Indian Independence

• East India Company


  Established in 1600 to trade in East Indies
• Uprisings in 1857-58


  1. British intervention

  2. Colonization
• India's rule

  • Ruled by viceroys
  • Administration of 5,000 officials
• Formation of Indian National Congress for Indian representation


  1885
• Formation of Muslim League to protect Muslim minority


  1906
• Morley Reforms

  Indian representation in Secretary of State's Council
• Outbreak of WWI in 1914


  Caused conflict over support for Britain, wartime taxation and heavy recruitment, conflict over Muslim loyalties
• Lucknow Pact agreement between INC and Muslim League for political reform from British, fell apart in 1937


  1916
• Amritsar Massacre - 379 killed and over 1,000 wounded when peacefully gathered ignoring ban on public meetings


  1919
• Government of India Act 1919


  Agriculture, education and health responsibilities given to Indian ministers
• New Government of India Act 1935


  Provincial autonomy
• Simon Commission recommendations for constitutional reform, but no Indian representation so rejected


  1927
• Atlantic Charter in 1941 supported political self-determination, but Churchill stated this didn't apply to India
• Handover of power, partition of India and Pakistan

  1947
• 1905 division of Bengal was for "more efficient administration"
• Boycott of British goods


  Imports dropped by 25%
• Britain bought cotton, indigo, rice and tea, India bought textiles, iron and machinery. By 1914 India was biggest export market for British goods
• Britain bought raw cotton, manufactured it in the UK and resold it to India - "de-industrialization"
• WWII Britain borrowed heavily from India - Jamshedpur Steel Complex
• Bengal Famine of 1943 = 2 million dead due to low rice imports from Japanese-occupied Burma
• 1960s Green Revolution - shift from industry to agriculture to become self-sufficient
• Muslim invaders brought Islam - Mughal Empire 1536-1858
• Britain brought administration, judicial system, railway network, education. Western superiority caused resentment
• To prevent uprisings, religious class differences were emphasized
• "Untouchables" labourers lived outside villages
• 1918 influenza epidemic = 12 million dead
• 1920s emergence of politicised Hinduism = "Hindawata" - anti-Muslim
• Muslims only made up 20% of the population
• 1932 Communal Award - separate electorates for religious minorities, only increased divisions
• Partition in 1947 caused millions of internally displaced
• 1947-2010, life expectancy - 66, literacy rates = 61%, population - 1.2 billion
• Indian National Congress


  First modern nationalist movement
• Muslim League


  Wanted separate nation for India's Muslims
• Ali Jinnah


  Leader of All-India Muslim League in 1913, became Pakistan's first governor-general in 1947-48
• Gandhi


  Leader of INC in 1930, advocated for peaceful, non-cooperation
• Nehru


  Leader of nationalist movement in 1930s-1940s, became first prime minister of India in 1947-64, was anti-colonial
• Bose


  INC leader in 1934, was very radical and formed Revolutionary Forward Bloc Party
• Satyagraha


  Non-violent resistance/civil disobedience, established an ashram (community) committed to non-violence
• Non-cooperation campaign


  Mass nationalist movement, gained support by Khilafat movement and INC in 1920, 90,000 arrests
• Khilafat movement 1919-24


  Pan-Islamic protest to influence British government and protect Ottoman Empire