UPSC IAS exam preparation - India's Independence Struggle - Lecture 17

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Freedom

[हिंदी में पढ़ें ]

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1.0 Introduction

With the achievement of freedom, the country had taken only the first step: the overthrow of British foreign rule. Independence had only removed the chief obstacle in the path of national regeneration. Centuries of backwardness, prejudice, inequality, and ignorance still weighed on the land and the long haul had just begun. For, as Rabindranath Tagore had remarked three months before his death in 1941:

“The wheels of fate will some day compel the English to give up their Indian Empire. But what kind of India will they leave behind, what stark misery? When the stream of their centuries' administration runs dry at last, what a waste of mud and filth will they leave behind them”.

2.0 Significant Post War Events

2.1 The Wavell Plan

Linlithgow was succeeded by Lord Wavell as the Governor General of India. With a view to resolving the deadlock in Indian politics, Wavell set forth his plan which is famous in history as the 'Wavell Plan' (1945). The most important points in the Wavell Plan were as follows:

1. Formation of an interim government before proceeding for the framing of the Constitution
2. The proposed interim government was to have a balanced representation of the main communities including equal proportion of Muslims and Hindus
3. All members of the Central Executive Council, barring the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief, were to be Indians, and 
4. Defence of India was to be in the hands of the British till power was transferred to the Indians.

With a view to discussing the proposals with the Indian political leaders, Wavell summoned a conference at Simla on 25 June, 1945. 

2.2 The Simla Conference

The proposals advanced by the Simla Conference were objected to both by the Congress and the League on certain grounds. As for Congress, the party objected that the conference had reduced the status of the Congress party to a purely Hindu party. The Congress claimed that it represented the entire population of India not just a particular religion. The Muslim League also raised a number of objections. They claimed that the list which will be submitted by the League shall be the final list and the Viceroy’s demand for panel of names was unjustified. Secondly, the Muslims in the cabinet should be all from the League members.

The Simla Conference was the scene for a lot of conflicts between the Congress and the Muslim League. Congress President Maulana Abul Kalam Azad emphasized the nationalist character of Congress Party and condemned the government in reducing Congress to merely a Hindu dominated party. As Azad himself was a Muslim, he along with other Muslims could represent the secular character of the Party who, against the League, would support the Congress. Secondly, it reiterated the claim for independence which escaped the basic agenda of the conference. Muhammad Ali Jinnah the leader of Muslim League on the other hand, asserted that he could not agree to any other constitution where a separate Pakistan was not envisaged. He also claimed for equal status to the League to set up separate provincial government for the Muslims and absolute right to nominate muslim representatives in the executive council. Though Congress was able to assess the value of time and decided to agree substantially to the proposals, the League did not accept the proposals as it expected two of its vital demands to be fulfilled which were 

1. that a separate Muslim state would be established in the Muslim majority areas after the war; and
2. that the Muslims accepted as one of the majority party would be given equal number of representation in the Executive. 

Thus, the Simla Conference which began with a lot of hope for all the parties finally ended with half-hearted dreams for future which were to benefit nobody. Rather, it openly blamed the British government in creating differences on the basis of religion which was not accepted by both the sides. Also the conference was blamed for undermining the rights of both the League and the Congress to have self-rule and an independent nation without which the participation in the war (WW II) by the Indians would be meaningless.

2.3 The Cabinet Mission Plan

On 19th February 1946 Clement Attlee announced that a three-member Committee consisting of Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr. A.V. Alexander, (The Cabinet Mission), would go to India to seek an agreement with Indian leaders on the principles and procedure relating to the constitutional issue. The objective of the Mission was to settle the dual problem of how to offer independence to the Indians through a peaceful transfer of power and how the Indians themselves would frame their own constitution. The Mission reached Delhi on 24th March 1946.

But no compromise was forthcoming between the views of the Congress and the Muslim League. Gandhiji advised the mission to announce its own proposals regarding the future of India. The Cabinet Mission announced its long-term plan of constitutional settlement for Indians on 16 May, 1946.

