GOVERNOR-GENERALS AND VICEROYS OF INDIA

GOVERNOR-GENERALS AND VICEROYS

ROBERT CLIVE 1757-60 AND 1765-67: Battle of Buxar- Siraj Ud doula- Dual Govt in Bengal- First Treaty of Allahbad in 1765 with Shuja ud Doula and second with Shah Alam II..First Governor of Bengal. Battle of Plassey was in 1764 and Governor was Pensitrat

Warren Hastings (1772-85) First Governor-General of Bengal.

Creation of the post of Collector- Regulating Act of 1773

The Act of 1781 (it made a clear demarcation between the jurisdiction of the Governor General-in-Council and that of then Supreme Court at Calcutta).

-Pitt’s India Act of 1784.--The Rohila war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab of Oudh with help of the British.---First Maratha war (1775-82) and the Treaty of Salbai (1782).--Second Mysore war (1780-84) (First one was fought in 1766-69).--Nand Kumar episode (1775) First English translation Gita by Charles Wilkins --Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Hastings and Sir William Jones (1784). After his return to England (1785), impeachment proceedings were started against him. After a prolonged trial (seven years), he was finally acquitted.

Lord Cornwalls (1786-93)

Third Mysore War (1790-92) and the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).

Permanent revenue settlement.Reform of the judiciary- Creation OF district Judge (1793) – Code – Europeonisation of Civil Service.

Sir John Shore (1793-98)

In the introduction of the permanent settlement (1793) he played an important role as the President of the Board of Revenue, but his Governor-Generalship was very uneventful.

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

Introduction of the system of Subsidiary Alliance (1798), and the first Subsidiary Treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad (1798)-Fourth Mysore War (1799) and the annexation of many parts of Mysore.-Subsidiary Treaty of Bassein (1802) and Second Maratha War (1803-05).

• Formation of the Madras Presidency after the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic.
• Fort Williams- Training College.

Lord Minto I (1807-13)Before Minto, Sir George Barlow was the governor-general for two years (1805-07). Main event was the Vellore Mutiny (1806).

Treaty of Amritsar with Ramjit Singh (1809).--Charter Act of 1813

Lord Hastings (1813-23)

War with Nepal or the Gorkha War (1814-16); due to his success in this war, he was made Marquis of Hastings (1816).

• Third Maratha War (1817-1818) – abolition of Peshwaship and annexation of all his territories, and creation of the Bombay Presidency (1818).
• Pindari wars (1817-1818).
• Introduction of the ryotwari settlement in Madras Presidency by governor, Thomas Munro (1820).

Lord Amherst (1823-28)First Burmese War (1824-26)Capture of Bharatpur (1826)

Lord William Bentinck (1828-35)- First Governor General of India.

Prohibition of sati (1829).

• Suppression of thuggee (1829-35).-Charter Act of 1833.
• Macaulay’s Minutes and introduction of English as the medium of instruction (1833)
• Visit of Rammohan Roy to England (1830) and his death there (1833).
• Deposition of the Raja of Mysore and annexation of his territories (1831).

Charles Metcafle 1835-36- Famous Press law and Liberator of Press in India

Lord Auckland (1835-42)

First Afghan War (1836-42) – disaster of the British in the war and recall of Auckland.-Death of Ranjit Singh (1839).

Lord Ellenborough (1842-44).

Termination of the first Afghan war (1842).

• Conquest and annexation of Sind (1843)-War with Gwalior (1843).

Lord Hardinge (1844-48)

First Sikh war (1845-46) and treaty of Lahore (1846)

Prohibition of female infanticide and suppression of the practice of human sacrifice among the Gonds of central India.

Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)

Second Sikh war (1848-49) and annexation of the Punjab.

• Second Burmesewar (1852) and annexation of Lower Burma.
• Charter Act of 1853.
• Application of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation of Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853) Nagpur (1854), etc.
• Annexation of Oudh (1856).
• Wood’s (President of the Board of Control) Education Despatch of 1854 and British assumption of the responsibility of educating the masses.
• Introduction of the Railways (First train-Bombay to Thana), Telegraph (First line-Calcutta to Agra) and the Postal System in 1853.
• Widow/Remarriage Act (1856)
• Establishment of a separate Public Works Department in every province.
• Santhal uprising (1855-56)

Lord Canning (1856-57)

Establishment of three universities (at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay) in 1857.

• Revolt of 1857.

VICEROYS (1858-62)

Lord Canning (1858-62)-First Viceroy

Queen Victoria’s Proclamation and the India Act of 1858.

• ‘White Mutiny’ by the European troops of the EICO in 1859.

India Councils Act of 1861. Portfolio system. Withdrawl of Doctrine of Lapse

Lord Elgin I (1862)

His sudden death in 1862; administration carried on by Sir Napier and Sir Denison from 1862 to 1864.

Lord John Lawrence (1864-69)

War with Bhutan in 1865.

Establishment of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1865.

Lord Mayo (1869-72)

Establishment of two colleges for the education and political training of the Indian Princes-the Rajkot College in Kathiawar and the Mayo college at Ajmer in Rajasthan.

• First step in the direction of separation of central and provincial finances in 1870.-Organisation of Statistical Survey of India.First Census

Establishment of a Department of Agriculture and Commerce.Beginning of the system of State Railways.His assassination by a convict in the Andamans in 1872.

Lord North Brook (1872-76)

Visit of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) to India in 1875.

• His resignation over the Afghan question.

Lord Lytton (1876-80)

Royal Titles Act of 1876 and the assumption of the title of ‘Empress of India’ by Queen Victoria; the Delhi-Durbar in January 1877.

• Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act of 1878.
• Second Afghan War of (1878-80)
• Appointment of the first Famine Commission under Sir Richard Strachey in 1878.

Lord Ripon (1880-84)

First Factory Act of 1881.

• First Census taken in India (1881)-254 millions.
• Introduction of Local Self-Government in 1882.
• Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act in 1882.
• Division of the finances of the center in 1882.
• Appointment of an Educational Commission under Sir William Hunter in 1882.
• The libert Bill Controversy (1883).
• Coming into existence of the Famine Code in 1883.

Lord Dufferin (1884-88)Third Burmese war (1885-86)Foundation of the Indian National Congress (Lord Cross was the Secretary of State at that time).

Lord Lansdowne (1888-94)

Second Factory Act of 1891.

