

Pakistan:
❖ They got freedom on 14 August, 1947.
❖ M.A. Jinnah became Governor General of Pakistan.
❖ It remained as a dominion till 1956.

Boundary Commission:
❖ Two Boundary commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe was formed:
➢ Bengal
➢ Punjab
❖ Time frame to outline the boundary was less than 6 weeks

Integration of princely state:

❖ It was a tough task but by June the rulers of a few larger states, like Bhopal, Travancore, Kashmir and
Hyderabad were aspiring for independence.
❖ The only option was arm twisting so as to persuade Congress to accept dominion status and partition.
❖ "accession was facilitated by pressure- subtle, gentlemanly but relentless pressure from the viceroy and his
ministers". Yet he failed to deliver the full basket.
❖ By 15 August 1947, the majority of the princes had signed-with a profound sense of betrayal- the Instrument
of Accession (IoA) to India
❖ Rebels like Kashmir and Hyderabad chose to remain independent, Junagadh signed an IoA to join Pakistan
while few delayed.
❖ Finally it was a rigid policy adopted by Sardar Patel and his deputy V.P. Menon that secured the integration of
India.
❖ They emphasised the anomalies of the IoA that such anachronistic monarchical enclaves could not survive in
the newly independent democratic India.
❖ In course of next two years all the princes were pressured to renegotiate their loA, surrender their rights, open
up to constitutional changes and democratization-in lieu of fat Privy Purses and sometimes prestigious
sinecures in foreign diplomatic missions-and the states were eventually merged into the contiguous provinces.
❖ Junagadh's ruler was forced to escape to Pakistan.
❖ Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir had to accede to India and sign an loA in October 1947 in the face of a Pathan
invasion, thus preparing the context for the first Indo-Pak war of 1948.
❖ Hyderabad had a fight with the Indian army (September 1948) and finally acceded to the Indian Union.
 10

British Influence after Independence:

❖ Demission of power in India did not, however, immediately mean the end of Britain's imperial ambitions, as
the old notion of empire now evolved into the more dynamic concept of the Commonwealth of Nations,
where old colonies would be "in no way subordinate in any aspect of domestic or external affairs", but would
be "freely associated and united by common allegiance to the Crown".
❖ Mountbatten took it as a personal mission to persuade India to accept dominion status and remain within the
Commonwealth. India in 1947 found its hands forced to some extent when Pakistan accepted the
Commonwealth membership; but the new constitution, promulgated on 26 January 1950, proclaimed India a
Republic.
❖ However, British pragmatism managed to overcome this challenge to the "Crown, so central to the whole
Empire and Commonwealth identity". India agreed and was allowed to remain in the Commonwealth, despite
its republican status—the whole idea of Commonwealth thus being reconstituted.
❖ The new Dominions of India and Pakistan were integrated into the Sterling Area and Dollar Pool, and Britain's
control over their sterling balances gave her immense bargaining power.
❖ At the time of independence British investment accounted for 80 per cent of total foreign investment in India,
and in 1948-49 more than 25. per cent of India's foreign trade was with Britain. In other words, even after
independence Britain retained a significant stake in and a good deal of control over the economies and
development plans of her ex- colonies.
❖ It is no wonder, therefore, that the thorniest issue in Indo-British relationship, i.e., that of sterling balances
arising from Britain's creditor status to India, was continually "fudged" in post-colonial negotiations, and
finally "became resolved by default". However, this dependence and control gradually waned, due to deliberate
government policies in India and the changing directions of its trade, as well as Britain's declining role as an
international financial power.
❖ But there were other areas particularly when we come to the actual nitty-gritty of managing and administering
the new nation-state— where we certainly find elements of "continuity rather than striking change", as
Judith Brown has claimed.
❖ This is evident in India's adopting the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy and inheriting the
existing structures of bureaucracy, Police, army and the judiciary, with all their associated ideals, regalia and
rituals.
❖ However, the most fundamental shift that occurred in 1947 was in the location of power, i.e., in the
"emergence of India as a sovereign state".
❖ The Constitution was deliberately passed on 26 January 1950 so as to
maintain the importance of this day.

Growth of Communalism & Partition:

❖ Communalism is a modern phenomenon-rooted in modern social,
economic and political colonial structure—that emerged out of modern
politics based on mass mobilization and popular participation. Its social
roots lay in the rising middle classes who propagated imaginary
 11

communal interests to further their own economic interests—communalism was a bourgeois question par
excellence.
❖ Communalism was in the form of Nationalist Communalism till 1920.
It stood for common and collective interests. Although its social identity rested on adherence to a particular
religion, communalism was not incompatible with nationalism. Its proponents stressed that though the interests
of different religious groups may be divergent, these interests do not clash.
❖ Thus, it worked within the broader framework of nationalism – the Muslims were hence nationalist Muslims
and Hindus were nationalist Hindus.
❖ Fascism
➢ It is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often races above the individual
and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic
and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
❖ From 1920 to 1937 was the phase of Liberal Communalism. The ideology of liberal communalists was that
there were exclusive communal interests which would clash at times, however, these exclusive interests
could be gradually harmonized to work towards a single nation, that is there was a need for accommodating
interests of groups.
❖ The idea of safeguarding interests of different communities, can be related to demands for representation,
reservation etc. by different communal groups. These demands were an important component of communal
politics in this period, still the communal politics did not transcend the confines of India.
❖ Extremist Communalism characterized the period 1937-1947. It had a fascist character and exhibited
aggressive syndrome.
➢ Extremist Communalism was not just an ideology, it acquired the character of a mass movement by
developing mass-base. It proposed that divergent and exclusive communal interests cannot be
harominzed.
➢ Thus, Extremism was anti-coexistence and had elements like fear, hatred, animosity, insecurity and
conflict. Insecurity and antagonism predominated the communalists of this phase.
➢ There was direct confrontation between different communities and communal riots broke out in different
parts of the country.

Timelines of various events that led to Communalism in India during the British Rule:
❖ Wahhabism and revolt of 1857
➢ It was led by the Muslims against the British.
➢ WW Hunter wrote a book named “The Indian Mussalmans”.
➢ Sir Syed Ahmed Khan played a significant role in shifting the goal of Nationalism to communalism. Soon
after, the Britishers went away from the Hindus and developed a close relationship with the Indian
Muslims.
➢ Communalism in approach towards Indian History started with all these events.
❖ Religious reform movements such as Arya Samaj also contributed towards communalism.
❖ New Hero Myths and Communal overtones began, for e.g., Ganapati festivals of Tilak.
 12

❖ Patronage in Government Services.

❖ Bengal Partition in 1905.
❖ Shimla deputation (1 Oct 1906) and Separate Electorates in 1909.
❖ Muslim League formation (30 Dec 1906).
❖ Nehru report and Jinnah 14-point program.
❖ 1937 Election.
❖ Two Nation Theory by Iqbal and the concept of Pakistan by Rahmat Ali Movement.
❖ After 1957, the Hindu Mahasabha actively participated in politics.
❖ Direct Action and communal riots (1946 - 47).

Two Nation Theory & Pakistan movement:

❖ In 1930 Muslim League Allahabad session: Mohd. Iqbal demanded for a Separate Muslim state, i.e., Punjab,
Sindh, Baluch…., NWFP into a single state.
❖ In 1933 Rahmat Ali (Cambridge Undergraduate). He coined PAKISTAN
➢ P- Punjab
➢ Afghan Pro
➢ K- Kashmir
➢ S- Sindh
➢ AN- Baluchistan
❖ In the 3rd Round Table Conference pamphlets distributed for free.
❖ 1938 Karachi meeting of Muslim League (Sindh Branch)
➢ The session was presided over by Jinnah.
➢ The resolution was political self-determination of 2 nations known as Hindu and Muslims.
❖ 1940 Lahore session:
➢ 2 nation theory propounded in this session.
➢ Territorial readjustment was floated for the Independent autonomous states.
➢ The area was not specified and only called for Muslim majority states.
➢ The draft was written and prepared by Zafarullah Khan.
➢ It was presented by A.K. Fazlul Haq (PM of Bengal- Krishak Praja Party)
❖ In 1943 Karachi Session floated the slogan of “Divide and Quit”.
❖ In 1946 Memorandum to cabinet mission was presented:
➢ Area- 6 Provinces (Punjab, NWFP, Sindh, Baluchistan, Bengal, Assam)
➢ 16 August was observed as the “Direct Action”.

Hindu Mahasabha
❖ In 1910, the All India Hindu Mahasabha was formed at Allahabad (Leading Hindu).
❖ In 1911- Punjab Hindu Mahasabha organised Hindu conference at Amritsar.
 13

❖ Headquarter was set up at Haridwar and organised Akhil Bharatiya Hindu conference at Haridwar on Hindu
fairs. [Not much relevance initially]
❖ In 1915 the First session under the Maharaja of Kasimbazar took place.
❖ In 1922 the Moplah revolt broke out.
❖ Hindu Mahasabha under Madan Mohan Malviya had the objective of Self-defence and fight against
proselytizing. Started the Sangathan and Shuddhi movement to counter the Muslim League’s Tanzeem and
Tabligh.
❖ Savarkar articulated the term "Hindutva”. However, the term was originally coined by Chandranath Basu
1892 in his book "Hindutva-Hindu Prakrit Itihas".
❖ In 1939, V.D. Savarkar (Chairman) succeeded by S.P. Mukherjee, he had a more Nationalist outlook.

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak:

❖ Rashtriya Swayam Sevak was formed by Keshav Baligram Hegdevar in 1925. It was a Paramilitary
volunteer organization believed in the concept of Hindutva.
❖ Keshav Baligram Hegdevar was a member of Anushilan Samiti and drew his inspiration from by B.S. Moonje
[Tilakite]
❖ By 1940, the organization started expanding from Nagpur to other parts.
❖ Political Programme:
➢ Hindu Rashtra, i.e., only one nation, Hindu nation.
➢ Muslims to accept the minority position in a single Indian state.
1. Just treatment
2. Equal political rights
3. One man-One vote
4. Language of the majority must prevail.

Was the partition inevitable and unavoidable?

Indian View:
❖ It was considered as tragedy
❖ The results of divide and rule and Muslim League’s ideology forced the Indian National Congress to agree.
❖ Indian writers blame congress leaders.
❖ It lacked adequate understanding of facts and boldness.
Pakistan View:
❖ It was quite logical and inevitable.
❖ The growth of Muslim Nationalism is traced in Indian history.
Britisher View:
❖ No unanimity about the rationale.
❖ Historian view is Raj official view.
 14

MA Jinnah:
❖ The credit for partition should be given to him.
❖ He was a shrewd politician and dominated
❖ He ropes from strength to strength.
❖ He got the epithet of Quaid-e-Azam (Great organiser).
Jawaharlal Nehru:
❖ He blames the delay of growth of the strong Muslim middle class.
❖ Psychology of fear- “Islam in danger” played a significant role to foment the communal issues.
❖ The series of events gave a ripe situation to Muslim League and Jinnah became their Messiah.
❖ The Act of Hindu Mahasabha also played a crucial role in this. Their view was to build India as a Hindu nation
with Muslims as Minority community.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 44
Impact of
Socialism
 2

Impact of Socialism
Socialism:
 Social and economic doctrine that calls for public instead of private ownership or control of property and
natural resources.
 According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one
another.
 Everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the
production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control
property for the benefit of all its members.
 As per socialists, true freedom and true equality require social control of the resources that provide the basis
for prosperity in any society.
 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels made this point in the Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) when
they proclaimed that in a socialist society “the condition for the free development of each is the free
development of all.”

Features of socialism
 Aim to establish a society consisting of complete social and economic equality.
 Root out capitalist system by proletariat system.
 Without capitalism there is no birth of socialism.
 Replaces private ownership with public ownership of means of production.
 In Socialist society increase in production should be reflected in the increase in more personal belonging to
everyone not just few people.
 Terminate the exploitation of one class by another and create equality.
 The equality of socialism includes political, social and economic.
 Advocates separation of religion with politics. People can have faith but cannot bring it to the public or
cannot use it in politics.
 Ensures basic social rights.
 Equality to all genders.
 Social benefits to society at minimal cost.
 Vision of socialist society seen with respect to downtrodden rather than kings and rulers.
 3

Democratic Socialism
 The economy is socialist i.e., production and wealth are generally collectively owned but the government is
democratic.
 It is opposed to authoritarian forms of governance, and believes that the government should provide basic
needs to all of a country's citizens, such as healthcare and education, for free or at a reduced cost.

Gandhi and Karl Marx Ideologies

 Gandhi and Karl Marx both believed in social ownership and a socialist mode of
production.
 Gandhi, inspired by John Ruskin’s book “Unto This Last”, introduced the
concept of “Sarvodaya” to promote the welfare of all instead of favouring one
particular class or section of the society.
 Marx proposed the idea of a communist society whereby the proletariat or the
working class would snatch the power away from the bourgeoisie.

 Gandhi’s idea of Sarvodaya society was built upon the rock basis of
economic equality. However, unlike Marx, he did not believe in coercion or
application of force; rather, people and rich landowners would voluntarily come
forward to offer or share the surplus land with the needy.
 Karl Marx was a conflict theorist, who believed that society was characterized by
two groups or classes, that is, the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-Nots’. Whereas Gandhi
proposed the treatment of all forms of work and all types of employees and
workers as equal and important.
 Gandhi was a spiritualist. Marx, on the other hand, considered religion as “the
opium of the masses”. He viewed religion as a social evil that needed to be done
away with. To him, religion prevented people from claiming their rights and climbing higher up the social
ladder as they accepted their situation to be preordained and as their ultimate fate.

Legislative Assembly of France representing left right and centre:

 During the French revolution assembly consisted of three groups; the sitting pattern of these groups in
assembly portrayed their ideologies. For Example
 Conservative: Right side (oppose any change in the existing socio-economic order).
 Radical: Left (group which supports radical reforms in society with respect to the interests of the
oppressed section.
 4

 Liberal: Centre (support changes with conditions).

 The Left
 The left on the other hand is keener to reduce the gaps in society between the rich and the poor.
They believe society should work together to help everybody, with schemes like the NHS and Benefits.
They argue the rich should pay for this through taxes, thus reducing the gap between rich and poor.
 To do this, economically, they need to raise taxes. They also prefer to regulate 'the Market’, which
means distri
 buting the wealth created on the stock market and in banks so that it does not all end up in the pockets of
millionaires but some of it goes to the country's problems.

 The Right
 On a social level, the right generally believes that a hierarchy in society is natural and normal. For
them, the idea of a class system whereby the richer employ the poorer in a triangle is healthy because
everybody benefits and it has historically been the natural order of things.
 Their economic policy complements this, by promoting a form of capitalis m which gives more
economic freedom to big businesses. This means fewer regulations and lower taxes. They argue that as
big businesses grow, they create jobs for the working class and gradually everyone gets richer.

Communism and Socialism:

 Communism and socialism are economic and political structures that promote equality and seek to eliminate
social classes. The two are interchangeable in some ways, but different in others.
 In a communist society, the working class owns everything, and everyone works toward the same
communal goal. There are no wealthy or poor people -- all are equal, and the community distributes what it
produces based only on need.
 5

 Nothing is obtained by working more than what is required. Communism frequently results in low
production, mass poverty and limited advancement. Poverty spread so widely in the Soviet Union in the
1980s that its citizens revolted.
 On a social level, the right generally believes that a hierarchy in society is natural and normal. For them, the
idea of a class system whereby the richer employ the poorer in a triangle is healthy because everybody
benefits and it has historically been the natural order of things.
 Their economic policy complements this, by promoting a form of capitalism which gives more economic
freedom to big businesses. This means fewer regulations and lower taxes. They argue that as big businesses
grow, they create jobs for the working class and gradually everyone gets richer.

Marxism Vs Communism
 Marxism is the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich.
 Marxism is the theory and Communism is the practical implementation of Marxism.
 Communism is the realization of a Stateless society where all are equal and Marxism is the framework by
which such a state is developed.
 Marxism is a political ideology based on Karl Marx’s ideas, communism can be called as a political system,
which is based on Marxist ideology.
 The Marxist ideology is to prepare the society for communism.
 The main difference between communism and Marxism is that communism is an ideology that is based on
common ownership while the absence of social classes, money, and the states, while Marxism is an ideology
by Karl Marx that is a social, political, and fiscal theory by him, that focuses on struggles between capitalists
and working class.

Socialism and Communism:

 Both promote equality and aim to abolish social classes.
 Socialism exists in various forms under a wide range of political systems whereas communism is a political
system which is centred on one party state that bans other forms of political dissent, considered as extreme
form of socialism or “hard left”.

Communism:
 It is a philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose goal is the establishment
of a communist society, namely a socio-economic order structured upon the ideas of common or social
ownership of all property and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.
 It is inspired from the ideas of two German political philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels known as
“Communist Manifesto”.
 6

Marxism:
 Marxism is a social, political, and economic philosophy named after Karl Marx. It examines the effect of
capitalism on labour, productivity, and economic development and argues for a worker revolution to
overturn capitalism in favour of communism.
Russian Revolution:
 The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917 which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy
and led to the rise of the Soviet Union.
 The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II and the old regime was replaced
by a provisional government during the first revolution of February 1917. Alongside it arose grassroots
community assemblies (called 'soviets') which contended for authority.
 In the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was toppled and all power was given to
the soviets.
 The Left movements in India developed in two main streams:
⮚ Communism which functioned as a branch of the International Communist Movement and was by and
large controlled by the Comintern.
⮚ Socialism: The Congress Socialist Party which functioned as the left wing of the Indian National
Congress drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Democratic Socialism.
⮚ Both these movements drew support from the anti-imperialist sentiments prevalent in India.
Factors leading to rise of left in India:
 Aftermath of WWI
 Prices went high but not wages nor was there any legislation to raise their wages this led to unrest in
workers. Workers extended their role to the political arena. Strikes organized by workers against the
Rowlatt Act. In 1920 All India Trade Union Congress was held at Bombay.
 Marxist Ideas and Russian Revolution
 The Industrial revolution which led to the leftist movement following the ideology of Marx and the
Russian revolution on the lines of socialism inspired the various leaders of India.
 Third Communist international (Comintern) (founded 1919)
 Formed by the Soviet Union at international level, it aims to catalyse communist movements around the
globe.
 Power of trade Union
 Industrial development at various places led to the concentration of a large workforce and demand for
better working conditions and better wages.
 Gandhi and Mass Mobilisation.
 The 1929 depression.
 7

Emergence of new forces in 1920s:

 These new forces were:
 Socialists and Marxists
 Activism of Indian Youth
 Trade Unionists

 Socialists and Marxists:

 During the 1920s, the ideas of Marx and socialist thinkers inspired many groups.
 Within the Congress too, a left wing led by J.L Nehru and S.C Bose emerged.
 These young nationalists were inspired by the Russian Revolution and dissatisfied with the Gandhian
style of politics.
 They were critical of both the Swarajists and the No-Changers.
 They advocated a more consistent anti-imperialist struggle and demanded Purna Swaraj.
 They stressed upon the need to merge nationalism and anti-imperialism with Social Justice and
emphasised upon the need to do away with the internal class oppression by the capitalists and the
landlords.

Rise of Communism:
 1920: The Communist Party of India (CPI) was formed in Tashkent by M.N. Roy, Abani Mukherjee after
the second congress of Comintern. M.N. Roy was the first to be elected to the leadership of Comintern.
 1924: Many Communist leaders like S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta were
jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.
 1925: The Indian Communist Conference at Kanpur, formalizes the formation of CPI.
 8

Activism of Indian Youth

 The Students' League was established throughout the country.
 In 1928, J.L Nehru presided over the All-Bengal Student’s conference.

Peasants’ Agitation:
 In United Provinces, peasant agitation were for:
 Revision of Tenancy Laws
 Lower Rents
 Protection against Eviction
 Relief from Indebtedness
 In Gujarat the Bardoli Satyagraha was led by Sardar Patel.
 Similar Peasant agitation took place in Rampa region of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and in Ryotwari areas of
Bombay and Madras.

Trade Unionism:
 All India Trade union congress (AITUC) was formed in 1920. Lala Lajpat Rai became its 1st President and
Dewan Chamanlal its 1st General secretary. Tilak was also associated. The major strikes during the 1920s
included:
 Kharagpur Railway Workshop Strike.
 Strike in Tata Iron and steel works in Jamshedpur.
 Bombay Textile Mills Strike.
 Buckingham Carnatic Mills strikes.
 In 1923, the first May Day was celebrated in India in Madras.

