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 CONTENT

CHAPTER: 1 - SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA 3

CHAPTER: 2 - MAJOR APPROACHES TO THE HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA 5
CHAPTER: 3 - ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS IN INDIA 7
CHAPTER: 4 - INDIA ON THE EVE OF BRITISH CONQUEST 12
CHAPTER: 5 - EXPANSION AND CONSOLIDATION OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA 16
CHAPTER: 6 - PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE AGAINST BRITISH BEFORE 1857 27
CHAPTER: 7 - THE REVOLT OF 1857 34
CHAPTER: 8 - SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS: GENERAL FEATURES 38
CHAPTER: 9 - GENERAL SURVEY OF SOCIO-CULTURAL REFORM MOVEMENTS 41
CHAPTER: 10 - BEGINNING OF MODERN NATIONALISM IN INDIA 48
CHAPTER: 11 - INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: FOUNDATION AND THE MODERATE
PHASE 50
CHAPTER: 12 - ERA OF MILITANT NATIONALISM (1905-1909) 52
CHAPTER: 13 - FIRST PHASE OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES (1907-1917) 57
CHAPTER: 14 - FIRST WORLD WAR AND NATIONALIST RESPONSE 59
CHAPTER: 15 - EMERGENCE OF GANDHI 62
CHAPTER: 16 – NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT AND KHILAFAT AANDOLAN 67
CHAPTER: 17 - EMERGENCE OF SWARAJISTS, SOCIALIST IDEAS, REVOLUTIONARY
ACTIVITIES AND OTHER NEW FORCES 70
CHAPTER: 18 - SIMON COMMISSION AND THE NEHRU REPORT 75
CHAPTER: 19 - CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT AND ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES 78
CHAPTER: 20 - DEBATES ON THE FUTURE STRATEGY AFTER CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT 86
CHAPTER: 21 - CONGRESS RULE IN PROVINCES 89
CHAPTER: 22 - NATIONALIST RESPONSE IN THE WAKE OF WORLD WAR II 90
CHAPTER: 23 - QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT, DEMAND FOR PAKISTAN, AND THE INA 95
CHAPTER: 24 - POST-WAR NATIONAL SCENARIO 99
CHAPTER: 25 - INDEPENDENCE WITH PARTITION 104
CHAPTER: 26 - CONSTITUTIONAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL
DEVELOPMENTS 106
CHAPTER: 27 - SURVEY OF BRITISH POLICIES IN INDIA 114
CHAPTER: 28 - ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE 116
CHAPTER: 29 - DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN PRESS 118
CHAPTER: 30 - DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION 120
CHAPTER: 31 - PEASANT MOVEMENTS 1857-1947 123
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CHAPTER: 32 - THE MOVEMENT OF THE WORKING CLASS 125

CHAPTER: 33 - CHALLENGES BEFORE THE NEW-BORN NATION 127
CHAPTER: 34 - THE INDIAN STATE 129
CHAPTER: 35 - MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION FOR INDIA 131
CHAPTER: 36 - THE EVOLUTION OF NATIONALIST FOREIGN POLICY 133
CHAPTER: 37 - FIRST GENERAL ELECTIONS 135
CHAPTER: 38 - DEVELOPMENTS UNDER NEHRU’S LEADERSHIP (1947-64) 137
CHAPTER: 39 – AFTER NEHRU 140
APPENDICES 162

