INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT
(1857 TO 1919)
Dr. PRAKASH M. BADIGER
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
GULBARGA UNIVERISTY, GULBARGA
KARNATAKA
FIRST EDITION
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1
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Dr. PRAKASH M.BADIGER
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I find no words to express my deep sense of gratitude to my teachers Dr.
Manjula B. Chincholi,professor and Chairman Dept Of History Dr. Parveen
Rukshana (Rtd.), Dr. B.C. Mahabaleshwarappa (Rtd.) and Dr. Z.K. Ansari (Red)
their encouragement and cooperation, it would have been impossible for me to
pursue and complete the work.
I acknowledge my sincere gratitude to Prof. E.T. Puttaih, ViceChancellor, for his wholehearted support and cooperation to complete this book.
I will be failing in my duty if I not record my gratitude to Dr.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Hon’ble Central Ministry for Railways, New Delhi, Dr
N.Dharmsingh former Chief Minister Karnataka State. MP Bidar, Priyanka
Kharge, MLA Chittapur, Dr. Ajay Singh, MLA Jewargi, R.S. Doddamani Deputy
Registrar Gulbarga University, Gulbarga. Malleshi Sajjan Research Scholar Dept
of Law. Shri. Basavaraj Chincholi, Senior Leader Congress (I), Gulbarga whose
spontaneous cooperation went a long way in shaping this study.
It gives great pleasure to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. S.L.
Hiremath, Registrar, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, Dr. S.A. Palekar, Dr. S.P.
Melkeri, Prof. P.K. Khandoba, Dr. Meti Sheshan, Dr. T.M. Bhaskar, Dr. H.T.
Pote, Dr. Hanamanthrao Doddamani, Dr. Arunkumar Naronkar, Dr. Sarvodaya
Shivaputra, Prof. Sangappa Hosamani, Prof. Hosamani Bheemarao, Dr. I.S.
Vidyasagar Dr. H. S. Jange for their cooperation and valuable suggestions.
Shir. H.T. Sangan, Shir. K.L. Kamble Pakash Hadanoorkar and B.
Rudrawadi for their constant encouragement and moral support.
My deepest gratitude is due to my father Shri. Mahalingappa M Badiger
and mother Smt. Gurushantamma, who put up with all inconveniences caused by
a study of this nature with immense patience. Without their constant
encouragement and support, I am afraid this study would not have been possible.
I owe my heartfelt gratitude to my uncles Smt. & Shri. Sharanappa Badiger (Rtd.
VA), Smt. & Shri. Basavaraj Badiger, for their parental care, my brothers and
their family Smt. & Shri. Mahantesh Badiger, Smt. & Shri. Guruling Badgier,
Smt. & Shri. Ashok Badiger, Smt. & Shri. Amalappa Sharma their constant help
and support.
I also thank Smt. & Shri. Basavaraj Shetter, Smt. & Shri. Doddappa
Doddamani, Smt. & Shri. Dattu Panchasheel, Smt. & Shri. Gollalappa Tallolli,
Smt. & Shri. Guruling Kale, Smt. & Shri. Bhemanna Mudnoor, Smt. & Shri.
Saibanna Kale (GESCOM), who has always been a tower of strength and source
of inspiration in my academic endeavours.
My thanks are also due to my friends Dr. Vijaykumar Salimani, Dr.
Jagannath Pattankar, Dr. Adivesh, Santosh Humpli, Dr. B.C. Sagar, Dr.
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Sheshidhar Melkunde, Dr. H.M. Bargali, Dr. A.V. Patil, Dr. Rajshekhar, Dr.
Padmaraj Jain, Dr. Ashish Rao, Dr. Suresh Badiger, Dr. V.S. Naganalli, Dr.
Udaykumar Rawoorkar, Dr. Renuka Patil for their kind help and cheerful
encouragement during the course of this book.
My special thanks to my JNV Group Dr. Srinivas R. Patti,
Rajendrakumar S.P., Ramanagouda Patil (Class-I Contractor), Hanamantharaya
(CPI, Bangalore), Rajashekhar S. H, District Magistrate Lucknow,
Sharanabasava L.B Dr Shridar Lakhe (ESI) Mahadeva Matha Mahantu
Shantaling Nagaraj Anand Katti Anand Kulkarni Ayyanagouda Dr. Siddappa
Pradeep Ramesh Bangari Santosh Rajash Praveen Chalawadi Raviraj Rachotayya
Arvind Korvar and all my Navoday school friends and seniors for their support
and needful suggestion
I owe gratitude to sweet and sweetest Nandini, Avinash, Aditya, Akash,
Rahul, Rajanish, Sharan, Jayaraj, Mallikarjun, Supriya, Suprit, Pratham, Pragnya,
Pruthvi, Goutami, Spoorti, Prabhulata, Hanu, Pragnya Sheel, Knakashree S.
Tanga for their love and affection.
Dr. Prakash M. Badiger
Guest Faculty,
Dept Of History,
Gulbarga University, Gulbarga.
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Dedicate
To
My Beloved Teacher
Prof. (Smt.) Manjula B. Chincholi
Indian National Movement
Dr. Prakash M. Badiger
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CONTENTS
Sr. No.
1
2
3
TITLE
1857 Revolt Nature of 1857 Revolt –
Causes – Course and Consequences,
Factors for Indian Nationalism,
Establishment of Indian National
Congress Aims and Objectives
Phase of Moderates, Their ideology and
methods. Political Philosophy of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak Swadeshi Movement –
Its intensity
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PAGE
NO.
7
21
34
50
1909 and 1919 Act. Provisions and
Significance
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Chapter - 1
Revolt of 1857
Introduction:
A mighty popular revolt broke out in northern and central India, exactly
a hundred years after the battle of plassey within one hundred years, a mere
trading company emerged as a mighty political force. The outbreak of 1857 was
in reality a product of the accumulated grievances of the people against the
company’s administration popular discontent had been gaining strength among
the different sections of Indian society. It was this discontent which burst forth
into a mighty popular movement, peasants, artisans, soldiers fought bravely
against the foreign government and their sacrifice constitute a brilliant chapter in
the pages of Indian history. Mangal Pandey hoisted the flag of rebellion on 29th
March, 1857. It became a full-fledged war when the military forces of Meerut
cantonment raised the standard of rebellion on May 10, 1857, the sky was rent
with crush of “Delhi Chalo” “Maro Ferangi Ko”.
Any how, it becomes a prelude to the long drama of the epoch-making
freedom movement that was to unfold in 1885 A.D. The causes of the movement
are to be found in those hundred years of British rule to which the greared
cartridges were the proverbial ignition which set the whole mine ablaze. In fact,
greared cartridge was merely the match that exploded the mine which had, owing
to a number of causes, been for a long time preparing various sections of
population felt suffocated under the tyranny of the of he foreign rulers, so they
tried to free themselves from he foreign yoke. Freedom from foreign domination
has been the yearning of all civilized people in every age and the Indian people
were no exception to it. So hey raised the standard of revolt against the British
rule in 1857.
Nature of 1857 Revolt:
Different views have been expressed by historians scholars on the nature
and character of the events of 1857. However, the lansensus of historians is that
it fails somewhere between muting and national apprising.
Was it a “war of independence” as described by many an Indian writers,
Independence undoubtedly was the aim of the leaders of the revolt, but the large
areas the either remained pacific onlookers or actively supported the English
detract seriously from view that the struggle was India’s war of independence.
Ashok Mehta in his book; “The Great Rebellion” has tried to prove that the
rebellion of 1857 was national in character.
7
It was not alone the sepoys who rose in revolt, it was a combination of
grievances national hatred had and religious fanaticism against the English
occupation of India. The native prices and soldiers were in it. The Meerut
Sepoys found in a moment a leader a flag and a cause and the muting was
transferred into a revolutionary war”.
The revolt markeda turning point in the history of India. The muting
was not simply a revolt of the Sepoys. The most important historical truth is that
the nature of an event in any history is largely determined on how its posterity
viewed it. The long term effect of the muting goes to prove that it was more than
a Sepoy muting. “Whatever might have been its original character, it soon
became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India. It remained
a shining example before nascent nationalism in India in its struggle for freedom
from he British yoke and inverted with full glory of the first national war of
independence against British.
Why is it called as the war of independence. It was the result of
widespread public reaction against the British. Each the common people in
several areas rose up in arms. There was remarkable Hindu-Muslim unity. Had
there been no popular support behind it, the movement would not have spread so
quickly Maro ferangeeko was the common slogan.
Ashok Mehta that, the rebellion of 1857 was more than a mere Sepoy
meetin, was an eruption of the social volcano where in many pent up forces
found event. After the eruption, the whole social ropography had changed. The
scars of the rebellion remained deep and shinning.
Background and Causes of 1857 Revolt:
Ill-Treatment With The Mughal Emperor:
Till the close of Shah Alam’s reign, the British recognized he Mughal
emperor as the sovereign ruler of India and regarded themselves as his loyal
subjects. The coins issued by the company also contained the name of the
Mughal emperor. The official real of the British Governor – General contained
the words;
“The special servant Of the King-emperor of Delhi”.
Whenever any Englishmen including the Governor General himself
visited the Delhi Darbar, he stood with due reverence, bowed and offered
presents to the emperor.
In 1785, Scindia had occupied Delhi and took over the rights and
privileges of the Mughal emperor in his hands. An annual pension of Rs. 6
Lakhs was granted to Shah Alam. However, in 1804, two years before his death,
8
Shah Alam accepted a pension of Rs. 12 lakhs from the East India Company and
entrusted the defence of Delhi to the company’s forces. Thus, by the time
Bahadur Shah Jafar ascended the Delhi throne, the Mughal Emperor was an
Emperor only in name. His write hardly ran beyond the walls of Delhi. He was a
pensioner of the company and when financial difficulties forced him to seek an
increase in the pension. The company demanded surrender of his remaining
royal rights. The customary presents made to the emperor were discontinued.
Also, the British officers began to show open discourtesy and disregard towards
the Delhi Darhar in many other ways. The words;
“The special servant of he king-emperor of Delhi”.
were omitted from the Governor-General’s real. Bahadur Shah was denied even
the right to choose his own crown-prince. He had chosen his eldest son, Javan
Bakht to be the Crown-prince. He had chosen but because Javan Bakht’s views
were supposed to be somewhat anti-British, Dalhousie refused to recognize him.
Instead he entered into an agreement with a younger son of Bahadur Shah and
recognized him as the crown-prince in return for his agreeing to vocate the Red
fort, to accepted a pension of Rs. 15 thousand per month only and to be called
merely prince instead of king-emperor. After these conditions were accepted by
the prince. Lord Dalhosie asked the king to vacate the Red fort and go and live at
the Kutub Minar. It is said that on the hearing the news not only was Bahadur
Shah stunned red but the Indian Soldiers and the common people in Delhi also
Shook with anger and remorse.
Political Causes of 1857 Revolt:
From the second half of the 18th century, the English East India
Company tried sincerely to establish their political influence in India.
The battle of plassey marked the beginning of their political career.
Slowly, the British went on developing their power, brining under their yoke one
principality after another. Wellesley had evolved the policy of subsidiary
alliance system and it was a master stoke of the British political policy in India.
When Lord Dalhosie arrived in India. The policy of “Doctrine of
Lapse” was adopted and one state after another began to be annexed.
The company’s refusal to continue the pension of the ex-peshwa Baji
Rao II to his adopted son Nana Saheb gave offence to many Hindus. Even before
the outbreak many notable personages in the country. Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope,
Rani of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur of Bihar, Vir Surendra Sai of
Sambalpur of Orissa and many others were disaffected.
9
Doctrine of Lapse:
Under the Doctrine of lapse, the issueless rulers of Indian states were
debarred from adopting sons to succeed them without the sanction of the
company. It was also made quite plain that such sanction was not to be accorded
as a matter of course but extremely sparingly and only as a special favour. By
the operation of the Doctrine of Lapse, Dalhosie succeeded in annexing to
company’s rule under one pretext or the other, several of the Indian states, often
in violation of Solemn treaty commitments. Nagpur, Berar, Jhansi, Carnataka,
Tanjore and Satara were some of the states so annexed. The Rs. 8 Lakh annual
pension of Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Baji Rao second, was discontinued
and many of the rights of the Taluqedars of Oudh were taken away. This
alienated the rulers of the Indian states from the British masters. Even those
whose states had not so far and that been confiscated were afraid that their turn
many not be very far and that they also may be deprived of their states, position,
power and prestige in similar manner. Many farmers and Zamindars in Bombay,
Bengal and Oudh were deprived of their and therefore felt aggrieved. The state
of Oudh was annexed in 1856 on the lame excuse that the Nawab of Oudh, Wazir
Ali Shah was a debauch and a weak and inefficient ruler. This antagonized the
large number of Oudh soldiers in the army of the company in Bengal. The
effects of he annexation of various Indian states on the people of India have been
characterized by a foreign historian.
Whenever any state was annexed to the company administration, the
effects on the villagers in the words of J.S. Sullivan, a member of the Madras
council were:
“Upon the extermination of a native state, an Englishman takes the place of the
Sovereign under he name of commissioner thre or four of his associates displace
as many dozens of the native official aristocracy while some hundred of our
troopse take the place of the many thousands that every native chief supports.
The little court disappears, trade languishes, the capital decays; the people are
impoverished, the Englishman Clourishes, and acts like a sponge drawing up
riches from the banks of the Ganges, and squeezing them down upon the banks of
the Thames”.
Dalhousie’s sweep of the princely houses carrying in its wake a
complete disruption of the social and economic system glavanised into being a
political discontent which found expression in rebellion.
Economic Causes:
The rise and fall of empires in Delhi had little or no effects upon the
economic structure and life of the people. The reasons for this was that the
wealth of the country remained in the country. But after the advent of the British
10
it was different, because as the company was subordinate to the crown of
England, its economic policy was from subservient to the mother country. They
drained away the wealth from India and Indian economy began to be fashioned to
meet the needs of industrial England. Raw materials for her factories and
markets for her finished products became England’s Prime needs. So British
policy in India was developed to meet those needs.
They forced the Indian weavers to work for the company. They
imposed meager tax on the raw material and also nominal tax on the
manufactured goods that came from England so that the English goods could be
sold cheaper in the Indian market. On the other hand, they imposed heavy taxes
on Indian manufactured goods. Because of the ruin of Indian handicrafts
industries large numbers of Indian were thrown back on agriculture. The British
intentionally crippled Indian trade and commerce. The machine made goods
flooded in Indian market.
The agrarian policy that was followed by the British, ruined the
cultivators as well as the Zamindars. The permanent settlement introduced by
Cornwallis brought miseries in the early stages. Bentick’s resumption of rentfree tenures reduced a large number of people to a state of poverty. Dalhasie’s
Inam commission of 1852, established to investigate into the titles of landlords,
confiscated many estates which caused great economic distress in the Deccan. It
is no wonder that there prevailed greave discontent all over India. Economic
distress became more acute, with the outbreak of severe famine in the first half of
the 19th century.
The primary motive of the political domination of India by the British
was its economic exploitation. The British utilized their political power for
exploiting the economic resources and wealth of India for the benefit of Britain.