• Division of the Civil Services into Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
• Indian Councils Act of 1892.
• Appointment of the Durand Commission and its definition of the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan (now between Pakistan and Afghanistan) in 1893.

Lord Elgin II (1894-99)

Assassination of two British officials by the Chapekar brothers of Poona in 1897.

Lord Curzon (1899-1905)

Appointment of a commission under Sir Thomas Raleigh in 1902 to suggest reforms regarding universities, and the passing of the Indian Universities Act of 1904 on the basis of its recommendations.

· Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904.

· Establishment of an Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa in Delhi.

· Partition of Bengal in 1905.

· Col.Younghusband’s Expedition to Tibet in 1904. I.S.T.

Lord Minto II (1905-10)

Anti-Partition and Swadeshi Movements.

• Surat Session and split in the Congress (1907)
• Minto-Morley Reforms or the Indian Councils Act of 1909.
• Foundation of the Muslim League by the Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca, etc, in 1906.

Lord Hardinge II (1910-16)

Annulment of the partition of Bengal and creation of a Governorship for Bengal like Bombay and Madras in 1911. (Lieutenant Governorship for Bihar and Orissa, and Chief Commissionership for Assam).

• Transfer of the Imperial capital from Calcutta to “Delhi (1911).
• Coronation Durbar of King George V and Queen Mary at Delhi (December, 1911).
• Death of G.K.Gokhale in 1915.Division of Bengal repealed
• Foundation of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya and some Punjabi leaders.

Lord Chelmsford (1916-21)

Foundation of two Home Rule League – one by Tilak in April, 1916 and another by Mrs. Annie Besant in September, 1916.

• Lucknow session and the reunion of the Congress (1916) (Mrs.Besant played an important role in the reunion).
• Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League in 1916. (Tilak played an important role in this).
• Return of Gandhi to India (1915); foundation of the Sabarmati ashram (1916); Champaran satyagraha (the first time Gandhi experimented his new technique in India-1917); satyagraha at Ahmadabad (1918); Khaira satyagraha (1918).
• August Declaration (1917) by Montague, the then Secretary of State, and Montford reforms or the Government of India Act of 1919.
• Resignation of some veteran leaders led by S.N. Banerji from the Congress, and their foundation of the Indian Liberal Federation (1918).
• Rowlatt Act (March, 1919)and the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (13^th April, 1919)
• Death of Tilak on Ist August, 1920.
• Formation of the Khilafat Committee and the launching of the Khilafat Movement (1919-20).
• Launching of the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22).
• Nagpur session of the Congress (Dec. 1920-kchanges in the constitution of the Congress.
• Foundation of the Women’s University at Poona (1916)
• Appointment of Sir S.P. Sinha as Lieutenant Governor of Bihar (Sir Sinha was the first Indian to become a Governor and the second Indian to become a member of the British Parliament, the first being Dadabhai Naoroji).

Lord Reading (1921-26)

Chauri Chaura incident (February 5, 1922) and the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation Movement by Gandhi.

• Formation of the Swaraj Party by C.R. Das (Deshbandu) and Motilal Nehru in December 1922.
• Foundation of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangha (RSS) by K.B.Hedgewar at Nagpur in 1925.
• Repeal of the Rowlatt Act.
• Holding of simultaneous examinations for the ICS in England and India with effect from 1923.
• Beginning of Indianisation of the officer’s cadre of the Indian army.
• Foundation of the Communist Party of India in 1925.

Lord Irwin (1926-31)(Popularly known as the ‘Christian Viceroy’)

Appointment of the Simon Commission (Nov. 1927) and the boycott of the Commission by the Congress.

• Appointment of the Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission in Nov.1927 (to recommend measures for the establishment of better relations between the Indian states and the Central Govt.). and the convening of the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre States People’s Conference in Dec. 1927 by the states’ people in response.
• ‘Deepavali Declaration’ by Lord Irwin (on 31^st, 1929) that India would be granted dominion status in due course.
• Lahore session of the Congress (Deg. 1929) and the Poorna Swaraj resolution; Fixing 26^th Jan. 1930 as the first Independence Day.
• Launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhi with his Dandi March (12^th March, 1930), boycott of the first session of the Round Table Conference by the Congress (1930), Gandhi-Irwin pact and the suspension of the movement (March 1931).

Lord Wellingdon (1931-36) Participation of Gandhi in the second session of the Round Table Conference (Sep. 1931) and the failure of the conference, return of Gandhi to India (Dec.1931) and resumption of the movement, Gandhi’s imprisonment, final suspension of the movement in May, 1934.

• Third session of the Round Table Conference in London (1932) without the representation of the Congress.
• Announcement of the ‘Communal Award’ by Ramsay Macdonald, British P.M. (1932); Gandhi’s fast unto death in the Yeravadi prison and the Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar (Sept.1932).
• Government of India Act of 1935.
• Separation of Burma from India (1935).
• Foundation of the Congress/Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai Prakash Narayan (1934).
• Formation of the All-India Kisan Sabha in 1936.

Lord Linlithgow (1936-43)

Formation of Congress Ministries in majority of the provinces (1937).

Resignation of Subhas Chandra Bose from the Presidentship of the Congress as well as from its membership in 1939, formation of the Forward Block by Bose and his followers (1939).

Resignation of the Congress Ministries after the out break of the World War II (1939).

Celebration of the Congress Ministries’ resignation as ‘Deliverance Day’ by the Muslim League (1939), and its Lahore Resolution (23^rd March, 1940), demanding separate state for the Muslims. (It was at this session that Jinnah propounded his Two-Nation Theory).

August Offer’ by Linlithgow (1940); its rejection by the Congress and the starting of individual satyagraha by Gandhi.

Escape of S.C. Bose from India in 1941.

Cripps Mission (March, 1942) offering Dominion Status to India, and its rejection by the Congress.

Passing of the ‘Quit India’ Resolution by the Congress at Bombay (8^th August, 1942), arrest of all the Congress leaders and the outbreak of the ‘August Revolution’ or Revolt of 1942.

Lord Wavell (1943-47)

C.R.Formula evolved by C.Rajagopala Chari in 1944 and the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks (1944) based on it: failure of the talks.Famine in Bengal

-Wavell Plan and the Simla Conference (1945) to discuss it; its failure.

-INA Trials and the Naval Mutiny (1946).

-Cabinet Mission (Three members-Lawrence, Cripps and Alexander) and acceptance of its plan by both the Congress and the League (1946)

-Formation of Interim Government by the Congress (Sep. 1946).

