History Assignment

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life
and freedom. These words by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru marked the beginning of an
Independent India - The independence for which the country fought for over 200
years.

A Cry for Independence

Millions of voices rose against the damaging effect on the Indians which
gradually forced common masses and rulers to rise in revolt against the
British regime. This revolt is well known around the world with respect. The
leaders who promoted the various revolt programmes gained respect due
to their bravery and courage. During this journey from 1857 to 1947, we as
Indians stood one and united against the foreign regime but in the end, we
got divided into 2 different countries, India and Pakistan. The revolt started
with the great “Enfield Rifle” incident.

The Foreign Fiends

The British East India Company had landed in India in the early
seventeenth century as traders, but began interfering in Indian affairs. After
the battle of Plassey (1757), it began to transform from a trading company
to a ruling force. As the British began to spread their power over a large
part of India, the exploitation of local resources and people began in full
force.

The revolt of 1857

Often referred to as the ‘First War of Indian Independence,’ the revolt of
1857 was the result of a series of incidents, but the immediate reason for
the revolt was the issue of ‘greased cartridges.’ .The newly introduced
Enfield rifles using cartridges made out of fat extracted from beef and pork
sparked a widespread rebellion against the British. Since the soldiers had
to bite the cartridge in order to load the rifle, it did not go down well with the
Hindu and Muslim soldiers as it hurt their religious belief. The leader of this
revolt was Mangal Pandey.His sacrifice is the reason the cry for
independence was given.
Many Indian rulers from different states followed suit and locked horns with
the British. At the end of it all, at least 800,000 people, including many
civilians, were killed. As a result of the rebellion, the British government
took control of the administration of India from the East India Company.
Following this revolt, Events started occurring at Meerut, Lucknow, Delhi,
Kanpur, Gwalior, Bihar against the British rule. This led to the Nationalism
Movement

Nationalism Movements

Nationalism is identification with one's own nation and support for its
interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other
nations.
FACTORS PROMOTING GROWTH OF NATIONALISM-

The various causes to this movement were exploitation of all classes of

society, introduction of Vernacular Press Act which forbade vernacular
papers to excite feelings of dissatisfaction among the British Rule and The
and Indian Arms Act of 1878 which made it a criminal offence to carry arms
without license which was only applicable to Indians and not the British.The
Civil service examination age increased from 19 years to 21 years of age.

PROMINENT REFORMERS-

A) Raja Ram Mohan Roy

He was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha.
He was known for his efforts to abolish the practices of sati, the Purdah
System,polygamy and child marriage.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered to be the "Father of the Indian
Renaissance" .

B) Jyotiba Phule
Jyotiba Phule was also a pioneer for women education in India and fought
for education of girls throughout his life along with his wife Savitribai Phule.
He is believed to be the first Hindu to start an orphanage for the
unfortunate children and also started a school for untouchables and
founded the Satya Shodak Samaj.

Others movements were-

Arya Samaj - Founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati
Ramakrishna Mission - Founded by Swami Vivekananda

With more and more people coming up with the demand for more rights,
several prominent people came forward and decided to form a platform that
would demand for self rights and self governance. It led to the formation of
the Indian National Congress in 1885.

Indian National Congress

One of the world's largest and oldest political parties of its kind, the Indian
National Congress was formed on December 28, 1885, by British civil
servant Allan Octavian Hume with 17 men after a Theosophical convention
in Mumbai. The idea of forming the Indian National Congress was
conceived in this meeting.
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee also known as Umesh Chandra Banerjee
was elected as the first president of the first meeting of the Congress in
1885 at Mumbai.
The Indian National Congress stood for the hopes and aspirations of the
people of India who accepted its leadership during the freedom movement.
Aims of Indian National congress
- To promote friendly relations between nationalist workers around the
country
- To develop and consolidate the feelings of national unity irrespective of
class creed gender etc
- To formulate friendly demands to the British
- To train and organise public opinion of the country

After this meeting, the Indian National Movement got divided into 3 phases
- The Early Nationalist Phase(1885-1907)
- The Assertive Phase(1907-1916)
- The Gandhian Era(1915-1947)

The Early Nationalist Phase(1885-1907)

This Phase included members of the educated middle class consisting of

professionals like lawyers, barristers, teachers, officials who drew
inspiration from the British crown. They came to be known as EARLY
NATIONALISTS -

- They wanted a legitimate share of the government.

