FYBA History SEM- I, HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA (English Version)-munotes

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Unit -1
THE REVOLT OF 1857
Unit Structure :
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Backgrounds
1.3 Nature and Character of Revolt
1.4 Causes of the Revolt of 1857
1.5 Outbreak of the Revolt of 1857
1.6 Causes of the Failure of the Rebellion
1.7 Consequences of the Revolt of 1857
1.8 Significance
1.9 Summary
1.0.OBJECTIVES:
To understand the background of the Revolt 1857.
To explain the Nature of the Revolt of 1857
To understand the causes of The Revolt of 1857.
To understand the out Break and spread of the Revolt of
1857.
To explain the causes of the failure of the Revolt of 1857.
To Understand the Effects and the Consequences the Revolt
of 1857
1.1. INTRODUCTION
By the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company
had brought major portions of India under its control, but still it had
two purposes or aims : (i) To sustain its conquests and (ii) To
exploit in the trade . To fulfill these aims, there was no limit of
company’s betrayal and avarice. Befo re 1857 A.D. many of the
native domination were annexed to the British Empire forcibly. The
British Government was sucking the blood of both, the rulers and
the people. Everywhere the revolts were taking place against
British East India Company’s rule. It was very easy to conquer the
new territories but it was very difficult to keep those territories under
the control of British East India Company. The East Indiamunotes.in

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Company's rule from 1757 to 1857 had generated a lot of
discontent among the different section so ft h eI n d i a np e o p l ea g a i n s t
the British. The end of the Mughal rule gave a psychological blow to
the Muslims many of whom had enjoyed position and patronage
under the Mughal and other provincial Muslim rulers. The
commercial policy of the company brough t ruin to the artisans and
craftsman, while the divergent land revenue policy adopted by the
Company in different regions, especially the permanent settlement
in the North and the Ryotwari settlement in the south put the
peasants on the road of impoverishm ent and misery.
1.2BACKGROUND
The Revolt of 1857 was a major upheaval against the British
Rule in which the disgruntled princes, to disconnected sepoys and
disillusioned elements participated. However, it is important to note
that right from the inception of the East India Company there had
been several resistance from divergent section in different parts of
the sub continent. This resistance offered by different tribal groups,
peasant and religious fact ions remained localized and ill organized.
There were series of civil disturbances and local uprising which
were scattered, localised and mostly violent. Most of these
movements arouse due to popular discontent with the british rule ,
but some of them were owing to the individual grievences. For
about 100 years the people of India had witnessed the enormous
lot and plunderr of wealth from India to Britain . The displeased
rulers and feudal lords tried to recover their lost ground with the
support of their r evenue policy, which had created a class of
exploitative intermediaries. The Tribals rebelled in resentment
against disturbances and dislocation causedthem their exploitation
by non -tribals.
Leader’s of the Revolt of 1857 .
There were also non violent religio -political uprising and
disturbances aginst the British East India Company . The Sanyasi
and Faquir rebellions in Bengal, The Wahabi movement, the Kukka
movement in Punjab etc. belong to this category. Thus revolt of
1857 was not sudden, but the culmination of growing discontent. In
certain cases the British could put down these uprisings easily, in
other cases the struggle was prolonged resulting in heavy
causalities. These disturbances and uprising, though did notmunotes.in

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succeed in uprooting the British power from India, became the
precursors of the major Revolt of 1857. The revolt started as a
mutiny of sepoys of East India Company’s army on 10 May 1857 in
the cantonment of the town of Meerut. Thereafter it spread to upper
Gangetic plain and central India in the form of mutinies of the sepoy
and civilian rebellions Major conflict zones were confined to present
Uttar Pradesh, northern Madhya Pradesh and Delhi region.
1.3NATURE AND CHARACTER OF REVOLT:
The historians have divergent opinion regarding the nature
of uprising . The British considered it just a ‘A Military Revolt’ which
had neither the leadership of any of the Indian leaders , nor the co -
operation of the people. The Indian patriots considere d that uprising
as National War of Independence. As a whole, there are the main
following views regarding the nature and character of the Revolt of
1857 A.D.
(1)AM i l i t a r yR e v o l t
(2)An Attempt for establishing the Mughal Power
(3)Aristocrate Reaction
(4)A Peasant Reaction
(5)AN a t i o n a lR e v o l u t i o n
(6)A racial struggle for supremacy between Black and White
(7)A struggled between Oriental and Occidental Civilization and
Culture
(8)AN a t i o n a lW a ro fI n d e p e n d e n c e
From the above mentioned view, only two of the views are famous:
(1)A Military revolt :
Many Historians ha ve called the Revolt of 1857A.D. as a
military revolt. among these historians, Sir john Lawrence and
Seelay thought it as a Military revolt and nothing.
The other British Historians like Kaye, Malleson,Trevelyan
Holmes have painted it as ‘a mutiny’ confined to the army which did
not command the support of the people at large. A similar view was
held by many contemporary Indians like Munshi Jiwan Lal,
Moinu ddin (both eye -witness at Delhi) Durgadas
Bandopadhyaya(eye witness at Bareilly) Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan
and many others. . In the words of Seelay that the Uprising of
1857 was the revolt of those soldiers who were selfish and without
the feeling of patriotism, it had neither a leader nor the popu lar
support of the people. P. E. Roberts also supported the views of Sir
John Lawrence and wrote that it was purely a military revolt and
whose cause was the incident of cartridges. Even th eI n d i a n
Historian like R.C. Muj umdar in his book ‘ The Sepoy Mutiny andmunotes.in

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The Re volt of 1857 ’a r g u e st h a tt h er e v o l to f1 8 5 7w a sn o taw a ro f
Independence .
All these scholars and historians considered uprising only a
military revolt. According to them the revolt had not the support of
the people.. These scholars presented many arguments in favour of
their view as:
Arguments in favour:
(1)The revolt had spread only in some Northern India. It had not
spread in southern India and in many areas of North India
especially in Punjab.
(2)That revolt started from military cantonment a rea and its
development and influential areas were military centres.
(3)The peasants and other citizens took a very little part in the
revolt of 1857.
(4)The revolt did not spread to in the villages and It was limited
only to the cities and towns.
(5)It is true t hat the rulers like Nana Sahib, Bahadur Shah and Rani
of Jhansi wanted to take revenge against the British. But they
took up the arms against the British when soldiers took up the
arms against the British. Otherwise they had no courage to
revolt.
(6)If the re volt of 1857 was the National War of Independence,
then the small portion of British troops could not suppress that
revolt.
(2)First War of Independence:
Most of the Indian hitorians and scholar had called the
Revolt of 1857A.D. as the First War of Ind ependence. Dr. K.M.
Panikar has called that revolt as a National Revolution. V.D.
Savarkar and Ashok Mehta have called it as the War of
Independence. Where as Jai Chand Vidyalankar and Pandit Nehru
accepted the revolt of 1857 A.D. as the First war of Ind ependence.
Even Dr. S.N. Sen belives that the rising of 1857 was a war of
independence. H e contends that revolutionaries are mostly the
work of minorities, with the active sympathy of the masses. Here he
compares it with the American Revolution of 1775 -83 and the Frech
Revolution of 1789.
The contemporary leader of Conservative Party of England,
Mr Benjamin Dasraily called it as a National Mutiny and according
to him revolt was not the result of any immediate cause instead it
was a result of deliberate and organised plan.munotes.in

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Argument in Favour :T h a tr e v o l tw a st h en a t i o n a lm u t i n y .T h e
following arguments are presented in favour of it: -
(1)The re volt of 1857 spread throught the country and it proves
that it was the mutiny of common people in which the belonging
to different classes caste made their efforts to expell the British
from India.
(2)In Kanpur the Labourers and in Allahabad fisherman took an
active part in revolt. The native soldiers and native rulers also
showed their active participation in that revolt. The common
people and Zamindars made their efforts to make the reolt a
successful one. Thus from comman man to the Kings all took
part in th at revolt. Ther efore it is called as National Revolt.
(3)The revolt began very soon and it remained into force for many
months. Only with the support of the common people, a mutiny
can remain in force for a long time and also begin very soon. If it
was a muti ny of soldiers, then it could not begin so soon and
could not have remain in force for a longer period. These two
factors prove that revolt was the National Mutiny.munotes.in

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(4)It was first time that Hindus and the Muslims had taken part in
the revolt jointly against the British. From the declaration by the
mutineers in Delhi it was proved that they had not any religious
differences. This Hindu -Muslim unity proves that the revolt can
be called as the National war of Independence.
(5)The people who were punished by the Br itish, most of them
were common people and citizens, and they were not the
soldiers. If the common people had not taken part in the revolt,
then the British could not punish them. That’s why the revolt of
1857 was not a military revolt instead it was a Nat ional War of
Independence.
(6)It is true that many rulers did not take part in the revolt but they
werewaiting for proper and suitable time to revolt against the
mighty British power in India.
(7)Even during the annexation of different states to the British
Government in India I ndian masses opposed the Britis ha n d
supported their own rulers. From that fact, it is proved that the
feeling of Independence and nationalism had awakened among
the Indian masses.
(8)Along with men, the women also took active part in that r evolt,
which proves that it was not a military revolt; instead it was the
national war of Independence.
From the above mentioned detailed discussion, we may
conclude that :
1.The Indian people and the Indian rulers were against the British
and wanted to get rid of them.
2.The common people also took part in that uprising, though they
were few in number.
3.It is true that the uprising was started by the soldiers but their
move was not to achieve their individual concessions, instead
they also wanted to expel the British from India.
4.It is also true that the uprising did not spread in many parts of
India But i td o e sn o tm e a nt h a tt h ep e o p l eb e l o n g i n gt ot h e s e
parts did not independence. They were waiting for the suitable
opportunity, so that they might join the war against the British.
5.In that uprising the Hindus and Muslims had sacrificed their lives
together. They had performed such type of deeds to set India
free from the slavery of the British.
The Revolt was more than a mere sepoy Mutiny -S.N. Sen
and Dr. R.C. Mujumdar have given an objective and balanced view
that the sepoy mutiny assumed the character of a revolt and
assumed a political dimension when the mutineers of Meerut after
proceeding to Delhi declared the restoration of the Mughal Emperor
Bahadur Shah II, and the landed aristocracy and civil population
declared their loyalty in his favor. What b egan as a right for religionmunotes.in

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ended in a war of independence, for there is not the slightest doubt
that the rebels wanted to get rid of the alien government and
restore the old order of which the Mughal emperor was the rightful
representative.
Pandit Nehr uh a sw r i t t e n ,I tw a sm u c hm o r et h a nam i l i t a r y
mutiny and it spread rapidly and achieved the character of a
popular rebellion and a war of Indian Independence.”
Prof. Bipan Chandra is of the view that the revolt of the
sepoys was accompanied by a rebelli on of the civil population
particularly in the Northwestern Provinces and Oudh, the two
regions from which the sepoys of the Bengal army were recruited.
The civil rebellion had a broad social base embracing all sections of
the society and the revolt of the sepoys thus, resulted in a popular
uprising In spite of the limitations and weaknesses the effort of the
sepoys to liberate the country from foreign rule was a patriotic act.
1.4CAUSES OF THE REVOLT OF 1857:
Although Revolt began as a military rising and it appears to
be a great sequel in the long series of a number of mutinies, its
causes were deeply rooted in the changing conditions of the times.
It drew its strength from several elements of discontent against t he
British rule. There were several Political, administrative, socio -
cultural, economic, religious, cultural and immediate causes of the
revolt.
1.4.1. Political Causes: -
(i)Wars and Conquests:
The East India Company created a lot of discontent and
disaffection among the dispossessed ruling families and their
successors by her conquest. A large number of dependents on the
ruling families who lost their means of livelihood and other common
people were disillusioned and disaffected with the alien rule. L ord
Dalhousie annexed the Punjab and added humiliation to the ruling
family. Dalip Singh, the minor son of Ranjit Singh, the founder of
the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab, was deposed, and exiled to
England. The properties of the Lahor Darbar were auctioned.
(ii) Subsidiary Alliance:
The British policy of territorial annexations led to the
displacement of a large number of rulers and chiefs. The vigorous
application of the policies of Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of
Lapse angered the ruling sections of the society. The subsidiary
alliance of Lord Wellesley, played a major role in British expansion
in India. According to this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to
have their independent armed force. They were to be protected bymunotes.in

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the company, but had to p ay for the 'subsidiary forces' that the
company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this
protection. As a result, number of Indian rulers under British
protection surrendered the control of their foreign affairs to the
British. Most subordinate dis banded their native armies, instead
maintaining British troops within their states to protect them from
attack.
Discontent and dissatisfaction was especially strong in those
regions, which were believed to have been lost their independence.
As a consequen ce of Subsidiary Alliance, lakhs of soldiers and
officers were deprived of their hereditary livelihood, spreading
misery and degradation in the country. Thus the East India
company’s policy of ‘Effective control’ and gradual extinction of the
Indian native states took a definite shape with the perfection of the
Subsidiary Alliance System under Lord Wellesley.
The scene from one of the battle.
(iii) Doctrine of Lapse:
The practic al application of Doctrine of Lapse of Lord
Dalhousie’s produced unprecedented discontent in the directly
affected states. As a result number of rulers were debarred from
adopting any son for the purpose of religious ceremonies after their
death. This was considered as a direct encroachment by the British
upon their religious practices. The Punjab Pegu, and Sikkim were
conquered and annexed to the British Empire. By applying the
Doctrine of Lapse, Dalhousie annexed the principalities of Satara,
Jaipur, Sam bhalpur, Bhagat. Udaipur, Jhansi, and Nagpur. In 1856
Lord Dalhousie annexed the kingdom of Oudh only on the pretextmunotes.in

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of mismanagement. The dethronement of Wajid Ali Shah sent
awave of resentment and anger of throughout the country. The
state was exploited economically and the Nawabs were reduced to
a position of administration of the state, which was used as an
excuse by Dalhousie to merge it with the British Empire. The
dignities and the royal titles in the case of the rulers of Carnatic and
Tanjore were c onfiscated and Nana Sahib the adopted son of
Bajirao II, was deprived of the pension that originally was granted
to Peshwa Bajirao II. Thus in the eyes of the Indians, all the ruling
princes were in danger and the annexation of all the states in India
was considered only a question of some time. It was a General
belief amongst the people in India that the native states were being
swallowed up. All These actions manifested the lack of sensitivity of
the British towards the Indian Rulers.
Lord Dalhousie
(iv) Humiliating and Rush Policy towards the Successors of
the Mughals:
British never honoured their written or verbal promises;
consequently it was natural to result in hatered and revolts. Since
1803, the Mughal emperors had been living under the Britis h
protection. His claims to honour and precedence were recognized.
The seal of Governors General bore the inscription humble servant.
However, there was a gradual change in the relationship between
the Mughal emperor and the governors -general. Amherst made it
clear to the emperor, that his Kingship was nominal; it was merely
out of courtesy that he was addressed as King.In 1849, Lord
Dalhousie announced that the successor of Dalhousie had to leave
the Red Fort and stay near Kutub Minar. By this time, Bahadur
Shah, the Mughal emperor had become very old and was likely to
die any moment was not in favour of the creation of an imperium
imperio, he had accepted Fakir Uddin as the successor of the
Mughal emperor but he had subjected the new E mperor to very
strict conditions. Fortunately or unfortunately Fakruddin died in themunotes.in

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year 1856. On his death the then Viceroy Lord Canning proclaimed
that the next successor of Fakiruddin would be deprived of even
their titular dignities and shadow of sove reignties in Delhi and they
would not be allowed to sit on the royal palaces in Delhi. This
means that the title sovereignty of the Mughals was also to come to
an end. This proclamation on the part of Lord Canning struck a
great blow to the ambitions of t he Indian Muslims and they became
panicky. They concluded that the British were bent upon subjecting
the princes of the dynasty of Timur to great humiliations. Hence
they considered the immediate overthrow of the British regime in
India as their sacred dut y which they wanted to perform in honour
of their forefathers as well as in honour of their religion. Thus, it was
not surprising that the Muslims and the Hindus, felt resentful at the
humiliation of the nominal Mughal emperors in India with the
attitude o f Dalhousie, Canning and East India Company, they
decided to enter into an alliance with the rebels.
(v) India was Governed from Foreign Land:
Anderson wrote, India was being governed from a foreign
country which meant that the rulers of India were carryi ng on their
administration in India while sitting at distance of thousands of
miles away from this country, this was another very important
political cause which irritated the Indians against the Britishers. The
Turkish and the Mughal who had established t heir power in India
and settled down in country. They spent the revenue collected from
the people in the India itself for administration, military, public work
and building monuments which provided employment to the Indian
natives.Thus in due course of ti me as such whatever they
collected in the form of wealth was spent in India itself. On the other
hand British ruled India from England and also drained India’s
wealth to their country .The resources of India were being spent for
the benefit of the English people in England and in India Hence the
Indians could not fail to feel this irritation against the Britishers and
consequently, they threw in their lot with the rebels in the Mutiny of
1857.
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(vi) Suspension of Pension:
The Company’s Director were keen to increase their
dividends, they wanted the the Company’s administration in India to
follow economy. Theat led to the reduction and suspension of
pensions of some of the Indian chiefs and who were disposed by
the company. The annual pension of Rani Jindan the Queen of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was reduced from 15,000 pounds to 1,200
pounds. The pension to Nana Sahib and of Lakshmi Bai, of Jhansi
was suspended. The titular sovereignty of the Nawab of Carnatic
and Tanjore was als o abolished. This led them to oppose the
British.
1.4.2. Administrative Causes: -
(i) Introduction of New Administrative System:
The British rule altogether introduced a new system of
administration, which was faceless, soulless, and without any
human tou ch. The English officials were not only inaccessible but
also arrogant and scornful towards the Indians. The new
administration was totally different from the traditional
administrative system prevailing in the country under the Mughal
Empire and therefore it was difficult for the Indians to adjust to the
new system of administration introduced by the British in conquered
and annexed states.
(ii) Loss of Benefits and Privileges:
The Indian aristocrats once enjoyed privileges,
both economic and social were now deprived of such privileges by
the annexation policy of the East India Company. For eg. A large
number of pious and learned men as well as educational and
religious institutions were granted rent free lands by Indian rulers.
By appointing the Inam Comm ission, The East India Company’s
government confiscated rent free land on large scale, which led to
the ruin of large number of individuals and institutions.( eg. Inam
Commission in Bombay itself confiscated about 20,000 estates) .
Even the landlords were d eprived of their traditional rights. Thus in
the British administration they lost all hope of regaining their old
influence and privileges. It created a lot of inconvenience and
frustration among the Indians.
(iii) Exclusion of Indians from Higher Administrative posts:
In the new administrative machinery Indians were excluded
from all the jobs both in civil as well as in military departments. All
the Higher posts in British administration were kept reserved for the
English people to the exclusion of the Indians. The highest rank
that an Indian could get in the Army department was that of a
Subhedar whose monthly salary did not exceed rupees 60, or
rupees 70 and similarly the highest job that an Indian could get in
the Civil department was that of the Amin whose monthly pay did
not exceed rupees 50. Consequently, all the chances for themunotes.in

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promotion of the Indians were very much limited. Indians developed
a sort of conception that it was a deliberate policy on the pa rt of the
Britishers to reduce them to the position of the hewers of saw and
the drawers of water. The British were of opinion that the Indians
were not suitable for higher posts in their administrative structure.
Contempt for Indians and racial prejudice were other reasons why
the Indians were denied higher positions in the administration.
Thus, the complete exclusion of Indians from all positions of trust
and power in the administration brought a discontent and a sense
of humiliation among the Indians.
(iv) Bitter Test of Rule of Law:
The East India Company was feeling boastful that they had
introduced and were acting upon the principle of equality amongst
the citizens in the judicial administration in India. However, it was
found that the principle o f civil equality was not applied to
Europeans. Many Indians had experienced the bitter taste of law.
The British Rule of Laws were complicated and justice was
expensive and delaying.
On the other hand, the poorer and the weaker sections did
not get any be nefit from the new system due to complicated
procedure of the British administration. The new judicial system of
British in India became an instrument of tyranny oppression in the
hands of clever and rich people, because the latter could manage
to produce false evidence to prove false cases .C o r r u p t i o nw a s
rampart in the Company’s administration, especially among the
police, petty officials and lower law courts. Prisons turned into
centers of death. The British high –handedness and police brutality
proves that the rule of law was a misnomer; The government did
not think that the welfare of common man was its own
responsibility. It was on account of this reason that a judge of the
Agra Sadar Court, Rex, had said: The Indians did not like our
judicial system in many ways. When the system of flogging for civil
offences was abolished, periods of imprisonment were substituted
for them. These were not approved by the people. Hence it resulted
in a lot of discontent against the Britishers and, as such, formed
anoth er cause of the Great Mutiny.
1.4.3. Economic Causes: -
(i) Economic Exploitation of all sections:
The only interest of the Company was the collection of
maximum revenue with minimum efforts. Owing to their colonial
policies of economic exploitation, industry, trade commerce and
agriculture languished and India became de -industrialized,
impoverished and debt -ridden, while, William Bentinck himself
admitted that by 1833 -34 “The misery hardly fin ds a parallel in the
history of commerce. The bones of cotton weavers are bleachingmunotes.in

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the plains of India” .With the annexations of the Indian states, the
Indian aristocrats not only lost their jobs and power but were also
deprived of their economic and soci al position and privileges, The
British colonial policy destroyed the traditional economic fabric of
the Indian society. Karl Marx point out, “the Indians were victims of
both physical and economic forms od class oppression by the
British.” The peasants, T aluqdars, artisans, traders and common
men, all were the victims of the British policies.
(ii) Ruin of the Mercantile Class:
The British deliberately crippled Indian trade and commerce
by imposing high tariff duties against Indian goods. On the other
hand they encouraged the import of British goods to India. As a
result by the middle of the nineteenth century Indian exports of
cotton and silk goods practically came to an end.
(iii) New land revenue system and Discontent Among the
Zamindars:
By the introduction of new land revenue system in the newly
acquired States the English administrators had brought the
peasants as well as t he British government into direct contact with
one another, thus eliminating the middlemen between the two
parties. In this way, the great Talukdars and Zamindars, who used
to collect land revenue before that, were deprived of their income
as well as their position. Those who enjoyed freeships of land were
required to submit to the Government the letters of grant given to
them in order to prove the validity of their proprietary rights in that
land. Lord Dalhousie appointed the Inam Commission in 1852 to
examine the titles deeds of the landlords. But those who failed to
produce the documentary proof to prove their proprietary rights,
were deprived of their proprietary rights. Their lands were
confiscated and were sold in auction to the highest bidder. In
west ern India alone 20,000 estates were thus confiscated. In
Awadh the storm centre of the Revolt, 21,000 Taluqdars had their
estates confiscated and suddenly found themselves without a
source of Income. The policy of Jackson of turning out the Indian
soldiers from the army and the strict insistence of the British
government demanding the documentary proof to prove their
proprietary rights in the soil, made Oudh the centre of rebellion
against the Britishers The newly introduced land revenue system in
the newly acquired territories reduced the aristocratic families to an
abject poverty.
(iv) Destruction of Indian Manufacturers:
The British policy of promoting the import of cotton goods to
India from England destructed all Indian manufacturers, in the
cotton te xtile industry. Before the British rule in India villages of
India were self -sufficient in every field. The people of villages used
to produce the goods of their needs and requirements bymunotes.in

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themselves. When British goods started flooding in Indian market,
it threatened the outright destruction of Indian manufacturers. As
these goods which were produced in the Industries of England,
were pretty and also cheap as a result Indian people began to use
those goods. The handicraft goods of India could not compete with
the goods of England. It destroyed the small scale and handicraft
Industry of India. The East India Company's government did not
make any efforts to prevent the tragedy. Ultimately, it led to the
destruction of Indian Manufacturers as well as ruin of village
economy .Several Englishmen were of the opinion that free trade
and refusal to impose protective duties against machine -made
goods of England ruined Indian manufacturers.
(v)Pressure on Land:
The ruined of Indian Industry and commerce made several
people unemployed and lack of alternate occupational avenues
drove a large part of urban population to fall back on the village
economy. As a result, millions of ruined artisans and craftsmen,
spinners, weavers, smelters, smiths and others from town and
villages, had no alternative but to pursue agricultural activity that
led to a pressure on land. India was transformed from being a
country of agriculture in to an
agricultural colony of British Empi re.
(vi) Exploitation on European Plantations:
Due to the Industrial revolution in England, they were in
needs of raw material which could not be satisfy from the Industry
of England. Therefore, the British settlers in India, monopolized the
plantation in dustries like indigo, jute, tea, coffee etc. In addition to it,
they applied different land revenue policies to gain the maximum
profit. Thus British government in India made the planters life more
difficult. It became difficult for the farmers to make th eir both ends
meet. Specially, the life of Indigo planters. The inhuman treatment
and persecution of the Indigo cultivators by the European plantation
owners made their life worst.
(vii) Economic Drain: The colonial rule of British government in
India ha d such type policy that drained the wealth of India to
England through fair or unfair means or methods: -
i)The British employees and officers enjoyed all the privileges in
India and used to collect the wealth of India through all the fair
and unfair mea ns.
ii)The British Soldiers and Civil Officers or employee who worked
in India used to get highest salaries. Their savings, pensions,
and other earnings from India, they were sending in the form of
wealth from India to England.
iii)The drain of Indian w ealth was carried to England in every
possible way. Most of the gold, jewels, silver and silk had beenmunotes.in

