Modern History

Emergence of Socialism-

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  • Emergence of socialism in the 1920s in the nationalist ranks
    • JL Nehru and SC Bose
    • Raised the question of internal class oppression by capitalists and landlords
    • MN  Roy became the first Indian to be elected to the leadership of the Communist International
    • Muzaffer Ahmed and SA Dange were tried in the Kanpur Conspiracy Case
    • 1925: Communist Party of India was formed
    • All India Trade Union Congress
    • Various Strikes: Bombay textile mills, Jamshedpur, Kharagpur
  • Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)
    • Peasants under the leadership of Sardar Patel organized no tax campaign
  • Indian Youth were becoming active
    • First All Bengal Conference of Students  held in 1928 presided by JL Nehru
  • Hindustan Republican Association: 1924
    • Kakori Conspiracy Case (1925)
    • Four, including Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan were hanged.
  • Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (1928)
    • On 17th December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders
    • Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt threw bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 to let the people know of their changed political objectives
  • Chittagong Armoury Raid: 1030, Surya Sen
    • Participation of young women

 

Gandhi’s early career and activism

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  • Gandhi was the first Indian barrister to have come to South Africa.
  • He was faced with various racial discriminations within days of his arrival in SA.
  • He led the Indian struggle in SA.
  • The first phase of Gandhi’s political activities from 1894-1906 may be classified as the ‘moderate’ phase.
  • He set up the Natal Indian Congress and started a paper called Indian Opinion.
  • By 1906, Gandhiji, having fully tried the ‘Moderate’ methods of struggle, was becoming convinced that these would not lead anywhere.
  • The second phase, begun in 1906, was characterized by the use of passive resistance, Satyagraha. There was no fear of jails.
  • South Africa prepared Gandhiji for leadership of the Indian national struggle:
    • He had the invaluable experience of leading poor Indian labourers.
    • SA built up his faith in the capacity of the Indian masses to participate in and sacrifice for a cause that moved them.
    • Gandhiji also had the opportunity of leading Indians belonging to different religions.
  • South Africa provided Gandhiji with an opportunity for evolving his own style of politics and leadership.
  • Gandhi returned to India on January 9, 1915
  • He founded the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in 1916
  • Initially he was politically idle. He spent his time studying the situation of the country.
  • He was deeply convinced that the only viable method of political struggle was satyagraha.
  • During the course of 1917 and early 1918, he was involved in three significant struggles – in Champaran in Bihar, in Ahmedabad and in Kheda in Gujarat. The common feature of these struggles was that they related to specific local issues and that they were fought for the economic demands of the masses.
  • Champaran Satyagraha (1917)
    • Peasantry on the indigo plantations in Champaran, Bihar was excessively oppressed by the Eurpoean planters.
    • On the invitation of the peasants he went to Champaran and began to conduct a detailed inquiry into the condition of the peasantry
    • The government was forced to set up a committee with Gandhi as one of the members. The sufferings of the peasants was reduced.
    • Others in this movement: Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Haq, J B Kriplani, Narhari Parekh and Mahadev Desai.
  • Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)
    • Dispute between workers and mill owners
    • Gandhi advised workers to go on a non-violent strike. He himself took to fast
    • Owners yielded and gave a 35 percent increase in wages to the workers
  • Kheda Satyagraha (1918)
    • Despite crop failure in Kheda the government insisted on full land revenue
    • Gandhi advised the peasants to withhold payment.
    • Govt issued instructions that revenue should be collected from only those farmers who could afford to pay
    • Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a major role in this satyagraha.
  • Impact of these early experiences
    • Brought Gandhiji in close contact with the masses
    • He identified his life and manner of living with the life of the common people
  • He had three main aims
    • Hindu-Muslim Unity
    • Fight against untouchability
    • Raising the social status of the women
  • Gandhiji’s first major nation-wide protest was against the Rowlatt Bills in 1919. He formed the Satyagraha Sabha whose members took a pledge to disobey the Act and thus to court arrest and imprisonment.
  • Satyagraha was launched. The form of protest finally decided was the observance of a nation-wide hartal accompanied by fasting and prayer.
  • However, protests were generally accompanied by violence and disorder.
  • In Punjab, the situation was particularly violent. Genral Dyer was called to control the situation. On 13 April, Baisakhi Day, General Dyer ordered to open fire on unarmed crowd in Jallianwala Bagh. The government estimate was 379 dead, other estimates were considerably higher.
  • Gandhiji, overwhelmed by the total atmosphere of violence, withdrew the movement on 18 April.
  • Difference between earlier methods of struggle and satyagraha
    • Earlier, the movement had confined its struggle to agitation. They used to hold meetings, demonstrate, boycott etc
    • Through Satyagraha they could act now.
    • The new movement relied increasingly on the political support of the peasants, artisans and urban poor.
    • Gandhiji increasingly turned the face of nationalism towards the common man
  • Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
    • On April 13, 1919 a large crowd had gathered in Amritsar to protest against the arrest of their leaders, Dr. Saifudding Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal
    • General Dyer opened fire
    • Widespread criticism. Tagore returned his knighthood.