MN Roy and his contribution to Communism:

 Indian marxist revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th
century.
 Original Name Narendranath Bhattacharya later he became known as MN Roy. In his early days he joined
Anushilan Samiti.
 Founded the Mexican Communist Party and the Communist Party of India in Tashkent also known as
Tashkent Group.
 He traveled to many countries in Mexico and met Michael Borodin (the Russian Communist emissary) and
assisted him to form communist Party of Mexico.
 9

 Then he went to Russia and formed a favorable impression of Communists leader Vladimir Lenin, met
Joseph Stalin and became a part of the Communist International.
 1920: He attended the Second Congress of the Communist International.
 Differences on the policies' views, Lenin and Roy work together on the common objectives of providing
support to bourgeois nationalists.
 By 1926, he was serving the policy-making bodies of the Communist International and in 1927, he visited
China.
 Roy’s mission to make the Chinese Communist Party implement guidelines by the Communist
International failed. Following this, he was expelled from the Communist International in September
1929.
 To prepare yeast for revolution he travelled to Tashkent and established a military school for tribes living on
Indian borders and also formed Communist party of India.
 Anguished by British attitude towards Turkey’s Sultan, Muslim Mujahris joined Roy’s school while
returning caught in Peshawar and sentenced to harsh imprisonment including Mian Mohammad Akbar
Shah and Gawhar Rahman Khan. This incident is known as “Peshawar Conspiracy”.
 In 1922, he Published Vanguard. He also organized a strong group of “Royists”.
 In 1940 he founded the Radical democratic Party after disillusionment with Marxism.
 Roy was editing a new weekly named ‘Independent India the Marxian Way’.
Early Communist Group:
 Virendra Chattopadhyay, Bhupendra Dutt and Barkatullah mostly worked outside India and later turned
into Marxist.
 Shripad Amrit Dange, supporter of Non-Cooperation, later turned to communism. In 1921 published
“Gandhi Vs Lenin” (tend towards Lenin). In 1922 founded “Socialist” (the first socialist weekly
magazine in India). In 1924 founded the Indian Socialist Labour Party of the Indian National Congress.
 Singaravelu Chettier formed the “Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan” in 1923 and founded “Labour
Kisan Gazette”.

Singaravelu Chettier (1860-1946)

 1918: He founded the first trade union in India (Madras Labor Union)
 1923: He organised the first ever celebration of May Day in the country.
 1923: He started a fortnightly journal called The Labour Kisan Gazette and Tamil Weekly Thozhilalar.
 1925: He became one of the founding fathers of the Communist Party of India.
 Singaravelar's first ever mid-day meal scheme was introduced in Madras for providing cooked meals to
children in corporation schools.
 10

The Communist Party:

 1920: The Communist Party of India (CPI) was formed in Tashkent by M.N. Roy, Abani Mukherjee after
the second congress of Comintern. M.N Roy was the first to be elected to the leadership of Comintern.
1924: Many Communist leaders like S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta were
jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.

 On 1 st September 1924, Satyabhakta in a press note released immediately after the conclusion of the
Kanpur Conspiracy trial announced that he had formed the C.P.I. with himself as the Secretary.

 1925: The Indian Communist Conference at Kanpur, formalizes the formation of CPI. Conference included a
central committee of the party with SV Ghate and JP Bergarhatta as Joint Secretaries. British communists
took part to organize the Indian Communist Movement.
 1930: CPI was formally affiliated to the Communist International.

 The history of the Communist movement can be traced to five distinct phases:

1. First Phase: The Period of ‘Three Conspiracy Trials

⮚ After receiving training in Moscow at the Communist University for Toilers of the East and
assured of adequate financial support from Moscow, the first band of Communist revolutionaries
crossed into India. They were accused of conspiracy.

⮚ The movement picked up after the Communist Party of Great Britain took upon itself to supervise
and energize the movement in India. One of its leaders, Philip Spratt arrived in India in December
1926 and organized a number of unions, edited newspapers and launched some youth and front
organizations.

⮚ Workers’ and Peasants’ parties were organized in Bengal, Bombay, the Punjab and the U.P.

⮚ In December 1928 the All India Workers and Peasants’ Party came into existence.

⮚ During 1928-29 the Communist Party organized a series of industrial strikes at Bombay,
culminating in the Girni Kamgar Union.

Various Workers and Peasant Parties:

 Labour-Swaraj Party at Bengal (1925-1926)

 It was formed by Muzaffar Ahmed and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

 The magazine was published by Muzaffar Ahmed to propagate his ideas “Navyug”.

 Later it was renamed as “Peasant and Worker party of Bengal”.

 The first organization of Indian National Congress consists of peasants and workers.

 Congress Labour Party at Bombay (1926)

 11

 They used to publish “Kranti” in Marathi.

 Kirti Kisan Party at Punjab (1926)

 It was founded by Bhai Santokh Singh.
 It was headed by Sohan Singh Joshi along with Ghadharites.
 Kirti and Mihnatkash were their main journals.

 Workers Peasant Party at Meerut (1928)

 It was attended by British Communist Philip Spratt.
 In 1928, all provincial organizations transformed into the All Indian Party with an objective to work
with congress to radicalize its program.

Various Conspiracy Trials

 The Communist movement during this period were noticed by its being involved in conspiracy trials:

 Peshawar Conspiracy Trial (1922-23)

 Kanpur conspiracy Trial 1924
 The Meerut Trial (1929-33) which continued for over three and a half years and ended with the
conviction of 27 persons.
 The anti-British stance of the Communists gained for them sympathy of the nationalists in Meerut conspiracy
case:
 The Congress Working Committee set up a Central Defence Committee, sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1,500
and the defence case was pleaded by eminent nationalists like J.L. Nehru, K.N. Katju and F.H. Ansari.
 Gandhiji visited the jail in 1929 and expressed sympathy.
 Public safety bill 1928 against the communists in India was opposed by the Central Legislative
Assembly.
 Respectable position by 1934 and CPI was declared illegal.

Peshawar Conspiracy Trial  Anguished by British attitude towards Turkey’s Sultan, Muslim Mujahris
(1922 – 33) joined Roy’s school while returning caught in Peshawar and sentenced to
harsh imprisonment including Mian Mohammad Akbar Shah and Gawhar
Rahman Khan.

Kanpur Conspiracy (1924)  Government initiated a conspiracy case against four leading communist
Muzaffar Ahmad, Dange, Shaukat Usmani and Nalini Gupta. Charge on them
was “to deprive the King Emperor of his sovereignty of British India, by
complete separation of India from imperialistic Britain by a violent
 12

revolution.”

Meerut Trial (1929)  Irwin carried out a hunting program of communists.

 This was of immense political significance for the Indian working-class
movement because it was a conspiracy of the British Government against the
rise of Communism in India.
 During this case, 31 labor leaders including three Englishmen (Phillip Spratt,
BF Bradley, Lester Hutchinson) were arrested on the charge of conspiracy.

2. Second Phase: The Period of Political Wilderness.

⮚ At a time when the nationalist movement under Gandhiji’s leadership made giant strides forward in
arousing the masses against imperialist stranglehold, the CPI suffered from both organizational and
ideological articulation.
⮚ Receiving its cue from the decisions of the Communist International of 1928, the CPI attacked both
the right wing and the left wing in the Indian National Congress.
⮚ It was the time when the Congress had boycotted the Simon Commission (1928), adopted the
resolution on Purna Swaraj (Dec. 1929), and launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-31,
32-34).
⮚ The CPI sought to steal the thunder from the Congress popularity by attempting to project the
triangular character of the contest (the people’s struggle not only against foreign imperia lism but also
against Indian exploiters).
 13

⮚ It attacked the petty-bourgeois-nationalist leadership of Gandhiji and charged him with acting as the
tool of imperialism and thereby betraying the revolutionary struggle of the masses.
⮚ It even denounced the Congress Left wing as a counter-revolutionary force and an obstacle to the
victory of Indian nationalism.
⮚ This tactical approach proved to be totally unrealistic and the Communists found themselves thrown
adrift from the political mainstream.

Bourgeoisie: the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional
attitudes.

3. Third Phase: Communists and the Anti-imperialist United Front Plan

⮚ Influenced by the Seventh Congress of the Communist International (Moscow, 1935) R.P. Dutt and
Ben Bradley published their thesis entitled: The Anti-Imperialist People’s Front in India in March
1936.

⮚ Dutt-Bradley labeled the Indian National Congress as merely the united front of the Indian people in
the nationalist struggle.

⮚ They advised the Communists to join the Indian National Congress, utilize its solid party
organization, strengthen the left-wing within the Congress (C.S.P.) and oust the reactionary right-
wing elements.

⮚ The Communists, the CSP and the Trade Unionists planned to organize a Front Populaire on the
basis of a common minimum programme. The Communist leadership failed to take advantage of the
favourable circumstances or broaden the social base of their movement and the popular front never
came into existence.
⮚ All the same, profiting from the tide of rising mass upsurge and quickening all-round political
activity in the latter half of the 1930’s, the Communists emerged from their political quarantine and
found again a place among the radical elements in politics.

Dutt-Bradley Thesis
 1935: In 7th Congress of Comintern communist changed their stance from sectarian politics to participation in
bourgeois led movement in colonial countries by organizing a popular front with all countries who are against
facism.

 Communist in India started participating in the national movement of INC.

 The theoretical basis of this change is credited to Dutt-Bradley Thesis which stated that “Congress could play a
great part in the work of realizing the anti-imperialist people’s front”.

 Communist called their members to strengthen the left wing of congress and oust right wing.
 14

4. Fourth Phase: The Second World War and the Communist Somersault
⮚ With the outbreak of the Second World War the Indian Communists, under advice from the
Comintern leaders, continued their United Front Policy against all types of Imperialism (including
Fascism and Nazism).
⮚ Rather the Communists scored a point over the Indian National Congress with the latter’s initial
vacillation and pro-British attitude of leaders like Gandhiji.
⮚ By September 15, 1939 the Congress too described the war as an imperialist war.
⮚ The Indian Communists, however, found themselves in a very awkward position when in June 1941
Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, the Fatherland of Socialism.
⮚ The Communists in India staged a right-about turn and relabeled the war as a ‘people’s war’ and
announced full support for the Allied-Russian war effort.
⮚ The Government of India awarded the CPI by declaring it a legal organization in 1942. The
Communists extended all possible support and even acted as British “spies” in suppressing the
popular revolt of 1942.
⮚ This sudden shift in the Communist policy evoked strong condemnation in nationalist circles and
clearly demonstrated that the CPI’s policy decisions were dictated by outside and international wire-
pullers.

United Front Policy

 The united front tactic is simply an initiative whereby the Communists propose to join with all workers
belonging to other parties and groups and all unaligned workers in a common struggle to defend the immediate,
basic interests of the working class against the bourgeoisie.

5. Fifth Phase: The Transfer of Power Negotiations and Communists’ Multi-National Plan
⮚ During the period the CPI’s posture was pro-Muslim; it sought to further widen Congress-League
alienation and encourage all separatist elements and work for the division of Indian into a number of
sovereign states.
⮚ Its strategy was to tighten control over at least one such state and to make it as a base for the
liberation of the rest of India.
⮚ However, the Muslim league spurned the idea of an alliance with the Communists. The CPI,
therefore, stood as a discredited organization.
⮚ In 1942 the CPI adopted a resolution declaring India to be a multinational state and identifying as
many as 16 Indian “nation”.
 15

⮚ In 1946 they put forward before the Cabinet Mission a plan for division of India into 17 separate
sovereign states on the model of the Balkans or the U.S.S.R. By 1947 the Communist movement in
India had lost whatever place it had in Indian politics and the CPI was in complete disarray.
⮚ When national emancipation from British imperialism was the dominant instinct of the people, the
CPI’s extra-national loyalties and exclusive dependence on European models made it a suspect
organization.
⮚ In fact, the Communists’ concept of Proletarian Internationalism could not be reconciled with India’s
national aspirations. Further, Marxism’s basic articles of faith in ‘class antagonism’ and ‘violence’
are alien to Indian tradition.
⮚ However, Marxist-Leninist philosophy, shorn of its extra-national loyalties, has some relevance to
independent India. The yawning gap between the rich and the poor and the underdeveloped condition
of the Indian economy are favorable climatic conditions in which Marxist-Socialism can take root in
India and serve as the beacon-light for the downtrodden masses.

The Congress Socialist Party

 Early Attempts
 1931: Formation of Bihar Socialist Party by JP Narayan and Phulan Prasad Verma
 1933: Formation of Punjab Socialist Party by legal front of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Kirthi
Kisan group.
 1934: First All India Congress Socialists Conference was conveyed by JP Narayan and presided by
Acharya Narendra Dev. Passed a resolution for adoption of a social program.
 October 1934: CSP formed by JP Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev, Ram Manohar Lohia and Minoo
Masani. First session held under presidentship of Sampurnananda. Jawaharlal Nehru and SC Bose did
not join CSP.
 The Congress Left wing emerged as a ‘rationalist revolt’ against the mysticism of Gandhism on the one
hand and dogmatism of Communism on the other. Their ideological inspiration came from Marxism and
Democratic Socialism and they stood for anti – imperialism, nationalism and socialism.

 Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-1979) (Lok Nayak)

 An Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader.
 He was born in Bihar and later went to the USA for higher studies and became Marxist.
 In 1929 he joined congress and he gained attention during the Quit India Movement.
 He wrote “Why Socialism?” and awarded with Magsaysay Award for Social Service in 1965 and
Bharat Ratna in 1999.
 16

Proletarian internationalism: It is sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all

communist revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events.

 Subhash Chandra Bose explained that the Congress Leftists were not only anti-imperialists but they also
desired reconstruction of national life on a socialist basis.
 For the achievements of their goals, they had to fight at two fronts:
 fight foreign imperialism
 fight the rightists who were ready to deal with imperialism
 In other words, they stood for complete independence and Socialism; they wanted Swaraj not for the classes
but for the masses.

 Congress Socialist Agreement in first session

 Congress Socialist Party recognised primary struggle in India is national struggle for freedom.
 The work of Socialist is within Congress.
 To provide Congress and Nationalist Movement a socialist path.
 Congress will initiate a radical socio-economic program for upliftment of downtrodden.
 To achieve this target Congress must create a social base of workers and peasants.

 Glimpse of Society by Congress Socialist Party

 Transfer of power in the hands of masses.
 State should control and manage the economic life of the country by controlling it.
 Abolition of any ruling class and other exploitation group in society.
 Liquidation of debt owned by peasants and workers.
 Adherence to the “To everyone according to his needs” principle for economic goods distribution.
 No discrimination on the basis of any factor.

Meerut Thesis (1935)

 Discussions took place between CSP and Communist Party of India, which had in the meantime overcome
the split in its ranks and established a united all-India organization.
 The Second congress of the CSP, held in Meerut in January 1936, a thesis was adopted which declared that
there was a need to build 'a united Indian Socialist Party based on Marxism-Leninism'.
 At the 3rd CSP congress, held in Faizpur, several communists were included into the CSP National
Executive Committee.
 17

 The Right wing of the Congress called Congress Socialists as ‘internationalists’ and thus undependable for
the struggle for national liberation.
 The Communists branded the Congress Socialists as Social Fascists and ‘fake socialists.’
 The Congress Socialists hit back by describing the Indian Communists as ‘satellites of the U.S.S.R., as
‘social-chauvinists’ and charged them ‘with betraying socialism and distorting Marxian dialectics.’
 The CSP disagreed with the Congress offer of conditional help for British war effort as it maintained that the
war was a conflict between the partners of imperialism for repartition of the world. The Congress socialists
wanted the Congress to wage a revolutionary mass struggle for independence. They supported the Quit India
Movement and took a leading part in organizing the quit India Movement, 1942.
 The CSP was not in favour of a negotiated settlement for the transfer of power but advocated the need for a
revolutionary struggle to destroy edifices of imperialism, feudalism and communalism in India.
 The Congress Socialists described the Muslim League ‘in league with Britain’ and Jinnah as a traitor and
tool of the imperia lists. They hoped for Hindu-Muslim unity not on the basis of temporary pacts or
agreements but “laying emphasis on the economic issues which equally affected the Hindu and Muslim
masses of the country”.
 The CSP described the Partition of India as an act of surrender by the Congress leadership.

Some Other Left Ideology Oriented Parties

The Forward Bloc (1939)  SC Bose after resigning from presidentship of the Congress. Bose
opposed the policy of Gandhi and went abroad to seek military help
to fight the British in India.

Revolutionary Socialist Party (1940)  It is a regional communist party in Kerala and West Bengal.
 The party was founded on 19 March 1940 by Tridib Chaudhuri and
has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement, Anushilan Samiti
and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army.

Bolshevik Party of India (1939)  It was founded by N Dutt Mazumdar.

 It is an Indian political party in India.
 The party had a certain role in the trade union movement in West
Bengal and was briefly represented in the state government in
1969.
 In later years the party has played a negligible role in Indian
politics.
 18

Revolutionary Communist Party  The party was founded as the Communist League by
(1942) Saumyendranath Tagore in 1934, breaking away from the
Communist Party of India.
 RCPI led armed uprisings after the independence of India, but later
shifted to parliamentary politics.

Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India  Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma was a
(1942) revolutionary Trotskyist (political ideology and branch of Marxism
developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky) party
which campaigned for independence and socialism in South Asia.
 The party was formed in 1942 as a unification of two Indian
groups, with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Ceylon.

Loose end of Left Movement

 Failed to influence of socialist ideas and parties over the national movement for freedom.
 Missing the ground reality by seeing the influence of congress on local people. Leftist referred to congress as
too mild to overthrow colonial rule.
 Interpreting Gandhian strategy passive and tussling with congress on wrong issues.
 Overestimating of people's support and improvisation of movement within the party.
 Factions within organization. For example, JL Nehru and SC Bose did not carry along this either and
separated in 1939.

Evolution of Socialism in Congress

 Inducted by intellectuals and militants but not in the framework of the main political organisation. Figures
like Cama, Shyamji Verma, Shapurji Sakhlatvala, V. Chattopadhaya, Bhupendra Nath Dutta, Lala
Hardayal and MN Roy.
 Earlier the idea was not conceived because most of the leaders belonged to upper strata of society.
 Indian National Congress remained a preserve of the elites and made hardly any attempt to reach out masses
but in the Swadeshi Movement they reached masses.
 First stirring came with the arrival of Gandhi.
 Congress realized the potential of peasants, tribals and workers.

Congress way towards socialism

 Independence for India League (August 1928)
 It was started by JL Nehru with SC Bose as secretaries and Srinivas Iyengar as president.
 19

 It acted as a pressure group within Congress.

 The objectives include:

 Countering the Dominion Status, seeking complete independence of India from colonial rule.
 The establishment of the Indian Republic on the Socialism theme.

 Adoption of complete Independence (December 1928)

 The Calcutta Session, resolution by JL Nehru and Bose replacing Dominion status by Complete
Independence.
 The actual impact of this can be seen in the Lahore Session of 1929 by adopting “complete
independence”.

 Leftist Camps
 The followers of Nehru and Bose generated leftist camps in congress. Discussion on socio-eco justice
attracted youth workers.
 Many organizations came forward like Youth League, The Hindustani Seva Dal, The Naujawan Bharat
Sabha, Volunteers Movement and participation of All India Trade Union Congress.

 Fundamental rights and National Economic Program at Karachi Session (1931)

 The adoption of Fundamental Rights and National Economic Program.
 Initially drafted by Nehru but became the identity of socio-eco program of Congress.

 Formation of Congress Socialist Party (1934).

 Congress Session of Lucknow and Faizpur.
 JL Nehru and Socialism in India
 During Non-Cooperation Nehru was working on ground closely with the peasants, workers in Raebareli
and Pratapgarh.
 Disappointed by withdrawal of NCM and was neither joined no-Changers or pro-changers.
 In 1926 he went to Switzerland and met some influential political thinkers.
 In 1927, Brussels, represented INC in the International Congress Against Colonial Oppression and
Imperialism. Became the member of “The League Against Imperialism and for national
Independence” (offshoot of conference).
 In 1927 he went to the Soviet Union and returned to India.
 After getting an overview of various socialism ideas he came to a conclusion that the industrial
revolution has a major contribution in the growth of Europe and to get regular supply of raw material
European countries are colonising and exploiting Asian countries.
 20

 Meanwhile in India at that time debate was going on Swaraj, congress deciphered this as Dominion
Status for India within the sphere of Britishers while according to Nehru it only meant another way of
exploitation by Britishers.
 In 1928 All party Conference while declaring the inclusion of Dominion status in the constitution of
India was discussing Nehru and Bose built opposition and gained support for Purna Swaraj and
Complete Independence.
 In 1929 President of Lahore Session and delivered a speech which stated that “I am a socialist and a
republican and no believer in kings and princes”. Supported the existence and influence of “Praja
Mandal Movement”.
 Literary work in support of Socialism: “Glimpse of World History” in 1934 and “An Autobiography” in
1936.
 Advertised the thought that political freedom was meaningless without economic freedom.