The following were the plans and proposals of the Cabinet Mission

1. A federal type of Government was to be established in the center for the whole of India embracing both the British India and the Princely States. 
2. The central Government was to deal with foreign affairs, defence and communication; and other powers were to be vested in the provinces and states. The British Indian territories were to be divided into three groups. Group  A was to contain Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sindh and Baluchstan. Group B was to contain Bengal and Assam, and Group C to contain the rest of the provinces. Thus, the first two groups contained Muslim majority areas whereas the third group contained the Hindu majority areas. 
3. The Union constitution was to be framed by a Constituent Assembly of 296 members elected on a communal basis by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies and the representatives of States which joined the Union. The representatives of three groups of provinces were to meet separately to draw upon the constitution of the provinces in each group. 
4. Every province was to have the right to leave the union in future, if it is so liked after election under its new constitution.
5. An interim Government was to be set upon until the formation of the constitution.

The interim Government was to consist of fourteen members, out of whom six belonged to Congress, five to Muslim League, one to Indian Christian Community, one to Sikh and one to Parsi. The Congress and the league interpreted the mission plan in their own way. Patel maintained that the Mission’s plan was against Pakistan were as the league assumed that the basis of Pakistan was implied in the Mission’s plan by virtue of compulsory grouping. The league accepted the plan on 6th June 1946 but withdrew it on 29th July 1946.  

Wavell, the Viceroy, was anxious that an interim Government should be set up as soon as possible. But the Congress rejected the Viceroy's proposal for an interim Government and agreed to participate in the Constituent Assembly in order to frame the constitution.

The Cabinet Mission left India on 29th June 1946. In the general election of 1946, out of 296 seats Congress got 212 where as Muslim league got 73 only. Rest eleven seats were won by the other smaller parties.

2.4 Direct action

M.A. Jinnah had fixed 16th August 1946 as the day of "Direct Action". Jinnah asked the Muslims to show their determination for forming a separate state called Pakistan through processions and meetings. As the procession started in the streets of Calcutta, violence occurred.

There was a terrible bloodshed in the streets of Calcutta. For a number of days the streets of Calcutta saw the scenes of communal riots of the worst type. Bengal was then under the Muslim League, because the administration of the province was led by the ministry of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. The communal riots did not remain confined to Bengal only. They spread to other parts of India like wildfire. Bihar, Lahore and Rawalpindi soon fell victim to violent communal riots. 

The dilemma the British faced was whether to await the League’s acceptance or to go ahead and form the government only with the Congress. On the insistence of secretary of state, the interim government was formed with only Congress members on 2nd September 1946, with Jawaharlal Nehru as its head. The Muslim League did not join the Interim Government. So, this Government was made up of the Congress nominees only like Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Mr. Rajgopalachari, Dr. John Mathai, Sardar Baldev Singh, Sir Shafaat Ahmad Khan, Mr. Jagjivan Ram, Syed Ali Zaheer, Mr. C.H. Bhabha, Mr. Asaf Ali and Mr. Sarat Chandra Bose. The Muslim League decided to join the Interim Government on 13th October 1946 to safeguard the interests of the Muslims. The new Interim Government was like a house divided against itself.

The main aim of the League was to oppose every work of the Government. Nehru openly declared the League as "the King's Party". The differences between the Congress and the League could not be patched up and communal violence  continued to spread. Many Hindus in large number of villages of Noakhali district of East Bengal were tortured and killed by the Muslims. This provoked the Hindus of Bihar where a large number of Muslims received the same treatment at the hands of the Hindus. Nehru flew to Bihar, and the Congress Ministry there took vigorous steps to suppress the disturbance.

The Constituent Assembly met in New Delhi on 9th December 1946 with Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its president to start the process to prepare a constitution for India.

The League boycotted the Constituent Assembly totally. So, the Congress demanded resignation of the League from the Interim Government too. Nehru moved his famous resolution on 11th December 1946 which declared to make India an independent sovereign republic.

The Muslim League continued to keep away from the Congress. It created a deadlock from inside the Government. The Congress- League difference became so acute that the Interim Government under the Prime Ministership of Pandit Nehru could not function properly. The Hindu-Muslim deadlock continued to aggravate the political situation of the country. Everywhere there was anarchy and uncertainty.