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shipped off to England as tax and sometime sold in open
auctions, ridding India of its once abundant wealth in precious
stones.
iv)The policy of econom ic exploitation relentlessly persuaded by
the British had severely affected the common man. In addition
to it Poverty, unemployment, famines, disease, starvation and
economic distress had made the economic condition deplorable.
The fierce Battle in Delhi.
1.4.4. Socio -Religious Causes: -
(i) Social Exclusiveness:
The British policy of social exclusiveness and arrogant
manner towards the Indians created discontent among the Indians.
They were infected with the feeling of racial superiority. The racial
arrogance of the British hurt the self respect of the Indians. Th e
British forced every native to salute all Englishmen in the streets. If
native was on horseback or in a carriage, he had to dismount and
stand in a respectful position until the Englishman had passed him.
This was an unwritten law throughout the British India. The british
could insult, injure , assult and even kill Indians. In such cases
British offenders hardly could get any punishment. Thus British
treated the Indians with utter contempt and regarded them as
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(ii) Missionary Activities:
The political and corporal oppression might be tolerated but
when any government begins to interfere in the religion of the
people, then the people are prorogated. According to the Charter
Act of 1813 missionaries were permitted to enter the Company's
territories in India to propagate their religion and spread Western
education. The Christian missionaries took every opportunity to
expose the abuses in the Hindu as well as the Islamic religion. The
missionary society of America es tablished a press at Agra which
made every effort to propagate Christianity. The missionaries’
denounced idolatry ridiculed the Hindu gods and goddesses and
criticized the philosophy and principals of Hinduism and Islam. The
teaching of Christian doctrines was made compulsory in
educational institutes run by the missionaries. The study of Bible
was introduced not only in the missionary institutions but also in
government schools and colleges. Thus, the interference of the
British authorities in social custo ms and practices through social
legislation and the encouragement given by the government to
Christian missionaries in their proselytizing activities created a
sense of apprehension and hatred in the minds Indians. They
attempted to convert the young India ns by providing them western
and rational education. Many facilities were provided for those who
could convert in Christianity.
Many Englishmen openly expressed the view that the
conversion to Christianity was the inevitable corollary of Western
education . The missionaries were also accused of converting and
destitute such as the orphans to Christianity.
(iii) Social Legislation:
The social legislation passed by the British also became the
cause of the Revolt of 1857. The British endeavored to eradicate
the social Evils like custom of sati, Infanticide and child marriage.
And they also encouraged widow marriage for which they passed
various social legislation such as in 18 29, Lord William Bentinck
abolished the practice of sati, with the support of educa ted and
enlightened Indians such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Lord canning
enacted the widow Remarriage Act, drafted by Lord Dalhousie in
1856, prohibition of traffic in slaves in 1834, prohibition of the
practice of slavery in 1843, passing of the Hindu Widow
Remarriage Act in 1856 and the opening of western education for
girls. Although these measures were good for the society, this
legislation aroused considerable suspicion, resentment and
opposition among the orthodox sections. These legislations were
viewed by the orthodox sections in the society as interference by
the British in their social and religious practice. The two laws of
1832 and 1850, removing disabilities due to change of religion,
particularly conferring the right of inheritance to change of rel igion,
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were quite unpopular among the Hindus. The orthodox people did
not like these changes. They looked upon them as foreign
innovations designed to break down the social order to wh ich they
were accustomed and which they considered sacred.
(iv) The Indian Civilization was endangered by the British:
In 1856 A.D. ‘The religious Incompetence Law’ was
enacted, according to which if any person belong to Hindu religion
did change his re ligion, he could remain the heir of his ancestral
property. It was a strong rumor set afloat at the time in India that
Lord Canning was specifically appointed is the governor general of
India to convert the Indians to Christianity. In this inflammatory
atmosphere, the introduction of the railways and the telegraph
system was regarded by the Indians as an attempt to Europeanise
them. The same suspicion was attached to the postal system. In
the new schools boys of all castes and religion set together and this
was considered to be an attempt to interfere with the religion of the
people. The introduction of the teaching of the Bible was
considered by the Indians as an attempt by Christians to convert
them to Christianity. The Indians did not like the insistence on the
female education by the British. Thus the activity of the Christian
missionaries and the introduction of female education amongst
Indians by Dalhousie convinced them that under the pretext of
introducing Western system of education in India the Engl ish were
really trying to put an end to the Indian civilization and culture.
(v)The Influence of Pandits and Maulanas was Reduced:
The Hindu people had great respect and decotion for pandits
and the Muslims had such type of respect and devotion for
Maulanas. In the religious sphere, they had many privileges. The
British did not approve special privileges of pundits and Maulanas
and British considered them equal to the common people. Due to
the propagation of western education , the respect and honour o f
the pundits and maulana was descreased. The Pandits and
Maulanas thought that the British were responsible for that and
therefore they become the bitter enemies of the British Empire.
1.4.5. Military Causes: -
(i) Gradual weakening of loyalty in the ar my:
As a result of the British disaster in Afghanistan in the first
Afghan war, the military discipline in the British army had gone
down to its lowest ebb. Lord Dalhousie had written clearly to the
authorities in England that the military discipline right from the top
to the bottom and from officers to soldiers was weakest and full of
shame. The Bengal Army was a great brotherhood whose number
used to move as a unit. The army service in Bengal Army had been
made heriditary. Most of the Bengal Army consisted of the recruits
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belonged to the high caste Brahmin and Rajput families. These
high caste Indian recruits did not like that military discipline of the
British authorities in India which treated them as equals to the
recruits of the inferior cast be imposed up on them. In this
connection, Dr Eswari Prasad says:implicit obedience to the
European commanders had been a characteristic of the Indian
soldiers. Keen observers, however, had begun to notice a gradual
weakening of that obedience roughly dating from the Af gan
disaster. That disaster was Nature's punishment for
unrighteousness and it was unrighteousness that shooks the loyalty
of the Indian soldiers to the company. The annexation of Oudh
finally snapped it. Individual revolts had proceeded the outburst of
Mangal Pandey. The discipline of the Army, wrote Dalhousie to the
president of The Board of Control, from top to bottom, officers and
men alike, is scandalous. The Indian soldiers began gradually to
realise that they were the instruments of English expansion and the
degradation of their own people. The recruitment of the Gurkhas
and the Sikhs, the Raising of a irregular troops in the Punjab and
the frontier tracts -all tended to convince them that their own future
was in peril. Even during the days of Lord Da lhousie free small
revolts had already taken place one after the other first in 1849 in
number 22 regiment and second in 1850 in numbers 60 Regiment
and third in 1852 in number 36 regiment. Under these
circumstances the commencement of mutinous movement by the
military men was only a question of time.
(ii) The General Service Enlistment Act (1856):
The Indian soldiers nursed grievances against the British as
they were forced to go on expedition to Burma and Afghanistan,
which violated their religious scr uples. To live among Muslims and
to take food and water from them was disliked to their ancient
customs. Besides, crossing the seas was prohibited by the religion
as the one who crossed the forbidden seas was bound to lose his
caste. In order to prevent an y kind of resistance from the sepoys
against their deployment abroad. In the year 1856, the Lord
Canning’s government passed the General Service Enlistment Act.
According to this, it was decided that no sepoy who was enlisted
under the act could refuse to fight across the sea. This act was not
applicable in the case of old sepoys. But even then it created a lot
of discontentment amongst them against the British people,
because in Bengal Army the service had almost become heriditary.
Sarkar and Dutta write: this affected the scruples of the Indian
sepoys about crossing the sea. It was soon brought in their Minds
under the category of the insidious measures aimed at caste.
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(iii)Disparity in the Indian and British soldiers stationed in
India:
The disparity between the Indian troops and British troops in
India was very high. The number of Indian soldiers were much
more in number than the British soldiers. Though the British did not
want that but they has to recruit excessive Indian soldiers in o rder
to protect the vast country like India. The Indian army consisted of
2,33,000 troops and 45322 British troops. Although Lord Dalhousie
had pointed out the urgency of filling in the gap, the Home
Government had slept over in the matter. The distributio no ft r o o p s
in India was also faulty. The strength of the Bengal army was,
151361. About 40,000 troops were in the Punjab. No European
force existed in Bengal and Bihar, except at Calcutta and Dinapur
near Patna. The Indians were well aware of the weak pos ition of
the Company at many places and would like to take advantage of
the same. The absence of many British officers had made this
difference even greater because with the acquisition of new states
most of them had been stationed on the borders of the st ates as
administrative officers. Apart from this, a great part of the Indian
army had gone to take part in the Crimean war, where the disaster
of the British forces had considerably demoralized the British
soldiers in India. Consequently, the combined effe cts of all these
things was that the Indian soldiers had begun to realise that if they
struck the British power in India at that time, it would not be able to
stand upon its legs.
The Indian Soldiers.
(iv) Dissimilarity b etween the salaries of the Indian Soldiers
and the British Soldiers:
The Indian soldiers were given lowest salaries .With their
salaries they could hardly make the both ends meet but on the
contrary the salaries of the British soldiers were much more than
the Indian soldiers salaries. As Indian soldiers used to get only
rupees nine per month as salary, where as the British soldier got
rupees sixty to seventy per month as salary. Apart from this, there
was no chance for Indian soldiers to get promotion but t he British
soldiers had many chances to get promotion. The Indian solders
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they got nothing except punishments. Therefore they were obliged
to revolt.
The highest pay attainable by a sepoy a sS u b h e d a r of the
infantry was less than the minimum pay of a raw European recruit.
Very often there was no promotion of an Indian soldier. He may
enter as a Risaldar and retire as a Risaldar.
(v)Indian soldiers impatient of regaining their old privilege s:
With the expansion and consolidation of the British rule in
India the conditions laid down on the new recruitments in their
services in the Army department exercised so tight and irritating a
control over the soldiers that they could not further tolerat et h e
highhandedness to which they were subjected by the British
officers. Whenever the soldiers went on actual war they were paid
‘Foreign Service Allowances’ known as Bhatta. Even this allowance
was stopped. When the soldiers returned from the conquest o f
sindh in 1843, they were not given any such allowance. The Indian
soldiers could very well remember the old privileges that they used
to enjoy in service when the Indian princes used to appreciate their
services and rewarded them with gifts and presents. The Indian
soldiers also had a free postal facility, where they could send letters
free of charge anywhere in India. But in 1854, Lord Dalhousie
stopped even this facility. Thus Indian soldiers had to witness bad
days, because of the loss of many of the o ld privileges which they
were deprived of. Consequently, they were impatient of gaining all
these old privileges which they lost due to the arrival of British
government in India. In another words, there was a Universal
discontentment among the soldiers on account of the loss of the
above privileges. This discontentment led to a great resentment in
their minds, which ultimately resulted in the Great Mutiny.
(vi)Circulation of mysterious Chapatis:
The general unrest was indicated by the mysterious
Chapatis or cakes which began to circulate from village to village
from 1850 onwards. There was a similar circulation of lotus flowers
among the regiments. Although the cause is not known, it created
an at mosphere of mystery. The centenary of the Battle of Plassey
was to fall on 23rd June, 1857 and the people were looking forward
to the end of British rule in India after hundred years. There were
meetings of the Indian soldiers against their European office rs.
They were thinking in terms of revenge against them. Their plan of
campaign was simple. They were to strike all over India on the
same day, 22nd June, 1857. They were to kill all European officers,
break open prisons, take over the Government treasury, cut
telegraph wires and railway lines, and capture powder magazines,
armouries and forts. It was hoped that if all the blows were given at
the same time, they were sure to shake this edifice of the foreign
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(vi)Ruin of the British in the Afgha n War:
The British during the time of Lord Auckland invaded
Afghanistan but that invasion proved very fatal for the British. The
British were forced to leave Afghanistan and when the British army
retreated only small part of the British army , which were around
sixteen thousand in number, could save their lives. Many historians
say that only a single soldier remained alive in that war. That defeat
of the British made the Indians realize that they could also defeat
the British.
1.4.6. Greased Cartridges -The Immediate Cause: -
The several mentioned factors prepared a general ground
for discontent and disaffection among different section of the Indian
people, which required a mere spark to explode into a
conflagration. The greased cartri dges provided this spark. It was in
1856 when, according to a regulation, the sepoys were required to
bite the end of the cartridge before using it. There was a rumour
that the cartridges to be used with the new Enfield rifles were
greased with the fat of cows and pigs. One of them was sacred to
the Hindus, while the other was forbidden to the Muslims. On
account of their ignorance, the British Government denied the truth
of this allegation. However, on a secret enquiry, it was later on
found that actually the fat of cows and pigs had been used.
The result was that the sepoys got infuriated. The fire of
vengeance once ablaze could scarcely be quelled by the
representations of Lord Canning downwards that the story of the
greased cartridges was untrue and wa s spread by mischief
mongers. English historians have themselves admitted that cow's
fat and lard were used in the composition of the tallow used in the
new cartridges. It is shameful and terrible truth, writes W.H. Lecky
in his book, The Map of Life, that as far as the fact was concerned,
the sepoys were perfectly right in their beliefs but looking back
upon it, English writers must acknowledge with humiliation that if
the mutiny is ever justifiable no stronger justification could be given
than that of the sepoys troops. To the same effect writes Lord
Roberts in his, Forty Years in India, The recent researches of Mr.
Forrest in the records of the Government of India prove that the
lubricating mixture used in preparing the cartridges was actually
composed of the objectionable ingredients, cow's fat and lard, and
that incredible disregard of the soldier's religions prejudices was
displayed in the manufacture of these cartridges -Dr.Iswari
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The native army of Bengal was in a state of restlessness. In
April, 1857, some troops refused to use the cartridges supplied to
them. They were court marshaled and sentenced to ten years
imprisonment. On 9th May, they were publicly degraded and
deprived of their uniforms and shut u p in a jail. Thus, when the
Hindu sepoys were convinced of the fact that the East India
Company had turned into Aurangzeb they decided to play the part
of Shivaji. This was the commencement of the Great Mutiny of
1857. Thus, we see that the Great Rising of 1857 cannot be
attributed to a single chance cause. It was the outcome of social,
religious, political and economic causes all combined.
1.5OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLT OF 1857
In Barrackpur, On 29th March, the soldiers of 34thNative
Infantry refused to use the greased catridges and a sepoys named
Mangal Pandey broke the lines and fired at Lieutenant Baugh.
Mangal Pandey was arrested and executed. At Behrampur, which
also had disobeyed the authorities were disbanded. The First major
outbreak that finally led to the Revolt of 1857 occurred at Meerut.
Following the court martial of eighty -five sepoys of the Cavalry
Regiment for refusing to use the greased cartridges, on 10th
May1857, the sepoys broke out in open rebellion, shot th eir
officers, released their fellow sepoys and marched towards Delhi.
On 12thMay, the sepoys captured the city of Delhi and occupied
the palace proclaimed Bahadur Shah II as the emperor of India.munotes.in

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Within a short period, the revolt spread to Lucknow, Ka npur,
Agra, Jhansi, Central India, Bihar, Orissa, and many other places.
However, the Indian rulers remained loyal to the British and
rendered valuable service in the suppression of the revolt. The
British were on the defensive during the early part of the revolt.
First of all, they made a sustained effort to recapture Delhi from the
sepoys. In September 1857, Delhi was recaptured by the British.
Emperor Bahadur Shah II was arrested and exiled to Mandalay,
Burma, where he died a few years later. Two of hissons and a
grandson were shot dead. Thus, The British ended the Mughal
dynasty from the Indian scenario.
The attack on the Red For Delhi.
The sepoys besieged the Residency at Lucnow. Sir Henry
Lawrence and some loyal sepo ys lost their lives while defending
the Residency. In March 1858, British forces captured Lucknow
with the help of the Gurkha Regiments. Nana sahib, the adopted
son of the ex -Peshwa Baji Rao II led the sepoys at Kanpur. Nana
Sahib was joined by Tantia Tope . After the recapture of Lucknow,
General Campbell occupied Kanpur on 6thDecember 1857 Tantia
Tope joined Rani Lakshmi Bai the widow of Raja Gangadhar Rao
fought against the British. The British under Sir Hugh Rose
occupied Jhansi. Rani Lakshmi Bal and Ta ntia proceeded to
Gwalior where the Indian soldiers joined them. The British
recaptured Gwalior in June 1858, and the Rani of Jhansi died
fighting heroically. Tatya Tope was captured and put to death a
year later. Nana Sahib fled to Nepal where he died in due course.
In Rohilkand, the revolt began at Bareilly in May 1857. Where
Muhammad Hasan Khan, led a force of about 10,000. Rana Beni
Madho Singh of Saharanpur had a personal following of about
15,000 and Gajadar Singh of Gorakhpur commanded a force of
51,000. All of them attacked British position in their respective
regions and rallied round the Begum, Hazrat Mahal.
Apart from these there were also many minor revolts in
Jehlum, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ropar, Firozepur and Agra. But by
the beginning of 1858 m ost of these revolts were systematically
suppressed by the British. Some of the Indian rulers also co -
opereted with the British in suppressing the revolt. The ministers ofmunotes.in

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Gwalior, Hyderabad and Nepal also rendered their support to the
British. Thus, the f irst major attempt on the part of the Indians to
overthrow the British power could not succeed.
1.6CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE REBELLION:
1.6.1 The revolt was localised and not country -wide :
Though the revolt was Formidable and widespread though
the revolt was, it was yet to a great extent localised, limited and ill -
organised. The Mutiny was not universal. Dr. R.C Mazumdar says:
It was never an all India character but was localised, restricted and
poorly -organised. The area affected was the Punjab, the United
Provinces, Rohilkhand, Oudh, the Territory between the Narbada
and the Chambal and the Western parts of Bengal and Bihar on the
North -East. Afghanistan was friendly under Dost Mohammad.
Sindh was quite, Rajputana was loyal. India South of the river
Narbada made no movement of importance, though the native
regiments mutinied at Kolhapur in the Southern Marathan country
and there were also many dangerous outbursts of feelings at
Hyderabad, th e Nizam's Capital. Central and Eastern Bengal were
undisturbed and Nepal rendered the British valuable assistance in
putting down the revolt. Thus, the revolt was only local and not
nation -wise.
1.6.2. The Revolt began pr ematurely:
The whole programme arranged, as it was, came to nothing
on account of the rising taking place prematurely or before the date
fixed for the purpose. The date fixed for the simultaneous rising in
the country was 31st May, 1857. The date was known only to the
leaders of each organisational centre and three officers of each of
the regiments. But certain events -(i) Mangal Pandey was tried and
was ordered to be hanged, (ii) the soldiers of 19th and 34th Indian
regiments were disbanded, (iii) the Sub edar of 34th regiment was
hanged -made the Indian soldiers impatient for the rebellion and somunotes.in

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the revolt began before the appointed day. It began in Meerut on
the 10th May. It was a serious suicidal mistake. Dr. Eswari Prasad
says: As events proved, the M eerut accident by precipitating the
revolt saved the British Raj from the ruin which Nana Sahib and his
colleagues had planned. Wilson, White, Mailson, three noted
historians of the revolts, agree in regarding the Meerut outbreak as
fortunate for the Compa ny and fatal to the revolt. It upset the whole
plan of the rebels, deprived them of a concerted action and in many
places the local leaders didn't know what to do. This led many to
spontaneous and unpremediated action.
1.6.3. Superiority of the English in Many Fields:
i)The resources of the British Imperialism were unlimited.
Fortunately for them, the Crimean War and other wars in which
the Britishers were involved out of India had come to an end by
1856.
ii)The British army was excessive in number whic hw a sb r o u g h t
into India in large numbers from different parts of the world and
many more soldiers were recruited in India itself, for the
suppression of the Mutiny .
iii)The British had superior Weapons than the rebels had. The
British had modern guns and rifles. The Indians had canons
which were old and few in numbers. They were mostly fighting
with swords and spears.
iv)The British had superior Navy. At the same time B ritish were
also supreme in Naval Power.
V)The Electric System, also contributed in the success of the
British. Through that system the British Commander -in-chief got
all the information regarding the plans of the rebels and he
could make suitable arrang ements. Due to these supremacies
of the British the Indians remained unsuccessful.
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1.6.4. Lack of Unity of purpose and organization:
The Indian rebels were not properly organised or if they were
at all organised, their central organisation was very weak. Their
was no dearth of bravery and boldness in its leaders, but one thing
that was very conspicuous by its absence in them was the absence
of experience in organisation and concert ed action. It was not
possible for them to regain their lost independence by mere small
depredations and sudden attacks which are specially noticed in the
Gorilla tactics of War. The British government at the centre and the
provincial governments made an e nquiry concerning the mutiny
through commissions and boards but these commissions and
boards failed to get any clue which made him enable them to know
the origin of any organised conspiracy of mutiny. Rather the case
started against Bahadur Shah II, the Mu ghal emperor on the other
hand that the mutiny was a surprise to him as much as it was to the
Britishers. In other words there was no organisation amongst the
leaders of the rebellion. Then mutineers suffered also from lack of
unity of purpose. The mutiny had broken out all of a sudden and
nobody had the idea of that turn it would take; there was no
understanding between the Hindus and the Muslims. They were
divided in their aims with no common political object. There was no
Unity among them and they were u nable to combine effectively for
the execution of the common plan or the common aim. A close and
careful study of the mutiny records reveals a very sad story of
everyone for himself and no one for the country. The Mughal
emperor the problem the head of the mutiny the Queen's and The
Princess and other leaders of the revolt all pulled in their own
directions and played a double game to secure their own ends and
interests. The sepoys of Avadh fought for the restoration of their
own king while Nana Sahib and t he queen of Jhansi on the other
hand pressed their own claims. A number of smaller adventures not
inspired by any patriotic impulses sprang up to take advantage of
the opportunity offered by the mutiny for their personal advantage.
Khan bahadur khan the g randson of Hafiz Rehmat Khan declared
himself as the viceroy or naib Nazim of Rohilkhand. The banjaras of
Saharanpur set up a new king of their own. The gujjars had
different Rajas in different areas, Fatuna having proclaimed himself
as the king of the Guj jars. One Devi Singh proclaimed himself the
king of 14 villages in the Mathura district. Similarly Mahima ji Wadi
a decoit and Belsare, a Maratha Brahmin were attracted to the
Rebel came to improve their fortunes. It was a reckless aimless
revolt and peris hed as such.
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1.6.5. Lack of leadership:
The lack of leadership amongst the Rebels was another very
important cause which brought about the failure of the mutiny. The
only capable leaders of the mutineers were the Rani of J hansi
Tatya Tope and Nana Sahib. With a few honorable exceptions of
whom the most distinguished were Ahmed Ullah and Tatya Tope
most of the leaders who took part in the struggle did so for personal
reasons. They did not rise against the British till their personal
interest has been damaged by the policy of the British government.
In this connection Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad writes: in the light of
the available evidence we are forced to the conclusion that the
uprising of 1857 was not the result of careful p lanning nor were
there any masterminds behind it. Besides the natives spying for the
British were at work inside and outside the fort, among whom the
name of molvi Raza Ali stands out as the most notorious. On the
other hand the English had advantage of ha ving very capable
leaders Android generals like the Lord Lawrence , Outram,
Havelock, Nicholson Neil and Edwards who got success in
suppressing the revolt in every possible way. It was these British
leaders and generals who resisted the mutineers very st ubbornly in
the early stages of the mutiny and who were thus in a position to
control the situation. They had received a substantial aid from their
Homeland in the later stages of the mutiny. Otherwise also they
were far superior to the Indian leaders in m ilitary and political
qualities. All of them had only one object before them and that was
the difference of the British government in India. Their sole aim was
one and they had a unity of purpose. They were not divided in their
political aims.
1.6.6. Personal jealousies amongst the mutineers:
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad writes: as I read about the
events of 1857 I am forced to the conclusion that Indian national
character had sunk very low. The leaders of the revolt could n ot
agree. They were mutually jealous and continually intriguing
against one another. In fact these personal jealousies were largely
responsible for the Indian defeat. The personal jealousies of the
Indian leaders always stood in the way of collective actio nu n d e r
one supreme leader. As against this that English had the
advantage of one supreme leader ship not less Heroic and
undaunted than the Rebel leaders.Thus we find that the mutualmunotes.in

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jealousies amongst the native leaders was another cause which
seriously undermined their solidarity and ultimately led to their
defeat.
1.6.7. Bahadur Shah a broken Reed :
Bahadur Shah the Mughal emperor was not prepared for
such a great revolution as had taken place in the country. On the
other hand journey 3 years aghead and explicit wait in the
competence of The Emperor who gave it to in Throne as emperor
of India but it turned out to be a broken Reed it has therefore rightly
been said that for nearly 2 years The White Dragon on now here
and now there success sometime attaining the freedom fighters
sometime the efforts of the oppressors. It was not as the prejudiced
Britis h historians sometimes said : AH i n d um o v e m e n to ra s
sometimes alleged a Muslim movement. It failed because it was
disorganised. It failed because some acted selfishly and some for
personal reasons. The actor only when their personal interests
were involv ed. It was Tatya Tope Laxmi Bai and Ahmed Ullah who
fought practically unselfishly. If the British won it was through
treachery due to the personal jealousies and selfishness of the
Indian rulers which they exploited to the utmost. Thus we find that
Bahadu r Shah's incompetence to lead the nation properly because
of his mental unpreparedness for such a great revolution was one
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1.6.8. Noble efforts of Lord Canning for the pacification of the
mutiny:
Another very important factor which contributed to the
success of the English in the mutiny was the Noble efforts of Lord
Canning and Sir John Lawrence in the early stages to check th e
outcry both in England and in India for their ruthless and
indiscriminate policy of vengeance that the English in England and
India advocated. On the other hand Canning refused to show
vindictive spirit 10 followed a mild and Pacific policy towards the
mutineers. Thus the restraining influence of Lord Canning during
the progress of the war and after was an important contributory
factor of British success. He was nicknamed as clemency Canning
in contempt but it was afterwards recognised that his clemency w as
not only morally splendid but also politically expedient for it surely
raised the British prestige in the eyes of the Indians and helped to
create mutual confidence and goodwill. Lord Canning never for a
moment lost his balance of mind during the excite ment of the
mutiny. Therefore his policy of Mercy and moderation did much to
hasten the end of hostilities and restoration of orders.
1.7. CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLL OF 1857: -
The Revolt of 1857 was suppressed by the British
Government in India through t heir superior means and due to the
drawbacks of the rebels. Dr. Ishwari Prasad has written that it tookmunotes.in

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a period of a whole century to get its independence through
struggle. But the revolt was not in vain. There were many
consequences of the of the revolt. The Revolt of 1857 marked a
turning point in the history of Modern India. It exercised a
tremendous influence upon the British policy in India. Dr. K. M.
Panikar has written that it was divison line of the history of Modern
India. The character of the In dian empire in the last decades of the
nineteenth century was shaped to a large extent by the events of
1857.There is no doubt that the Revolt of 1857 was completely
suppressed by the British but one thing that goes without saying is
that it undermine th e very foundations of the British rule in India It
was at this time that Lord Croamer had remarked: I want the young
generation of the English people to read the history of mutiny of
1857, derive lessons out of it and imbibe those lessons in their
hearts. In it we found so many lessons and warnings. Thus it was
in view of the warnings and lessons that the mutiny taught them
that the British government began to take measures to consolidate
their position in India and whatever they did after the mutiny was f or
the consolidation of the rule. The consequences of the Revolt of
1857 can be categories namely, Positive effects and Negative
effects as the following discussions will show:
1.7.1 Positive Effects: -
(i) Transfer of power from the East India Company to the
British Crown:
The transfer of political and administrative power from the
East India Company to the British crown was achieved through the
Act for the better Government of India, l858. Under this Act India
would be governed directly by the crown ac ting through a Secretary
of State. He was made directly responsible to the British
Parliament. To assist and advise him in transacting the affairs of
this country; a Council known as the India Council was created.
The India Council was to consist of fiftee nm e m b e r so fw h o ma t
least nine should have served in India for not less than ten years.
The India Council was to be presided over by the Secretary of
State. In India the central administration continued to remain in the
hands of the governor general who a lso became the viceroy of the
Queen in England The governor general acquired the additional
title of viceroy not due to the India Act of 1858, but due to the Royal
Proclamation, which was issued on 1 November 1858.
(ii) The Queens Proclamation, 1858:
Queeen Victoria issued a proclamation which was read out
by Lord Canning, the Governor General of India, who announced
the acquisition of the Indian administration by the British crown at a
Darbar, held at Allahabad on 1stNovember, 1858. When he read
outthe Proclamation to the princes and the people of India, it
reflected the generosity and religious tolerance. He pointed out that
several benefits, the people of India would enjoy and they would bemunotes.in

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treated at par with the subjects of the British Crown. It sa i mw a st o
tell the Indian people about the end of the rule of the East India
Company and the assumption of the administration of India by the
British Crown. It states that they have resolved to take upon
themselves the Government of the territories in India. The Queen,
in her proclamation, called upon all her subjects within the British
territories in India to be faithful and to bear true allegiance to the
British Government.
As per the new system, the Governor General became the
Viceroy. Therefore Lor dGeorge Canning the last Governor
General became the first viceroy of the British territories in India.
The Queen, in her proclamation, assured the following to the native
princes that all treaties and engagement made by the East India
Company with the na tive Princes would properly be maintained by
the British Government and it is hoped that the same would also be
observed by them. With all the above promises the Queen reserved
to herself the right to interfere in native states in order to set right
such s erious abuses in a native government. The Queens
proclamation called upon all subjects within the British territories in
India to be faithful and to owe true allegiance to the British
government. The native princes were assured that the territorial
integri ty of their respective states would be respected. All treaties
and engagements made by the East India Company with them
would be maintained. They were further assured that their rights,
dignity and honor would be respected and the British Government
would not interfere in their internal affairs.
The proclamation assured freedom of religion to the people
of India. They would be allowed to follow their own religious beliefs,
practices and worship and the British officials would not interfere in
such matters. Equal and impartial protection of law was promised to
all Indians. Further, the Queen's proclamation assured equal
opportunities to the people of India in government services without
distinction of race, creed. The proclamation assured that while
framing and administering law, due respect would be shown to the
ancient Indian rights, usages and customs. The British government
would strive to achieve the welfare of the people of India. Finally,
the proclamation announced pardon to Indians who had taken part
in the Revolt of 1857 against the British.
(iii) Home Government for India:
Under the Act for better Government of India the power of
the Crown were to be exercised by the Home Government in
England consisting of the secretary of state for India, assisted by
the Council of India known as the Indian Council under the Act for
the better Government of India, passed on August 2, 1858. The
Secretary of State for India was to be a member of the British
Parliament and also a Cabinet Minister of England. He was,munotes.in

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therefore, to be responsible, for the administration of the British
territories in India, to the British Parliament. His salary and the
expenses of his establishment were to be paid out of the India
revenues. The secretary of states for India was to be assi sted by
the Council of India, consisted of fifteen members, eight of whom
were to be nominated by The Crown and the remaining seven were
to be elected by the Court of Directors. To make the Council of
India expert body on Indians affairs, the Act provided that nine out
of fifteen must be those members who served or resided in India, at
least, for a period of ten years before their appointment. All future
vacancies were to be filled by the Crown. The members of the
Council were to hold office during good beh avior but could be
removed, under the Act of 1858, upon an address presented by
both the Houses of Parliament to the Crown. Each member of the
Council was to be paid the yearly salary of one thousand and two
hundred pounds, out of the revenues of India. Up to 1906, all the
members of the Council of India were Europeans. In 1907, two
Indians, were appointed to associate his Council. The Secretary of
State for India, representing the Crown and the British Parliament,
legally exercised supreme control over all authorities in India. He
enjoyed very wide powers. He was made the President of the
Council of India with the power to vote and in case of a tie he was
to enjoy a casting vote as well. He had the power to divide the
Council of India in to committees for t he more convenient
transaction of business. He enjoyed the power to override the
majority decision of the Council, but he was required to record his
reasons for so doing. However, the majority decision of the Council
on certain matters was binding on him H e had the power to send
and to receive from the Governor -General in India. Secret
messages and dispatches without information the Council of India.
The secretary of State -in-Council had to lay down certain rules and
regulation for the guidance of the Gove rnment of India in all its
dealings with the Home Government and the Crown. He had the
power to frame rules and regulations for the requirement to the
Indian civil services. The secretary of state was required to lay
before both the Houses of Parliament an annual Budget of India
and also an annual report on the moral and material progress of
India for the consideration of the houses. Finally, the Secretary of
state -in-Council was constituted into a corporate body that could
sue and be sued in England and in India. The Council of India was
a body of permanent Civil servants who had expert knowledge on
the Indians conditions and administration. It was an advisory body.
Its meetings were to be held every week. The meetings were to be
presided over by the Secret ary of state for India. Although, the
Secretary of State could override the majority decision of the
Council by recording reasons for so doing in several matters,
however, its majority decision was binding on him on many matters,
such as, grant or appropri ation of any part of the Indian revenues,
division and distribution of patronage, making contracts, sales andmunotes.in

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purchases for and on behalf of the Indian Government and all
matters related to property of Government of India. The Council of
India had the powe r to make appointments to the Council of the
Governors and also to exercise control over the civil and military
servants of the Crown. Finally the Council of India could not take
any decision during the absence of the Secretary of State without
his approva l in writing. The Queen's proclamation of 1858 was a
great landmark in the constitutional history of India. It proclaimed
the end of an era of the East India Company's rule and the
beginning of a new era. The era of the direct rule over the British
India. Its noble sentiments and glittering ideals, expressed in rich
and dignified language, went a long way in pacifying the people of
India, and in creating good atmosphere for the proper functioning of
the British Government in India. It laid the foundation of an e w
British policy in India for a period of about sixty years.
(iv) Reorganisation of the Indian Army:
Dr Ishwari Prasad says: the experience of the mutiny
coupled with the insubordination of the English Troops brought the
question of the reconstructio no ft h ea r m yt ot h ef r o n t .T w o
important changes were effected. One relating to the proportion
between the English and Indian Army and the other relating to the
Future organisation of the forces. British attitude towards the
Indian army after the revolt underwent drastic change. It was no
longer possible for the British to assume that the Indian people
would stand by the government in its hour of need. The British
element in the Indian army was strengthened in order to ensure
loyalty and efficiency. Thus, the number of Indian soldiers were
drastically reduced from 238,000 in 1857 to 140,000 by 1863. The
number of European Soldiers was increased from 45,000 to
65,000. The proportion of Europeans to Indians was fixed at fifty -
fifty in the Bengal army and one to two elsewhere. The discipline in
the army was improved. The king's forces and the companies
forces were amalgamated which helped to remove their old
jealousies. New recruits were drawn largely from those martial
races of the Punjab, Nepal and the Nort hwestern Frontier Province
who had proved their loyalty during the hours of urgency. In
keeping with the old Roman policy of divide and Rule, the new
recruits were often formed into separate units on the basis of caste,
community orregion. According to Jawaharlal Nehru, the policy of
balance and counterpoise was deliberately furthered in the Indian
army. Various groups were so arranged so as to prevent any
sentiment of national unity growing amongst them~ and tribal and
communal loya lties and slogans were encouraged. Every effort was
made to isolate the army from the civilian population All the key
positions were kept in the hands of the Englishmen, and no Indian
could hold the King's Commission. The more effective weapons of
warfare were not given to the Indian forces they were reserved for
the British troops in India. These British troops were always keptmunotes.in