- They asked for constitutional and other reforms within the framework of
the British rule as they believed that continuation with British was in interest
of India and England

Demands
Some of the demands of the Early Nationalists were-

1)Constitutional Reforms.
2)Economic Reforms
3)Administrative Demands
4)Defence of Civil Rights

Methods Of Early Nationalists

There were
a) First set of Methods & b) Second set of Methods
First objective was to educate Indian people for a political awakening
and Second objective was to Influence the British Government &
British Public. For these to achieve they -
● The Early Nationalists relied on constitutional and peaceful methods.
avoiding violence and confrontation
● They made use of - Prayers, Petitions & Protests to achieve their
objectives.

Achievements
The Early Nationalists did achieve some of their goals.
● They created a national awakening among the people.-
● They trained people in politics by popularising the ideas of
democracy, civil liberties, secularism and nationalism .
● The Early Nationalists exposed the true nature of British rule in India.
Making people realise the economic content and character of British
imperialism.
● Their efforts led to - a)appointment of Public Service commission and
Welby Commission b) Holding of I C S examination in India and
London simultaneously.

Criticism of The Early Nationalists -

- Their methods were seen as inadequate by critics of relying on British and
not on their own strength.
- They failed to realise that Britain was using India's resources to increase
its wealth.
- The Early Nationalists failed to draw the masses into the mainstream
Prominent Early Nationalist Leaders-

Dadabhai Naoroji
- Known as the ‘Grand old man of India.’
- He became the first Indian to become a member of the House of
Commons in Britain.
-Used the word 'swaraj ' for the first time in 1906
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- Regarded as Mahatma Gandhi’s political guru.
- Founded the Servants of India Society.
Sir Surendranath Banerjee
- Founded the Indian National Association which later merged with the INC.
- Cleared the Indian Civil Service* Founded newspaper ‘The Bengalee’.

Other moderate leaders included - Rash Behari Ghosh, R C Dutt, M G

Ranade, Pherozeshah Mehta, P R Naidu, Madan Mohan Malaviya, P.
Ananda Charlu, and William Wedderburn,Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee

Partition of Bengal
According to the British , the province of Bengal was too big to be efficiently
administered but they had other concealed motives when they announced
the partition of Bengal.This idea was conceived by Lord Curzon.
The impact of the partition was-
● A noticeable part in the Swadeshi agitation was played by the people
of Bengal and the British failed to stop the rising tide of nationalism
● The entire population was united even though Bengal was
partitioned. Hindus even tied rakhis to Muslims which were the
communities that the British were trying to divide
● The British made a big mistake with this movement as it not only
united a part of the country but they also lost the trust of the people in
their fairplay.
Assertive Nationalism-
Assertive Nationalism was the period (1905–1916) in success to Early
Nationalists when The Early Nationalists failed to attain their objectives,
giving rise to Assertive Nationalism.

Causes for Assertive Nationalism-

1. The Famine and Plague:

2. Worsening of the Economic Conditions:
3. Ill-treatment of Indians in South Africa:
4. International Events Influence
5. Partition of Bengal:

Methods of Assertive nationalists

i) - SWADESHI-Swadeshi means producing necessary items in one's own country
without being dependent on foreign goods.
ii) BOYCOTT- Swadeshi and boycott were two sides of the same coin. It meant
boycotting the use of foreign cloth and liquor.
iii) NATIONAL EDUCATION -A large number of national schools were established in
East Bengal, Punjab. Efforts were made to give education in vernacular languages.
iv) PASSIVE RESISTANCE - The Assertive leaders asked the people not to cooperate
with the government and to boycott government service, courts, schools and
colleges.

Achievements
● They inculcated national pride, among the Indians by extolling India’s past
● They exposed the true character of the British rule in India.
 ● They promoted self - reliance through SWADESHI & BOYCOTT movements.
● They set up many educational Institutions .
● They brought the middle - classes into the national movement.

Prominent leaders of Assertive Nationalism-

Lal Bal Pal
Lala Lajpat Rai - Popularly known as - ‘Punjab Kesari’ or ‘Sher-e- Punjab’
Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Known as - ‘Father of Assertive Nationalism’
Bipin Chandra Pal - Known as ‘Father of Revolutionary Thought’ in India
Lal, Bal Pal were a triumvirate of assertive nationalists .They mobilized
Indians across the country against the Bengal partition, and boycotts of
British goods ( Swadeshi movement)
Tilak started two newspapers - Mahratta ( english ) and Kesari ( Marathi ) .
He also started the Ganpati festival and Shivaji festival to propagate
nationalist ideas ( Ganesh festival is the main festival of Maharashtra even
today )

Muslim league

The Muslim League was founded in 1906 to safeguard the rights of Indian
Muslims. For several decades the league and its leaders, notably
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, called for Hindu-Muslim unity in a united and
independent India. It was not until 1940 that the league called for the
formation of a Muslim state that would be separate from the projected
independent country of India. The league wanted a separate nation for
India’s Muslims because it feared that an independent India would be
dominated by Hindus.
In that year it was renamed the All Pakistan Muslim League. But the league
functioned less effectively as a modern political party in Pakistan than it
had as a mass-based pressure group in British India, and hence it gradually
declined in popularity and cohesion. During Partition they achieved their
goal of having a seperate state for Muslims called Pakistan.