The British established their political power first in Bengal and within a few
decades drained off its resources to the extent that its people were not left ever
with the bare minimum for existence. That became the fate of the people at other
places also where the British rule was subsequently established. The trade
interests of the British resulted in the destruction of the cottage industries of India
while the revenue policy of the British reduced its agriculture production. As
early as 1769, the British imposed heavy import duties on the manufactured
articles of India entering Britain while the Indian government charged nominal
export duties on raw products going out of India.
Besides, Indian weavers and handicraftmen were forced to work
according to the desire of the servants of company and in return received very
little remuneration. It destroyed the cotton textile industry of India which was
the largest and the most beneficial industry of India. But the British did not
change their policy. It was accepted in a parliamentary report in 1840 that “while
11
British cotton and silk goods imported into India a duty of 3.5% and woolen
goods 2%, Indian cotton goods imported into Britain paid 10% silk goods 20%
and the woolen goods 30%. The abolition of the company’s monopoly of trade
with India in 1813 and the acceptance of the policy of free trade by the
government of India in 1833 enhanced further the exploitation of India by British
which had started producting machine made goods particularly the cotton
textiles.
Therefore, the policy of economic exploitation of India was continued
without any restraint by the British as well as company’s Government in India.
This policy affected adversely all classes of people in India poverty in India
remained limited not only to a particular section of the society. It enveloped all
Indians a like whether they were peasants, landlords, traders, industries, labourers
or middle class people. It was a genuine grievance of all the Indians against the
British rule in India.
Administrative Causes:
The administrative machinery of the company was inefficient and
insufficient. The English deliberately introduced certain changes which annoyed
the people. Distrust and disbelief prevailed everywhere. The land revenue
policy was most unpopular. In the land revenue settlement, the English had
eliminated the middlemen by establishing direct contact with the peasants. Many
hereditary land lord were deprived of their positions. Large estates were
confiscated and sold by public auction, and these estates were purchased by
speculators who exploited the peasants to a great extent.
There being vast differences of language and customs between the
English and the Indian, the administration given to the later suited their character
the least.
The discriminative policy of the British deprived the Indians of benefits
from commerce, and they being not enlisted into the army to the same extent as
before, had few careers upon to them.
The most important cause of the muting had been the non-admittance of
the Indians into the legislative and the administrative branches of the government
because of which it failed to understand the Indian grievances in time.
The Indians disliked and distrusted the administration of the British.
The implications of the new system which had replaced the centuries old one
were not understood by them. Therefore, they looked to it with distrust. The
British system had abolished several intermediaries like Jagirdars, Taluqdars etc.
The replacement of Persian by English as the court language was also not liked
by the people.
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The police system of the British was not effective by that time and
people always felt insecure of their property, life and honour. The most effected
part of administration was revenue under which the peasants and the Zamindars
suffered equally. The peasants had to pay heavy revenue while Zamindars were
devoid of their special privileges. Reviewing the revenue policy in concern with
the causes of the revolt.
The British excluded the Indians from all high civil and military jobs.
There were kept reserved for the Englishmen. In the army, the highest post
which an Indian could get war that of a subedar getting rupees sixty or seventy
per month. The highest post in the civil services for which an Indian could
qualify was that of a Sadar Amin, who was paid rupees five hundred a month.
The British never fulfilled their assurance given in the charter Act of
1833 that no Indian shall by reason only of his religion, place of Birth, decent,
colour or any of hem be disabled from holding any place, office or employment
under the east India company; it dissatisfied the educated Indians who expected
to get gainful employment in the service of the company after getting English
education. The Muslims also felt aggrieved from this policy because they felt it
their rightful claim to et high executive posts in the government just because they
were enjoying them prior to the British rule.
Socio-Religious Causes:
As district from any other social system of the world, the Hindu society
is a socio-religious fabric based upon Dharma. Nothing is so clear to a Hindu as
his religions. Religious sites follow him from the cradle to the grow. The
English, happy in their ignorance of Indian philosophy, attempted to introduce
western notions of inheritance, marriage and succession and thereby consciously
or unconsciously trampled upon the most sensitive portions of a Hindu’s life.
The English deprivicated some social customs and sites prevalent in the
society during those days. So they tried their best to abolish those social
customs. The abolition of sati by William Bentick and introduction of widow
marriage by Dalhosie were two successful steps of the British in this direction.
But the orthodox people opposed it tooth and mail. Dalhosie introduced some
scientific devices like railways and telegraph for better administration. But the
orthodox people thought that it would mar the sancity of the society. Hence, they
rose in revolt against the English
Both Bentick and Dalhosie had introduced English education in India.
The young people educated through English, developed a special interest in
Western culture which was distilled by the orthodox Indians.
Apart from establishing empire in India, the British tried to convent as
many Indians into Christianity as possible. They tried to work out this plan
13
though the Christian missionaries whose work it was to spread Christianity in
India. The government also tried to abolish all those social customs and laws
which stood on the way of preaching Christianity. For example, there was a
social custom according to which a Hindu was to be deprived of his or her
property if he or she became a convert. But the British abolished it by passing
the caste disabilities Removal Act of 1850. The English Padris while lecturing to
the multitude indulged in abuse of Hindu and Muslim religions. Even the
English made the study of bible compulsory in their educational institutions.
Christianization of India was the ultimate end of the British Raj in India.
Before the revolt 1857 there had been a growing suspicious among
orthodox Hindus and Muslims that the British were trying to destroy their
religion and culture through social legislation. As we know the British
Government in India helped the Hindu converts to get the legitimate share of
their paternal property by passing caste disabilities. Removal Act in 1850.
According to the prison Act, there was no specific utensils for individual
prisoners. A Hindu prisoner had to take his food in the utensils used by the
Christianity prisoners and the vice-versa and this system was opposed by the
Hindu prisoners. One of the most important cause of discontentment, among all
classes of Indians was that they became apprehensive of the British concerning
their religion. The activities of the Christian missionaries gave them ground for
their apprehension. Large number of Christian missionaries were granted
unrestricted entry into India by the Character Act of 1813. The missionaries
established educational institution in the backward region of India. The
missionaries openly criticized tenants of Hinduism and Islam. It incurred wide
displeasure of both the Hindu and Muslims.
Military Causes:
The Indian soldiers working in the British Indian army were called the
sepoys. The policy and treatment of the British had created great discontentment
among the Sepoys. The Sepoys had been nursing a special grievance against the
British. Their feeling of resentment can be guessed by their proclamations issued
during the period of revolt.
As early as 1806, the Madras army mutinied as a result of the new
regulation of enforced on it under which the Sepoys were forbidden to wear caste
marks on their caste prejudices. In 1844 the Bengal regiments demanded the
restoration of their extra allowances as a condition for marhinging to sind. The
Bengal army contained a large number of high caste men in its rank. This army
had a brilliant record of service to the British, yet as time passed their chances of
promotion got limited.
14
The British government was allegedly partial to the Indian soldiers in
the matter of appointment and promotion. The British soldiers were appointed in
high post whereas the Indian soldiers, inspite of their merit and caliber, were
always placed in lower ranks of the army. The English soldiers without any
experience were getting promotion very frequently, whereas the Indian soldiers
were rotting in the lower posts. This discrimination displeased the Sepoys,
further the military authorities displeased the Sepoys, interfering in their religious
faith for example, the Hindu Sepoys used to wear turban on their heads and a
kind of vermilion mark (Tilak on their foreheads) and the Muslims Sepoys used
to wear long heads and moustaches on their faces. Bu the contemporary military
rulers did not allow the Sepoys to have the above practices, which wounded the
religious feelings of both the Muslims and the Hindus.
The soldiers shared the feeling with the civilians that the British were
bent upon destroying their religion. Tara Chand writes, “The pride of the Indians
was wounded. Royal families were humiliated the nobility was divested of
influence. The people lay prostrate before the might of foreigner. The ancient
seats of power were in ruins.
Now men of another race, alien in religion, language and culture Dorbed
over the sons of the soil and heaped contempt on them”.
The indignation of Sepoys at the annexation of Oudh to which many of
them belonged. All those Sikh and Muslim soldiers who were recruited by British
after the annexation of Punjab were assured that they would not be asked a
remove their bread, but later on orders were passed for removing them.
The General Service Enlistment Act and the general order in 1856 asked
the new recruits to take an Oath to be prepared to go wherever required. The
news of the grared catridges convinced them that the British were determined to
make them lose their caste.
Responsible British officers openly preached Christianity among
Sepoys. The most standerous languages and most naked abuses were hurled on
the Sepoys. There was a fear among the Bengal army that a new war like Sikh
regiment would command superior respect and chances.
The contemporary of the Battle of plassey was also to fail in June 1857,
and the people had a superstition that the end of British rule had arrived. And
last but not least, was the incident of mysterious circulation of chapters and a
similar circulation of the lotus flowers among the General public and the soldiers
respectively. Moreover, disaster in the crime an war and had lowered the
General morale of the British soldiers. All these factors prompted the Sepoys to
raise a revolt against the British rule. This widespread and intense dislike and
even hatred of the foreign rule prevailed among the Indian people and Sepoys of
the army.
15
The Immediate Cause:
In this atmosphere of raging discontent the greased catridge acted like
the proverbial match to the mine. In 1856 the government decided to replace the
old fashioned musket by the enfield rifle. The training for the use of new weapon
was to be imposed at Dum Dum, Ambala and Sialkot. The loading process of
enfield rifle involved bringing the cartridge were greared with the fat of cover
and pigs.
This put both the Hindus and Muslim Sepoys into great
embarrassment, because when the cover were sacred to the Hindus, the Pigs were
forbidden to the Muslims. Thus if it infuriated the Indian Sepoys. When Sepoys
objected to its use, the British governments forced them, with the result that they
broke into muting at Barrackpur, and subsequently at different military camps.
Course of 1857 Revolt:
The first spark of the Sepoy meeting was found at Barrackpore. But the
first real outbreak which sparked off the meeting occurred at Meerut on the 19th
of May 1857. It soon embraced a vast area from the Punjab in the North and the
Narmada in the South in Bihar in the East and Rajputna in the west. On 10th
May, 1857, three native regiments rose and released the imprisoned troops by
breaking open the prison’s door. They marched off to Delhi. After creating
Lavoc at Mutul, the Sepoys’s marched towards Delhi like a storm succeping
everything before them. They declared Bahadur Shah Zaffar, the Mughal
emperor as the emperor of India. Soon the Muing spread to Lucknow, Kanpur,
Agra, Jhansi, Central India, Bihar, Orissa and many other places.
The names of the Indian who led the rebellion at different places were
Bahadurshah, Tantya Tope, Rani Laxmibai, Kunwar Singh, Veer Surendra Sai
and many others.
Result of The Revolt of 1857:
Introduction:
The suppression of the meeting was followed by various changes in the
system of administration and the policy of the government. Recording to
Thompson and Garatt, “The mutiny cannot be dismissed as an unhappy incident
which ended with its suppression. “There was a complete recorganisation of the
internal administration. In fact, the British were more influenced than the Indian
by this epoch-making events. The mutiny taught a good lesson to the English in
India and infused into the Indians great inspiration. The rule of the East India
Company came to an end with the end of the mutiny. The British government
lost all confidence in the company and did not think it proper to leave the
administration of such a vast country like India in the hands of a mere
commercial body. Thus the first direct result of the mutiny was the extinction of
16
the company’s rule from India and the transfer of the Government of India from
the company to the crown. According to Marriot,
“The most momentous result of the mutiny was
to bring the teeming peoples for the first time into direct
dependence upon the Britishcrown”
So the most important result of the mutiny was the act for better government of
India 1858. This act, infact, was the termination of a process commenced by the
pitt’s India Act in 1784.
Government of India Act 1858:
The act of 1858 left untouched the government of India, but affected the
administrative mechanism through which India was governed from England. The
Act declared that henceforth “India shall be governed by and in the name of the
Queen, and vested in the queen all the territories and powers of the company.
The main provisions of the oils were.
The secretary of the state in council took the place of the Board of
Control and the court of directors. The new secretary of state for India was to be
assisted by a council of India which was to consist of 15 members of whom 8
were to be appointed by the crown and 7 to be elected by the Directors of the
company.
The secretary of state was to preside over the meetings of the council
and had power to over rule its decisions in case it different. The function of the
council was to advise the secretary of state but only on matters referred to it by
him. It had no initiative. The secretary was empowered to make rules for the
more convenient transaction of business to constitute committees and distribute
departments of business among them. The secretary of state was to be a member
of the British cabinet. His salary and allowances were made a charge on the
revenues of India. The secretary of state was given the power to over rule his
council. The secretary of state was to annually place before parliament the Indian
accounts and a report concerning the moral and material progress of India. The
secretary of state for India was given the power of sending to and receiving secret
messages from the viceroy of India and was not expected to communicate these
to the Indian council.
The Governor general was to be known as viceroy, which means one
holding post for or in the place of sovereign. He was to be assisted by a council
of 15 members. The revenues of India were to be mostly spent for India alone.
The crown was to appoint the governor Genral of India and the governor of
presidencies. The military and Novel forces were transferred to queen. The act
laid down that except for the purpose of rebelling invasion or any other sudden or
for the urgent necessity, Indian revenues were not be employed for military
17
operations outsides India without the consent of parliament. Above all, the
secretary of state of India exercised control over the viceroy of India. Lord
Calnning was the first viceroy of India.
Thus, the Government of India Act. Of 1858 opened a new chapter in
the history of India. The rule of the company ended, and now that of the crown
in direct manner commenced. The main rules under which India was governed in
1858, were already those of the British parliament. The British administrators
including the Governor. General though nominally the servants of the court of
Directors, know that in reality they were answerable to the British cabinet with
its Indian Minister, who was the president of the Board of control and through
them to the parliament. No doubt, the council was given some owers on the
Indian revenues and expenditure, but it had no authority on war and peace. The
council had no initiative and besides, certains matters could be kept secret from
the council. The Indian office in London directly controlled permanent officials
in India and hence instead of criticizing them identified itself with them and
protected them. Therefore, these officials became the practical owners of India
Inspite of various drawback, the Government of India Act occupies an important
position in the history of India.
The Proclamation Of The Queen – 1858:
The assumption by the crown of the Government of India was formally
declared on Nov. 1, 1858 at a Durbar held at Allahabad where cunning read the
Queen’s Proclamation to the assembled princes and the people of India. The
queen proclaimed “Such a document should breath feelings of generosity,
benevolence and religious toleration and point out the privileges which the
Indians will receive in being placed on the footing of equality with the subjects of
the British crown and the prosperity following in the train of civilization”. The
proclamation given below was drafted by Lord Perby in accordance with the
sentiments of the queen and worded to be worthy of the occasion to the people of
India, the assumption by the queen marked the dawn of a new era, the
proclamation was cherished as the charter of their rights.