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with the Indian regiments in all the vital centers of India as an
internal security and for the suppression of disorder among the
Indian soldiers and people as well. The result of all these measures
was that a high sense of loyalty and discipline developed in the
Indian army .
(v) The Policy of Annexation was Given Up:
Queen Victoria said: we hereby announce to the native
princess of India that all treaties and engagement made with them
by or under the authority of the honourable East India Company or
by us, we accept and will be scrupulously maintained and we look
for the right observance on their p art. Thus the British government
gave up the doctrine of lapse and guaranteed the integrity of the
Indian states. The right of adoption by the native princes was duly
recognised.
The Queen declared that she had no desire to annex more
territories to the British Empire. The British authorities realized the
importance of the Princely States and wanted their support to the
British rule in India. Queen promised to respect the rights of the
native rulers. She accused only those persons who had murdered
the Br itish and others were forgiven. Besides, even after the end of
the Crimean War the British government remained apprehensive of
a Russian invasion of India. Under these circumstances, it was felt
that the princely states would be of great help in case of an yd a n g e r
from abroad. Hence, the policy of the British dominion annexing themunotes.in

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princely state was given up and many other native rulers were
made free and independent who were loyal to the British. Feoffees
were also given the many Indians who were supporte rs of the
British government in India. Efforts were made to create better
relations and strengthen the ties of the union and the British
government and the rulers of the native States.
(vi) Freedom of religion and equal treatment guaranteed:
The proclam ation of the queen said firmly relying ourselves
on the truth of disclaim alike the right and desire to improve our
conviction on any of our subjects. we declare it to be our royal will
and pleasure that none by anyways favoured none molested or
disquiete d by reason of their religious faith and observance; but
that shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protection of the law
and we do strictly charge and enjoin all those who may be in
authority under us that they abstain from all interference with the
religious belief or worship of any of our subjects on pain of our
highest displeasure. Thus according to the Proclamation of the
Queen, freedom of religion was granted to all the people in India
and the government promised not to offend the religious feeli ngs
and susceptibilities of any community whatsoever.
(vii) Introduction of other reforms:
1. In 1857 universities were established at Kolkata and Madras.
2. The Bengal rent act of 1859 gave rights of Occupancy to all
cultivators who possessed certain fields for more than 12 years and
Ferb in the range being raised except on definite Grounds specified
in the Act itself
3. The penal code on which my college C ommission head begin to
work so many years before became the law of the land
4. The companies Sadar courts and the crown's Supreme Court
were amalgamated in the high courts which were now established
at each Presidency headquarters. Sir Lepel Griffin says :p e r h a p sa
more fortunate occurrence than the mutiny of 1857 never occurred
in India ...it swept the Indian sky clear of many clouds... it replaced
an unprogressive selfish and commercial system of Administration
followed by the company, was bound sooner or later to end in
disaster. The mutiny brought about the death of the company.
About the results of the great mutiny Dr writes: I t ended the East
India Company. I t ended the annexation of states, it gave
recognition of adoption, it increased the racial ha tred for the English
and above all provided the material out of which the forces for the
next struggle for independence grew.munotes.in

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1.7.2. Negative Effects: -
(i) Increase in Racial Animosity between the British and the
Indians:
The mutiny left behind it a sort of racial animosity as its
legacy. the British described Indians as untrustworthy. And
consequently the Indians were humiliated and insulted. this
resulted in the racial animosity between the English and the
Indians. It was from this date that the social estrangement between
the two races commenced in this country. Consequently there was
no love lost between the rulers and the ruled. the English officers
during the suppression of the Mutiny perpetrated untold and
gruesome oppressions in the Punjab and North India. As a
consequence, this policy of terror was to create strong feelings of
hatred between the English and the Indians during the post -mutiny
India.
British considered themselves as an occupying power
garrisoning a hostile land. On the othe r hand Indians tried to seek
self-respect and honor within the bounds of their traditional culture.
The British had formed a separate community in India. During the
Revolt of 1857, stunned and shocked the British saw the obedient
sepoys suddenly transforme d into a disobedient Hence, the British
felt that safety could be found only among their own countrymen.
On the other hand, the manner in which the Revolt of 1857 was
crushed by the British and the ruthlessness in which the sepoys
were treated left a deep sense of hatred among the Indians against
the British. The British also massacred thousands of civilian
population in the country.
(ii) Setback to Social Reforms:
The Revolt of 1857 convinced the British the futility of
interfering in the traditional soc io-religious customs of India. The
strong opposition to the social legislation especially coming from
the orthodox elements in both the Hindu and the Muslim community
put the British on the defensive The self -confidence of the British
and their plans for t he rapid westernization of India through social
reforms were shattered. The British, after the Revolt of 1857,
decided to concentrate in providing a sound and efficient
administration rather than introducing western ideas and reform in a
traditional Asian society.
(iii) The Policy of Divide and Rule:
After the Revolt of 1857, the British had patronaged and
applied the most unscrupulous policy to divide the Indians in
different castes and classes. The British used one class or caste
against the other. The Muslims were made to fight with the Hindus
and the high caste Hindus were excited against the low caste
Hindus. Thus, There was a deterioration in the whole country.munotes.in

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(iv) Creation of misunderstanding between Hindus and the
Muslims:
The collapse of the Mutiny created a misunderstanding
between the Hindus and the Muslims. The Muslims had shown a
keener and more widespread sympathy for the rebels. Even in
South India where their number was small many conspiracies were
formed among them against the British between 1857 and 1859.
When the rebellion began, both the Hindus and the Muslims took
part in it in large numbers. But the Muslims were more violently
disposed towards the British than the Hindus. The British feared
more from Muslims th an the Hindus. The result was that the hand
of repression fell more heavily on the Muslims than on the Hindus.
Many of their leading men were hanged or exiled e.g. the Nawab
Sahibs of Jhajjar, Balabhgarh, Farukh Nagar, and Farukhabad. 24
Shahzadas were han ged at Delhi on 18th November, 1857, in one
day alone. Muslim quarters were mostly the target. Muslim property
was widely confiscated. This created ill feelings and
misunderstanding amongst the Muslims against the Hindus.
(v) Territorial conquest were rep laced by Economic Loot:
With the failure of the Great rebellion, the era of British
territorial conquest came to an end and the territorial conquests
gave place to economic exploitation of the Indians by the
Britishers. The British government had no more fear of any kind
from feudal India. The English people exploited India economically
to a great extent. Now the British government had to face a new
challenge from the progressive elements in the Indian society, a
challenge which was favorably reacting due to the progressive
thoughts of John Stuart Mill and other progressive elements in
England.
(vi)The Muslim renaissance received a set -back:
Another bad effect of the Mutiny was that the Muslim
renaissance which had been growing in Delhi before the Mutiny got
an irreparable set -back. The cultural blossoms were blighted.
According to C.F. Andrews, it's not difficult to trace the fatal havoc
to budding spiritual life which one year of Mutiny wrought. Decay
immediately overtook the revival of learning in Delhi from which it
never recovered. Calcutta, the centre of Hindu renaissance,
escaped the horrors of the Mutiny and was saved.
1.8.SIGNIFICAN CE
1.8.1.Exposure of Drawbacks :
According to Sir Lepel Griffin had there been no Mutiny in
1857, the various types of defects and irregularities, existed in the
administrative machinery and policies and programs of the East
India Company would not have come t ol i g h tb e f o r et h eW o r l d .T h emunotes.in

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Great rebellion immediately invited the attention of the British
Government in London and the various glaring defects and
shortcoming in the administration were removed. It was the Revolt
of 1857 that brought to the military d efects of the East India
Company, which were at once eradicated. Thus, for the British the
Revolt of 1857 was an important incident.
1.8.2. Efforts to win over the confidence of Indians:
After the abolition of the East India Company the
administration o f India was taken over directly by the Crown -in-
Parliament. The people of India were assured of the freedom of
religion, equal protection of law, equality of opportunities in
government services, and of ancient Indian rites, customs and
usages. At the sam e time, the Indian princes were assured of
maintenance of their treaties and engagements of territorial integrity
of their states and of their rights, dignity and honor. It was in this
way that the British Government made attempts to win over the
confidenc e of the people of India for years to come.
1.8.3. Beginning of the New Era:
The Revolt of 1857 influenced the history of India's struggle for
freedom in another way also. It could not deny that the sepoys who
rose in revolt had genuine grievances. They were certainly justified
in their struggle for their rights. However, in the tr ial of strength, the
primitive weaponry of the Indians was no match for the more
modernized weapons used by the British. The accounts of the
atrocities convinced the Indian intellectuals about the futility of
violence to be applied in the struggle for free dom. The new elite,
emerging from the intellectual ferment of the early nineteenth
century, created a middle class which despised violence and
showed preference for orderly progress. Even during the Revolt of
1 857 it became evident that the educated India n‘s had no faith in
armed rebellion, and the failure of the revolt confirmed them in this
conviction. When the leadership of India's struggle for freedom
passed on to these middle class, the lesson of the Revolt of 1857
influenced their strategy to a very large extent.
1.9 SUMMARY
After the analysis of the Revolt of 1857 it came to know that
historians have expressed different views depending on their
perceptions. Mostly they fall into two categories namely Europeans
and the Indians. The former group of h istorians tried to paint the
Revolt as the sepoys mutiny means due to their grievances, the
sepoys came together and revolted against the British. But this
view is not correct Some of the Indian nationalist historians have
tried to point the Revolt as the first War of Indian Independence.
The other English historians have characterized it as the Hindu,
Muslim conspiracy to over throw the British rule out of India. In hismunotes.in

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discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru maintains that the Revolt of
1857 was more than a sepoy mutiny. Although, initially it started as
a mutiny of the Indian soldiers, but when it spread rapidly assumed
the nature of a mass rebellion. He further maintains that the Revolt
of 1857 was essentially a feudal uprising although there were some
nationalistic elements in it. Some of the moderate historians like Dr.
R.C. Mujumdar and Dr. S.N. Sen also expressed the similar view.
They further say that it was a wholly national war of independence,
means it was some where between the two views. Although t he
Revolt of 1857 was suppressed completely, it had been created
great shock waves in the heart of people and the British Crown in
England. The British, therefore, examined the whole administration
of India and brought about several changes in it. Among th em the
First was the transfer of power from the East India Company to the
British Crown. Then followed the abolition of the Mughal dynasty of
Delhi, reconstruction of the army, guaranteeing freedom of religion
and equal treatment to Indians, association of Indians in the British
administration of the country and introduction of several reforms.
The British Government tried to do this through the Queen's.
Proclamation of 1858, The Revolt of 1857 brought about some
positive and negative changes. Among the negative effects were
the increase of racial animosity, introduction of the divide and rule
policy and increase in the systematic economic loot of India. Even
then it started the new era in the hi story of India and the British
Imperialism.
munotes.in

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40Unit -2
CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROVINCIAL
ASSOCIATIONS
Unit Structure:
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Political Associations in Bengal
2.3 British Indian Association
2.4 Indian Association
2.5 Bombay Association
2.6 Poona Sarvajanik Sab ha
2.7 Madras Mahajan Sabha
2.8 Bombay Presidency Association
2.9 Summary
2.10 Additional Readings
2.11 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to :
1.Understand the foundations of political associations in
Benga l.
2.Examine the activities of Indian Association.
3.Study the foundation and objectives of the Bombay
Association .
4.Know the work of leaders associated with Bombay
Association.
5.Comprehend the foundation of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.
6.Examine the work of Madras Mah ajan Sabha .
7.Understand the activities of Bombay Presidency Association
2.1 INTRODUCTION
After the failure of the Revolt of 1857, political nationalism
developed in India as a result of several forces working
simultaneously or in close succession. To t he socio -religious reform
movement initiated by Raja Ram Mohan Roy was added the
progressive impact of western civilization and education. It ismunotes.in

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41important to note that the birth of nationalism in India was the
outcome of the chief motive of the British rul ers who sought to
protect and promote British interests. As these interests came into
conflict with those of the Indian people, and the British rulers
sacrificed the interests of the Indians to their own sake, discontent
and resentment were bound to grow. This naturally led to the
growth of political nationalism. This new phase of national
consciousness was manifested in the emergence of Provincial
Associations. The Provincial Associations brought the nineteenth
century India on the threshold of modern poli tics. The Provincial
Associations provided regional forums to articulate the economic
and political aspirations of the people in the respective areas. In the
second half of the nineteenth century the newly emerging Indian
intelligentsia created political a ssociations to spread political
education and to launch political work in the country. Realizing the
futility of armed resistance to the British imperialism, the new
western educated and liberal intelligentsia decided to give a new
direction and dynamism t ot h en a t i o n a la g i t a t i o n .
In the beginning, religious zeal and sometimes caste solidarity
encouraged people to form associations. These associations had
limited scope and programme. However, during the course of
century, a number of associations came to be established in
different parts of the country by groups of men united by secular
interests. The factors which held them together were a common
education, common skills and functions and common aspirations
and resentment against the policies of the Brit ish rulers. They drew
their support from certain sections of the society such as students,
professionals, landlords, merchants and others. Their activities
were limited to narrow geographical areas. But gradually more
ambitious political organizations bega nt oe m e r g ee x t e n d i n g
beyond the narrow considerations. These were the Provincial
Associations which began to search for ways and means of working
together in India as a whole. This trend, provided education to the
Indians in the politics of associations w hich culminated in the
establishment of the Indian National Congress.
2.2 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN BENGAL
The Zamindar class became affluent with the permanent
settlement in Bengal. It was more class conscious and well settled.
The first political As sociation was the Landlords Society (Zamindari
Association )which was established in Calcutta on 12 November
1837 to safeguard their interests .The member of this association
used the method of constitutional agitation to solve their problems.
They sought to preserve the economic interest of the landlords. The
Association created the example of an organized agitation for the
redressal of grievances. The second political association themunotes.in

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42Bengal British India Society was established on 20 April 1843 .The
socie ty was aimed to collect and disseminate the information
relating to the actual conditions of the people in India under the
British rule. It aimed to follow peaceful way to secure welfare of the
people. The Landholder’s society and Bengal British India Soci ety
could not achieve much success. However, they created political
environment in the country. Soon these organisations were merged
into new organisation known as the British Indian Association.
Portrait of one of The Zamindars
2.3 BRITISH INDIAN ASSOCIATION
The merger of the two associations into British Indian
Association did not change the basic aim at the aristocr atic class
and land lords. It was founded on 29thOctober, 1851. The
Association was established to oppose the Europeans in India who
agitated against the four bills drafted by Bethune, the Law member
of the Government in 1849 in order to extend the jurisd iction of the
East India Company‘s criminal courts over the British born subjects.
In addition to this, the association increased its scope by sending
petitions to the British Parliament demanding establishment of a
separate legislature, separation of judi ciary from executive,
reduction salary of the officials and abolition of salt duty. The
Association also demanded additional grant for education. The
charter Act of 1853 provided for the addition of six members to the
Governor General’s council as demanded by the association. Soon
it was overshadowed by more dynamic organisation the Indian
Association. Despite this, the Association developed several
limitations with the passage of time. One of them was that the
Association was the representative body of the zamindars only. It
was never been a popular organization of all India people. Themunotes.in

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43Association also failed to meet aspirations of the rapidly growing
middle class.
2.4 INDIAN ASSOCIATION
The failure of British India Association led to the alternative al l
India standing political organization. Shishir Kumar Ghosh and
associates tried to organise likeminded people under the banner of
Indian league. However, within short period it was succeeded by
the Indian Association.
It was founded at a public meeting at Calcutta on 26thJuly,
1876 by Anand Mohan Ghosh and Surendra Nath Banerjee. It was
looked as the centre for all Indian movement. The aims and
objectives of the association included following things :
1. The creation of a strong public opinion of polit ical matter.
2. The promotion of Hindu Muslim unity.
3. The participation of the masses in public movement.
The programme and activities at the Indian Association
composed of educated class and professionals. Their method was
the constitutional agitation and secure signature of the people is
sent petitions to the British Authority.
S.N.Banerjee
Agitation against the civil service rules:
The upper age limit for the civil service examination was
reduced from 21 to 19 year by the British government. This was
made deliberately to prevent the entry of the Indian students into
civil service. The leaders of the association gave a call for a
nationa la g i t a t i o n .
The object of the agitation was the awakening of a spirit of
unity among the people of India. Surendra Nath Banerjee toured
Lahore, Amritsar, Delhi, Allahabad, Bombay and many other cities
in 1877 to mobilize public opinion. The tour of Ban erjee cratedmunotes.in

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44enthusiasm among the India. All India memorials on the civil
service question were sent to the British parliament.
Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act, 1878 :
Lord Lytton, the governor introduced the vernacular press Act
which brought ma ny restrictions upon the press. It tried to limit the
freedom of the press and the subject. The reactionary
administration of Lord Lytton had aroused the public and they
began to participate in formation of strong public opinion. The
Indian Association sen t a memorial to the British Parliament. Lord
Ripon, the next governor cancelled the Act.
The Ilbert Bill Agitation 1883 :
In1883, Ilbert, the law member of the viceroy’s council, tried to
abolish inequality in judicial matters. It sought to bring Englishman
under the jurisdiction of Indian Magistrate. The Europeans in India
opposed this move by all means. The Government yielde dt ot h e
pressure and bill was modified. The Association supported the
Ilbert Bill and protested against the imprisonment of S.N. Banerjee.
Consequently, S.N. Banerjee was released on 4 July 1883. Despite
the remarkable achievements of the Indian Associati on, it was
called a provincial association. Therefore, the Association
determined to call the All –India National Conference which came
into existence in 1883.
In this way, the Indian Association played vital role in the
political awakening in India. S urendra Nath Banerjee voiced the
grievances of the people of India and also supported A.O. Hume to
form the Indian National Congress.munotes.in

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45Check your progress :
1)Discuss in brief the activities of Indian Association .
2.5BOMBAY ASSOCIATION
During the Second half of the nineteenth century, national
political consciousness began to develop due to the number of
factors. Raja Ram Mohan Roy attempted to unite Indians on the
background of social reforms. In the beginning, religious zeal or
regional solidarity encouraged people to form such kind of
associations. Bengal took lead in the foundation of such
organization.
Bombay became the centre of the growth of political
consciousness. Like their counterparts in Calcutta and Madras,
Bhau Daji Lad, al ong Naoroji Furdunji, the leaders of Bombay
Association also had strong faith in the British Government. The
association’s petition suggested reform in the Indian educational
system. It asked for the extension of public work to encourage
production. The le aders of the association had full faith in the
British Government.
The Association’s petition suggested reform of the Indian Civil
Service reforms in the East India Company of the Legal system,
and of the Executive Government. The petition asked for the
extension of public work to encourage production. It also asked for
the association of Indians with the legislation concerning India.
However, it is worth remembering that the leaders of the
Association had full faith in the British Government particularl yi n
the Parliament. Even Dadabhai Naoroji and Naoroji Furdunji had no
hesitation in calling the British Government as an “enlightened and
liberal Government.” Dadabhai Naoroji even felt that the British rule
had conferred many benefits of India and theref ore he wished for
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46
Dadabhai Naoroji.
Naoroji Fardunzi
After the resignation of Bhau Daji, it came under the influence
of Shetias. Since they were not prepared to do or say anything that
might a ntagonize the Englishmen in the Government and outside of
it, the Association’s meeting became infrequent. Therefore, in 1861
Naoroji Furdunji resigned from the Association. Thereafter, the
Association became politically inactive. The Bombay Share Market
Crash of early 1865 brought almost all political activities in the city
to a halt.munotes.in

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47
Bhau Daji Lad.
In 1867, the Bombay Association was revived with Naoroji
Furdunji as its Secretary. A majority of its 87 members were
Shetias. The revived association carried on its activities by holding
public meetings. In its first public meeting held in March 1868, the
Bombay Association demanded holding of examinations of the Civil
Services simultaneously in England and India and urged the
Government to raise the age limit of Indians to participate in such
competitive examinations.
In 1869, Dr. R.G. Bhandarkar, M.G. Ranade and some other
prominent public personalities of Bombay joi ned the Association.
The unsatisfactory state of India’s financial affairs since the “Great
Revolt” of 1857 provided a general platform on which a variety of
interests could converge. The Income Tax Act of 1870 brought the
intelligentsia and businessmen to gether on a common platform
against the Act. In the course of the meeting the leading
businessmen like Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy and V. Shankarshet
advised the Government to consult public opinion before pushing
through important measures like the Income Tax Bill. Others like
N.V. Dabholkar attacked the Government for its excessive military
spending.munotes.in

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48
R.G. Bhandarkar
Jamshethji Jijibhoy.
M.G.Ranade.
However, t he businessmen and the intelligentsia could not
work together for very long. In the Association’s meeting in
October 1872, the two factions clashed. The businessmen tried tomunotes.in

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49remove Naoroji Furdunji from the Secretariship of the Association
but did not suc ceed. Hence, Dabholkar, Shankarshet, N.B. Jijibhoy
and R.N. Khot resigned from the Association; the split became
complete when the Association cooperated with the British India
Association of Calcutta in drawing up a petition to the British
Parliament on t he Indian Budget and another petition to the Viceroy
on the Indian Civil Services.
Nana Shankersheth
In the meantime, the Association was losing its very active
members. Bhau Daji was dead in 1874; Dadabhai Naoroji shifted
his residence to London. Ranade migrated to Poon a, R.G.
Bhandarkar and Atmaram Pandurang Tarkhadkar concentrated
their attention on the activities of the Prarthana Samaj. Among its
prominent members, only Furdunji and V.N. Mandlik remained. In
1876, Furdunji tried to reactivate the Bombay Association an dt h e
controversial Municipal bye -Laws enabled it to actively participatemunotes.in

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50in the agitation. But after 1878, the Association once again became
inactive and in 1879 it ceased to function.
Although the Bombay Association did little remarkable work, it
offere dap l a t f o r mf o rt h ee a r l yl e a d e r sw h op l a y e da ni m p o r t a n t
part in the political movement. The Bombay Association
represented the advanced section of political thinkers in Bombay.
Check your progress :
1)Discuss in brief the programmes of Bombay Associatio n.
2.6POONA SARVAJANIK SABHA
Poona was active centre of leading political activities in
western India . Though the first political association ‘The Deccan
Association’ could not live long, it paved the way to the foundation
of other organiza tion. The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha played vital role
in the political awakening of the people. The Poona Sarvajanik
Sabha became the leading organization in India in the second half
of the 19th century. The Sabha represented the wealth and
intelligence of th e local people. The aim of the Sabha was to
represent the wants and wishes of the inhabitants of the Deccan.
The members of the Sabha worked to secure wider participation for
the Maharashtrian people in the administration of the Bombay
Presidency. They sou ght to place before the authorities their views
concerning the interest of the people. The Sardars, Jahagirdars,
Sawkars and the educated members in society were the members
of the Sabha. Under the active guidance of Ganesh Vasudev Joshi
(popularly known a s Sarvajanik Kaka), the Sabha carried many
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51
Sarvajanik Kaka
The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha had its branches spread over
all the Maharashtra. There were the branches of the Sabha at
Satara, Karad, Wai, Bhiwandi, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Sholapur,
Amravati and Akola. During the first two years of its existence the
Sabha concerned itself with problems of a local character. The
arrival of M.G. Ranade in Pune in 1871 as a subordinate Judge
marked a turning point in the history of the Sabha. Very soon
Ranade became the guiding soul of the Sabha.
The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha rendered great service for the
national awakening. The Sabha did not confine itself to sending
memorials to the authorities. It had already taken the lead in
organizing a Swadeshi Movement in Deccan. The Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha did much to stimulate political activities in
Western India. Due to the influence of the Sabh a, political
associations grew up in many places in the Deccan. The leaders of
the Sabha made a systematic and extensive use of the platform in
order to arouse nationalist feeling among the masses. Due to the
efforts of M. G. Ranade and Ganesh Vasudev Josh i, the Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha became the pioneer public organization in India.
In fact, the Sabha was expected to play dominant role in hoisting
the first session of the Congress. In 1895, the Sabha was split due
to the political differences among its lead ers. The extremist leaders
took over the Sabha. So, it can be observed that before the
foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885, Sarvajanik
Sabha focussed on the political activities in Maharashtra. Thus,
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha played a crucial r ole in the political
awakening in Maharashtra.munotes.in

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52Check your progress :
1)Discuss in brief the work of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha .
2.7MADRAS MAHAJAN SABHA
A Branch of the British Indian Association was set up in
Madras under the name of Madras Native Association. Soon the
members became active in Madras Mahajan Sabha which was
founded in May 1884 by Ranigiah Naydu, P. Anand Charlu and
other members. It sent petitions to the British parliament on many
issues. It demanded various things like refo rms in legislative
councils, separation of executive from judiciary and positive
charges in the condition of the farmer. The members of Madras
Mahajan Sabha were actively involved in the foundation of Indian
National Congress.
2.8BOMBAY PRESIDENCY ASSOC IATION
In January 1885, three prominent leaders of Bombay,
Phirozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang and Badruddin Tyabji, set up the
Bombay Presidency Association. From the beginning, the
association had friendly relations with the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.
In Septem ber 1885, the Bombay Presidency Association, the
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Mahajana Sabha of Madras and the
Indian Association of Calcutta sent a joint deputation to England to
present India’s case before the British electorate. The deputation
was led by N. Chandavarkar from Bombay, Ramaswami Mudaliar
of Madaras, and Manmohan Ghosh of Calcutta. Three months
later, it was the Bombay Presidency Association, which hosted the
first Congress in December 1885.munotes.in

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53
KTT e l a n g .
2.9SUMMARY
The political associations like the Bombay Associations, the
Bombay Presidency Association, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and
many other associations provided regional foru m to articulate the
various aspirations of people. However, the educated Indians from
different parts of the country increasingly became aware of the
necessity to come together to formulate a common programme of
activity and carry on public education to cr eate broad based
freedom struggle. These aspirations led the leaders to establish the
All India National Congress in 1885. With the establishment of the
Congress the struggle for independence was launched in an
organized manner.
2.10ADDITIONAL READINGS
1.Bipan Chandra, History of Modern India , Orient Blackswan,
2009.
2.Bipan Chandra et al., India’s Struggle for Independence ,
Penguin, New Delhi, 1987.
3.B.L. Grover and S. Grover, AN e wL o o ka tM o d e r nI n d i a n
History, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, 2001.
4.Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885 -1947 , Macmillan, Madras,
1996.
5.Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, From Plassey to Partition and After :A
History of Modern India, Orient Blackswan, 2004.munotes.in

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542.11QUESTIONS
1)Give an account of the contribution of political associations in
Bengal.
2)Describe the origin and activities of the Indian Association.
3)Discuss the objectives and activities of the Bombay
Association.
4)Describe the programmes and activities of the Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha.
5)Assess the contribution of the Poona Sarvajanik Sab ha to the
growth of Nationalism in Maharashtra.
6)Discuss the activities of theBombay Presidency Association.