 

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Revolutionary Terrorism and Bhagat Singh

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  • Revolutionary young men did not try to generate a mass revolution. Instead they followed the strategy of assassinating unpopular officials
  • 1904: VD Savarkar organized Abhinav Bharat
  • Newspapers like The Sandhya and Yugaantar in Bengal and the Kal in Maharashtra advocated revolutionary ideology
  • Kingsford Incident: In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw bomb at a carriage they believed was carrying Kingsford, the unpopular judge of Muzaffarpur.
  • Anushilan Samiti threw a bomb at the Viceroy Lord Hardinge
  • Centres abroad
    • In London: led by VD Savarkar, Shyamaji Krishnavarma and Har Dayal
    • In Europe: Madam Cama and Ajit Singh
  • They gradually petered out. It did not have any base among the people
  • The sudden suspension of the non-cooperation movement led many young people to question the very basis strategy of non-violence and began to look for alternatives.
  • All the major new revolutionary leaders had been enthusiastic participants in the non-violent non-cooperation movement.
  • Two separate strands of revolutionary terrorism developed – one in Punjab, UP and Bihar and the other in Bengal.
  • Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjea and Sachindranath Sanyal met in Kanpur in October 1924 and founded the Hindustan Republican Association to organize armed revolution.
  • In order to carry out their activities the HRA required funding. The most important action of the HRA was the Kakori Robbery.
  • On August 9, 1925, ten men held up the 8-Down train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow at Kakori and looted its official railway cash.
  • The government arrested a large number of young men and tried them in the Kakori Conspiracy Case.
  • Ashfaqulla Khan, Ramprasadn Bismil, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged, four others were sent to Andaman while seventeen others were sentenced to long term imprisonment.
  • New revolutionaries joined the HRA. They met at Ferozshah Kotla Ground at Delhi on 9 and 10 September 1928, created a new collective leadership, adopted socialism as their official goal and changed the name of the party to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
  • Lala Lajpat Rai dies in a lathi-charge when he was laeding an anti-Simon Commission demonstration at Lahore on 30 October 1928.
  •  On 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated, at Lahore, Saunders, a police official involved in the lathi-charge on Lala Lajpat Rai.
  • In order to let the people know about HSRA’s changed objectives Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt were asked to throw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill.
  • He aim was not to kill but to let people know of their objectives through the leaflet they threw.
  • They were later arrested and tried.
  • The country was also stirred by the hunger strike the revolutionaries took as a protest against the horrible conditions in jails.
  • On 13th September, the 64th day of the epic fast, Jatin Das died.
  • Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced to be hanged. He sentence was carried out on 23 March, 1931.
  • Bhagat Singh was fully secular.
    • The Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha organized by him acted on secular lines.
  • In Bengal, after the death of C R Das, the Congress leadership in Bengal got divided into two wings: one led by S C Bose and the other by J M Sengupta. The Yugantar group joined forces with the first while the Anushilan with the second.
  • Surya Sen had actively participated in the non-cooperation movement. He gathered around him a large band of revolutionary youth including Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Lokenath Baul.
  • Chittagong Armoury Raid

 

Muslim League and hindu communalism

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Muslim League

  • 1906 by Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dhaka, and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk
  • It made no critique of colonialism, supported the partition of Bengal and demanded special safeguards for the Muslims in government services.
  • ML’s political activities were directed not against the foreign rulers but against the Hindus and the INC.
  • Their activities were not supported by all Muslims
    • Arhar movement was founded at this time under the leadership of Maulana Mohamed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasan Imam, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, and Mazhar-ul-Haq. They advocated participation in the militant nationalist movement.