The Gandhian Movement

Mahatma Gandhi whose actual name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

is also known as “The Father of Nation’ .He was born on 2 October, 1869
Porbandar, Gujarat, India . HE WAS LOVINGLY CALLED BAPU
Mahatma Gandhi is a true inspiration. His efforts finally got India freedom
from colonial rule.

When Gandhiji first came to India from South Africa, he explored the
country to study Indian situation. He helped the people by teaching them
to use satyagraha as a means of protest.Some movements under his
supervision were-

Champaran Satyagraha (1917):

Kheda Satyagraha (1917 -1918) and
Ahmedabad Satyagraha(1918)

Non Cooperation Movement

Non-Cooperation is a way of protesting where one does not
cooperate with the evil doer.Gandhiji called for the Non-Cooperation
Movement against the British because-
-Khilafat Movement (1919): Khilafat movement was started by the
Ali brothers, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukar Ali to
show the protest against the misdeeds done to the Caliph of Turkey
after the First World War.
Rowlatt act(1919):This law was passed in March 1919 by the
Imperial Legislative Council which gave the British the power to arrest
any person without any trial.
 Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy: On April 13, 1919 ,TheBritish troops fired
on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. They killed several hundred innocent
people and wounded many hundreds more. It left a permanent scar
on Indo-British relations .

The National movement became a mass movement instilling

confidence among the people, fostering Hindu Muslim Unity and
spreading nationalism to every part of the country. It popularised the
cult of “swaraj”
Gandhiji suspended the Movement after the Chauri- Chaura incident
In which an infuriated mob set a police station on fire killing 22
policemen.

Civil-Disobedience Movement (1930): Civil disobedience, also

called passive resistance,was the refusal to obey the
commands of a government .The factors leading to this were
1.Simon Commission
2. Declaration of poorna Swaraj

Dandi March: .The Dandi March was a non-violent means of protest led by
Mahatma Gandhi in 1930

During colonial rule, salt production and distribution in India used to be

controlled by the British governments. Gandhi through his Dandi March
tried to protest against the regressive policies of the British Government
and arouse the people of India to fight against colonialism and its evils
through non-violent means.
The civil disobedience movement came to end because of the Gandhi-Irwin
pact signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931.
Following were the provisions of the Gandhi-Irwin pact:
​ Stopping of the civil disobedience movement
​ Participation of INC in the Round Table Conference to suggest reforms
in India
​ Withdrawal of all laws issued by the British Government forcing checks
on the exercises of the Indian National Congress.
​ The release of prisoners arrested during the civil disobedience
movement.
​ Removal of salt tax.

Quit India Movement (1942): Mahatma Gandhi launched Quit India

movement in1942 during the Second World War to drive British rule out of
India. tHE MAIN CAUSE OF THIS MOVEMENT WAS THE cRIPP MISSION
AND THE jAPENESE iNVASION THREAT. The entire members of Indian
National Congress were arrested by the British officials and imprisoned
them without trial. But the protest continued across the nation.

Post war, events that were most important was the INA

It was formed in 1942 with Indian POW’s in Japan. Subhash Chandra Bose became the president
of Indian independence league and also the supreme commander of INA. He gave the country
the slogan of Jai Hind.

Due to the effects of the second world war , the virtual disappearance of loyalty amongst the
bureaucracy, army and police is what led the British to finally quit India. Hence a transfer of
power was necessary and with this motive a cabinet mission was sent to India in 1946. But,
despite repeated talks, the mainly Hindu Indian National Congress and the
Muslim League could not agree on the shape of the new state. Eventually, the
British concluded that partition was the only answer.
On 2 June 1947 the last Viceroy of India, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten,
announced that Britain had accepted that the country should be divided into a
mainly Hindu India and the mainly Muslim East Pakistan and West Pakistan
(now Bangladesh).

Partition meant that millions of people found themselves on the ‘wrong’ side
of the borders. Ten million became refugees in what was the largest
population movement in history.

Ans this is how India got its independence with two Nations-

India and Pakistan

Bhagat Singh was an Indian socialist revolutionary whose two acts of dramatic violence
against the British in India and execution at age 23 made him a folk hero of the Indian
independence movement.
CHandreshekar Azad was an accomplice of bhagat Singh who helped him in his revolutionary
acts.

Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the founders of the Indian National Army and tried to get
india rid of the British colonial rule
There were many other freedom fighters like these who sacrificed their lives for India.