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55Unit-3
FOUNDATION OF INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS
UnitStructure:
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Circumstances that led to the foundation
3.3 The First Session of the Congress
3.4 Aims and Objectives of the Congress
3.5 The Resolutions Pa ssed in the First Session
3.6 British Attitude toward the Congress
3.7 Summary
3.8 Additional Readings
3.9 Questions
3.0 OBJECTIVES
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to :
1.Understand the circumstances that led to the foundation of
Indian National Congress .
2.Analyze the Role of A.O. Hume in the foundation of theIndian
National Congress.
3.Grasp the Aims and Objectives of the Indian National Congress.
4.Study the First Session of the Indian National Congress .
5.Analyze theResolutions Passed in the First Session of the
Indian National Congress.
6.Study the British Attitude toward the Indian National Congress.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The foundation of the Indian National Congress was the
impact of a political and cultural awakening of the people due to
work of provincial organizations. The western educated intellectuals
admitted the interest of larger section in society. They had
experience of working in many political associations. The
foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 was not an accide ntmunotes.in

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56or isolated event. It was the result of the evolution of the existing
political ideas, organizations and the political consciousness among
the masses. The establishment of Congress marched a beginning
of new era in Indian history.
3.2 CIRCUMSTANCES THA T LED TO THE
FOUNDATION
The political awakening that had begun in 1860 and 1870
moved towards the maturity in the date 1870 and early 1880. The
politically matured intellectuals broke the shackles of narrow group
and regional interests and projected thems elves as representatives
of national interests. The all -India nationalist organization that
eventually emerged served as the platform, the organizer, the
headquarters and the symbol of the new national spirit and politics.
It is generally believed that the reactionary measures of Lord Lytton
such as the Vernacular Press Act of 1878, the Arms Act and the
racial arrogance of the British culminating in their agitation aver the
Ilbert Bill hastened the process which ultimately led to the
foundation of the India n National Congress. However, it is important
to note that the reactionary policy of Lord Lytton and the liberal
policy of his successor Lord Ripon acted as catalyst in the
formation of the Indian National Congress. There is no doubt that
the Indian Nation al Congress was the direct result of the
emergence of national awakening.
Lord Ly tton.
The young educated class had participated in various
political associations created necessary enthusiasm among them.munotes.in

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57The Indian Association, Bombay Association, Poona Sarvajanik
Sabha and other organization sprovided them chance to participate
in pr ovincial and national affairs. The Indian Association had
organized All India National Conference in December 1883. Since
1875, there had been continuous efforts to found the national
organization of the people. The necessary efforts to found such
organiza tion were taken by Allen Octavian Hume, retired British
Official.
A.O. Hume's Contribution
Allen Octavian Hume, the retired British officer, took the
initiative to establish the political organization which will represent
the Indians. Hume along with oth er liberal leader worked towards
the establishment of national organization. Between 1884 to 1885
Hume met several national conscious leaders in Calcutta, Mumbai,
Pune and other regions in India. Hume observed the condition of
the people in British rule. H e was of opinion that some definite
actions were necessary to stop the growing unrest among the
masses. In 1883 he addressed on open letter to the graduate of the
country to channelize their efforts in establishing all representative
organization for the c ountry. He founded the Indian National Union
for this purpose. The chief objectives of the Indian National Union
were -(1) The fusion of all different elements of the population of
India into one national whole, (2) the gradual regeneration of the
nation thus evolved along all lines, spiritual, moral, social and
political and (3) the consolidation of the union between England
and India, by securing the modification of such of its conditions as
may be unjust or injurious. The chief aim of the Indian Nationa l
Union was defined in these terms to oppose, by all constitutional
methods, all authorities high or low, here or in England, whose acts
or omission is are opposed to the principles of the government of
India laid down by the British Parliament and endorse db yt h e
British Sovereign’. In the summoning of the first Indian National
Congress, the Indian National Union played an important role.
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58
William Wedderburn
A.O. Hume toured the country and met prominent leaders
like M. G. Ranade, Phirozeshah Mehta, William Weddernbern. In
Calcutta, he met Man Mohan Ghosh, W. C. Banerjee and Anand
Mohan Bose. Hume discussed the idea of est ablishing such
organization with Lord Dufferin in May 1885. Dufferin advised
Hume to enlarge the scope of the meetings of such organization
and not to be chairman of such proposed organization. Humemunotes.in

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59issued a letter to the Indian leaders that th e conference of the
Indian National U nion would be held in P oona between 25thand
31stDecember 1885. Soon after, Hume sailed to Calcutta from
Madras on 19 March 1885. As in Bombay and Madras, Hume met a
number of local leaders in Calcutta. On his way back to Simla fr om
Calcutta in April 1885, Hume visited several places in North -
Western Provinces and Oudh and probably the Punjab. After
feeling the pulse of the educated Indian leaders in different parts of
the country, Hume met the Governor -General Dufferin at Simla in
early May 1885. He briefed the Governor -General about his
proposed conference of representatives from all parts of India to be
held in Poona in December 1885. Meanwhile Hume went to
England. He consulted the idea with the other liberal thinkers and
politi cians like John Brisht, James Bryce and Lord Ripon. Having
made all arrangements in England, Hume returned to India before
the Congress began.
Check y our progress:
1)Explain in short the circumstances that led to the foundation of
the Congress .munotes.in

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603.3 THE FIRST SESSION OF THE CONGRESS
The preparations for the first Congress had begun very early
in 1885. The circular of invitation was issued i n March 1885. It was
decided to hold a conference at Poona from 25 to 31 December. It
is interesting to note that the name ‘Congress’ was suggested only
a few days before the meeting had taken place. The circular stated
that the Conference should be compos ed of delegates, leading
politicians well -acquainted with the English language, from all parts
of the Bengal, Madras and Bombay Presidencies. Fate, however,
deprived Poona of the honour of playing host to the First Session of
the Indian National Congress -The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha had
completed all arrangements for the intended Conference. But
unfortunately only a few days before the Conference was to meet
several cases of cholera were reported in Poona.
The outbreak of cholera epidemic on the eve of th e
conference led to the shift of its first session from Poona to
Bombay. According to the official report, it was decided to hold the
Congress in Bombay. The office bearers of Bombay Presidency
Association accepted the responsibility of hoisting the first session
of the Congress. Through the efforts of the Bombay Presidency
Association and the liberality of the managers of the Gokuldas
Tejpal Sanskrit College and Boarding Trust, everything was ready
by the morning of the 27thDecember 1885.
The first session of the Indian National Congress was held
on 28 to 30 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College,
Bombay. 72 delegates attended th e first session of the Congress
and they represented different corners of the country. Dadabhai
Naoroji , M.G. Ranade, G.G. Agarkar, K. T. Telang, Phirozshah
Mehta, Dinsha Wachha, B.M. Malab ari, N.C. Chandavarkar, Anand
Mohan Bose, Manmohan Ghosh, Lal Mohan Ghose, Vira
Raghvachari, Subhramania Iyer, P. Ananda Charlu, P. Rangiahmunotes.in

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61Naidu, P. Rangiah Naydu, S. Subramaniam Iyer, W.C. Banerjee,
Lala Baijnath, Narednra Nath Sen, Dewan Raghunath Rao and
Allan Octavian Hume were some of the prominent members of the
first session. W.C. Banerjee was elected as the president of the
session. He expressed loyalty to the British rule. He praised
England for the blessing of modern education and expected that
the government should increase the scope for the people.
Dadabhai Nao roji observed that England was the parent of free
democratic government. Thus, the first batch of leaders of
Congress had strong faith in British rule.
3.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONGRESS
The speeches in the first session of the Congress made the
aims and objectives clear. In his opening remarks of the
Presidential address, W.C. Banerjee outlined the objects of the
Congress -
(1) the promotion of personal intimacy and friendship among all the
most earnest workers in our country’s cause in the vari ous parts of
the Empire.
(2) The eradication by direct, friendly, personal intercourse of all
possible race, creed or provincial prejudices among all lovers of our
country and the fuller development and consolidation of those
settlements of national unity that had their origin in our beloved
Lord Ripon’s ever, memorable reign.
(3) The authoritive record, after this has been clearly elicited by the
fullest discussion, of the matured opinions of the educated classes
in India on some of the more important a nd pressing of the social
questions of the day.
(4) The determination of the lines upon and methods by which
during the next twelve months it is desirable for native politicians to
labour in the public interests. The early leaders of the Congress
were mo derates. They had sincere belief in British justice and
administration. The aims and objectives can be summarized as
follows :
1.The promotion of nationalism among the people to weld the
country into a nation. In the twentieth century India was colonised
because of the lack of cohesion among the people. The country
was described as geographical expression rather than a nation.
The Congress leaders recognized that people in India must be
united with the sense of nationalism.munotes.in

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622.The creation of a national politi cal platform for the public was
one of the main objectives of the Congress. The people had
grievances about some of the aspects of the British rule. The
Congress sought to give platform for such grievances so that it can
be conveyed to the British parliame nt through petitions.
3.The political education of the people was the major objective.
The people must be trained in art of democracy. It aimed to
mobilize the political workers in different ports of the country so that
they could carry political activities by educating the people.
4.The Congress aimed to eradicate racial, religious and other
prejudices. The programme of secular and democratic nation was
their main agenda. Congress followed secular politics in its initial
phase.
The speeches of the delegates at the first session of Indian
National Congress were characterized by moderation and extreme
expression of loyalty, to the Br itish Crown. In his Presidential
address W.C. Banerjee praised England for ‘the inestimable
blessing of western education’ and said that, ‘all they desired was
that the basis of the government should be widened and that
‘people should have their proper and legitimate share in it’. He also
expressed his belief that the Congress would be equally
advantageous to the authorities and to people. The most
impressive aspect of the first Congress was the farsighted vision of
speakers themselves. Though the Indian le aders had met for the
first time on a political platform their knowledge of public questions
of the day appeared to be thorough. They manifested remarkable
knowledge of the administration in their speeches. Sir Dinshaw
Whacha’s speech on the army budget sh owed an intimate
knowledge of the army finances. Other speakers included
Subramanian lyer, K.T.Telang, Narendranath Sen, Dadabhai
Naoroji. The first session of the Indian National Congress dissolved
amid cheers for the Queen Empress. Hume,’ after acknowled ging
the honour done to him said that as the giving of cheers had beenmunotes.in

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63entrusted to him, he must be allowed to propose the cheers to Her
Most Gracious Majesty, The Queen Empress.
Check your progress:
1)Explain in short theaims and objectives of the Indian National
Congress .
3.5 THE RESOLUTIONS PASSED IN THE FIRST
SESSION
The nature of the resolutions passed at the first session of
the Congress indicates the mind of these who had gathered on the
occasion. The first session passed many resolution s according to
the aims and objectives of the Congress .The first session of the
Congress discussed and passed nine resolutions. They were as
follows :
(1) Appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the
working of Indian administration.
(2) Aboli tion of the Indian Council of the Secretary ofState for
India.
(3) Expansion and reform of the Imperial and local Legislative
Councils, established under the Indian Councils’ Act, 1861.
(4) Creation of Legislative Councils for the North -West Province
and Oudh and the Punjab, and the creation of a Standing
Committee in the House of Commons to consider formal
protests from Councils.
(5) Introduction of simultaneous Public Service Examinations in
England and India and rising of the age of candidates.
(6)Reduction of military expenditure .
(7) Protest against the annexation of Upper Burma and the
proposed incorporation of it with India.
(8) That all the resolutions were to be sent to political associations
all-over the country over discussion and for mulation of views.
(9) The next session of the Congress was to be held at Calcutta
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64Though the Indian leaders had met for the first time on a
political platform their knowledge of public problems of the day
appeared to be enough wide in various dimensions. They
manifested remarkable knowledge of the administration in their
speeches. The leaders of the Indian National Congress cherished a
firm faith in the British sense of justice and demanded political
reforms in its first session in 1885.
3.6 BRITISH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE CONGRESS
The early Congress leadership was loyal to the British crown
as they believed in superiority of western values and education.
However, t he British Government was hostile to the development of
nationalist f orces. Lord Dufferin had looked with apprehension on
the founding of the Indian National Congress. He had tried to divert
the movement by suggesting to Hume that the Congress should
devote itself to social rather than political affairs. However, the
Congre ss leaders had refused to make the change. The Indian
National Congress began to publish popular pamphlets in Indian
languages and hold mass meetings to spread nationalist message
among the people. The British could not tolerate this role of the
Congress. The economic agitation initiated by the nationalists
exposed the real exploitative nature of the British imperialism.
Under these circumstances the British officials changed their
attitude towards the Indian National Congress and began publicly to
criticiz e and condemn the Congress.
It was alleged that Hume had founded the Congress as safely
value save British rule in India. However, the British attitude
towards the Congress dismissed this myth. The British government
had suspicion on the Congress leader s’ right from the foundation of
it. They were branded as disloyal Babus. The Congress was
discouraged because the government was well aware that the
moderate nature of the Congress will be cha nged in near future.
The British officials openly criticized the Congress. Lord Duffrein
remained on forefront attac king the Congress. He challenged the
national character of it and dismissed it as an organization of a
microscopic minority.
The British officers were encouraged to check the growth of
Congress. To coun teract the growing influence of the Indian
National Congress the British authorities adopted the policy of
‘divide and rule’. The government encouraged Hindu and Muslim
reactionary forces like Syed Ahmed Khan and Raja Shivprasad to
organize communal organi zations to check the growth of Congress.
In 1890 the government employees were forbidden from
participating in the Congress meetings. Since the foundation of the
Congress, the British were critical of the Congress. In 1898 lawsmunotes.in

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65were enacted to suppress fre edom of press and speech and
increasing the powers of the police and magistrates. The
government decided to promote private colleges run by religious
trusts. Modern secular education, which led to the spread of
rational democratic and nationalist ideas, wa s sought to be
replaced by a system based on religious and moral teaching.
However Britishers were not successful in their motives.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
Right from the beginning of its inception the Indian National
Congress was looked upon by the British authorities as a great
menace to the security of their Indian empire. Thus the Congress
became almost a nightmare with the Brit ish authorities and they
adopted all possible policies and measures to suppress the
organization. However, in spite of all this the Indian National
Congress not only survived but emerged as a strong national
movement that proved to be the nemesis of the Br itish Empire in
India.
3.7 SUMMARY
To conclude, the founders of Congress were moderates and
they believed in the British fairplay of justice. However, the British
government was suspicious of the political activities of the
Congress. They sensed the fut ure nationalist wave among the
Indians. Hence the British attitude remained hostile toward the
Congress and its leaders. With the establishment of the Indian
National Congress the struggle for independence was launched in
an organized manner. The growth of Congress and Indian national
movement can be studied in the Moderates, Extremists and
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663.8 ADDITIONAL READINGS
1.Bipan Chandra, History of Modern India , Orient Blackswan,
2009.
2.Bipan Chandra et al., India’s Struggle for Independence ,
Pengui n, New Delhi, 1987.
3.B.L. Grover and S. Grover, AN e wL o o ka tM o d e r nI n d i a n
History, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, 2001.
4.Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885 -1947 , Macmillan, Madras,
1996.
5.Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, From Plassey to Partition and After :
A History of Modern India, Orient Blackswan, 2004.
3.9 QUESTIONS
1)Write a note on foundation of the Indian National Congress.
2)Trace the circumstances that led to the foundation of the
Congress.
3)Discuss the Aims and Objectives of the Indian National
Congress.
4)Examine the British attitude towards the Indian National
Congress.
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Unit-4
MODERATES
Unit Structure:
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Moderate Phase –1885 -1905
4.3 Methods and Programmes of Moderates
4.4 Achievements of Moderates
4.5 Moderate Leaders
4.6 Gopal Krishna Gokhale
4.7 Summary
4.8 Additional Reading s
4.9 Questions
4.0OBJECTIVS
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to :
Understand the beginning of Moderate phase .
Grasp the Methods and Techniques of the Moderates.
Comprehend the achievements of Moderates.
Know thework of moderate leaders in India .
Understand the contribution of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
4.1INTRODUCTION
English education in India was instrumental to the rise of
middle class that was infused with modern outlook and turned its
attention to the religious, social and c ultural renaissance.
Nationalism means the supreme loyalty of the individual towards its
nation, which creates unity and owners among the people living in
it. During the Second half of the 19 thcentury, national political
consciousness began to develop due to the number of factors. Raja
Ram Mohan Roy attempted to unite Indians on the background of
social reforms. After that a number of political associations came to
be established by number of influential persons. The political
associations brought the nine teenth century India on the threshold
of modern politics. These political associations provided regional
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people. The foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 by
Allen Octavian Hume was the result of the evolution of the existing
political ideas, organizations and the political consciousness among
the masses. The growth of Congress and Indian national
movement can be studied in thefollowing th ree phases:
1.Moderate Phase -1885 to 190 5
2.Extremist Phase -1905 to 1920
3.Gandhi anEra-1920 to 1947
4.2MODERATE PHASE -1885 to 1905
The early leaders who dominated the Indian National
Congress from 1885 to 1905 were known as moderates. The
moderate leaders such as W.C. Bannerji, Dada bhai Naoroji, M.G.
Ranade, Badruddin Tayyabji, K.T. Telang, Phirozshah Mehta ,
Surendranath Bannerji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale etc. played vital
role in the moderate struggle against the British. The early
nationalist leaders believed that India was a nation in making and
the British were unaware of the real condition of India. They made
all the efforts to enligh ten the British public opinion. They worked
hard to present the Indian needs before the British government.
The moderates had a fascination for Britis hP a r l i a m e n t a r y
institutions. They were reformers and believed in the British justice.
Theysent memorials, petitions, wrote essays and delivered
speeches. During the first twenty years, the middle class
intelligentsia and journalists dominated the Congres s.
4.3METHODS AND PROGRAMMES OF
MODERATES
Due to the method of political work of the early nationalists ,
they came to know as the Moderates. They believed that their main
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national consciousness. The moderates wanted to create a united
public opinion on political and social questions. They held public
meetings, passed resolutions and sent petitions to the British
authorities in India and to the parliament in England. Moderate
leaders wished to influence the government and the British public
opinion to introduce the necessary reforms in various fields of
administration. They believed that India needed a balanced and
lucid presentation of her needs before the British parliament and
their demands were to be satisfied. They had faith in British sense
of justice of fairplay. According to them theBritish rulers were not
awar e of the real situation in India. So they made great efforts to
enlighten the British public opinion through memorials and petitions
and carrying political propaganda in England. They wanted to
develop India in the image of the west. They considered the co ming
of the British as beneficial and providential. Hence they came to be
known as western reformists. The moderates frankly realized that
India could learn proper use of western political institutions only
after she had gained some experience under the Br itish rule.
Modearte leaders believed in the British liberal traditions, their rule
of law and sense of judiciary.
The moderates wanted reforms first with the help of British as
freedom of speech, association and press, reforms in the executive
and legi slative councils at the center and in the provinces. The
moderates wanted the British stop exploiting Indians and
destructing Indian crafts and cottage industries. The British should
help the rising Indian capitalists in building Indian industries by way
ofloans, aid and subsidies where ever required. The moderates
demanded a reduction in heavy taxes, land revenue and free the
peasants from the debts of money lenders by giving them loans at
reasonable interest. In order to help the Indian peasantry, the
British should establish land banks and advance loan for irrigation.
The British should reduce the military expenditure taking place on
its maintenance in India. They avoided violence and followed the
method of prayer, petition ,representation and deputations in order
to convince the government about the validity of their just demands.
It was the method of political works of the early nationalist that
earned the label of moderate for them. These methods can be
summed up in briefly as constitutional agitation wi thin the four
corners of law.
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4.4ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MODERATES
The moderate leaders in India worked towards many fields
and tried to reform the Indian society based on the concept of
western liberalism. The following were the important acheivements
of moderates who worked durin gthe phase of 1885 to 1905:
1.Pioneers of Nationalism: Though moderates were criticized
by the extremist for their attitude, it is fact that they were the first
who did start the political awakening in India. They have been
considered asthe pioneers of nationalism in India. They made
sincere efforts to weld different elements of a society into a
nation. They preached and practised a secular type of
nationalism in In dia.
2.Unity: The moderates created ‘we sentiment’ in the Indian
society. It was very important on the background of the
existence of variety of people with their own unique way of
lifestyle. They created loyalty for the land. They considered
themselves Indi an first and Hindus, Muslims or Christians
afterwards. They were loyal to the British government. However
their act of loyalty to one central government on a secular basis,
laid down the foundation of new modern India. Though they all
had come from differe nt communities and regions, they were
offering the same message to the people of India.
3.Exposed the British Economic Exploitation: The moderate
had great concern for the exploitation of the Indian peasants
and artisans. They linked the poverty of India to the economic
exploitation of the country by the British. Dadabhai Naoroji
traced back the root cause of Indian poverty to the drain of
wealth. He wrote a book entitled ‘Poverty and Un -British Rule in
India’ to show the true nature of British imperialism and
propounded the theory of ‘Drain of Wealth’ . They also tried to
promote Indian industries. They demanded improvement in the
condition of labours, abolition of harsh taxes etc. They were
critical of the high gov ernment expenditure on the army too.
4.Politi cal Awakening: The moderates succeeded in creating a
wide political awakening in India. They aroused feeling of
nationalism among the middle class. They popularized the ideas
of democracy and liberty. They also demanded administrative
reforms and criticize d the oppressive and tyrannical behaviour
of the police and officials. They tried to bring political awakening
among the people by demanding constitutional reforms. The
moderates urged the government to undertake welfare activities
in favor of the people. They emphasized the need for the spread
of education, extension of medical facilities to the people,
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5.Administrative Reforms: The Moderates suggested a step b y
step approach to attain self and responsible government. They
demanded the extension of the existing central and provincial
legislative councils with greater number of non -official Indians
and re introduction of the principle of election. Along with this
they also demanded the widening of the powers of those
councils and an increase in the powers of the members to
discuss the budget and to question and criticize the day -today
administration. The Moderates achieved success when the
British Government passe d the new Indian Councils Act in
1892. This Act increased the number of non -official members, a
few of them were to be indirectly elected. Members of the
council were granted right to speak on the budget.
Check your progress:
1.Explain the achievements ofModerates.
4.5MODERATE LEADERS
The Indian National Congress founded in 1885, provided
common platform for the nationalist leaders to meet and voice their
grievances and place their demands before the British government.
The early leadership in th e Indian National Congress was
represented by the people like Dadabhai Naoroji, M. G. Ranade,
Phirozshah Mehta, Badruddin Tayyabji, K. T. Telang, Gopal
Krishna G okhale, W. C. Banerjee ,S .N .B a n e r j e e etc. They were
liberal and constitutional in approach. T hemoderate leaders were
more vocal not only on the social reforms but also on matters
concerning admin istrative and political reforms in the last quarter of
the century.
Dadabhai Naoroji
Dadabhai Naoroji was a pioneer in the moderate politics. He
is kno wn as ‘ The Grand old man of India’. He became the first
member of British Parliament. The drain theory developed by him
created consciousness among the educated Indians. In his ‘ Poverty
and Un -British Rule in India’ he argued that the British were
responsi ble for the poverty and miserable conditions of the Indian
people. The drain theory put forward by him, laid the economic
foundation of the Indian Nationalism. Dadabhai Naoroji, who
worked from Bombay earlier, settled in England worked hard to
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delivering speeches and agitating for liberal administration.
Dadabhai actively participated in all the contemporary
organizations. He provided leadership and guidance to the early
nationalists of the Con gress. He was the most respected leader of
this phase. He was elected as the president of Congress thrice.
Mahadeo Govind Ranade
M. G. Ranade provided the great leadership to the moderate
politics. He was the social reformer and an independent thinker. H e
regarded the British rule over India as a divine gift (boon) and
blessing. His political thinking was influenced by western liberalism.
According to Ranade, the decline of India was due to the isolation
from external world, submission to outward force of power and
differences between people on the ground of birth. He advocated
economic nationalism in India and believed that after some years
Indian people will be able to emancipate themselves. Ranade
started Indian National social conference within the ban ner of
Indian National Congress in 1887 to discuss the social issues.
Phirozshah Mehta
Phirozshah Mehta was a western educated lawyer and
prominent political leader of the city of Bombay . He was associated
with many political and social organizations. H ew a sl i b e r a la n di n
favours of reforms. Phirozshah Mehta like Dadabhai Naoroji and
other moderate leaders had a sincere faith in the British sense of
justice and fair play. However he fearlessly opposed policies of the
British in India which were not in i nterest of the country and its
people. He was highly critical of the Indian Civil Service and of the
policy of the Government of India of denying Indian an opportunity
to joint it. He was a champion of the free press. He severa lly
criticized the V ernacular Press Act of 1878 which imposed severe
limitations on founder members of the Indian National Congress.
Though he was staunch nationalist, he followed the moderate
political ways. According to him masses should be educated and
enlightened before the beginn ing of any movement. He was elected
as the president of the Congress in 1890.
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Badruddin Tayyab ji
Badruddin Tayyabji was drawn to politics in 1878 by Lytton’s
Vernaculars Press Act. He was one of the prominent nationalist
leaders of Bombay . Alongwith Dadabhai Naoroji, Phirozshah
Mehta, K. T. Telang and V. N. Mandalik, he organized public
meetings an dl a u n c h e dad r i v ei ns u p p o r to fI l b e r tB i l l .B a d r u d d i n
Tayyabji, Phirozshah Mehta, K. T. Telang founded the ‘Bombay
Presidency Association’ in 1885. He actively participated in the
activities of the Indian National Congress during the moderate
phase .He w as the first Muslim president of the Indian National
Congress and presided the session of Madras in 1887. His
devotion to the nation’s cause set example for others. He opposed
to the religious based politics of Syed Ahmad Khan. He has
awakened the Muslim p opulation in India and urged them to hjoin
the Congress.
Kashinath Trimbak Telang
K. T. Telang w as closely associated with the Bombay branch of the
East India Association. He was influenced by Dadabhai Naoroji. He
was one of the founding members of ‘Bomba y Presidency
Association’ and Indian National Congress .Like Mehta and
Tayyabji, Telang also took an active par ti nt h ea g i t a t i o na g a i n s tt h e
Vernacular Press Act ,1 8 7 8 . He supported Ilbert Bill which stood for
equality in judicial matters. These Brilliant leaders of the early
phase of the national movement carried reform movement in every
branch of administration.
4.6GOPAL KRISHNA GOKHALE
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the early leaders in India
who had dedicated his entire life in the service of th ep e o p l e .H e
was influenced by English liberals like J.S. Mill and John Morley.
He was deeply influenced by the work of Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G.
Ranade and Phirozshah Mehta. He was the great pupil of M.G.
Ranade. He has emerged as the greatest leader of Mode rates and
contributed actively in the social, economic and political field.
Gokhale’ s Attitude towards the Politics
Gokhale made critical analysis of the political situation in
India. He criticized British policy of maintaining a ratio of 1: 2
between Br itish forces and Indian forces. Gokhale entered the
Bombay Legislative Council. During his tenure he worked hard to
solve the problem of famine, land revenue and agricultural
discontent. He also acted as a member of Pune Municipal
Corporation. He introduce d a practice of printing the rule which
were passed in meeting. He reached the peak of his career when
he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1981. His
entrance in the council opened a new chapter in his life. His
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took pride in the service of the common people. He always pointed
out that the expenditure on welfare schemes would make people to
resist the famines.
Gokhale and the Indian Expenditure Commission
The British governmen ta p p o i n t e dI n d i a n Expenditure
Commission in 1896 under Lord Welby to enquire about financial
administration in 1896. Welby commission was appointed to inquire
into the administration and management of the military and civil
expenditure. The commission was appointed by parliament for its
own guidance and for its own jurisdiction. Gokhale took great pains
to bring to light all the facts. He shed light on the revenue problems
and economic exploitation of the people. He made several
suggestions to the commissi on for improving the Indian budget. He
also suggested that legislative council of Madras, Bombay and
Bengal and other provinces should send one representative to the
British parliament. It consisted of all seasoned statesmen including
Wedderburn, Caine and Dadabhai Naoroji. Gokhale was chief
witness before the commission. Gokhale was brilliant in his work.
He was praised by Wedderburn.
The Plague and Famine Administration -1897
In 1896, Bombay and Pune witnessed the rise of plague.
The schools and colleg es were closed down. W.C. Rand was the
plague commissioner. Rand committed many atrocities on the
people in the name of preventing the spread of epidemic. At that
time G.K. Gokhale was in England. He received the news about
this incident. He publicly criti cized the brutality of the British.
Work i n Bombay Legislative Council
Gokhale was elected in Bombay L egislative Council .H et o o k
special interest in the problems of famine, land alienation bill and
the working of the Municipal Corporations. Maharashtra
experienced a series of calamities in those years. Famine and
plague took a great toll of human lives. The people were suffering
from the repression of government officials. Gokhale remarkably
made analysis of the problem in the Bombay legislative council.
The Imperial Legislative Council
In 1902, Gokhale was nominated as a member of the
Imperial Legislative Council. He fought against the autocratic policy
of Lord Curzon. Between 1902 and 1911 he made eleven speeches
on the Budget and thirty six other sp eeches of social importance.
His first speech on the Indian budget was remarkable for its large
vision and facts. It shed slight on the injustice of the British toward
the Indians. It brought out his deep concern over the growing
poverty of the people. In his budget speeches Gokhale made
suggestions regarding the improvement in irrigation sector. In his
fight against bureaucracy, Gokhale’s approach was constitutional.
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G. K. Gokhale and Congress
G.K.Gokhale was great pupil of M.G. Ranade. He had
great influence of Ranade through his life and wor k. He was the
president of the C ongress at Banaras in 1905. He defined ultimate
goal of congress as self -government within the British Empire. Like
other m oderate leaders ,he believed in British sense of justice. He
was of view that India needed British rule at that time. He had firm
faith in constitutional agitation. Through this method he wanted to
make people aware of the political movement. According to him
good governance should be progressive and it must take care of
the opinion of local self governing bodies. He regarded state as an
instrument to bring necessary social reform.
G.K. Gokhale and Social Reforms
Like all the moderate leaders, G.K. Gokhale favoured
struggle for social reforms. He championed the cause of depressed
classes. He rightly pointed out that in western countries society is
based on class distinction and class can easily be changed.
However in India, it was the mark of birth. It is h armful for the
development of the country. He raised his voice against social evil
of untouchability and caste distinction in Dharwad Social
Conference. However like Ranade, he could not involve himself in
social reform movement actively. In his speeches, he often urged
the Government to improve the condition of the people and offer
them educational opportunities. He made several useful
recommendations to improve the state of affairs.
The Servants of Indian Society -1905
Gokhale founded the S ervants of In dianSociety in 1905 to
train young men to devote their lives in the cause of the country
and to promote national interest. Pune became the centre of all the
activities. It maintained the library for the study of different subjects.
Its membership dedicate d to the nationalist cause. Its members
were trained and equipped for some form of service of motherland.
The societ y published three papers, ‘ The S ervants of India’ ,‘Dnyan
Prakash’ and ‘ Hitwad ’.In this way, G.K. Gokhale contributed a lot
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Check your progress:
1.Highlight the contribution of G.K. Gokhale.
4.7SUMMARY
Moderates believed in the sense of justice and traditions of
liberalism of the British. They, therefore, under took petition and
appeals to get sanctioned their demands. They also undertook
public meetings and writing extensively in Indian newspapers,
journals and pamphlets. Although, the moderates put forth various
demands and adopted all legal and constitutional strategies to get
them passed, they could not succeed in getting them passed. Later
critics have pointed out that the Moderates did not achieve much
succe ss. Leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and other Extremist
Congress members were very critical about strategies and
programme ofthe moderates. Theycriticized the programme of the
Moderates as ‘political mendicancy’. The Moderates were
sympathetic towards the p eople of the country but could not keep
close contact with them. They did not realize that a prolonged
struggle against imperialism could be waged through a mass
movement only. They apprehended that if they led a mass
movement, the British Government would easily break the
congress. The Moderates, therefore, did not organize a mass
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To sum up, it can be observed that the moderates achieved
a considerable success. Their contribution in building a strong
foundation of Indian national movement cannot be underestimated.
They desired all -round progress and modernization of India and
wished the betterment of the Indian society. The Moderates
succeeded in creating a wide political awakening in India and
arousing among the Indians the feeli ng of belonging to one
common nation. They popularized the ideas of democracy ,
liberalism and civil liberty. They also trained a large number of
political workers in the art of modern politics. In spite of their loyalty
to the British crown, they exposed t he true character of the British
imperialism in India and blamed to British rule for the poverty of the
Indian people. Although the moderates could not reach to the
masses, they could keep alive the Indian national movement for a
long period.
4.8ADDITIO NAL READINGS
1.Bipan Chandra, History of Modern India , Orient Blackswan,
2009.
2.Bipan Chandra et al., India’s Struggle for Independence ,
Penguin, New Delhi, 1987.
3.Bipan Chandra ,A .T r i p a t h i ,B a r u nD e , Freedom struggle,
National Book Trust, India, 1972.
4.B.L. Grover and S .Grover, AN e wL o o ka tM o d e r nI n d i a n
History, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, 2001.
5.Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and its Fragments ,O x f o r d
University Press, New Delhi, 1933.
6.Sekhar Bandyopadhyay ,From Plassey to Partition :A History of
Mode rn India, Orient Blackswan, 2004.
7.Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885 -1947 , Macmillan, Madras,
1996.
4.9QUESTIONS
1.What were the methods and techniques of Mod erates?
2.Analyse the achivements of Moderates in Indian National
Movement.
3.Explain the role of Gopal Krishna Gokhale in the Indian
Freedom Movement.
4.Discuss the contribution of moderate leaders in Indian
National Movement.

