India’s Independence

East India Company

● A joint stock company founded in 1600,
formed to trade in the Indian Ocean
region
● Company controlled large parts of India,
Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
● Traded cotton, silk, indigo dye, sugar, salt,
spices, tea and opium.
● Company ruled the beginnings of the
British Empire in India.
● Regularly exercised military force to keep
power.
● The British Crown assumed control from
1880.
 British India
● British Raj - 1858 - 1947.
● Empress of India - Queen Victoria.
● India is remembered as the most
important British colony because of its
size and riches - large tea and cotton
industries.
● Founding member of League of Nations &
United Nations.
● Capital: Calcutta until 1911, New Delhi
onwards
● Indian Railways - Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus (Victoria Terminus)
● India was divided and had no power to
fight back.
The Berlin Committee, later
known as the Indian
Independence Committee
after 1915, was an
organisation formed in
Germany in 1914 during
World War I by Indian
students and political
activists residing in the
country. The purpose of the
committee was to promote
the cause of Indian
Independence.
 Mahatma Karamchand
Gandhi
● The first organized protests against
the British Raj were organized by
Gandhi, one of the most famous
individuals in India's history.
● Gandhi protested using nonviolent
resistance, organizing huge numbers
of Indians to show their desire for
independence without fighting.
● His philosophy is remembered as civil
disobedience, as he refused to follow
British laws that he thought were
unjust.
Bhagat Singh
● Freedom fighter
● Participated in several acts of sabotage
against British institutions eg. Central
Legislative Assembly.
● His involvement with revolutionary groups
resulted him being jailed.
● Even behind bars, he continued his activism
through publishing newspapers promoting
Indian nationalism.
● Died at the age 23
Veer Savarkar
● Indian politician, activist and writer.
● While imprisoned at Ratnagiri - he
developed the Hindu nationalist
political ideology of Hindutva
(Hinduness)
● Played a huge part in Akhil Bharat
Hindu Mahasabha - a Hindu
nationalist political party.
● Emerged as a distinct party under the
leadership of Veer Savarkar
● The party supported the British War
effort.
 Independence - 1947
● After the end of World War II, the British
government gave independence to India,
ending the Raj.
● The decision was a result of leaders like
Gandhi who had managed to make their
case peacefully.
● In 1947, India officially became an
independent country.
● However, the area that was the Raj was
split into two countries - India and
neighboring Pakistan.
 Sardar Vallabhai Patel
● Indian Independence nationalist
and barrister who served as the first
Deputy Prime Minister.
● Played a significant role in the
country’s struggle for
independence.
● Successful lawyer
● ‘Iron Man of India’ - commitment to
national integration in newly
independent country.
● The Statue of Unity is
the world's tallest
statue, with a height
of 182 metres, located
near Kevadia in the
state of Gujarat, India.
● It depicts Indian
statesman and
independence activist
Vallabhbhai Patel.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
● A barrister, politician and the
founder of Pakistan.
● Trained as a barrister at
Lincoln’s Inn in London.
● Rose through the Indian
National Congress and
advocated Hindu-Muslim
unity.
● Father of the Nation
(Pakistan)
August 15 as
the day of
India's
independence