The proclamation broadly decided the relation of the British
Government with the princess of the Indian states and the people. The
proclamation said, “we hereby announce to the native princess of India that all
treaties and engagements made with them by or under the authority of the
Honourable East India company are by us accepted, and will be scrupulously
maintenance and we like for the like observance on their part”. Then, we desire
no extention of our present territorial possession and while we will permit no
aggression upon our dominions or our rights to be attempted with impunity we
shall sanction no encroachment on those of others”. It further said, “we shall
18
respect the rights, dignity and honour of our native princes as our own, and we
desire that they as well as our own subjects,should enjoy that prosparity, and that
social advancement which can be secured by internal peace and good
government”. The policy of Doctrine of lapse was abolished. The policy of
centralization adopted in the Charter Act of 1833 was reversed and the
government recognized new principles of decentralization and Indianisation.
For the people of India the Queens proclamation declared, “we hold
ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligations of
duty which bind us to all our other subjects. It also promised non-interference in
the religious affairs of the people, and non-discrimination as that none be any
wise favoured, now and molested by reason for their religious faith and
observances”. The proclamation also promised that hence forward efficient
Indians would be appointed in various responsible government posts irrespective
of caste and creed. The proclamation further declared that “we know and respect
the feelings of attachment with which the natives of India regard the land
inherited by them from their ancestors and we desired to protect them in all rights
connected there with subject to the quitable demands of the state and we will do
that generally in framing and administering the law, the regard to be paid to the
ancient rights, usage and customs of India”.
The Queen through her proclamation granted amnesty to all the rebels
except those who had actually assassinated the British subjects in India during
the mutiny.
The proclamation, with its promise went a long way in restoring order
and pacifying the people. The feeling of relief it evoked was fully made use by
canning to derive home the nation that a new era had in reality begun. To the
people of India the proclamation brought a new heaven on earth. In fact, the
proclamation was actually, as it was said, the Magnacarta of Indian liberties.
The government brought about some modification in the British Indian
army after the revolt of 1857. The British now became extra cautions about the
strength and number of the Indian sepoys. The number of British soldiers was
considerably increased as to avoid the possibility of another such rising in future.
The English soldiers, were now mainly kept in possession of the artillery and the
English men only were placed in the superior rank of the army. So the European
element in the army was strengthened and the European officers became the
permanent feature of the Indian army. The forces of the company were
amalgamated in order to remove the old anomalies which had been existing
between them no long. The company’s regiments were disbanded and now all
the army men became directly the servants of the crown of England. The policy
of balance and counter poise was deliberately furthered in the Indian army”.
Every effort was made isolate the army from the people further, the mutiny
19
caused the British to regard Indian aspirations with an eye that was more
watchful and less benevolent than had previously been the case”. Previously the
government took the initiative in introducing necessary social reforms, but now
the government became cautions.
Another, important result of the mutiny was the increase of suspicion of
the British on the Indian citizens. It aggravated the differences between the
Indian and the Europeans. The British now became more revengeful upon the
Indians after the revolt. According to panikar,
“The atrocities of white Terror rankled long in
Indian minds, andpoisoned the relationship
of the two races fordecade to come”
As a result of the failure of this revolt distrust and differences cropped
up between the Hindus and the Muslims as both began to look at one another as
being responsible for the failure of the revolt.
The revolt of 1857 caused terrible financial crisis. So various steps were
taken to bring financial reforms. Customs duties were enhanced and income tax
was imposed. Indian police Act. And Indian High Courts Act was passed in
1861. In order to establish their control over the Indians, the English encouraged
the expansion of English education in India.
The revolt of 1857 was an epoch making event in the history of India.
The outbreak of 1857 indeed was a watershed in British Indian history. In the
words of Michel Edwards “The mutiny represent a divide in the history of British
India. In general terms it was the violent meeting of two lying systems”. The
mutiny was the parting of the ways between two ages in the Indian history the
medieval and modern. It brought about a revolutionary change in the national
life of India. In fact, a new era began in Indian history.
20
Chapter – 2
Factors for Indian Nationalism
1. Introduction
2. Factors favouring Growth of Indian Nationalism
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3.
Impact of British Rule
Political unity of India
Economic Exploitation by the British
English language and western ideas
Social and religions movements of 19th Century
Development of the means of communication and transport
Contact with foreign countries
Press and newspaper and vernacular literature
Administration of Lord Lytton
The Ilbert Bill controversy
Administration of Lord Curgon
The abusive behaviour of the British against the Indians
Rise of the Middle class intelligentsia
Influence of Historical Research
Racialism
The Revolt of 1857
The founding of I.N.C.
Conclusion
Introduction:
“Indian nationalism was the child of the British Raj and British authorities its
cradle”.
– R. Coupland
“Nationalism is really only anti-colonialism”.
– A.D. Smith
Prior to the revolt of 1857, the British treated India as one nation and
one state because it suited them. They were attempting to conquer India and
therefore, they pleaded that the conquest of the entire sub-continent would alone
provide administrative and political unity to this country, state and nation. Thus,
the conquest of India was justified on the country, state and nation. Thus the
conquest of India was justified on the ground of benefiting the people of this
21
country. But, after the revolt of 1857, they reversed their stand. They left the
policy of annexation, because the existence of the native states was found useful
for them. Thus, the concept of the Indian nation was found useful for them.
Thus, the concept of the Indian nation was against their interest. After the revolt,
the policy of dividing the Indians was pursued and therefore, it became necessary
to discard the concept of one Indian nation. The British historians and scholars
then uphold that India was never a nation. It was and of different languages,
dresses, social customs, religions, races, ideas etc. politically too, it was never
united. Rather, the attempts to unit it politically always failed miserably. The
Indians developed the concept of nationalism only during the British rule. Thus,
the British scholars have maintained that Indian nationalism is the heritage of the
British.
It is primarly because of the geograph vastness of the country and the
liberal cultural attitudes of its people. But behind all this variety in its culture,
religions of the people, manners, customs etc. there has always existed a basic
unity among Indian people. India, of course, had remained divided politically
and the efforts to bring about its unity always failed but culturally India has
always remained united vedic religion, Sanskrit language, Hindu customs, places
of pilgrimage which are spread all over India, values of life etc. have always
provided unity to India. The Indians, therefore, have always felt that they belong
to one country. Even the Indian Muslims have become part and parcel of this
country politically and culturally. It were the British who deliberately divided
the hindu and the muslims leading to communal differences between the two
groups. Thus all those factors which contribute towards the formation of
nationalism were already existing in India .India today celebrates many kings and
queens for combating foreign invasion and domination, such as Shivaji of
the Maratha Empire, Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, Kittur Chennamma, Maharana
Pratap of Rajputana,Prithviraj Chauhan, who combated the Mahmud of
Ghazni and Tipu Sultan who fought the British. The kings ofAncient India, such
as Chandragupta Maurya and Emperor Ashoka the Great of the Magadha Empire,
are also remembered for their military genius, incredible conquests and
remarkable religious tolerance.Muslim kings are also a part of Indian
pride.[2] Akbar the Great was a powerful Mughal emperor who sought to resolve
religious differences, and was known to have a good relationship with the Roman
Catholic Church as well as with his subjects – Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and
Jains. He forged familial and political bonds with Hindu Rajput kings. Although
previous Sultans had been more or less tolerant, Akbar took religious
intermingling to new level of exploration. He developed for the first time in
Islamic India an environment of complete religious freedom. Akbar undid most
forms of religious discrimination, and invited the participation of wise Hindu
22
ministers and kings, and even religious scholars to debate in his court. Indian
nationalism refers to the many underlying forces that defined the principles of
the Indian independence movement, and strongly continue to influence
the politics of India, as well as being the heart of many contrasting ideologies that
have caused ethnic and religious conflict in Indian society. Indian nationalism
often imbibes the consciousness of Indians that prior to 1947, India embodied the
broader Indian subcontinent and influenced a part of Asia, known as Greater
India.
Factors For The Rise Of Indian Nationalism:
Several factors combined to give rise to Indian nationalism and all those
were the legacy of he British rule in India. They are the following:
1) Impact of British Rule:
British colonial rulers followed modern medhods – political, military,
economic and intellectual to establish and continue their stranglehold over India
and for fuller economic exploitation of India’s resources. A dose of
modernization was an essential concomitant of the colonial scheme of
administration and this modernization distorted though it was generated some
developments and one of these was growth of Indian nationalism.
2) Political Unity Of India:
It was for the first time that India achieved political unity under the
British rule, when the British came, there was no unity among the Indian sates
and India was more or less a house divided against itself. There were the
Marathas, the Sikhs, the Jats and the Muslims states, with each fighting against
the others for political ascendancy. But the British pressed them together and
brought them under one umbrella. Having thus last their identities, they realized
then that all of them belonged to one country that was India, one nation that was
Indians.
And again one type of British administration for the whole of India,
equal treatment meted out of all subject people, Hindus or Muslims, Marathas or
Sikhs, Brahmins or Sudras, Princes or Paupers, Zamindars or Peasants, created a
sense of unity among the Indians.
3) Economic Exploitation By The British:
The one particular feature of the British rule in India was the economic
of the Indian people of all classes. Many foreigners looted the wealth of India
even prior to the British but the Indians were able to make up the loss. But the
British drained the resources of India in a most systematic and unjust way. They
came as traders and always remained traders in India whose primary motive was
always financial gain. India, therefore, lost its economic resources not only in
the form of revenue, salary and other emoluments to be British officers,
23
Investments etc. but mostly because of unfavourable balance of trade which was
primarily a creation of the British. The industrial revolution in England
necessitated import of raw materials from foreign countries and an extensive
market for its manufactures outside India provided it both. It resulted in the
destruction of India handicrafts and cottage industries heavy pressure on
agriculture and ever growing impoverishment of the people. The revenue policy
of the British destroyed even Indian agriculture. The trade policy particularly
that of free trade created most unfavourable balance of trade. The industries
could not grow on modern lines because of the antipathy of the foreign rulers.
The educated Indians failed to get useful employment because of doors of all
higher services were closed to them. Thus, except certain classes with vested
interests like the motive rulers, land lords, Taluqdars; village users etc. all Indian
people suffered financially. The nation, as a whole, was reduced to mere
subsistence level and with no hope of any relief in future. It was bound to react
and was one of the most important causes of Indian nationalism seeking
independence.
4) English Languages and Western ideas:
The introduction of western learning constituted a potent factor for the
birth of Indian nationalism. With the beginning of the teaching of the English
language, western learning was imported into India. Indians now had an
opportunity to read the monumental writings of the west. They read the works of
Byron, who sings so gloriously of liberty, the writing of the great political
thinkers like Locke, Mill, Mailay, Burke, Rousseau and Voltaire who advocate
the ideas of nationalism, democracy and self-government and the heroic stories
of the American war of independence, the French Revolution, the Italian struggle
for independence, which emitted the cardinal principles of equality, liberty and
fraternity. The daring deeds of Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cavour were a source of
inspiration for the people. The more they read, the more they were inspired to
work for the national unity and the liberation of the country, which was in a sad
state of degeneration.
All these led them to feel that they were the proud decentants of great
race and it was this feelings that led to the growth of Indian nationalism.
5) Social and Religious Movements of 19th Century:
The social and religious reform movements of the 19th century
contributed most to Indian nationalism though indirectly. Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayanand and Mrs. Annie Besant were all patriats.
They revived the Glory of ancient India, created faith among the people in their
religion and culture and thus, gave the message of love to their motherland and to
the people of India. Swami Dayanand was first who used the word Swaraj, and
24
declared Hindi as national language of India. Many Arya Samajist leaders were
in the fore-front of the national movement and were primarily responsible for the
rise of exteremism in the congress.
6) Development Of The Means Of Communication And Transport:
Raitways, telegraph, wireless, postal services, construction of the trades
and canals facilitated communication among the people. All these brought them
nearer to each other and provided the facility to organize the national movement
on all India basis.
7) Contact With Foreign Countries:
Indians came in contact not only with Britain but with other foreign
countries as well.
The movements in other countries, their economic
developments, their problems and conflicts and the first world war affected
Indians. The defeat of Russia by Japan revived the faith of the Asians in their
strength. The Russian Revolution of 1917 inspired the national movements of
every country on economic grounds. The first world war provided the facility of
industrial development in India. The fourteen points of the American president
Mr. Wilson, created hope for the establishment of democratic principles in every
part of the world. Thus, the contact with foreign countries inspired Indian
nationalism in several ways.
8) Birth of Indian Press and Vernacular Literature:
The birth of Indian press and vernacular literature of fed the rising flame
of Indian nationalism. Raja Rammohan Roy, the father of the Indian press,
founded a weekly paper Sambad Kaumudi. The Bombay Samachar, the Bunga
Dutta, the Bengalee, Indian Mirror, the Comrade, the Hindu patriot, the Keshari,
the Banga Darshana, the Arya Darshana, the Amrit Bagar patrika, the New India
were some of the important newspaper and journals which were published at
about that time. The Indians thus got the chance to propagate their feelings and
grievances with the result that the people were politically educated. Thus the
press served as a powerful instrument in preparing was the growth of
nationalism.
Equally important was the role played by the vernacular literature in this
regard. There emerged a group of writers in Bengal prominent among whom
were Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore and Keshav Chandra
Sen, Bankim Chandra is novel, ‘Anand Matha’ and poem ‘Bande Mataram’,
Tagore’s Janagana Mana, contributed a lot to providing a momentum to the
development of national unity.
9) Administration of Lord Lytton:
The Afgan war during the period of Lord Lytton adversely affected the
economic resources of India. He arranged the Delhi durbar to declare Queen
Victoria as the Impress of India at a time when a larger part of India was in the
25
grip of famine and epidemic. He passed the vernacular press Act which curbed
the liberty of the Indian press. His Armipact was a means to prevent the Indians
from keeping arms. All these measures created widespread discontentment
among the Indians.
10) The Ilbert Bill Controversy:
The Ilbert Bill was presented in the central legislature during the
viceroyalty of Lord Ripen. It was proposed in it that Indian judges would have
right to try European as well. It was opposed by the British residents in India.
They collected fund for this purpose, organized a systematic movement against
the Bill both in England and India and ultimately, succeeded in getting the Bill
amended so that it lost its very spirit. The opposition to the Bill antagonized the
Indian public opinion. It made them clear the policy of racial discrimination of
British. It also gave them a good lesson in organizing a movement. They forgot
none. They utilized them for strengthening nationalism.
11) Administration of Lord Curzon:
The personal arrogance of Lord Curzon, his haughty language and some
administrative measures like Calcultta university Act and local self government.
Act society injured the feelings of the Indians. But above all, the partition of
Bengal created a widespred stir among the Indians to oppose it. The use of
Swadeshi (India made) goods and boycott of foreign goods were adopted as
measures to exhibit their resentment by the Indains for the firth time Surendra
Nath Banerjee toured all over India to gain support of the Indians in other
provinces against partition. Thus, it helped in strengthening Indian nationalism.
12) The Abusive behaviour of the British against the Indians:
The revolt of 1857 left permanent bitterness between the British and the
Indians. The policy to rule India by sword was unheld by all Britishers.
Therefore, the British asserted themselves not only administrative but their
personal behaviour also became arrogant towards the Indians. Disrespect to
Indians, beating of Indians servants and cultivators, disrespect to their women
etc. became common events. These happenings were given wide publicity by the
Indian newspapers. That inflamed the feelings of the Indians against the British
which helped in the growth of national consciousness.