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Unit -5
EXTREMISTS
Unit Structure:
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Causes of Rise of Extremism
5.3 Ideology of Extremism
5.4 Work of Bal Gangadhar Tilak
5.5 Four -Fold Programme of the Extremists
5.6 Surat Session and Split in Congress -1907
5.7 Home Rule Movement
5.8 Summary
5.9 Additional Readings
5.10Questions
5.0OBJECTIVS
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to :
Understand the causes of the Rise of Extremism in India .
Comprehend the ideology of Extremism.
Understand the contribution of Lokmanya Tilak.
Comprehend the Four -Fold Programme of the Extremists.
Understand the contribution of Home Rule Movement and
Dr. Annie Besant .
5.1INTRODUCTION
Although the moderates trained Indian people politically and
popularized th e ideas of democracy and civil liberty, their elitist
background did not succeed in making any far reaching impact on
the masses. This led to discontent among the young nationalist
group in the Indian national Congress under the leadership of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak. This group was very critical about the ideology
and methodology of the moderates and wanted to adopt a more
radical programme for the attainment of their demands. Right from
the foundation of the Indian National Congress, some leaders were
dissatis fied with the moderate politics. However their number was
less. With the beginning of the twentieth century the extremist
elements emerged as a strong force led by Bal Gandadhar Tilak,munotes.in

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popularly known as Lokmanya Tilak. The extremist leaders like
Tilak, Bi pin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai were extremely critical
of the ideology and methodology of the moderate leadership. This
group came to be known as the Extremists Congress which
dominated the Indian national movement from 1905 to 1920 till the
death of Lokmanya Tilak.
5.2CAUSES OF RISE OF EXTREMISM
With the rise of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the extremist ideology
became popular among the common people. The extremist
believed in adopting more radical programme. There are number of
reasons for the rise of extremism. They are as follows:
Dissatisfaction with the Achievement of the Moderates: The
young and dynamic lead ers of the congress were not satisfied with
the aims and methods of the moderate leaders. According to them,
the petitions and letters had no impact on the British. They
neglected the demands of the moderates. Unlike moderates, the
new leaders had no faith in British fairplay. They were critical of
British rule and they had no interest in the method of constitutional
agitation. Lokmanya Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai strongly advocated
path of extremist policies such as boycott and Swadeshi .
Economic Exploitati on: The economic policies of the British
ruined the Indian economy. The Tariff and Cotton Duties Act of
1894 and 1896 helped the British manufacturer. The excise duty on
Indian cotton increased to reduce the share of Indian s.F r o m1 8 9 6
to 1900 people in In dia suffered heavily due to the disastrous
famine. Bubonic plague took heavy toll of lives. The British
government did not care for people. Many people died due to the
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of the people at the ha nds of British was responsible for the growth
of burning nationalism among the masses.
Influence of Militant School: The early intellectual background to
the rise of extremism in the National Movement was provided by
Bankim Chandra in Bengal and Vishnu Sh astri Chiplunkar in
Maharashtra. Lokmanya Tilak was the prolific representative of the
nationalist school. Bankim Chandra’s literary work ‘ Anandmath ’
became the source of inspiration for the extremist.
Growth of Self Confidence: The British had introduced the
modern education to fulfill their own purpose. However, it had great
impact on the young educated minds. By the end of 19th century
most of the educated youth could easily see the difference between
liberalism in England and the British rule in India. Leaders like Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh preached the message of
self-respect.
Impact of the International Events: In 1905, Japan a tiny Asian
country defeated giant Russia. This victory of Japan had
psychological impact on the minds of India np e o p l e .T h ed e f e a to f
Italian army by the Ethiopia in 1896 and defeat of Russia exploded
the myth of European supremacy. The other revolutionary element
in Europe had strongly influenced the young minds in India. Many
extremists were greatly inspired by the Italian patriot Mazzini. Due
to his patriotism and revolutionary methods ,Mazzini spread the fire
of nationalism in Italy. His writings inspired the Indian leaders. Lala
Lajpat Rai wrote a book on the life of Mazzini.
Reactionary Policies of Lord Curz on: Lord Curzon was the
Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. Though he was brilliant, he
could not understand the growing unrest among the Indians. He
increased the official control over the Indian universities in the
name of educational reforms. His Indian official secret Act aimed
protecting the oppressive officials from public criticism. He spent
lavishly on the Delhi Durbar when many people were suffering from
famines. His decision of partitioning the Bengal in 1905 led sudden
wave of nationalism in the country.
These above factors led to the emergence of a new spirit of
nationalism, the spirit of revolt against liberalism and constitutional
methods of the moderates. The leaders of the new spirit –adhar
Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Auro bindo Ghose
advocated stronger agitation and mass action. Due to their ideology
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Check your progress:
1.Explain in short the causes of rise of Extremism.
5.3IDEOLOGY OF EXTREMIS M
The extremists differed in many ways in ideology and action
from the moderates. The extremists leaders lost all faith in the
efficacy of constitutional approach to political questions, which they
began to think, could bear fruit only in a democracy wher et h e
government was responsible to the people. Ending and not
mending of the British rule became their objective. Unlike the
moderates the extremists did not want to reconstruct India in the
image of the west. They did not have an exaggerated admiration f or
the British connection, with India nor did they accept British Raj as
providential. The extremist leaders looked more to the past history
of India than to the west. They believed that the Golden Age of
Indian history existed somewhere in the glorious pa st of India.
Therefore they advised the revival of ancient ideas and institutions.
They did not want to reform contemporary conditions in modern
India on the lines suggested by a study of the history of ancient
India. It is in this sense that the extremist leaders were dubbed as
‘revivalists’ in contrast to the moderates who were described as
western reformists.
In contrast with the constitutional agitation of the moderates,
the extremist leaders believed in militant methods. It was realized
that the old m ethods of mendicancy court not prove to be effective.
Appeals and memoranda felt on deaf years, and speeches and
resolutions ‘in the Councils ’hardly mattered. The British
Government was ruling with an iron hand. Exploitation was
increasing every day and w as sucking the blood of the Indian
masses. The extremists wanted the Congress to proclaim ‘self -
government’ as its political aim and to organize the masses to
exercise popular pressure on the British Government to face it to
concede Indian demands. In this way, Extremists propounded the
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Check your progress:
1.Explain in short the ideology of Extremism.
5.4WORK OF BAL GANGADHAR TILAK
Extremist phase dominated the Indian nation al movement
from 1905 to 1920 under the leadership of Bal Gangadhar Tilak
popularly known as Lokmanya .After the foundation of the
congress, extremist group was in minority. But soon it became
active under the leadership of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Unlike
mode rates he didn’t want British rule. He had no love for the
constitutional methods. He had declared in 1887, “Swarajya is my
birth right and I shall have it.” According to him independence was
nothing but managing our home affairs ourselves. British suspecte d
that he had instigated the murder of Rand, the plague
commissioner. He was imprisoned for eighteen months in 1890. In
1908 he was again tried for the charge of sedition. The British
government regarded him as a greatest danger to their rule in India.
Hewas sentenced for 6 years and was deported to the prison in
Mandalay.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak had strong faith in the will of common
people. Moderates followed the methods of constitutional agitation
which had no relationship with the masses. However, Lokman ya
Tilak directly appealed to the masses with the introduction of
‘Sarvajanik Ganesh festival’ and ‘Shiv Jayanti’. He incorporated the
common people into the nationalist movement. To create the
enthusiasm and love for the country ,he made use of newspaper
‘Kesari ’a n d‘ Maratha ’.
Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India declared the partition of
Bengal in 1905. He advocated administrative reason for the
partition but it was very clear that partition of Bengal aimed at
creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims w ho were fighting
together against the British rule. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used this
opportunity to create the wave of nationalism throughout India. The
people of Bengal rose against the partition of the province. The
government clarified that Bengal was bein gp a r t i t i o n e df o r
administrative reasons. However the people were aware that the
real intension was to attack the unity of the people of Bengal. Lord
Curzon adopted divide and rule policy. Bal Gangadhar Tilak andmunotes.in

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Lala Lajpat Rai made the people aware that the partition of Bengal
was not a regional issue but an attack on the self -respect and
dignity of all Indian. Tilak came forth with a four point programme
ofSwadeshi, Boycott, National Education and S warajya. He
converted the anti-partition movement into mass struggle. Due to
the pressure of movement, partiti on of Bengal was annulled by Lor d
Hardinge in 1911.
5.5FOUR -FOLD PROGRAMME OF THE
EXTREMISTS
Bal Gangadhar Tilak to create the wave of nationali sm
throughout India against the partition of Bengal advocated fourfold
programme of Swarajya (self-rule), Bahishkar (boycott of foreign
goods), Swadeshi (use of Indian goods) and Rashtriya Shikshan
(national education). He appealed the youths to stand by the forth
fold programme.
1)Swarajya (Self-rule): Lokm anya Tilak was a born fighter and
great patriot. The famous slogan coined by him ‘ Swarajya is my
birthright and I shall have it’ became the slogan of national
movement. He was a man of action. His political actions were
firmly based in sound ideas. By Swar ajya,h em e a n t
government of the people. He observed that we would dese rve
our political rights only if we succeed in achieving unity first in
village, then in every district provinces and finally at the national
level. He is rightly described as ‘the arch itect of Indian
nationalism’. Tilak wanted to spread the message of self -rule to
the people. In May 1915 he gave speech in Belgaon in which he
said that Swarajya is the natural right of the people and in order
to win it the formation of Home Rule League is absolutely
essential. He visited the different parts of the Maharashtra to
impress on the people the necessity of self -rule. He made great
sacrifices in his life to create awareness among the masses. He
appealed to the people in direct manner. As a result he earned
ap l a c ei nt h eh e a r t so ft h ep e o p l e .
2)Swadeshi (Use of Indian goods) : Lokmanya Tilak wrote
editorials in ‘Kesari ’o n Swadeshi, boycott and appealed to the
people to participate in the movement. Tilak also invited liberal
leaders like Gokhale. A long with him Tilak held meeting in
Pandharpur regarding Swadeshi goods where a large members
at the devotee of God Pandurang gathered. He also invited a
number of industrialists and businessmen and started Swadeshi
co-operative stores. It evoked great res ponse from all sections
of the society. For this purpose he collected a fund of two and
half lakh rupees from eminent persons. The Swadeshi
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common people. He also launched ‘paisa fund’ in Maharashtr a
and collected money from every quarter of the society. Many
young people came forward to participate in it and the money
was utilized for setting up a glass factory at Talegaon in Pune.
In 1905 an exhibition of Swadeshi goods was organized at the
Banaras session of congress.
3)Bahishkar (Boycott on foreign goods) : Under this
programme the bonfire of foreign clothes was organized. This
act created a wave of enthusiasm among the youth. They
became aware that this marked the beginning of the process of
destr oying the base of British rule in India. The common people
were asked to boycott on the foreign goods. While encouraging
the boycott on British goods ,L o k m a n y aT i l a kg a v ei m p o r t a n c e
to the Swadeshi movement. He persuaded many businessmen
to start mills for weaving cloths and factories for manufacturing
soaps and matchboxes.
4)Rashtriya Shikshan (National Education) : In 1905 at the
venue of the Benaras session of the Indian national congress
the movement for national education and an idea of establishing
theBanaras Hindu University emerged. Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya placed the concept of founding a Hindu university and
the move was supported by Lokmanya Tilak. At this time the
‘Nagari Pracharini Sabha’ organized a meeting and it was
addressed by Tilak. In his speech he pleaded for adoption of the
Devnagari script to propagate education all over India. He
suggested that a beginning could be made by printing text
books for primary schools in Devnagari script. The movement of
national education soon gained the momentum and popularity.
The message of national education spread among the masses.
Maharashtra became the leading place in the movement of
national education.
Check your progress:
1.Explain the four fold programme of theExtremists .munotes.in

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5.6SURAT SESSION AND SPLIT IN CONGRESS -
1907
The annual session of the Congress in 1907 was originally
proposed to be held in Nagpur. The moderate like Phirozshah
Mehta didn’t want the influence of extremist leader s.N a g p u rw a s
thecenter of the extremism. So th e venue was shifted to Surat. The
congress was clearly split into two sections. Extremists wanted Lala
Lajpat Rai as the president of the congress. However moderates
chose Rasbihari Ghosh as the president. The extremists were
dissatisfied with this and the y strongly opposed it. Bal Gangadhar
Tilak declared that the election of president was not according to
the rules. Thus the Surat session clearly saw the division of the
congress. It was the big blow to the nationalist movement. Though
officially moderates controlled the congress the extremist leaders
became popular with the masses. The Surat episode has been
described by Dr. Annie Besant as the ‘saddest episode in the
history of the Congress’. The extremists had to remain outside the
fold of Congress till 1916, when as a result of the efforts of Dr.
Annie Besant, there was a reunion between the moderates and the
extremists.
Lucknow session (1916) of Congress was very significant. It
saw the union between moderates and extremist leaders. After the
release from Mandalay in 1914, Tilak was convinced that the unity
of the congress was essential for the success of national
movement. Tilak and Annie Besant took the initiative towards the
unification of the congress. The other significance of the session
was the coming of the congress and the Muslim League closer. It
was also called as Lucknow Pact as it united Congress and Muslim
League for the cause of Khilaphat movement.
5.7HOME RULE MOVEMENT
During the First World War the Indian National Movement
witnessed ag r o w t ho ff r e e d o mm o v e m e n ts e i z i n gt h eo p p o r t u n i t y
provided by the British involvement in the war. The revolutionary
organizations like ‘ Gadar ’ attempted to overthrow of British rule. At
this time ‘Home Rule League’ was launched by Lokmanya Tilak
and Ann ie Besant to demand political reforms in India. The
objective of the Home Rule League movement was to attain Home
Rule or self -Government within the British Empire by constitutional
means and to educate and organize public opinion towards the
attainment of the same without any violence. In order to achieve the
objective of the movement, Tilak and Annie Besant cooperated with
each other and travelled together across the country. They secured
cordial response from the people everywhere. This led the British
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Tilak many times for delivering seditious speeches across the
country. The leaders of the Home Rule League decided to organize
a national alliance of the Leagues across India to demand Home
Rule or self-government within the British Empire. The prominent
leader of the league was Tilak. He founded the First league in the
city of Pune. This movement created excitement among many
leaders. The leadership provided by Tilak and Annie Besant
attracted many leaders toward it. They failed to get support of
congress and Muslim League. However Tilak promoted the cause
of Home Rule League all over India through various campaigns. His
lectures and his popularity created enthusiasm among the people
about the home rule league. The leaders of this movement were
inspired by the ‘Irish Home Rule’ Movement.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak worked in Maharashtra and Karnataka
to make Home rule movement successful. The main objective of
the movement was to build up an agitation aro und the demand of
Home rule. This was to be achieved by promoting political
education and discussion. The members of the home rule
movement were opposed to violence and revolutionary agitations.
They were willing to cooperate with the British Government in its
war efforts. In return they expected the British Government to grant
home rule to India. Annie Besant promoted the Home Rule
Movement through regional languages in various articles in
newspapers such as ‘Common Will’a n d‘ N e wI n d i a ’ .T h eB r i t i s h
Gover nment tried to suppress the Home Rule Movement. They
introduced the press censorship to prevent the spread of the news
of the leagues activities. Annie Besant was arrested by the British
authority. However due to large scale protests the Government
release dh e r . Although, the people supported the movement, it
declined following the August Declaration of 1917 of the British
Government by Montague, the then secretary of State for India.
Check your progress:
1.Highlight the contribution of Home Rule movement .
5.8SUMMARY
After the foundation of the All India National Congress the
British Government began to oppose to the programmes andmunotes.in

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policies the same Congress. The Congress worked in different
phases as the Moderates, the Extremists and the Gandhi E ra. The
Moderates were dominated by G.K.Gokhale, Dadabhai Naoroji and
many others, who had petitioning memorials, public meetings and
extensive writings in newspapers, as its programmes, policies and
tactics. One of the groups headed by B.G. Tilak known as Extremist
came up due to internal and external factors, which followed
Swadeshi and Boycott movements and wanted to expel the British
out of India. It wanted independence first then reforms whereas the
Moderates wanted reforms first with the help of the B ritish. The
British regarded Tilak as the father of Indian unrest who was the
main Pillar of the Extremist phase of Indian National Congress. Bal
Gangadhar Tilak died on 1stAugust 1920 which led to the end of
Extremist phase in India .
5.9ADDITIONAL READ INGS
1.Bipan Chandra, History of Modern India , Orient Blackswan,
2009.
2.Bipan Chandra et al., India’s Struggle for Independence ,
Penguin, New Delhi, 1987.
3.Bipan Chandra ,A .T r i p a t h i ,B a r u nD e , Freedom struggle,
National Book Trust, India, 1972.
4.B.L. Grover and S. Grover, AN e wL o o ka tM o d e r nI n d i a n
History, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, 2001.
5.Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and its Fragments ,O x f o r d
University Press, New Delhi, 1933.
6.Sekhar Bandyopadhyay ,From Plassey to Partition :A History of
Modern India ,Orient Blackswan, 2004.
7.Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885 -1947 , Macmillan, Madras,
1996.
5.10QUESTIONS
1.Account for the rise of the Extremist phase of Indian Congress.
2.Examine the programmes and policies of the Extremist
Congress.
3.Evaluate the role of Ba lG a n g a d h a rT i l a ki nt h eI n d i a nN a t i o n a l
Movement.
4.Discuss the contribution of Lokmanya Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai
and Bipin Chandra Pal in the Extremist phase of Indian
National Congress.
5.Write an essay on Hole Rule Movement in India.
munotes.in

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88Unit -6
REVOLUTIONARY NATIONALISM
Unit Structure :
6.1 Objectives
6.2 Introduction
6.3 Origin and Aims of the Revolutionary Movement
6.4 Causes for the emergence of Revolutionary
6.5 Revolutionary Activities in Maharashtra
6.5.1 Revolt of Vasudev B alwant Phadke
6.5.2 Chaphekar Brothers
6.5.3 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
6.5.4 Madanlal Dhingra
6.5.5 Anant Laxman Kanhere
6.5.6 Vishnu Ganesh Pingale
6.5.7 Shivram Hari Rajguru
6.5.8 Senapati Bapat
6.5.9 Hutatma Bhai Kotwal
6.6 Revolutionary activi ties in Punjab
6.6.1 The Kakori Conspiracy Cas
6.6.2 Trial & execution of Bhagat Singh
6.7 Revolutionary activities in Bengal
6.7.1 Anushilan Samiti
6.7.2 The Alipore Conspiracy
6.7.3 Revival of Revolutionary Nationalism
6.7.4 Surya Sen
6.8 Revo lutionary activities in Europe and other Western
Countries
6.8.1 Madanlal Dhingra
6.8.2 Madame Cama
6.8.3 The Ghadar Party
6.8.4 The Indian Independence Committee in Berline
6.8.5 The Komagata Maru Incident
6.9 Summary
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896.1 OBJECT IVES
a)Understand the origin of the Revolutionary nationalism
c)Learn the revolutionary activities in Maharashtra
d)Understand the revolutionary activities in Maharashtra .
e)Get the idea of revolutionary activities in Bengal.
f)Learn the revolutionary activ ities in Europe, America, Germany
andFrance.
6.1INTRODUCTION
The second half of the 19thCentury witnessed the rise of
revolutionary nationalism which also sought to India's independence.
The exploitation of the masses by the British authority gave ris et o
the increasing sense of nationalism among the Indians. The
exploitation of cultivators, artisans, landless labours, increased
poverty and recurrence of droughts and an inhuman approach of the
British ruler to the people was horrifying. The British arr ogance led to
the different types of reactions from the different section of the society.
Af e we d u c a t e dp e o p l ew h ow e r ei n s p i r e db yw e s t e r n democratic
values like liberalism, equality and modern education sincerely
believed in the superiority of western c ulture. These people were liberal
and ardent believer in British sense of justice. These leaders who
were known as moderate were instrumental behind the establishment
of the congress in 1885. However the more radical groups section of
youth were no longer interested in moderate politics. They believed in
mass agitations against the British. Unlike Moderates they drew
inspiration from the ancient Indian past. But the more radical section of
youth was not interested in the moderate or extremist politics. Thes e
people believed in revolutionary path. They were opposing the British
by tooth and nail. At the same time they aimed to remove social
inequality in the society. Revolutionaries aimed to solve the problem
by eliminating age -old traditions and the politica li n f l u e n c eo ft h e
British. The revolutionary groups were aware of their strength and
limitations. They were well aware of the fact that by killing few officers
andeliminating some British loyalist, they would never achieve their
goal of independence. How ever they aimed at creating
consciousness among Indian by offering their lives in the service of
motherland. The land of Maharashtra created many such
revolutionaries who laid their lives for the sake of Indian
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906.3ORIGIN AND AIMS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENT
The revolutionary movement was originated in the sense of
nationalism. It is widely believed that the British brought an effective
administrative set up and sound educational system in India. The
earlier educated class came to be influenced by the British liberalism.
However, the masses in India had to pay heavily for their livelihood
because destruction of the traditional set up of Indian economy by the
British. They also tried to bring tribal areas under their own
jurisdiction in order to exploit natural resources. The British Officers
became arrogant and believed in supremacy of white race. The
Indian revolutionary movement was rooted in these circumstances.
They opposed the British policies by tooth and nail. Unlike
moderates san dextremists, they didn't have to face the dilemma of
choosing political or social reform. Some of the revolutionaries took
inspiration from the past. The revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and
Rajguru believed in total reconstruction of Indian society on t he
socialist model. Unlike moderates sand extremists, they believed in
violent acts such as killing British officers, robbing the train and
plundering the British treasury and arms and ammunitions. They
were ready to die for the sake of motherland to free India from the yoke
of British imperialism.
6.4CAUSES FOR THE EMERGENCE OF
REVOLUTIONARY
There were several factors responsible for the revolutionary
nationalism during the closing quarters of the nineteenth century.
Some of the important factors were a su n d e r -
2.4.1 The British introduced the education system on the western
line that was responsible for the rise of a middle class. This
western educated class was enough sensitive to appalling misery
of the Indian people but it was unable to express open ly their
growing indignation & taking positive action against the British.
2.4.2 There were several natural calamities, as flood & famines,
especially the famine in 1877, which cost around six million lives.
The problem of unemployment among the educated middle class
of landless farmers, apprehended them about their future. This
complicated situation was aggravated by every action of the British
government.
2.4.3 The tyrannical role of the British undermined the individual or
national advancement. The ver nacular press Act of 1878, the
drama performance act of 1878, and the arms of Act 1878 gagged
the Indians, denied Indians the right to stage themselves
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912.4.4 The Law members introduced the llber tB i l lt oc l e a ra n o m a l y
in the Judicial administration. But the British government could not
pass the bill due to the determined European opposition that
caused frustration &helplessness among the Indians, which give
birth to the revolutionary nationalism.
2.4.5 The socio -religious leaders as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ram
Krishnan Paramhansa, and Vivekananda initiated renaissance,
which fired the emotions of the revolutionaries.
6.5 REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN MAHARASHTRA
6.5.1 Revolt of Vasudev Balwant Phadk e:
Vasudev Balwant Phadke single handedly sought to build a
revolutionary organization to overthrow the British regime. He was
the first person who made systematic efforts to organize revolt
against the British. He launched the armed struggle against the
British supremacy with the help of the other sections of the society
such as Ramoshis, Bhills and other tribes. Vasudev Balwant
Phadke was a clerk in the service of the British. He was denied a
leave to attend his mother when she was ill. This led to the r ising
dislike in his mind against the British Government. His feelings
were deeply stirred by the devastation caused in western India by
the terrible famine of 1876 -77. The ill -effect of famine and the
government's failure to take early initiative to solve the problem
deeply affected him. He made up his mind to launch an armed
revolt against the British. He now undertook the mission of
collecting men, money and arms for the proposed revolt. He
convinced the Ramoshis and others that the existence of the Brit ish
rule was the main cause of their present problems. He established
a secret revolutionary society and undertook a vigorous training of
the recruits in the use of the arms. Ramoshis, Kunabis, Dhangars
and Chambhars were ready to fight against the British .
The first organized revolt of the people in Maharashtra
against the British held on 22 February 1879 under the
leadership of Vasudev Balwa ntPhadke. The news of Phadke's
revolt spread and it was appeared in newspaper which led to themunotes.in

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92government's worry. The British government saw it as a challenge
to their supremacy. Realizing the potential danger of Phadke's
decoities and Skirmishes with th e police, the government decided to
take swift action. On 29 March 1879, Phadke committed two
decoities and got money. However, there were quarrels about the
distribution of money. It seemed that his struggle was over. But he
recovered soon from situation. In May 1879, he issued his famous
proclamation denouncing the British policy of economic exploitation
of India and demanding economic relief for the peasants. The British
took serious note of it and announced a reward of 3,000 for the
arrest of Phadke. At last he was captured by the British authority in a
temple in a village in the Kaladgi district of Hyderabad on 21 July
1879. He was charged for collection of men, arms and with the
intention of waging war against the Government. He was transported
for lif eimprisonment to the Eden jail in 1880 where he died in 1883.
Phadke's revolt left a legacy of revolution and he sowed the seeds of
patriotism.
6.5.2 Chaphekar Brothers :
The Chaphekar brothers were the first to make use of violent
actions for political purpose. They were pioneer in the militant and
extremist phase of nationalism. The Chaphekar brothers Damodar,
Balkrishna and Vasudev were born at Chinchwad in Pune. They had
no regular school education. The three brothers developed deep
hatred towards Eng lish rule. They continued the militant activities in
Maharashtra in order to pressurize the British Government to leave
India. Bhagavad -Gita had great influence on them. They founded the
Hindu dharma Sanrakshini Sabha in 1894 and carried out various
activi ties in and around Pune area. In the same year, they circulated
pamphlets and leaflets during the Ganesh festival and motivated the
people to rise in arms against the British as Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj had done against the Mughal emperor. They gathered
round them 150 boys of their own age. All these boys became part
ofChaphekar club in 1896. The chief aim of their society was the
removal of obstacles to the Hindu religion. The club trained
members in gymnastics. They hated British because they thought
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Poona and neighboring area came under the dreaded
disease known as plague in 1897, which killed several thousand
people. The British Government established committee known as
Plague Relief Committee under the charge of W. C. Rand, a
headstrong British officer, who troubled people and violated their
secrecy of life instead o f providing them relief. He became so
unpopular that Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar to teach him a
lesson and they shot W. C. Rand and Lieutenant C. E. Ayerst
when they were returning back house from attending the sixtieth
anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria on 22 June 1897.
Finally, Chapekar brothers were arrested, tried and sentenced to
death, which created much indignation all over India. This
incident brought in the chain of militant activities throughout
Maharashtra. Thus the inspiration o fC h a p h e k a r brothers was
more religious than nationalist.
6.5.3 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar :
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar popularly known as
Swatantryavir Savarkar was born in 1883 in the Nasik district.
Right from his childhood, he was staunch Hindu and proud of
Hindu religion. Unlike other revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh
and Chandra Shekhar Azad, Savarkar made use of religion to
create nationalism. He appealed people for the reconstruction of
the nation on the basis of staunch national feelings. Ganesh
Savarkar and Vinayak Savarkar were the real spirit and inspiration
behind the militants' revolutionaries and their activities against the
intolerable foreign rule of Britishers in India. They were
responsible to spread the revolutionary and secret societies in
different parts of Maharashtra in the early twentieth century. In
1899, V.D. Savarkar and his colleagues set up an organization
known as 'Mitra Mela'. The Mela organized Ganpati festival and
Shivaji festivals. It also arranged the publication of revolut ionary
literature. The Mela aroused the nationalist spirit among young
people. 'Abhinav Bharat' founded in 1904 by Ganesh Savarkar
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94organization in Maharashtra. 'Abhinav Bharat' owes its birth to a
secret society called 'Rashtra Bhakta Samuha'. It was started with
the objective of winning complete independence. Its methods were
to create unrest among the people by spreading sense of
nationalism.
Vinayak Savarkar completed his graduation at Fergusson
College in Pune. He was selected for the Shivaji scholarship
offered by Shamji Krishna Verma. Although, Vinayak Sarvarkar
left for London in 1906, the organisation, Abhinav Bharat society
flourished in India and undertook several militant activities
throughout Maharashtra and other parts of the country. In England
he carried his revolutionary activities. He was greatly influenced
by Joseph Mazzini, the Italian nationa list hero. He was not
impressed by the struggle led by the congress. He was of firm view
that only armed resistance could solve the problem of Indian
independence. He wrote many books to inspire the young minds.
In 1910, Savarkar was arrested in England. G overnment had
planned to take him to India. On his way to India, he escaped
through the pothole and swam to the shore of France. However,
the French police handed him over to the British. In India he was
tried for treason in the court. He was condemned for life
imprisonment in the Andaman Island. After his release in the year
1924 from the prison, Savarkar had given up revolutionary activities
and concentrated on religious issues. He provided leadership to
Hindu Mahasabha and championed the cause of Hindus. Later he
was detained to Ratnagiri till his unconditional release on 10 May,
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Shyamji Krishna Verma.
6.5.4Madanlal Dhingra :
Madanlal Dhingra was inspired by the revolutionary
activities of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. District Magistrate of
Nasik arrested Ganesh D. Savarkar on the instigation of Curzon
Wyllie. He used to send spy to know about Indian students
activities. Madanlal Dhi ngra had planned to kill Lord Curzon.
However he did not get opportunity. When Wyllie attended a
gathering at the Imperial Institute in London, Madanlal shot him with
aP i s t o l . He was brought to trial, sentenced to death and hanged.
About the same time Gan esh Savarkar, the elder brother of V. D.
Savarkar was convicted in Nasik on the Charge of Waging war
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6.5.5Anant Laxman Kanhere :
Due to the exploitative nature of the British regime and the
inspirational leadership of Savarkar many young minds were
influenced by the sense of nationalism. Anant Kanhere was one of
them. In 1907 the militant activities and revolutio nary movements
reached to its height in Maharashtra. As the result of it, Anant
Laxman Kanhere killed Mr. Arthur Jackson, District Magistrate of
Nasik in the theatre of Nasik. The British Government arrested Anant
Laxman Kanhere, Karve and Deshpande for th e same crime. It
was known as Nasik conspiracy case of which most of the
prominent members of Abhinav Bharat were arrested.They were
hanged to death after a cursory trial.
6.5.6Vishnu Ganesh Pingale :
Vishnu Pingale was born in 1888 in Pune. He was educated
in Samartha Vidyalaya. In 1911, he went to USA. There he came
under influence of Gadar movement. Lala Hardayal greatlymunotes.in