Praja Mandal Movements

 It evolved in the 1920s and is also known as the States' People Conference Movement.
 It is also referred to as a national movement in princely states.
 At this phase the movement brought representatives of Indian princely states including Bhopa l, Baroda,
Travancore and Hyderabad.
 It aimed at feudalism and colonialism.
 The movement included constructive program in princely states.
 People’s conference came under ambit of Indian National Congress.

Nehru’s Socialism
 His socialism was evolutionary, not revolutionary, and it was inclusive, not based on class.
 It was democratic and comfortable with heterogeneity.
 Egalitarian without leveling, committed to welfare and affirmative action.
 Co-operative to contain destructive competition, oriented to rational planning to overcome anarchic
individualism.
 Stressed the need for the government to lead through an advanced public sector, valued local democracy and
local management of utilities.
 He was attracted to Marxism as a means to historical explanation, but he found it irrelevant to programmes
for progress and even for socialism.
 21

Ideology of Nehru while policy Framing

 United against imperialism- he was liberal to his fingertips and opposed to both communism and the Soviet
system.
 Global socialism but with our own trajectory.
 Welfare capitalism or Democratic socialism.
 Abhorrence of Coercion: He was convinced that methods of social change had to be not only peaceful but
had to be devised with a peaceful and equable temper. Nehru was temperamentally not sympathetic to
metaphysics or mysticism and he frankly did not understand Gandhi's motivations. But what attracted him
was the wisdom, dynamism and fearless courage as well as the "tremendous inner reserves of power" of
India's great seers and sages of ancient days as well as men of his generation like Vivekanand, Gandhi and
Vinoba.
 There was no merit in poverty and agriculture not neglected.

 Among Indian big business, by the 1920s, two major groupings had emerged, neither fundamentally
antagonistic to the other but pursuing different policies.
 The first, led by the Tatas and containing such major forces as the Bombay Millowners' Association, was
openly loyal to the British. The second, headed by Birla and containing the various Indian Chambers of
Commerce (formed later into the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) gave support to
the Right wing of the Congress leadership - at times decisively pressing it toward a deal.

 Though neither of the two schools was prepared for an anti-imperialist struggle , they pursued different
strategies in heading it off. Of the two strategies, that of the Birla group was certainly more sophisticated,
and eventually persuaded most of the proponents of the group headed by Tata. Sir Purshottamdas Thakurdas,
 22

probably the biggest cotton trader in India, was in a sense a bridge between the two schools - a director of
many Tata firms as well as of many foreign-owned ones (such as Killick Nixon), he was also Birla's closest
confidante.
 A few days after the Lucknow Congress A.D.Shroff of Tatas fired off a refutation of Nehru's speech. Three
weeks later, on May 18, 1936, 21 leading Bombay businessmen issued what came to be known as the
"Bombay Manifesto" - against Nehru. Among the signatories were Sir N.Saklatvala, Sir Purshottamdas
Thakurdas, Sir Chimanlal Setalvad, Sir Pheroze Sethna, Sir Cowasji Jehangir, Walchand Hirachand,
Dharamsey Khatau and A.D.Shroff. It began with a quotation from the Lucknow address which advocated
socialism for India, and which gave Russia as an example of the sort of civilisation India should work for.
The signatories then stated:
 "We have no hesitation in declaring that we are unequivocally opposed to ideas of this kind being
propagated, as in the present condition of widespread economic misery in the country, they are likely to
find a ready though unthinking reception. We are convinced that there is a grave risk of the masses
being misled by such doctrines into believing that all that is required for the improvement of their well-
being is a total destruction of the present social and economic structure. The inculcation of such ideas
into the minds of unthinking millions of this country would lead to a situation in which not only the
institution of private property but the peaceful observation of religion, and even personal safety, would
be jeopardised."
SC Bose and Socialism:
 He rejected the offer to join Civil Services in 1921.
 Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das had been his political mentor.
Deshbandhu who declared that India should attain “swaraj of the
masses and not of the classes”.
 Post withdrawal of NCM he joined pro-changers with focus on civic
affairs of Calcutta.
 Both Nehru and Bose were the Chief Administrative Officer of Calcutta and Allahabad respectively.
 Supported Jawaharlal Nehru on anti-imperialist policies and favored Purna Swaraj.
 But he did not support Jawaharlal Nehru’s view on the Gandhian way to achieve it.



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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 45
Working Class Movement
and Agrarian Discontent
 2

Working Class Movement and Agrarian Discontent

Before World War I:
❖ Modern industries came to India during the 2nd half of the 19th
century.
❖ It began with construction of Indian railways along with numerous
ancillary industries.
❖ These industries along with coal, cotton and jute industries
employed a large working force especially in Jharia and Giridih.
❖ The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was established by
Dorabji Tata in 1907.

Factor Responsible for emergence of Trade Unionism

❖ History repeated itself and workers in India had to go through similar horrific experiences as meted to workers
of Europe and the rest of the world during their industrialization.
❖ Issue of low wages, long working hours, unhygienic and hazardous working conditions, employment of
child labour and the absence of basic amenities.
❖ Indian workers were suffering at the hands of both the capitalist class (both native and foreigner) as well as
the antagonistic colonial and imperialist rulers.

Early Efforts for Welfare of Workers

❖ Early nationalists were indifferent towards the plight of workers or labour.
❖ They looked at labour in Indian factories and British owned factories differently.
❖ They believed that any labour legislation would compromise the competitive edge of Indian owned factories.
❖ They did not want the national movement to get divided on the basis of classes.
❖ Owing to these reasons they did not support the Factory Acts of 1881 and 1891.
 3

❖ Even though there was a lack of concerted effort, there were some isolated, sporadic efforts directed towards
specific local grievances.
❖ In 1870, Sarispada Banerjea started workingmen’s club and newspaper Bharat Shramjeevi.
❖ In 1878, Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee tried to bring a bill, providing better working conditions to labour,
passed in the Bombay Legislative Council.
❖ In 1880, Narain Meghajee Lokhanday started the newspaper Deenbandhu and set up the Bombay Mill and
Millhands Association.
❖ In 1899 The first strike by the Great Indian Peninsular Railways took place and it got widespread support.
❖ Between 1900 – 1910 gave the first ever demonstration of the emerging political consciousness among the
Indian working class.
❖ The Bombay workers went on a political six-day strike over the conviction and imprisonment of Lokamanya
tilak in 1908 a development which elicited Lenin’s comments that “the Indian proletariat has already matured
sufficiently to wage a class-conscious and political mass struggle”.

World War – I and aftermath:

❖ The First World War and its aftermath brought a period of soaring prices, unprecedented profiteering for the
industrialists but miserably low wages for the workers.
❖ Industrialization (in spite of colonial rule)
➢ Growing tendency towards import substitution in consumer goods.
➢ Shifting of attention towards the domestic market.
➢ Internal trade started gaining importance.
➢ Shift in investment of traditionally accumulated wealth used in trade/money lending/landowning.
➢ Outflow of foreign capital creative space for indigenous entrepreneurs.
❖ 1887: Bengal National Chamber of commerce
❖ 1907: Indian Merchant Chamber in Bombay
❖ Preferred nationalist movement within safe and acceptable limit
➢ left leaders
➢ right wing moderates
➢ constitutionalism
❖ 1927: FICCI (Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry)
❖ 1921: ASSOCHAM Associated Chamber of Commerce (Apex body formed by European Trading
Organisation).
 4

First world war and Emergence of Gandhi in National Arena:

❖ World War and its aftermath gave a boost to industrialization. Risings exports and soaring prices lead to huge
profits but it did lead to any welfare of workers, instead they had to work even more at the same wage
❖ Arrival of Gandhi led to emergence of broad-based national movement and the emphasis was placed on the
mobilization of the workers and the peasants for the national cause
❖ Thus, a need was felt to organize workers in trade unions.
❖ International events like the establishment of a socialist republic in the Soviet Union, formation of the
Comintern and setting up of ILO lent a new dimension to the movement of the working class in India.

Gandhi’s Philosophy on exploitation of working Class

❖ He rejected the class war and believed in the ‘Theory of Trusteeship’ according to which capitalist being
trustee of the workers’ interest.
❖ He was not in support of abolition of capitalism, zamindari or any other exploiting class.
❖ According to his views there is no need to overthrow these classes but to make their hearts change so that
they are not considered as owners but as trustees for their workers, tenants and subjects.
❖ Rather than giving priority to workers exploitation by zamindars and mill owners his primacy was to support
the anti-imperialist movement which could ill-afford all out-class war among different classes of an emerging
nation.
❖ In 1918, Gandhi founded Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association with more than ten thousand workers.

Efforts for welfare of workers

❖ In 1918, Madras, first trade union in India founded by BP Wadia known as Madras labour Union.
 5

❖ In 1920, Gandhi founded Majdur Mahajan.

❖ Tilak campaigned for the strike through Kesari and Maharatta.
❖ Strikes were organized in government press, railways and jute industry
❖ Attempts were made to form trade unions but were unsuccessful
❖ Important leaders involved in strike:
➢ Ashvini Kumar Banerjea,
➢ Prabhat Kumar Roy Chaudhari,
➢ Premtosh Bosa
➢ Apurba Kumar Ghosh
➢ Subramaniya Siva
➢ Chidambaram Pillai
❖ Even without a trade union but with the help of community ties strikes happened.
➢ Between 1919-1940: Bombay Textile Workers (8 Strikes)
➢ Ahmedabad: 1919, 1923, 1935, 1937
➢ Jamshedpur: 1920, 1922, 1928, 1942
➢ Nagpur: 1934
➢ Coimbatore: 1938
➢ Madras: 1918, 1921
➢ Railways: 1928, 1930

Amritsar Session (1919)

❖ Provincial Committee to promote labour unions throughout India.
❖ Indian National Congress was ambivalent vis-à-vis the Working Class from the beginning.
❖ They were more articulate against European Capitalism (Railway, Jute Mills and Tea Gardens).
➢ Overwhelming labour participation in nationalist movements (influence of communists played a
significant role in this.)
➢ They added their own struggle to national agitation.
❖ Mahatma Gandhi was averse to AITUC and asked ATLA not to join it.
➢ According to him, “Use of labour strikes for political purposes would be a serious mistake”. He believed
in a harmonious capital – labour relation.

Notable activities of working class during 1919-1922:

❖ April 1919 at Gujarat the workers went on strike and demonstration in the backdrop of Gandhi’s arrest.
❖ Between 1919-1921, the Railway Workers extended their support against Rowlatt Agitation and NCM.
❖ In November 1921, there was a country-wide strike by workers during the visit of the Prince of Wales.

All India Trade Union Congress 1920:

❖ It was founded on 31st October 1920 to elect an Indian delegation to ILO.
❖ In response to the various strikes in many industrial centres AITUC formed.
 6

❖ INC President Lal Lala Lajpat Rai was elected as its 1st President and Dewan Lal Chaman first General
secretary.
❖ Lala Lajpat Rai was the first to link capitalism with imperialism, “imperialism and militarism are the twin
children of capitalism”.
❖ Gaya session of 1922, welcomed the formation of AITUC and a committee was formed to assist it.
❖ CR Das who presided over the 3rd and 4th session of AITUC advocated that INC should take up workers
and peasants cause or else they would get isolated from the movement.
❖ Despite socialistic inclination it remained under the influence of the moderate NM Joshi.
❖ Other important INC leaders involved with AITUC: Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose, C F Andrews, J M
Sengupta, Satyamurthy, V V Giri and Sarojini Naidu.
❖ They believed in the ideals of democracy and performed under the periphery of Gandhian philosophy of
nonviolence, trusteeship and class collaboration
❖ Ahmedabad Mill strike: Gandhi helped the worker secure 27.5% wage hike which was further increased to
35% by arbitrator’s award.
Progress of trade unions can be marked according to the time period.
❖ Growth Period (1920-1929)
❖ Decline (1929-1935)
❖ Expansion (1935 onwards)

Growth Period (1920-1929):

❖ The Trade Union Act of 1926 recognized trade unions as legal associations, laid down conditions for
registration and regulation of trade union activities, secured their immunity, both civil and criminal,
from prosecution for legitimate activities but put some restrictions on their political activities.
❖ Communist movement influenced AITUC in the 1920s.
❖ In 1926-27, Divided into two groups:
1. Reforming or Geneva Amsterdam group: They wanted affiliation from International Federations of
Trade Union (IFTU).
2. Revolutionary or Muscovite group: They wanted affiliation from the Red Labour Union (RITU).
❖ In 1927, the Communists groups structured themselves into “Workers and Peasants” (WPP, function as
left wing in congress) parties with the leadership of SA Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, PC Joshi and Sohan Singh
Josh. Same year AITUC boycotted Simon Commission.
❖ The whole of 1928 witnessed unprecedented industrial unrest. The communist led Girni Kamgar Union
gained news after going through a six-month long strike by textile workers in Bombay.
❖ In 1929, due to protest, a moderate group under Joshi left and formed the All India Trade Union Federation.
❖ Bombay
➢ 1924: Strike of 1 lakh workers for bonus.
➢ 1926: Textile Labour Union formed with NM Joshi.
➢ 1928: historic 6 months strike.
 7

❖ Bengal
➢ 1928: Fort Gloster Mills’ workers went on strike with 15k jute workers for more than 6 months.
❖ Jamshedpur
➢ In 1928, the workers of Tata Steel factory went on strike and formed their Labour Association and forced
employers to recognise it.
➢ Tata was the first modern steel industry by Jamshedji Tata.
❖ Ahmedabad and Madras also witnessed the strike from workers. In 1923 in Madras first Day of May was
celebrated by Singaravelu to honour workers.

Phase of Decline (1929 – 1935)

❖ Government resorted to legislative restrictions.
❖ It passed the
➢ Public Safety Ordinance (1929)
➢ Trade Disputes Act (TDA), 1929

The Trade Disputes Act 1929

❖ Appointment of Courts of Inquiry and Consultation Boards for settling industrial disputes was made
compulsory.
❖ Strike in public utility services like railway, electricity was made illegal unless each worker going on strike
gave an advance notice of one month
❖ Forbade trade union activities of coercive or political nature and even sympathetic strikes.

Suppression of Communists
❖ Coming together of nationalist and leftists and participation of the working class was concerning the britishers.
 8

❖ Adopted a two-pronged strategy repressing labour movement by passing regressive laws (Public Safety and
Trade Disputes) other hand concession in the form of appointment of Royal Commission on Labour in 1929
under John Henry Whitley.

Shift of policy by communists

❖ In 1929, the Communists reversed their policy of working with national movement which impacted the
communists and they kept themselves aloof from movement. It also impacted workers' sharp decline in
membership of GKU.
Royal Commission on Labour
❖ The Royal Commission on Labour (or the Whitley Commission on Labour) was a Royal Commission set
up in 1929 to investigate the working conditions on plantations in India.
❖ The Commission was chaired by John Henry Whitley. The commission submitted its report in 1931.
❖ The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of Mahatma Gandhi and others that poverty
was the cause of India's social and industrial problems. It was also critical of British employers' role
in perpetuating the problems.
❖ It pointed out the need for systematic collection of labour statistics.
❖ It observed that the policy must be built on facts as the uncertainty of facts would lead to confusion and
conflict regarding its aim.
❖ The adoption of suitable legislation enabling the Competent Authority to collect and collate information
regarding the living, working and socio-economic conditions of industrial labour.
❖ Whitley was offered a knighthood for his work on this report, but he declined.

AITUC Division
❖ The Great Depression period impacted India till 1936 this resulted in shutting down of factories, the joblessness
split of AITUC also weakened the labour movement.
❖ First Split
➢ In 1929 Lahore Congress Session Jawaharlal Nehru became President.
➢ Issue of boycotting the Royal Commission on Labour extremists wanted to boycott it moderates wanted
to join it.
➢ Moderates led by NM Joshi and VV Giri formed the All India Trade Union Federation (VV Giri
President) apart from AITUC.
❖ Second Split
➢ In 1931, the Communists left AITUC and formed the Red Trade Union Congress.
➢ A void was created, workers followed congress and participated in Civil Disobedience Movement, it also
got the slogan “workers and peasants hands and feet of congress”.
➢ But this enthusiasm was absent in the second phase of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
❖ Meerut Conspiracy Case, March 1929: Government arrested 31 labour leaders who were later convicted
❖ Some important leaders were: Muzaffer Ahmed, S A Dange, Joglekar, Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley, Shaukat
Usmani and others
 9

❖ Even though the trial got worldwide publicity it weakened the worker class movement.
❖ Workers participated in Civil Disobedience Movement 1930 but their participation dipped in 1931 due to the
split AITUC.

Response of Congress on Peasant Movement

❖ Congress recognised the power of masses and its influence in anti-imperialist struggle.
❖ Right wing belonging to aristocratic society was concerned about the abolition of landlordism.
❖ Due to this whenever peasants revolted against landlords, the congress tried to restrain them.
❖ Whereas Kisan leaders worked independently from their inception and parallelly worked on earning faith in
Congress leadership in securing freedom from British rule and never worked against congress.

Expansion Period (1935 onwards):

❖ This phase saw the aftermath of the Great depression and the economy began to improve. AITUC extended its
support to Congress and in return congress declared several measures for protecting rights of workers.
❖ In 1937, Congress set up various ministries in provinces, trade unionism also rose, strikes also went high.
❖ In 1937 elections AITUC had supported Congress ministries who were supportive and sympathetic to workers.
Many legislations favourable to workers were passed.
❖ The Congress Socialist Party worked for the merger of AITUC, Red Trade Union Congress and National
Federations of Trade Union.
❖ Kanpur strike continued for 55 days with more than 10000 workers. Appointed “Kanpur Labour committee”
under chairmanship of Rajendra Babu.
❖ Legislation passed:
➢ Bombay Industrial Disputes Act, 1938 was passed providing for setting up of an industrial Court and
prohibiting strikes and lockouts under certain conditions.
➢ Bombay Shop Assistance Act, 1939 to consolidate and amend the law relating to the regulation of
conditions of work and employment in shops, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants,
eating houses, theaters, other places of public amusement or entertainment and other establishments.
➢ C.P Maternity Act, 1939 mandated that no employer shall knowingly employ a woman in any factory
during the four weeks immediately following the day of her delivery. Also, no woman shall work in any
factory during the four weeks immediately following the day of her delivery.
➢ Bengal Maternity Act 1939 to regulate the employment of women in factories for certain periods before
and after childbirth and to provide for the payment of maternity benefit to them.
❖ On the outbreak of WW – II workers in Bombay were first to hold an anti-war strike in 1939.

During and after the Second World War

❖ The workers opposed the war initially.
❖ In September 1940 the AITUC adopted a resolution disavowing any sympathy for imperialism or fascism.
❖ Later, Russia joined on behalf of the allies, communist gave the war the colour of “people’s war” and supported
it.
 10

❖ The communists detached themselves from the Quit India Movement and advocated the policy of industrial
peace.
❖ M. N. Roy had formed a pro-Government union called the Indian Federation of Labour.
❖ In 1944 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel organized the Indian National Trade Union Congress.
❖ Between 1945-47, the workers participated actively in post war national upsurges.
❖ In 1945, the workers refused to load ships taking supplies to the warring troops in Indonesia.
❖ In 1946, the workers went on a strike in support of the Naval ratings.
❖ During the later period of foreign rule, workers were involved in various strikes which got polarised on the
basis of political ideologies after independence.

Various Labour Unions in India:

❖ Presently in India, 12 major unions are recognized as central trade union organizations and operate in many
states:
➢ Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS): It was founded by Dattopant Thengadi on 23 July 1955.
➢ Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC): It was founded on 3 May 1947, Acharya JB Kripalani,
who was then President of the Indian National Congress inaugurated the Founding conference of INTUC.
➢ All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC): It is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated
with the Communist Party of India. AITUC was founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, Joseph Baptista, N. M. Joshi,
Diwan Chaman Lall and a few others.
➢ Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS):
▪ The Third largest trade-union federation in India after the All India Trade Union Congress and the
Indian National Trade Union Congress.
▪ The HMS was formed by the Socialists in 1948 but has little real connection with the Socialist
Party.
▪ The founders of this organization include Basawon Singh (Sinha), Ashok Mehta, R.S. Ruikar,
Maniben Kara, Shibnath Banerjee, R.A. Khedgikar, T.S. Ramanujam, V.S. Mathur, G.G. Mehta.
R.S. Ruikar was elected president and Ashok Mehta general secretary.
▪ It absorbed the Royist Indian Federation of Labour and the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat, which was
formed in 1948 by socialists leaving the increasingly communist dominated AITUC.
❖ Other organizations such as:
➢ Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU)
➢ All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC)
➢ Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC)
➢ Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in 1972 based in Ahmedabad, promotes the rights of low-
income, independently employed female workers
➢ All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU)
➢ Labour Progressive Federation (LPF)
➢ United Trade Union Congress (UTUC)
 11

➢ National Front of Indian Trade Unions – Dhanbad (NFITU-DHN).