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CHAPTER: 1 - SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
 The records of the East India Company Calcutta in 1756, but the archives of the
provide a detailed account of trading Bengal presidency after the British victory at
conditions during the period 1600-1857. Plassey have survived more or less in a
When the British crown took over the complete series,
administration, it also kept a large variety  Which are partly available in the National
and volume of official records. Archives of India and partly in the State
 These records help historians to trace every Archives of West Bengal. The records of the
important development stage-by-stage and Madras Presidency begin from AD 1670 and
follow the processes of decision-making and include records of the Governor and Council
the psychology of the policy-makers. The of Fort St. George
records of the other European East India Archives of Other European Powers
companies (the Portuguese, Dutch and  The archives related to the Portuguese
French) are also useful for constructing the preserved in Goa, mainly belonging to the
history of the 17th and 18th centuries. period from 1700 to 1900, are valuable for
ARCHIVAL MATERIALS the history of Portuguese possessions in
Central government archives India.
 The National Archives of India, located in  The Dutch records of Cochin and Malabar
New Delhi, contains most of the archives of are in the Madras Record Office and those of
the Government of India. These provide Chinsura in the state archives of West
authentic and reliable source materials on Bengal.
varied aspects of modern Indian history.  The French archives of Chandernagore and
 The records with the National Archives come Pondicherry (now Puducherry) were taken to
under various groups, representing different Paris by the French authorities before they
branches of the secretariat at different stages relinquished these settlements.
of its development. This happened as the  The remaining Danish records, mainly
work of the East India Company was relating to Tranquebar (1777-1845), are now
distributed among various branches—public housed in the Madras Record Office.
or general, revenue, political, military, secret, Judicial Records
commercial, judicial, education, etc.—and a  Housed in the Madras Record Office, the
separate set of records was kept for each of archives of the Mayor’s Court at Fort St.
these branches or departments. George, beginning from AD 1689, are the
 With the appointment of James Rennell as earliest available judicial archives.
the first Surveyor General of Bengal in 1767,  The pre-Plassey records of the Mayor’s
the Survey of India began to scientifically Court at Fort Williams have been lost, but
map the unknown regions of the country and those for the years 1757-73 are kept in the
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its bordering lands. record room of the Calcutta High Court,

Archives of the State Governments along with the archives of the Supreme Court
The source material in the state archives comprise of Bengal (1774-1861.
the records of Published Archives
 The former British Indian provinces,  The most significant archival publications
 The erstwhile princely states which were are the Parliamentary Papers which include
incorporated in the Indian Union after 1947, many excerpts from the records of the East
 The foreign administrations other than those India Company and the Government of India
of the British. under the Crown.
Archives of Three Presidencies Private Archives
 The early records of Fort Williams (Bengal  Private archives comprise papers and
Presidency) were lost during the sack of documents of individuals and families of

3
 note, who played a significant role in the criticism of government officials.
development of modern India. Afterwards, many publications appeared
Foreign Repositories such as The Calcutta Gazette (1784), The
 In England, the India Office Records, Madras Courier (1788) and The Bombay
London and the records kept in the British Herald (1789).
Museum are very valuable.  From the second half of the 19th century,
 The India Office Records possesses various some of their publications were: The Hindu
important documents: the minutes of the and Swadesamitran under the editorship of
Courts of Directors and the General Court of G. Subramaniya Iyer, Kesari and Mahratta
the East India Company and various under Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bengalee under
committees constituted from time to time; the Surendranath Banerjea.
minutes and correspondence of the Board of ORAL EVIDENCE
Control or the Board of Commissioners for  Oral history refers to the construction of
the Affairs of India; and the records of the history with the help of non-written sources,
Secretary of State and the India Council. for instance, personal reminiscence.
 The British Museum possesses collections of CREATIVE LITERATURE
papers of British viceroys, secretaries of  The first important writer of that period was
states and other high ranked civil and the famous Bengali novelist, Bankim
military officials who were posted in India. Chandra Chatterji (1838 - 94). His novels are
BIOGRAPHIES, MEMOIRS AND TRAVEL mostly historical, the best known among
ACCOUNTS them being Anand Math (1882), especially
 Many travellers, traders, missionaries and for its powerful lyric ‘Vandemataram’ and
civil servants who came to India, have left depiction of the Sanyasi Revolt (1760s).
accounts of their experiences and their  G.V. Krishna Rao’s Kilubommalu (The
impressions of various parts of India. An Puppets, 1956) in Telugu was concerned
important group among these writers was with the moral aspects and behaviour of the
that of the missionaries who wrote to rural people.
encourage their respective societies to send  Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (19101994)
more missionaries to India for the purpose of was one of the eminent writers in Malayalam
evangelising its inhabitants. whose famous novel Balyakala Sakhi (The
 In this genre, Bishop Heber’s Journal and Childhood Friends, 1944) was a tragic tale of
Abbe Dubois’s Hindu Manners and Customs, love.
provide useful information on the socio- PAINTING
economic life of India during the period of
 The Company Paintings, also referred as
decline of the Indian powers and the rise of
‘Patna Kalam’ emerged under the patronage
the British.
of the East India Company. They picturise
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NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS the people and scenes as they existed at the
 Newspapers and journals of the nineteenth time. Trades, festivals, dances and the attire
and twentieth centuries, published in English of people were visible in these works.
as well as in the different vernacular  Another painting of this period, In
languages, form an important and authentic Memoriam by Joseph Noel Paton, recorded
source of information for the construction of in painting two years of the revolt of 1857.
the history of modern India. One can see English women and children
 In 1780, James Augustus Hickey published huddled in a circle, looking helpless and
the first newspaper in India entitled ‘The innocent, seemingly waiting for the
Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General inevitable—dishonour, violence and death.
Advertiser’. Hickey’s press was seized
within two years, owing to his outspoken