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97influenced him. V ishnu Pingale became active revolutionary. In
1915, he was caught by the British.
Pingley.
6.5.7Shivram Hari Rajguru
Rajgur uw a sb o r na tK h e di nP u n ei n1 9 0 8 .H ew a se d u c a t e d
at Varanasi. He was well acquainted with the physical sports. He also
participated in Seva Dal. He began to develop association with
Hindustan Socialist Republic Party. Due to the examples of Chandra
Shek har Azad, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev he turned himself for
armed revolution. Rajguru and Bhagat Singh killed British officer
Saunders to take revenge, who was responsible for the death of Lala
Lajpatrai. in 1931, he was tried along with Bhagat Singh and
Batu keshwar Dutt. He was given death sentence and hanged for
his revolutionary activities. Today his birthplace is recognized as
Rajguru Nagar. He set great example of the revolutionary
activities and sacrificed his life for the motherland.
6.5.8Senapati Bapat :
Pandurang Bapat popularly known as Senapati Bapat was
instrumental in spreading the art of making bombs. He supplied
bomb manual to revolutionaries of Maharasht ra. He was born in
Ahmednagar and graduated from Deccan College in Pune. During
his college days, he decided to dedicate his life in the service of
motherland. He participated in the Beed rebellion. He obtained themunotes.in

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98scholarship and went to England for studi es in mechanical
engineering. Due to his revolutionary activities the university stopped
his scholarship. In England he met Russian revolutionaries. He
obtained the necessary information on the working of secret
societies. He went from London to Paris. In Paris, he learnt the skill of
bomb making from Russian revolutionaries. He carried the manual of
bomb making in India. Indian revolutionaries soon learnt the art of
making bomb. In his later part of life, he was influenced by the
philosophy and techniques of Mahatma Gandhi and accepted the
path of Satyagraha and non -violence.
5.5.9H u t a t m aB h a iK o t w a l :
Karjat taluka in Raigad District was very active in the Indian
freedom movement. Hutatma Bhai Kotwal advocated fight for the
farmers against the moneylenders' exploitation. The British
Government being the great supporter of moneylenders persecuted
Kotwal for his activities. He along with Gomaji Patil a nd Bhagat
Master established the 'Azad Dasta' to help the poor. They started
many schools and granaries to stock the food grains for people. In the
struggle of 1942, Bhai Kotwal's associates formed Prati Sarkar
(parallel government) in Karjat. He along wit hH i r a j iP a t i lw a ss h o t
dead at Sinhgad. Hutatma smarak was built at that place in the
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99
Bhai Kotwal and Hiraji Pati l.
Though revolutionaries adopted different methods to achieve
the national independence, they lacked the mass support required in
the struggle for independence against the British rule. The masses
had great regard for revolutionaries for their activities but they
could not support the revolutionary activities and followed the path
of non -violence and other techniques of Gandhi. The sacrifices
made by revolutionaries added glorious chapter in the history of
national struggle and contributed immensely to ac hieve
independence.
6.6 REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN PUNJAB
The revolutionaries under Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh
Chatterji &Sachindranath Sanyal met in Kanpur in October 1924
&founded the Hindustan Republic Association. Its aim was to over
throw the British rule from India. For all these activities, money was
required. To achieve this objective the Hindustan Revolutionary Army
stopped the down train at Kakori, an obscure village in Lucknow
district on 9th August 1925 and looted the railway cash .T h e
government arrested large number of young men and tried them in
the Kakori conspiracy case. The chief leaders of the robbery,
Ashfaqulla Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshanlal were sentenced
tod e a t h .
Bhagat Singh :
Bhagat Singh was an Indian revolutio nary socialist who was
influential in the Indian independence movement. He studied
European revolutionary movements as a teenager and was
attracted to anarchist and Marxist ideologies. He worked with
several revolutionary organizations and became prominent in the
Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), which changed its name
to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)
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100
Singh became disillusioned with Mahatma Gandhi's
philosophy of non violence after he called off the non -co-operation
movement. Gandhi's decision followed the violent murders of
policemen by villager s who were reacting to the police killing three
villagers in the 1922 Chauri Chaura incident. Singh joined the
Young Revolutionary Movement and began to advocate for the
violent overthrow of the British Government in India.
Inspired by the Young Italy mov ement of Giuseppe Mazzini
he founded the Indian nationalist youth organization Naujawan
Bharat Sabha in March 1926. He also joined the Hindustan
Republican Association, which had prominent leaders, such as
Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Shahid
Ashfaqallah Khan.
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101
Ramprasad Bismil.
Ashfaqulla Khan
Police bec ame concerned with Singh's influence on youths
and arrested him in May 1927 on the pretext that he had been
involved in a bombing that had taken place in Lahore in October
1926. He was released on a surely of Rs. 60,000 five weeks after
his arrest. He wrot ef o r ,a n de d i t e d , Urdu and Punjabi newspapers,
published in Amritsar and also contributed to low -priced pamphlets
published by the Naujawan Bharat Sabha that excoriated the
British. He also wrote for Kirti, the journal of the Kirti Kisan :>i r t y
("Worker sa n dP e a s a n t sP a r t y " )a n db r i e f l yf o rt h e VeerArjun
news paper, published in Delhi. He often used pseudonyms,
including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.
Singh's plan was to explode a bomb inside the Central
Legislative Assembly. The nominal inte ntion was to protest against
the Public Safety Bill, and the Trade Dispute Act, which had been
rejected by the Assembly but were being enacted by the Viceroy
using his special powers; the actual intention was for the
perpetrators to allow themselves to be arrested so that they could
use court appearances to create awareness among the public
regarding revolutionary activities.
6.6.2 Trial & execution of Bhagat Singh :
Bhagat Singh & Batukeshwar Dutt were tried in the
Assembly Bomb Case. Their fearless &defiant attitude in the courts
their slogans as Inquilab Zindabad, 'Down with imperialism, Longmunotes.in

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102live the proletariat, and their revolutionary songs as Sarfaroshi Ki
Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Main Hai and Mera rang de basanti chola
were reported in the newspapers. This won them support of the
people all over country, and Bhagat Singh become a household
name in India. While in Delhi jail, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar
demanded that they be treated not as criminals but as political
prisoners. Jatindranath Das, who wen t on fast on similar grounds,
died on 13th of September 1930, on the sixty -fourth day of the fast
in the Lahore prison. The trail and subsequent execution of Bhagat
Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on 23rd March 1931 become a political
issue. A resolution was p assed by the Karachi session of the congress
in1931 commending their bravery contribution to the freedom struggle
of India.
Batukeshwar Dutt.
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103
Jatin Das.
6.7REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN BENGAL
The revolutionary activity in Bengal was the outcome of the
failure of constitutional agitation to prevent the partition of Bengal in
1905. Every year the steadily increasing number of young men turned
to revolutiona ry activities as the only possible means to attain their
goals. The nationalists argued that nothing could be achieved without
the use of violence. They were of the opinion that freedom could be
earned only by fire & sword as the Italians and the French ha de a r n e d
their freedom. Further, the victory of Japan over Russia, in 1905
seemed to strengthen their argument for force & violence.
6.7.1 Anushilan samiti.
The first revolutionary organization in Bengal was the
Anushilan samiti. It attracted a large num ber of recruits. However, a
small band of young men under the leadership of Barindrakumar
Ghosh, were in the forefront of the revolutionary movement of the
Anushilan samiti. They published a periodical named Jugantar, which
openly preached armed reballion in order to create the necessary
revolutionary mentality among the people. The Jugantar was
suppressed in 1908,a judge observed, that the Jugantar exhibited a
burning hatred -of the British race, breathed revolution in every line,
and pointed out how revolu tion was to be affected Both Sandhya &
Jugantar openly preached the cult of violence & wrote that the money
that was required for financing the revolutionary activities could be
obtained by plundering post offices, banks, government treasuries
&by robbing the luxury -loving rich. Two members of the Anusilan
samiti were sent abroad to be trained in the manufacture of the
explosives. On their, return regular arrangements were made for
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104made to assassi nate Kingsford the vindictive judge who had
sentenced many political prisoners to heavy terms of punishment.
Two revolutionary youths, Kudiram Bose & prafulla Chaki were
entrusted with the task of assassinating Kingsford. On 30th April
1908,they threw a bo mb at the carriage in which they believed
Kingsford to be travelling. But unfortunately, two British ladies who
were in the carriage were inadvertently killed. Kudiram was
arrested and hanged on 11th August 1908.
6.7.2The Alipore Conspiracy:
The governm ent search for illegal arms in Calcutta led to the
arrest of thirty -four persons including the Ghosh brothers. Their trial
came to be known as the famous Alipore conspiracy case. One of
the arrested persons Narendra Gosain became the approver., But
before he could give his evidence, he was shot dead inside the jail.
Of the accused in the Alipore conspiracy case, fifteen were
ultimately found guilty & some of them including Barindrakumar
Ghosh were transported to life. After the Alipore conspiracy case,
Rash Behari Bose planned a nationwide -armed uprising with the
help of Indian soldiers of the British army. However following the
discovery of the plot by the police, Rash Behari Bose escaped to
Japan &continued his revolutionary activities there.
6.7.3Reviva lO fR e v o l u t i o n a r yN a t i o n a l i s m:
During the First World War, the revolutionary leaders were in
either jail or absconding. Following the end of the war, the British
government, released some of the revolutionaries to create a more
harmonious atmosphere. On the plea of Gandhiji, C.R.Das and other
leaders, most of the revolutionary nationalists either joined the Indian
national movement or suspended their own activities. The non -
cooperation movement under the leadership of Mahatma gandhi was
suddenly suspende df o l l o w i n gt h em o bv i o l e n c ea tC h a u r ic h a u r ai n
U.P. Many young people began to question the very basic strategy of
the national leadership &its emphasis on non -violence and began to
look for alternatives. Some of them were convinced with the idea
that vi olent methods alone would free India. Gradually two separate
groups of revolutionary nationalism developed one in Punjab, U.P.,
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105
C.R. Das.
6.7.4Surya Sen :
In the later part of 1920's, the most active & famous of the
Benga lrevolutionary groups was t heChittagong group le dbyS u r y a
Sen.He had actively participated in the non -cooperation movemen t
and had become a teacher in a national school in Chittagong. Surya
Sen was arrested &imprisoned for two years from 1926 to 1928 for
revolutionary activity. He was a brilliant and inspiring organizer. A
group led by Surya Sen captured the government armo ry on 18th
April 1930, and for a while took control of the town. Chittagong. All the
revolutionary groups gathered outside the police armory where Surya
Sen took a military salute, hoisted the national flag among shouts of
Bande Mataram and Inquilab Zindab ad,and proclaimed a provisional
revolutionary government. However, it was not possible for this small
group of revolutionaries to put up resistance against the army. They
escaped to the Chittagong hills and continued to wage guerilla
warfare for another t hree years.
The sustained government action and repression gradually
decimated the revolutionary nationalist’s ranks. The death of
Chandrashekhar Azad in a shooting counter in a public park at
Allahabad in February 1931 gave a great blow to the revolutio nary
movement in Punjab, U.P. and Bihar. It is important to note that the
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106Theirs was not the politics of a mass movement. They were not
successful in politically activating the masses. Their contact with
masses was lacking. However, the contribution of the
revolutionaries to the freedom struggle of India Cannot be under
estimated. Their deep patriotism, courage and determination, and
sense of sacrifice moved the Indian people.
Surya Sen.
6.8 REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE AND
OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES
Shyamji Krishnavarma, was a native of Kathiawar in Gujarat
and ag r e a tS a n s k r i ts c h o l a r .H ew a sam e m b e ro fM i t r a m e l a
Abhinav Bharat revolutionary group. He left Bombay in 1897 and
went to London. He started a monthly journal, the Indian
sociologist, an organ of freedom struggle of India in 1905, Shyamji
established the Indian Home Rule society and a hostel for Indian
students living in London, popularly known as the Indian House.
Shyamji. therefore, gathered around him many young
revolutionaries. The most important among them were V .D.
Savarkar.Madanlal Dhingra, Madame Cama, and Lala Hadyal. In
1907 as the British authorities decided to take action against the
activities of Shyamji, shifted his head quarters to Paris. Savarkar
took up the political leadership of the Indian House in L ondon.
According to intelligence report that there was a fashion to read at
Sundays's meeting some important passages from the book on the
Indian Mutiny, prepared by V.D. Savarkar, to prepare the Indian
people in London for the cause of the Indian struggle for
independence. The practices gained significance as preparations got
under way to celebrate the golden jubilee of the First war of
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1076.8.1MADANLAL DHINGRA :
In 1909 Madanlal Dhingra, a Maharashtrian youth and an
asso ciate of Savar kar assassinated Curzon -Wylie an A.D.C.to the
Secretary of State for India. He was spying on Indian students.
Madanlal Dhingra was arrested and brought to trial, and was hanged
on 1st August1909. The only lesson, he wrote before his death,
required in Indi ais to learn how to die and the only way to teach it is
by dying alone. About the same time, Ganesh Savarkar, the elder
brother of Vinayak was convicted in Nasik on a charge of abetment of
waging war against the king under section 121A of I.P.C. He was
sentenced to transportation on 9th June 1909. When Vinayak was
informed about this, he thrice repeated his oath to wreak vengeance
on the English. Savarkar was arrested and sent to India to stand trial
in the Nasik conspiracy case and other charges. His atte mpt to
escape from the ship at Marseilles failed, and he was sentenced to
transportation for life after his trial in India. He was sent to Andaman
along with his brother Ganesh Savarkar to face inhuman torture till
1924. This noble son of India died in 196 6.
6.8.2MADAME CAMA:
Madame Bhikaji Cama was another revolutionary who was
drawn into the circle of Shyamji Krishanvarma. Madame Cama had
been popularly described as the Mother of Indian Revolution .S h el e f t
India in 1902 and was engaged since then in ma king revolutionary
propaganda against the British rule in India. She took active part in
editing the Indian sociologist and represented India at the Stuttgart
conference of socialists in 1907. At the confrence, Madame Cama
unfurled for the first time India nnational flag on the foreign soil.
Due to her anti -British activities, she was forced to shift her
residence from London to Paris. After thirty years of patriotic
service in London, Paris and other cities of Europe, her friends
succeeded in repatriating her to India in November 1936.She died
on 12th August 1937.
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1086.8.3 The Ghadar Party :
The outbreak o f the First World War in 1914 gave a new
impetus to the freedom struggle. It was felt that England's difficulty
was Indian's opportunity. This opportunity was fully exploited by
the Ghadar revolutionaries based in North America. A number of
Punjabi immigra ntshad settled down on the west coast of North
America They had gone to America in search of livelihood.
During the Swadeshi movement Indian nationalists in the
United States published number of journals containing articles
against the British rule in In dia. As a result of these activities, a
number of political organizations were established in America. Lala
Hardyal, a political exile from India, organized the nationalists in the
United States and published a weekly paper, the Ghadar for free
circulation . These developments led to the revolutionary
movement known as the Ghadar movement, Ghadar means
revoluation. The Ghadar movement had its headquarters known as
the Jugantar Ashram in San Francisco. It highlighted the daring
deeds of the Anusilan Samiti, t he yugantar group and the Russian
secret societies. The Ghadar was circulated widely among Indians
in North America. Trinidad, Honduras the Philippines, Hong Kong,
China, Malaya, Singapore and India. Within a short period, the
Ghadar succeeded in changing thePunjabi immigrant to that of a
rebel whose only aim was to destroy the British hold on his
motherland.
6.8.4 The Indian Independence Committee In Berlin :
After the outbreak of the First World War, Hardyal and other
Indians abroad moved to Germany and set up the Indian
independence committee at Berline. The committee planned to bring
about a general insurrection in India. For this purpose foreign arms
were to be s ent to India from abroad; expatriated Indians were tomunotes.in

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109return to mother country, where they were to be joined by Indian
soldiers and by the waiting revolutionaries.
The policy and activities of the Berlin committee and the
Ghadar party had greatly influen ced the revolutionaries of Bengal.
Hoping to be supplied with arms form outside, they were prepared to
stage an uprising.
6.8.5 The Komagata Maru Incident:
Canada had imposed strict restrictions on Indian immigration
except those who made a continuous jou rney from India. But in
November 1913, the Canadian Supreme Court allowed entry to thirty -
five Indians who had not made a continuous journey. Encouraged by
this judgment, Gurelit Sing, an Indian contractor living in Singapore,
decided to charter a ship to carry Indians living in various regions in
East and the South East Asia to Vancouver carrying a total of 376
Indian passengers The ship komagata Maru began its journey to
Vancouver. When the ship arrived in Vancouver, it was not allowed
into the port and w as cordoned off by the police. Soon the komagata
Maru was forced out of Canadian waters. Before it reached Japan,
the first world war broke out, and the British government passed
orders that no passenger be allowed to disembark anywhere on the
way, but onl ya tC a l c u t t a .T h i sc r e a t e da n t i -British sentiments among
the Indian communities at every port that the ship touched. On
landing at Calcutta on 27 September 1914, the harassed
passengers, provoked by the hostile attitude of the authorities
resisted the police. This led to a clash in which eighteen
passengers were killed and a number of Sikhs were arrested
6.9SUMMARY
The leaders in the Indian national movements were divided
into three categories as the Moderates, the Extremists and the
Revolutionaries. T he moderates, who drew inspiration from the
British constitutional history and wanted to achieve self -
government through the constitutional means. The Extremists
wanted Swaraj and believed in the policy of boycott. The
Revolutionaries who also believed in Swaraj but resorted to violent
methods.
There were several factors, which led to the emergence of
the Revolutionary nationalism as the rise of English educated
middle class, but the class was unable to express openly their
indignation. The national calmit ies like famines, floods and
unemployment, the acts like the vernacular press Act, the Arms
Act and the failure to pass the llbert Bill caused frustration among
the people. The influence of the Bengal renaissance leaders, the
Hindu philosophy and the memor y of Shivaji's struggled formunotes.in

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110freedom led to the rise of Revolutionary nationalism. Revolutionary
activities in Maharashtra started by Vasudev Balwant Phadake.
He was influed by Justice Ranade and held the British responsible
for the sufferings of Indian pe ople during the Deccan famine of
1876 -77. The Chapekar brothers shot dead to W.C.Rand and
C.E.Ayerst the British officers.Savarkar brothers and their Abhinav
Bharat Society and Mitramela stood at the top in the revolutionary
activities in Maharashtra. The Anushilan Samiti was the first
revolutionary organization in Bengal. Jugantar, a periodical
published by the Anushilan Samiti; spread revolutionary spirit in
every corner of the state. Kudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki tried to
shoot kingford. The Alipore co nspiracy case against the bomb
manufactures in Calcutta stirred the British administration in the
country. In the same way, an attempt on the life of Viceroy
Harding &aplan of armed uprising against the British by Ras
Behari Bose had shaken j; administ ration. The Kakori Conspiracy
case, the establishment of the Hindustan Socialist Republican
Association ,hurling a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly
by Bhagat Singh & Bhatukeshwar Dutt were very important
activities of the Revolutionary nationalists . Revolutionary activities
were carried out in Europe and other western countries also by
Shamji Krishna Varma Lala Hardayal and other
revolutionaries.
6.10QUESTIONS
1Give an account of the emergence of Revolutionary Nationalism
in Ind ia.
2Give a brief account of the Revolutionary activities in
Maharashtra
during the freedom struggle of India.
3Assess the contribution of Revolutionary Nationalists from
Bengal to the freedom struggle of India.
4Discuss the Revolutionary activities carried o ut by Indian
nationalists in Europe.
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111Unit -7
GANDHIAN MOVEMENTS
Unit Structure: -
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Initial satyagraha
7.3 Background to Non -cooperation
7.4 Nagpur session of the Congress
7.5 Non-cooperation Movement
7.6 The Swaraj Party
7.7 Civil Disobedience Movement
7.8 First Phase of Civil Disob edience Movement
7.9 Second Phase of Civil Disobedience Movement
7.10 Quit India Movement
7.11 Conclusion
7.12 Further Reading
7.13 Broad Questions
7.0 OBJECTIVES:
1.To introduce students to Gandhian philosophy of Ahimsa,
Satyagraha.
2.Overview of Mahatma Gandhi’s early life, acti vities in South
Africa which helped him in the formulation of the philosophy
3.The efforts of Indians towards freedom under Gandhi’s
leadership.
4.The events and movements that helped in spreading the zeal of
nationalism all over India.
5.The change in British attitude towards India as the freedom
movements became more intense.
7.1.INTRODUCTION:
With the establishment of Indian National Congress in 1885,
Indian nationalism began to take a new shape. The early phase of
Congress, dominated by the Moderates (1885 -1905 ), applied the
method of prayers and petitions to the British Government to fulfilmunotes.in

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112the demands of Indians. They had greater faith in British sense of
justice and fair play. However, their policies could not achieve much
result. Therefore, a wave revolution ary nationalism began to
spread, which gave rise to extremist ideology, who resorted to
violent means to fight for freedom from British rule. The extremist
ideology remained dominant from 1905 -1920.
In the light of this background emerged the father of the
nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whom the nation calls
‘Mahatma’, on the political scene of India.
Born on 2ndOctober, 1869 in Kathiawar, Gujarat, Gandhiji
completed his education in England and became Barrister. After
returning to india, he began to practice in Bombay High Court.
Unsuccessful in the legal profession, he went to South Africa in
1893 & stayed there until 1914. During his stay there, he fought
against racial discrimination which denied human rights to Asians
necessary to live a civilize dl i f e .
In the course of his anti -discrimination movement in South
Africa, Gandhiji evolved the techniques of Passive Resistance,
Satyagraha, & Ahimsa.
Gandhiji came to India in January 1915 & was given a warm
welcome for his splendid work in South Africa. On advice of Gopal
Krishna Gokhale, whom he considered as his political Guru, he
travelled extensively a ll over India including Burma. He set up an
Ashram on the bank of Sabarmati river, near Ahmedabad. There,
he lived with his close associates who were taught the emotional &
moral lessons of Satyagraha & given rigorous training.munotes.in

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1137.2.INITIAL SATYAGRAPHA:
His en try into Indian politics took place during 1917 -18 when
he became involved in 3 local issues, involving peasants &
workers. Those issues were: Problems of Champaran (Bihar)
indigo farmers, Problems of the peasants of Kheda in Gujarat &
Industrial dispute i nt h et e x t i l em i l li n ,A h m e d a b a d .
7.2.1.Problems of Champaran (Bihar) indigo farmers:
Champaran farmers received maltreatment from European
plante rs and agents. Agents always gave uneconomic price of their
crops and during World War I, imposed illegal levies on them.
Gandhi enquired about the matter and got no response from
authorities there. Instead he was arrested for supporting farmers.
Finally, the Bihar government released him and also appointed
Champaran Agrarian Committee with Gandhi as one of the
members. Based on its recommendations the Champaran Agrarian
Act of 1917 was passed which fulfilled many demands of the indigo
farmers.
7.2.2.Problems of Peasants of Kheda (Gujarat):
In Kheda crops had failed in 1918 but government insisted
on full payment of land revenue. Gandhi called for Satyagraha andmunotes.in

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114asked peasants not to pay revenue. Finally, government agreed for
a compromise. This success brought Ga ndhi on the political scene
of India. After this incident, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became one
of his followers.
7.2.3.Industrial Dispute in textile Mill in Ahmedabad:
In 1918, at Ahmedabad, mill workers demanded 35%
increase in wages and went on strike. Gandhi advised workers to
adopt non -violence and went on a ‘fast unto death’. It attracted
attention of people all over india. The strike continued with intensity.
Finally, afraid of consequences the mill owners agreed the
demands of workers.
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1157.3.BACKGROUND TO THE NON -COOPERATION
MOVEMENT:
7.3.1.Rowla tt Act, 1919:
In view of the growing revolutionary terrorism & the on -going
world war I, the government of India appointed a committee in
1917, under the chairmanship of Sydney Rowlett, a Judge in
London, to investigate the nature & extent of revolutionary activities
& to suggest, legislation, if necessary, to deal effectives with them.
The committee, submitted its report in April 1918 &
suggested various changes in the machinery of law to deal
effectively with the revolutionary activities. The Imperial Legislative
Council (in England) passed the bill in March 1919 & accepted the
report. It came to be known as the Anarchical & Revolutionary
Crimes Act or the Rowlett Act. According to the act:
1) It provided for trial of offences by a special court. There was no
provision in the Act to appeal against the decisions of the court.
2) It gave aut hority to the govt. to search any place & arrest a
person without a warrant.
3) It provided for confinement without trial for a maximum period of
2 years.
7.3.2.Anti-Rowlett Satyagraha:
After the introduction of Rowlett Act, there was a nationwide
protest again st it. The nationalist leaders condemned the Act.
Gandhiji opposed the Rowlett Act. In 1919, he founded the
Satyagraha Sabha whose members took a pledge to disobey the
Act & to court arrest & imprisonment. It was a new method of
struggle.
In April 1919, c ountrywide hartal or strike was launched. This
was followed by mass protest & mob violence in Bombay,
Ahmedabad & several other towns. There was a remarkable
political awakening in India. There were hartals , strikes,
processions & demonstrations. But the m ovement lost momentum
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116
7.3.3.The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
The government was determined to suppr ess the mass
agitation. It repeatedly lathi -charged & fired upon unarmed
demonstrators at Bombay, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Calcutta & other
cities. Gandhiji called for nationwide strike on 6th April 1919. The
people responded with enthusiasm. The government decid ed to
meet the popular protest with repression, particularly in Punjab,
where agitations were more strong.
A large but unarmed crowd had gathered on 13th April 1919 at
Amritsar in the Jallianwala Bagh, to protest against the arrest of
their popular leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew &D r .S a t y a p a l .
General Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar, decided to
terrorize the people of Amritsar. He surrounded the Bagh with his
army unit, closed the exit with his troops, & then ordered his men to
shoot into the trap ped crowd with rifles & machine -guns.
Thousands were killed & wounded. After this massacre, martial law
was proclaimed throughout Punjab & people suffered from
uncivilized atrocities. A wave of terror spread throughout the
country.munotes.in

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117
Saiffudin Kitchlu.
General Dyer.
Jallianwala Baugh.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre changed the political
situation which became m ore adamant. It was soon followed by the
Khilafat Movement in 1920.
7.3.4.The Khilafat Movement (1920 -22):
The Muslims of India regarded the treatment of Turkey as a
great betrayal on the part of Britain & the Indian Muslims started amunotes.in

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118vigorous agitation to bring pressure on Britain to change its policy
towards Turkey. Hence, in support of the Sultan of Turkey or
Khalifa, they started a movement called " Khilafat Movement". Due
to the support of the congress the Khilafat movement grew in
strength.
InJune 1920, an all -party conference met at Allahabad &
approved a programme of boycott of schools, colleges & law
courts. The khilafat Committee launched a non -cooperation
movement in August 1920.
At the special session of the INC held in Calcutta in Sept
1920, a resolution was passed, at Mahatma Gandhi's instance, to
launch the Non -Cooperation movement.
Check your Pr ogress:
7.4.THE NAGPUR SESSION OF THE INDIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS (DECEMBER 1920)
The Nagpur session of the Congress accepted the resolution
passed at the Calcutta session in sept 1920. The congress in this
session outlined its goals as follows:
1.Demand for t he self -government within the British Empire was
replaced by the word “Swaraj”munotes.in

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1192.Revolutionary changes were brought about in the Congress
Organization, namely;
a. Congress membership made open to all adults,
b. the formation of an All -India Congress Commit tee,
c. creating a hierarchy of district, taluka, & village Congress
Committee,
d. reorganization of the Provincial Congress Committee on a
linguistic basis,
e. promotion of Swadeshi, particularly hand -spinning & weaving,
f. removal of untouchability a mong the Hindus & promotion of
Hindu -Muslim unity and use of Hindi as far as possible.
However, some older leaders of the congress did not like the
new turn in the national movement, so they left the Congress. The
new method of hartals, strikes, Satyagrah a, breaking laws, courting
of imprisonment was not liked by them. Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
G.S. Khaparde, Bipin Chandra Pal and Annie Besant were among
those who left the Congress during this period.
Check your progress
7.5.THE NON -COOPERATION MOVEMENT:
7.5.1.The Programme:
The programme of the movement had 2 main aspects:
Destructive & Constructive.
Under the first category ( Destructive) came;
1) surrender of officially conferred tittles &honours& resignation
from government service,
2) refusal to attend off icial & non -official functions,
3) gradual withdrawal of students from government educational
institutions,munotes.in