Muslim Nationalists

  • The war between Ottoman Empire and Italy created a wave of sympathy for Turkey
  • During the war between Ottoman empire and Italy, India sent a medical mission headed by MA Ansari to help Turkey.
  • As the British were not sympathetic to Turkey, the pro-Caliph sentiments in India became anti-British
  • However, the militant nationalists among muslims did not accept an entirely secular approach to politics
  • The most important issue they took up was not political independence but protection of the Turkish empire.
  • This approach did not immediately clash with Indian nationalism. However, in the long run it proved harmful as it encouraged the habit of looking at political questions from a religious view point.

Hindu Communalism

  • Some Hindus accepted the colonial view of Indian history and talked about the tyrannical Muslim rule in the medieval period
  • Over language they said that Hindi was the language of Hindus and Urdu that of Muslims.
  • Punjab Hindu Sabha was founded in 1909. Its leaders attached the INC for trying to unite Indians into a single nation.
  • The first session of the All India Hindu Mahasabha was held in April 1915 under the presidentship of the Maharaja of Kasim Bazar.
  • It however remained a weak organization because the colonial government gave it few concessions and little support.

 

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India in the Eighteenth Century

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Bahadur Shah 1 (1707-12)

  • Muzam succeeded Aurungzeb after latter’s death in 1707
  • He acquired the title of Bahadur Shah.
  • Though he was quite old (65) and his rule quite short there are many significant achievements he made
  • He reversed the narrow minded and antagonistic policies of Aurungzeb
  • Made agreements with Rajput states
  • Granted sardeshmukhi to Marathas but  not Chauth
  • Released Shahuji (son of Sambhaji) from prison (who later fought with Tarabai)
  • Tried to make peace with Guru Gobind Sahib by giving him a high Mansab. After Guru’s death, Sikhs again revolted under the leadership of Banda Bahadur. This led to a prolonged war with the Sikhs.
  • Made peace with Chhatarsal, the Bundela chief and Churaman, the Jat chief.
  • State finances deteriorated

Jahandar Shah (1712-13)

  • Death of Bahadur Shah plunged the empire into a civil war
  • A noted feature of this time was the prominence of the nobles
  • Jahandar Shah, son of Bahadur Shah, ascended the throne in 1712 with help from Zulfikar Khan
  • Was a weak ruler devoted only to pleasures
  • Zulfikar Khan, his wazir, was virtually the head of the administration
  • ZK abolished jizyah
  • Peace with Rajputs: Jai Singh of Amber was made the Governor of Malwa. Ajit Singh of Marwar was made the Governor of Gujarat.
  • Chauth and Sardeshmukh granted to Marathas. However, Mughals were to collect it and then hand it over to the Marathas.
  • Continued the policy of suppression towards Banda Bahadur and Sikhs
  • Ijarah: (revenue farming) the government began to contract with revenue farmers and middlemen to pay the government a fixed amount of money while they were left free to collect whatever they could from the peasants
  • Jahandhar Shah defeated in January 1713 by his nephew Farrukh Siyar at Agra

Farrukh Siyar (1713-19)