Sir Clement Atlee, the Prime Minister of England, realised that there would be no end to bloodshed unless some decision was taken immediately. He was always in favour of transfer of power to Indians. So he fixed upon a date for the withdrawal of British power from India and transfer of power and authority to a responsible Indian Government.

The latest date for final full self-government was fixed as 3rd June 1948. He also clearly stated that in case the Muslim League did not join the Interim Government or the Constituent Assembly, transfer of power would be affected to a suitable authority. He further announced that Admiral Mountbatten would assume the Indian Viceroyalty to fulfill this great task.

3.0 The Mountbatten (3rd June) Plan

The Mountbatten plan declared that power would be handed over by 15 August 1947 on the basis of dominion status to India and Pakistan. Mountbatten supported the Congress stand that the princely states must not be given the option of independence. They would either join India or Pakistan. A Boundary Commission was also to be setup headed by Cyril Radcliffe. The Mountbatten plan was to divide India but retain maximum unity. Salient features of the Mountbatten Plan were:

1. If the areas with the majority of the Muslim population so desired, they should be allowed to form a separate Dominion. A new Constituent Assembly would be set up for that purpose. But there would be a partition of Bengal and the Punjab if the representatives of the Hindu majority districts in the Legislatures of those Provinces so desired.
2. The referendum would be taken in the North-West Frontier Province to ascertain whether it should join Pakistan or not.
3. The district of Sylhet would be joined to the Muslim area in Bengal after the views of the people had been ascertained by a referendum.
4. Boundary Commissions would be set up to define the boundaries of the Hindu and Muslim Provinces in Bengal and the Punjab.
5. The Princely States would be free to join either of the two Dominions or to remain independent, and whatever treaties were signed with them (by the British) would soon end.
6. Parliament would undertake legislation to transfer power before the end of 1947 to one or two successor authorities on a Dominion Status basis, but without prejudice to the Constituent Assemblies deciding whether to stay in the Commonwealth or not.

The acceptance of the June 3rd plan resulted in a discussion on the steps that would be necessary for implementation of the Mountbatten Plan. Informal discussions were held that dealt with matters of the division of staff organizations and records, services and institutions, assets and liabilities of the Government of India. The matters discussed were also regarding the future economic relations; domicile, diplomatic relations, as well. It also suggested in particular the setting up of a Partition Council and expert committees to deal with the various matters. Lord Mountbatten eventually set up a Partition Committee, consisting of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Liaqat Ali Khan and Abdur Rab Nishtar, and himself (Lord Mountbatten) as Chairman. This Committee was replaced by a Partition Council after the decision of the partition. The Congress continued to be represented in the Council by Patel and Rajendra Prasad with Rajagopalachari as alternate member; while Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan, with Abdur Rab Nishtar as alternate member, represented the Muslim League. Under the Indian Independence Act, 1947, the Partition Council continued in existence even after 15 August. Its composition was then altered to include two members drawn from each of the Dominion Cabinets. India’s representatives were Patel and Rajendra Prasad, while Pakistan was represented by such ministers as were able to attend the meetings in Delhi.

The Partition Council worked through a Steering Committee of two senior officials, H. M. Patel, I.C.S. who represented India and Chaudhuri Mohammad Ali representing Pakistan. The Steering Committee was assisted by ten expert committees of officials representing both India and Pakistan. These expert committees covered the entire field of administration: organization, records and personnel; assets and liabilities; central revenues; contracts, currency and coinage; economic relations, domicile; foreign relations, and the armed forces.

Implementation of the Mountbatten Plan resulted in the division of the Indian Armed Forces. Both the Congress and the Muslim League insisted that they must have their own armed forces under their control before 15 August. The Viceroy and the party leaders met on the question of division, whether it would be on a communal or on a territorial basis. The division was finally decided to be on the basis of citizenship. An opportunity should be given to those who happened to be resident in that part of India in which their community was a minority, to transfer their homes and citizenship to the other part. The Partition Council decided that from 15 August, the Indian Union and Pakistan would each have within its own territories forces under its own operational control, composed predominantly of non-Muslims and Muslims respectively. 