❖ HMS, INTUC and SEWA are members of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
❖ AITUC is a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

Post 1857 - Peasant and Tribal Revolts:

❖ Continuation of some of the earlier forms of protest against various oppressive aspects of colonial rule,
❖ But now these movements acquired some new features as well.
➢ The greater awareness of colonial policies, laws and institutions among the peasantry, both tribal and non-
tribal. And what is more important, some of them even embraced those institutions,
▪ The law courts became an extended and legitimate space for venting their anger or for seeking redress
to existing injustices.
➢ The growing involvement of the educated middle-class intelligentsia as spokespersons for the aggrieved
peasantry,
▪ This linked their movements to a wider/national agitation.
▪ Subject to debate over intention.
▪ Acted as a channel of communication, between rural society and the administration.

Indigo Rebellion in Bengal

❖ One of the major events in which the old and new features of peasant movements were equally visible was the
indigo rebellion in Bengal in 1859-60.
❖ The oppressive aspects of the indigo plantation system had been the targets of peasant protest in central and
eastern Bengal for a long time. The rising demand of blue dye in Europe to fulfil the EIC was forcing farmers
to grow indigo crops at loss instead of food crops.
➢ In 1832 in Barasat, [Wahabi Movement] Titu Mir and his followers had given the local indigo planters
the fright of their lifetime.
➢ Faraizi movement under Dudu Mian in eastern Bengal had the indigo planters as one of their selected
targets of attack.
❖ The oppression of the planters increased post 1850
➢ Indigo lost its economic importance as an export item and the
➢ Union Bank [chief financier for the planters] failed in 1847.
❖ But the oppressed peasantry continued to bear with the coercive planters for a while,
❖ May 1859 - a sympathetic John Peter Grant became Lt. Governor of Bengal and few officials pro-peasant
position, thinking that the coercive methods of the planters went against the ethos of free enterprise. This also
changed the attitude/thinking of the planters.

Indigo Revolt (1859-60) [Nadia + Murshidabad & Pabna]

❖ It was aimed against European planters who oppressed the local peasants by pressuring them to take
advances and sign fraudulent contracts in which the peasants, rather than the more lucrative rice, were forced
to grow Indigo.
❖ By unlawful imprisonment and other such crimes, these foreigners intimidated the peasants.
 12

❖ The indigo disturbances started in the autumn of 1859 when peasants refused to accept advances from the
planters in a wide region in the districts of Nadia, Murshidabad, and Pabna.
❖ The Jessore peasants joined hands in the spring sowing season of 1860, by which time the entire delta region
of Bengal had become affected.
❖ The Indigo revolt took place in Nadia district of Bengal in 1859 and was led by Digambar Biswas and
Bishnu Biswas who organized the peasants to resist the force of planter’s lathiyals (armed retainers).
❖ In April 1860, revolt initiated from the village of Gobindpur of Nadia district. Farmers let down the orders of
sowing indigo this stand of farmers also known as “first general strike in the history of Indian peasantry.”
❖ This strike spread to other places like Pabna, Khulna, Birbhum, Burdwan and Murshidabad.
❖ March 1860: The panic-stricken pro-planter lobby in Calcutta had a temporary legislation passed
compelling the peasants to fulfill their contractual obligations to sow indigo. The courts were flooded with
such cases and some of the overzealous magistrates forced the peasants to cultivate indigo.
❖ But Grant refused to extend the legislation beyond its life of 6 months and forbade the magistrates to compel
peasants to accept advances to cultivate indigo.
❖ The peasants also took their cases to courts, which were inundated with such law suites. The movement at this
stage turned into a no- rent campaign and as the planters sought to evict their defaulting tenants, the latter went
to court to establish their right as occupancy ryots under the Rent Act X of 1859. [same plot of land continually
for 12 years, which would entitle them to the protection].
❖ Din Bandhu Mitra authored Neel Darpan published in September 1860 led to the government forming an
Indigo Commission.
➢ Dinbandhu’s play Neel darpan depicted the atrocities of the planters in the boldest possible colour.
Translated into English by the famous Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta and was published by
Rev. James Long of the Church Missionary Society to bring it to the notice of the liberal political circles
in India and London. Play was later banned.
➢ Revolt was covered regularly by “The Bengalee” and “Hindoo Patriot”.
➢ For this, Long was tried for libel in the Calcutta Supreme Court and was fined Rs. 1,000 with a jail
sentence of one month. This enraged the Calcutta literati, as the Indian press, particularly the Hindoo
Patriot and Somprakash took up the cause of the indigo peasants, and the British Indian Association came
to their side as well.
➢ Thus, middle-class intelligentia succeeded in bringing the peasants' issue to the wider arena of institutional
politics and this resulted in a growing pressure on the planters.
❖ Famous slogan of the revolt - ‘je rakhak se bhakak’ (Protector has become Destroyer).
❖ Features of the revolt –
➢ There was cooperation, organization and discipline of the peasants,
➢ complete unity among Hindu and Muslims and
➢ a substantial role was played by Intelligentsia.
➢ Support from middle class section of Bengal
➢ Support from nationalists
 13

❖ Reasons for success – Awareness of law on part of the peasants.

❖ Then the government brought in the military to protect the planters, and set up the Indigo Commission to
enquire into the system of indigo production.
❖ The Commission held the planters guilty, and criticised them for the coercive methods they used with indigo
cultivators.
❖ It declared that they could refuse to produce indigo in future.
❖ But the planters now shifted their operation to Bihar from Calcutta.

Indigo cultivation in Bihar

❖ But indigo plantation survived in remote/backward regions of Bihar, where the oppressive system was allowed
to continue without much government interference.
❖ Indeed, after the disturbances of 1859-60, much of the indigo investment from Bengal shifted to Bihar,
where it continued to grow until an artificial dye was invented in 1898.
❖ But still the industry continued into the 20th century and brief revival during WW I
❖ There were instances of resistance in Darbhanga and Champaran in 1874 and then again in 1907-8, by the
indigo cultivators under the leadership of rich or substantial peasants.
❖ But these movements were suppressed by the planters with only occasional mild intervention from the
government, which could secure for the peasants only some limited concessions. Indigo plantation in
Champaran had to wait for Gandhiji’s intervention in 1917. [Tinkathiya system]

Pabna Agrarian Leagues

❖ The Zamindars persecuted the peasantry in East Bengal. They often evicted, threatened, and unfairly raised
the rent through ceasing and using force.
❖ In this area, the rate of rent had been continually going up, along with the illegal cesses or abwabs.
❖ But the main grievance of the peasantry was against the concerted attempts of the landlords to destroy their
occupancy rights by denying them leases in the same plot of land continually for twelve years, which would
entitle them to the protection of the law (Rent Act X of 1859).
❖ An Agrarian League was established in the Yusufzahi Pargana of Pabna district, Bengal, in 1873.
➢ The tenants refused the enhanced payments and the peasants showed legal resistance against the
Zamindars in the courts.
➢ In 1885, the Bengal Tenancy Act was passed.
❖ It was led by Ishan Chandra Roy, Ishan Chandra Roy is known as "Bidrohi Raja" or English "Rebel King".
❖ A number of young Indian intellectuals supported the cause of the peasants. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, R.
C. Dutt and the Indian Association under Surendranath Banerjea were among these.
❖ Rent Act X of 1859
➢ The same plot of land continually for 12 years, which would entitle them to the protection of law and
occupancy rights.
❖ Bengal Tenancy Act 1885
➢ Direct result of the peasant movements.
 14

➢ Aim was to protect tenants from the worst practices of Zamindari.

➢ Defined rights of Zamindars and the peasants.
❖ It provided for relatively greater protection of occupancy rights of the substantial peasants who leased land in
the same village (not just the same piece of land) continuously for twelve years. But the rights of the lesser
peasantry remained undefined as before.

Impact of Pabna Agrarian Leagues

❖ Bengal Tenancy Act 1885 was passed
❖ Agrarian leagues came up in Dacca, Mymensingh, Tripura, Bakarganj, Faridpur, Bogra and Rajshahi
districts, where civil courts were choked with rent suites.
❖ Although some leaders were Hindus and there was remarkable communal harmony, these were also the
regions where Faraizi movement had a large following and Naya Mian, the son of Dudu Mian, was himself
active in organizing the agrarian combination in Mehendigunge in 1880.
❖ It witnessed ambivalence of the educated middle classes.

Features of Pabna Revolt

❖ Creation of agrarian leagues as peasants came to know about the laws and regulations. This gave impetus
push to other part of Bengal but opposed by pro-landlord newspaper including “Amrit Baazar Patrika”.
❖ The objectives were short sighted, limited to redressal of immediate issues. Neither anti-zamindari nor
anti-colonial.
❖ Support from intellectual class of people and organizations like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and RC Dutt.
The Indian association consisted of Surendra Banerjee, Anand Mohan Bose and Dwarkanath Ganguli.
❖ United stand of Hindu and Muslim- Pabna had 70% Muslim and supported Hindu leaders like Keshab
Chandra Sen, Ishan Chandra Roy and Sambhunath Pal.
❖ An organic resistance of the protest was within the ambit of rules and regulation and no sign of violence. The
leagues formed by workers challenged zamindars legally in courts.

Peasant Protest outside Bengal

❖ The fight of the Moplah peasants against their Jenmis continued in Malabar
❖ In Sitapur district of Awadh 1860 and in Mewar (1897) peasants resisted rent enhancements and imposition of
illegal cesses by their landlords.
❖ Religion- vital role in peasant rebellions as before
➢ Punjab - the attempts to purify Sikhism led to the Kuka revolt in 1872. In all these regions the tradition of
peasant militancy continued into the first decade of the twentieth century,
❖ Ultimately merged into the larger Gandhian tradition of mass movement in 1921.

Deccan Riots
❖ The Deccan region experencied heavy taxation under the Ryotwari system.
❖ Peasants found themselves trapped in an endless network with the moneylender as the exploiter and the main
beneficiary.
 15

❖ Money lenders, whether Marwaris or Gujaratis, were often outsiders. A social boycott movement organized
by the ryots against the "outsider" moneylenders culminated in the increasing friction between the
moneylenders and the peasants in 1874.
❖ A situation for open conflict was soon created when the government increased the revenue rates in 1867 on
grounds of extension of cultivation and rise in agricultural prices. [50% - 200%]
❖ The cotton boom in Deccan, created by the artificial demand generated by the American Civil War, had just
crashed after the end of the war.
❖ The movement began at Supa, a village in Poona. (market centre where many shopkeepers and moneylenders
lived).
❖ Ryots from surrounding rural areas gathered and attacked the shopkeepers, demanding their account books and
debt bonds.
❖ They burnt account books, looted grain shops, and in some cases set fire to the houses of sahukars. The revolt
spread to Ahmednagar and then around 30 villages were affected.
❖ The movement spread rapidly to the villages of Poona, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Satara.
❖ It got transformed into agrarian riots with systematic attacks on the moneylender’s houses and shops.
❖ Repression: Police posts were established in villages and forced peasants to submit. Army was called in and
many were convicted. It took several months to bring the situation under control.
❖ Deccan Riots Commission: GOI pressurized the Bombay Government to set up a commission to investigate
into causes. The report was presented to the British parliament in 1878.
❖ The Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act was passed in 1879 in order to maintain peace and harmony.

Features of Deccan Riots

❖ Absence of anti-colonial sentiments.
❖ Support from nationalists and intellectuals: support from “Poona Sarvajanik Sabha” by Justice Ranade and
by nationalist newspapers.
❖ Violence from government Side: Thousands of peasants were arrested and harshly suppressed.
Introduction of the Ryotwari System
❖ The introduction of the ryotwari system, however, changed the situation, as each peasant individually needed
more credit, and the creation of property rights in land and the courts protecting such rights created a land
market and hence there was now more demand for land.
❖ The moneylenders now lent money by mortgaging the peasants' land at a high interest rate and in case of
failure to repay, he took possession of the land through a decree of the court. Caste prejudices prevented the
moneylenders from touching the plough; so the same land was now leased out to their former owner-
cultivators, who thus became tenants in their own land.
❖ Maratha Kunbi (cultivator caste) peasants vs Sahukars/Vanis

Timeline of events:
❖ 1820: The 1st revenue settlement in Bombay. The revenue demand was so high that in many places peasants
left villages especially in areas of poor soil and fluctuating rainfall the problem was particularly acute.
 16

❖ 1830s: Problem became more severe. Steep decline in Prices of agriculture after 1832 and did not recover for
over 15 years which further reduced peasants’ income.
➢ At the same time famine struck in the years 1832-34. 1/3 of the cattle of the Deccan were killed, and half
the human population died.
➢ Those who survived had no agricultural stocks to see them through the crisis.
Revenue could rarely be paid without a loan from a moneylender. But once a loan was taken, the ryot
found it difficult to pay back.
➢ As debt mounted, and loans remained unpaid, peasants’ dependence on moneylenders increased.
❖ 1840s: High level of peasant indebtedness observed everywhere.
❖ Cotton Boom: Before the 1860s, 3/4 of raw cotton imports into Britain came from America.
➢ 1861: American Civil War broke out. Raw cotton imports from America fell < 3% of the normal.
Messages were sent to India and elsewhere to increase cotton exports to Britain.
➢ In Bombay, cotton merchants visited the cotton districts to assess supplies and encourage cultivation and
were keen to secure as much cotton as possible to meet the British demand. They gave advances to
moneylenders who promised to secure the produce. The ryots in the Deccan villages suddenly found
access to seemingly limitless credit. Between 1860 and 1864 cotton acreage doubled.
➢ 1862: 90% cotton imports into Britain came from India.
➢ 1865: Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily
declined. Export merchants and moneylenders in Maharashtra were no longer keen to give credit. Demand
for Indian cotton fell and cotton prices slide downwards. While credit dried up, the revenue demand
increased.
➢ 1874 December: Riot was initiated from the village Kardah when a moneylender evicted Baba Saheb
Deshmukh. Villagers got anguished from this and organized a massive campaign. Boycotting outside
moneylender and social sanction who refuse to join movements especially on “balutedars” (who would
not join movement).
▪ 1st revenue settlement 1820s and 2nd in 1830s.
▪ Now it was time for the next demand to increase dramatically: from 50 to 100%. Moneylender now
refused loans as he no longer had confidence in the ryots capacity to repay. This annoyed the ryots.
▪ The movement also got support from the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha co-founded by M G Ranade.

1850s – 1950s:
❖ Such occurrences of peasant protests against moneylenders were quite common throughout India, as colonial
rule had significantly altered the relationship between the two groups in the political economy of the village.
❖ Similar patterns of peasant behaviour, i.e., little violence against persons, but destruction of the legal debt
bonds of the moneylenders.
➢ Saharanpur district of western UP in 1857
➢ Nasik in 1868,
➢ in the ghat regions between Bombay and Poona in 1874
➢ Ajmer district of Rajasthan in 1891
 17

➢ Punjab in 1914
➢ East Bengal in 1930.
❖ Very clearly such disturbances were the reactions of Indian rural society against the adverse impact of the
British land system, the laws of property rights and courts, which appeared as alien impositions from above
that tended to turn their world upside down.
❖ No tax campaigns were reported in this period from different parts of India-from Awadh in the north in 1879,
from Cambay state in Gujarat in the west in 1890, from Tanjore district in the south in 1892-93 and from
Assam in the northeast in 1893-94.

No-tax campaign in Maharashtra and Gujarat

❖ Along with the attacks on moneylenders, there were also no-tax campaigns in
a wide area of Maharashtra Deccan in 1873-74 in response to the revenue
hike by the Bombay government in the 1860s and 1870s.
❖ Although the government on this occasion offered some concessions, it refused
to tone down the built-in inflexibility of its tax system.
❖ So, when again in 1896-97 there was a crop failure resulting in a severe
famine, there was no remission of revenue, leading to a widespread no-tax
campaign, particularly in the coastal districts of Thane and Kolaba.
❖ In Khandesh and Dharwar districts as there was a harvest failure the peasantry
withheld payment of all taxes.
❖ One of the major features of the movement was its strength in relatively more
prosperous regions which were least affected by the famine. This was an "agitation of landlords and rich
peasants", while the
mediation of the urban
leadership from
Bombay and Poona
played a significant role
too, inviting strong-arm
tactics from the
government.
❖ By the end of 1897 it
was all over. But
peasant unrest
erupted again in 1899-
1900 in Gujarat, which
suffered from a bad
harvest and famine. Led once again by the richer peasantry, Kheda, Surat and Broach districts witnessed nearly
a universal refusal to pay land taxes; but here the outside urban leadership could not play any important role.
❖ Here too, the government broke the movement by coercion and threat of confiscation of the defaulter's
property.
 18

Chenab Canal Colony, Punjab 1907

❖ A new law: It proposed to control inheritance of land in the canal settlements, fine all those who would
break the canal colony regulations and enhance the water taxes.
❖ Peasants were organised by their more educated members to protest against the draconian law; big public
meetings were held and petitions were sent.
❖ Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh, the two leaders of the Lahore Indian Association, Singh Sabha and Arya
Samaj enlarged the scope of the movement both vertically and horizontally.
❖ The peasants held large demonstrations and withheld the payment of all taxes; riots broke out in large cities
like Amritsar, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The Punjab government initially misjudged the magnitude of the
tension and mistook it to be instigated entirely by outsiders.
➢ Rai and Singh were deported & all public meetings were banned;
➢ but that did not lead to any abatement of unrest, which now affected the army, as Punjab was the most
important catchment area for army recruitment.
❖ On 26 May, Viceroy Minto vetoed the new act.
❖ In peasant consciousness, the distant ruler was still the saviour, while the enemy was the corrupt official closer
at home.

   
 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
MODERN HISTORY

Lecture – 46
Various British Policies
 2

Various British Policies

Problems faced by Peasants during 1920s:
 Suffering from a heavy burden of revenue. To overcome from that, they fell into the debt trap of money
lenders.
 Compelled the peasants to pay more and more money apart from rent in the form of ―Naz
ranas‖ or ―
awabs‖.
 Absence of any rights for the welfare and protection of peasants and they work in the threat of eviction.
 Outbreak of war, and forcing them to contribute in war funds and military service.

Peasant Movement During 1920s:

United Province  Baba Ram Chandra organised the peasants of Oudh against the oppressive policies
by Zamindars and taluqdars.
 It merged with NCM and became more militant in nature in Rae Bareli, Faizabad
and Sultanpur and compelled the colonial government to amend the rigorous Oudh
Rent Act of 1921.
 Eka Movement, by Madari Pasi.

Bihar  Movement led by Swami Vidyanand

 Against the oppressive policies of Raja of Darbhanga.

Bengal  In 1921, no tax agitation started and refused to pay the Union Board taxes.
 Midnapore emerged as the main centre of agitation.

Malabar  In 1921, the revolt of Moplah or Mapilla against continued landlord oppression and
government stand towards anti-Khilafat activities.

Gujarat The non-violent Bardoli Satyagraha movement started in 1928 by Sardar Vallabhai
Patel.

Eka Movement, 1921:

 At the end of 1921, in some northern districts of the United Provinces of Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur,
peasant discontent resurfaced.
 The issues involved were:

 High rents—50 per cent higher than the recorded rates;

 Oppression of thikadars (in charge of revenue collection); and
 Practice of share-rents.
 3

 The meetings of the Eka or the Unity Movement involved a symbolic religious ritual in which the assembled
peasants vowed that they would:
 Pay only the recorded rent but would pay it on time.
 Not leave when evicted.
 Refuse to do forced labour.
 Give no help to criminals.
 Abide by panchayat decisions.
 The Eka Movement's grassroots leadership came from Madari Pasi and other low-caste leaders and
several small Zamindars.
 In March 1922, the rebellion was brought to an end by serious persecution by the government.
 During popular movements in the late 1920s in northern India, two prominent figures were influencing
the people, they were Madari Pasi and Bhagat Singh.
 Initially, the movement was supported by some Congress and Khilafat leaders and activists, but as soon
as the movement took a militant turn, the Congress-Khilafat leaders withdrew their support.
 In such an environment, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, the editor of Hindi daily Pratap, who regularly
covered the Eka revolt.
 One of the leaders of the Kisan Sabha in Kanpur, and had reported on the Baba Ramchandra-led Awadh
Peasant Revolt in great detail.
 It is likely that through the daily Pratap, (Bhagat Singh served as its sub-editor), a lot of young
revolutionaries would have come to understand the peasant issue, which is later reflected in their political
writings and speeches.
 Bhagat Singh and his companion stayed with Madari for a
few days as he was organising tribal peasants at this time
because he was by now sidelined in the tenants‘ struggle.
 Madari Pasi dreamt of waging a guerrilla war against the
British. But the revolutionaries couldn‘t make use of his army
as they couldn‘t afford to blow the cover on their
underground movement owing to Madari‘s growing
impatience.
 Revolutionaries of the HRA grew sympathetic to the cause of workers and peasants.
 In 1928, they added the word ‗socialist‘ to their organisation‘s name. This shift was not merely a result of a
theoretical engagement with socialist and Marxist literature, rather it was also a product of engagement with
the everyday lives of peasants and workers.
 4

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (1890-1931):

 Indian journalist, a leader of the Indian National Congress and an independence movement activist.