-Launching of ‘Direct Action Day’ by the League (17^th Aug. 1946) but it also joined the Interim Govt. in Oct. 1946, though it abstained from the Constituent Assembly.

Lord Mountbatten (March-August, 1947) Mountbatten plan; partition of India and achievement of freedom. Also First governor General of Free India –Gandhi murder-Kashmir annexation

C.Rajajai :Second and Last GG of Independent India-

MAHATMA GANDHI, NATIONAL MOVEMENT

MAHATMA GANDHI, NATIONAL MOVEMENT

* In 1887, Gandhi went to England for higher education and returned to India in 1892 after becoming a Barrister.

* In 1893 he went to South Africa – for a year – spent twenty two years in that country.

* He returned to India on January 9 – NRI Day.

* Gandhi recorded his initial thoughts in 1909 in Hind Swaraj.

* Gandhi’s four preconditions – a) perfect chastity b) adopt poverty c) follow truth and d) cultivate fearless.

* Gandhi began his experiments with Satyagraha – Champaran in Bihar in 1917 – Indigo Planters.Committee of enquiry of which Mahatma Gandhi himself was made a member.

* The Committee of Enquiry recommended some measures to alleviate the miseries of the Indigo cultivators thereby bringing the Satyagraha to an end.

* The movement launched by the peasants at Kheda(1917) in Gujarat was another instance – Peasants not able to pay rent. Vallabhbhai Patel, who became one of the most active and dedicated followers of Mahatma Gandhi from Kheda.

* In 1918 the mill workers of Ahmedabad got into dispute – 35 Percent increases.

* Gopal Krishna Gokhale as his political Guru (mentor).

* On 30^th March 1919 it was decided to launch first nationwide hartal against Rowlatt Act which was called Black Law and which empowered arrest without reasons.. But, as the decision could not reach everywhere in the country, the date was postponed to 6 April

* Satyagarha Sabha – organized at Bombay – Hindu Muslim unity was seen.

* In Delhi – hartal – organized on 30 March 1919. * On April 1919 Gandhi – arrested.

* Jallianwala Bagh - 13 April – day of Baisakhi – Punjab as a special day to celebrate the harvesting season – Government proclaimed a ban.* At 4.00 p.m on the same day a public meeting was called – Jallianwala Bagh was not a garden – rather it was an open space near the Golden Temple in Amristar.At one point of time it was a personal property of a person named Jalli.

* General Dyre – when speakers reciting the poem ‘Fariyad’ –ordered troops to shoot at the crowd from the exit point.

* As per Government Report – 179 people were killed in the accident - according to the Congress Committee the number of people who died could around one thousand.

* An enquiry committee under the Chairmanship of Hunter was setup on 19 October 1919. The committee submitted its report after about a year on 26 May 1920.Some

* Called him as the ‘the defender of the British Empire’ and honored him with sword and an amount of 2,00,000 pound – Gandhi after this event the British lost the moral authority to rule over India – Rabindranath Tagore renounced knight hood titles as a mark of protest.

* Khilafat – Sultan of Turkey was regarded as the Caliph or the religious head of the Muslims all over the worlds – a movement to express the Muslim support for the Caliph of Turkey against the allied powers, particularly Britain.

* Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. M.A. Ansari, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, Maulvi Abdulbari (Lucknown), Hakin Ajmal Khan and the Ali brothers were the prominent leaders of this movement.

* On October 1919, he whole country had observed the Khilafat day – Committee had been formed in September 1919. – March 1920 committee under the leadership of Maulanan Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali was also sent to England.

* British Government – signed Treaty of Tibers on 10 August 1920 – Turkey was partitioned – Sultan was made a prisoner and sent to Constantinople.

* On 1, August 1920, in a communication to the governor General, Mahatma Gandhi announced his plan to begin non-cooperation with the Government as a sequel to the Rowlat Act, Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Khilafat movement.

* Gandhi’s plan was approved by the Indian national congress in a special session at Calcutta in December 1920.C.R.Das opposed it.

* Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant and Bipin Chandra Pal were not in agreement with the congress declaration of non-cooperation and, thus they left the Congress.

Features of Non Cooperation: Boycott of Law Courts, foreign clothes, establishment of panhayattis, promotion of Khadi.Prince of Walesboycotted in Nov 1921 during his visit.

* The Khilafat meeting in Malabar incited so much of communal feelings among the Muslims peasants (The Moplahs) that it took an anti-Hindu turn in July 1921 – Moplah rebellion.

* On 5 February an agitated crowd gheraoed the police station at Chauri chaura in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh and set fire it. Twenty two policemen including the station officer died in the incident.

*Gandhi announced the suspension of the movement.

Revolutionary movements :

Kakori Robbery: * Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil occupies a special place. He published book with the title ‘How did America get Freedom’ and a pamphlet with the heading ‘A Message for the countrymen’ * On 9, August 1925 when the money sent by the government from Saharnpur to Lucknow by train was looted at the Kakori railway station. In December 1927, on the charges of conspiracy, Ram Prasad bismil, Rajendra Lahiri, Roshan singh and Ashfaquallah Kahn were hanged.

* Ashfaqualah Khan was the first Muslim revolutionary of India to be hanged for the sake of the country’s freedom.

Saunder’s Murder and Central hall Bomb throwing: * On 9, June 1931 Harishen was hanged on the grievous charges of murder. Sardar Bhagat Singh born in Banga in Layalpur district – found the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha in 1926.

* Lala Lajpat Rai owing to a police lathi charged led by Saunders was taken as a national humiliation and the later was assassinated on 17 December 1928.

* Bhagat Singh in the mean time had left Lahore in disguise. He had also participated in the congress Session at Calcutta in 1928 – he chose the Central legislative Assembly at Delhi as his targets * The throwing of the bomb in the Assembly on 8 April 1929 by Bhagat Singhand Batukeshwar Dutt shook up the whole country into a new enthusiasm – Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

Swaraj party- Pro and No Changers: * The leaders of the congress were spilt into two groups. The first group comprised of those who wanted a change in the programme of the Congress and in reality did not approve the Non-Cooperation Movement. Prominent among such leaders were Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das and Motilal Nehru, who were called ‘pro-changers’.

* The other groups consisted of those members who supported the non-cooperation movement and retained full faith in the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. This group came to be known as ‘no-changers’. Prominent among the no-changers were C.Rajagopalachari and Dr. M.A. Ansari.