3.1 The Boundary Commissions

In accordance with the June 3rd plan, it was decided to set up two Boundary Commissions. One would deal with the partition of Bengal, as also the separation of Sylhet from Assam, and the other would deal with the partition of the Punjab. Each Boundary Commission would consist of a Chairman and four members, two nominated by the Congress and two by the Muslim League. Sir Cyril (later Lord) Radcliffe was appointed the Chairman of both Commissions. Other members were all High Court judges. The members of the Bengal Commission were Justices C. C. Biswas, B. K. Mukherji, Abu Saleh Mohamed Akram and S. A. Rahman, while the members of the Punjab Commission were Justices Meher Chand Mahajan, Teja Singh, Din Mohamed and Muhammad Munir.

These Commissions were required to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the respective provinces on the basis of determining the adjacent majority areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. The Bengal Commission was required in addition to demarcate the Muslim majority areas of Sylhet district and the adjacent non-Muslim majority areas of the adjoining districts of Assam. In Bengal, there were only two groups of districts which were not a cause of anxiety to the Commission. These were the indisputably non-Muslim majority areas of Midnapore, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah and Burdwan, and the Muslim-majority areas of Chittagong, Noakhali, Tippera, Dacca, Mymensingh, Pabna and Bogra. Except for these, all the other areas, including Calcutta, were subject to contention and rival claims. Similarly in the Punjab, the controversy was over the three divisions of Lahore, Multan and Jullundur, as also a portion of the Ambala Division.

3.2 The Bengal and Punjab issues & the Radcliffe Award

Neither Bengal nor the Punjab was able to reach any satisfactory agreement. It was finally agreed that the Chairman should give his own award. Thus, Lord Mountbatten decided to hand over copies of the award to the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League immediately after he had received them from Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The Congress had claimed for West Bengal about fifty-nine per cent of the area and forty-six per cent of the population of the province. Under the Radcliffe award, only thirty-six per cent of the area and thirty-five per cent of the population were assigned to West Bengal. The total Muslim population of Bengal, only sixteen per cent, came under West Bengal, while as many as forty-two per cent of non-Muslims remained in East Bengal. The non-Muslims of Bengal complained that the area of West Bengal under the award, as compared with that in the notional division, got smaller by about 4,000 square miles. They protested against the transfer to East Bengal of Khulna and the Chittagong Hill Tracts and deplored the absence of any link between Darjeeling and the rest of West Bengal. The Muslims, on the other hand, deplored the loss of Calcutta, Murshidabad, and part of Nadia district.

In Punjab the Congress demanded the protection of the cultural and religious life of the Sikhs, economic security and a rational distribution of the irrigation system, river waters and canal colonies. Thus, it claimed for East Punjab, the province east of the river Chenab. The Sikhs supplemented the Congress claims by asking for a few more districts such as Montgomery and Lyallpur and certain sub-divisions of the Multan division. The Muslim League, on the other hand, demanded the three complete divisions of Rawalpindi, Multan and Lahore, and also a number of tehsils in the Jalandhar and Ambala divisions. The Radcliffe award, however, allocated to East Punjab only thirteen districts, comprising the whole of the Jalandhar and Ambala divisions, the Amritsar district of the Lahore division, and certain tehsils of the Gurdaspur and Lahore districts. East Punjab obtained control over three of the five rivers of the united Punjab, namely the Beas, Sutlej and the upper waters of the Ravi. About thirty-eight per cent of the area and forty-five per cent of the population were assigned to East Punjab. West Punjab, on the other hand, obtained under the award about sixty-two per cent of the area and fifty-five per cent of the population, together with a major percentage of the income of the old province. The non-Muslims of the Punjab, especially the Sikhs, bitterly resented the loss of Lahore and the canal colonies of Sheikhupura, Lyallpur and Montgomery, while the Muslims protested against the retention of the Mandi hydro-electric project by East Punjab and the severance of certain tehsils from the notional West Punjab. However, the Radcliffe award satisfied none of the parties. It was arbitrary and unjust to the Hindus of Bengal and the Punjab. Pakistan claimed the award to be a biased decision.