 He was born in Fatehpur District, Uttar Pradesh.

 At age 16, he also wrote his first book Hamari Atmogsargart.

 He became a prominent figure of the well-known revolutionary Hindi and Urdu journals – Karamyogi and
Swarajya and also began to contribute to them.

 He adopted the pen-name 'Vidyarthi' – the seeker of knowledge.

 He was the founder-editor of the Hindi language newspaper, Pratap.

 In 1928, he also founded the Mazdur Sabha and led it until his death in 1931.

Mappila Revolt:

 The Mappilas were the Muslim tenants who occupied the land where Hindus were most of the landlords.

 The Mappilas demonstrated their indignation during the nineteenth century against the injustice of the
landlords as well.

 Lack of security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees and other oppressive conditions were their grievances.

 The Mappila tenants were especially encouraged by the demand from the local Congress body for a
government legislation which regulates tenant-landlord relationships.

 Soon, with the ongoing Khilafat agitation, the Mappila movement merged.

 Mappila meetings were addressed by Khilafat-Non-Cooperation Movement leaders including Gandhi,

Shaukat Ali and Maulana Azad.

 The leadership passed into the hands of local Mappila leaders after the arrest of the national leaders.

 In August 1921, when the arrest of a revered chief priest, Ali Musaliar, triggered large-scale riots, things took
a turn for the worse.

 Initially, British authority symbols such as courts, police stations, treasuries and offices and unpopular
landlords (jenmies, mostly Hindus) were targeted.

 But once the British declared martial law and repression began in
earnest, the character of the rebellion underwent a definite change.

 Many Hindus were seen by the Mappilas to be helping the

authorities.

 What began as an anti-government and anti-landlord affair acquired a

communal overtone.
 5

 The communalization of the rebellion completed the isolation of the Mappilas from the Khilafat-Non-
Cooperation Movement.

 By December 1921, all resistance had died down.

 A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 had recommended the de-
listing of Wagon Tragedy victims and Malabar Rebellion leaders Ali Musliyar, Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji,
and the latter's two brothers from a book on martyrs of India's freedom struggle. In all, the report had sought
the removal of names of 387 'Moplah rioters' from the list.

Wagon Tragedy

 It was also known as the Bellary Train Tragedy.

 In 1921, the death of 70 prisoners in the Malabar region of Kerala state of India.

 The prisoners had been taken into custody following the Mappila Rebellion against the British in various parts
of Malappuram district.

 On 19 November 1921, when the uprising was near its end, almost 100 people were sent by train from Tirur to
the Central Prison, Bellary in the Madras Presidency. When they opened the wagon in Podanur, 70 of them had
died.

 Their deaths through apparent negligence discredited the British Raj and generated sympathy for the Indian
independence movement.

 In Eranad and Walluvanad taluks, it took the form of an armed rebellion by the Muslim Mappila community.

Bardoli Satyagraha (1928):

 In Surat district, the nucleus of this highly politicized peasant movement was the Bardoli taluqa.

 Vallabhai Patel led the movement. For his leadership, the locals gave him the title of 'Sardar.'

 When the British government, in present- day Gujarat, raised the land revenue by 30 percent, resistance was
shown by the people.

 This led to the organization of a ‗No-Revenue Campaign‘ by the Bardoli peasants including women.

 An intelligence wing was set up to ensure tenants support the resolution and follow it.

 Those opposed followed social boycotts.

 The publication of ―
Bardoli Satyagraha Patrika‖ took place for awareness.

 Lalji Naranji and K. M. Munshi resigned from the Bombay Legislative Council in support of the
movement.

 There were unsuccessful attempts by the British to suppress the movement. But finally, a Bardoli Enquiry
committee was appointed to look into the matter. It found the hike unjustified.
 6

Kisan Sabha Movement:

 After the revolt of 1857, the lands of Awadh taluqdars were restored. This strengthened the hold of the
taluqdars or big landlords over the agrarian society of the province.
 The majority of the cultivators were subjected to high rents, summary evictions (bedakhali), illegal levies,
renewal fees or nazrana.
 The First World War had hiked the prices of food and other necessities. This worsened the conditions of the
UP peasants.
 Mainly due to the efforts of the Home Rule activists, Kisan Sabhas were organised in UP.
⮚ The UP Kisan Sabha was founded by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Dwivedi.
⮚ Madan Mohan Malaviya supported their efforts.
 In June 1920, Baba Ramchandra urged Nehru to visit these villages.
 The Awadh Kisan Sabha came into being in October 1920 because of disagreements in the nationalist
ranks.
 The patterns of activity quickly shifted from the earlier modes of mass meetings and mobilization to the
burning of bazaars, homes, granaries and clashes with the police in January 1921.
 The centers of action were mainly the Rai Bareilly, Faizabad and Sultanpur districts.
 The movement soon weakened, partly due to government repression and partly due to the Awadh Rent
(Amendment) Act being passed.
Baba Ramchandra (1875-1950):
 Indian trade unionist who organised the farmers of Awadh, into a united front to fight against the abuses of
landlords in 1920s and 1930s.
 He left for Fiji as an indentured labourer in 1904.
 He was an influential figure in the history of Fiji and owed his inspiration to take up the cause of the
downtrodden to his 12 years as an indentured labourer in Fiji and to his efforts to end the indenture system.
 He is the prime character in Kamla Kant Tripathi's history-based novel "Bedakhal".
Formation of All India Kisan Sabha:
 Evolution:
 In 1920, the existence of provincial Kisan Sabhas by the socialist and communists was evident.
 In 1936, the All-India Kisan Congress was formed, later changed to All India Kisan Sabha.
 Swami Sahajanand was the first president, who also founded the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha in 1929
and NG Ranga was the general secretary.
 Participation of some prominent leaders like JL Nehru, Ram Manohar Lohia, Indulal Yagnik, JP
Narayan, Sohan Singh Josh, Ahmed Din and Kamal Sarkar.
 7

 Kisan Manifesto adopted in this sabha influenced the agrarian program in the Faizpur session. The
Manifesto was edited by Indulal Yagnik.
 Objectives
 Abolition of landlordism like Zamindari and Taluqdari.
 Protection of peasants from exploitation and reduction in revenue.
 Licensing of Moneylenders
 Providing minimum wages.
 Fair price of commodities
 The Second Session at Faizpur
 The President was NG Ranga.
 Jawahar Lal Nehru, M.N Roy, Narendra Dev, SA Dange, MR Masani, Yusuf Mehrally, Bankim
Mukherjee were some of the prominent leaders of the session.
Swami Sahajanand (1889-1950):
 An ascetic, a nationalist and a peasant leader of India.
 He was born in Uttar Pradesh (Ghazipur).
 Some of his Notable events:
 In 1937-1938, he organised Bakasht Movement in Bihar.
 "Bakasht" means self-cultivated.
 It was against the eviction of tenants from Bakasht lands by zamindars and led to the passing of the Bihar
Tenancy Act and the Bakasht Land Tax.
 He also led the successful struggle in the Dalmia Sugar Mill at Bihta, UP, where peasant-worker unity
was the most important characteristic.
 On Saraswati's arrest during the Quit India Movement, SC Bose and All India Forward Bloc decided to
observe 28 April as All-India Swami Sahajanand Day in protest of his incarceration by the British Raj.
 His notable literary works were Bhumihar Brahmin Parichay, Jhootha Bhay Mithya Abhiman,
Karmakalap, in Sanskrit and Hindi.
Peasant Movement in 1930s:
 Problems
 This phase witnessed the aftermath of the Great Depression and Civil Disobedience Movement.
 In spite of the global slowdown due to the Great Depression, the government did not bring down the
taxes and neither ordered zamindars to lower their taxes.
 The workers participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement which took the theme of the no-rent, no-
tax movement.
 8

 The formation of the Congress Socialist Party and the growth of the leftist movement further
strengthened their stand.
 Movements in various regions:
 United Province:
 It was the main centre for revolt.
 No-revenue and no-rent movement. The No-revenue movement was against the government. And no-rent
against Zamindar.
 Kalka Prasad of Rae Bareli urged peasant refugees to pay any kind of payment.
 Bengal and Bihar
 No-tax agitation.
 Peasants of Manbhum, Singbhum and Dijnapur came together to join Salt Satygraha.
 Agitation against chowkidar tax.
⮚ Madras
 Andhra Ryots Association by NG Ranga for anti-zamindari struggle, reduction of rent
 Venkatgiri zamindari at Nellore was the first target.
 Movement along with CDM consolidated its stand in Tanjore, Madua and Salem.
 Organisation of Summer School of Economics and Politics for peasant activities.
 Kerala
 Peasants mobilized mainly by the Congress socialist activists.
 Existence of Karsak Sangams like Peasants Organisations organised strong agitations against the
Karakkattidam janmi and Kallyatt Janmi.
 The popular methods were marching of jaths to the landlords for their acceptance of demands.
 Malabar Tenancy Act 1938 was the result of the significant campaign by the peasants.
 Bihar
 Sahjanand Saraswati was joined by Yadunandan Sharma, Karyanand Sharma, Rahul Sankritayan,
Jamun Karjiti, Panchartan Sharma.
 In 1935, the Provincial Kisan Conference adopted the anti-Zamindari slogan.
 The Provincial Kisan Sabha developed a rift with the Congress over the bakasht land (self-cultivated)
issue because of an unfavorable government resolution which was not acceptable to the sabha.
 The movement ceased to exist by August 1939.
 Andhra
 Many provincial ryot associations were active.
 9

 N.G. Ranga had set up the India Peasants‘ Institute in 1933.

 After 1936, the Congress socialists started organizing the peasants.
 At many places, the summer schools of economics and politics were held and addressed by leaders like
P.C. Joshi, Ajoy Ghosh and R.D. Bhardwaj.
 Punjab
 The peasant movement was led by Punjab Naujawan Sabha, Kirti Kisan Party, congress and along
with Akalis.
 A new direction to the peasant movement was given by the Punjab Kisan Committee in 1937.
 The key targets of the movement were the western Punjab landlords who dominated the unionist
ministry.
 Problems discussed were the resettlement of land revenue in Amritsar and Lahore and the rise in water
rates in the Multan canal colonies, where private contractors sought feudal levies.
 It was concentrated in Amritsar, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Sheikhupura and Lyallpur.
 Chattisgarh
 Forest satyagraha emerged as an important part of India's freedom struggle during 1930 when Mahatma
Gandhi started the Civil Disobedience Movement.
 It was a unique feature of the Gandhian movement in Chhattisgarh in 1930.
 In 1930, Britishers implemented Forest Law under which the entry of animals into the forest for fodder
was banned and there was a compulsion to keep animals at home.
 As a result, the British captured most of the cattle of Tamora and the surrounding villages by accusing
cattle owners for breaking the forest law and the tribals were harassed in the name of the law.
 In the forest satyagraha, the forest laws were disobeyed by leaving the cattle for grazing in the prohibited
forests, by collecting wood and leaves from these forests without obtaining permission.
 The main theme was to cut grass and twigs from the forests so as to protest and disobey British laws.
 The peasants, villagers and tribal men and women played an active and important role in this movement.

Forest Satyagraha of Pusad (Vidarbha Region, Maharashtra)

 In 1930, along the lines of ‗Non-cooperation and Civil disobedience‘ movement, people offered ‗Jungle
Satyagraha‘ (Forest Satyagraha) as part of the movement responding to the call given by the Congress
leadership and Mahatma Gandhi.
 Prominent persons related to Pusad Satyagraha:
 Madhav Shrihari Aney
 Dr. Hedgewar
 10

Madhav Shrihari Aney (1880-1968)

 He was an ardent educationist, freedom fighter, statesman and politician.
 Conferred with the title of "Loknayak Bapuji", which means "The People's Leader and Respected
Father".
 One of the founders of the Congress Nationalist Party.
 Disapproved Congress throwing itself in the Khilafat Movement.
 He was chosen to arbitrate the disputes between Subhash Chandra Bose and Jatindra Mohan Sengupta.
 In 1910, he wrote for the paper 'Harikishor' and was prosecuted for writing against the British government.
 During 1928-29, Aney was the secretary of the Nehru Committee.
 In 1923, he was nominated to the Central Legislative Assembly as the representative of the Berar
Division.
 During 1941–1943, he was a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council responsible for Indians Overseas
and Commonwealth Relations.
 He died on 26 January 1968 and in 1973, he was posthumously honoured with the Sahitya Akademi
Award for Sanskrit for his Shritilakayashornava (1971), a Sanskrit biography of Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

K. B. Hedgewar (1889-1940)
 He was known as Doctorji.
 In 1925, he founded the RSS in Nagpur based on the ideology of Hindutva with the intention of creating a
Hindu Rashtra.
 He joined the Anushilan Samiti in Bengal.

Growth of Peasant Movement:

 Formation of Congress Ministries
 Bakasht Movement at Bihar (1937-38)
 In response to the eviction of peasants from bakasht lands.
 Bakasht lands were the land lost by tenet to Zamindar on the failure of rent.
 Congress ministry along with Kisan Sabha raised this issue and led to the
passing of Restoration of Bakasht Land Act and the Bihar Tenancy Act in
1938.
 Hat Tola Movement at Bengal (1939)
 It took place in the northern district of Bengal.
 The movement was primarily against the tax collected from peasants who sold their produce in hats
(markets).
 Burdwan Satyagraha at Bengal
 11

 It was under the leadership of Bankim Mukherjee.

 The movement was against imposing Canal Tax after the construction of the Damodar Canal.

⮚ Movement of Sharecroppers at Bengal (1939)

 The sharecroppers were poor peasants who worked on the landlord's farm and were given a portion of
produce.

 There was no security at work.

 Hali Movement

 It took place in Gujarat against Bonded Labour.

Tebhaga Movement, 1946:

 The farms were leased in Bengal by rich farmers (Jotedars) to sharecroppers known as Bargadar or
Bagchasi or Adhyar.

 Tebhaga was recommended by the Floud Commission, in which the Bargadars (sharecropper) should get
2/3 of crop share and the Jotedar (landlord) should get 1/3 of crop yield share.

 The goal of the Tebhaga movement was to enforce the recommendations of the Floud Commission through
mass struggle.

 It was led by Kisan Sabha, Bengal Provincial [BPKS], against the Zamindars, wealthy farmers (Jotedars),
moneylenders, local bureaucrats and traders.
 12

 In September 1946 - BPKS decided to launch the Tebhaga movement and soon it spread to a wide
region where peasants harvested the paddy and took it to their own khamar (storehouse) and then invited
the landlords to come and take their one-third share.

 Although north Bengal districts were the worst affected by this sharecroppers' agitation, contrary to popular
notion, Tebhaga movement touched a wider region, covering almost every district in eastern, central and
western Bengal. Here the peasants carved out their Tebhaga Elaka or liberated zones, where they instituted
alternative administrations and arbitration courts.

 The main slogan of the movement was – ―n

ij kamare dhan tolo‖.

 The Muslim League government led by the Suharwardy proposed the Bargardari Bill along with repression
by force but the bill was dropped due to opposition by Congress and League.

Telangana Movement:

 This is the biggest peasant guerrilla war of modern Indian history.

 This took place in the princely state of Hyderabad under Asafjahi Nizams.

 Total lack of political and civil liberties, grossest forms of forced exploitation by Deshmukhs, Jagirdars,
Doras i.e., Landlords in forms of forced labour i.e., Vethi and illegal exactions became the causes for this
movement.

 The wartime exactions, abuse of rationing, excessive rent and Vethi further deepen the crisis for peasants.

 In July 1946, Deshmukh‘s thug murdered a village militant in Jangaon Taluq of Nalgonda.

 Then the movement spread to Warangal and Khammam. The peasants organized themselves into village
sanghams, and attacked using lathis, stone slings and chilli powder.

 Peasants faced brutal repression.

 It was at its greatest intensity between August 1947 and September 1948.

 The peasants brought about a rout of the Razakars, the Nizam‘s storm troopers.

 Major accomplishments:

 Vethi and forced labour disappeared.

 Agricultural wages were raised.

 Illegally seized lands were restored.

 Steps were taken to fix ceilings and redistribute lands,

 Measures taken to improve irrigation and fight cholera.

 The movement contributed to improvement in the condition of women.

 13

Tribal Revolts Post 1857:

 Another new feature of the tribal peasant life of this period was the "unquiet woods".
 The government regulations threatened to deprive them of their customary user rights on forest resources.
 The attention of the British was drawn to the vast forestry of India in 1806,
 The imperial demand for oak timber needed for shipbuilding for the Royal Navy, the construction of
railways in the 1850s and the huge demand for sleepers.
 Thus, the conservation of forests was a major concern for the colonial state.
 In 1864, a forest department was started.
 In 1865, Government Forests Act was passed in 1865.
 In 1878, further tightened by the Indian Forests Act of 1878, which established complete government
monopoly over Indian forestlands.
 This went against the previous unhindered customary user rights of the tribal peasants and impinged on their
principal sources of livelihood.
 The act divided the forestlands in India into three categories:
 Reserved: Under complete govt monopoly where felling of trees was totally prohibited;
 Protected: Traditional right holders could collect timber for personal use, but not for sale. Initially they
could do it free of cost; but later imposed user charges.
 Unclassified
 By 1900, 20 percent of India's land area had come under government forest administration, which not only
redefined property rights there but also threatened the customary ecological balance.
 Tribal peasants:
 the hunter-gatherers
 who depended on jhum (slash and burn) cultivation.
 Opposition to forest laws became endemic in the second half of the nineteenth century in practically all parts
of India.
 Commercial forestry and the game laws that accompanied it, prohibiting subsistence hunting, threatened
the Chenchus of Hyderabad with virtual extinction and they took to banditry.
 Baigas of central India, often migrated to neighbouring areas, thus depriving the government of a useful
source of labour. Sometimes, they refused to pay taxes or defiantly resorted to shifting cultivation in
prohibited zones.
 The Hill Reddis of Hyderabad and the Bison Marias of Bastar continued with their hunting rituals in
defiance of the laws.
 Saora tribal of the Ganjam Agency, on the other hand, often got involved in frontal confrontations with
the state by clearing reserved forests for jhum and courting arrests for the violation of laws.
 14

 Why did the government attempt to stop jhum cultivation?