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1204) boycott of British courts & legislature by lawyers,
5) boycott of elections by candidates & voters
6) boycott of foreign goods.
The construct ive programme of the Non -Cooperation
movement comprised:
1) setting up of arbitration boards to take the place of courts,
2) founding of national schools & colleges where students leaving
govt. Schools & Colleges might continue their education,
3) promo tion of swadeshi,
4) popularization of Charkha & Khadi
5) raising a Volunteer Corps.
7.5.2.Progress of the Movement:
The years 1921 & 1922 witnessed an unprecedented
movement of the Indian people. Thousands of students left
government schools & colleges & join ed national schools &
colleges.
It was at this time that the ' Jamia MilliaIslamia' (National
Muslim University) of Aligarh, the Bihar Vidyapith, the Kashi
Vidyapith& the Gujarat Vidyapith came into existence. The Jamia
Millia later shifted to Delhi.
Acharya Narendra Dev, Dr.Zakir Husain &LalaLajpat Rai
were among the many distinguished teachers at these national
colleges & universities. Hundreds of lawyers, including Chittaranjan
Das (Deshbandhu), Motilal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad,
SaifuddinKitchlew, C. Raj agopalachari, Sardar Patel, Asaf Ali gave
up their legal practice.
The 'Tilak Swarajya Fund' was started to finance the Non -
Cooperation Movement, & within 6 months over a crore of rupees
were collected. Women freely offered their jewellery. Boycott of
foreign cloths became a mass movement. Huge bonfires of foreign
cloths were organized all over the land. Khadi soon became a
symbol of freedom.
In July 1921, the All -India Khilafat Committee passed a
resolution declaring that no Muslim should serve in the Brit ish
Indian army. In September, the Ali brothers were arrested for
sedition. Immediately, Gandhiji gave a call for repetition of this
resolution at hundreds of meetings.munotes.in

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121The congress issued a similar declaration that no Indian
should serve the govt. which degraded India socially, economically
& politically. The congress also proposed to start a civil -
disobedience movement in all the provinces including non -payment
of taxes if people were ready for it.
7.5.3.Reaction of the British Government:
The government again adopted repressive measures. The
congress &Khilafat Organization were declared illegal by the
government. Many nationalist leaders were arrested. Nearly 30,000
courted arrest within a year. When Prince of Wales landed in
Bombay in Nov 1921, he was welcomed with nationwide hartal.
7.5.4.Progress of the movement in spite of Government
Repression:
In the annual session of congress at Ahmedabad in Dec
1921, a resolution w as passed by which the Congress decided to
continue the programme of non -violent, non -cooperation with
greater vigour.
The resolution urged all Indians quietly to offer themselves
for arrest. All such satyagrahis were to take pledge to remain non -
violent in word & deed, to promote unity among the people
belonging to different religions, to practice swadeshi & wear only
Khadi, to fight actively against untouchability & to organize mass
civil-disobedience along non -violent lines.
The people were deeply influ enced by the movement.
Thousands of peasants in U.P. & Bengal participated in non -munotes.in

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122cooperation, people refused to pay illegal dues to the zamindars. In
Assam, tea -plantation labourers went on strike. The people refused
to pay taxes.
On 1st Feb 1922, Gandhij i sent a written ultimatum to the
Viceroy threatening " Mass Civil Disobedience " if the Viceroy did
not decide to reverse the government's repressive policies within
seven days & to release political prisoners & freed the press from
government control.
7.5.5.The Chauri Chaura Incident:
However, before a week elapsed, on 5th Feb 1922, a
congress procession of 3000 peasants at Chauri Chaura, a village
in the Gorakhpur District of U.P, was fired upon by the police.
The angry crowd attacked & burnt the police stati on causing
the death of 22 policemen. The Chauri Chaura incident convinced
Mahatma Gandhi that the country was not yet ready for the mass
civil disobedience.
He therefore decided to suspend the nationalist campaign.
The Congress Working Committee met at B ardoli in Gujarat on Feb
12,1922 & passed a resolution stopping the non -cooperation
movement.
7.5.6.Reaction of People:
The country was shocked at Mahatma Gandhi's decision It
evoked a mixed reaction among the nationalist. While some had
immense faith in Gandhiji& believed that the retreat was a part of
the Gandhian strategy of struggle, others especially the younger
nationalists like Subash Chandra Bose, Deshbandhu, Motilal
Nehru, Lalalajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru did not like the decision ofmunotes.in

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123retreat just when public enthusiasm was reaching the boiling point.
But both the people & the leaders had faith in Gandhiji& did not
want to publi cly disobey him. They accepted his decision without
open opposition.
7.5.7.Arrest of Gandhiji:
The British government decided to take full advantage of the
situation & arrested Gandhiji in March 1922, & charged him with
spreading disaffection against the govt. H e was sentenced to Six
years’ imprisonment.
7.5.8.Conclusion:
The sudden suspension of the movement also led to the
demise of the Khilafat issue & breakdown of Hindu -Muslim
harmony. Very soon Khilafat question had disappeared. The people
of Turkey rose in rebell ion under the leaderships of Kemal Pasha &
overthrew the Sultan of Turkey. A democratic government came to
power & religion was separated from politics. Kemal pasha
abolished the Khalifate in 1924, hence there remained no question
of protest in India.
7.5.9.Impo rtance of the Movement:
It may be noted at this stage that even though the Non -
Cooperation movement had ended in failure, the national
movement had been strengthened even more. It had now reached
the remote corners of the country. Millions of peasants, art isans &
urban poor had been brought into it.
Check your Progress:
7.6.THE SWARAJ PARTY:
The suspension of Non -Cooperation movement created
widespread disappointment and initiated an open division in the
leadership of the Congress. These sections of peopl e included C.R.
Das, Motilal Nehru, N.C. Kelkar, G.S. Khaparde, Vitthalbhai
Patel.munotes.in

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124
N.C.Kelkar.
These leaders proposed that instead of boycotting the
legislature, it was advisable to contest elections and carry the non -
cooperation inside the legislature. This prop osal was not accepted
by Gandhian followers
As a result, C.R. Das resigned from the Congress and
announced the formation of Swaraj Party in December 1922. Those
advocated council -entry were called, ‘Pro-changers’, and those
who opposed it were called, ‘No-changers’. All the pro changers
entered the Swaraj Party.
The new party was to function as a group within the
congress. It accepted the congress programme except in one
respect —it would take part in council elections.
Gandhiji was released from jail in Fe bruary 1924, on the
grounds of ill -health. He failed to bring about reconciliation between
pro-changers and no -changers.
The elections to the legislatures were held in November
1923, in which the Swarajists won 42 seats out of 101 seats to the
central legi slative assembly. In the provincial assemblies, too they
did quite well, securing a clear majority in the Central Provinces,
Bengal, Bombay and United Provinces.munotes.in

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125The Swarajists did valuable work. They fought for the repeal
of repressive laws. They secured a number of economic benefits
such as the abolition of cotton excise duty, reduction of duty on salt,
improvement in the conditions of labour, protection of trade unions
etc.
Soon Swaraj Party faced lot of problems and internal
divisions undermined party’s prestige. A trend grew within the party
towards ‘responsive cooperation’ to the government. By 1926, party
started declining gradually and by 1927 party ceased to exist.
The announcement of the appointment of Simon
Commission in 1927, revived the old poli cy of non -cooperation and
civil disobedience.
Check your Progress:
7.7.CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT:
7.7.1.Background:
The political atmosphere in the country in the decade of
1920’s was marked by revolutionary activities. In this atmosphere
came the sudden app ointment of the Simon commission in 1927.
7.7.2.Simon Commission:
According to provision of government of India act of 1919, a
statutory commission was to be appointed 10 years after the
passage of the act, to enquire into the working of the act and to
propose r eforms, if needed. But the conservative government in
England appointed the commission two years before, i.e. in 1927.
The commission was composed of 7 members of British
parliament, with sir John Simon as its chairman. It had no Indian
member. Such commis sion was not acceptable to nationalist
leaders. A complete hartal was observed and processions were
carried out in Bombay and other cities on February 3, 1928, the day
the Simon commission arrived in Bombay. It was boycotted by
Congress and Muslim League, with the slogan, ‘Simon go back’.munotes.in

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126
The commission submitted its report in May 1930, which was
later discussed at the Round Table Conference held in London.
The an ti-Simon commission agitation was a turning point in India’s
struggle for freedom, because with this mass movement the Indian
national movement entered a crucial phase.
7.7.3.The Nehru Report, 1928:
When congress gave a call to boycott the Simon
commission, Lord Birkenhead, the secretary of state for India,
challenged the Indian leaders to prepare a constitution to which all
parties would agree. The Indian leaders accepted the challenge
and an all -parties conference (Congress, Muslim League, Liberals,
Hindu Mahas abha, Central Sikh league etc.) was called between
February and May 1928, which appointed a committee under the
chairman ship of Motilal Nehru, to draft the proposed constitution.
The Nehru committee submitted its report in August 1928, which
was accepted by the all -parties conference at Lucknow and passed
with the only opposing vote of M.A. Jinnah. Some important
features of the Nehru report were:
1.India must be given dominion status, which meant
independence within the British commonwealth.
2.India to have a bicameral legislature at the centre.
3.There was to be no separate electorate.
4.Citizenship and fundamental rights were also defined.
5.Protection to minorities through a system of reservations.
The annual session of the INC held in Calcutta in December
1928, approved the Nehru report and also served an ultimatum on
the British government to accept the Nehru report within a year,munotes.in

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127failing which the party would launch another mass movement.
Since the British government did not accept the Nehru report, the
congres s passed the ‘PoornaSwarajya Resolution’ at its Lahore
session in 1929.
7.7.4.Jinnah’s fourteen points:
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim league, did not
accept the Nehru report on the ground that it discarded separate
electorate for the minorities. Jinnah, therefore drew up a list of
demands, the fourteen points, which represented the demands of
the Muslims. These included;
1.Separate electorate for Muslims.
2.One third Muslim representation in the central and provincial
cabinets.
3.Creation of Muslim majo rity provinces.
4.Reservation of posts for Muslims in all services of the state etc.
Later the Muslim league rejected Nehru report. A brief period of
Hindu Muslim cooperation had come to an end. The essence of
Jinnah’s 14 points was to strike a profitable b argain with the
congress.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
7.7.5.The Lahore Session of Congress, December, 1929:
By 1929, one year had passed and the government had no t
responded to the Congress ultimatum of December 1928 on the
Nehru report. Hence the Congress declared that the idea of
Dominion status was lapsed and that the goal of India’s National
Movement was complete independence. It resolved to boycott the
propose d round table conference. A decision was taken to launch
the programme of Civil Disobedience.munotes.in

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128At midnight on 31 December 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru, as
congress president declared Poorna Swarajya as the country’s
goal. He unfurled the national flag of India’s independence in
Lahore. The Congress Woking Committee, which met on January
2, 1930 decided that January 26 1930, should be observed as the
Poorna Swarajya Day.
7.8.FIRST PHASE OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT:
7.8.1.The Beginning: Dandi March
The congress working com mittee had authorised Mahatma
Gandhi to determine the time, place and the issue on which the
Civil Disobedience Movement was to be launched.
Gandhiji decided to inaugurate the movement by violating
the Salt Laws on the sea coast at Dandi, a village on the Gujarat
sea coast. Salt was made an issue, because the government
controlled the sale of salt and imposed a tax on it.
Mahatma Gandhi launched the Salt Satyagraha on March
12, 1930 when he, along with chosen followers, marched from
Sabarmati Ashram to Dand i. After a 24 -day Long March he
symbolically broke the Salt Laws by picking up handful of salt on
April 5, 1930. The breaking up of the salt laws formally inaugurated
the Civil Disobedience Movement.
7.8.2.Programmes of the Movement:
Following were the main programmes included in the movement:
1.Violation of salt laws and other laws everywhere,
2.Non-payment of land revenue and other taxes,munotes.in

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1293.Boycott of law courts, legislatures, elec tions, government
functions, government schools and colleges,
4.Boycott of foreign goods and clothes and burning of foreign
clothes,
5.Peaceful picketing of liquor shops,
6.Organising mass strikes and demonstrations,
7.Resigning from government jobs and not joinin g the civil,
military or police services.
7.8.3.Progress of the Movement:
The movement soon spread rapidly. Violation of Salt Laws
all over the country was soon followed by breaking of Forest Laws
in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Central Provinces and refused to
pay the rural ‘chaukidari’ tax in Eastern India.
In United Provinces and Gujarat no tax campaign was
launched. Everywhere in the country people joined hartals,
demonstrations and the campaign to boycott foreign goods and to
refuse to pay taxes. Lakhs of Ind ians offered Satyagraha. In many
parts of the country, the peasants refused to pay land revenue, rent
and had their lands confiscated.
An o t a b l ef e a t u r eo ft h em o v e m e n tw a st h ew i d e
participation of women. Thousands of them left their homes and
offered sat yagraha. They took active part in picketing shops selling
foreign clothes and liquor. They offered themselves for arrest and
imprisonment.
The movement reached the extreme North Western corner of India.
Under the leadership of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, popul arly known
as the,’ frontier Gandhi’, the Pathans organised the society
of,’KhudaiKhidmatgars’ (servants of God), known popularly as Red
Shirts. They were pledged to non -violence and the freedom
struggle. In Peshawar, the army refused to open fire on non -violent
mass demonstrations, even though it meant facing court martial.
This episode showed that nationalism was beginning to penetrate
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130
Abdul Gaffar Khan and Gandhi.
The movement found same echo in the eastern corner of
India. The Manipuris took active part in it and the young Rani
Gaidilieu of Nagaland, with her followers raised the banner of
rebellion against foreign rule.
7.8.4.Reaction of the British Government:
The government’s reply to the national struggle was the
same as before —an effort to crush it through ruthless repression,
lathi charges and firing on unarmed crowds of men and women.
Over 90,000 sat yagrahis, including Gandhiji were imprisoned. The
congress was declared illegal.
The nationalist press was gagged through strict censorship
of news. Dozens of police firing took place, thousands of people
died, private properties and lands of many people were confiscated
for non -payment of taxes.
7.8.5.First Round Table Conference, 1930:
In this atmosphere, the Simon commission submitted its
report and in November 1930, the British government convened in
London the first -round table conference of political leade rs of Britain
and India. The purpose was to discuss the report and decide the
future constitutional and administrative set up for India. Certain
non-official Indians attended the conference. But in the absence of
the Congress, the conference was not able t oa r r i v ea taf i n a l
decision. Hence it was adjourned in January 1931.munotes.in

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131
7.8.6.Gandhi -Irwin Pact, 5thMarch 1931:
The governme nt was keen to involve the congress in the
constitution making process and hence it lifted the ban on the
functioning of the congress. In January 1931, Gandhiji was also
released from jail. Soon talks were held between Gandhiji and
Viceroy Lord Irwin, whic h led to the signing of the Gandhi -Irwin
pact. By the pact;
1.The government agreed to release those political prisoners who
had remained non -violent,
2.It granted the right to people to make salt for consumption,
3.It permitted the right to peaceful picketing o fl i q u o ra n df o r e i g n
cloth shops and
4.It restored all confiscated property of the satyagrahis.
In return for the concessions, the Congress agreed to suspend
the Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the Second -
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1327.8.7.Second Round Table Conference, 1931:
The second -round table conference was held in London
between September and December 1 931. Gandhiji was the sole
representative of the Congress at the conference. In spite of his
powerful advocacy, the British government refused to grant the
basic nationalist demand for freedom on the basis of the immediate
grant of Dominion Status.
There was unending discussion on communal problem. The
leaders of depressed classes demanded separate electorate but
Gandhiji opposed it on the ground that they could not be classified
as a separate class. Ultimately no agreed solution could be formed
and Gandhi ji returned to India by the end of 1931.
Check your Progress:
7.9.SECOND PHASE OF CIVIL DISO BEDIENCE
MOVEMENT, 1932 -1934:
Meanwhile Lord Willingdon had succeeded Lord Irwin as the
viceroy in 1931. He violated many provisions of the Gandhi -Irwin
pact. The government declared the Congress as an illegal body
and arrested most of the leading Congress leaders, including
Jawaharlal Nehru and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. On his return to
India, Gandhiji witnessed government repression in full swing. Themunotes.in

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133Congress working committee, which met on January 1, 1932,
therefore, decided to resume the Civil Disobedien ce Movement. On
January 4, 1932, Sardar Patel and Gandhiji were arrested.
The movement received good response from Bombay,
Bengal, Gujarat, Madras and U.P. However, the movement was
suddenly side tracked with the announcement by the British P.M.
Ramsay McD onald of his infamous Communal Awards in August
1932.
7.9.1.Communal Awards, 1932:
The second -round table conference failed to resolve the
problem of electoral representation to different religious
communities and depressed classes. British P.M. McDonald took
advantage of this problem and once again applied the policy of
divide and rule by announcing Communal Awards in August 1932.
The awards provided for;
1. The creation of separate electorate for the Depressed
classes (the untouchables among the Hindus)
2. Sepa rate electorates were also offered to different
communities such as Muslims, Sikhs, Europeans, Anglo -Indians,
women etc.
P.M Ramsay.
These awards were intended to divide the Indians further in
segments on the basis of caste and religion.
7.9.2.Gandhi’s fast unto death, September 1932:
Mahatma Gandhi, had strongly opposed the idea of a
separate electorate for depressed classes and had declared t hat he
would resist it throughout his life. He feared that separate electoratemunotes.in

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134would divide the Hindus and depressed classes then could never
become integral part of Hindu society. He made counter demand of
reservation of seats for them within the Hindu el ectorate. He wrote
to the British P.M. on August 18, 1932 that he would commence the
fast on September 20, 1932 in the Yervada prison, where he was
lodged and it would cease only if the scheme was reviewed and the
common electorate restored.
7.9.3.The Poona Pact ,1 9 3 2 :
Gandhiji’s fast caused great alarm and anxiety all over the
country. Five days later, a meeting between him and Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar, the leader of the Depressed Classes League, resulted
in a compromise scheme known as the ‘Poona Pact’, on
September 2 5, 1932. By the pact, a common electorate of all the
Hindus was agreed upon, subject to 2 conditions; firstly, 148 seats
in different provincial legislatures were reserved for the depressed
classes, in place of 71 as provided in the communal awards.
Second ly, 18% of seats in the central legislature were reserved for
the depressed classes.
7.9.4.The Third -Round Table Conference ,1 9 3 2 :
The government however, continued with its work of
constitutional reforms. The third -round table conference was called
between November to December 1932. The Congress boycotted it
and only 46 delegates attended the session. This session put
togethe r the final features of a concrete plan for the Government of
India Act, 1935, which after some amendments was passed by the
British Parliament in August, 1935.
7.9.5.The end of the Civil Disobedience Movement:
In the background of the communal awards and Gandhi ’s
fast unto death, the civil disobedience movement lost its
momentum. After the Poona pact, Gandhiji was fully engrossed in
the anti -untouchability movement. The congressmen however,
continued the movement under increasing British repression. On
May 8, 19 33, Gandhiji announced a self -purification fast for 21
days. The government keeping in view the nature and object of his
fast, released him from prison. Immediately after his releasemunotes.in

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135Gandhiji recommended to the congress the suspension of the
movement for 6 weeks. Accordingly, the movement was suspended
for about 12 weeks.
During these 12 weeks, the mass civil disobedience
movement virtually died out. In its place Gandhiji launched
individual civil disobedience on August 1, 1933. After a brief
progress, this movement too died down and by early 1934was no
longer in effect.
Check your Progress:
7.10.QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT, 1942:
7.10.1.Intro duction:
The failure of the Cripps mission and the growing threat of
the Japanese aggression brought about a radical change in
Gandhi’s attitude towards the British government. The people’s
discontent was rising more because of rising prices and shortage o f
food. Japan had won series of victories in west pacific. Britain
surrendered Burma in May 1942. Japanese were at India’s eastern
frontier. India believed that the presence of the British in India was
an invitation to japan to invade India and hence the B ritishers
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1367.10.2.Wardha Resolution:
The Congress Working Committee, met at Wardha in July,
1942 and passed a resolution called, the ‘QUIT INDIA’ resolution. It
renewed the demand that British rule in India must end
immediately. The Br itish, if relinquish their power immediately from
India, Congress would support the Allies in the Second World War
and allow the Allied forces to be stationed in India to fight against
Japanese aggression.
The response from the government to the appeal was
negative, and denied any grant of complete independence during
the time of ongoing world war.
7.10.3.Quit India Resolution, Bombay:
The all India congress committee, which met in Bombay on
august 8, 1942 approved Wardha resolution with overwhelming
majority. It sanctioned the non -violent mass struggle under the
leadership of Gandhiji. He appealed every Indian to participate in
the movement. Mahatma Gandhi in his speech said,’ every one of
you from this moment onwards consider yourself a free man or
woman and act as if you are free……. I am not going to be satisfied
with anything short of freedom. We shall do or die in the attempt’.
The place where the congress passed resolution i.e. Gawalia Tank
Maidan is now known as August Kranti Maidan.
7.10.4.Progress of the Movement:
The British government was closely monitoring the situation
and had made elaborate preparations to crush the proposed
rebellion. On August 8, 1942, itself the police arrested Mahatma
Gandhi, Maulana AbulKalam Azad, Sardar Patel and all eminent
congress leaders on 9th August early morning.
The news of these arrests left the country leaderless and a
spontaneous movement of protest aros e everywhere. They were
sent to various prisons. The Britishers declared Congress
organization illegal and was banned. Its funds were frozen. Themunotes.in

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137government thought that this action would crush the movement but
the people still went ahead and reacted in an y manner they could.
All over the country there were spontaneous hartals, strikes
in factories, schools and colleges and demonstrations which were
lathi-charged and fired upon. Angered by repeated firings and
repression, in many places the people took vio lent actions. They
attacked the police stations, post offices, railways stations etc. They
cut telephone and telegraph wires and railways lines and burnt
government buildings. Bombay, United Provinces, Bihar, Central
Provinces, Madras and Bengal were the m ost affected in this
respect.
However, during this period two new trends became evident.
Firstly, the orthodox non -violent civil disobedience movement and
secondly, drift towards revolutionary terrorism. After September
1942, on account of increasing Briti sh repression, the movement
went underground.
7.10.5.Underground Movement:
As the government repression continued, some leaders
organized underground activities. There was even an underground
radio station, which functioned for some time. The pattern of activity
of underground movement was organizing disruption of
communications by cutting telephone and telegraph wires, derailing
trains etc. They received support from common people.
Businessmen donated generously for the activities of underground
movement. Common men provided shelter and hide outs to
underground activists. Students acted as couriers and delivered
bomb and other materials across the country.
The movement was supported by the Congress socialists like
AchyutPatwardhan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Na rayan and
ArunaAsaf Ali, which continued till the end of 1943. Usha Mehta
managed to operate an underground mobile radio station from
Bombay.munotes.in

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138
7.10.6.Government Repression:
There were lathi charges, imprisonments, torture, machine
gun firing, bombing from airplanes. The press was completely
muzzled. Priso ners were tortured. The military took over many
towns and cities. Over 10,000 people died in police firing.
Rebellious villages had to pay huge sums as fines. India had not
witnessed such intense repression since the revolt of 1857. The
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1397.10.7.End of the Movement:
In the end the government succeeded in crushing the
movement. Its importance lay in the fact that it demonstrated the
depth that nationalist feeling had reached in the country and great
capacity for struggle and sacrifice that the people had developed.
Independence was then placed on the immediate agenda of the
national movement. It was evident that the British would no longer
find it possible to rule India against the wishes of the people.
7.11.CONCLUSIO N
Gandhiji’s contribution to the freedom movement of India has
no parallels in the contemporary Indian history. He held the reins of
the National Movement from 1919 to 1947 and during this period he
was the supreme leader of the Indian people. He adopted n oble
means of non -violence and Satyagraha to fight the war for freedom.
He showed new path to Indian politics. National movements
became mass movements under his leadership. Through the
weapons of Non -cooperation and Civil Disobedience, he fought the
might y British Empire. During these agitations, the Indian people
exhibited matchless zeal, vigour and patience. It was under his
leadership that ultimately India became free. He deserves to be
called as, ‘the father of the Nation’.
7.12.REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READI NG
1.Chandra Bipin, India’s struggle for Independence, Penguin, New
Delhi.
2.Chandra Bipin, A. Tripathi, Barun De, Freedom Struggle,
National Book Trust, India, 1972.
3.Bandyopadhyay Sekhar, From Plassey to Partition, A History of
Modern India, Orient Longman, N ew Delhi, 2004.
4.Grover B.L., Grover S., A New Look at Modern Indian History,
S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, 2001.
5.Mehrotra S.R., Emergence of Indian National Congress, Vikas
Publications, Delhi, 1971.
6.Sarkar Sumit, Modern India 1885 -1947, Macmillan, Madr as,
1996.
7.Sayanekar, Shyam, History of Modern India (1857 -1947), Sheth
Publications, 2016.munotes.in

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1407.13.BROAD QUESTIONS
Q.1. Write a note on early life and role played by Gandhi dur ing his
initial days of freedom movement.
Q,2. Discuss the background of Non -Cooperat ion Movement.
Q.3. Explain the programmes and progress of Non -Cooperation
Movement.
Q.4. Briefly explain the progress of Indian Freedom Struggle
between 1920 -1922.
Q.5. Describe the events leading to the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
Q.6. Write a note on th e First Phase of the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
Q.7. Explain the progress of Civil Disobedience movement during
the second phase.
Q.8. Highlight the main events of Quit India Movement.
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141Unit -8
THE INDIAN ACT OF 1935
Unit Structure :
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Events Leading to The Indian Act of 1935 (Government of India
Act)
8.3 The Indian Act of 1935 (Government of India Act) and its
Provisions
8.4 Reacti on and Assessment of the Act
8.5 Summary
8.0 OBJECTIVES
a. This unit will help the students in developing an understanding of
the background and the various events leading to The Indian Act
(came to be called as Government of India Act) of 1935.
b. To apprise the students with the passing of the Bill into an Act
and the provisions of The Indian Act of 1935.
8.1 INTRODUCTION
Under the Government of India Act 1919 Dyarchy was
introduced in the provinces. This demarcated the subjects of
administrat ion between the central government and provincial
government. The important departments such as defence and
finance were reserved with the British. Unfortunately, Indians did
not receive full representative government and therefore, the Indian
National Con gress strongly condemned the Act as “disappointing
and unsatisfactory”.
8.2 EVENTS LEADING TO THE INDIAN ACT OF 1935
(GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT)
a. The Simon Commission
In November 1927, the British government appointed the
Simon Commission to review the reforms of the Act of 1919 and
suggest improvement. As the Commission did not have any Indian
representation, the Congress and the Muslim League opposed it
and protested on its arrival in Bombay in February 1928. The
Commission submitted its report in 193 0 after which three Roundmunotes.in

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142Table Conferences were held to discuss the future constitutional
measures for India.
b. The Nehru Report
On the other hand, in 1928 a committee under Motilal Nehru
submitted to the government the Nehru Report with 14 points.
Some of the demands in the report were Dominion Status,
protection of minorities through a system of reservation, universal
adult suffra ge, etc. However, the government did not respond to the
report and hence, in 1928 at the historic session of Indian National
Congress at Lahore the demand of ‘Purna Swaraj’ (complete
freedom) was declared.
c.The Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
Further, in 1930 Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil
Disobedience Movement with Dandi March, violating the Salt Act
on 6thApril 1930. The movement spread to every part in different
forms. Gandhiji was arrested and the government passed
ordinances to suppress the movement. The Congress leaders were
behind bars and therefore the government n ominated the
representatives of other parties or communities to represent India
at the First Round Table Conference which was held in England in
1930 -1931 resulting in no concrete outcome. Eventually the
government realised the need to pave way towards com promise
with the Congress.
d.The Gandhi -Irwin Pact (1931)
In March 1931 famous Gandhi -Irwin Pact was signed and
accordingly all government ordinances against the satyagrahis
were to be withdrawn and political prisoners were released.
Gandhiji agreed to call off the civil disobedience movement and
participate in the Second Round Table Conference in 1931 as the
only representative of the Congress. However, the outcome of the
conference was not accepted by Gandhiji and he returned to India
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143e.The Communal Award and Poona Pact (1932)
The August 1932 Communal Award was announced by
Ramsay McDonald, the Prime Minister of England. It was for
providing separate electorate to the Muslims, Europeans, Anglo -
Indians and the Sikhs. Also, it would divide the Hindus by creating
separate electorat e for the caste Hindus and the Scheduled
Castes. The Award would destroy the unity of the country. Gandhiji
opposed this and went on fast unto death. Inorder to save Gandhiji,
leaders of various parties arranged talks between Dr B R Ambedkar
and Gandhiji a nd this resulted into the famous Poona Pact of 1932.
As per the Poona Pact both the leaders agreed to retain the unity
between the Hindus and the Depressed Classes.
In the background of the Communal Award and Poona Pact,
the mass civil disobedience slowl yd i e dd o w n .B yt h ee n do f1 9 3 2
the Third Round Table Conference was held. The congress
boycotted it and only 46 delegates attended the Conference. At the
conference the final features of a concrete plan for the Government
of India Act, 1935, with some ame ndments was passed by the
British Parliament in August 1935.
8.3 THE INDIAN ACT OF 1935 (GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA ACT) AND ITS PROVISIONS
The British government published a ‘White Paper’ based on
the discussions held at the Third Round Table Conference, the
Simon Commission, the Nehru Report, the Communal Award and
the Poona Pact, but it was opposed and criticized by all the Indian
leaders. Therefore, in April 1933 the government formed a Joint
Committee under the Chairmanship of Lord Linlithgow. This
committ ee was to examine and submit a report on the ‘White
Paper’ to the government. The report was submitted in 1934 and on
the basis of it a bill was introduced in the House of Commons and
finally the Bill of Indian Constitution was passed in 1935 which
subsequ ently became an Act and came to be called as the
Government of India Act, 1935.
Provisions of the Act:
The act was the longe st and the last constitutional measure
introduced by the British in India. It consisted of 321 sections and
10 schedules. The main features of the act are as follows:
1.It provided for the establishment of federation of India consisting
of Governor’s Provi nces and the Princely States. The federation
was to be under greater control of the British Crown, which were
to be performed by the Viceroy and the Governors.munotes.in