13) Rise of Middle Class Intelligentsia:
British administrative and economic innovations gave rise to a new
urban middle class in towns. The new class readily learnt English for it promoted
employment and gave a sense of prestige. This class, prominent because of its
education, new position and its close ties with the ruling class came to the
forefront.
26
The middle class proved to be the new soul of modern India and in due
course inferred the whole of India with its spirit. This class provided leadership
to the Indian National Congress in all its stages of growth.
14) Influence of Historical Researches:
Historical researches in ancient Indian history conducted mostly by
European scholars Max Muller, Monier Williams Roth, Sassoon etc. opened new
vistas of Indias rich cultural heritage. In particular, the excavations conducted by
archaeologists like Marshall and Cunninghan created a new picture of India’s
past glory and greatness no less impressive then that of ancient civilizations of
Greece and Rome. All these gave a new sense of confidence to the educated
Indians and inspired them with a new spirit patriotism and nationalism.
15) Racialism:
One unfortunate legacy of the Berellion of 1857 was the feeling of racial
bitterness between the rulers and the ruled. The ‘PUNCH’ cartooned Indians as
half-gorilla, half Negroes. The Anglo-Indians bureaucracy developed an attitude
of arrogance and contempt towards the Indians. They somehow came to the
conclusion that the only argument that worked affectively with the Indians was
superior force. Thus, Europeans developed their own social code ethics and
worked out the theory of a superior race. The Indians were dubbed as belonging
to an inferior race and no longer worthy of any trust. The Indians were
frequently referred to as a nation of liars, perjures and forgers. The Anglo
Indians tobby produced books, leaflets and pamphlets to justify the racial
superiority of the European races particularly the English. This narrow approach
evoked a reaction in the Indian mind and put the educated Indians on the
defensive.
The Revolt of 1857:
The Great revolt of 1857 contributed a lot the growth of nationalism,
when Hindus and Muslims fought side by side against the British, they realized
that they belonged to one nation. All the natives irrespective of caste, creed or
race were one.
The founding of the All India Congress in 1885:
National consciousness had awakened among the Indians and several
associations were formed ever prior to the founding of All India Congress to give
vent to it. Yet, there was no all-India organization by that time. The All India
Congress was established in 1885 and it prepared the platform for an organized
national movement. Thus, its establishment channelized they made it effective
and fruitful.
27
Nationalism and Politics
The political identity of the Indian National Congress, India's largest
political party and one which controlled government for over 45 years, is reliant
on the connection to Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and the NehruGandhi family which has controlled the Congress since independence. The
Congress Party's fortunes up till the 1970s were single-handedly propelled by its
legacy as the flagship of India's Independence Movement, and the core platform
of the party today evokes that past strongly, considering itself to be the guardian
of India's freedom, democracy and unity. Muslims have remained loyal voters of
the Congress Party, seen as defender of Nehruvian secularism. In contrast,
the Bharatiya Janata Party employs a more aggressively nationalistic expression.
The BJP seeks to preserve and spread the culture of the Hindus, the
majority population. It ties nationalism with the aggressive defence of India's
borders and interests against archrivals China and Pakistan, with the defence of
the majority's right to be a majority.
Religious nationalist parties include the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is
closely identified with the creation of a Sikh-majority state in Punjab and
includes many Sikh religious leaders in its organisation. In Maharashtra, the Shiv
Sena uses the legacy of the independent Maratha kingdom under heroes
like Shivaji to stir up support, and has adopted Hindutva as well. In Assam,
the Asom Gana Parishad is a more state-focused party, arising after the
frustration of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) as a benevolent
expression of Assamese nationalism. InTamil Nadu came the first of such parties,
the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK). Today the DK stands for a collection of parties,
with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and
the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). Caste-based politics
invite the participation of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the party of Laloo Prasad
Yadav, who build upon the support of poor low-caste and dalit Hindus in the
northern, and most populated states of India like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Almost
every Indian state has a regional party devoted solely to the culture of the native
people of that state.
Military history, both past and present, serves as a source of nationalist
sentiment in India. The first reference to armies is found in the Vedas and the
epics Ramayana and Mahabaratha. There were many powerful dynasties in India
such as the Maha Janapadas, Shishunaga Empire, Gangaridai Empire, Nanda
Empire, Maurya
Empire, Sunga
Empire, Kharavela
Empire, Kuninda
Kingdom, Chola
Empire, Chera
Empire, Pandyan
Empire, Satavahana
Empire,Western Satrap Empire, Kushan Empire, Vakataka Empire, Kalabhras
Kingdom, Gupta Empire, Pallava Empire,Kadamba Empire, Western Ganga
28
Kingdom, Vishnukundina Empire, Chalukya Empire, Harsha Empire, Shahi
Kingdom, Eastern
Chalukya
Kingdom, Pratihara
Empire, Pala
Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, Paramara Kingdom,Yadava Empire, Solanki
Kingdom, Western Chalukya Empire, Hoysala Empire, Sena Empire, Eastern
Ganga Empire,Kakatiya Kingdom, Kalachuri Empire, Delhi Sultanate, Deccan
Sultanates, Ahom Kingdom, Vijayanagar Empire,Mysore Kingdom, Mughal
Empire, Maratha Empire, Sikh Empire etc.
The modern Army of India was raised under the British Raj in the 19th
century. Today the Republic of India maintains the world's third largest armed
forces with over a million troops strong. The official defence budget stands at
1644151.9 million (US$26 billion) but the actual spending on the armed forces
is estimated to be much higher. The army is undergoing rapid expansion and
modernisation with plans to have an active military space program, missile
defence shield, and nuclear triad capability.
Indians did not generally feel content about British rule in India. Indians
lacked equal job opportunities.They were not allowed to advance to high
positions in government service or to become officers in the army. In 1885, a
number of Indian lawyers and professionals formed the Indian National
Congress. Members of the organization belonged to various religions and came
from all parts of India. Congress members debated political and economic
reforms, the future of India, and ways for Indians to achieve equal status with the
British. Some Muslims believed the Indian National Congress was a Hindu
organization aiming for Hindu rule. In 1906, several Muslim leaders, encouraged
by the British, formed the All-India Muslim League. Members of the
organization sought to give the Muslims a voice in political affairs. However,
most Muslims continued to support the Indian National Congress. In 1905, the
British divided the state of Bengal into separate Hindu and Muslim sections.
Indians protested this action with a boycott of British goods and a series of
bombings and shootings. In an effort to stop the violence, the British introduced
the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909. These reforms enlarged the viceroy's
executive council to include an Indian. They also allowed Indians to elect
representatives to the provincial legislative councils. In 1911, the British reunited
Bengal. When World War I broke out in 1914, Britain declared that India was
also at war with Germany. Indian troops fought in many parts of the world. In
return for support, the British promised more reforms and agreed to let Indians
have a greater role in political affairs. Nevertheless, protests against the British
continued.
In March 1919, the British passed the Rowlatt Acts to try to control
protests in India. The acts attempted to restrict the political liberties and rights of
Indians, including the right to trial by jury. But demonstrations against the
29
government increased in response to the acts. On April 13, 1919, thousands of
Indians assembled in an enclosed area in Amritsar. Troops entered the meeting
place and blocked theentrance. The British commander then ordered the soldiers
to open fire on the unarmed crowd. The shots killed about 400 people and
wounded about 1,200. This event, called the Amritsar Massacre, proved to be a
turning point. From then on, Indians demanded complete independence from
British rule. The British promised more reforms, but at the same time, they tried
to crush the independence movement. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were
passed in late 1919 and went into full effect in 1921. The reforms increased the
powers of the provincial legislative councils, where Indians were most active.
The central legislative council was replaced by a legislature with most of its
members elected. However, the viceroy and the governors still had the right to
veto any bill. The Indians did not believe the reforms gave them enough power.
By 1920, Mohandas K. Gandhi had become a leader in the Indian
independence movement and in the Indian National Congress, which had become
the most important Indian political organization. Gandhi persuaded the Congress
to adopt his program of nonviolent disobedience, also known as nonviolent
nonco-operation. Gandhi's program asked Indians to boycott British goods, to
refuse to pay taxes, and to stop using British schools, courts, and government
services. As a result, some Indians gave up well-paying jobs that required them to
cooperate with the British. Gandhi changed the Indian National Congress from a
small party of educated men to a mass party with millions of follower.
LOKMANYA Tilak was the first to take up and support Swaraj as the
national goal. The first spurts of nationalistic sentiment that rose amongst
Congress members were when the desire to be represented in the bodies of
government, to have a say, a vote in the lawmaking and issues of administration
of India. Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in
governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. This trend was
personified by Dadabhai Naoroji, considered by many as the eldest Indian
statesman. Naoroji went as far as contesting, successfully, an election to the
British House of Commons, becoming its first Indian member. That he was aided
in his campaign by young, aspiring Indian student activists like Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, describes where the imagination of the new Indian generation lay.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was among the first Indian nationalists to
embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation. Tilak deeply opposed the British
education system that ignored and defamed India's culture, history and values,
defying and disgracing the India culture. He resented the denial of freedom of
expression for nationalists, and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians
in the affairs of their nation. For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the
natural and only solution in the abandonment of all the British things and to
30
protect the Indian economy from the diabolic exploitation of the British, and their
biased and discriminatory policies . He was backed by rising public leaders
like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view.
Under them, India's three great states – Maharashtra, Bengal and Punjab region
shaped the demand of the people and India's nationalism. The moderates, led
by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji held firm
to calls for negotiations and political dialogue. Gokhale criticized Tilak for
encouraging acts of violence and disorder. But the Congress of 1906 did not have
public membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the
party. But with Tilak's arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The
Congress lost credit with the people, while Muslims were alarmed with the rise
of Tilak's Hindu nationalism, and formed the All India Muslim League in
1906,sponsored by British Raj, considering the Congress as completely
unsuitable for Indian Muslims..
Establishment of Indian National Congress:
Introduction:
Some political associations were formed even prior to the establishment
of the congress. Most prominent among them were the Bengal Indian
Association formed in 1883 and the Bengal presidency Association formed in
1884. Yet, there was the necessity of an All India organization because there
existed none like it so far. In 1884, a retired English Officers Mr. A.O. Hume
formed an association called the Indian National Union, for this purpose in 1884.
This union decided to call a convention of the representatives of the Indian
people at Poona in 1885 and the responsibility of organizing it was given to Mr.
A.O. Hume. But as cholera spread over Poona that year, it was decided to hold
the convention at Bombay. The convention met at Bombay in December 1885
and there the All India Congress took it birth. It first president was Mr. Womesh
Chandra Banerjee. Thus, in 1885, the All India Congress was founded during the
viceroyalty of Lord Dufferin Lala Lajpat Rai popularized the view that it was
Lord Duffrin who gave the idea of founding an all India political party to Mr.
O.A. Hume with a view to channelized the activities of the Indians in a
constitutional way. Many British official in India, including Lord Dufferin and
Mr. Hume, believed that such an organization would divert the Indians from
taking recourse to violent means. Mr. Hume also said “A safety value for the
escape of great and growing forces generated by our own action was urgently
needed”. The result was the All India Congress. But the view contains only
partial truth. It is not certain that Lord Dufferin gave this idea to Mr. Hume
though he did not check the efforts of Mr. Hume Besides, Mr. Hume’s aim was
certainly not limited a create a ‘safety valve’ for the empire. He was definitely
31
guided by other higher motives than that. Therefore, he desired to establish an
organized political party which could put up the grievances of the people before
the government for the improvement of their lot. Many patriotic Indian desired
the same. Thus, above all, the Indian National Congress represented the urge of
the politically conscious Indians to set up a national organization to work for
their betterment. A.O. Hume and many others worked for it and the All India
Congress was found which led the struggle for Indian independence.
Aims and Objectives of Indian National Congress:
The first president of Indian national congress, W.C. Bannerjee, in his
presidential address enunciated the aims and objects of organization to be
following.
a) The promotion of personal intimacy and friendship amongst all the more
earnest workers in our country’s cause in various parts of the empire.
b) Consolidation of the national sentiments and eradication of the
prejudices of race, creed and province.
c) To keep an authoritative record of the matured Indian views on
important matters concerning this country.
d) Determination of the methods by which during the next twelve months it
is desirable for native politicians to labour in public interests.
Thus the Indian national congress came into existence as a friend, rather
than a foe, of the British rule in India. Its aims was not to overthrow the British
government from India, but to train the Indians to be fit for handling the
problems themselves on national basis.
The Congress, however, made a humble beginning. Its early aims were
as follows:
a) To seek the co-operation of all Indians in its efforts.
b) The eradiction of race, creed and pronvincial prejudice and
consolidation of national unity.
c) To discuss and take decisions concerning social problems of the
country.
d) To request the government to associate Indians in the working of
administration.
e) To fix up the program of the next year.
Thus, the early aims of the congress were limited only to create national
consciousness and seek wider chances of employment in the services. But as it
went on strengthening itself, its objectives also underwent changes till its final
objective became complete independence for the country, virtually, the history of
32
the Indian national movement is the history of the All India Congress because it
led the movement and brought it to success. Ofcourse, other parties, groups of
people, ideas, influences and circumstance also participate in it and strengthened
the National movement in many ways and from time to time. Yet, the congress
represented all these mixed interests and influences. The banner mostly
remained the same and therefore, the credit for Indian independence was taken
primarily by the All India Congress.
For the sake of convenience, the Indian national movement is divided
into following phases.
a) The first phase, 1885-1905.
b) The second phase, 1905-1919; The Rise and growth of extremism.
c) The Third phase 1919-1929, The fourth phase 1929-1939, The fifth and
the final phase, 1939-1947.
33
Chapter-3
Phase of Moderates (1885-1905):
Introduction:
The period of Moderates has been regarded as the period of liberal
national movement. The Idian leaders had complete faith in the British sense of
justice and fair play. They believed that if they would place their grievances
before the government reasonably and politely, it would certainly try to remove
them. Among the liberal leaders, the most prominent were for Firoz Shah Mehta,
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Womesh Chandra Benarjee, Surendra Nath Banerjee,
Dada Bai Navroji, Rasbehari Bose, Badaruddin Tyabji etc.
The Congress believed and pursued perfect constitutional methods
during this period. It deliberated problems in its annual sessions, passed
resolutions concerning them, petitioned the government to implement them and
propogated its views among the people. It never protested against the
government. Its aims were also limited and therefore, it demanded very little
from the government, S.N. Banerji explained that the object of the congress was
not the super session of British rule in India, but broadening of its basis, the
liberalizing of its spirit, the ennobling of its character and placing it on the
unchangeable foundation of a nation’s affections.
The congress had been founded by A.O. Hume after consultations with
Lord Dufferin (Viceroy, 1885, 88). The congress leaders were full of admiration
for British history and culture and spoke of the British connection as
‘Providential’. It was their cardinal faith that British rule in India was in the
interest of the Indians. As such they looked upon the British government not as
an antagonist but as an ally; in the course of time, they believed Britain would
help them to acquire the capacity to govern themselves in accordance with the
highest standards of the west. Thus, it was generally believed that the Chief
obstacle in the path of Indians progress was not British colonial rule but the
social and economic backwardness of the Indian people and the reactionary role
of the Anglo Indian bureaucracy.