 It was considered to be a primitive method of agriculture.
 It was against the interests of the commercialisation of forests.
Arrival of Outsiders in Tribal Areas:
 The state monopoly and commercial exploitation of forests also brought outside intruders into the tribal
territories, many of whom used a considerable amount of coercive power to exploit the tribal peasants.
 This situation in turn brought stiffer resistance, as it happened in the Gudem and Rampa hill tracts of
Andhra Pradesh, inhabited by the Koya and Konda Dora tribes.
 The first few rebellions or fituris in this region between 1839 and 1862, were initiated by the local
muttadars or estate holders, who found their power curbed and rights denied by the intrusion of the
new outside control.
 However, in the late nineteenth century some other changes took place that brought the masses of tribal
peasants into the Rampa rebellion of 1879.
 As the commercial use of forestry began, and the construction of roads opened the hills to commercial
penetration, traders and sahukars from the plains came to the mountainous regions and gradually took hold of
tribal lands by confiscating properties of the indebted peasants and muttadars.
 The prohibition of shifting cultivation (podu), restrictions on the use of forest resources and a new tax on
toddy tested the tolerance levels of the peasants and they looked to the muttadars for leadership
Rampa Rebellion:
 The fituri broke out first in Rampa, in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh in March 1879, and then
spread to the neighbouring regions in Gudem.
 The causes of the revolt were regressive forest laws, oppression by mansabdars.
 The major targets of attack were the mansabdars, the British and their police stations and the trader-
contractors from the plains.
 The leadership was provided by the muttadars, but in many cases this elite participation was secured by mass
pressure and arm-twisting.
 The villagers supported the rebels in many ways as they were in general opposed to the government; but the
fituri of 1879-80, never took the form of a mass uprising, for mass participation was neither required nor
necessary, as the goal of the rebels was only to cleanse the hills of outsiders, and not to take their rebellion
beyond their demarcated territory.
 The British armed intervention restored order in the region by December 1880, but fituri was revived again
six years later in 1886 in Gudem, when religion played a significant role, giving it the character of a
messianic or millenarian movement.
 15

 The tradition of fituri survived in the hills of Gudem and Rampa, but by the 1920s it was seeking to extend to
the outer world by trying to connect itself to the wider tradition of Gandhian mass movements.
 In 1922, the Second Rampa Rebellion led by Alluri Sitaram Raju in Madras presidency against the laws
created by the English on the subjects of forest rights, condition on ―pod
u‖ (slash and burn) and forced
labour.
 Raju died in 1924 in a guerrilla warfare struggle.
 Komaram Bheem (11901–1940) was a revolutionary leader in Hyderabad from the Gond tribes. Bheem in
association with other Gond leaders and communist revolutionaries led a protracted low intensity rebellion
against the feudal Nizams of Hyderabad and the British Raj in the eastern part of the princely state during the
1930s which contributed to the culmination of the Telangana Rebellion of 1946.
 He was killed by armed policemen in 1940, subsequently lionised as a symbol of rebellion and eulogised in
Adivasi and Telugu folklore. Bheem is deified as a pen in Gond culture and is credited for coining the slogan
Jal, Jangal, Zameen (Water, Forest, Land) which symbolising a sentiment against encroachment and
exploitation, has been adopted by Adivasi movements as a call to action. He is also closely associated with
the movement for Telangana statehood.
Protests in Princely States:
 If the local rulers tried to enforce restrictions on shifting cultivation, the tribal peasants resisted
 In 1910, Marias and Murias of Bastar openly attacked the police stations and killed foreigners and
could be brought under control only if a British army contingent was called in.
 The tribal peasants on the fringes of settled agricultural areas were affected equally by forest laws.
 In Madras Presidency, forest crimes increased manifold.
 In Travancore, the peasants refused to cooperate with the forest department officials.
 Thane district of coastal Maharashtra witnessed violent protests.
 In Jungle Mahal in Midnapur district of Bengal, Santhals looted village markets and fisheries.
 In the Himalayan Forest tracts of UP
 Tehri Garhwal (a princely state): The Peasants followed the old tradition of dhandak, which was
protesting against the tyranny of the officials and appealing for justice to the sovereign. When the local
raja tried to enforce stricter conservancy laws, the peasants protested in 1886 and then again in 1904.
Some concessions from the raja failed to satisfy the peasants and in December 1906 they became violent
in their protest against the local conservator and the raja had to appeal to the British for assistance.
 In Kumaun (directly under the British): The protests were directly against the British, as the peasants
resisted the system of utar or forced labour and the tyrannous forest management. Mostly this
protest was of non-confrontational nature, like the defiance of law, theft of timber, incendiarism and
finally, purposefully firing the reserved forests.
 16

Protest in Central India and Punjab:

 Colonial policy was to transform the forest tribes like the Bhils either into settled agriculturists or into a
servile labour force.
 The tribes resisted (1860, 1907, 1911 and 1914) such efforts in various ingenious ways.
 They defied the local representatives of the state, destroyed their documents,
 They ransacked forest department offices or set fire to forests.
 Similar forms of resistance could also be found in the forest areas of Punjab.
 Unauthorised felling, lopping and grazing,
 Deliberate firing and attacking the symbols of new forest management, like the forest guards or the
boundary lines.
 The colonial government often showed a patronising attitude towards the 'wild' tribes.
 But the rebellions were suppressed ruthlessly nonetheless, as they posed challenges to colonial mastery and
were likely to be taken advantage of by the nationalists.
 The tradition of tribal resistance, for example, survived in the hills of UP, to be appropriated later in the 1920
by the wider stream of Gandhian mass politics, as it happened also in Midnapur in Bengal or the Gudem-
Rampa region of Andhra Pradesh.
Other Tribal Revolts:

Bhills, Banswara, Suthi  It was led by Govind Guru.

Dungarpur-Rajasthan 1913)  It began as a temperance and purification movement and developed into a
movement for Bhil Raj.
 The revolt was suppressed by British armed intervention.

Oraons (Chotanagpur 1914-  It was led by Jatra Bhagat and Tana Bhagat.
15)  The revolt was started by Jatra Bhagat for monotheism.
 Abstention from meat, liquor and tribal dances and return to shifting
cultivation.
 It developed links with Gandhian nationalism but was suppressed.

Koya Rebellion (1879-80)
 Eastern Godavari region present day Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
 The root causes of the revolt were corrosion of forest rights, high interest
rates, and torches from moneylenders.
 The prominent leader of the revolt was Tomma Dora (hailed as King of
Malkangiri.
 They started capturing the police station.
 17

Kukis (Manipur 1917-19)  It was led by Jaonang.

 There was resentment and recruitment of forced labour and ban on shifting
cultivation. It was finally suppressed.

Assam Revolt  Chain of revolt in Assam during the time period from 1893-1900)

Kuka Uprising in Punjab  Kuka, were also referred to as Namdharis, who were a sect within Sikhism.
(1872)  It was started by Baba Ram Singh.
 The movement received a political overtone with the established aim of
restoring Sikh rule in Punjab and ousting the foreign powers.
 In 1872, Ram Singh was captured and exiled to Rangoon and 65 Kukas
were blown away from canons by the British.

Ramosi Uprising  It was led by Vasudev Balwant Phadke in counter act to oppression by
moneylenders.

Savara Rebellion (1856-57)  Tribesmen of Parliakhemedi under the leadership of Radhakrishna

Dandasena.
 Britishers deciphered the link between Chakra Bisoi and the Savara
rebellion which were suppressed with the hanging of Dandasena in 1857.

Hos and Munda | Chota Nagpur & Singhbhum (1820, 1822 & 1831):
 The occupation of Singhbhum by the British and exploitation of tribals.
 Raja of Parahat organised Ho initially.
 The Hos tribals were suppressed by the British.
 Later joined by Mundas in 1831 when Hos revolted again against the newly introduced revenue policy and
entry of Bengalis into their region.
 They challenged the Britishers and there was disturbance till 1837.

1890-1900:
 Mundas rose again under Birsa Munda.
 It was also known as Ulgulan, meaning revolt.
 There was massive uprising in 1899-1900
 Birsa raj and Birsaite religion

 It was against the erosion of their Khunt Katti land system (joint ownership or holding of land by tribal
lineage).
 The recruitment of forced labour (beth-begari) and the activities of Christian missionaries.
 They attacked churches and police stations.
 18

 Birsa Munda ("Dharthi Aba"= father of the earth), as known amongst tribal, waged a massive war
against the British rule in mid-1890's.
 After the suppression of the first rising in 1895 the Birsa gave a call to the Munda of a decisive war against
the British.
 After a series of concerted attacks for nearly two years on the places loyal to the British, the Munda warriors
started congregating on " Dombari Hill " at village "Sail Rakab " on the call of Birsa. Adopted Guerilla
warfare, attacked the British in Ranchi and Khunti.
 Several persons, mostly policemen, were killed and nearly 100 buildings
were set on fire.
 Struggle (Ulgulan) & "Abua Disun" (self-rule):
 Subsequently the British forces attacked heavily and created ―
Topped
Buru" - mound of dead.
 Birsa Munda was nabbed while he was fast asleep at "Jamkopai‖ forest
in Chakradharpur on March 3, 1900.
 Birsa Munda died in Ranchi jail on 9th June 1900.
Munda Rebellion (1874-1901):
 It was led by Birsa Munda from 1895.
 Root causes were loss of land in hand to moneylenders, intrusion of jagirdars,
revenue farmers and merchant moneylenders.
 Christianity touch: Tribal accepted Christianity believing that German
missionaries will help against the zamindars failing to turn to catholic mission.
 The Munda sardars turned rebellious against outsiders and rose in rebellion as
``ulgulan‖.
 1899: The Munda declared the establishment of Munda rule by killing
jagirdars, rajas and hakims (rulers), Christians.
 This movement witnessed the active participation of women.
 In counter-suppression by the English, Munda died in 1900.
Characteristics of Peasant and Tribal Revolts Post 1857:
 Most of the revolts were localised ones.
 The revolt was based on community rather than class.
 Role of the middle class played a significant role.
 There was a contribution of Indian Intelligentsia.
 There was a communal connection to revolt.
 19

Warli Adivasi Revolt (1945):

 It began in Zari village, Talasari taluka (Maharashtra).
 Exhausted by the exploitation from the landlords and moneylenders, more than 5000 indentured tribals
gathered and refused to work on landlords‘ fields until they received 12 annas a day in wages.
 This act of opposition sowed the first seeds of rights-based movements among the region‘s indigenous
communities.
 Women played a major role in the revolt and helped the men in all possible aspects. Participation of the
women was supported by the Kisan Sabha leader, Godaveri Parulekar, also known as Godutai (elder sister)
by the Adivasis.
 Women followed her and spoke at meetings about the oppression they faced and encouraged other women to
join the struggle.
 The Warli tribe is one of the largest in India, located outside of Mumbai.
 Warli Paintings:
 Form of tribal art mostly created by the tribal people from the North Sahyadri Range in Maharashtra.
 Warli paintings of Maharashtra revolve around the marriage of God Palghat.
 Warli culture is centered on the concept of Mother Nature.
 Created on the inside walls of village huts. Only paint with a white pigment made from a mixture of rice
flour and water, with gum as a binder. A bamboo stick is chewed at the end to give it the texture of a
paintbrush. Walls are painted only to mark special occasions such as weddings, festivals or harvests.
 Warli painting got GI tag in 2014.
 Prominent figures- Jivya Soma Mashe. In 2011, he was awarded Padmashree.
British Policies
 Indian Press
 Famine Policy
 Reforms in Civil Services
 Army
 Judiciary
 Local Self Govt.
 Police System
 20

Portuguese Brought Press to India:

 The first print at Goa in 1557- Jesuits of Goa.
 In 1684, East India Company set up a printing press in Bombay. Initially printing was discouraged due to
corruption.
 In 1776, William Bolt threatened to publish but didn‘t.
 In 1780, James Augustus Hickey published the first newspaper in India ―T
he Bengal Gazette‖ or Calcutta
general advertiser and criticized the government and suffered.
 Then more publications appeared-
 1784: The Calcutta Gazette
 1785: The Bengal Journal
 1785: Oriental Magazine of Calcutta or Calcutta amusement
 1786: Calcutta chronicles
 1788: The Madras Courier
 1789: The Bombay Herald
 When Wellesley came to India, the condition of India was very critical because of apprehension of French
invasion. So, the circumstances dictated a strict policy towards the Press.
 Wellesley originated the institution of censorship in 1799 (Provision of first press regulation). He imposed
certain restrictions on the Press and made the appearance of the name of the editor and the proprietor of a
paper essential and also submitted for pre-censorship.
 Wartime rules imposed like proper scrutiny and complete surveillance from material to publication all
under the eye of Britishers.
 Publication on Sunday was prohibited.
 21

 Wellesley blocked the free flow of the press and kept the siege and halt in growth of newspapers from the
time of Wellesley to Minto.
 In 1807, this act was extended to cover journals, pamphlets and even books.
 The objective was to shut down the criticism and suppress the power of the press.
 This regulation was abolished by Hastings in 1818.
 Lord Hastings was in favour of a free Press and encouraged the Press to perform its duties in a responsible
manner. In 1818, pre-censorship was suspended. New regulations were issued which made the Press almost
free, though at the same time prohibited it from publishing offensive and objectionable criticism.
 He refused to cancel the licence of James Buckingham (Calcutta Journal editor) or deport him against the
wishes of his council, especially John Adams.
Newspaper in India in the time period of 1818-1857:
 This phase witnessed a number of print materials on daily, weekly and monthly basis.
 The Serampore missionary press (William Carey) was a pioneer in Indian Journalism.
 In 1818, the First Indian Vernacular newspaper ―D
igdarshan‖ was started by them and then Samachar
Darpan.
 ―T
he Friend of India‖ acted as the precursor of ―T
he Statesman‖ was also started.
 James Silk Buckingham started ―C
alcutta Journal‖.
 First Indian owned newspaper ―
Bengal Gazette‖ was started by Gangadhar Bhattacharya in 1816.
 Adam‘s Regulation of 1818 passed for surveillance of newspapers.
 In 1821, Weekly journals like Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali), Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian) were started by
Ram Mohan Roy for discouraging sati pratha. It was later stopped.
 In 1823, the Departure of Hasting and the appointment of John Adam as Governor-General. Nothing
reformative took place in his time period in fact more stringent rules were imposed known as ―A
dam‘s
Gag‖.
Press Regulations of 1823 [Licencing Regulation]:
 A Commission had been appointed under Sir Thomas Munro to investigate and report the problem of the
Indian Press.
 The report of the Commission favoured the retention of censorship as the Press could incite the native people
to be disaffected towards British rule and excite them to drive out the foreigners. John Adams (acting
Governor-General) accepted the recommendations of the Commission and made new regulations in 1823.
 Every printer was bound now to acquire a government license and
 Every publication was to be submitted to the government for inspection.
 Penalty for printing without licence.
⮚ Governor General can revoke the licence
 22

 It was directed against the Indian press. Raja Ram Mohan Roy‘s Mirat ul Akbar was stopped. Only 3 Bengali
and 1 Persian newspaper continued in Calcutta.
 JS Buckingham was deported to England.
Regulation of 1825 (Lord Amherst):
 Adam was succeeded by Amherst following their predecessor's policy of gagging press.
 Lord William Bentinck did not revoke the laws of Adams but had a liberal attitude towards the press.
 Bentinck understood the role played by the vernacular press and due to this the vernacular press started
making rapid strides under him.
 Introduced licensing of press for the first time and free press ordinance. Ordinance stated that prior
requirement of licensing except for commercial matters.
 Prohibited EIC staff from indulging in any relation with the printing press.
Press Act of 1835 by Lord Metcalfe (liberator of Indian Press) - Licensing Abolished:
 Metcalfe supported a strong view on freedom of the press.
 Invited Macaulay for drafting Press Act, the proposal included abolishing of licensing regulations, and
freedom of publication without permission.
 Metcalfe‘s Act of 1835 is considered as the most liberal press act in the history of British India.
 Licensing was replaced by providing precise information about the publication.
 In 1835, the growing period, and newspaper ran till 1875.
 He was succeeded by Auckland who continued Metcalfe's legacy.
Licensing Act of 1857 by Lord Canning:
 The licensing act came in the outbreak of 1857.
 The Licensing Act of 1857 imposed licensing restrictions again due to mutiny, though they were withdrawn
soon after the Mutiny. The condition of the licence was removed.
 Lord Canning re-introduced licensing.
 The regulation or prohibition of press and printed material applicable to Indian and Anglo-Indian.
 Canning allowed the act to expire in 1858.
 After revoking, the press began to flow again.
Indian Penal Code:
 It was equipped with offences like defamation and obscenity by the writers.
 It extended to sensitive issues like public threat.
 1870: Sedition (section 124) added.
 1898: Promoting enmity between classes (sec.153A).
 23

 1927: Outraging religious feelings.

 1927: Assertion against national integration.
Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (Lawrence):
 The Act replaced Metcalfe's Act of 1835.
 It was the oldest surviving Press Regulation in India.
 The act in the backdrop of distrust of the press.
 The objective was to inform people about the activities of the press rather than to control it.
 The act made out that the copies of all the publications printed in India should be preserved so that they
might be referred to whenever needed in future. More of a regulation in nature.
 Every newspaper was required to have printed legibly on it the name of the printer and publisher and the
place of printing.
 Further, within one month of the publication of the book, a copy of the book had to be supplied free of
charge to the local government. It was amended in 1899, 1914, 1952 and 1953.
 Now the Indians had started so many papers. In 1870, there were 644 newspapers in British India out of
which more than 400 were in Vernaculars. The Indians tried to create national consciousness through their
papers and the Government of India revised its Penal Code with a view to adding Section 124 A and Section
121 A to it. (The first section declared sedition a punishable crime while the latter brought the anti-
government plots within the range of punishable offences.
 The evolution of the Indian press during British rule was filled with difficulties like illiteracy, colonial
pressure and repression. But later on, it became a prominent tool for the freedom struggle.
 Between 1850 to 1885, the national movement had not yet taken up mass agitation, neither the political work
consisted of the active mobilization of people in mass struggles.
 The main political task still was that of politicization, political propaganda, awareness and transmission
of nationalist ideology.
 The press was the main instrument for carrying out this task, that is for arousing, training, mobilizing and
consolidating nationalist public opinion. The freedom movement did not begin with guns and bombs but it
started with the publication of newspapers.
Status of Press in 1857 to 1888:
 Rise of the Indian press with the freedom struggle with the prominent persons and their publications.
 1858: Som Prakash by Dwarakanath Vidyabhushana.
 1862: ―T
he Bengalee‖ by Girish Chandra Ghosh and Surendra Banerjee
 1862: Indian Mirror by Debendranath Tagore.
 1883: Voice of India by Dadabhai Naoroji
 1868: Amrit bazar Patrika by Sisir Kumar Ghosh and ML Nehru
 24

 1881: Kesari by BGT

 1888: Sudharak by GG Agarkar
 In 1887 The Hindu and Swadesamitran in 1882 by G. Subramaniyam Aiyar.
 Soaring growth in Indian languages newspaper too and most of them were published in vernacular language.
 Publication of Amrit Bazaar Patrika in Bengali
 Kesari in Marathi
 Swadesamitran in Tamil
 The year of 1876 crippled India by famine and organising Delhi Darbar by Lytton was criticized by the
press looking at this criticism he passed the Vernacular Press Act in 1878, later repealed by Lord Ripon.
 The first three decades of 1900 were notable for the entrance of various publishing houses. They were
involved in the printing and publication of textbooks for schools and colleges, religious books, books on
literature, newly created books in various regional languages inspired by national sentiment.
 Publishers like
 Moti Lal Banarsi Das (MLBD) established in 1903
 Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) established in 1903
 Nagari Pracharini Sabha established in 1910
 Oxford University Press (Indian Branch) established in 1912
 Gita Press in Gorakhpur established in 1927
 This gave a great push to the Hindi publishing trade in the heartland covering: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab, parts of Andhra Pradesh, and Bengal.
 In the south, some printing /publishing houses like:
 Vidyarambham Press and Book Depot established in 1931 in Alleppey;
 KR Brothers established in 1925 in Calicut;
 Prasad Printing & Process established in 1935 in Madras, and
 Commercial Printing Co established in Madras in 1936 played a key role.
Lord Lytton:
 Lord Lytton, whose Afghan policy had been severely criticized, passed the Vernacular Press Act in 1878. Its
provisions applied to the Vernacular papers only and no chance for appeals was left in it. So, the act was
named by the Indians as ― Gagging Act.‖
 This act empowered a District Magistrate—
 To make every printer and publisher deposit security.
 To make them enter into an agreement not to print or publish anything that could incite the people
against the government.
 25

 To confiscate the security of the defaulters.

 Decision of the DM was final and no appeal could be made in the court.

 English language newspapers were immune from these draconian clauses.

 Search warrant and enter in press without court orders

 To rescue from this clause, Amrita Patrika turned to English paper.

 Proceedings against Som Prakash, The Bharat Mihir, the Dacca Prakash and The Sahachar.

 Pre censorship clause was removed/repealed in 1881 by Lord Rippon.

 26

 Except for the restrictions placed by Sections 124 A and 121 A, the press remained almost free till 1908.
The reactionary policy of Lord Curzon had caused a stir among the Indians.

 The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act XIV), 1889 was brought in, with the objective of muzzling the voice
of a large number of newspapers that had come up in several languages, and were opposing the British
policies.

 The Act XIV was amended and made more stringent in the form of The Indian Official Secrets Act, 1904,
during Lord Curzon‘s tenure as Viceroy of India.

 In 1923, a newer version was notified, the Indian Official Secrets Act (Act No XIX of 1923).

 It was extended to all matters of secrecy and confidentiality in governance in the country.

 His educational policy and partition of Bengal had really disaffected the Indian people and the Indian press
launched an open anti-British campaign. So, the Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act was passed in
1908.

 It empowered a District Magistrate to—

 Confiscate a printing press if it printed anything that could lead to violence.

 Local Govt can annul the declaration made by the publisher of the offending newspaper.

 Can appeal to High Court within 15 days.

 The Act of 1908 failed to produce the desired effect and hence the enactment of the Indian Press Act 1910.
It revived the worst of Lytton acts like deposition of security. It passed to control sentiments after partition of
Bengal.

 Local governments could demand at the time of registration security (Rs.500- Rs.2000) from the keeper
of the printing press or publisher of a newspaper.

 Forfeit the security and annul the declaration of registration of an offending newspaper.

