Rule after 1858, reformers and the birth of the Congress
After a big quarrel a school gets a new principal who says, “Nothing will change, I promise.” Yet the old rules quietly stay. Something like this happened in India in 1858.
After the Great Uprising of 1857, the British Crown took direct control of India from the East India Company in 1858. A Viceroy in India and a Secretary of State in London ruled in the Queen’s name.
Key idea 1: The 1858 promise and the reality — The Queen’s proclamation promised respect for about 560 princes and no forced change of religion. In practice, Residents interfered in princely states, heavy land taxes led to famines, and cheap British cloth hurt local industries. Indians were paid less for the same posts, and the Arms Act and the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 restricted them.
- Easy: In 1858 the Crown took over India from the East India Company.
- Medium: Because of the Resident, a princely state’s freedom became only symbolic.
- Exam-type: Why did early Congress resolutions fail? — The government ignored them and gave only minor concessions.
In the figure: From 1858 reform movements grew alongside tighter British control, and the Congress was born in 1885.
Key idea 2: Reformers and cultural currents — The Brahmo Samaj (1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy), the Arya Samaj (1875, Swami Dayananda Saraswati), and people like Vidyasagar, Syed Ahmad Khan, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule worked for education, widows’ rights and against caste discrimination. Bankim’s ‘Vande Mataram’ (1875) and Swami Vivekananda’s speech in Chicago (1893) stirred pride.
Key idea 3: The Indian National Congress (1885) — Under A. O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and W. C. Bonnerjee (first president), the first session with 72 delegates met in Bombay. At first the Congress trusted British rule and only asked for more Indian participation in government. The government mostly ignored its resolutions.
What happened before? The first Congress session was planned for Pune, but an epidemic broke out there and it was moved to Bombay. So on 28 December 1885, about 72 delegates met in a hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay.
What happened next? At that meeting the ‘Indian National Union’ was renamed the ‘Indian National Congress’ on Dadabhai Naoroji’s suggestion. The next year, 1886, the second session was held in Calcutta with Naoroji as president.
In 1858 the rulers changed (Company to Crown), but unfair treatment and economic exploitation continued.
Thinking the early Congress demanded independence. It declared loyalty to the Crown and asked for a share in governance.
Link the dates. Memory clue: 1858 = Crown and 1885 = Congress; the same digits flipped (5-8 and 8-5)!
Spot the difference
| Movement | Year / founder | Main work |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmo Samaj | 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Against child marriage and caste, for girls’ education |
| Arya Samaj | 1875, Swami Dayananda Saraswati | Back to the Vedas, rational thinking, widow remarriage |
| Ramakrishna Mission | Swami Vivekananda | Spirituality joined with social service |
Practice questions
- 1Who took direct control of India in 1858?
- 2Who was the first president of the Congress?
- 3Who founded the Arya Samaj, and when?
- 4What was ‘paramountcy’?
- 5Name the two laws of 1878 and what they did.
- 6Give two kinds of unfair treatment Indians faced.
- 7Why did the first session meet in Bombay instead of Pune?
- 8Why were the early Congress demands not met?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1The British Crown (Queen Victoria), from the East India Company.
- 2W. C. Bonnerjee.
- 3Swami Dayananda Saraswati, 1875.
- 4British supremacy over the princes, who kept their states but under British control.
- 5The Arms Act (Indians could not keep arms) and the Vernacular Press Act (control of Indian-language press).
- 6E.g. lower pay for the same post; leniency to Europeans in courts; being kept out of clubs and trains.
- 7An epidemic had broken out in Pune.
- 8The government ignored the resolutions, gave only minor concessions and gave no real share in governance.
Growing discontent, the Partition of Bengal (1905) and Swadeshi
When a teacher splits a class in two “for better management” and friends get separated, students protest together. Something like this happened in Bengal in 1905.
Partition of Bengal (1905): Viceroy Curzon divided the large Bengal Presidency into two. The stated reason was better administration, but it separated Bengal’s mostly Muslim east from its mostly Hindu west.
Key idea 1: Discontent before 1905 — In Punjab, Baba Ram Singh’s Kuka movement boycotted foreign goods and ran its own postal system. After the famine and plague of 1896, the Chapekar brothers killed the plague commissioner in Pune in 1897. Lokmanya Tilak awakened people through ‘Kesari’, Ganeshotsav and the Shivaji festival. Birsa Munda led the ‘Ulgulan’ in 1899–1900 and died in jail aged 24.