* In March 1923, Chittaranjan Das along with Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party at Allahabad to take parting November 1923 council elections.

* Elections – in November 1923 – Motilal Nehru became the leader of the party whereas in Bengal the party was headed by Chittranjan Das.

* Simon Commission – the act of 1919 included a provision for its review after a lapse of ten years. Thus, such a review was due in 1929.

* The Conservative Party appointed the review commission two years ahead of its schedule, in 1927.

* Simon commission after the name of its chairman, Sir John Simon – all its seven members were Englishmen, the Commission was also called the ‘White men Commission’.

* There were no Indian member in it, the Commission faced a lot of criticism – all the political parties including the Congress, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League decided to oppose the Commission tooth and nail – 3 February 1928 when the Commission reached Bombay.

* At Lahore the student took out a large anti-Simon commission - LalaLajpat Rai was seriously injured in the police lathi charge ordered by Saunders, assistant superintendent of Police of Lahore. As a result of which he passed away after one month – His last words, “Every blow on my body will prove a nail in the coffin of the British Empire.

* With the sole exception of a few members of the Muslim League, the rulers of the Princely States and zamindars, all political parties and the sections of the Indian people opposed the Simon Commission – report published in May 1930 – Dyarchy was unsuccessful – recommended special powers to Governor General at the centre and Governors at the Provinces.

* Indians rejected the Simon commission report out of Hand as it did not mention anything in regard to conferring the Dominion Status – Simon Commission’s report became the basis for enacting the Government of India Act 1935.]

* Secretary of State, Lord Birkenhead, while delivering a speech on the floor of the British Parliament challenged the Indians to produce a Constitution.

* The Report published by this Committee in July 1928 came to be known as the ‘Nehru Report’.

* Muslim League – Central Sikh League, Sardar Kharak Singh also rejected it – Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. M.A. Ansari and Hakim Ajmal Kahn supported it. * Jinnah, thereafter convened an All Indian conference of the Muslims where he drew up a list of fourteen point demand.

* Nehru Report was approved by a majority vote in the annual session of the Congress held in Calcutta on 2 December 1928, an ultimatum was served on the British government to accept the Report by 31 December 1929.

* Poorna Swaraj-The annual session of the congress was held at Lahore in December 1929. The place where this session was held was named as the Lajpat Rai Nagar.

* Dandi March – Gandhi reached the coast of Dandi on 5 April 1930 after marching a distance of 200 miles with 78 handpicked followers and on 6 April formally launched the Civil Disobedience Movement by breaking the salt laws.

* On 9 April, Mahatma Gandhi laid out the programme of the movement which included making of salt in every village in violation of the existing salt laws; picketing by women before the shops selling liquor, opium and foreign clothes; organizing the bonfires of foreign clothes; spinning clothes by using charkha; fighting untouchability; boycotting of schools and colleges by students and resigning from government jobs by the people.

* Many Muslims kept themselves aloof from this movement – northwest Frontier Province an organization of Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God) was formed under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Most of the volunteers donned red clothes, because of which they came to be known as the Red Shirts.

* The khudai Khidmatgars accepted the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in the movement in full measures.

* The government had to send a detachment of the 18^th Royal Garhwal Rigles to suppress this movement. But as the Garhwali soldiers refused to open fire on the unarmed people, the government pressed the air force into action.

* Round table conference – first such conference held on 12 November 1930 at London, failed to resolve he communcal question as it was boycotted it by the Congress.First civil disobedience movement –Gandhi put 11 demands including cut in military expenses, total prohibition,release of political prisoners etc,.

* On 8 March 1931 the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was singed. As per this pact Gandhi agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the Second Round Table conference but most of the leaders did not like this pact.

* On 7 September 1931, the Second round Table conference was held at London; Gandhi joined the Conference on 12 September but returned o India disappointed as no agreement could be reached on the demand of complete independence on the communal question.

* On 3 January 1932, the civil disobedience Movement was resumed. The government responded to it by arresting Gandhi and Sardar Patel and by reimposing the ban of the Congress Party.

(Dr Ambedkar: * In July 1924 Ambedkar had organized a Bahishkrit hitkar Sabha (the Depressed Classes Institute) with the objective of raising the moral and material status of the untouchables.)

* Fist Round Table Conference he had demanded separate electorates for depressed.

* On 16 August 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald made an announcement, which came to be as the ‘communcal Award’.

* According to this award the depressed classes were considered as a separate community and as such provisions were made for separate electorates for them.

* Gandhi protested against the Award and went on a fast unto death in the Yeravada jail on 20 September 1932.

* Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam and Das Birla, C. Rajagopalachari and Dr. Ambedkar gathered at Pun and hammered out an agreement with the consent of Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar. This agreement came to be called as the ‘Poona Pact’ British Government also approved of it.

* 148 seats in different Provincial legislatiures were reserved for the Depressed Classes in place of 71 as provided in the Communal Award. A Common electorate of all Hindu, including the Depressed Classes was agreed upon.

* Special provision for representation of the depressed people in local bodies and civil service were also made.

* The Third Round table conference was held from 17 November to 24 December 1932. The Congress once more did not take part in it.

* In March 1933, the British Government issued a White Paper, which became the basis for the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1935.

* In July 1933, the Congress decided to launch an Individual Civil Disobedience in place of Mass Civil Disobedience.

* Under the Morely-Minto Reforms of 1909 only one percent , and under the Montague Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 two and half percent of Indian got voting rights, under the Government of India Act of 1935 only 13 percent of India’s population became eligible voters.

* In accordance with the provinces of the government of Indian Act of 1935 elections to the Provincial Legislatures were held in February 1937.

* Congress – virtually swept the polls – Muslim League – faced miserable defeat – out of the 482 Muslim seat it could register victory only in 81 seats.

* On 7 July 1937, after the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow assured the Congress of his cooperation the party formed its Ministery in 7 Provinces.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

* Congress Ministeries were formed in seven states of India. These states were the North West Frontier Province, the Central Provinces, Bombay, Bihar, Orissa, the United Provinces and Madras.In two provinces namely Sindh and Assam, ministries were formed with the Congress support whereas in Punjab the Unionist Party and the Muslim League formed the coalition ministry of Krishak Praja Party and the Muslim League came to power.

* Second World War broke out. The British Government without consulting the people of India involved the country in the war. The Congress vehemently opposed it – also resigned from Ministries in all Provinces.