 The government may allow fresh registration (security Rs.1000-10000) and forfeit the fresh security and
annul the fresh declaration, confiscate press and all copies if offence persists.

 Aggrieved parties can appeal to Special Tribunals of High courts within 2 months.

 All printers supply 2 copies to the government.

 Action was taken against 991 presses and printing mediums.

 This act gave rise to strong protests. But during World War – I, it was enforced stringently resulting in the
confiscation of $ 40,000 of security deposited by about 300 papers.

 However, in 1921 a Press Enquiry Committee was appointed under Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. On the
recommendations of the Committee the act of 1908 and 1910 were repealed.
 27

Official Secret Act, 1923:

 Banning the publication of any classified official information
 The Congress started civil disobedience in 1930 and the Indian Press began to criticize the British strongly.
 So, Press Ordinance in 1930 and the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act was passed in 1931 which once
more imposed the conditions of depositing security and its confiscation like before.
 A new regulation was promulgated which earned an imprisonment for six months with or without fine for
printing objectionable materials.

Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act 1931 (Willingdon):

 Condemned the Gandhi-Irwin pact and passed IPA to suppress CDM.
 Authorised provincial govt. to prohibit printing the information, name and pictures or anything related to
CDM.
 Imposed an obligation to rig out security at a time when executive order is in place, this system was foreign
even in their native country in England.
 Same act was amplified as the Criminal Amendment Act of 1932.
 With the outbreak of World War II, the
government passed the Defence of India
Act with a view to exercising control over
the Press and controlling seditious
activities. Pre-censorship was reinforced.
 Publication of all news related to Congress
was illegal. It put an end to all freedom and
several printers and publishers had to
suffer. Suppression of the press under this
Act lead to the creation of All India
Newspapers‘ Editors Conference in 1940 to
act as a protector of Indian Press rights. In
1945, however, this act lapsed.

Press Enquiry Committee (March, 1947):

 To examine the press laws in India under Fundamental rights envisaged by Constituent assembly.
 Recommendations:
 Repeal of Indian Emergency powers Acts of 1931,
 Amendments in the Press and reg of Books Act,
 Modifications in section 124 A and 153A of IPC etc.
 Repeal of the Indian States (Protection against Disaffection) Act 1932 and Indian States (Protection) Act
1934.
 28

Press Objectionable Matters Act 1951:

 It replaced centre and state press acts.
 Empowered government to demand and forfeit security and may demand additional security from such press
involved with objectionable material.
 Seize and destroy unauthorised newspaper/press
 Aggrieved owners may demand trial by jury.
 Earlier deadline was for two years but remained in force till 1956.
 This Act was severely opposed by the All India Newspapers Editors Conference and the Indian
Federation of working journalists (1950).
 In 1952, under the chairmanship of Sir Justice GS Rajadhyaksha, constitution of first press Commission
(submitted report in 1954). The other 10 members included Dr C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Dr. Zakir Hussain,
Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao, P.H. Patwardhan, J. Natarajan and Chalapathi Rau. Some recommendations are as
follows:
 Setting up an all-India Press council
 System of price page schedule of newspaper
 Banning of crossword puzzle competitions.
 Strict code of advertisements by newspapers
 Preventing the concentration of ownership of newspapers
The First Press Commission (1954):
 It came across in some section of the Press, instances of yellow journalism of one type or another, scurrilous
writing-often directed against communities or groups, sensationalism, bias in the presentation of news and
lack of responsibility in comment, indecency and vulgarity and personal attacks on individuals.
 The Commission, however, pointed out that the well-established newspapers had, on the whole. maintained a
high standard of journalism.
 They had avoided "cheap sensationalism and unwarranted intrusion into private lives." But it remarked
that " whatever the law relating to the Press may be, there would still be a large quantum of objectionable
journalism which, though not falling within the purview of the law, would still require to be checked."
 It was of the view that the best way of maintaining professional standards of journalism would be to bring
into existence a body of people principally connected with the industry whose responsibility it would be to
arbitrate on doubtful points and to censure anyone guilty of infraction of the code of journalistic ethics.
 The Commission recommended the setting up of a Press Council. Among the objectives visualised for the
Council were: " to safeguard the freedom of the press", " to ensure on the part of the Press the maintenance of
High standards of public taste and to foster due sense of both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship"
and " to encourage the growth of sense of responsibility and public service among all those engaged in the
profession of journalism."
 29

 The Commission, recommended the establishment of the Council on a statutory basis on the ground that
the Council should have the legal authority to make inquiries as otherwise each member, as well as the
Council as a whole, would be subject to the threat of legal action from those whom it sought to punish by
exposure.
 The Commission said that the Council should consist of men who would command general confidence
and respect of the profession and should have 25 members excluding the Chairman. The Chairman was to be
a person who was or had been a Judge of the High Court and was to be nominated by the Chief Justice of
India.
 The Press Council of India was first constituted on 4th July 1966 as an autonomous, statutory, quasi-judicial
body, with Shri Justice J R Mudholkar, then a Judge of the Supreme Court, as Chairman.
 Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Condition of Service) and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1955 passed to implement the recommendation of the first press commission which sought
to modify the condition of services of journalists and newspaper employees.

First Indian Newspaper:

 Bengal Gazette at Calcutta (29 January 1780)- First Indian Newspaper and first English Newspaper. Started
by James Augustus Hickey (clerk of EIC, father of Indian press). After a few altercations with Hasting‘s wife
his paper was deported.
 1795: Madras government imposed censorship on The Madras Gazette which required the Military secretary
to submit all the general order of the government of censorship before publication.

Important Newspapers/Journals and their Founders/ Editors:

 Al-Hilal, AL-Balagh Abul Kalam Azad
 New India (Daily), Commonweal Annie Besant
 Vande Mataram Aurbindo Ghosh
 Kesari B.G.Tilak
 Yugantar Barindra Kumar Ghosh
 Talwar (in Berlin) Birendra Nath Chattopadhyaya
 Pratap Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi
 Hindustan Times Sunder Singh Lyallpuri
 Pakhtun Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan
 Punjabi Lala Lajpat Rai
 Essays in Indian Economics M.G.Ranade
 Nav Jeevan, Young India, Harijan M.K.Gandhi
 Kranti Mirajkhar, Joglekar, Ghate
 Independent Motillal Nehru
 30

 Samvad Kaumudi(Bengali) Raja Ram Mohan Roy

 Mirat-ul-Akbar
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy (first Persian newspaper)
 Indian Sociologist Shyamji Krishna Verma
 Young India (Weekly Journal) M.K.Gandhi
 Harijan (Weekly Journal) M.K.Gandhi
 Bande Matram Madam Bhikaji Cama
 Leader (in English) Madan Mohan Malviya
 Hindustan Dainik Madan Mohan Malviya
 Comrade (Weekly English Newspaper) Maulana Mohammad Ali
 Bombay Chronical (a daily) Pherozeshah Mehta, BG Horniman
 The Statesman Robert Knight
 Bombay Times (from 1861 onwards, The Robert Knight and Thomas Bennett Times of India)
 Bandi Jivan Sachindranath Sanyal
 Tagzin-ul-Akhlaq (journal) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
 Amrita Bazar Patrika (Bengali in the Sisirkumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh beginning and later on English
Daily)
 Indian Sociologist Shyamji Krishna Verma
 Kesari (Marathi daily) and Maharatta B.G.Tilak, Chiplunkar, Agarkar(English Weekly)
 Talwar Virendranath Chattopadhay

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PW Web/App: https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4

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 1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture - 47
Various British Policies II
 2

Various British Policies II

Famine Policy

Under the East India Company

 No attempt was made to formulate any general system of famine relief
or prevention.
 Bengal Famine in 1769-70 claimed ⅓ of the population. No relief was
provided.
 1781-82: Scarcity at Madras
 1784: Severe famine in North India
 1792 Madras Famine: State provided relief
 Famine commission 1880 noted that there was no sense of
responsibility.
 In 1803 NWFP and Oudh Famine state remitted loans and gave
advances
 In Guntur Famine 1833 nearly 2 lakhs died (Andhra)
 In 1837 there was a severe famine in north. State extends their support.
Under Crown rule | 10 severe famines
 Advent of railways, trade route. Communications changed the scenario.
 State felt responsible for irrigation, agrarian legislation and famine relief policy.
 1860-61- Delhi Agra: It was handled by Colonel Baird Smith
 The Orissa calamity 1866 proved a turning point in the history of Indian famines.
 Officers took no responsibility.
 In 1865-66, a famine engulfed Orissa, Bengal, Bihar, and Madras and took a toll of nearly 20 lakhs of
lives with Orissa alone losing 10 lakh lives, since the famine was most severe in Orissa; it is called the
Orissa famine.
 The Government officers though forewarned took no steps to meet the calamity. The Government adhered to
the principles of free trade and the law of demand and supply; the Government did provide employment to
some leaving the work of charitable relief to voluntary agency.
 But the famine proved a turning point in the history of Indian famines for it was followed by the appointment
of a committee under the chairmanship of Sir George Campbell.
Sir George Campbell recommendations 1866
 It is also known as the Orissa Famine Commission (1866-67)
 The old doctrine that the public was responsible for the relief of the helpless was abandoned.
 The Government was expected to borrow money in order to finance for building of Railways and canals.
 Further the district officers were made responsible for saving all preventable lives.
 3

 The committee held Government system responsible for creating the famine like conditions.
 It proposed that the Government during famine times must organize the relief measures.
 Steps should be taken for employment generation immediately so that the impact of famine could be
mitigated.
 The recommendations of Campbell committee were not given much attention.
 The great famine of 1876-78 was perhaps the most grievous calamity experienced since the beginning of
the 19th century.
 It affected Madras, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab.
 About five million people perished in a single year.
 The Government made half-hearted efforts to help the famine-stricken.
 The government famine machinery was inadequate and ineffective and the unwise policy was amply clear,
 In 1880 the Government of Lytton appointed a Commission under the presidency of Sir Richard Strachey
to formulate general principles and suggest particular measures of a preventive or protective character.
Sir Richard Strachey Commission 1880
 It should be the duty of the state to provide gratuitous relief to the poor and listed the category of persons
entitled to receive it.
 Supplies of food in the distressed areas should be carefully watched.
 Suspensions and remissions of land revenue and rents.
 The cost of famine relief should be borne by the provincial governments.
 However, Central assistance was to be made available whenever necessary.
 In times of excessive drought, facilities should be provided for migration of cattle to grassy forest areas
where abundant pasturage was available.
 Employment on work must be offered before physical efficiency is impaired.
 A famine code should be formulated.
 Irrigation facilities should be developed.
 Data should be collected about the conditions of Indian peasantry and agriculture. A famine fund should be
set up.
 The Government accepted in general the Commission’s recommendations and steps were taken to find new
resources for the creation of Famine Fund (1 cr) to meet extraordinary charges. In 1883 [Rippon] the
provisional famine code was formulated which formed a guide to and basis for the provincial famine codes.
 The code provided for precautions to be taken in ordinary times,
 The instructions to be followed during relief campaign and the duties of all concerned when the famine
actually began.
 Districts might be declared by the provincial government as scarcity or famine areas.
 Duties of all concern during actual famine
 4

 Closely following this came the famine of 1896 - 97. It affected almost every province though in varying
degrees of intensity and the total population affected was estimated at 34 million. The relief measures were
conducted with a fair degree of success. Expensive relief operations were undertaken and in many parts of
the country, people were relieved in their own homes.
 A commission presided over by Sir James Lyall, ex-Lt Governor of Punjab, adhered to largely the views
expressed by their predecessors in 1880 suggesting some alterations which were designed to impart greater
flexibility to the maxims then adopted.
 Following the famine of 1899-1900, and the failure of the government of Lord Curzon appointed Sir
Anthony MacDonnell who submitted its report in 1901 in which it summarized accepted principles of relief
suggesting variations wherever necessary.
MacDonnell Commission 1901
 Relief reported was excessive
 A famine code should be formulated for the administration of relief.
 Preventive measures to be taken:
 Suspension and remission of land revenue.
 Agricultural banks
 Advances by the Government
 Indebtedness in Bombay presidency
 Agricultural development
 Railways me be good for famine relief
 But irrigation is good for famine protection.
 Recommended payment by task force for able-bodied.
 The commission emphasized the benefits of a policy of moral strategy, early distribution of advances for
purchase of seed and cattle and sinking of temporary wells.
 It also advocated the appointment of a famine commissioner in a province when relief operations were
expected to be extensive.
 It also emphasized enlistment of non-official assistance on a larger scale and preference in particular
circumstances of village works to large public works which had hitherto been the backbone of relief
schemes.
 The commission also stressed the importance of better transport facilities, opening of agricultural banks,
improvement of irrigation facilities, and vigorous measures to faster improved methods of agriculture.
 Most of the recommendations of the commission were accepted and before Curzon left India, he had taken
various measures to prevent and combat famine.
 With the enactment of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, the famine relief measures and
responsibility was entrusted to the provincial government in the year 1921. Though, the British took the
above said measures, on famine they proved inadequate to provide relief to the millions.
 5

 The vastness of the country, diverse causes for famines and supervisory approach by the government
failed to bring out desired results. And above all the basic culture of a colonial rule with its exploitation
and extractive orientation prevented any whole-hearted effort in this sphere and failed to provide relief
and easy recovery to the millions in India.
 The Great Bengal Famine of 1942-43 took a heavy toll of life. This famine might be called “more
man-made than an act of God”.
 Root causes were failure of crops at Bengal and normal rice imports from Burma stopped.

Famine Commissions
Viceroy Year Chairman Objectives
Lytton (1876-1880) 1880 Richard Strachey Providing relief of famine stricken

Elgin (1894-1899) 1897 James Lyall Suggestion on earlier reports

Curzon (1899-1905) 1900 Anthony McDonnell Suggestion on famine report
Wavell (1943-1947) 1943-44 John Woodhood Investigate in the events of Bengal Famine
 6

Civil Services
 Cornwallis’ Role (1786-93)
 Wellesley’s Role
 Charter Act of 1853
 Indian Civil Service Act 1861
 Statutory Civil Services
 Aitchison Committee on Public services 1886
 Montford Reforms
 Lee Commission 1924
 Government of India Act 1935
 Warren Hastings made first attempt to separate Administrative and Commercial branches.
 He appointed European collectors & created nucleus of Civil Services.
Civil Services under EIC
 East India Company had servants with Low salary and for that reason they carried private trade.
 Later they assumed administrative duties.
 They were highly corrupt
 Oppressed zamindars, merchants, local weavers and artisans
 Extorted gifts and bribes from Nawabs and Raja’s
 Carried illegal private Trade and remitted wealth to Britain
 Robert Clive and Warren Hastings tried to end corruption but failed, Cornwallis maintained the Patronage
System till 1858.

Indians were barred from high posts till 1850s.

 Reason for exclusion:
 Indians were assumed to be incapable and untrustworthy
 Only English could serve the British interests
 Britishers were interested in the lucrative posts

Cornwallis’ Role (1786-93): (Father of Civil Services)

 He organized the civil (Covenanted) services.
 He checked corruption by raising salary and brought strict rules against private trade/presents, bribe
forbidden (DM Salary 1500 + 15% commission on revenue collection)
 Promotions through seniority.
 Charter Act of 1793
 Post >500 pounds= Covenanted servants of the company. Only Englishmen and the patronage system
where only Court of Directors nominated them.
 7

 Wellesley’s Role (1798-1805)

 1800: Set up the Fort William college for training of new recruits.
 1806: This college was disapproved by COD. It continued for languages only.
 East India College was set up at Haileybury (England). Initially it was established in London but then
shifted to Haileybury in 1809. Abolished in 1858
 Imparted 2 years training to recruits.
Warren Hastings:
 After 1813 a gradual process of Indianisation of the Subordinate Services had begun mainly in judiciary
 This was termed as Uncovenanted civil services.
 Indians were recruited only in subordinate positions
 1831: Under Bentinck more authority to Indian Judicial officers.
 Charter Act of 1833 theoretically threw open the services to Indians but no relevant provisions were made.
Only disqualification was removed. Also, more talent required for which some exam was conducted but it
was between the nominated candidates of COD so defeated the purpose.
 Charter Act of 1853
 Ended the patronage of COD.
 Recruitment to be done through open competition.
 A committee under Macaulay was constituted to establish regulations regarding age qualification,
subjects etc.
Indian Civil Service Act 1861:
 Certain offices were reserved for covenanted civil servants
 Exam was to be held in English in England only
 It was based on classical learning of Greek and Latin
 Maximum age 23 (1859) - 22 in 1860 - 21 in 1866 - 19 in 1878
 1863: Satyendra Nath Tagore became first Indian to qualify ICS
 Till 1871 three Indians selected. (All the three from Bengal.)
 S.N. Banerjee, (who was removed from services for technical reasons)
 R.C. Dutt
 Bihari Lal Gupta
 Scholarship scheme introduced in 1868 to give government assistance to talented Indians for taking
examination.
Statutory Civil Services 1878-79
 It was introduced by Lord Lytton.
 1/6th of the covenanted posts were filled by Indians of High or elite families.
 Nominated by the Local government.
 Subject to the approval of Secretary of State and Viceroy
 Members of this service had lower status and lower salary.
 8

 This became subject to criticism.

 System failed and was abolished later.
 Ripon favored simultaneous examination but serious resistance from the bureaucracy.
 In 1885 the Indian National Congress demanded:
 Lowering the age limit for recruitment
 Exam to be held in England and India simultaneously
 Public Service Commission [Aitchison Committee] on Public Services 1886 [Lord Dufferin]
 It was formed so as to fulfil the claim of Indian leaders for higher and more extensive employment in
public services.
 It recommended dropping of the terms covenanted and uncovenanted
 3 types:
1. Imperial Indian services (Exam in England)
2. Provincial Civil Service (Exam in India)
3. Subordinate Civil Service (Exam in India)
 It proposed raising the age to 23 and abolition of Statutory Civil Services
 In 1893, the House of Commons passed a resolution supporting simultaneous exam in India and England.
But this never was implemented.
Royal Commission on Public Services, 1915:
 The Royal Commission on Public Services in India, also known as the Islington Commission was carried out
under the chairmanship of Lord Islington.
 It made the following recommendations in its report submitted in 1915:
1. Recruitment to the superior posts should be made partly in England and partly in India. However, it did
not favor holding competitive exams simultaneously in England and India, which was the prime demand
of the Indian Nationalists.
2. 25% of the superior posts should be filled by Indians partly by Direct recruitment and partly by
promotion.
3. The services under the Government of India should be categorised into Class I and Class II.
4. The principle of maintenance of efficiency should be adopted while fixing the salaries of civil servants.
5. There should be a probationary period of 2 years for direct recruits. For the ICS, it should be 3 years.

Montford Reforms 1919

 Responsible government will require more Indian into the service
 Recommended holding of simultaneous examination in Indian and England
 Recommended 1/3rd recruitments to be made in India itself and to be raised 1.5% annually
 9

Lee Commission 1924

 Secretary of State should continue to recruit the ICS, Forest and irrigation branch of Service of Engineers
 Recruitment for the transferred fields like education and medical be made by the provincial govt
 Direct recruitment to ICS on the basis of 50:50 = Indian: European in 15 years.
 Public service commission should be immediately established (as laid down by Government of India Act
1919).
 It was established in 1926.
Government of India Act 1935:
 Recommended establishment of
 Federal Public Service commission
 Provincial PSC under their spheres
 But the positions of control and authority remained in British hands and the process of Indianisation of the
civil services did not put effective political power in Indian hands since the Indian bureaucrats acted as the
Agents of Colonial rule.
 1st exam: February 1922 at Allahabad. Separate exam in India and not simultaneous.
Evolution of Military
 British Army before 1857
 There were two set of armies operating in India:
1. Queen’s Army: They were serving troops on in India. It was part of Crown’s military force.
2. Company’s Troops: European and Native regiments.
Territorial empire
 Royal forces (especially Navy) at lease.
 Kings’ army officer’s vs. civilian authorities of the company.
 ClC and few officers were kings officers, rest nominated by EIC]
 Solution was to have permanent army.
 French had initiated in 1921-29.
 1st- Captain Stringer Lawrence in the backdrop of Anglo-French war in 1748
 Lord Clive after 1757
 The Sepoy army was supported to be trained and disciplined and commanded by European officers
 In the early 19th Century 20K royal troops were stationed in India and paid by the company so as to
subsidies Britain’s defense expenses.
 “Military fiscalism": EIC army recruitment was central to political sovereignty and monopoly of power
(claimed largest share of expenditure which was a most important apparatus of rule)
 They conquered territories and protected against real or imaginary internal threats, also handled peasant
rebellion and made alliance and collected information.
 10

 18th cent. Recruitment system was built on the existing tradition of military labour market [non-Indian]
along with colonial stereotypes.
 Rice eating was preferred over wheat eating and Caste rules were fall on High caste army [Brahmins and
Rajputs].
 Lucrative for Indian
 Regular wages
 Allowances
 Person – prestige
 Cornwallis followed Warren Hastings for the recruitment of Hill tribes 1802 and Gorkha soldiers 1815.
 In 1820 there was stable empire and Company’s finances was in trouble and attempts to streamline the army
administration with stricter control on the army.
 Reforms in 1830 took place with universal military culture and infringed high caste status but discontent
grew.
 In 1840s disaffection and prepared the backdrop of 1857 revolt.
 After 1857, systematic organisation of Army was observed. Main reason was to prevent another 1857 like
revolt. Another reason was to reorganise Indian Army in order to use it to defend its territories in India from
foreign powers like Russia, France, etc.
 The Reorganisation:
 The India section of the Indian Army was to be used for expansion in Asia and Africa while the British
section was to be used to retain its hold, India.
 The proportion of English to Indian soldiers in the Army was fixed at 1: 2 in Bengal and 2: 5 in Madras
and Bombay.
 European control was established over important locations and departments of the army such as
Artillery, Tanks, etc.
 11

 While reorganizing the Indian army in the post-1857 revolt, the Jonathan Peel Commission had the task of
identifying social groups and regions from which ‘loyal’ soldiers could be recruited.
 The principle it emphasized was that the native army should be composed of different nationalities and
castes and mixed promiscuously through each regiment.
 Regiments which had mutinied were disbanded, castes were more evenly mixed, Punjab became more
important and regional elements like Punjab, Hindustan, Bombay and Madras were kept separate.
 Recruiting of soldiers was seen more in terms of the communities to which they belonged rather than as
individuals. Caste, religion and ethnicity or race became more crucial while enlisting a soldier. Punjab now
became a major catchment area for the Bengal Army.