The moderate leaders stood for the maintenance, rather strengthening of
the British Empire. This approach was the outcome of their apprehension that
anarchy and disorder would reappear in India if British government was
superseded. In their eyes British rule was the embodiment of peace and order in
the country and as such British rule was indispensable in India for a long time to
come, Gokhale explained their viewpoint when he said,
“Whatever the shortcomings of bureaucracy and however intolerable at times the
insolence of the individual Englishman, they alone stand today in the country for
34
order; and without continued order no real progress is possible for our people. It
is not difficult at any time to create disorder in our country it was our position for
centuries but it is not so easy to substitute another form of order for that which
has been evolved in the course of a century”.
The moderates sincerely believed that Indian’s progress could be
possible only under the supervision of the British.
Most of the Congress leaders of the period believed that the British
people were just, righteous and freedom loving. They were further convinced
that the British people meant justice to be done to India. If Indians had certain
grievances, these were only due to the reactionary policy of the British
bureaucracy in India or ignorance of the British people about these grievances.
As such the nationalist leaders believed that all they had to do was to prepare
their case and present and plead it before the British parliament and nation and
their grievances would be redressed and justice done. As a natural Corollary the
congress leaders put great emphasis on congress propaganda in England. A
British committee of the Indian National Congress was setup in London which
published a weakly journal India to present India’s case before the British public.
Dadabhai Naoroji was never tried of telling the congress leaders.
“Nothing is more clear to the heart of England and I speak from actual
knowledge than India’s welfare; and if we only speak out loud enough and
persistently enough, to that busy heart, we shall not speak in vain”. Thus, with a
view to educating the English people about the real needs of India, in 1890 a
decision was taken to hold a session of the Indian National Congress in London
in 1892, but owing to the British elections of 1891 the proposal was postponed
and afterwards never revived.
Aims of Moderates:
The following were the aims of Moderates such as:
1. Representative bodies should be established in India.
2. The Indian Council should be abolished.
3. Individual liberty should be granted to the people.
4. Impact duties an foreign goods should be enhanced.
5. The Indians living in India should be treated well.
6. The Indians should have unrestricted entry even in the highest services.
7. The administrative and military expenditure should be reduced.
8. Judiciary should be separated from the executive etc.
The congress placed its demands before the government always in the
form of petitions. Even when it protested as in case of the vernacular press Act
and the Arms Act, it was completely within the constitutional procedure. It
35
practically got no success in its efforts presiding over the Poona Congress in
1895, Surendranath Banerjee declared that the congress had never asked for
representative institutions for the mosses but “representative institutions of a
modified character for the educated community, who by reason of their culture
and enlightenment, their assimilation of English ideas and their farmiliarity with
English methods of government might be presumed to be qualified for such a
boon” congress resolutions generally demanded expansion of legislative councils
with enlarged powers and more representative of Indians in them; representation
of Indians in the secretary of state’s council, viceroy’s executive council and
governors executive councils; more opportunities for Indians in the Civil service;
holding of simultaneous examinations in India as well as England; broadening of
the basis of civil liberties; reduction of military expenditure and more
expenditure on development of education; separation of judiciary from executive
work in District administration; enquiry into the backward economic and
industrial condition of the country; improvement of the lot of Indians in South
Africa and the empire generally etc. These demands were always worded in
prayerful and apologetic language and the congress was wedded to the use of
constitutional methods.
It’s Objects:
The object of the Indian National Congress in the first phase was not
attain freedom but to promote self government through the democratization of the
administration of the country. The congress aimed at the spread of education, the
separation of judicial and executive functions, the provision of wider
employment to more and more Indians in the higher ranks of the public services.
One of its great objects was to save India from her increasing poverty.
Methods:
The methods for the attainment of all such objects were not violent, but
peaceful. The congress worked through prayers and petitions. It passed
resolutions and sent deputations to the government to put forth its grievances.
All the leaders were keen admirers of the British rule in India, although they were
not blind to its shortcomings. One of the great leaders, S.N. Banerjee, and
remarked, “We have great confidence in the justice and generosity of the English
people”. Commenting on their sense of justice, the president of the 12th Session
of the Congress announced “A more honest and study nation does not exist under
the sun than this English nation’, another method of the congress was to hold
regular meetings and to educate the Indians on important national problems for
the promotion of national unity. Besides, its activities were not confined to India
alone; steps were taken to influence public opinion in England as well.
36
As to their methods, M.G. Ranade explained,
“Moderation implies the conditions of never vainly aspiring after the
impossible or after too remote ideals, but striving each day to take the next step
in the order of natural growth that lies nearest to our hands in a spirit of
compromise and fairness”.
Thus the moderate leaders were convinced believers in the policy of
gradualism and constitutionalism.
Its progress:
The first meeting of the Indian National Congress was held on the 8th
Dec. 1885 in Gokal Das Tejpal Sanskrit College Hall, Bombay, under the
presidentship of W.C. Banerjee, a leading barrister of Calcutta. Alan actavian
Hume was the secretary. It was attended by 72 delegates, besides a few top
ranking British Officers like rise Henry Cotton and William Wedderburn. Its
second session was held in 1886 at Calcutta under the presidentship of Dadabhai
Nooraji. It was attended by 36 delegates. The third session was held at Madras
in 1887, with 607 delegates and with Badaruddin Tyabji as its president. The
fourth session, held at Allahabad, was attended by 1, 428 delegates. In this way
the congress began to gather momentum and gain popularity day by day.
During the first phase the congress was dominated by liberal nationalists
like Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozshah Mehta, O. Subramanyam Ayar, S.N.
Banerjee, Badaruddin Tyabiji, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Dineshaw Wachha
Govinda Ranade and many others.
In the beginning, the attitude of the British government was quite
friendly towards the Congress. Its first three sessions were not only attended by
senior British officials, the delegates were received by the viceroy and the
governors themselves in open enthusiasm. It was after 1888 that the
governments attitude grew hostile. They began to create abstacles against the
working of the congress.
The Main Demands of Moderates 1885-1905:
The main demands of the moderates 1885-1905 were
1. More employment of Indians in higher officers in the public sector.
2. Establishment of representation institution.
3. Rapid development of modern industries.
4. Stapping economic drain of India by England.
5. Reduction of heavy land revenue.
6. Providing irrigation facilities.
7. Abolition of salt tax.
8. Freedom of speech and press.
37
9.
Expansion of education facilities.
The moderates did not demand complete independence. Some of their
demands were also vague. They believed that the English would definitely
consider their demands. The method used by he moderate can be termed as
“political mendicancy”. They used “6p’s” to achieve their demands-pen, press,
platform, posters, playcards and prayers. About 1,000 public meetings were
arranged by the Congress in 1888.
Very few of the reforms advocated by the moderates were carried out.
The British treated them with contempt. The moderates failed to understand that
the political and economic interests of the Indians clashed with that of the British
and they would never give up their interests. The British also followed the
“Divide and rule” policy between the hindus and muslims. The muslims tried to
keep away from the congress.
It’s Achievements:
However, despites all these abstacles, the Indian National Congress
achieved something. It helped in the growth of national consciousness among the
Indians commenting on this aspect of the achievement. G.N. Singh has written,
“The early congress did in those days a great amount of spade work in national
awakening, in political education, in uniting Indians and in creating in them the
consciousness of a common Indian nationality”.
The Indian council Act of 1892 was another great achievement of the
Congress. It made an attempt to enlarge the legislative councils in the provinces
and got the viceroy to effect a system of indirect election.
Assessment of the Policies of the Moderates 1885-1905:
The achievements of this period were decried by the Radical otherwise
called extremist leaders of the early 20th Century. The policy of the moderate
leaders or the old Guard’ was criticized as political mendicancy’. Lala Lajpat Rai
wrote:
“It was at best an opportunists movement. It opened opportunities for tracheries
and hypocrites. It enabled some people to trade in the name of patriotism”.
A big charge against the moderates was their loyality to the crown. It
may be mentioned that the moderate leaders believed that India lacked some of
the essential elements which constituted a nation and British rule kept them
together. As such they did not see any alternative to British rule in the
foreseeable future. Their patriotism therefore, demanded that they should be any
loyal to be British Raj, for any termination of British rule was likely to the
38
harmful to Indian national interests. B.C. Pal, then a Moderate leader, said in
1887.
“I am loyal to the British government, because with me loyalty to the
British government is identical with loyalty to my own people and my own
country… I am loyal to the British government; because of I love selfgovernment”.
In all fairness it must be said that men like Dadabhai Naoroji, Sir Pheroz
Shah Mehta, Sir Daishah Wacha, Gopal Krishna Gokhile, Surendra Nath
Banerjee etc. were the most progressive elements in Indian society and true
patriots. They desired all round progress and modernization of India social
reform modern education, industrial and economic development of India. They
earnestly wished the betterment of India, society and worked to lesson the
harshness of British rule. Their main achievement was the appointment of a
public service commission in 1888 which caused disappointment and the
enactment of the Indian council Act of 1892 which did not modify the basic
constitution. Further, their efforts resulted in resolution of the House of Common
(1893) for simultaneous examination for the I.C.S. in London and India and
appointment of the welby commission on Indian expenditure (1895). In addition,
they did a lot of spade work. Their methods the use of prayers, press and protests
– brought about political maturity.
Perhaps the greatest service of the moderate leaders were rendered when
they assessed the economic impact of British rule on India. They focused public
attention on the fact of Indian poverty and explained that this poverty was largely
due to the colonial exploitation of India’s economic resources by Britain. The
Drain theory popularized by Dadabhai Naoroji, Dutt Wacha and others was an
open indictment of Britain’s economic role in India. This Drain Theory was used
as a convenient stick by the extremist leaders to malign and spite British rule in
India.
End of the first phase:
Even with all these achievements to its credit, the congress hopelessly
failed to satisfy the more progressive national leaders who were not happy with
the method of political mendicancy followed by the liberal leaders. They
laughed at the Indian Council Act of 1892 and characterized the concessions
which it embodied as meager and unsubstantial. They were also pained to see the
inability of the Congress in winning the sympathy of the masses who were still
illiterate and poor. It was in this circumstance that the younger and more
enthusiastic leaders of the congress decided to break away from the parent
organization and work outside its fold.
While criticizing the methods of the liberal leaders of the early phase
one fact, however, cannot be ignored was the formative period and they had no
39
other alternative than to appeal to the sense of justice and the generosity of the
British government; to get things done Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya writes:
“We cannot blame them for he attitude they adopted as pioneers of Indian
political reformers, any more than one can blame the brick and mortar that is
buried six feet deep in the foundation and plinth of a modern edifice”.
It was after 1905 that a new element entered into Indian politics. That
was the rise of muslim communalism. Before discussing the second phase of the
Indian national movement, the birth of the muslim league needs to be discussed.
Evaluation of Work (1885-1905):
The achievements of the early nationalist have been a subject of server
criticism Lala Lajpat Rai wrote:,
“After more than twenty years of more or less futile agitation for concessions and
redress of grievances, they had received stone in place of bread”.
The basic weakness of the movement lay in its narrow base. There
influence was limited to the urban educated Indians.
In the words of R.C. Majumdar, “The annual gathering of leading
representative men from different parts of India gave a reality of the ideal of
Indian unity, developed patriotic feelings and awakened political consciousness
among a steadily increasing circle of English educated Indians. Besides, the
discussions, often on a high level, of the more important political, economic and
administrative problems of India, widely diffused very useful and accurate
knowledge necessary for the political development of India, and educated public
opinion on all questions concerning the welfare and progress of India”.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, 1856-1920:
Introduction:
Tilak reverentially remembered by Indians as Lokamanya and the
uncrowned king of India played a leading part in popularizing the cult of
patriotism and making the congress movement broad based.
Early Life:
Tilak was born in a Maratha Brahmin family at Ratnagiri. After taking a
degree in law in 1879, Tilak planned in collaboration with Agarkar the
establishment of institutions to impart cheap education to the people. In January
1890 the Poona New English School was founded. He was also associated in the
formation of the Deccan Education Society and the foundation of the fergusson
college, Poona.
Political Career:
Tilak was the first nationalist leader who sought close contat with the
masses and was in this respect a forerunner of Gandhiji with that object in view
40
Tilak started Akharas, Lathi clubs and Anti-cow killing societies. The Shivaji
and Ganapati festivals were started to inculcate among the people the spirit of
service to the nation. He also started two newspaper entitled ‘The Maharrata’
(English) and ‘Kesari’ (Marathi) to propagate his views.
Again Tilak was the first congress leader to suffer several terms of
imprisonments for the sake of the country, an example emulated by Gandhiji and
others for criticizing in strong language the treatment method evil to the
Maharaja of Kolhapur, he government, tried Tilak and sentenced him to four
months’ imprisonment in 1882. In 1897 he was charged with instigating the
murders of Mr. Rand and Lt. Ayerst and sent to jail for 18 months, R.I. Again, in
1908 Tilak for commenting on the Muzaffarpur Bomb case was tried for sedition
and said to Mandalay jail for six years. Tilak emerged from hese trials with an
unbroken spirit and a strenger patriot.
Tilak played a leading role in organizing, in collaboration with Lala
Lajpat Rai and B.C. Pal, the nationalist party (The extremist party) against the
weak-kneed party of the old Guard (otherwise called the moderates). If the birth
of extremism in Indian politics as Mas. Annie Besaint puts it, began with the
outbreak of plague and excesses of the officials in 1897, then the credit for
brining about a transformation in Indian politics belongs to Tilak. His ‘Extrimist
views caused a split in Congress at Surat in 1907 and Tilak was considered as the
‘archo offender’ for the split. Even Lord Montagu to Chintamani that there was
only one genie extremist in India and that was Tilak.
Tilak was the first again to openly declare the demand for Swaraj.
“Swaraj is my birth righ”, he said, “And I shall have it”.
It was mostly due to his efforts and those of his associates that the
congress resolution at Calcutta (1906) demanding self-government, Boycott and
National Education was passed. Tilak was not satisfied with the type of
responsible government, prevalent in the self governing Dominions within the
Empire. He demanded Swaraj. The Congress session at Nagpur in 1920
demanded Swaraj and authorized the use of ‘all peaceful and legitimate’ means,
for its attainment. Thus, Tilak’s stand was vindicated immediately after his death
in August 1920.
Tilak believed in service and sacrifice and had the courage to defy the
authority of the Government. It was mostly due to his efforts that the congress
from being the admirer of the government turned into a great critic of the British
empire.
The Anglo-Indian bureaucracy thought Tilak a seditionist and Sir
Valentine Chirol called him the ‘father of unrest in India’. Tilak sewd Chiral for
defamation and went to England in this connection. Although the case was lost,
it opened his eyes to the real character of British rule in India. Tilak favoured a
41
policy of responsive co-operation. During the first world war he urged the
people to co-operate with the British government. In return he expected the
British government to come forward with a reciprocal gesture and announce
Home rule for India. Disappointed, Tilak setup the Home rule League at Poona
in 1916. Tilak was not satisfied with the government of India Act, 1919. He
died in Aug. 1920.