* Muslim League raised the slogan ‘Islam is in danger’. At this juncture, Jinnah also presented the ‘two-nation theory’ – inflamed communal feelings by saying that now Hindi would become the national language of India and Bande Mataram would be its national song.

* Pirpur Report and the Sharif Report also inflamed the communal passions.

* Muslim League celebrated 12 December 1939, the day on which the Congress Ministries from office as the ‘Deliverance Day’ – accepting two-nation theory in its annual session at Lahore – Jimait-ul-Ulema-e-Hind opposing the demand for Pakistan – Khudai Khidmatgar and the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-hind too opposed the idea.

* On 8, August 1940 which came to be known as the ‘August Offer’- It said Indians would set up to frame the new Constitution. Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch individual Staygraha – limited symbolic and non-violent in nature – On 17, October 1940, Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer Satyagraha and he was sentenced to three months imprisonment.

* Jawaharlal Nehru was the second Satyagrahaist ; the third Satyagrahi was Brahma Dutt - continued for nearly 15 months –

British sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India on 23 March 1942.

* Cripps proposals included Dominion Status to India, protection of minorities and setting up of Constituent Assembly. The major political parities of the country rejected the Cripps proposals.

* The Muslim League was also dissatisfied as its demand for Pakistan had not been conceded – 26 April 1942, he asked the British to quit India.

* In July, the Congress Executive Committee passed the Quit India Resolution at Wardha. The All India Congress Committee further considered it at Bombay in its meeting on 7-8 August 1942. * Mahatma Gandhi was kept in prison a Poona.

* Working Committee of the Congress Socialist Party was in session, where it was decided to carry forward the movement from under ground. Among its prominent leaders who took this decision were Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyuta Patwardhan, Ramananda Mishra and S.M. Joshi.

* Quit India Movement had passed through four stages. The first stage was from 9 to 11 August 1942 when strikes, demonstrations and public meeting wee organized in various towns and cities.

* In its second stage from 12 August to 22 September the movement reached the rural areas. During this stage the Government adopted a policy of repression. Government structures, municipality buildings, railways stations, police stations, post offices and trains came under public ire.

* In the third stage from 23 September 1942 to February 1943 there were armed attacks on government buildings in Madras and Bengal. Bombs were thrown at many places in Bombay and the United Provinces

* February 1943 to 9 May 1944 was the fourth stage of the movement when Gandhi was released from jail. During this period, many demonstrations were held, processions taken out, anniversaries of national leaders celebrated and national weeks observed. Students’ peasants and workers took active part in it. The Muslims by and large, remained indifferent.

* Participation – lower middle class, political parities, Communists, Muslim league, Liberals opposed the movement, Savakar criticized the Government and directed his followers not to take part in the movement, and Anglo-Indian Community under the leadership of Anthony opposed the movement.

* Hindu Mahasabha established in 1915 on the occasion of the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar by Madan Mohan Malaviya.

* Lord Linlithgow described it most dangerous since the 1857 revolt.

* The Communist Party of India had come into being by 1925. The British government which declared the organization illegal in 1934. This ban continued in 1942.British Removed the ban on the Communist Party of India in July 1942 in return for the latter’s promise to extend full cooperation to the British in its war efforts.

* Subash Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 at Cuttack in Orissa. He passed the Civil Services Examination in 1920 but not joined to serve the nationalist cause instead of serving the British Empire.

* Chittaranjan Das was instrumental in inspiring him top join the national freedom struggle – unanimously elected President of the Congress at its Haripura session.

* In May 1939, Subash Chandra Bose formed a new group which came to be called the Forward Bloc. July 1940 subhas was arrested under the Defence of India Rules. In the guise of a Pathan left the country on 16 February 1941 and reached Kabul along with his friend Bhagat Ram.

* He went to Germany and met Hilter. He was first addressed as Netaji in Germany. Indian National Army goes to Captain Mohan Singh, who set up the first division of the INA on 1 September 1942.

* On 2 July 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose reached Singapore and gave the rousing war cry of ‘Dilli Chalo’.

* Formation of the Azad Hind Government and proclaimed ‘Give me blood and I will give you freedom’. He organized the Indian National Army and gave the country the slogan of ‘Jai Hind’.

* the name of the INA’s three Brigades were the Subhas Brigade, Gandhi Brigade, and Nehru Brigade – women’s detacgnebt after the name of Rani Laximibai – was recognized by Japan, Germany, Italy, China, Ireland, Burma (Brahma Desh) and Philippines.

* On 8 November 1943, Japan headed over Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Subhas Chandra. In turn, Nataji named these islands as ‘Shaheed Island’ and

‘Swaraj Island’ respectively. Germany accepted defeat on 7 May 1945. On 6 August 1945, atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

* After crossing the Formosa Island on his way to Tokyo died on 18 August 1945 as his plane suddenly caught fire. The trial of the soldiers of INA was held at Red Fort in Delhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai and Tej Bahadur Sapru fought the case on behalf of the soliders.

* On 20 January 1946, some soliders of the Air force staged a hartal against the British Government in Karachi. The hartal soon spread to Bombay, Lahore and Delhi.

* About this time, on 19 February 1946, some Indians serving in the Royal Indian Navy also ined mutiny. They also demanded equal treatment. The civilian population of Bombay also joined hands with them by striking work – due to the efforts of Sardar Patel, this agitation came to end.

PARTITION OF BENGAL

1. Reason: Curzon’s imperialist policy of ‘divide and rule’ manifested itself most glaringly in the partition pf Bengal. The reasons given were --The area and population of the Provinces of Bengal was too large. There was a problem of communication. Highways were not safe. The peasants of this province were a harassed lot.

2. But actually the cause behind the partition was much more political than administrative. Bengal was becoming the nerve centre of nationalist activities in India.

3. On 19 July 1905 the Government of India formally proposed the partition of Bengal. According to this proposal Chittagong, Rajshahi and Dacca were merged with Assam to form the new province.

4. The proposed area of the new province was fixed at 1 lakh 6 thousand 5 hundred 40 square miles and its population was 3 crore 10 lakh out of which the Muslims accounted for 1 crore 80 lakh and Hindus 1 crore 20 lakh.