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1442.While the provinces were to join the federation automatically, for
the Princely States it was ma de purely voluntary whether to join
the federation or not.
3.The Dyarchy was abolished at the provincial level and in its
place the Provincial Autonomy was introduced.
4.All subjects of the provincial administration were placed in the
hands of the ministers wh o belonged to the elected legislature.
5.An important provision of the act was, it provided for grant of
wide powers to the Governors and to the Viceroy. The act gave
special powers to the Governors, to veto legislative action and
legislate on their own, whi ch effectively curbed the powers of
the ministers and undermined the provincial autonomy.
6.The act provided for the three lists —Federal, Provincial and
Concurrent. The Federal Government was authorised to pass
laws on subjects included in federal list, whil e the provincial
government could legislate on subjects in the provincial list.
Both the federal and provincial legislatures could pass laws on
subjects included in the Concurrent list.
7.In case of state of emergency, the federal legislature could pass
laws on the provincial subjects as well. On the concurrent list if
the federal government had passed a law on a particular
subject, the provincial government could not make law on the
same subject.
8.The federal legislature (at centre) was bicameral. The two
houses were called, the ‘Federal Assembly’ (consisted of 375
members —250 from provinces and 125 from Princely States)
and the ‘Council of State’ (consisted of 260 members —156 from
provinces and 104 from Princely States)
9.Dyarchy was introduced at the centre. The federal list was
divided under two heads: Reserved and Transferred subjects.
The reserved subjects included Defence, External affairs, Tribal
affairs, Religious affairs. These subjects were to be
administered by Viceroy, with the help of not more than 3
counsellors appointed by him. who was responsible only to the
British government.
10.The act divided British Indian provinces into 2 categories: 11
governor’s provinces and 5 chief commissioner’s provinces
11.Six provinces (Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Madra s, the
United Provinces) were to have the bicameral legislature and
the rest of the provinces had only unicameral legislature
12.A federal Court was established with jurisdiction over the States
and the Provinces and to interpret the constitution. However, th e
supreme authority in this respect rested with the Privy Council
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14513.Communal representation was extended to include the Anglo -
Indians and the Indian Christians who were to elect their own
representatives.
14.The new reforms were in troduced only in the provinces,
administered by the Governors. The territories administered by
the Chief Commissioners remained under the direct control of
the centre.
15.The India Council of the Secretary of State was abolished. He
was now assisted by adviso rs not less than 3 and not more than
6.
16.Sindh and North West Frontier Provinces were given the status
of provinces.
17.The act separated Burma from India.
However, the princely states did not join the proposed
federation, which meant the surrender of their autonomy and
autocratic powers.
8.4 REACTION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE ACT
The Indian leaders bitterly criticised the provisions of the act.
It was most disappointing as it failed to satisfy even minimum of
their demands. None of the Indian political parties were satisfied
with the act. The assessment is as follows:
1.The act pro vided for defective federation as it gave choice to
princely states whether to join or not.
2.The provincial governments could exercise no real autonomy
as the act provided wide powers to Governors and Viceroy,
especially the power to veto any decision take n by the provincial
governments.
3.The act gave encouragement to communalism .E a r l i e rt h e
right to elect their own representatives was given to Muslims,
Sikhs, now it was extended to Anglo -Indians and Indian
Christians as well.
4.The act provided ultimate sove reign power in the hands of the
British parliament.
It was mostly due to the above defects that the Act failed to
satisfy the Indian sentiments. The act did not mention about the
Dominion Status which people of India demanded. The suspicion
and dissatisfa ction continued to prevail among the Indians who
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146Check your progress
1.Discuss the events leading to The Indian Act of 1935.
2.What are the provisions of The Indian Act of 1935?
8.5 SUMMARY
In this unit we have understood the background of the Indian
Act of 1935. The various events are discussed to understand the
action taken by the British government and the expressions of the
Indian political leaders. The Indians were unhappy with the Simon
Commission sent by the British and protested its arrival in India. In
its response to Simon Commission the Congress Committee
submitted Nehru Report demanding Dominion Status and
protection of minorities. Following which the Congress adopted the
Complete Independence resolution. The congress created pressure
on the British government and announced its second phase of civil
disobedience movement. The mass protest against the Salt Act
was a success by Gandhiji’s Dandi March. The government
suppressed the ci vil disobedience movement with stern action.
Gandhi -Irwin Pact and the Second Round Table Conference did not
show any concrete results. Gandhiji protested against the
Communal Award announced by the British which was to divide the
electorate and the people . However, Dr Ambedkar’s initiative led to
the signing of Poona Pact to retain the unity. All these events led to
the passing of the Government of India Act 1935 after the Third
Round Table Conference.
The unit highlights the features of the Act and the response
of Indians. The assessment of the Act puts forth the defects and
spread discontent amongst the Indians. This dissatisfaction forced
the Indians to continue with their struggle for freedom.
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147Unit -9
ATTEMPTS TO RESO LVE
CONSTITUTIONAL DEADLOCK -
THE CRIPPS MISSION, THE CABINET
MISSION AND THE MOUNTBATTEN
PLAN.
Unit Structure :
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Cripps Mission (22 March 1942)
9.3 The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946
9.4 Direct Action Day -August 16, 1946
9.5 The Interim Government –September 1946
9.6 The Constituent Assembly, December 1946
9.7 The Mountbatten Plan:
9.8 Indian Independence Act
9.9 Partition of India
9.10 Partition of Punjab and the tragedy:
9.11 Understanding growth of commu nalism and partition
9.12 Summary
9.0 OBJECTIVES:
a.The students will comprehend the attempts made by the British
government to resolve the constitutional deadlock through
Cripps Mission, Cabinet Mission and the Mountbatten Plan.
b.To acquaint the students with the provisions of the Indian
Independence Act 1947.
c.To briefly understand the process of Partition and its aftermath.
9.1 INTRODUCTION:
With the outbreak of Second World War in September 1939,
the British government, without considering the Indian public
opinion declared India’s participation in the war on their side. The
Congress Working Committee protested and insisted on its demand
of having complete freedom to frame her constitution after the war.
The government’s assurance was of Dom inion Status for India asmunotes.in

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148final goal and in protest the Congress Ministry resigned on 1st
October 1939.
The government came up with the new declaration called the
‘August Offer’ promising Dominion Status but was rejected by the
Congress. The Muslim Leagu ed e m a n d e dp a r t i t i o no fI n d i aa st h e
only solution of India’s future constitution. This deadlock on India’s
demand of complete freedom and British government being
reluctant to surrender its authority was to be dissolved.
Japan’s attack on the US Naval b ase at Pearl Harbour in
December 1941 and U.S.A’s entry in World War II was a turning
point in history. Japan entered the war on the side of the Axis
Power. After the fall of Rangoon(Burma)to Japanese forces, the US
pressure forced the British government t o make efforts to resolve
the deadlock related to the demands of Indians. Thus, resulting in
the formation of Cripps Mission.
9.2 THE CRIPPS MISSION (22 MARCH 1942):
The British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps –am e m b e r
of British War Cabinet to Ind ia in March 1942 to find a solution in
consultation with Indian leaders. He spent three weeks in India from
March to April 1942 and held discussions with Indian leaders.
Thereafter, Cripps announced his proposals in the form of a Draft
Declaration to be im plemented at the end of War, which may be
summarised as under:
1.The British government’s aim was the creation of a new Indian
Union, which would have a dominion status.
2.The constitutional rights of the Indian people were accepted but
subject to the conditi on that the rights could be used only after
the war was over.
3.If any province desired to stay out of the proposed Indian Union
and negotiate with Britain, it would be free to do so.
4.The British government would hand over all government
departments to India n representatives, but not defence.
5.In exchange of these concessions, Britain expected for India’s
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149
9.2.1 Reaction of Major Political Parties:
The Congress rejected the Cripps Proposals as it was not
satisfied merely with the promises. The freedom of non -accession
of provinces to the Indian Union was a serious threat to Indian
unity. Gandhi wanted undivided India. Congress also objected to
the composition of the constitution making body in which the
representatives from the Princely States would be nominated by
their rulers and not elected by the people. Congres sd e m a n d e da
full control over defence, “stating that a slave country cannot
have an inspiration”.
The Muslim League rejected the Cripps proposals on two
grounds: that it did not recognise separate electorate for the
constitution making body and that the demand for the partition of
India had not been accepted.
The Sikhs rejected the proposals because of the provision
of non -accession for the provinces. The Hindu Mahasabha
rejected because the ‘Pakistan Virus’ was alive. The Dalits and
depressed classes a lso rejected it as their interests were not
safeguarded. Thus, all the parties found the proposal vague and
unsatisfactory. Gandhiji felt that the proposals were like a ‘post -
dated’ cheque upon a crashing bank. Finally, the Cripps Mission
ended in a failur e.
Rajagopalachari’s proposal and the Simla Conference could
not bring to consensus the Congress and the Muslim League and
so both were a failure. Lord Wavell, the Governor General realised
that only words will not satisfy the Indians and they needed
something concrete. He attempted to break this deadlock by
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1509.3 THE CABINET MISSION PLAN, 1946:
In July 1945, General Elections were held in Britain. The
Labour Party headed by Clement Atlee came to power. Congress
welcomed this change in England as the labour party had
supported India’s demand for freedom.
General Elections in India, 1946:
Understa nding the severity of the situation in India, Atlee
announced fresh elections to the Central and Provincial
Legislatures which were held in 1945 -1946. Congress won majority
in both legislatures. In Provincial Legislature, the Congress won
absolute majority in Bombay, Madras, United Provinces, Bihar,
Orissa, Central Provinces, North West Frontier Provinces. In
Punjab coalition government of Congress and Akali and Unionist
was formed. The Muslim League could secure majority only in
Bengal and Sind.
9.3.1 Th e Appointment of the Cabinet Mission Commission:
Prime Minister Atlee, to solve the constitutional problems of
India appointed the Cabinet Mission, comprising of three British
Cabinet Ministers namely; Lord Pathick -Lawrence (Secretary of
State for India), Sir Stafford Cripps (President of the Board of
Trade) and A.V. Alexander (First Lord of the Admiralty). The
Commission arrived in India on 19thMarch 1946. It’s most important
task was to devise the mode or methods for the transfer of power,
to suggest mea sures for the formation of a constitution making
machinery and to set up an interim government.
Clement Atlee.munotes.in

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1519.3.2 Recommendations of The Cabinet Mission Plan:
The cabinet mission spent the first three weeks in
discussions with the leaders of various political parties, the rulers of
princely states etc. After all these discussions, when it could not
arrive at any agreed solution, the cabinet mission announced its
own recommendations in May, 1946.
Its main recommendations were as follows:
1.The unity of India had to be retained.
2.The demand for Pakistan, by the Muslim League, was rejected
on the ground that it would not solve the communal minority
problem. In addition, it would create many serious problems in
defence, communications and other areas.
3.There was to be a Union of India , consisting of the British
provinces and the princely states.
4.The Union Government and its legislature were to have limited
powers, dealing with only defence, foreign affairs and
communications. The Union would have the powers necessary
to raise the fina nces to manage these subjects. Thus, the
Cabinet Mission Plan proposed a weak Centre.
5.All subjects other than the Union subjects and all residuary
powers would vest in the provinces.
6.The princely states would retain all subjects and all residuary
powers ot her than those given to the Union.
7.It provided that all the members of the Interim government
would be Indians and there would be minimum interference by
the Viceroy.
8.It also provided for the formation of the Constituent Assembly on
democratic principle of population.
9.It recognised Indian right to secede from the Commonwealth.
10.The constitution making body or the Constituent Assembly
would be formed of representatives of provincial assemblies and
the Princely states. Each province was to be allotted a total
number of seats in proportion to its population. It was to consist
of 293 members from provinces and 93 members from the
princely states.
11.Theprovinces were grouped into 3 Categories -A, B, C.
GROUP A -was to consist of Madras, United Provinces, Bihar,
Central Provinces and Orissa.
GROUP B -was to comprise of the Punjab, Sind, North West
Frontier Provinces (NWFP), and Baluchistan.munotes.in

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152GROUP C -was to include Bengal and Assam.
This measure was unique and also the most controversial.
The grouping of provinces was devised to satisfy the Muslim
League, so as to give it a ‘ substance of Pakistan’ , to exercise
almost complete autonomy in the Muslim majority provinces.
Though the Cabi net Mission Plan rejected the idea of
separate Pakistan, yet it grouped the provinces in such a way that it
gave weightage to the idea of Pakistan, because Group B would
get almost complete autonomy.
Reaction to the Cabinet Mission Plan:
The Congress agreed to the proposals relating to the
Constituent Assembly, but rejected the proposal regarding the
formation of an interim government, because the Muslim league
had been given disproportionate representation.
The Muslim League at first ac cepted the cabinet mission
plan, but when Congress declared that it could change the scheme
through its majority in the Constituent Assembly, League withdrew
its acceptance and called upon Muslims,’ to resort to direct action
to achieve Pakistan’.
On 29thJuly 1946, the Muslim League rejected the Cabinet
Mission Plan and called the Muslims to resort to “Direct Action” to
achieve the land of their dream “Pakistan”.
9.4 DIRECT ACTION DAY -AUGUST 16, 1946:
The Congress agreed to join the Constituent Assemb ly, but
Jinnah backed out, blaming the Congress for its determination to
set up a caste Hindu Raj in India and demanded the immediate
establishment of Pakistan. If this demand was not granted, he
threatened to resort to ‘direct action’ to gain Pakistan.
Having rejected the Cabinet Mission plan, the Muslim
League politicians fixed 16thAugust 1946 for the ‘direct action’.
Communal passions were provoked in Calcutta and Hindus and
Muslims fought a brutal battle. Over 5000 people were killed in
what came to b e known as the ‘great Calcutta killing’ . It soon
spread to other parts of north India, east Bengal, Bihar, Punjab,
N.W.F.P., Bombay, and U.P. Jinnah had successfully demonstrated
his ability to start a civil war, compelling the British authorities to
retur n to their old policy of appeasement to the Muslim League
communal politics. Amidst this situation of insanity, Mahatma
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153
9.5 THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT –SEPTEMBER 1946:
The Viceroy Lord Wavell invited Jawaha rlal Nehru, to form
an Interim Government, which came to power in September 1946.
It was composed of 12 members nominated by the Congress with
Jawaharlal Nehru as its Vice President. The Muslim League at first
refused to join the Interim Government, but wa s persuaded to
change its stand. In the month of October, five congressmen of
government resigned to make way for the leagues nominees.
However, it became clear that the Muslim League joined the
government not to work sincerely and co -operate with congress but
to paralyze the functioning of new government. The tactics of the
league effectively brought the business of the government to a
virtual standstill.
9.6 THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, DECEMBER
1946:
In the meantime, elections to the constituent assembly were
held between July -December 1946. The assembly after election
met in December 1946 with Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its president.
The Muslim league refused to join the constituent assembly and
began to press its demand for Pakistan. I n view of the continued
boycott of the assembly by the league, the British government
finally ruled that the decisions of the constituent assembly would
not be applicable to the Muslim majority areas. This decision further
strengthened the hands of the lea gue and suspended the working
of the constituent assembly.
9.7 THE MOUNTBATTEN PLAN:
While the country was passing through the uncertainties,
Prime Minister Clement Atlee announced on 20thFebruary 1947, in
the House of Commons, that the British would qui tI n d i aa f t e r
transferring power into responsible hands not later than June 1948.
Atlee believed that this announcement would bring pressure on the
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154Atlee also announced the appointment of Lord Mountbatten
as Viceroy of India. He arrived in India in March, 1947 and
immediately began to take measures for the transfer of power.
9.7.1 Communal violence:
Shortly after Atlee’s declaration communal violence began in
different parts of India. It forc efully brought about the downfall of
Punjab ministry and again called the, ‘Direct action’. In the renewed
communal violence all communities -the Hindus, the Muslims, the
Sikhs, fought against each other. There were violent outbreaks;
thousands were killed and soon the violence spread all over north
India including NWFP, Punjab.
9.7.2 Negotiations with Indian Leaders and decision of
Partition:
Meanwhile, Mountbatten was holding discussions with the
Indian political leaders, but found that the leaders of the League
were adamant about breaking up the country along communal
lines. Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana AbulKalam Azad strongly
opposed partition of India.
Mountbatten after 2 months of discussions, had c ome to the
conclusion that partition was the only choice. The congress leaders,
too, were brought around to this view in the prevailing
circumstances. Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru who had
experience of working with League members in the interim
govern ment got convinced of the League’s firm stand for Pakistan.
Hence the congress accepted the partition plan of India.
After Congress’s consent, Lord Mountbatten held final
discussions with the Congress, the League and the Sikh leaders, to
seek their agreem ent on his partition plan. On June 3, 1947, P.M.
Atlee announced the “partition plan’ or the ‘June 3rdPlan’ in the
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1559.7.3 Announcement of Mountbatten’s Plan of Partition of India
or The June Third Plan:
The plan was essentially a pl an for the partition of India. The
plan laid down the following terms:
1.India would be divided into the Indian Union and Pakistan
2.The British paramountcy over the Indian states would end on
the day power was transferred to India and Pakistan
3.That the trans fer of power in either case should be on the basis
of the Government of India act of 1935, modified to conform to
the Dominion Status position.
4.The princely states were free to join either India or Pakistan or
even remain free.
5.The new states would have th e dominion status.
6.A border commission would be appointed to demarcate the
boundaries of the two states and division of property.
7.According to the plan, the provinces of Punjab, Assam and
Bengal were also to be divided.
8.Referendum was to b e held in the province of N.W.F.P, so as to
ascertain whether the people there wished to stay with the
Union of India or Pakistan.
9.The princes were given the option of joining either India or
Pakistan or remain independent.
10.In the event of two Dominions co ming into being, the Armed
forces in India should be divided between them. The units would
be allocated according to the territorial basis of recruitment and
would be under the control of the respective governments. In
the case of mixed units, the separati on and redistribution should
be entrusted to a committee.
Thus, the actual division between the two new dominions
took place according to the 3rdJune Plan. The border between
India and Pakistan was determined by a British Government
commissioned report which was referred to as the Radcliff Line
after the London Lawyer, Sir Cyril Radcliff.
The existence of Pakistan was acknowledged with two non -
adjacent territories. East Pakistan and West Pakistan was
geographically divided by India.
Conclusion:
Express ing his views, Lord Mountbatten said, “My own
feeling was that a united India was, of course, the right answer, but
the riots and bloodshed throughout the country made the prospects
of its acceptance obviously petty remote. All the Muslim Leaguemunotes.in

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156leaders to whom I spoke made it absolutely clear that they desire
partition”.
Both the Congress and League accepted this plan and
accordingly the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence
Act on 4thJuly, 1947.
Check your progress
1.Why did the British send the Cripps Mission to India? Discuss its
proposal.
2.Explain the Cabinet Mission Plan and state its recommendation.
3.What were the provisions of the Mountbatten Plan? State its
impact.
9.8 INDIAN INDEPENDENCE ACT
Introduction
The Indian independence Act was merely based upon the
promise made in the Mountbatten plan (June 1947). The British
government, introduced the Indian Independence Bill in the
Parliament on 4thJuly 1947. It was passed after a fortnight on 18th
July. This A ct of Indian Independence was implemented on 14th
August 1947. The Act did not provide for any new Constitution of
India. It was only an Act, “to enable the representatives of India and
Pakistan to frame their own Constitutions and to provide for the
excee dingly difficult period of transition”.
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157Provisions of the Indian Independence Act:
1.On August 15, 1947, India would be partitioned into two
Dominions of India and Pakistan.
2.It was laid that the British government would transfer all their
powers to the Assemblies of India and Pakistan by 15thAugust
1947 and thereafter the British government would have no
control over them.
3.The constituent assemblies in both the Dominions would be free
to frame their respective constitutions and would have the
authority to decide whether t o stay with the British
Commonwealth or not.
4.The office of Viceroy was to end therewith and replaced by a
separate Governor General for each Dominion.
5.Till the new constitution was framed, the Constituent
Assemblies in both the Dominions were to act as the Dominion
Legislature in their respective areas.
6.The Emperor of England was divested of his power to veto the
legislations passed by the Dominion Legis latures. This right now
vested with the Governor -General.
7.Till the new constitution was framed, the administration in both
the dominions was to function in accordance with the
Government of India Act of 1935. Each dominion was
authorised to make modificat ions in that act.
8.The act terminated the suzerainty of the crown over India and all
treaties, agreements etc. lapsed from August 15, 1947.
9.The Princely States would have the choice to join either of the
two Dominions of India and Pakistan or to retain the ir
independence.
10.Agreements with the tribes of the NWFP were to benegotiated
by the concerned Dominion.
11.The office of the Secretary of State for India was to be abolished
and his work was to be taken by the Secretary of State for the
Commonwealth Affairs.
12.The title of the ‘Emperor of India’ was dropped from the royal
style.
13.Until 31stMarch 1948 the Governor -General was given the
powers to modify or adopt the Government of India Act, 1935.
Thereafter, the respective Constituent Assemblies could do it.
14.The western areas of the Punjab, the North -West Frontier
Provinces, Sind, Baluchistan in the west and the eastern half of
Bengal and Sylhet district in Assam were to form the new state
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158Briefly, it can be summarised that the Act converted India
into two independent Dominions within the British Commonwealth
of Nations. The word ‘independent’ emphasised freedom from
control of the British Parliament and British Crown. The Act was
acclaimed as “the noblest and greatest law ever enacted by the
Britis hP a r l i a m e n t . ”I tw a san e wb e g i n n i n go ff r e eI n d i a .
9.9 PARTITION OF INDIA
The struggle of freedom movement in India ended through
various Acts, Missions and Plans. All the political parties of India
accepted the Mountbatten Plan and was implemented wit hout
delay. The Congress accepted that along with freedom, partition of
India was inevitable under the existing circumstances. The
Assemblies of Bengal and Punjab were in favour of partition of the
provinces. East Bengal and West Punjab joined Pakistan. Th e
referendum in the Sylhet resulted in the incorporation of those
districts in East Bengal.
9.9.1 The Birth of Pakistan:
On 7thAugust 1947, M.A. Jinnah left India for Karachi. The
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, which met on 11thAugust,
elected him first as President, three days later he was sworn in as
Governor General of Pakistan. On 14thAugust 1947, Lord
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159India wins freedom, 15thAugust 1947:
On 14thAugust 1947, Constituent Assembly of India met to
draft a Constitution for Independent India. At mid -night, Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced the freedo mo fI n d i a .
Mountbatten was appointed as first Governor General of Free India.
Sardar Patel became the Deputy Prime Minister and in -charge of
Home Ministry. The British domination of the country was finally
over.
9.9.2 Boundary Commissions:
In order to de marcate the boundaries, two Boundary
Commissions were appointed in June 1947, each for Punjab and
Bengal under the Chairmanship of Justice Cyril Radcliffe. The
Commission worked under limitations and utmost secrecy. The final
demarcations were published on 17thAugust, two days after the
partition.
As per the Commission the provinces of Punjab and Bengal
were divided into two parts each. The Commission gave West
Punjab and East Bengal to Pakistan and East Punjab and West
Bengal became the parts of India.
9.9.3 Partition of Bengal:
The Muslim majority of Sylhet district in Assam joined
Pakistan via plebiscite. Part of Sylhet named the Karimganj was
given to India. The Chittagong Hill tracts were given to East Bengal.
India too was awarded Muslim -minority districts of Murshidabad
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1609.10. PARTITION OF PUNJAB AND THE TRAGEDY:
The non -Muslim population of Punjab was divided between
Sikhs and Muslims. The Sikhs lost rich agricultural land and
important shrines in the Muslim majority division of West Punjab.
The provi nce of Punjab as demanded by the Sikhs, should be
divided into two using the river Ravi as the dividing line. This would
give the Sikhs their right share and protect their interests. But as
per the Commission’s decision the major part of the river Ravi we nt
to Pakistan. The NWFP went in favour of Pakistan and denied the
demand of independent Pakhtoonistan.
Mountbatten had assured Congress that there would be no
riots and bloodshed, but the speed in which the country was
partitioned proved disastr ous. Accurate figures of the losses in
human, animal and property are not available. But the approximate
estimate reveals that between August 1947 and March 1948, about
four and a half million Hindus and Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to
India and nearly sev en million Muslims in the reverse direction.
A great part of this migration took place within the short span
of three months. In addition to the innumerable and varying
casualties that occurred because of man’s barbaric acts, it is
agreed that more than two lakhs lost their lives. It has also been
estimated that there was a two -way mass migration of over 12
million men, women and children, ever recorded in the history of
mankind.
9.10.1 Communal Riots and Refugees:
Partition of India led to mass migratio no fp e o p l eo nb o t h
sides. In the midst of communal riots in eastern region Mahatma
Gandhi rushed to the raged Naokhali, Bihar and Calcutta as a
messenger of peace, to heal the wounds of the sufferers and
extinguish the flames of communal uproar with his m essage of
universal love and fellow feeling.
The Sikhs and the Muslims were very enraged due to
partition as they had lost the best of their properties. Nearly 40% of
the entire Sikh community were rendered homeless. Horrifying
atrocities, violence, loo ting, massacre, abduction and rape became
the order of the day. The refugee trains were derailed and the
passengers were murdered. Thousands of women and girls were
abducted. The camps were setup in Delhi where nearly one lakh
Muslims took refuge. Around 8 lakhs Muslim migrated to India from
Pakistan and around the same migrated from West Bengal. Efforts
were put in by both the governments to give the best to the
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161
Conclusion:
The independence we achieved, however ,w a so n l ya
divided freedom which was accompanied by a great human tragedy
in the form of communal hatred and cruelty of which there is no
parallel in the recorded history of India. India had to pay a very
heavy price for her freedom.
9.11 UNDERSTANDING GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM
AND PARTITION
The communal problem in I ndia that made place in the heart
of Hindus and Muslims should be looked at and understood from a
different angle. The communal problem at the root level was mainly
politically motivated and not exclusively religious oriented. So, it
was not actually Hindu -Muslim question but was the based on the
British policy of divide and rule. The demand for creation of
Pakistan was one of the reasons for the birth of communalism in
India and the divide and rule policy added fuel to the fire. Going
back into history, th e early British economic and education policies
were more favourable to the Hindus as the British regarded the
Muslims as main conspirers in the Revolt of 1857. This helped the
Hindus grow stronger. Leaders like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who
initially preached unity of both these communities started drifting
away. Gradually in the 20thcentury there was search of national
heroes and hero myth amongst the Hindus and Muslims.
Another area used by the British to foster communalism was
employment in government service. This promoted rivalry among
different sections of the society. The Muslim League was founded
to look after the political rights and the interest of their community.
The League came under the influence of progressive Muslim
leaders. By 1 930s M A Jinnah became the undisputed leader of the
League. The declaration of Communal Award (1932) by the Britishmunotes.in

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162further widened the gap between the Hindus and the Muslims. In
the first provincial elections of 1937 the Congress won absolute
majority in some parts and the League could also capture some
seats. The coalition ministry could not function smoothly. However,
due to opening of World War II the Congress ministry resigned in
1939.
There emerged the idea of a Two -Nation Theory and the
forming a s eparate homeland for the Muslims by their leaders. M Ali
Jinnah’s appealed to the Muslims to fight for separate nation.
‘Direct Action Day’ resulted in 1000’s of lives in Calcutta further
creating hatredness amongst the two communities. Partition of
Bengal on the basis of Hindus/Muslims/Sikhs also created division
amongst the people. Thus, partition was inevitable and led to mass
migration and killings on both th e sides of the county. Altogether it
must be understood that communalism was one of the outcom eo f
the colonial character of Indian economy, of colonial
underdevelopment, of the incapability of colonialism to develop the
Indian economy.
9.12 SUMMARY
As per the Act elections were held and congress formed its
ministries in 1937. Unfortunately, with the outbreak of the World
War II, the British forced India to enter the war on their side. In
response, the Congress demanded complete independence after
war, but the British government stuck to the Dominion Status as the
base of August Offer. On the other hand, the Muslim League
stressed on its demand of nothing less that Partition of India. USA’s
entry in the World War II against Japan changed the course of the
war. Britain felt the danger of Japanese advancement towards
Indian borders. British felt the immediate cooperation of Indian
leaders and so sent Cripps Mission to India with the proposal of
dominion Status and establishment of Constituent Assembly aft er
the war. The Congress rejected the Cripps proposal as it seemed to
be an interim plan of the British. Gandhiji launched the Quit India
Movement in 1942. With the end of World War II the world political
scenario changed leading to upsurge of nationalist movements.
The Labour Party came to power in England and the Cabinet
Mission was sent to India with a plan of forming interim government
and framing the constitution. Lord Mountbatten was sent as the last
Viceroy of British India, who after discussion with all parties
concluded that partition of India was inevitable. The Mountbatten
Plan was announced and the British passed the Indian
Independence Act 1947 declaring India’s partition into two
successor states –India and Pakistan. Two Boundary
Commissions were appointed for demarcation of the northern and
eastern boundaries. Though Gandhiji opposed it, the Muslimmunotes.in

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163League accepted the plan. However, the aftermath of this
announcement was very tragic as riots broke in northern and
eastern regions. There was h atred everywhere. Lakhs were killed
and millions became homeless in a very short span of time. Finally,
India attained independence after a long -driven struggle, but of
divided India which was not their dream.
Check your progress
1.State the provisions of Indian Independence Act.
2.Was partition inevitable? Comment
3.Trace the impact of the declaration of partition.
Suggested Reading
Chandra Bipan, A. Tripathi, Barun De, Freedom Struggle ,
National Book Trust, India, 1972.
Majumdar R.C., Comprehensive History of India ,V o l . 3( P a r tI I I ) ,
People’s Publishing House.
Nanda S.P., History of Modern India (1707 -Present Time),
Dominant Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1980.
Singh Khushwant, Train to Pakistan ,
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164
QUESTION PAPER PATTERN
Subject : History Paper -I
Semester -I
History of Modern India (1857 -1947) (100 Marks)
(1) All Question are compulsory
(2) All Question Carry Equal Marks
(3) Figures to the right indicates marks to a Sub –Question
Q1.Attempt any two of the following (On Module –I) (20 marks)
A)
B)
C)
Q2.Attempt any two of the following (On Module –II) (20 marks)
A)
B)
C)
Q3.Attempt any two of the following(On Module –III) (20 marks)
A)
B)
C)
Q4.Attempt any two o ft h ef o l l o w i n g (On Module –IV) (20 marks)
A)
B)
C)
Q5. Write any two short notes. (20 marks)
A)
B)
C)
D)
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