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First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31, December, 1885

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The Indian National Congress - 1885 (Ellen)

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The Indian National Congress - 1885 (Ellen)

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Description: The Indian National Congress was created by influential Hindus in 1885
Importance: It was extremely important to India in favour to gain independence from Britain and one of the keys for decolonisation in 1947.

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English East India Company (EIC) - 1857- 1858 (Ashna)

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English East India Company (EIC) - 1857- 1858 (Ashna)

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Description: British control of India began when the East India Company (EIC) set up trading posts along the coasts in the 17th century. The EIC gradually began expanding, controlling large parts of India by the 19th century. An uprising in 1857 resulted in the British sending troops to take over control from the EIC. The Mughal emperor was sent into exile. India was then split up and large parts were controlled by the British administration. 5,000 officials were sent from London to govern India.  However some parts were controlled by hereditary Indian rulers. Indians had no meaningful representation in the British administration (Cambridge, p58) .

Importance: This is known as Settlers/ Corporations tactic used by colonials. By having a large-scale migration as a result of a powerful British cooperation, India was gradually politically controlled by the British

This could have caused tensions between the British and local Indians as Indians had no say in this political ambush.

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Description: In 1905, the British viceroy announced that Bengal province will be partitioned into two to provide more "efficient administration". This divide would have created a Muslim majority in the eastern province and a Bihari- Oriya speaking Hindus in the western province. Bengali speaking Hindus saw this as a threat to weaken Bengali nationalism.

This led to the Congress creating anti-partition protests in both rallies and press, along with petitions and a boycott of British  goods.

In response, the British powers put large numbers of Bengalis in prison and gave reforms to the Indians, who had some  representation in the government. Muslims were given separate representation - separate electorates and reserved seats. Bengal was reunited as one province, and the capital was changed from Calcutta to Delhi (Cambridge, p59).

Importance:  The nationalists realised the importance of an economic boycott and how that led to political power. Additionally, nationalist leaders across India were united on the Bengali case, which led to public favouring of more radical leaders who encouraged more active rebellion against the British colonial power. However, the uniting of Bengal deescalated the situation and restored less radical Congress leaders back into power.

The divide between Muslims and Indians had begun, a move which would shape future political decisions

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Largest Export Market for the British - 1914 (Ashna)

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Largest Export Market for the British - 1914 (Ashna)

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Description:  Britain gained economic benefits from India in the form of taxes. Money which was collected from the peasants was used by Britain to fund more purchases of the EIC shares, finance capital and provide funds to the British administration of India.
India supplied raw materials such as cotton, jute, rice and tea to British factories. India purchased the manufactured goods from the British such as textiles, iron, machinery, steel goods in 1914 was the largest export market for the British (Cambridge, p60).

Importance: Indian nationalists believed that the British administration funds could have been better used for internal investments in India. Additionally they viewed the British’s “imperial exploitation brought shame to India.”

These changing viewpoints could have sparked the Indian nationalistic movement.

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New York Public Library .  Tanks advancing along a road, 1917, World War I 

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Description: The first world war was a conflict between the European powers. Most Indians urged support for Britain’s war effort. As the war continued, civilians grew more dissatisfied at heavy wartime taxation and increased efforts at recruitment. Britain had been dependent on India for victory over Germany. Indians hoped that their sacrifices in war would result in more reforms that would give them greater representation in the government.

In 1917, the British announced its intention for “gradual development of self-governing institutions' ' however, it was rejected by both the Mulism and Indian congress for not “going far enough”. In 1918, instead of a reform, harsh repressive measures were introduced by the British to oppress Indian's governing rights (Cambirdge, p65).

Importance: Amidst the Influenza pandemic, Indians were angered by the constant oppression by the British. This led to increased British anti-sentiment and increasing Indian nationalistic views. This led to a protest (Cambridge, p65).

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Description: There were protests against the new measures. A group of 5,000 people gathered in Armistice, ignoring the ban on public meetings. A British officer in charge, General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on unarmed protestors (Cambridge, p65).

Importance: Many Indians were shocked at how the British handled the situation. Certain British officers expressed their approval of this massacre. This led to more Indians joining the Congress including members of the elite who were loyal to the British. Among these leaders arose Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi emerged as a dominant figure in the Nationalist movement (Cambridge, p65).

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Government of India Act 1919 - 1935 (Ellen)

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Government of India Act 1919 - 1935 (Ellen)

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Description: Handed over the government of the 11 provinces of British India to Indian ministers, subject only to the veto of the British provincial governors. However, it did not include any plans for independence.

Importance:  The first elections to be held after this Act resulted in a victory for the Hindu Congress Party. The Muslim League, representing a quarter of India's population, failed disastrously and its leader, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who had previously favoured working with the Congress Party, resolved to build up the Muslim League into an organization capable of challenging it.

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Description: Certain industries during the war were greatly impacted whereas others greatly benefitted. Industries such as cotton, steel and iron experienced a boom due to the increased demand. Agriculture, however, faced increasing problems after the war and was the dominant sector of India’s economy.

Food production could not keep up with the high population growth rate. India struggled as a result of the Great Depression, followed by the Wall Street Crash. Overseas markets for India’s export declined and price of crops dropped. This created unmanageable debts for Indian peasants, and they were thrown off their land, creating a mass of rural unemployed peasants. This led millions of rural peasants to move to cities, only to add to the number of urban unemployed (Cambridge, p64).

Importance:  With severe economic struggles, it led to the civil unrest of the 1930s. Dissatisfied and unemployed people joined the growing Indian Nationalist group. The Indian Nationalist group had growing support from civilians which can lead to more political power (Cambridge, p64).

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Description: The Atlantic Charter was signed by prime minister Winston Churchill,  which supported political self determination for all nations. However, this did not apply to India (Cambridge, p67).

Importance: Indian nationalists were outraged at this lack of fairness. This led to more civil disobedience such as the Quit India Campaign and fueled lack of corporation with the British (Cambridge, p67).

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Description: As Japan was making sweeping victories across Asia, Churchill was forced to change his position. Churchill needed the support of Indian leaders to defeat Japan. Thus, India was presented with a deal - to  gain full independence after the war was over, if only Congress were to commit itself fully to the British (Cambridge, p68).

Importance: India made a major contribution to the Allied victories in World War II. Indian soldiers fought in North Africa, Italy and Burma. Britain’s need to fund the war forced it to borrow heavily from India. The Indian Economy was a significant factor in the final defeat of the Axis powers. By 1945 British leaders were negotiating with nationalistic leaders for India’s independence. In 1947 India finally gained independence from the British (Cambridge, p68).

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15 August 1947 - India Gained Independence 

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15 August 1947 - India Gained Independence 