Tilak has been described as an extremist in polities but a moderate in
matters of social reform. He did appose the age of Consent Bill, not because he
did not see the necessity of social reform but because he believed that a foreign
government, should not legislate about social reform. He contended that social
changes could better be brought about by educating public opinion.
Tilak was a scholar of eminence. His books, the Arctice Home of the
Vedas and Gita Rachasya are a testimony to his scholarship. Dr. Pattabhi
Sitaramayya has compared Gokhile and Tilak thus, “Tilak and Gokhale were
hath patriots of the first order. Both had made heavy sacrifices in life. But their
temperaments were widely different from each other Gokhale was a Moderate’
and Tilak was an ‘Extrimist’ if we may use the language in vogue at the time.
Gokhale’s plan was to improve the existing constitution; Tilak’s was to
reconstruct it. Gokhale had necessarily to work with the bureaucracy; Tilak had
necessarily to fight it Gokhale stood for co-operation wherever possible and
opposition wherever necessary; Tilak in a lined towards and policy of
abstruction. Gokhale’s prime concern was with the administration and its
improvement; Tilak’s supreme consideration was the Nation and its upbuilding,
Gokhale’s ideal was love and service, Tilak was service and suffering.
Gokhale’s method, sought to win the foreigner, Tilak’s to replace him. Gokhale
depended upon others help, Tilak upon self help, Gokhale looked to the classes
and the intelligentsia, Tilak to the masses and the millions. Gokhale’s arena was
the council chamber; Tilak forum was the Village mandap. Gokhale’s medium
of expression was English, Tilak was Marathe. Gokhale’s objective was selfgovernment for which the people had to fit themselves by answering the tests
prescribed by the English; Tilak objective was Swaraj which is the birth right of
every Indian and which he shall have without let or hindrance from the foreigner.
Gokhale was on a level with his age; Tilak was in advance his time”.
The selfless patriotism, indomitable courage and fierce determination of
Tilak opened a new chapter in the history of the freedom movement in India.
42
Swadeshi Movement 1905-1911 :
The Swadeshi movement, part of the Indian independence
movement and the developing Indian nationalism, was an economic strategy
aimed at removing the British Empire from power and improving economic
conditions in Indiaby following the principles of swadeshi (self-sufficiency),
which had some success. Strategies of the Swadeshi movement involved
boycotting British products and the revival of domestic products and production
processes. It was strongest in Bengal and was also called vandemataram
movement.
The Swadeshi movement started with the partition of Bengal by
the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, 1905 and continued up to 1911. It was the
most successful of the pre-Gandhian movements. Its chief architects
wereAurobindo Ghosh, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra
Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai. Swadeshi, as a strategy, was
a key focus of Mahatma Gandhi, who described it as the soul of Swaraj (self
rule). Gandhi, at the time of the actual movement, remained loyal to the British
Crown. During 1900, Bengal had become the nerve centre for Indian
nationalism.At that time it was the biggest province of British India and included
parts of Bihar and Orissa. To weaken it, Lord Curzon (1899–1905) the Viceroy
of India, proposed partition of Bengal. The official reason was stated as
administrative convenience due to the size of Bengal. But partition itself was
based on a religious and political agenda. Bengal was to be divided into two
regions i.e. East Bengal andAssam out of the rest of Bengal. Thus to reduce the
nationalist movement in Bengal and thereby in the entire country, Bengal
partition was to take place on 16 October 1905.
H. H. Riseley, home secretary to the government of India, stated on 6
December 1904: "Bengal united is a power; Bengal divided will pull in several
different ways. That is what Congress leaders feel; their apprehensions are
perfectly correct and they form one of the great merits of the scheme... in this
scheme... one of our main objects is to split up and thereby weaken a solid body
of opponents to our rule".
So the British tried to curb Bengali influence on the nationalist
movement and also introduced a new form of division based on religion to create
challenges for the Indian National Congress, which was slowly becoming the
main opponent to British rule.
But the Indian nationalists saw the design behind partition and
condemned it unanimously, starting the anti-partition and the Swadeshi
movements. The Swadeshi movement was also known as Vandemataram
movement in deltaic Andhra Pradesh. The proposal of partition of Bengal
became publicly known in 1903, followed by immediate and spontaneous
43
protests all over Bengal. 500 meetings were held in East Bengal alone. 50,000
copies of a pamphlet with a detailed critique of partition were distributed. This
phase is marked by moderate techniques of protest such as petitions, public
meetings, press campaign, etc. to turn public opinion in India as well as
in Britain against partition. This movement also involved the boycott of British
products. Western clothes were thrown onto bonfires. To let the British know
how unhappy the Indians were at the partition of Bengal, leaders of the antipartition movement decided to use only Indian goods and to boycott British
goods. People gathered at the cross roads and burnt the imported clothes that they
had. People picketed the shops selling foreign goods, and imported sugar was
boycotted. People also resolved to use things made only in India and this was
called the Swadeshi movement.
The official reason given for the decision was that Bengal with a
population of 78 million (about a quarter of the population of British India) had
become too big to be administered. This was true to some extent, but the real
motive behind the partition plan was the British desire to weaken Bengal, the
nerve centre of Indian nationalism.
This it sought to achieve by putting the Bengalis under two
administrations by dividing them (i) on the basis of language (thus reducing the
Bengalis to a minority in Bengal itself as in the new proposal. Bengal proper was
to have 17 million Bengalis and 37 million Hindi and Oriya speakers), and (ii) on
the basis of religion, as the western half was to be a Hindu majority area (42
million out of a total 54 million) and the eastern half was to be a Muslim majority
area (18 million out of a total of 31 million).
Trying to woo the Muslims, Curzon, the viceroy at that time, argued that
Dacca could become the capital of the New Muslim Viceroys and kings. Thus, it
was clear that the Government was up to its old policy of propping up Muslim
communalists to counter the Congress and the national movement.
Moderates Agitation (1903-05):
During the period, the leadership was provided by men like
Surendranath Benerjea, K.K. Mitra and Prithwishchandra Ray. The methods
adopted were petitions to the Government, public meetings, adopted were
petitions to the Government, public meetings, memoranda, and propaganda
through pamphlets and newspapers such as Hitabadi, Sanjibani and Bengalee.
Their objective was to exert sufficient pressure on the Government through an
educated public opinion in India and England to prevent the unjust partition of
Bengal from being implemented. Ignoring a loud public opinion against the
partition proposal, the Government announced partition of Bengal in July 1905.
Within days, protest meetings were held in small towns all over Bengal.
44
It was in these meetings that the pledge to boycott foreign goods was first taken.
On August 7, 1905, with the passage of Boycott Resolution in a massive meeting
held in the Calcutta Town hall, the formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement
was made. After this, the leaders dispersed to other parts of Bengal to propagate
the message of boycott of Manchester cloth and Liverpool salt.
October 16, 1905, the day the partition formally came into force, was
observed as a day of mourning throughout Bengal. People fasted, bathed in the
Ganga and walked barefoot in processions singing Bande Mataram (which
almost spontaneously became the theme song of the movement).
People tied rakhis on each other’s hands as a symbol of unity of the two
halves of Bengal. Later in the day, Surendranath Benerjea and Ananda Mohan
Bose addressed huge gatherings (perhaps the largest till then under the nationalist
banner). Within a few hours of the meeting, Rs 50,000 were raised for the
movement.
Soon, the movement spread to other parts of the country—in Poona and
Bombay under Tilak, in Punjab under Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh, in Delhi
under Syed Haider Raza, and the Madras under Chidambaram Pillai.
The Indian National Congress, meeting in 1905 under the presidentship of
Gokhale, resolved to:
(i) condemn the partition of Bengal and the reactionary policies of Curzon and
(ii) support the anti- partition and Swadeshi Movement of Bengal.
The militant nationalists led by Tilak, Lajput Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and
Aurobindo Ghosh wanted the movement to be taken outside Bengal to other parts
of the country and go beyond a boycott of foreign goods to become a full-fledged
political mass struggle with the goal of attaining swaraj. But the Moderates,
dominating the Congress at that time, were not willing to go that far.
However, a big step forward was taken at the Congress session held at
Calcutta (1906) under presidentship of Dadabhai Naoroji, where it was declared
that the goal of the Indian National Congress was ‘self-government or swaraj like
the United Kingdom or the colonies’.
The Moderate-Extremist dispute over the pace of the movement and
techniques of struggle reached a deadlock at the Surat session of the Indian
National Congress (1907) where the party split with serious consequences for the
Swadeshi Movement.
Militant Movement:
After 1905, the Extremists acquired a dominant influence over the
1. Swadeshi Movement in Bengal. There were three reasons for this:
45
2.
3.
The Moderate-led movement had failed to yield results. The divisive
tactics of the Governments of both the Bengals had embittered the
nationalists; and
The Government had resorted to suppressive measures, which included
atrocities on students— many of whom were given corporal
punishment; ban on public singing of Bande Mataram; restriction on
public meetings; prosecution and long imprisonment of swadeshi
workers; clashes between the police and the people in many towns;
arrests and deportation of leaders; and suppression of freedom of the
press.
Emboldened by Dadabhia Naoroji’s declaration at the Calcutta session
(1906) the self-government or swaraj was to be the goal of the Congress, the
Extremists gave a call for passive resistance in addition to swadeshi and boycott
which would include a boycott of government schools and colleges, Government
service, courts, legislative councils, municipalities, Government titles, etc. so as
to, as Aurbindo put it, “make the administration under present conditions
impossible by an orgnised refusal to do anything which will help either the
British commerce in the exploitation of it.”
The militant nationalists put forward several fresh ideas at the theoretical,
propaganda and programme levels. Among the several forms of struggle thrown
up by the movement were:
Boycott Of Foreign Good:
This included boycott and public burning of foreign cloth, boycott of
foreign-made salt or sugar, refusal by priests to ritualize marriages involving
exchange of foreign goods, refusal by wahermen to wash foreign clothes. This
form of protest met with great success at the practical and popular level.
Public Meeting And Procession:
These emerged as major methods of mass mobilisation and
simultaneously as forms of popular expression.
Crops Of Volunteers Of ‘Samitis’:
Samitis such as the Swadesh Bandhab Samiti of Ashwini Kumar Dutta
(in Barisal) emerged as a very popular and powerful method of mass
mobilization. These samitis generated political consciousness among the masses
through magic lantern lectures, swadeshi songs, physical and moral training to
their members, social work during famines and epidemics, organization of
schools, training in swadeshi crafts and arbitration courts.
46
Imaginative Use Of Traditional Popular Festivals And Meals:
The idea was to use such occasions as a means of reaching out to the
masses and spreading political massages. For instance, Tilak’s Ganapatii and
Shivaji festivals became a medium of swadeshi propaganda not only in western
India, but also in Bengal. In Bengal also, the traditional folk theatre forms were
used for the propose.
Emphasis Given To Self-Reliance Or ‘Atma Shakti’:
This implied re-assertion of national dignity, honour and confidence and
social and economic regeneration of the villages. In practical terms, it included
social reforms and campaigns against caste oppression, early marriage, dowry
system, consumption of alcohol, etc.
Programme of swadeshi or national education. Bengal National Collage,
inspired by Tagore’s Shantiniketan, was set with Aurobindo Ghosh as its
principal. Soon national school and colleges sprang up in various parts of the
country. On August 15, 1906, the National Council of Education was set up to
organize a system of education—literary, scientific and technical—on national
lines and under national control.
Education was to be imparted through the medium of vernaculars. A
Bengal Institute of Technology was set up for technical education and funds were
raised to send students to Japan for advanced learning.
Swadeshi Or Indigenous Enterprises:
The swadeshi spirit also found expression in the establishment of
swadeshi textile mills, soap and match factories, tanneries, banks, insurance
companies, shops etc. These enterprises were based more on patriotic zeal than
on business acumen.
Impact In The Cultural Sphere:
The nationalists of all hues took inspiration from songs written by
Rabindranath Tagore, Rajnikant Sen, Dwijendralal Ray, Mukunda Das, Syed
Abu Mohammad and others. Togore’s Amar Sonar Bangla written on this
occasion was later to inspire the liberation struggle of Bangladesh and was
adopted by it as its national anthem.
In painting, Abanindranath Tagore broke the domination of Victorian
naturalism over Indian art and took inspiration of Victorian naturalism over
Indian art and took inspiration from Muhgal, Ajanta and Rajput paintings.
Nandlal Bose, who left a major imprint on Indian art, was the first recipient of a
scholarship offered by the Indian Society of Oriental Art, founded in 1907.
47
In science, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prafullachandra Roy and others pioneered
original research which was praised the world over.
Mass Participation:
Students came out in large numbers to propagate and practise swadeshi,
and to take a lead in organizing picketing of shops selling foreign goods. Police
adopted a repressive attitude towards the students. Schools and colleges whose
students participated in the agitation were to be penalized by disaffiliating them
or stopping of grants and privileges to them.
Students who were found guilty of participation were to be disqualified
for government jobs or for government scholarships, and disciplinary action—
fine, expulsion, arrest, scholarships, etc. was to be taken against them.
Women, who were traditionally home-centred, especially those of the
urban middle classes, took active part in processions and picketing. From now
onwards, they were to play a significant role in the national movement.
Some of the Muslims participated—Barrister Abdul Rasul, Liaqat
Hussain, Guzanvi, Maulana Azad (who joined one of the revolutionary terrorist
groups)—but most of the upper and middle class Muslims-stayed away or, led by
Nawab Salimullah of Dacca, supported the partition on the plea that it would give
them a Muslim-majority East Bengal.
Thus, the social base of the movement expanded to include certain
sections of the zamindari, the students, the women and the lower middle classes
in cities and towns. An attempt was also made to give political expression to
economic grievances of the working class by organizing strikes in British- owned
concerns such as Eastern Indian Railways.
But the movement was not able to garner support of the Muslims,
especially the Muslim peasantry, because of a conscious government policy of
divide and rule helped by overlap of class and community at places. To further
government interests, the All India Muslim League was propped up in 1907 as an
anti-Congress front and reactionary elements like Nawab Salimullah of Dacca
were encouraged.
National Movement:
Movements in support of Bengal’s unity and the swadeshi and boycott agitation
were organized in many parts of the country. Tilak, who played a leading role in
the spread of the movement outside Bengal, saw in this the ushering in of a new
chapter in the history of the national movement. He realized that here was a
challenge and an opportunity to organize popular mass struggle against the
British rule to unite the country in a bond of common sympathy.
48
Annulment of Partition:
It was decided to annul the partition of Bengal in 1911 mainly to curb
the menace of revolutionary terrorism. The annulment came as a rude shock to
the Muslim political elite. It was decided to shift the capital to Delhi as a sop to
the Muslims, as it was associated with Muslim glory, but the Muslims were not
pleased. Bihar and Orissa were taken out of Bengal and Assam was made a
separate province.