4
CHAPTER: 2 - MAJOR APPROACHES TO THE HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
 The modern history of India, for the  The nationalist approach to Indian history
convenience of understanding, can be can be described as one which tended to
broadly read under four approaches— the contribute to the growth of nationalist
Colonial (or the Imperialist), Nationalist, feelings and to unify people in the face of
Marxist, and Subaltern—each with its own religious, caste, or linguistic differences or
distinct characteristics and modes of class differentiation. This approach looks at
interpretation. the national movement as a movement of the
 However, there are other approaches— Indian people, which grew out of the
Communalist, Cambridge, Liberal and Neo- growing awareness among all people of the
liberal, and Feminist interpretations—which exploitative nature of colonial rule.
have also influenced historical writing on  This approach developed as a response to
modern India. and in confrontation with the colonial
approach. It should be noted that the
The production of histories of India has become
nationalist historians of modern India didn’t
very frequent in recent years and may well call for
exist before 1947. Before 1947, nationalist
some explanations… The reason is a two-fold
one: changes in the Indian scene requiring a historiography mainly dealt with the ancient
reinterpretation of the facts and changes in the and medieval periods of Indian history.
attitudes of historians about the essential elements  The only accounts of the national movement
of Indian history. was by nationalist leaders (not historians)
-- Percival Spear such as R.G. Pradhan, A.C. Mazumdar, J.L.
Nehru and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. R.C.
COLONIAL APPROACH
Majumdar and Tara Chand are noted
 For the major part of the 19th century the nationalist historians of modern India.
Colonial School occupied a high position in
MARXIST HISTORIOGRAPHY
India. The term ‘colonial approach’ has been
 The beginning of the Marxist approach in
used in two senses. One relates to the history
India was heralded by two classic books—
of the colonial countries, while the other
Rajni Palme Dutt’s India Today and A.R.
refers to the works which were influenced by
Desai’s Social Background of Indian
the colonial ideology of domination. It is in
Nationalism. Originally written for the
the second sense that most historians today
famous Left Book Club in England, India
write about the colonial historiography.
Today, first published in 1940 in England,
 Certain characteristics common to most of
was later published in India in 1947. A.R.
the works of these historians are the
Desai’s Social Background of Indian
following:
Nationalism, was first published in 1948.
 ‘Orientalist’ representation of India;
 Unlike the imperialist/colonial approach, the
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 The opinion that the British brought

Marxist historians clearly see the primary
unity to India;
contradiction between the interests of the
 The notions of Social Darwinism—the
colonial masters and the subject people, as
English considered themselves superior
well as the process of the nation-in-the-
to the ‘natives’ and the fittest to rule;
making. Unlike the nationalists, they also
 India viewed as a stagnant society
take full note of the inner contradictions
which required guidance from the
between the different sections of the people
British (White Man’s burden); and
of the Indian society.
 Establishing Pax Britannica to bring
law and order and peace to a bickering SUBALTERN APPROACH
society.  This school of thought began in the early
NATIONALIST HISTORIOGRAPHY 1980s under the editorship of Ranajit Guha,
as a critique of the existing historiography,

5
 which was faulted for ignoring the voice of  According to this interpretation, the
the people. economic exploitation of the colonies was
 Right from the beginning, subaltern not beneficial to the British people as a
historiography took the position that the whole.
entire tradition of Indian historiography had  The availability of markets for British
had an elitist bias. For the subaltern industrial goods in the colonial world and
historians, the basic contradiction in Indian capital investment in overseas markets (like
society in the colonial epoch was between laying of railways in India) might have
the elite, both Indian and foreign, on the one actually discouraged domestic investment
hand, and the subaltern groups, on the other, and delayed the development of the ‘new’
and not between colonialism and the Indian industries in Britain.
people. FEMINIST HISTORIOGRAPHY
 A few historians have of late initiated a new  The shift in terms of the writing of women’s
trend, described by its proponents as history began with the women’s movement
subaltern, which dismisses all previous of the 1970s which provided the context and
historical writing, including that based on a impetus for the emergence of women’s
Marxist perspective, as elite historiography, studies in India. Very soon, women’s history
and claims to replace this old, ‘blinkered’ broadened and assumed the more complex
historiography with what it claims is a new shape of gender history.
people’s or subaltern approach.  In the colonial period, two works based upon
—Bipan Chandra the women’s question in India—The High
 Nationalism, say the subalterns, ignored the Caste Hindu Woman (1887) by Pandita
internal contradictions within the society as Ramabai, and Mother India (1927) by
well as what the marginalised represented or Katherine Mayo—attracted international
had to say. They believe that the Indian attention.
people were never united in a common anti-
imperialist struggle, that there was no such
entity as the Indian national movement.
COMMUNALIST APPROACH
 The historians of this school, relying
completely on the colonial historiography of
medieval India and colonial era textbooks,
viewed Hindus and Muslims as permanent
hostile groups whose interests were mutually
different and antagonistic to each other.
 This view was not only reflected in the
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writings of the historians but it also found a