5. Curzon announced the partition of Bengal on 16 October 1905. Sir Aurobindo’s Ghosh (1872-1950) played a prominent parting the nationalist movement of India. Particularly his contribution to the movement against the partition of Bengal was unparalleled. Sir Aurobindo left Baroda to work in the National College in Calcutta with a view to make education compatible to the national needs. The National College in Calcutta had been established on 14 August 1906. Sir Aurobindo’s second revolutionary contribution was the editing of the Bande Mataram paper. A series of seven articles published by Sir Aurobindo’s, between 11 and 23 April 1907 under the heading, ‘Doctrine of Passive Resistance’ in Bande Mataram became very popular. The Partition of Bengal infused a sense of nationalism among the Indians and also gave birth to the swadeshi movement which galvanized the masses against the partition of Bengal. Since 16 October 1905, the reactions against the partition of Bengal started taking shape. This day was observed as a ‘Black Day’. People took holy dip in the Ganga and kept vows. They also tied Rakhi in each other’s hand as symbol of unity.(Partition of Bengal was annulled in 1911 by Lord Hardine.)

Indian National Movement

 •Government of India Act 1858
• Indian National Congress (1885)
• Partition of Bengal (1905)
• Muslim League (1906)
• Swadeshi Movement (1905)
• Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)
• Lucknow Pact (1916)
• Home Rule Movement (1915­1916)
• The Gandhian Era (1918-1947)
• Khilafat Movement (1920)
• The Rowlatt Act (1919)
• Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (1919)
• Non-Cooperation Movement (1920)
  

• Chauri Chaura Incident (1922)
• Swaraj Party (1922)
• Simon Commission (1927)
• Dandi March (1930)
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)
• The Government of India Act, 1935
• Quit India Movement (1942)
• Cabinet Mission Plan (1946)
• Interim Government (1946)
• Formation of Constituent Assembly (1946)
• Mountbatten Plan (1947)
• The Indian Independence Act, 1947
• Partition of India (1947)



The East India Company had established its control over almost all parts of India by the middle of the 19th century. There were numerous risings in the first hundred years of British rule in India. They were, however, local and isolated in character. Some of them were led by the nobility who were refusing to accept the changing patterns of the time and wanted the past to be restored. But the risings developed a tradition of resistance offoreign rule, culminating in the 1857 revolt.

The Revolt of 1857, which was called a Sepoy Mutiny by British historians and their imitators in India but described as "the First War of Indian Independence" by many Indian historians, shook the British authority in India from its very foundations.
The Revolt of 1857, an unsuccessful but heroic effort to eliminate foreign rule, had begun. The capture of Delhi and the proclamation of Bahadurshah as the Emperor of Hindustan are a positive meaning to the Revolt and provided a rallying point for the rebels by recalling the past glory of the imperial city.

On May 10, 1857, soldiers at Meerut refused to touch the new Enfield rifle cartridges. The soldiers along with other group of civilians, went on a rampage shouting 'Maro Firangi Ko'. They broke open jails, murdered European men and women, burnt their houses and marched to Delhi. The appearance of the marching soldiers next morning in Delhi was a'signal to the local soldiers, who in turn revolted, seized the city and proclaimed the 80-year old Bahadurshah Zafar, as Emperor of India.

 Within a month of the capture of Delhi, the Revolt spread to the different parts of the country. Kanpur, Lucknow, Benaras,  Allahabad, Bareilly, Jagdishpur and Jhansi. In the absence of any leader from their own ranks, the insurgents turned to the traditional leaders of Indian society. At Kanpur, NanaSaheb, the adopted son of last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, led the forces. Rani Lakshmi Bai in Jhansi, Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow and .Khan Bahadur in Bareilly were in command. However, apart from a commonly shared hatred for alien rule, the rebels had no political perspective or a definite vision of the future. They were all prisoners of their own past, fighting primarily to regain their lost privileges. Unsurprisingly, they proved incapable of ushering in a new political order.




Government of India Act 1858




The main provisions of the bill were:

    The Company's territories in India were to be vested in the Queen, the Company ceasing to exercise its power and control over these territories. India was to be governed in the Queen's name.
    The Queen's Principal Secretary of State received the powers and duties of the Company's Court of Directors. A council of fifteen members was appointed to assist the Secretary of State for India. The council became an advisory body in India affairs. For all the communications between Britain and India, the Secretary of State became the real channel.
    The Secretary of State for India was empowered to send some secret despatches to India directly without consulting the Council. He was also authorised to constitute special committees of his Council.
    The Crown was empowered to appoint a Governor-General and the Governors of the Presidencies.
    Provision for the creation of an Indian Civil Service under the control of the Secretary of State.
Queen Victoria issued a proclamation on November 1, 1858, placing India under direct government of the Crown, whereby:

(a) A viceroy was appointed in India

(b) Princes were given the right to adopt a son (abolition of Doctrine of Lapse)

(c) Treaties were honoured

(d) Religious freedom was restored and equality treatment promised to Indians

 The Proclamation was called the 'Magna Carta of Indian Liberty'. The British rule in India was  strongest between 1858 and 1905. The British also started treating India as its most precious possession and their rule over India seemed set to continue for centuries to come. Because of various subjective and objective factors which came into existence during this era, the feeling of nationalism in Indians started and grow.






Indian National Congress (1885)

Although the British succeeded in suppressing the 1857 Revolt, they could not stop the growth of political awareness in India. The Indian National Congress was founded in December 1885. It was the visible embodiment of the national awakening in the country. Its founder was an Englishman, Allan Octavian Hume, a retired member of the Indian Civil Service. The Indian leaders, who cooperated with Hume in launching the Congress, were patriots of high character. The first President of the Congress was W.C. Bannerjee.

The aims of the Congress were: promotion of friendship and cooperation amongst the nationalist political workers from the different parts of the country; the eradication of racial, creed or provincial prejudices and promotion of national unity; formulation of popular demands and their presentation before the Government; and, most important of all, the training and organisation of public opinion in the country.





Partition of Bengal (1905)

On December 30, 1898, Lord Curzon took over as the new Viceroy of India. The partition of Bengal came into effect on October 16, 1905, through a Royal Proclamation, reducing the old province of Bengal in size by creating a new province of East Bengal, which later on became East Pakistan and present day Bangladesh. The government explained that it was done to stimu­late growth of underdeveloped eastern region of the Bengal. But, actually, the main objective was to 'Divide and Rule' the most advanced region of the country at that time.






Muslim League (1906)

In 1906, All India Muslim League was set up under the leader­ship of Aga Khan, Nawab Salimul­lab of Dacca and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk. The League supported the partition of Bengal, opposed the Swadeshi Movement, and demanded special safegurds for its community and a separate elec­torates of Muslims. This led to communal differences between Hindus and Muslims.