  • Owed his victory to Saiyid Brothers: Hussain Ali Khan Barahow and Abdullah Khan
  • Abdullah Khan: Wazir,                    Hussain Ali: Mir Bakshi
  • FS was an incapable ruler. Saiyid brothers were the real rulers.
  • Saiyid Brothers
    • Known the Indian History as King Makers
    •  adopted the policy of religious tolerance. Abolished jizyah (again?). Pilgrim tax was abolished from a number of places
    • Marathas: Granted Shahuji swarajya and the right to collect chauth and sardeshmukhi of the six provinces of the Deccan
    • They failed in their effort to contain rebellion because they were faced with constant political rivalry, quarrels and conspiracies at the court.
    • Nobles headed by Nizam-ul-Mulk and Muhammad Amin Khan began to conspire against them
    • In 1719, the Saiyid Brothers killed and overthrew FS.
    • This was followed by placing, in quick succession, of two young princes who died of consumption
    • Murder of the emperor created a wave of revulsion against the SB. They were looked down as ‘namak haram’
  • Now, they placed 18 year old Muhammad Shah as the emperor of India
  • In 1720, the nobles assassinated Hussain Ali Khan, the younger of the SB. Abdullah Khan was also defeated at Agra

Muhammad Shah ‘Rangeela’ (1719-1748)

  • Weak-minded, frivolous and over-fond of a life of ease
  • Neglected the affairs of the state
  • Intrigued against his own ministers
  • Naizam ul Mulk Qin Qulich Khan, the wazir, relinquished his office and founded the state of Hyderabad in 1724
    • “His departure was symbolic of the flight of loyalty and virtue from the Empire”
  • Heriditary nawabs arose in Bengal, Hyderabad, Awadh and Punjab
  • Marathas conquered Malwa, Gujarat and Bundelkhand
  • 1738: Invasion of Nadir Shah

 

Nadir Shah’s Invasion (1738)

  • Attracted to India by its fabulous wealth. Continual campaigns had made Persia bankrupt
  • Also, the Mughal empire was weak.
  • Didn’t meet any resistance as the defense of the north-west frontier had been neglected for years
  • The two armies met at Karnal on 13th Feb 1739. Mughal army was summarily defeated. MS taken prisoner
  • Massacre in Delhi in response to the killing of some of his soldiers
  • Plunder of about 70 crore rupees. Carried away the Peacock throne and Koh-i-noor
  • MS ceded to him all the provinces of the Empire west of the river Indus
  • Significance: Nadir Shah’s invasion exposed the hidden weakness of the empire to the Maratha sardars and the foreign trading companies

Ahmed Shah Abdali

  • One of the generals of Nadir Shah
  • Repeatedly invaded and plundered India right down to Delhi and Mathura between 1748 and 1761. He invaded India five times.
  • 1761: Third battle of Panipat. Defeat of Marathas.
  • As a result of invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah, the Mughal empire ceased to be an all-India empire. By 1761 it was reduced merely to the Kingdom of Delhi

Shah Alam II (1759-

  • Ahmed Bahadur (1748-54) succeeded Muhammad Shah
  • Ahmed Bahadur was succeeded by Alamgir II (1754-59)
    • 1756: Abdali plundered Mathura
  • Alamgir II was succeeded by Shah Jahan III
  • Shah Jahan III succeeded by Shah Alam II in 1759
  • Shah Alam spent initial years wandering for he lived under the fear of his wazir
  • In 1764, he joined forces with Mir Qasim of Bengal and Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh in declaring a war upon the British East India company. This resulted in the Battle of Buxar
  • Pensioned at Allahabad
  • Returned to Delhi in 1772 under the protection of Marathas

Decline of the Mughal Empire

  • After 1759, Mughal empire ceased to be a military power.
  • It continued from 1759 till 1857 only due to the powerful hold that the Mughal dynasty had on the minds of the people of India as a symbol of the political unity of the country
  • In 1803, the British occupied Delhi
  • From 1803 to 1857, the Mughal emperors merely served as a political front of the British.
  • The most important consequence of the fall of the Mughal empire was that it paved way for the British to conquer India as there was no other Indian power strong enough to unite and hold India.