more virulent form in the hands of the
communal political leaders.
CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL
 Fundamental contradiction under colonial
rule was among the Indians themselves.
 It takes the mind or ideals out of human
behaviour and reduces nationalism to ‘animal
politics’
LIBERAL AND NEO-LIBERAL
INTERPRETATIONS

6
CHAPTER: 5 - EXPANSION AND CONSOLIDATION OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA
THE BRITISH IMPERIAL HISTORY the designated date.
 Others regard 1761, the year of the, Third
 The entire imperial history of Britain can be
Battle of Panipat when the Marathas were
periodised into two phases, the ‘first empire’
defeated by Ahmad Shah Abdali, as the
stretching across the Atlantic towards
beginning of this phase of Indian history.
America and the West Indies, and the
‘second empire’ beginning around 1783 CAUSES OF BRITISH SUCCESS IN INDIA
(Peace of Paris) and swinging towards the  The British were not averse to using
East—Asia and Africa. unscrupulous tactics to exploit a situation or
 The imperial history of Britain started with a regional ruler to get their own way.
the conquest of Ireland in the sixteenth  The causational forces and factors for the
century. The English then sprang up as the success of the British are as follows.
‘new Romans’, charged with civilising so- o Superior Arms, Military and Strategy
called backward races throughout the world. o Better Military Discipline and Regular
Salary
WAS THE BRITISH CONQUEST
o Civil Discipline and Fair Selection
ACCIDENTAL OR INTENTIONAL?
System
 Our acquisition of India was made blindly. o Brilliant Leadership and Support of
Nothing great that has ever been done by Second Line Leaders
Englishman was done so unintentionally and o Strong Financial Backup
so accidentally, as the conquest of India. o Nationalist Pride
— John Seeley
BRITISH CONQUEST OF BENGAL
 The English, it is argued, were unwillingly
drawn into the political turmoil created by Bengal on the Eve of British Conquest
the Indians themselves, and were almost  Bengal, the richest province of the Mughal
forced to acquire territories. Empire included present day Bangladesh,
 The other group says that the British came and its Nawab had authority over the region
to India with the clear intention of constituting present day states of Bihar and
establishing a large and powerful empire. Odisha.
 A desire for quick profits, personal  Exports from Bengal to Europe consisted of
ambitions of individuals, plain avarice and raw products such as saltpetre, rice, indigo,
effects of political developments in Europe pepper, sugar, silk, cotton textiles,
were some of the factors. handicrafts, etc.
 B.L. Grover writes: “Lord Wellesley  The Company paid a sum of Rs 3,000 (£
resorted to aggressive application of the 350) per annum to the Mughal emperor who
subsidiary alliance system to extend British allowed them to trade freely in Bengal. In
dominion in India as a defensive counter contrast, the Company’s exports from
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measure against the imperialistic designs of Bengal were worth more than £ 50,000 per
France and Russia. annum.
 The population of Calcutta rose from 15,000
WHEN DID THE BRITISH PERIOD BEGIN
(in 1706) to 100,000 (in 1750) and other
IN INDIA
cities like Dacca and Murshidabad became
 Some historians regard the year 1740, when
highly populous.
the Anglo-French struggle for supremacy in
 Between 1757 and 1765, the power
India began in the wake of the War of
gradually got transferred from the Nawabs
Austrian Succession in Europe, as the
of Bengal to the British
beginning of the British period.
Alivardi Khan and the English
 Some see the year 1757, when the British
 In 1741, Alivardi Khan, the Deputy
defeated the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey, as
Governor of Bihar, killed the Nawab of