4.0 Independence, at last!

Finally, the glorious day of 15th August 1947, dawned upon the subcontinent, revealing the dual reality of independence and Partition. As always, between the two of them, Gandhiji and Nehru mirrored the feelings of the Indian people. Gandhiji prayed in Calcutta for an end to the carnage taking place. His close follower, Mridula Sarabhai, sat consoling a homeless, abducted 15-year-old girl in a room somewhere in Bombay. Gandhiji's prayers were reflective of the goings on in the dark, the murders, abductions and rapes. Nehru's eyes were on the light on the horizon, the new dawn, the birth of a free India. 'At the stroke of the midnight hour when the world sleeps India shall awake to light and freedom.' His poetic words, 'Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny,' reminded the people that their angry bewilderment today was not the only truth. There was a greater truth - that of a glorious struggle, hard-fought and hard-won, in which many fell martyrs and countless others made sacrifices, dreaming of the day India would be free. That day had come. The people of India saw that too, and on 15 August - despite the sorrow in their hearts for the division of their land danced in the streets with abandon and joy.

RADCLIFFE BOUNDARY COMMISSIONS

• On 17th August 1947, the Radcliffe Line was declared as the boundary between India and Pakistan, following the Partition of India. The line was named after Sir Cyril Radcliffe who was commissioned to equitably divide 4,50,000 km sq of territory with 88 million people.
• The idea behind this partition was to create a boundary to divide India along religious demographics, under which Muslim majority provinces would become part of the new nation of Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh majority provinces would remain in India.
• The hurriedly-passed Indian Independence Act 1947 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom came into force on 15th July 1947. It stated that India would be free from British rule on 15th August 1947 (exactly a month from then). The act also agreed on the Partition of the provinces of British India into the two new nations of the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan (which would further be divided in 1971 into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh). Pakistan was intended to be a homeland for Indian Muslims and India with a Hindu majority was to be a secular nation.
• Before this Partition, more than 40% of India was covered by princely states which were not British possessions and hence were not part of British India. Hence, the British could neither give them independence, nor partition them. The rulers of these states were fully independent and had to choose which of the two nations they wanted to join (or if they wanted to remain independent). However, all the rulers swiftly decided to join India or Pakistan, though only a small number did not.
• Since the Partition of India was done on the basis of religious demographics, Muslim majority regions in the north of India were to become part of Pakistan. Baluchistan and Sindh (which had a clear Muslim majority) automatically became part of Pakistan. The challenge however, lay in the two provinces of Punjab (55.7% Muslims) and Bengal (54.4% Muslims) which did not have an overpowering majority. Eventually, the Western part of Punjab became part of West Pakistan and the Eastern part became part of India (Eastern Punjab was later divided into three other Indian states). The state of Bengal was also partitioned into East Bengal (which became part of Pakistan) and West Bengal, which remained in India. After Independence, the North West Frontier Province (located near Afghanistan) voted with a decision to join Pakistan.
• Since the population of Punjab was scattered, it was difficult to draw a line which would clearly divide Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Similarly, no line drawn was favoured by the Muslim League headed by Jinnah, nor the Congress headed by Nehru and Sardar Patel. Hence, it was decided that what was required was a well drawn line which would reduce the separation of farmers from their fields, while also minimizing the number of people who would have to relocate, hence reducing the feeling of alienation, which a new place brings to people.
• A rough border of sorts had already been drawn by Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, before he was replaced by Lord Mountbatten in February 1947. In June 1947, Radcliffe started his work through the two Boundary Commissions (one for Punjab and the other for Bengal), to determine which territories will be assigned to which nation. The Boundary Commission was asked to demarcate areas in Punjab based on religious majority. While defining the boundary, Radcliffe also took into consideration “natural boundaries, communications, watercourses and irrigation systems”, while paying heed to socio-political affairs. Each Boundary Commission had four representatives, two from the Congress and two from the Muslim League and given the tension between the both, the decision regarding the boundary ultimately lay with Radcliffe.
• Radcliffe arrived in India on 8th July 1947 and was given five weeks to work on the border. Upon meeting with Mountbatten, Radcliffe travelled to Lahore and Kolkata to meet his Boundary Commission members, who were primarily Jawaharlal Nehru representing the Congress and Muhammad Ali Jinnah representing the Muslim League. Both parties were keen that the boundary be finalised by 15th August 1947, in time for the British to leave India. As requested by both Nehru and Jinnah, Radcliffe completed the boundary line a few days before Independence, but due to some political reasons the Radcilffe Line was only formally revealed on 17th August 1947. 