Succession States

  • These states arose as a result of the assertion of autonomy by governors of Mughal provinces with the decay of the central power
  • Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad

Hyderabad and the Carnatic

  • Founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah in 1724
  • Tolerant policy towards Hindus
    • A Hindu, Puran Chand, was his Dewan.
  • Established an orderly administration in Deccan on the basis of the jagirdari system on the Mughal pattern
  • He died in 1748
  • Nawab of Carnatic freed himself of the control of the Viceroy of the Deccan and made his office hereditary
    • Saadutullah Khan of Carnatic made his nephew Dost Ali his successor

Bengal

  • 1700: Murshid Quli Khan made the Dewan of Bengal
  • Freed himself of the central control
  • Freed Bengal of major uprisings
    • Three major uprisings during his time: Sitaram Ray, Udai Narayan and Ghulam Muhammad, and then by Shujat Khan, and finally by Najat Khan
  • Carried out fresh revenue settlement. Introduced the system of revenue-farming.
  • Revenue farming led to the increased distress of the farmers
  • Laid the foundations of the new landed aristocracy in Bengal
  • MQK died in 1727. Succeeded by Shuja-ud-din.
  • 1739: Alivardi Khan killed and deposed Shuja-ud-din’s son, Sarfaraz Khan, and made himself the Nawab
  • All three Nawabs encouraged merchants, both Indian and foreign.
  • Safety of roads and rivers. Thanas and Chowkies at regular intervals.
  • Maintained strict control over the foreign trading companies
  • They, however, did not firmly put down the increasing tendency of the English East India Company to use military force, or to threaten its use, to get its demands accepted.
  • They also neglected to build a strong army

Awadh

  • 1722: Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk
  • Suppressed rebellions and disciplined the Zamindars
  • Fresh revenue settlement in 1723
  • Did not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims. The highest post in his government was held by a Hindu, Maharaja Nawab Rai
  • Died in 1739. Succeeded by Safdar Jung.
  • SJ’s reign was an era of peace
  •  made an alliance with the Maratha sardars
  • Carried out warfare against Rohelas and Bangash Pathans
  • Organized an equitable system of justice
  • Distinct culture of Lucknow developed during his period

Mysore

  • Haidar Ali, in 1761, overthrew Nanjaraj and established his own authority over Mysore
  • 1755: Established a modern arsenal at Dindigal with the help of French experts
  • Conquered Bidnur, Sunda, Sera, Canara and Malabar
  • He conquered Malabar because he wanted access to the Indian Ocean
  • First and Second Anglo-Mysore War
  • 1782: Succeeded by Tipu Sultan
  • TS was an innovator. Introduced a new calendar, a new system of coinage and new scales of weights and measures.
  • Keen interest in French Revolution
    • Planted a ‘tree of liberty’ at Srirangapatnam and became a member of the Jacobin Club
  • Made efforts to build a modern navy
  • Mysore flourished economically under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan
  • Sent missions to France, Turkey, Iran and Pegu Myanmar to develop foreign trade
  • Some historians say that Tipu was a religious fanatic. But facts don’t support this assertion.

 

 

Kerala

  • Divided into large number of feudal chiefs in the 18th century
  • Four important states
    • Calicut (under Zamorin), Chirakkal, Cochin and Travancore
  • In 1729, Travancore rose to prominence under King Martanda Varma
  • Conquered Quilon and Elayadam, and defeated the Dutch
  • From 1766 Haidar Ali invaded Kerala and annexed northern Kerala up to Cochin
  • Revival of Malyalam literature
    • Trivandram became a famous centre of Sanskrit scholarship

Rajput States

  • Rajputana states continued to be divided as before
  • Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber was the most outstanding ruler of the era
    • Founded the city of Jaipur
    • Made Jaipur a great seat of science and art
    • Astronomer. Erected observatories at Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, and Mathura
    • Drew up a set of tables, entitled Zij Muhammadshahi, to enable people to make astronomical observations
    • Translated Euclid’s “Elements of Geometry” into Sanskrit
    • Social reformers. Reduce lavish marriage expenditures.

Jats

  • Jat peasants revolted in 1669 and 1688
  • Jat state of Bharatpur set up by Churaman and  Badan Singh
  • Reached its highest glory under Suraj Mal, who ruled from 1756 to 1763