16
CHAPTER: 7 - THE REVOLT OF 1857
SIMMERING DISCONTENT warranto by the administration.
EXAMPLE- In Awadh, the storm centre of
 In 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, the
the revolt, 21,000 taluqdars had their estates
British laid the first step towards getting
confiscated and suddenly found themselves
power in northern India. And in 1857 took
without a source of income, “unable to
place the major ‘Revolt’ which was a product
work, ashamed to beg, condemned to
of the character and policies of colonial rule
penury”.
after 1757, and after which noteworthy
 The ruin of Indian industry increased the
changes took place in the British policy of
pressure on agriculture and land.
ruling over India.
Political Causes
 The cumulative effect of British expansionist
 The East India Company’s greedy policy of
policies, economic exploitation and
aggrandizement accompanied by broken
administrative innovations over the years had
pledges and promises resulted in contempt
adversely affected the positions of all—rulers
for the Company and loss of political
of Indian states, sepoys, zamindars, peasants,
prestige, besides causing suspicion in the
traders, artisans, pundits, maulvis, etc. The
minds of almost all the ruling princes in
simmering discontent burst in the form of a
India, through policies as of ‘Effective
violent storm in 1857 which shook the
Control’, ‘Subsidiary Alliance’ and
British Empire in India to its very
‘Doctrine of Lapse’.
foundations.
 The collapse of rulers—the erstwhile
 However, the period between 1757 and 1857
aristocracy—also adversely affected those
was not all peaceful and trouble-free; it saw a
sections of the Indian society.
series of sporadic popular outbursts in the
Administrative Causes
form of religio-political violence, tribal
 Rampant corruption in the Company’s
movements, peasant uprisings and agrarian
administration, especially among the police,
riots, and civil rebellions.
petty officials and lower law courts, was a
THE 1857 REVOLT: THE MAJOR CAUSES
major cause of discontent.
Economic Causes Socio-Religious Causes
 The colonial policies of the East India  Racial overtones and a superiority complex
Company destroyed the traditional characterised the British administrative
economic fabric of the Indian society. attitude towards the native Indian
 The annexation of Indian states by the population.
Company cut off their major source of  The government’s decision to tax mosque
patronage and temple lands and making laws such as
 The Indian trade and mercantile class was the Religious Disabilities Act, 1856.
deliberately crippled by the British who
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Influence of Outside Events

imposed high tariff duties on Indian-made  The revolt of 1857 coincided with certain
goods. outside events in which the British suffered
 At the same time, the import of British serious losses—the First Afghan War
goods into India attracted low tariffs, thus (1838-42), Punjab Wars (1845-49), and the
encouraging their entry into India. Crimean Wars (1854-56).
 Free Trade and refusal to impose protective Discontent among Sepoys
duties against machine-made goods from  The conditions of service in the Company’s
Britain simply killed Indian manufacture. Army and cantonments increasingly came
 Zamindars, the traditional landed into conflict with the religious beliefs and
aristocracy, often saw their land rights prejudices of the sepoys.
forfeited with frequent use of a quo  In 1856, Lord Canning’s government