Swadeshi Movement (1905)

The Swadeshi movement has its genesis in the anti-partition move­ment which was started to oppose the British decision to divide Bengal. With the start of the Swadeshi movement at the turn of the century, the Indian National Movement took a major leap forward.

The Indian National Congress took up the Swadeshi call in Benaras Session, 1905, presided over by G.K. Gokhale, supported the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement of Bengal, Militant Nationalism spearheaded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Aurobindo Ghosh was, however, in favour of extending the movement of the rest of India and carrying it beyond the programme of just Swadeshi and boycott of goods to full-fledged political mass struggle.




Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)

Morley-Minto Reforms were introduced in 1909 during the period when Lord Minto was the Governor­General of India. The reforms envisaged a separate electorate for Muslims besides other constitutional measures. The government thereby sought to create a rift within the Congress on the one hand by winning the support of the moderates,

and on the other, to win favour of Muslims against Bindus. To achieve the latter objective, the reforms introduced the system of separate electorates under which Muslims could only vote for Muslim candidates. This was done to encourage the notion that the political, economic and cultural interests of Hindus and Muslims were separate and not common. Indian political leaders were however dissatisfied by these reforms.







Lucknow Pact (1916)

An important step forward in achieving Hindu-Muslim unity was the Lucknow Pact 1916. Anti­British feelings were generated among the Muslims following a war between Britain and Turkey which opened way for Congress and Mus­lim League unity. Both the Con­gress and the Muslim League held sessions at Lucknow in 1916 and concluded the famous Lucknow Pact. The Congress accepted the separate electorates, and both organizations jointly demanded dominion status for the country.                

 Hindu-Muslim unity weakened the British attitude and forced the government to announce its future policy. In 1916 a British policy was announced whereby association of Indians was increased and there was to be a gradual development of local self-governing institutions.









Home Rule Movement (1915-­1916)

Dr. Annie Besant, inspired by the Irish rebellion, started a Home Rule Movement in India in September 1916. The movement spread rapidly and branches of the Rome Rule League were established all over India. Bal Gangadhar Tilak wholeheartedly supported this movement. Rejoined forces with Dr. Besant and persuaded the Muslim League to support this programme.









The Gandhian Era (1918-1947)

Mahatma Gandhi dominated the Indian political scene from 1918­1947. This period of the Indian National Congress is also referred to as the Gandhian Era. It was the most intense and eventful phase of India's freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi provided the leadership of the highest order and his philosophy of non-violent Satyagraha became the most potent weapon to drive out .the British from the Indian soil.










Khilafat Movement (1920)

The Caliph, Sultan of Turkey, was looked upon by the Muslims as their religious head. During the First World War, when the safety and the welfare of Turkey were threatened by the British thereby weakening the Caliph's position, Indian Muslims adopted an aggressive anti-British attitude. The two brothers, Mohammed Ah and Shaukat Ali launched an anti­British movement in 1920-the Khilafat Movement for the restoration.











The Rowlatt Act (1919)

While trying to appease Indians, the British Government was following a policy of repression. Throughout the First World War, repression of freedom fighters had continued. The revolutionaries had been hunted down, hanged or im­prisoned. The Government now decided to arm itself with more powers in order to suppress the freedom fighters. In March 1919, it passed the Rowlatt Act. This Act authorised the government to detain any person without trial. The Rowlatt Act came like a sudden blow. The Indians had been promised extension of democracy during the war. They felt humiliated and were filled with anger when they found that their civil liberties were going to be curtailed still further. Unrest gripped the country and a powerful agitation against the Act started. During this agitation, Gandhiji took command of the nationalist movement. March and April 1919 witnessed a remarkable political awakening in the country. There were hartals, strikes and demonstrations at various places. The slogans of Hindu-Muslim unity filled the air.




Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (1919)

The Government was bent on suppressing the mass agitation. In Bombay; Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Delhi and at other places demonstrators were lathi-charged and fired upon. Gandhiji gave a call for a general hartal on April 6, 1919. The call was responded to with great enthusiasm. The Government decided to resort to repression to suppress the agitation. At this time the British Government committed one of the worst political crimes in modem history. An unarmed but a large crowd had gathered in Jallianwalla Bagh, Amritsar (Punjab) on April, 13, 1919 for a meeting. General Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on them without warning. This massacre of unarmed people (hundreds died and thousands were wounded) in an enclosed place from which there was no exit, was fol­lowed by a reign of terror in several districts under martial law.

Non-Cooperation Movement (1920)

With the Congress support of the Khilafat movement, Hindu-Muslim unity was achieved which encouraged Gandhiji to launch his non-violent, non-cooperation movement. At the Calcutta Session in September 1920, the Congress resolved in favour of the non-violent, non-cooperation movement and defined Swaraj as its ultimate aim. The movement envisaged: (i) Surrender of titles and honorary officers; (ii) Resignation from nominated offices and posts in the local bodies; (iii) Refusal to attend government darbars and official functions and boycott of British courts by the lawyers; (iv) Refusal of general public to offer themselves for military and other government jobs, and boycott of foreign goods, etc.

 The non-cooperation movement also saw picketing of shops selling foreign cloth and boycott of the foreign cloth by the followers of Gandhiji.










Chauri Chaura Incident (1922)

The Congress session held at Ahmedabad in December 1921 decided to launch a Civil Disobedience Movement while reiterating its stand on the non-violent, non­cooperation movement of which Gandhiji was appointed the leader. Before Gandhiji could launch the Civil Disobedience Movement, a mob of countrymen at Chauri Chaura, a place near Gorakhpur in D.P., clashed with the police which opened fire. In retaliation the mob burnt the police-station and killed 22 policemen. This compelled Gandhiji to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement on February 12, 1922.

 Despite this Gandhiji was arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment. The Chauri Chaura incident convinced Gandhiji that the nation was not yet ready for the mass-dis6bedience and he prevailed upon Congress Working Committee in Bardoli on February 12, 1922 to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement.









Swaraj Party (1922)

Gandhiji's decision to call off the agitation caused frustration among masses. His decision came in for severe criticism from his colleagues like Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das and N.C. Kelkar, who organized the Swaraj Party. The foundations of the 'Swaraj Party' were laid on January 1, 1923, as the 'Congress­Khilafat-Swarajya Patty'. It proposed then an alternative programme of diverting the movement from widespread civil disobedience programme to restrictive one which would encourage its member to enter into legislative councils (established under Montford Reforms of 1919) by contesting elections in order to wreck the legislature from within and to use moral pressure to compel the authority to concede to the popular demand for self-government.