Sikhs

  • Sikhsim transformed into a militant religion during Guru Hargobind (1606-45), the sixth guru.
  • Guru Gobind Singh waged constant war against the armies of Aurangzeb and the hill rajas
  • After Guru Gobind Singh’s death (1708), leadership passed to Banda Singh (Banda Bahadur)
    • He struggled with the Mughal army for 8 years
    • Put to death in 1715
  • Banda Bahadur failed because
    • Mughal centre was still strong
    • Upper classes and castes of Punjab joined forces against him
    • He could not integrate all the anti-Mughal forces because of his religious bigotry
  • After the withdrawal of Abdali from Punjab, Sikhs were again resurgent
  • Between 1765 and 1800 they brought the Punjab and Jammu under their control
  • They were organized into 12 misls
  • Ranjit Singh
    • Chief of the Sukerchakia Misl
    • Captured Lahore (1799) and Amritsar (1802)
    • Conquered Kashmir, Peshawar and Multan
    • Possessed the second best army in Asia
    • Tolerant and liberal
    • Fakir Azizuddin and Dewan Dina Nath were his important ministers
    • “known to step down from his throne to wipe the dust off the feet of Muslim mendicants with his long grey beard”
    • Negative point: He did not remove the threat of British. He only left it over to his successors. And so, after his death, when his kingdom was torn by intense internal struggle, English conquered it.

Marathas

  • Maratha Families
    • Peshwa – Pune
    • Gaekwad – Baroda
    • Bhosle – Nagpur
    • Holkar – Indore
    • Scindia – Gwalior
  • The most powerful of the succession states
  • Could not fill the political vacuum because
    • Maratha Sardars lacked unity
    • Lacked the outlook and programme which were necessary for founding an all-India empire
  • Shahuji
    • Son of Sambhaji
    • Imprisoned by Aurungzeb
    • Released in 1707
    • Civil war between Shahu and his aunt Tarabai who ruled in the name of her infant son Shivaji II
    • The conflict gave rise to a new era of Maratha leadership, the era of Peshwa leadership
  • Balaji Vishwnath
    • 1713: Peshwa of King Shahu
    • Induced Zulfikar Khan to grant the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan
    • Helped the Saiyid brothers in overthrowing Farukh Siyar
    • Maratha sardars were becoming individually strong but collectively weak
    • Died in 1720. Succeeded by his son Baji Rao I
  • Baji Rao I
    • the greatest extent of guerrilla tactics after Shivaji
    • Vast areas ceded by the Mughals
    • Marathas won control over Malwa, Gujarat and parts of Bundelkhand
    • Rivalry with Nizam ul Mulk
    • Compelled the Nizam to grant chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan provinces
    • 1733: Campaign against Sidis of Janjira and the Portuguese (Salsette and Bassein)
    • Died in 1740
    • Captured territories but failed to lay the foundations of an empire
    • Succeeded by Balaji Baji Rao (Nana Saheb)
  • Balaji Baji Rao (1740-61)
    • Shahu died in 1749. Peshwas became the de facto rulers
    • Shifted the capital to Poona
    • Captured Orissa
    • Mysore forced to pay tributes
    • In 1752, helped Imad-ul-Mulk to become the wazir
    • Brought Punjab under their control and expelled the agent of Ahmad Shah Abdali
      • This led AS Abdali to come to India to settle accounts with Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat
    • Third Battle of Panipat
      • ASA formed an alliance with Najib-ud-daulah of Rohilkhand and Shuja-ud-daulah of Awadh.

Saranjami system:- Social and economic condition

 

Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909

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  • Increased the number of elected members in the Imperial Legislative Council and the provincial council
  • However, most of the elected members were elected indirectly
  • The reformed councils still enjoyed no real power, being merely advisory bodies.
  • Introduced separate electorates under which all Muslims were grouped in separate constituencies from which Muslims alone could be elected. This was aimed at dividing the Hindus and Muslims. It was based on the notion that the political and economic interests of Hindus and Muslims were separate.
    • This later became a potent factor in the growth of communalism
    • It isolated the Muslims from the Nationalist Movement and encouraged separatist tendencies
  • The real purpose of the reforms was to confuse the moderate nationalists, to divide nationalist ranks and to check the growth of unity among Indians
  • Response of Moderates
    • They realized that the reforms had not granted much
    • However, they decided to cooperate with the government in working the reforms
    • This led to their loss of respect among the nationalists and masses

The Split in the Congress: Surat 1907

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The Split in the Congress: Surat 1907