34
CHAPTER: 13 - FIRST PHASE OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES (1907-1917)
WHY THE SURGE OF REVOLUTIONARY people inhabiting India must raise their 60
ACTIVITIES? crore hands to stop this curse of oppression.
Force must be stopped by force.”
 The first phase acquired a more activist form
 Rashbehari Bose and Sachin Sanyal had
as a fallout of the Swadeshi and Boycott
organised secret society covering far-flung
Movement and continued till 1917.
areas of Punjab, Delhi and United
 The second phase started as a fallout of the
Provinces while some others like
Non-Cooperation Movement. After the
Hemachandra Kanungo went abroad for
decline of the open movement, the younger
military and political training.
nationalists who had participated in the
 In 1907, an abortive attempt was made by
movement found it impossible to leave off
the Yugantar group on the life of a very
and disappear into the background.
unpopular British official, Sir Fuller (the
 They looked for avenues to give expression
first Lt. Governor of the new province of
to their patriotic energies, but were
Eastern Bengal and Assam).
disillusioned by the failure of the leadership,
 In December 1907, there were attempts to
even the Extremists, to find new forms of
derail the train on which the lieutenant-
struggle to bring into practice the new
governor, Sri Andrew Fraser.
militant trends.
 In 1908, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose
THE REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAMME
threw a bomb at a carriage the whole
 They opted to follow in the footsteps of Anushilan group was arrested including the
Russian nihilists or the Irish nationalists. Ghosh brothers, Aurobindo and Barindra,
 This methodology involved individual heroic who were tried in the Alipore conspiracy
actions, such as organising assassinations of case, variously called Manicktolla bomb
unpopular officials and of traitors and conspiracy or Muraripukur conspiracy.
informers among the revolutionaries  In Feb 1909, the public prosecutor was shot
themselves; conducting swadeshi dacoities to dead in Calcutta and in February 1910, a
raise funds for revolutionary activities; and deputy superintendent police met the same
(during the First World War) organising fate while leaving the Calcutta High Court.
military conspiracies with expectation of
 In 1908, Barrah dacoity was organised by
help from the enemies of Britain.
Dacca Anushilan under Pulin Das to raise
A SURVEY OF REVOLUTIONARY funds for revolutionary activities.
ACTIVITIES  Jatin Mukherjee was shot and died a hero’s
Bengal death in Balasore on the Orissa coast in
 First revolutionary groups were organised September 1915. “We shall die to awaken
in 1902 in Midnapore (under Jnanendranath the nation”, was the call of Bagha Jatin.
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Basu) and in Calcutta (the Anushilan Samiti Maharashtra

founded by Promotha Mitter, and including  First of the revolutionary activities in
Jatindranath Banerjee, Barindra Kumar Maharashtra was the organisation of the
Ghosh and others.) Ramosi Peasant Force by Vasudev Balwant
 In April 1906, an inner circle within Phadke
Anushilan (Barindra Kumar Ghosh,  In 1879 Tilak propagated a spirit of militant
Bhupendranath Dutta) started the weekly nationalism, including use of violence,
Yugantar. through Ganapati and Shivaji festivals and
 After severe police brutalities on his journals Kesari and Maharatta. Two of
participants of the Barisal Conference his disciples—the Chapekar brothers,
(April 1906), the Yugantar wrote: “The Damodar and Balkrishna—murdered the
remedy lies with the people. The 30 crore