Simon Commission (1927)

Under the 1919 Act, a statutory commission was to be appointed by the British Government at the end of ten years from the passing of the Act to inquire into the working of the system of government in the country and to recommend further reforms. Thus the commission was scheduled to be appointed in 1929. It was ac­tually appointed two years earlier in 1927. The commission consisted of seven members of the British Parliament. It was headed by Sir John Simon. As all its members were British, the Congress decided to boycott it. The Commission arrived in India in Feb. 1928. It was greeted with black flags and hostile demonstrations everywhere it went. In one such demonstration at Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai was seriously injured in a wanton police lathi-charge on the demonstrators. Lalaji died soon after from wounds received during the demonstration.










Dandi March (1930)

Also called the 'Salt Satyagraha'. To achieve the goal of complete independence, Gandhiji launched another civil disobedience movement. Along with 79 followers, Gandhiji started his famous march from Sabarmati Ashram on March 20,1930, for the small village Dandi to break the Salt Law. While Gandhiji was marching to Dandi,

Congress leaders and workers had been busy at various levels with the hard organizational tasks of enrolling volunteers and members, forming grassroot Congress Committees, collecting funds, and touring villages and towns to spread nationalist messages.

 On reaching the seashore on April 6, 1930, he broke the Salt Law by picking up salt from the seashore. By picking a handful of salt, Gandhiji inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement, a movement that was to remain unsurpassed in the history of the Indian National Movement for the countrywide mass participation it unleashed. The movement became so powerful that it sparked off partriotism even among the Indian soldiers in the Army. The Garhwal soldiers refused to fire on the people at Peshawar.









Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)

Early in 1931 two moderate statesmen, Sapru and Jayakar, initiated efforts to bring about rapprochement between Gandhiji and the government. Six meetings with Viceroy Lord Irwin finally led to the signing of a pact between the two on March 5, 1931, whereby the Congress called off the movement and agreed to join the Second Round Table Conference. The terms of the agreement included the immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted for violence, the remission of all fines not yet collected, the return of confiscated land not yet sold to third parties, and lenient treatment of all the government officials who had resigned.

 Gandhiji and other leaders were released from jail as Irwin agreed to release most political prisoners and to return the properties that had been seized by the governments. The government also conceded the right to make the salt for consumption of villages along the coast, and also the right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing. The Congress on its part, agreed to discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement and to participate in the next Round Table Conference.









The Government of India Act, 1935

The Simon Commission report submitted in 1930 formed the basis for the Government of India Act 1935. The new Government of India Act received the royal assent on August 4, 1935.

 The Act continued and extended all the existing features of the Indian constitution. Popular representation, which went back to 1892, dyarchy and ministerial responsibility, which dated from 1921, provincial autonomy, whose chequered history went back to eighteenth century presidencies, communal representation, which first received recognition in 1909, and the safeguards devised in 1919, were all continued and in most cases extended. But in addition there were certain new principles intro­duced. It provided for a federal type of government. Thus, the act:

(a) Introduced provincial autonomy

(b) Abolished dyarchy in provinces I

(c) Made ministers responsible to the legislative and federation at the centre

 The Act of 1935 was condemned by nearly all sections of Indian public opinion and was unanimously rejected by the Congress. The Congress demanded instead, the convening of a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise to frame a constitution for an independent India.             









Quit India Movement (1942)

On August 8, 1942, the Congress in its meeting at Bombay passed a resolution known as 'Quit India' resolution, whereby Gandhiji asked the British to quit India and gave a call for 'Do or die' to his countrymen. On August 9, 1942, Gandhiji was arrested but the other leaders continued the revolutionary struggle. Violence spread throughout the country, several government officers were destroyed and damaged, telegraph wires were cut and communication paralyzed. The movement was, however, crushed by the government.










Cabinet Mission Plan (1946)
The struggle for freedom entered a decisive phase in the year 1945-46. The British Prime Minister, Lord Attlee, made a declaration on March 15, 1946, that British Cabinet Mission would visit India to make recommendations regarding constitutional reforms to be introduced in India. The Cabinet Mission which constituted of Lord Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander visited India and met the representatives of different political parties but a satisfactory solution to the constitutional difficulties could not be found. The Mission envisaged the establishment of a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution as well as an interim government. The Muslim League accepted the plan on June 6, 1946, while maintaining its rights of striving for a separate Muslim state. The Congress also partially accepted the plan.









Interim Government (1946)

On September 2, 1946, an inter­im government was formed. Congress members led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru joined it but the Muslim League did not as it withdrew its earlier acceptance of the Cabinet Mission Plan.



Formation of Constituent Assembly (1946)

The Constituent Assembly met on December 9, 1946, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected its President. The Muslim League did not join the Assembly.









Mountbatten Plan (1947)

In March 1947, Lord Mountbatten replaced Lord Wavell. He announced his plan on June 3, 1947. It offered a key to the political and constitutional deadlock created by the refusal of the Muslim League to join the Constituent Assembly formed to frame the Constitution of India. Mountbatten's formula was to divide India but retain maximum unity. The country would be partitioned but so would be Punjab and Bengal, so that the limited Pakistan that emerged would meet both the Congress and the League's position to some extent. The League's position on Pakistan was conceded in that it would be created, but the Congress position on unity would be taken into account to make Pakistan as small as possible. He laid down detailed principles for the partition of the country and speedy transfer of political powers in the form of dominion status to the newly formed dominions of India and Pakistan. Its acceptance by the Congress and the Muslim' League resulted in the birth of Pakistan.











 The Indian Independence Act, 1947

The Bill containing the provisions of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947, was introduced in the British Parliament and passed as the Indian Independence Act,

1947. The Act laid down detailed measures for the partition of India and speedy transfer of political powers to the new government of India and Pakistan.

Partition of India (1947)

In accordance with the Indian Independence Act, 1947, India was partitioned on August 15, 1947 into India and Pakistan. The Act made India and Pakistan independent dominions. Bloodshed and violence marked the exodus of refugees. The state of Kashmir acceded to the Indian Union, after the raiders were helped by Pakistan, in October 1947. Lord Mountbatten was appointed the Governor-General of free1ndia and M.A. Jinnah the first Governor-General of Pakistan.






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