- Easy: Swadeshi means using goods made in your own country.
- Medium: Boycott was not only about cloth; it also covered government schools and courts.
- Exam-type: ‘Swaraj’ was declared in 1906 but not defined; it could mean anything from self-rule inside the Empire to full independence.
In the figure: The partition set off the Swadeshi movement, and within six years the government had to cancel it.
Key idea 2: Swadeshi, boycott and National Education — There were meetings and processions against the partition; ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung and rakhis were tied for Hindu–Muslim unity. Swadeshi means using goods made in one’s own country; boycott means refusing foreign cloth, government schools and courts. In 1906 Bipin Chandra Pal started the daily ‘Bande Mataram’, and the Bengal National College opened with Aurobindo Ghose as principal.
Key idea 3: The Muslim League and the Surat split — At the December 1906 Calcutta session the Congress declared Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education as goals, but did not define ‘Swaraj’. The same month the All-India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka to defend Muslim political interests. At the 1907 Surat session the Moderates and the Nationalists (Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghose) separated. In 1911 the partition was cancelled and the capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi.
What happened before? Curzon announced the plan in July 1905. The orders were passed in August and it took effect on 16 October 1905. So the people of Bengal had only about three months to protest.
What happened next? On 16 October 1905, the day the partition began, Bengal observed a day of mourning. Rabindranath Tagore bathed in the Ganga, walked through the streets and tied rakhis on the wrists of the people he met. His song ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ has been Bangladesh’s national anthem since 1972.
Swadeshi = use home-made goods; boycott = refuse foreign goods and institutions. Together they were the answer to the partition.
Assuming all Muslims wanted the partition. The textbook says many Muslims opposed it at first too.
Recall the three groups easily. Memory clue: Moderates = ‘request’, Nationalists = ‘refuse’ (boycott). Request – then refuse!
Spot the difference
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Swadeshi | Use home-made goods | Clothes of Indian cloth |
| Boycott | Refuse foreign goods or institutions | Bonfires of foreign cloth |
| Swaraj | Self-rule | The 1906 resolution |
Practice questions
- 1Who announced the Partition of Bengal?
- 2What does ‘Swadeshi’ mean?
- 3When and where was the Muslim League founded?
- 4What was refused in the boycott?
- 5Which goals were declared at the 1906 Calcutta session?
- 6Why was the Bengal National College started?
- 7Why did Tagore tie rakhis on 16 October 1905?
- 8Why did the Congress split at Surat?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1Viceroy Curzon.
- 2Using goods made in one’s own country.
- 3December 1906, in Dhaka.
- 4Foreign cloth and goods, and government schools, colleges and courts.
- 5Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education.
- 6To give a truly Indian education rooted in Indian thought and values.
- 7To show that Hindus and Muslims were one, and to protest the partition.
- 8The Moderates wanted to step back from the Calcutta resolutions; Tilak and other Nationalists were prevented from speaking and left to hold their own session.
Revolutionaries, Ghadar and Home Rule (1908–1916)
In a group project some friends want to keep asking the teacher politely, while others want stronger steps. The freedom movement of 1908–1916 had such different views too.
Revolutionaries were freedom fighters who thought armed action was a legitimate way to end foreign rule. They followed a different path from the Moderates (petitions) and the Nationalists (boycott).
Key idea 1: Revolutionary acts and the crackdown — In 1908 Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki tried to bomb a judge’s carriage; two British women were killed by mistake. Khudiram, aged 18, was hanged. In the Alipore case Aurobindo Ghose was arrested, defended by Chittaranjan Das and acquitted. Tilak was sentenced to six years in Mandalay for sedition, with Jinnah as his lawyer.
- Easy: The Cellular Jail in the Andamans was called ‘Kala Pani’.
- Medium: The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was between the Congress and the Muslim League.
- Exam-type: How did the Home Rule demand differ from the earlier Nationalists’? — It asked for self-government within the Empire, not full independence.
In the figure: All wanted freedom, but by four different paths.
Key idea 2: The Ghadar movement and Bagha Jatin — In 1914–15 the Ghadar Party, founded by Indians abroad (Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna), tried to trigger a mutiny in the British Indian Army. British intelligence found out and the plot failed; Kartar Singh Sarabha, aged 19, was hanged. Bagha Jatin fought a 75-minute gunbattle near Balasore on 9 September 1915 and died the next day. The Cellular Jail in the Andamans was known as ‘Kala Pani’.