49
Chapter – 4
The Indian Councils Act, 1909 or The Minto-Morley Reforms:
Introduction:
The British rule in India under the crown was marked by dual policy of
reforms and repressions. Specially, whom the currents and cross currents of
Indian politics in the twentieth century began toflow faster with the increasing
demand of the nationalist leaders for the establishment of self-government, the
British authorities intelligently enough started granting some concessions and
effecting certain reforms now and then behind this lay, admittedly, their sinister
motives to repress the rising tide of nationalism. Expression the feelings of the
Indians during this period, Michael Edwards writes,
“Indians saw the British giving with one hand and slapping down with the other”.
However each such reform formed a landmark in the constitutional
history of India under the British rule famous among such reforms were the
Moreley-Minto Reforms of 1909, the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms of 1919.
The Indian Councils Act, 1909 or The Minto-Morley Reforms:
The Indians were not satisfied with the reforms introduced by the Act of
1892. The Act had failed to satisfy even the moderates among the “All India
Congress: The rise of extremism led to further dissatisfaction towards the
reforms. Several factors participated in the rise of extremism within the congress
and the terrorist movement outside it. The arrogant behaviour of Lord Curzon
and some of his administrative measures like the Calcutta Corporation Act, the
Calcuta University Act, measures to check the bubonic plague and the partition
of Bengal inflamed the patriotism of the Indians. The defeat of Russia by Japan
in 1904 raised the morale of the Asians including those of the Indians. The racial
arrogance of the British and the humiliation of the Indians in India and outside it
particularly in South Africa, also provided incentive to the Indian nationalism. It
resulted in the split of the All India Congress in 1907. The moderates won the
day but failed to check the growing influence of the extremists within itself and
outside. Therefore, the British government felt the necessity of satisfying the
Indian public opinion before it was captured by the extremists. Thus the
necessity of further reforms arose to check the rise of extremists in Indian
politics, to win over moderates in the congress to the side of the government and
to buttress muslim communalism. Lord Minto, the Governor General was
convinced of the necessity of the reforms Lord Mortey, the secretary of state also
agreed to his view. Therefore, a committee was appointed by the Government
for India to propose a scheme of reforms. The committee submitted its report
and when finally everything was settled between the governor general and the
50
secretary of state, the act of 1909 was passed by the British parliament. This is
why the new scheme of reforms has been called the Minto Morley Reforms.
The Provisions of the Act, 1909:
The Indian Councils Act mainly death with the composition and
functions of the central legislature and the provincial legislatures. The size of the
legislature both at the centre and in the provinces, was enlarged and so were their
functions.
Central Legislature:
The number of ‘additional’ members here was now raised at the
maximum to 60. The legislature was thus to consist of 69 members of whom 37
were to be officials while the remaining 32 non officials. Of the officials, the 9
were to be the ex-officio members, namely, the Governor-General, seven
ordinary members (Executive councilors) and one extraordinary member, while
the remaining 28 were to be nominated by the Governor-General of the 32 nonofficials, 5 were to be nominated by the Governor-General while the remaining
27 were to be elected for the elected members, it was declared that the territorial
representation did not suit India and that “representation by classes and interests
in he only practicable method of embodying the elective principle in the
constitution of the Indian legislative councils”. Thus, of the 27 elected members
13 were to come from the General Electorates, consisting of he non-official
members of the legislatives of Bombay, Madras, Bengal and united provinces,
each of which would send two members (=8); and the non-official members of
the legislatures of the central provinces, Assam, Bihar and Orissa the Punjab and
Burma, each of which would send one member (=5) of the remaining 14, twelve
were to come from class electorates; six of hem coming one each from the
Landlords constituencies in the six provinces of Bombay, Madras, Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa, United provinces and the central provinces; and six being returned by
the separate Muslim constituencies – one each from Madras, Bombay, United
provinces and Bihar and Orissa (=4) and two from Bengal. The remaining were
to be returned from the special electorates, one each from the Bengal and
Bombay chambers of Commerce.
Provincial Legislatures:
The membership of the legislative councils of the different provinces as
enlarged under the Act of 1909 was as follows; Burma, 16, Eastern Bengal and
Assam, 41, Bengal, 52; Madras, Bombay united provinces, 47 each and Punjab
25. The Act provided for non-official majorities in the provinces. However, this
did not mean non-official elected majorities, as some of the non-official were to
51
be nominated by the Governors and through there the official control over the
council was retained. In Madras, for example, the number of the non-officials
was 26, while that of the officials 21. Of the non-officials, however, only 21
were to be elected, while the remaining five were to be nominated by the
Governor. As these nominated members always sided with the government, the
officials were ‘in a manner of speaking in the majority’. The some was true of all
other provinces.
The elected members in the provincial legislatures were to be returned
be different constituencies. In Bombay, for instance, out of the 21 elected
members, 6 were to be returned by the special electorates consisting of the
Bombay corporation and the Bombay university etc. 8 were to be returned by the
General electorals consisting of district Boards and Municipalities etc. and the
remaining 7 were to be returned by class electorates consisting of Muslims
(returning 4) and the Landlords (returning 3).
The membership of the executive council of Bengal, Madras and
Bombay was raised to 4 and the government was empowered, to constitute
similar councils for the lieutenant – Governors as well.
Functions of Legislative Councils:
The functions of the legislative councils, both at the centre and in the
provinces, were also enlarged. Now the members were given the right of
discussion and asking supplementary questions, the member in-charge for the
latter being authorized to demand time, if he could not furnish the information
asked for on the spot. Detailed rules were laid down concerning the discussion of
budgets in the Central legislature. Members, though not empowered to vote,
were empowered to move resolutions concerning additional grants to the local
governments, any alteration in taxation, on a new loan, which might have been
proposed in the financial statement or the explanatory memorandum. The
financial statement, it was further provided, before its submission in the council,
had to be referred to its committee consisting of the financial member (chairman)
and non-officials and nominated members on a 50:50 basis.
Rules were also laid down concerning discussion of maters of general
public interest. Members could discuss these maters moving resolutions on them
and could also vote, though the president was empowered to disallow the whole
or a part of such resolutions, without assigning any reason. Nor was the
government obliged to accept such resolution, even if passed, whether
concerning public interest or concerning financial statements.
There were, however, certain subjects which the members could not
discuss under the Act. They could not discuss the foreign relations of the
government of India and its relations with the Indian princes, a matter under
52
adjudication of a court of law, expenditure on state railways, interest one debt
etc.
1. The number of the member of the legislative council at the centre was
increased from sixteen to sixty.
2. The number of the members of the provincial legislatures was also increased.
It was find as fifty in the provinces of Bengal, Madras and Bombay and for
the rest of the provinces it was thirty.
3. The members of legislative councils, both at the centre and in the provinces,
were to be four categories
a) Ex-officio members:
The Governor-General and the members of his executive council at the
centre and the governors and the members of their executive councils in
their respective provinces were such members.
b) Nominated official members:
The members nominated by the Governor-General at the centre and by
the governors in their respective provinces from among the Government
officials.
c) Nominated non-official members:
The members nominated by the Governor General at the centre and by
the Governors in their respective provinces but who were not officials of
the government.
d) Elected members:
The members elected by different categories of the Indian people.
4.
5.
6.
The act did not introduce territorial representative system in India. It
introduced professional and communal representative system which has been
described as the separate or communal electorate in India.
The
constituencies for the purpose of elections were, therefore, framed on
professional and communal basis. For example, at the centre, from among
the twenty seven elected members five were to be elected by the Muslims,
six by the Zamindars (land lords), one by the Muslim landlords, one by the
chamber of commerce of Calcuta and thirteen by the non-official members
of the provincial legislature councils. The same procedure was adopted for
the election of the members of the provincial legislative councils.
At the Centre, the majority was kept of the official members but in the
provinces, the non-official members were kept in the majority. However, the
majority was not those of the elected members because the non-official
members included non-official nominated members as well among them.
The powers of the legislative councils were also enhanced. The members
were permitted to discuss the budgets, suggest amendments and even to vote
53
7.
8.
on them except in case of those items which were included in them as the
non-votable items. They could initiate legislation concerning public welfare,
could vote on the bills presented by the Government could ask questions
from the members of the executive council.
The secretary of state for India was empowered to increase the number of the
executive councils of Madras and Bombay from two or four. The Governor
General was also given this power in concern with the rest of the provinces
but with the prior permission of the secretary of state.
Two Indians were already nominated to the council of the secretary of state
for India in 1907. In 1909, the Governor-General was also empowered to
nominate one Indian member to his executive council. The first person who
was nominated to this post was Mr. S.P. Sinha who, later on, was given the
title of lord.
Merits:
The Indian Councils Act of 1909 marked a notable improvement on the
Councils Act of 1892 specially the provision for increasing the non-official
elected members in the provincial legislatures was a positive step towards
democratization of the Government.
Further, the principle of election was a redeeming of the Act. Indians at
least got the opportunity to elect their own representatives who could put their
grievances before the government.
The Government of India Act 1919 or the Montague Chelmsford:
Reforms:
Introduction:
The Act of 1909 failed to satisfy even the Moderates in India. The
Indian nationalism became more aggressive and gradually the congress cane
under the influence of the extremists. The first world war started in 1914 and the
British declared that they were fighting the war for the safety of democracy in the
world. The Indians, therefore, helped the government. They felt that, after the
war, probably some sort of self-government might be granted to them. The Indian
soldiers were sent to Mesopatamia. They suffered there very much primarily
because of the mismanagement of the Government of India. A commission,
therefore, was appointed to inquire and report about the administration of India.
It recommended that if the government desired any improvement in the
administration and win the sympathy of the Indians then it was necessary to seek
the cooperation of the Indians in some way. The Home Rule League was
established during this period which demanded complete independence in
internal affairs. The All India Congress and Muslim League made the Lucknow
54
part with each other and put up a joint demand before the government. All these
circumstances necessitated further constitutional reforms in India.
Mr.
Montague, the Secretary of state for India, belong to the Liberal party in Britain
and was sympathetic towards the demand of reforms by the Indians. He accepted
the demand of the Indians in his Declaration on Aug. 20, 1917. The same year,
Gopal Krishna Gokhale presented his scheme of reforms called the Gokhale’s
political Testament’. A group of ten Indians put up another scheme called ‘the
memorandum of Nineteen’ (points) before the governor-general’s council Mr.
Curtis also prepared a scheme of reforms which was under the knowledge of Mr.
Chemlford and was agreed by Mr. Montague. Three months after his declaration
in August, Mr. Montague came to India and remained here for six months. In
1918 a scheme of reform was published under joint signatures of Montague and
Mr. Chelmsford and the Act of 1919 was passed by he British parliament on the
basis of that report.
Circumstances Leading To The Passage Of The Act:
Behind the passage of the Act were the following circumstances.
The Morky-Minto Reforms failed to quench the political thirst and
aspirations of the Indians. They could see in it a clear shifting of responsibility
without power. Further, it led to the rise of the venomous snake of
communication and class distinctions. Hence, the Indian National Congress in its
Karachi session in 1913 demanded fresh reforms and proclaimed. “India must be
governed from Delhi and Simla and not from the white Hall or the Downing
street”. To aid to their demands, Mrs. Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak
through their Home rule movement stirred the political scene for securing selfgovernment. And again, the period from 1909 to 1915 witnessed the hectic
efforts of the militant nationalists who were not prepared to understand anything
other than a violent struggle for the attainment of self-rule famous among them
were B.C. Pal, Lokmanya Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Mrs. Annie Besant and sri.
Aurobindo. There were the Terrorists too, who resorted to violence, conspiracy
and murder. To add fuel to the fire of discontent, repressive measures like the
press Act of 1910, the seditious Meetings Act of 1911 and he criminal law
Amendment Act of 1913 made the Indians more and more restive. They were no
larger ready to gulp down anything that the government ladled out to them.
Further if the Indian National Congress cried for reform, the Muslim
League did not less. By providing the Sugary pill of a separate Muslim electorate
in the Indian Councils Act of 1909, the Muslims could be kept satisfied for a
while, but not for long. The annulment of the partition of Bengal in 1911
antagonised the Muslims against the British rule and thus the demand for reforms
came from their side too.
55
The first world war served as a potent factor for this introduction of the
Act of 1919. The way Indians sacrificed their lives and money for the victory of
England evoked sympathies in many quarters in England. Moreover, it was
during his war that the British authorities had promised the Indians to consider
their demands favourably after the war.
By this time E.S. Montagu succeeded as the new secretary of state for
India on the 12th July, 1917. His assumptionof office marked a turning point in
India’s destiny. To secure, it may be more and more co-operation from the
Indians during the war, he made a historic declaration on the 20th August in the
House of commons. “he policy of His Masjesty’s government, with which the
government of India are in complete accord, is that of the increasing association
of Indians in every branch of the administration and gradual development of selfgoverning institution with a view to the progressive realization of responsible
government in India as an integral part of the British empire”. It was not an
empty declaration. To give it a concrete shape he himself came down to India on
the 10th Nov. 1917 and in consultation with the viceroy Lord Chalmsford and the
Indian leaders, he prepared a scheme which has come to be known as the Montford Scheme. In the light of this scheme, a government of India bill was drafted
and presented to the British parliament. The bill became an Act in 1919.
Main Provisions of the Government of India Act, 1919:
A. Preamble of the Act:
Unlike the earlier Acts, the Act of 1919 provided for a preamble which
laid down the broad principles on which the government was to act in India.
Those were as follows:
a) “The British empire in India would remain an integral part of the British
empire”.
b) The principal aim of the British government was to establish a
responsible government in India.
c) And for the establishment of a self-government two things were to be
provided.
i. The increasing association of Indians in every branch of Indian
administration and
ii. The gradual development of self-governing institution.
B. Provisions relating to the Home Government:
The Act provided for a change in the constitution of the Home
government. In cut down the powers of the secretary of state for India and his
council. They lost much of their legislative powers and control over provincial
56
finances. In order to ensure a more effective control of the parliament over the
secretary of state, the Act laid down that thereafter his salary and allowances
were to be paid from the British treasury and not from the Indian revenues.
The Act further provided for the creation of the post of a High
Commissioner for India with some of the powers of the Secretary of state
transferred to him. His term of office was to be for six years. He was to be
appointed by the government of India and paid from the Indian revenues.
C. Provisions relating to the Government of India:
Central Government:
The Act introduced certain significant changes with regard to the
composition and the function of the central executive and legislature.
Central Executive Council:
The number of Indian members of the Central Executive Council was
raised from one to three. These Indian members were to hold office for five
years. Certain departments like law, education, labour, health and industries
were to be entrusted to them.
The Act further provided for the first time two lists of subjects the
Central list and the provincial list. Subjects of national importance were included
in the former, those of local importance in the latter.
In making a review of these provisions it can be said that these changes
were not up to the mark. The number of Indian members in the executive council
was, no doubt, increased, but the departments entrusted to them were mostly
unimportant. Further, they were not given independent powers and as such, they
worked as mere ‘yes men’ of the victory.
Yet, with all these defects, even a little progress was good enough for
the country at this hour. In this respect the Act was significant measure.
Central legislature:
The changes with regard to the central legislative were indeed more
remarkable. In place of the Imperial council, consisting of one House, the Act
provided for a bicameral legislature at the centre which was to be composed of a
council of state and a central legislative assembly.