57
CHAPTER: 24 - POST-WAR NATIONAL SCENARIO
6. Officials feared another Congress revolt, a
TWO STRANDS OF NATIONAL UPSURGE
revival of the 1942 situation but much more
Two basic strands of national upsurge can be dangerous because of a likely combination
identified during the last two years of British rule - of attacks on communications, agrarian
I. Tortuous negotiations involving the revolts, labour trouble, army disaffection
government, Congress and Muslim League, joined by government officials and the
increasingly accompanied by communal police in the presence of INA men with
violence and culminating in freedom and some military experience.
the partition. 7. Elections were inevitable once the war
II. Sporadic, localised and often extremely ended since the last elections had been held
militant and united mass action by workers, in 1934 for the Centre and in 1937 for the
peasants and states’ peoples which took the provinces.
form of a countrywide strike wave. This CONGRESS ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND
kind of activity was occasioned by the INA INA TRIALS
Release Movement, Royal Indian Navy  Elections were held in the winter of 1945-46.
(RIN) revolt, Tebhaga movement, Worli Election Campaign for Nationalistic Aims
revolt, Punjab Kisan Morchas, Travancore  The most significant feature of the election
peoples’ struggle (especially the Punnapra- campaign was that it sought to mobilise the
Vayalar episode) and the Telangana peasant Indians against the British.
revolt.  The election campaign expressed the
CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE nationalist sentiments against the state
 Wavell Plan backed by the Conservative repression of the 1942 Quit India upsurge.
government in Britain failed to break the This was done by glorifying martyrs and
constitutional deadlock. In July 1945, condemning officials.
Labour Party formed the government in Congress Support for INA Prisoners
Britain.  At the first post-War Congress session in
 In August 1945, elections to central and September 1945 at Bombay, a strong
provincial assemblies were announced. In resolution was adopted declaring Congress
September 1945, it was announced that a support for the INA cause.
constituent assembly would be convened  Defence of INA prisoners in the court was
after the elections organized by Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur
Why a Change in Government’s Attitude Sapru, Kailash Nath Katju, Jawaharlal
1. End of the War resulted in a change in Nehru and Asaf Ali.
balance of global power—the UK was no  INA Relief and Enquiry Committee
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more a big power while the USA and USSR distributed small sums of money and food,
emerged as superpowers, both of which and helped arrange employment for the
favoured freedom for India. affected.
2. New Labour government was more  Fund collection was organised.
sympathetic to Indian demands. The INA Agitation—A Landmark on Many
3. Throughout Europe, there was a wave of Counts
socialist radical governments.  Celebrations of INA Day (November 12,
4. British soldiers were weary and tired and the 1945) and INA week (November 5-11).
British economy lay shattered.  Nerve centres of the agitation were Delhi,
5. There was an anti-imperialist wave in South- Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, United
East Asia in Vietnam and Indonesia Provinces towns and Punjab, the campaign
resisting efforts to replant French and Dutch spread to distant places such as Coorg,
rule there. Baluchistan and Assam. The forms of
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 APPENDICES
PERSONALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH campaigns through newspapers like The Bengalee
and addressed mass meetings. He was assisted by
SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS
Krishnakumar Mitra and Narendra Kumar
SWADESHI MOVEMENT
Sen.
 Lokmanya Tilak spread the message of
 Ashwini Kumar Dutt, a school teacher, set up
swadeshi to Poona and Bombay and organised
Swadesh Bandhab Samiti to propagate the
Ganapati and Shivaji festivals to arouse patriotic
Swadeshi Movement and led the Muslim peasants
feelings. He stressed that the aim of swadeshi,
of Barisal in their protests.
boycott and national education was attainment of
swaraj. He opened cooperative stores and headed  Promotha Mitter, Barindrakumar Ghosh,
the Swadeshi Wastu Pracharini Sabha. Jatindranath Bannerji founded the Anushilan
Samiti in Calcutta.
 Lala Lajpat Rai took the movement to Punjab
and parts of northern India. He was assisted in his  G.K. Gokhale, president of the Benaras session
venture by Ajit Singh. His articles, which were of the Indian National Congress, 1905, supported
published in Kayastha Samachar, endorsed the Swadeshi Movement.
technical education and industrial self-  Abdul Halim Guznavi, a zamindar and a lawyer,
sufficiency. set up swadeshi industries and helped Aurobindo
 Syed Haider Raza popularised the Swadeshi Ghosh to extend revolutionary activities outside
Movement in Delhi. Bengal. He was assisted by Abul Kalam Azad.
 Chidambaram Pillai spread the movement to  Dadabhai Naoroji at the 1906 Congress session
Madras and organised the strike of the Tuticorin declared that the goal of the Congress was to
Coral Mill. He founded the Swadeshi Steam attain Swaraj.
Navigation Company in Tuticorin on the east  Acharya P.C. Roy, in order to promote
coast of the Madras Province. swadeshi, set up the Bengal Chemicals Factory.
 Bipin Chandra Pal of the Extremist clan played  Mukunda Das, Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendralal
a major role in popularising the movement, Roy, Girindramohini Dosi, Sayed Abu
especially in the urban areas. He was the editor of Mohammed composed patriotic songs on
New India. swadeshi themes. Girishchandra Ghosh,
 Laikat Hossain of Patna suggested boycott and Kshirodeprasad Vidyavinode and Amritlal
organised the East Indian Railway strike in 1906. Bose were play-wrights who contributed to the
He was supported by other Muslim swadeshi swadeshi spirit through their creative efforts.
agitators like Ghaznavi, Rasul, Din  Ashwini Coomar Banerjee, a swadeshi activist,
Mohammed, Dedar Bux, Moniruzzaman, led the jute mill workers to form an Indian
Ismail Hussain, Siraji, Abdul Hussain and Millhands’ Union at Budge-Budge in August
Abdul Gaffar. 1906.
 Shyamsunder Chakrabarti, a swadeshi political  Satish Chandra Mukherji through his Dawn
leader, helped in organising strikes. Society promoted an education system under
 Ramendra Sunder Trivedi called for indigenous control.
observance of arandhan (keeping the hearth unlit)  Motilal Ghosh of the Amrit Bazar Patrika group
as a mark of mourning and protest on the day the contributed several fiery articles in the paper to
partition was put into effect. arouse patriotic sentiments and was in favour of
 Rabindranath Tagore composed several songs Extremism.
to inspire freedom struggle and revived Bengali  Brahmabandhab Upadhyay through his
folk music to rouse national pride. He also set up Sandhya and Yugantar (brought out by a group
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some swadeshi stores and called for the associated with Barindrakumar Ghosh)
observance of raksha bandhan. popularised Swaraj and the Swadeshi Movement.
 Aurobindo Ghosh was in favour of extending  Jogendrachandra set up an association in March
the movement to the rest of India. He was 1904 to raise funds to facilitate students to go
appointed as the principal of Bengal National abroad for technical and industrial training.
College founded in 1906 to encourage patriotic  Kalisankar Sukul brought out several pamphlets
thinking and an education system related to on Swadeshi Movement and argued that a new
Indian conditions and culture. He was also the kind of business class should be built to promote
editor of Bande Mataram and through his national interests.
editorials encouraged strikes, national education  Sunder Lal, a student from UP, was drawn
etc., in the spirit of the Swadeshi Movement. He towards terrorism.
was assisted by Jatindranath Bannerji and  Kunwarji Mehta and Kalyanji Mehta began
Barindrakumar Ghosh (who managed the organisational work through the Patidar Yuvak
Anushilan Samiti). Mandal.
 Surendranath Banerjea who held moderate  Lala Harkishan Lal promoted Swadeshi
nationalist opinion launched powerful press Movement in Punjab through the Brahmo-leaning