 By late 1870s, the Bombay Army and Madras Army began to be looked upon as being definitely inferior to
the Bengal Army.
 1879: The Ashley Eden [Army] Commission set up reconfirmed the policy enunciated by the Peel
Commission and following doctrine was stated.
 1880s, a doctrine was spelt out, which divided Indian society into two broad categories, namely, martial and
non-martial.
 According to this, good soldiers can only come from specific communities.
 The system developed under Lord Roberts, Commander in Chief from 1887-1892.
 It was used to justify the discriminatory recruitment policy towards Sikhs, Gurkhas and Pathans who
has supported British in suppressing the 1857 revolt.
 Soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, Central India, South India who participated in the revolt were declared
non-martial.
 12

 Communal, Caste, Tribal, regional consciousness were increased to check the rise of nationalist feeling
among workers.

Late 19th and Early 20th Century

 Army most effective instrument of coercion.
 Quarantined in garrison spread across India
 Low level of literacy
 Insulated from political influences
 Exceptions
 1907 Canal colony agitations in Punjab
 1920 Sikh Gurudwara Movement
 Reason behind resistance against Indianization of the officers in army
 Started in 1931 after RTC-I and in 1940’s

Canal Colony agitation 1907: At the time of Partition of Bengal (1905), the soldiers of Jat paltan revolted and
sided with Bengali revolutionaries to take over the government treasury. Their revolt was crushed by British
colonists and several Jat soldiers had to suffer long imprisonment sentences.
 13

 December 1887 session, the Congress demanded that the military service in the commissioned grades
should be opened to the natives of the country and that the government should establish military colleges in
the country where natives could be trained for a military career as officers of the Indian Army.
 General Frederick Roberts, C-in-C, rejected the proposal on the ground, saying: “No rank that we could
bestow upon them could cause him to be considered equal by the British Officer, or looked up to by the
British soldier in the same way that he looks up to the last joined British subaltern.”
 Till WW I, the highest rank obtained by an Indian in the army was that of Subedar, and that too was given at
a ripe age of 65 to 70 years.
 It was only after 1918, Indians were allowed in the commissioned rank.
 In June 1925 - Indian Sandhurst Committee or Skeen Committee was appointed.
 This committee recommended that the number of vacancies at Sandhurst be increased from 10 to 20.
Visualized 50% Indian officers by 1952
 Indians be made eligible as Kings’ Commissioned Officers in Artillery, Signals and Engineers too and that a
military college be opened in India.
 The government did not accept the recommendations of the Skeen Committee in full but agreed to increase
the vacancies reserved for Indians at Sandhurst from 10 to 20 per year.
 14

Round Table Conference in London, 1930:

 It recommended the establishment of the Indian Sandhurst.
 As a follow up action, a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode,
the then CIC, to work out modalities for establishment of an Indian Sandhurst. In July 1931, the committee
recommended:
 Establishment of a military academy for induction of 40 Gentleman Cadets (GC) in each term
comprising 15 as Direct Entries, 15 from the ranks through Kitchner College, Nowgaon and 10 from
princely states.
 The training span was initially envisaged for three years but later reduced to two and a half years.
 The age of entry being 18 to 20 years.
 The college named the Indian Military Academy was opened at the Railway Staff College building in
Dehradun on October 1, 1932.
 The Army Day is celebrated on January 15. The day marks the completion of the Indianisation of the army
by appointment of a native Indian officer, Lt Gen KM Cariappa, as C-in-C of the Indian Army on January
15, 1949. Cariappa replaced the last British C-in-C, General Francis Robert Butcher.
Administrative Committee/Commission
Viceroy Committee/Commission Year Chairman Objectives

Dufferin Etkinson Commission 1886 Charles involvement of more Indian in Civil

Etkinson Services
Curzon Fraser Commission 1902 Fraser investigate the working of police

Hardinge Royal Commission on Civil 1912 Islington giving 25% high post to Indian
Service
Reading Royal Commission 1924 Lee removing the defects of civil
services
Reading Sandhurst Committee 1926 Andrew Suggest Indianization of Indian
Skeen army
Irwin Butler Committee 1927 Harcourt Examine nature of crown relation
Butler with native states.
 15

Economic Committee
Lansdown Harshell Committee 1893 Harshell Suggestion on the matter of
currency
Lansdown Opium Commission 1893 Thomas Brassey Investigate the effect of opium on
health
Elgin Henry Fowler Commission 1898 H. Fowler Examine the currency situation

Curzon Irrigation Commission 1901 W.Scott Expenditure on irrigation

Monkinj
Hardinge Maclagon Commission 1914- Maclegon Advise cooperative Finances
1915
Irwin Linlithgow Commission 1928 Lee of Fareham Study the problem in agriculture

Irwin Whitley Commission 1929 JH Whiteley Condition of labour in Industries

and gardens
Wellington Indian Measurement 1935 Lary Hamand To arrange for the inclusion labour
Committee and federal assembly
Linlithgow National Planning 1938 JL Nehru Prepare economic plan
Committee

British Policies
 Indian Press
 Famine Policy
 Evolution of Civil Services
 Evolution of Military
 Evolution of Judiciary
 Administration
 Police System
Judicial System in Bengal
 Zamindar decided civil and criminal cases
 Arbitration was popular and favoured the rich.
 Interference by Englishmen was frequent
 In 1765 the Acquisition of Diwani took place and civil jurisdiction passed to EIC.
 Handled by deputy diwan – Riza Khan and criminal jurisdiction of Nawabs
 17720 Warren Hastings = Mughal model
 16

 In 1774 Supreme court in calcutta was established under Regulating Act. It was competent to try all british
subject.
 Issue with new supreme court:
 Outside Calcutta- Complaints against or between Indians can be heard only with consent of parties.
 Supreme Court used English laws while sadar diwani adalat used religious personal law.
 Jurisdiction of SC often clash with other courts.
 To avoid friction in 1780 Hastings appointed Impey, chief justice of SC, as superintendent for sardar
diwani adalat but this was disallowed by court of directors and made him to resign in 1782.
 So, the dualism continues.
 17

 He attempted to codify Muslim and Hindu laws

 1776: Code of Gentoo laws: translation by N B Haled of Sanskrit codes
 1791: William Jones and Colebrooke published Digest of Hindu laws
 Tried translating Fatwa-i-Alamgiri in English.
Judicial Reforms
 Under Cornwallis (1786-93)
 District Fauzdari Courts were abolished. In place of it Circuit Courts were established at Calcutta,
Dacca, Murshidabad, and Patna. These courts had European Judges and were to act as court of appeal
for both Civil and Criminal matters.
 Sadar Nizamat Adalat was shifted to calcutta and was put under the Governor-General and members of
Supreme Court assisted by chief Qazi and Chief Mufti.
 The District Diwani Adalat was designated as District Court and placed under district judge.
 Collector was now responsible for only revenue administration and no magisterial functions.
 The Civil court was established in hierarchical form:
 Munsiff court under Indian Officers.
 Registrar’s Court under a European judge.
 District Court under the District Judge.
 Four Circuit Courts as provincial courts of appeal.
 Sardar Diwani at Calcutta.
 King-in-council for appeal of 5000 pounds and above.
 Cornwallis Code
 Separate revenue and justice administration.
 European subjects were brought under jurisdiction.
 Government officials were made answerable to Civil Court for the action done in official capacity.
 Principle of Sovereignty of law was established.
Judicial Reform under William Bentinck (1828-33)
 Four circuit courts were abolished and their functions transferred to collectors.
 Sadar Diwani Adalat and Sadar Nizamat Adalat were set up at Allahabad.
 Vernacular language was allowed to be used in the Supreme Court by a suiter (Earlier only Persian was
allowed).
 1833: Law commission was set up under Macaulay for codification of Indian laws.
 1860: Europeans were barred from any special privileges except in Criminal cases. No judges of Indian
origin could try them.
 1865: Supreme Court and three Sadar Adalats were merged into High Courts of Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras.
 1937: Federal court was set up. It was to settle disputes between governments and hear limited appeals from
the High Courts.
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Evaluation of Judicial Reform

Positivity Negativity
 The rule of law was established.  Judicial system became competitive and
 The religious and personal laws were replaced by expensive.
the codified laws.  Huge scope was there for manipulation, false
 European subjects were brought under the evidence, deceit.
jurisdiction, giving a sense of equality.  Delayed justice.
 Government servants were made answerable to the  European judges were not familiar with Indian
Civil Courts. usage and tradition.
Charter Act of 1833
 Judicial offices to Indian
 1837 law communications = Lord Macaulay
 1859 (Code of Civil Procedure), 1860 (Indian Penal Code), 1862 (Criminal Procedure Code)
 Under crown
 Indian High Court Act 1861
 High Court at Calcutta, Bombay & Madras was established.
 And Courts of appeal of Sardar Diwani & Sardar Nizamant replaced.
 Allahabad HC (1869) + Patna (1916) + Lahore (1919)
 Power over all the persons & properties – Rule of Law
Administrative Reforms at the Centre: Covered in detail in the ‘Acts’.
 Administrative Reforms at the Provinces
 Indian Council Act 1861: Returned legislative power to the provinces.
 Bombay, Madras and Calcutta Presidencies enjoyed more powers and rights as compare to the other
provinces. These Presidencies were administered by the Governor and his executive council of three
who was appointed by the crown.
 Other provinces were administered by the Lt. Governors and chief commissioners appointed by the
Governor General.
 Lord Mayo in 1870 started to grant fixed sums of money to provinces for maintenance of Police, Jails,
Education, etc.
 Lord Lytton in 1877 transferred certain revenue sources like land, excise General administration, laws
and justice to provinces.
 1882: All sources of revenue were divided into three parts:
 General - Going entirely to centre.
 Provincial - Going entirely to provinces.
 Those divided between centre and provinces.
 19

What made British to develop Local Bodies?

 Over Centralisation had led to financial difficulties faced by the Govt.
 Influence of Europe and urge to replicate European model in India because of India’s increasing contact with
Europe.
 Emerging Nationalism compelled Britishers to bring development at the forefront.
 Association of Indians with the administration was seen as a way to check increasing politicization of
Indians.
 1864-68: Local bodies consisted of nominated members headed by District Magistrates.
 1870: Mayo’s Resolution: Financial decentralization from centre to provinces took place. Apart from
annual grant from the imperial government, the provincial governments were empowered to collect local
taxes to balance their budget. This marked the beginning of local finance. Provincial Government of Bengal,
Madras, N-W Province, Punjab passed municipal acts to implement the policy outlined.
 Ripon’s Resolution, 1882: Lord Ripon is known as the father of local self-government. He wanted
provincial Government to apply the same principle of financial decentralization towards local bodies as
Mayo’s Resolution had begun towards them. Ripon’s Resolution provided for:
 Development of local bodies. To be used to improve administration and impart political and popular
education.
 Local bodies to administer local affairs through definite power and source of revenue.
 Non-official majority to be maintained in these bodies.
 Non-official to act as chairperson.
 Reduce official interference in the functioning of local bodies.
 Several acts were passed between 1883-85 to bring Ripon’s Resolution in practice. However, the local
bodies faced several drawbacks. These were:
 Elected members were in minority in all district boards and many municipalities.
 Franchise was limited.
 Government retained ultimate control. It suspended and superseded the local bodies at will.
 Royal Commission on Decentralisation 1907: It pointed out that the main reason for inefficiency of local
bodies is the lack of financial sources. It made following recommendations:
 Entrust village panchayats with more powers like judicial jurisdiction in petty cases.
 Panchayats should be given adequate source of income.
 It recommended the establishment of sub-district boards in every taluka or telsil.
 Withdrawal of existing restrictions on local bodies on their power of taxation and stoppage of Grant in
aid from provinces except in major projects.
 Municipalities might take responsibility of primary education.
 20

 Under Diarchy, 1919:

 Local self-government was kept under the transferred subject.
 Each province was allowed to develop local self government according to its need.
 However, since finance was reserve subject, provincial ministers could not do much to solve the
problem of fund crunch in local bodies.
 Simon Commission: It suggested retrograde step to increase provincial control over local bodies to increase
its efficiency. It pointed out at the reluctance of elected members to impose local taxes.
 Government of India Act 1935: It placed finance under the control of popular ministers. Now the problem
of fund crunch at local bodies could be easily solved.
Police System
 Pre-colonial period
 Autocratic government.
 Lacked formal police system.
 Watchguards protected villages at night.
 Faujdars: helped in maintaining law and order.
 Amils: revenue collectors and handles rebels.
 Kotwal: helped in maintaining law and order in cities.
 1765-1772:
 Zamindars were expected to maintain law and order
 Sometimes they colluded with dacoits
 1770: Faujdars and amils were abolished
 1774: Warren Hastings rehired and asked zamindars to assist them in tackling dacoits
 1775:
 Faujdar thanas were established in major towns and of large district.
 Assisted by smaller police station
 1791: Cornwallis
 Organised a regular Police force for law and order
 Modernised the old system of thanas (circles)
 District will have Darogas (Indian)
 Superintendent of Police (SP) to be the head of the district
 Zamindars were not required to do the police duties any more.
 1808 Mayo
 Appointed SP for each division
 Helped by number of spies (they committed atrocities on local people)
 21

 1814
 As per the COD
 Appointment of darogas and subordinates was abolished
 Exception: Bengal
 22

 Bentinck 1828-1935
 Abolished the office of Sati Pratha.
 Collector/magistrate will lead the police force
 Commissioner in each division was to act as Sati Pratha.
 Resulted in a bad organised force
 Heavy toll on collector and magistrate
 Police commission 1860: Recommendations
 A system of civil constabulary
 Maintaining the village in the present form (i.e., a village watchman to be maintained) but in direct
relationship with the rest of the constabulary
 Inspector General as the head in province
 Deputy inspector general to head in a range
 SP to head a district.
 This led to Indian Police Act 1861
 They succeeded in curbing the criminal acts
 Attitude was not sympathetic towards public
 Suppressed the National movement
 23

 Police Commission 1902 Sir Andrew Frazer (Chairman)

 Increase salary of the staff and increase the strength in the provinces
 Training schools for the officers and constables to be established
 Direct recruitment in higher ranks
 Set up provincial police force
 Create a central department of Criminal Intelligence under a director with subordinate departments.
 Most of it were implemented.

 The Mughal police system prevailed, when the East India Company established its control over Bengal, after
acquiring the Diwani rights in 1765. In this system:
 Faujdars were in charge of rural districts.
 Kotwals were in charge of the towns.
 The village watchmen used to look after villages. The village policing was under the control of the
Zamindars who paid and controlled the watchmen.
Cornwallis System
 With the expansion of the Company's authority, a need was felt for the introduction of a police set up which
maintained the regulation and order.
 The growing crime rates were perceived as challenge by Company to its authority.
 The reforms started via replacing the Faujdars with English Magistrates at the district level whilst the
Zamindars retained their police functions, although they had been made subservient to the magistrates.
 24

 The new device proved to be insufficient in bringing down the crime rate, whilst the Zamindars abused the
device by means of taking gain of its weaknesses.
 Lord Cornwallis realized the want for police reforms and he made many modifications in the police
organization. He deprived the Zamindars of their policing powers, divided the district into thanas or devices
of police jurisdiction of twenty to thirty miles. Each unit was once below an officer regarded as the Daroga
who was once appointed via the magistrates and positioned beneath their supervision. This came to be
known as the Cornwallis system.
Functions of Police System
 Under the Darogas, the modern police system was an alien feature in the countryside and not completely
independent of the large local-landed magnates. The latter also maintained a large part of their extra-legal
coercive powers, and there was an alliance between the Darogas and the Zamindars in many instances. In
Bengal's rural life in the nineteenth century, the Daroga- Zamindar nexus emerged as the latest instrument of
coercion and oppression. The Daroga system was applied to Madras in 1802 and to the Ceded and
Conquered Upper Provinces in 1803 and 1804, respectively.
 The Cornwallis system failed to yield the desired results in maintaining law and order. One of the prime
reasons for its failure was that the system was "not founded in the usages of the country" The colonial
authorities looked for excuses and made the native subordinate officers simple scapegoats if there was a
large-scale breakdown of law and order. They were accused of lack of integrity and morality, which was
focused on their stereotyping.
Other Changes Made
 Jonathan Duncan, the resident of Banaras, made more modifications when the regulation was extended to
Banaras in 1795, to make the tehsildars, who were to be in charge of the police units, more subordinate to the
magistrates and the Zamindars in their estates more responsible for crime prevention.
 In 1802, the daroga system was applied to Madras and the tehsildar system in 1803 and 1804, respectively, to
the Ceded and Conquered Upper Provinces.
 But the system has created catastrophic outcomes everywhere.
 Sir Charles Napier System
 After conquering Sindh by Sir Charles Napier in 1843, a new system was tested under this model.
 The entire region was put under the oversight of the Inspector General (IG). There were Superintendents of
Police (SP) under him, who were made responsible for the district. IG and the District Collector both,
representing the Civilian Authority, were made responsible for the SP.
 Although the police department ranks and files were to be Indians, the officers were invariably to be
Europeans. In 1849, when it was defeated, the Sindh model was applied to Punjab, and later to Bombay in
1853 and Madras in 1859, albeit with different modifications.
 To counter any political agitation, this model was found to be adequately suited. Military police and civilian
unarmed force, both subservient to the District Collector/civilian Magistrate's authority, were provided for
the system.
 25

Indian Police after 1857

 The revolt of 1857 shook the foundations of British Empire and made them more conscious of the need to
have effective tools for collection of information and for policing the territories. The Police Commission
appointed in 1860 provided a basic structure for the establishment of police needed by the Empire.
 It led the enactment of the Police Act of 1861. In the new organization:
 Military police were eliminated and the civilian police were organized on a provincial basis.
 The Inspector Generals were answerable to the provincial governments and the district superintendents
to the collector.
 The entire police organization was placed under the control of the civilian authorities, and for a long
time, the positions of the inspector general were filled by civil servants.
 The district superintendents were to be in charge of rural police, the Daroga became the sub-inspector.
 The new system had solved the age-old problem of integrating the rural police into the imperial
structure.
Police Commission of 1902
 It had provisions for the appointment of qualified Indians to the position of police officers, but they stopped
in the position where the European officer began.
 Under colonial rule, the police steadily succeeded in reducing major crimes such as dacoit. They were also
able to prevent a large-scale coup against the colonial government from being organized.
 To suppress the rising national movement, the police were frequently used. In 1813, a British Parliament
Committee noted that the Indian police perpetrated depredations on innocent people of the same sort as those
conducted by the dacoits.
 David Arnold thinks, although not a police state in a conventional sense, a "Police Raj" gradually emerged
between the revolt of 1857 and the transfer of power in 1947.
 As such, distrustful of the Indian subordinates and subservient to the civilian authorities, the Indian police
system was reflective of its colonial nature.
 The police became the foremost instrument of repression in India in the face of repeated peasant rebellions
and mounting political opposition, with the colonial state maintaining a complete monopoly on its repressive
power.


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