Leading individuals in Indian Independence movement in 1920s, 30s and 40s

1. Rabindarnath Tagore : He was born on 7th of May, 1861. He is one of the proud sons of India who was the first one to receive the Nobel Prize for literature from Asia. This multitalented personality was a philosopher, poet, dramatist, painter, novelist, educationist and a composer. Challenging the conventional education system, he founded an entirely new kind of educational institution called Shanti Niketan. His pen name was Bhani Singha Thakur (Bhonita).
2. Life and times : He had a great talent in painting and played a vital role in modernizing Bengali art. Greatly moved by the Jallianwallabagh massacre and to express his deep reverence for freedom, he gave up his knighthood conferred by the British.
3. Began writing poetry from childhood : Tagore wrote his first verse in poetry at the age of 8. In 1884, at 16, he published Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali, a collection of poems under the pseudonym Bhanusimha. From 1877, he began writing short stories and dramas under his own name. He also regularly contributed to Bharati, a family magazine.
4. First out of Europe to win the Nobel Prize : Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed poetical work called Gitanjali. Notably he was the first non-European to get this most coveted honor. In choosing him for this honour, the Nobel committee stated, “because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West".
5. Nobel Prize : Tagore's Nobel Prize was stolen from the safety vault of the Visva-Bharati University, along with several other of his belongings on March 25, 2004. However, on December 7, 2004, the Swedish Academy decided to present two replicas of Tagore's Nobel Prize, one made of gold and the other made of bronze, to the Visva-Bharati University. It inspired the fictional film Nobel Chor.
6. Visva-Bharati - Challenging the Conventional Education : In 1921, Tagore founded the Viswa Bharati University at Santiniketan. This organization challenged the conventional methods of classroom instruction and took education several steps beyond the traditional standards. Stating his motive behind this great finding, Tagore stated, “Humanity must be studied somewhere beyond the limits of nation and geography.”
7. Composed the National Anthems of three nations : Three nations have honoured Rabindranath Tagore by making his poems their national anthems. The world famed national anthem of India namely “Jana Gana Mana”. In addition, the Bangladesh National Anthem worded as “Amar Sona Banlga” was composed by Tagore. The national anthem of Sri Lanka is fully based on a song composed by Tagore in Bengali, which was translated in Sinhalese and adopted as the national anthem in 1951.
8. Tagore’s relationship with Gandhi and Einstein : Tagore and Gandhi had great love and reverence for each other. Tagore conferred the title ‘Mahatma’ on the father of nation. However, in several issues Tagore greatly differed from Gandhi. Tagore and Einstein met four times between 1930 and 1931. They revered each other moved by their mutual curiosity to grasp other’s contributions, their search for truth and love for music. In describing Einstein, Tagore wrote, “There was nothing stiff about him - there was no intellectual aloofness. He seemed to me a man who valued human relationship and he showed toward me a real interest and understanding.”
9. Death : He passed away on 7 August 1941, at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, Kolkata, at the age of 80 years. There are 8 Tagore museums, 3 in India and 5 in Bangladesh - Rabindra Bharati Museum, at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, Kolkata, Tagore Memorial Museum, at Shilaidaha Kuthibadi, Shilaidaha, Bangladesh, Rabindra Memorial Museum at Shahzadpur Kachharibari, Shahzadpur, Bangladesh, Rabindra Bhavan Museum, in Santiniketan, India, Rabindra Museum, in Mungpoo, near Kalimpong, India, Patisar Rabindra Kacharibari, Patisar, Atrai, Naogaon, Bangladesh, Pithavoge Rabindra Memorial Complex, Pithavoge, Rupsha, Khulna, Bangladesh, and the Rabindra Complex, Dakkhindihi village, Phultala Upazila, Khulna, Bangladesh.