162
1927 (Dec. 26-27) Madras M.A. Ansari The first All India Youth Congress came into being.
passed the Purna Swaraj Resolution; authorised the
1928 (Dec. 28-31) Calcutta Motilal Nehru Working Committee to
1929 (Dec. 29-31) Lahore Jawaharlal Nehru Launch civil disobedience programme. Endorsement of
Gandhi-Irwin pact, resolution on Fundamental Rights
and National Economic Programme passed.
1931 (March 29) Karachi Vallabhbhai Patel

1932 (April 24) Delhi Amrit Ranchhorddas

Seth The President urged the Congress to adopt socialism as
1933 (April 1) Calcutta Nellie Sengupta its goal. The session held in a village for the first time.
1934 (Oct. 26-28) Bombay Rajendra Prasad National Planning Committee set up under the
1936 (April 12-14) Lucknow Jawaharlal Nehru chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru.
1936 (Dec. 27-28) Faizpur Jawaharlal Nehru Rajendra Prasad took over as president after Subhas
1938 (Feb. 19-21) Haripura Subhash Chandra Bose Chandra resigned.
1939 (March 10) Tripuri Subhash Chandra Bose
1940 (March 17-19) Ramgarh Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad
1946 (Nov. 23) Meerut Acharya J.B. Kripalani
1948 (Dec. 18-19) Jaipur Pattabhi Sitaramayya
1950 (September 21-22) Purushottam Das Three candidates for the post of Nasik president—
Tandon Purushottam Das Tandon (supported by Sardar Patel),
J.B. Kripalani (supported by Nehru) and Shankar Rao
Deo. Purushottam Das Tandon resigned in September
1951 after which J.L. Nehru became president.
1951 (September), Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru
1953, Hyderabad Jawaharlal Nehru
1854, Kalyani Jawaharlal Nehru
1955 (January 21-23) Avadi U.V. Dhebar
(Madras)
1956, Amritsar U.N. Dhebar
1958, Gauhati U.N. Dhebar
1959, Nagpur Indira Gandhi
1960, Bangalore Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
1961, Bhavnagar Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
1962, Bhubaneshwar Damodaran Sanjivayya
(First Dalit president)
1963, Patna Damodaran Sanjivayya
1964, Bhubaneshwar K. Kamaraj

1965, Durgapur K. Kamaraj

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SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS (LATE 18TH TO MID-20TH CENTURY)

Name of the Movement/ People Associated with it Nature and Objectives, and Media Efforts
Organisation and Place
Swaminarayan Sampradyaga; Swami Sahajanand (original Belief in a theistic god, protest against epicurean
Gujarat (early 19th century) name Gyanashyama)—1781- practices of Vaishnavism; prescribed a moral
1830. code.
Brahmo Samaj (earlier Raja Rammohan Roy Propagated monotheism, opposed incarnation,
Atmiya Sabha); Founded in (17721833)—the founder; meditation, sacrifices, existence of priests,
Calcutta (late 18th-early 19th Debendranath Tagore—later idolatry, superstition, sati; sought for reforms in
century) formed Adi Brahmo Samaj; Hindu society.
Keshub Chandra Sen—later Journals brought out by Rammohan Roy: Sambad
associated with Brahmo Kaumudi (1821), Mirat-ul-Akbar; by
Samaj of India (secessionists Debendranath Tagore: Tattva Bodhini Patrika;

171