  • Moderates were successful to some extent.
  • Moderates failed in many aspects. Why?
    • They could not acquire any roots among common people.
    • They believed that they could persuade the rulers to change their policies. However, their achievement in this regard was meager.
    • They could not keep pace with the events. They failed to meet the demands of the new stage of the national movement.
  • The British were keen on finishing the Congress because:
    • However moderate the leaders were, they were still nationalists and propagators of anti-colonialist ideas.
    • The British felt that moderates led congress could be finished off easily because it did not have a popular base
  • In the swadeshi movement, all sections of INC united in opposing the Partition
    • However, there was much difference between the moderates and the extremists about the methods and scope of the movement
    • The extremists wanted to extend the Swadeshi and Boycott movement from Bengal to the rest of the country and to boycott every form of association with the colonial government
    • The moderates wanted to confine the boycott movement to Bengal and even there to limit it to the boycott of foreign goods
  • After the Swadeshi movement the British adopted a three pronged approach to deal with congress. Repression-conciliation-suppression.
    • The extremists were reppressed
    • The moderates were conciliated thus giving them an impression that their further demands would be met if they disassociated from the extremists. The idea was to isolate the extremists.
    • Once the moderates and extremists were separate the extremists could be suppressed through the use of state force while the moderates could later be ignored.
  • The congress session was held on December 26, 1907 at Surat, on the banks of the river Tapti.
    • The extremists wanted a guarantee that the four Calcutta resolutions will be passed.
    • They objected to the duly elected president of the year, Rash Behari Ghose.
    • There was a confrontation with hurling of chairs and shoes.
  • The government launched a massive attack on the extremists. Newspapers were suppressed. Tilak was sent to Mandalay jail for six years.
  • The extremists were not able to organize an effective alternative party or to sustain the movement.
  • After 1908 the national movement as a whole declined.
  • The moderates and the country as a whole were disappointed by the 1909 Minto-Morley reforms
    • The number of indirectly elected members of the Imperial and provincial legislative councils was increased.
    • Separate electorates for Muslims were introduced.
  • With the split of Congress revolutionary terrorism rose.
  • In 1904 V D Savarkar organized Abhinav Bharat as a secret society of revolutionaries
  • In April 1908, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose threw a bomb at a carriage which they believed was occupied by Kingsford the unpopular judge at Muzzafarpur.
  • Anushilan Samity and Jugantar were two most important revolutionary groups.
  • An assessment of the split
    • The split did not prove useful to either party
    • The British played the game of divide and rule
    • To placate the moderates they announced the Morley-Minto reforms which did not satisfy the demands of the nationalists. They also annulled the partition of Bengal in 1911.

 

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The years of Stagnation and Emergence of socialism

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  • Gandhiji was arrested in 1922 and sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment. The result was the spread of disintegration, disorganization and demoralization in the nationalist ranks.
  • After a defeat of their resolution of ‘either mending or ending’ in the Congress, CR Das and Motilal Nehru resigned and formed the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party in December 1922.
    • It was to function as a group within the congress
  • How to carry on political work in the movements’ non-active phases. The swarajists said that work in the council was necessary to fill the temporary political void. The no-changers believed otherwise.
  • Major no-changers: Sardar Patel, Dr Ansari, Rajendra Prasad
  • The no-changers opposed council-entry mainly on the ground that parliamentary work would lead to the neglect of constructive and other work among the masses , the loss of revolutionary zeal and political corruption.
  • Despite the differences, he two groups had a lot in common.
    • The need for unity was very strongly felt by all the Congressmen after the 1907 debacle.
    • Both realized that the real sanctions which would compel the government to accept the national demands would be forged only by a mass movement.
    • Both groups fully accepted the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • In the session held in 1923, the congressmen were permitted to stand as candidates and exercise their franchise in the forthcoming elections.
  • Gandhiji was released on February 5, 1924. He did not agree with the Swarajists. However, slowly he moved towards an accommodation with the swarajists.
  • On 6 November 1924, Gandhiji brought the strife between the Swarajists and no-changers to an end, by signing a joint statement with Das and Motilal that the Swarajists Party would carry on work in the legislatures on behalf of the Congress and as an integral part of the Congress. This decision was endorsed in Belgaum.
  • The Swarajists did well in the elections and won 42 out of 101 seats in the Central Legislative Assembly.
  • In March 1925, Vithalbhai J Patel was elected as he President (speaker) of the Central Legislative Assembly.
  • The achievement of the Swarajists lay in filling the political void at a time when the national movement was recouping its strength.
    • They also exposed the hollowness of the reforms of 1919
  • After the petering out of the NCM communalism took stronghold
    • Even within the Congress, a group known as ‘responsivists’, including Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai and NC Kelkar, offered cooperation to the government so that the so-called Hindu interests might be safeguarded.