FREEDOM

It all started in the year 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab of Bengal surrendered to the East India Company. In 1765, the Company was granted all the rights over Bengal and Bihar. This was the starting of the subjugation India faced till the year 1947.

The timeline of two centuries of British rule over India : 

• 1757 : East India Company won the Battle of Plassey, and in 1764, Battle of Buxar in Bihar. The two wins gave the company the power to collect revenues and appoint its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings
• The company then started expanding its dominions in Mumbai (then Bombay) and Chennai (then Madras)
• After 1765 : The company faced strong opposition from the Marathas, Tipu Sultan and the Sikhs
• East India Company subjugated all these powers to get control over India
• 1767 - 1799 : Haider Ali rose to power in Mysore and went on to extend his kingdom up to the Krishna River. He was a big threat to the British and from 1767 to 1799, the company undertook four wars to destroy him and son Tipu Sultan
• After the first Mysore war, a treaty was signed between the company and Haider Ali which said that the company will help Haider Ali if somebody else attacks him in future. However, the company did not help him when Marathas declared a war on him. This event resulted in more Mysore wars
• Involvement of English in the internal politics of the Marathas resulted in the first Anglo-Maratha war
• 1800 : The early years of 1800, the British power grew when the Maratha chief got involved in a bitter strife with one another
• 1818 : The defeat of the Marathas in the Anglo-Maratha wars was the result of the Marathas failing to unite with each other
• 1845 : After Ranjit Singh's death in Punjab, Englishmen attempted to extend their powers at the borders. This resulted in the first Anglo-Sikh war
• 1848 : Lord Dalhousie arrived in India as the Governor General, an ambitious man who greatly accelerated territory acquisition via Doctrine of Lapse, greatly angering many Kings (setting the stage for 1857 revolt)
• Two other developments in the 1800s led to growing unrest among Indians. One was the growing number of Christian missionaries coming to India to preach Christianity, which clashed with the beliefs of the Hindus and the strong beliefs of Indian Muslims.
• 1857 Great India Mutiny : Matters came to a head at this time. Muslim troops thought pig grease was being used in the bullet cartridges, while Hindu troops thought the British were using grease from cows, which they hold sacred. This resulted in a serious rebellion. The rule passed from Company to the Crown in 1858
• British Raj : Britain ruled about 60 per cent of Indians directly and the other 40 per cent indirectly through native princes who followed British policies
• The Delhi Durbar 1911 : King George V of Great Britain (1865 - 1936) and Queen Mary (1867 - 1953) arrived for the Coronation Durbar in Delhi. Capital of India had been recently shifted from Calcutta to Delhi
• 1940 :  The Tata Iron Works is set up, which was the world's largest Iron factory at that time
• They continued developing India with railroad and telegraph lines
• By mid-nineteenth century, the British introduced the railways, telegraph and postal service in India
• The British passed many acts but every time they passed a bill, it was met with dissatisfaction from the Indians as the primary purpose always was perpetuation of British hegemony
• 1885 : The founding of the Indian National Congress was to ultimately lead to a pan-India independence movement, which brought large sections of Indian population together to fight the British non-violently. The Non-Cooperation Movements and Civil Disobedience Movements were great experiments in resisting a huge empire only with the power of truth
• 1914-19 and 1939-45 : World War I and World War II led to Indian participation as part of the British Empire. The second war helped India push its case for Independence
• Two years after the World War II ended, the British granted India its Independence on August 15, 1947. Many factors were finally responsible - the mass movements over three decades, the great political awareness in masses, Netaji Bose’s INA attacks from eastern front, weakening of the British empire due to World War II, revolts in the RAF and RIN, etc.

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