The council of state, the upper House, was to be composed of 60
members out of whom 27 were to be nominated by the viceroy and 33 were to be
elected. The life of the council was to be five years. Its president was to be
nominated by the viceroy while the number of elected members was increased,
the franchise was kept quite narrow and limited. Persons with minimum income
of Rs. 10,000 a year or those who paid a minimum yearly land revenue of Rs.
750/- were eligible to vote. Thus, out of the entire population, a negligible few
could enjoy the right to vote for the council of state.
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The legislative Assembly, the lower House, was to be composed of 145
members out of whom 104 were to be elected, while the rest were to be
nominated. The life of the Assembly was fined at three years. Its first president
was to be nominated by the viceroy and he was to continue in his office for four
years after which the Assembly was to elect its own president. Here too the
franchise was extremely restricted. Only rich and property owning classes were
eligible to vote for the assembly.
Powers of the Central Legislature:
The Act widened the powers of the central legislature. It was to
legislate for the whole of British India, for all its Indian subjects and for the
servants of the government both in India and for the servants of the government
both in India and outside. But certain restrictions were imposed on the powers of
the legislature. In certain important matters and previous sanction of the viceroy
was to be obtained for initiating legislation. It was not to amend for or repeal any
statute of the British parliament meant for India. And again, final assent of the
governor-general was necessary for every bill to become an act. If the GovernorGeneral wished to have a law enacted and the legislature refused, he was
empowered to pass it himself.
The Act thus contained many undesirable provisions. Apparently the
centre legislature was given wide powers, but in reality they were so much
restricted that it worked as the hand-maid of the Governor-General himself.
Further, the voting qualifications were so carefully restricted that only rich landowners, capitalists and Zamindars could be elected to he central legislature and
not a single common man. Yet, the Act of 1919 was a milestone along the road
of constitutional progress so far as the introduction of bicameralism was
concerned.
D. The Provincial Government:
The most vital provision of the Act however related to the working of
the provincial administration. It included a new feature which is known as the
Dyarchy.
The Dyarchy: According to the Act, subjects under the provincial list were to be
divided into two sections: the reserved and the transferred.
Reserved: Subjects which were of great importance involving law and order and
the welfare of the people in a province were included in the reserved list. All
such subjects were to be kept under the control of the governor himself who was
to distribute them among the nominated members of the executive council. All
of them were to be Europeans. They were to be responsible to the British
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parliament. Such subjects were the police, the administration of justice,
irrigation and Canas, water power, land revenue administration, famine relief,
printing presses and books, prisons and forest and the like.
Transferred:
Subjects of lesser importance requiring local knowledge and involving a
spirit of social service were to be put in the transferred list. Thy were to be
entrusted to Indian ministry to be appointed by the governor from among the
elected members of the provincial legislature. They were to be responsible to
provincial legislatures and not to the British parliament as in the case of the
members of the executive council.
Even a motion of non-confidence against them was not be passed
without his assent. The subjects under the transferred list were education, works
of public utility like roads, bridges, etc., control of municipal corporations and
district boards, public health, sanitation, medical administration development of
industries, etc.
Working of Diarchy:
Diarchy was to work through the governor, the executive council and
the provincial legislature.
Governor:
The Governor was the pivot, the very fulcrum of the whole provincial
administrative machine. In him lay the final authority with regard to the
functioning of both the reserved and the transferred subjects. He was to appoint
the ministers and transfer and post all officials of the provincial administration.
He was to enjoy extensive powers over the provincial legislature. No bill could
become an Act without his final assent.
Executive Council:
The Act provided for certain changes with regard to the composition and
the functions of the executive council of the province. Its membership was raised
from two to four and all of them were to be European, responsible to British
parliament, entrusted with the administration of the reserved subjects.
Provincial Legislature:
The provincial legislature was to be unicameral and not bicameral as in
the case of the Central legislature. This House was to be known as the legislative
council. Its size was increased, but it varied from province to province. Out of
the total number of members of the legislative council, at least 70% were to be
59
elected, 20 percent were to be officials and the rest were to be non-officials to be
nominated and not elected. The system of election was based on property
qualifications. The communal and class electorates continued as before.
The functions of the provincial legislatures were correspondingly
increased. The members could move any resolution or initiate any bill coming
under the purview of the provincial list. But the bill to become an Act. It was on
the 1st April, 1921 that Diarchy was introduced in eight provinces; Assam,
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, the Central provinces, the united provinces, Bombay,
Madras and the Punjab.
Significance of the Act of 1919:
Nevertheless, something can be said in favour of the Act. The Act
undoubtedly made new departure for the first time in the history of British rule it
provided for transfer of power, even though the transfer was halting and the
power extremely limited. As coupland says: “The Act crossed the line between
legislative and executive authority. Previous measures had enabled Indians
increasingly to control their legislature but now their government. Now Indians
were to govern, so to speak, on their own… as leaders of the elected majorities in
their legislature, and responsible to them”.
Though diarchy has been condemned out of hands, it would be wrong to
say that diarchy brought no constitutional progress diarchy was, probably, the bet
transitional mechanism that appeared after a prolonged examination of
alternatives. The first world war and its impact on the Indian National
Movement.
Meaning while the first world war broke out in 1914. Indians
irrespective of their party affinity, extended their full co-operation to England of
fight the war. Thousands of Indians were sent to the battle field and millions of
rupees were contributed to the British war fund. The heroic deeds of the Indians
won universal acclamation. Even Lord Birkenhead, the conservative secretary of
state for India, declared, “without India, the war would have been immensely
prolonged, if indeed without her help it could have been brought to a victorious
conclusion”. As a mark of gratitude, the then prime minister of England,
Asquith, himself declared that in future the Indian question would be viewed
from a different angle.
Home Rule Movement (1916):
It was under the leadership of Mrs. Annie Besant and Tilak that a fresh
attempt for the achievement of self government was made in the form of the
Home Rule Movement. This was in a sense the product of the first world war.
60
The hopes, aspirations and courage that the first world war raised in the minds of
the Indians led to the rise of this movement.
The objects of the movement can be known from the writings of Mrs.
Annie Besant in the paper “Common weal”. “In political reform, we aim at the
building up of complete self-government from village councils through district
and municipal boards and provincial Legislative Assemblies to a national
parliament”. Tilak started the Movement at Poona in April, 1916 and Annie
Besant in Madras in September, 1916. Both the leaders worked had in hand.
Large number of students participated in this movement. The government
however, repressed their activities by mass arrests.
It was because of this movement that the Montagu Chlmsford Reform
Act of 1919 came into existence. In 1917 Montagu, the then Secretary of state
for India, made announcement promising the Indians a self-government soon. It
was after this an nouncement that the Home Rule Movement had a decline.
The Government of India Act, 1919:
Montagu came to India on the 10th Nov., 1917 and consulted with the
viceroy, Lord Chelmsford and granted certain concessions to India. And the
result was the Government of India Act of 1919. This Act, like the previous one,
did not satisfy the Indians. However, with the passage of this Act the Second
phase of the struggle for India’s freedom came to an end. A new Era indeed
commenced, when the movement passed on to Mahatma Gandhi. The 1919
reforms did not satisfy political demands in India. The British repressed
opposition, and restrictions on the press and on movement were re-enacted in
the Rowlatt Acts introduced in 1919. These measures were rammed through the
Legislative Council with the unanimous opposition of the Indian members.
Several members of the council including Jinnah resigned in protest. These
measures were widely seen throughout India of the betrayal of strong support
given by the population for the British war effort.
Gandhi launched a nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Acts with the
strongest level of protest in the Punjab. An apparently unwitting example of
violation of rules against the gathering of people led to the massacre at Jalianwala
Bagh in Amritsar in April 1919. This tragedy galvanised such political leaders
as Nehruand Gandhi and the masses who followed them to press for further
action.
Montagu ordered an inquiry into the events at Amritsar by Lord Hunter.
The Hunter Inquiry recommended that General Dyer, who commanded the
troops, be dismissed, leading to Dyer's sacking. Many British citizens supported
Dyer, whom they considered had not received fair treatment from the Hunter
Inquiry. The conservative Morning Post newspaper collected a subscription of
61
£26,000 for General Dyer and Sir Edward Carson moved a censure motion in
Montagu which was nearly successful. Although Montagu was saved largely due
to a strong speech in his defence by Winston Churchill, Lloyd George's secretary
reported that some of the Tories could have assaulted him (Montagu) physically
they were so angry.
The Amritsar massacre further inflamed Indian nationalist sentiment
ending the initial response of reluctant co-operation. At the grass roots level,
many young Indians wanted faster progress towards Indian independence and
were disappointed by lack of advancement as Britons returned to their former
positions in the administration. At the Indian National Congress annual session in
September 1920, delegates supported Gandhi's proposal of swaraj or self-rule –
preferably within the British empire or outside it if necessary. The proposal was
to be implemented through a policy of non-cooperation with British rule meaning
that Congress did not stand candidates in the first elections held under the
Montagu-Chelmsford reforms in 1921.
The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as MontFord Reforms were reforms introduced by the British Government in India to
introduce self-governing institutions gradually to India. The reforms take their
name from Edwin Samuel Montagu, the Secretary of State for India during the
latter parts of World War I and Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy of India between 1916
Edwin Montagu became Secretary of State for India in June 1917 after Austen
Chamberlainresigned after the capture of Kut by the Turks in 1916 and the
capture of an Indian army staged there. He put before the British Cabinet a
proposed statement containing a phrase that he intended to work towards "the
gradual development of free institutions in India with a view to ultimate selfgovernment." Lord Curzon thought that this phrase gave too great an emphasis on
working towards self-government and suggested an alternative
In late 1917, Montagu went to India to meet up with Lord Chelmsford,
the Viceroy of India, to meet with leaders of Indian community to discuss the
introduction of limited self-government to India and protecting the rights of
minority communities
The Report went before Cabinet on 24 May and 7 June 1918 and was
embodied in the Government of India Act of 1919. These reforms represented the
maximum concessions the British were prepared to make at that time. The
franchise was extended, and increased authority was given to central and
provincial legislative councils, but the viceroy remained responsible only to
London.
The changes at the provincial level were significant, as the provincial
legislative councils contained a considerable majority of elected members. In a
system called "dyarchy," the nation-building departments of government –
62
agriculture, education, public works, and the like – were placed under ministers
who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made
up the "steel frame" of British rule – finance, revenue, and home affairs – were
retained by executive councillors who were nominated by the Governor. They
were often, but not always, British and who were responsible to the governor.
In 1921 another change recommended by the report was carried out when elected
local councils were set up in rural areas, and during the 1920s urban municipal
corporations were made more democratic and "Indianized.
The main provisions were the following:
1. The secretary of state would control affairs relating to Government of India
2. The Central Legislature would comprise two chambers- The Council of State
and the Indian Legislative Assembly
3. The Central Legislature was empowered to enact laws on any matter for
whole of India.
4. The Governor General was given powers to summon, prorogue, dissolve the
Chambers, and to promulgate Ordinances.
5. The number of Indians in Viceroy's Executive Council would be three out of
eight members.
6. Establishment of unicameral Provincial Legislative councils.
7. Dyarchy in the ProvincesSalient Features: The Government of India act 1919 had a separate
Preamble. This Preamble declared that Objective of the British Government is
the gradual introduction of responsible government in India. Thus we see that the
beginning was made. The beginning was introduction of Diarchy. Preamble
suggested for a decentralized unitary form of government. Diarchy means a dual
set of governments one is accountable another is not accountable. The
Government of India Act of 1919, made a provision for classification of the
central and provincial subjects. The provincial subjects were divided into two
groups: One was reserved and another was transferred. The reserved subjects
were kept with the Governor and transferred subjects were kept with the Indian
Ministers. This division of subjects was basically what they meant by introducing
the Diarchy. The reserved subjects were the essential areas of law enforcement
such as justice, police, revenue. The transferred subjects were such as public
health, public works, education etc.
The Indian executive comprised of the Governor General and his council. No
bill of the legislature could be deemed to have been passed unless assented to by
the governor general. The later could however enact a Bill without the assent of
the legislature. This act made the central legislature bicameral. The first house
63
which was central legislature, with 145 members (out of which 104 elected and
41 nominated) was called central Legislative Assembly and second called with
60 members (out of which 33 elected and 27 nominated) was called Council of
States. The term of the assembly was fixed 3 years and council 5 years. The
central legislature can be called a primitive model of today's Lok Sabha &
council of states can be called a primitive model of Today's Rajya Sabha. The act
provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission in India for the
first time. This act also made a provision in its part V, that a statutory
commission would be set up at the end of 10 years after the act was passed which
shall inquire into the working into the system of the government. The Simon
commission of 1927 was an outcome of this provision. The communal
representation was extended and Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo Indians were
included. The Franchise (Right of voting) was granted to the limited number of
only those who paid certain minimum "Tax" to the government. The tenure of the
central legislature was 3 years The seats were distributed among the provinces
not upon the basis of the population but upon the basis of their importance in the
eyes of the government, on the basis of communities, and property was one of the
main basis to determine a franchisee. Those people who had a property, taxable
income & paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 were entitled to vote. The central
legislature was empowered to consider, pass or reject legislation on any of the
subjects enumerated in the Central list. But, the Governor-General had the last
word on any Bill passed by the Legislature. He possessed the power to prevent
the consideration of a Bill or any of its part, on the plea that it was injurious to
the peace and tranquility of the country. He could disallow a question in the
legislature. He had the power to withhold his assent to any Bill passed by the
legislature without which it could not become an Act. He also had the power to
disallow an adjournment motion or debate on any matter. He could enact a law,
which he considered essential for the safety and tranquility of the empire even if
the legislature had refused to pass it. The financial powers of the central
legislature were also very much limited. The budget was to be divided into two
categories, votable and non-votable. The votable items covered only one third of
the total expenditure. Even in this sphere the Governor-General was empowered
to restore any grant refused or reduced by the legislature, if in his opinion the
demand was essential for the discharge of his responsibilities. Thus the
Government of India Act provided for partial transfer of Power to the electorate
through the system of diarchy. It also prepared the ground for the Indian
Federalism, as it identified the provinces as units of fiscal and general
administration. But the growing nationalism was not satisfied.
Despite of several limitations, the GOI Act 1919 had some merits. The GOI
act 1919 marked the end of the policy of benevolent despotism, and thus began
64
the genesis of the responsible government in India. It was for the first time, that
elections to the legislatures were known to the people and this created political
consciousness among the masses. However, those people who had a property,
taxable income & paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 were entitled to vote. The
number of the Indian in the was raised to 3 in the Governor General in Council of
8. These Indian members were entrusted to some portfolios such as labor, health
and industry. It was the GOI Act 1919, whereby, the Indians came in direct
contact with administration for the first time. This was a very useful experience.
It was also for the first time that a number of Indian women got the right to
franchise for the first time. Now, under the Indian ministers , some of the far
reaching measures were taken such as enactment of Madras State Aid to
Industries Act, 1923, the Bombay Primary Education act, the Bihar and Orissa
village administration Act, the Bombay local boards act, 1923.
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