Emergence of socialism in the 1920s in the nationalist ranks

  • JL Nehru and SC Bose
  • Raised the question of internal class oppression by capitalists and landlords
  • MN Roy became the first Indian to be elected to the leadership of the Communist International
  • Muzaffer Ahmed and SA Dange were tried in the Kanpur Conspiracy Case
  • 1925: Communist Party of India was formed
  • All India Trade Union Congress
  • Various Strikes: Bombay textile mills, Jamshedpur, Kharagpur
  • Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)
    • Peasants under the leadership of Sardar Patel organized no tax campaign
  • Indian Youth were becoming active
    • First All Bengal Conference of Students held in 1928 presided by JL Nehru
  • Hindustan Republican Association: 1924
    • Kakori Conspiracy Case (1925)
    • Four, including Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan were hanged.
  • Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (1928)
    • On 17th December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders
    • Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt threw bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 to let the people know of their changed political objectives
  • Chittagong Armoury Raid: 1030, Surya Sen
    • Participation of young women

 

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Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Rowalt act

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    • Provincial LC enlarged. More elected members
    • Dyarchy
      • Some subjects were reserved and remained under the direct control of the Governor; others such as education, public health and local self-government were called transferred subjects and were to be controlled by the ministers responsible to the legislature.
    • At the centre, there were two houses of legislature.
    • Response of nationalists
      • INC condemned the reforms as disappointing and unsatisfactory
      • Some others , led by Surendranath Banerjea, were in favour of accepting the government proposals. They left the Congress at this time and founded the Indian Liberal Federation
    • Evaluation
      • The  governor could overrule the ministers on any grounds that he considered special
      • The legislature had virtually no control over the Governor-General and his Executive Council.

The central government had unrestricted control over the provincial governments

Rowlatt Act

  • March 1919
  • It authorized the Government to imprison any person without trial and conviction in a court of law.

 

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The Working Class Movements

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  • There were some working class movements in second half of 19th century. However, they were impulsive and not very well organized.
  • The early nationalists had a lukewarm attitude towards the question of workers. This war because initially Congress wanted to focus on issues which were of common concern to all the people of India.
  • There was a difference in attitude of the nationalists towards workers in indigenous and European enterprises.
  • The most important feature of the labour movement during the Swadeshi days was the shift from agitation and struggles on purely economic questions to the involvement of the worker with the wider political issues of the day.
  • The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded in 1920.
  • IN 1918 Gandhi founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association.
  • The AITUC in November 1927 took a decision to boycott the Simon Commission and many workers participated in the massive Simon boycott demonstrations.
  • Alarmed by worker’s movement, the government enacted repressive laws like the Public Safety Act and Trade Disputes Acts and arrested the entire radical leadership of the labour movement and launched the Meerut Conspiracy Case against them.
  • The labour movement suffered a major setback partially due to this government offensive and partially due to a shift in stance of the communist led wing of the movement.
  • From the end of 1928, the communists stopped aligning them with the national movement.
  • Communists got isolated within the AITUC and were thrown out in the split of 1931.
  • BY 1934, the communists re-entered the mainstream nationalist politics.
  • The working class of Bombay held an anti-war strike on 2 October, 1939.
  • With the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, the communists changed their policy and asked the people to support the allied forces instead of holding anti-war strikes.
  • The communists dissociated themselves from the Quit India movement launched in 1942.
  • The last years of colonial rule also saw a remarkably sharp increase in strikes on economic issues all over the country – the all India strike of the post and telegraph department employees being the most well known among them.