Key idea 3: Home Rule and the Lucknow Pact (1916) — After his release in 1914 Tilak set three tasks: reunite the two Congress groups, promote Hindu–Muslim cooperation and work for home rule. At the 1916 Lucknow session the two Congress groups reunited, and the ‘Lucknow Pact’ was made between the Congress and the Muslim League, in which the Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims. That year Tilak and Annie Besant launched the Home Rule Movement for self-government within the Empire.
Moderates, Nationalists and Revolutionaries all wanted freedom; they differed in method.
Thinking the struggle followed a single path. The textbook says fighters differed on the way.
Remember three ‘R’s for the three paths. Memory clue: Request (Moderates), Refuse (Nationalists, boycott), Rebel (Revolutionaries).
Spot the difference
| Group | Method | Leaders / example |
|---|---|---|
| Moderates | Petitions and resolutions | Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale |
| Nationalists | Swadeshi, boycott, awakening | Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai |
| Revolutionaries | Armed action, secret societies | Khudiram Bose, Ghadar Party |
Practice questions
- 1How old was Khudiram Bose when he was hanged?
- 2What was called ‘Kala Pani’?
- 3Who started the Home Rule Movement?
- 4Who founded the Ghadar Party?
- 5What did the Congress accept in the Lucknow Pact?
- 6Why did the Ghadar movement fail?
- 7State one difference between Moderates and Revolutionaries.
- 8Why was the Home Rule demand seen as a ‘practical first step’ in 1916?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 118 years.
- 2The Cellular Jail in the Andamans.
- 3Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant (1916).
- 4Indian migrants in North America (e.g. Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna).
- 5Separate electorates for Muslims.
- 6British intelligence found out; there were many arrests and executions.
- 7Moderates used petitions and resolutions; Revolutionaries thought armed action was legitimate.
- 8It asked for real internal self-government inside the Empire, not full independence.
Gandhi and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1915–1922)
If one shop keeps cheating and the whole street stops buying from it, the shopkeeper must change. That is the power of non-cooperation.
Satyagraha means holding firmly to truth, using nonviolence (ahimsa) and willingly accepting suffering. Gandhi shaped this method in South Africa.
Key idea 1: Gandhi in India — Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and joined the Congress on Gokhale’s advice. He used satyagraha for indigo farmers in Bihar, mill workers in Ahmedabad and peasants in Kheda, Gujarat. Vallabhbhai Patel led the 1928 Bardoli movement and got the title ‘Sardar’.
- Easy: The Rowlatt Act allowed arrest without trial.
- Medium: Why was khadi important? — It stood for self-reliance, gave villagers work and challenged British cloth.
- Exam-type: Why did Gandhi withdraw the movement in 1922? — Because of the violence at Chauri Chaura, which went against the promise of nonviolence.
In the figure: Main stages after Gandhi’s arrival, from 1915 to 1928.
Key idea 2: The Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh — The Rowlatt Act of 1919 let the police detain anyone without trial. Gandhi called a day of prayer and fasting across the country. On 13 April 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, General Dyer’s troops blocked the main exit and fired for about ten minutes on an unarmed crowd. British counts gave about 400 deaths, Indian estimates over 1,000. Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood in protest.
Key idea 3: Khilafat, non-cooperation and Chauri Chaura — The Ali brothers and Maulana Azad started the Khilafat movement in 1919 to protect the religious authority of the Caliph of Turkey. In 1920 Gandhi and the Khilafat leaders joined hands. After Tilak’s death in August 1920 Gandhi became the Congress’s undisputed mass leader, and the Non-Cooperation Movement began at the Nagpur session in December 1920: boycott of foreign goods, government schools and courts, and spinning khadi. In February 1922 a mob at Chauri Chaura set a police station on fire and killed policemen, so Gandhi called off the movement.
What happened before? On 10 April 1919 two popular Amritsar leaders, Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, were called to Deputy Commissioner Miles Irving’s house, arrested and sent by car to Dharamsala. This led to a strike and protests in the city. The meeting in the Bagh on 13 April was also meant to demand their release.
What happened next? Tagore wrote a strong letter to the Viceroy and returned his knighthood. Twenty-one years later, on 13 March 1940, in Caxton Hall, London, Udham Singh shot dead Michael O’Dwyer, who had been Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919.
Non-cooperation combined boycott (goods, schools, courts) with swadeshi (khadi); Gandhi stopped it when violence broke out.
Thinking only protesters were there. People who came for Baisakhi, including men, women and children, were also present.
Chauri Chaura = February 1922 = non-cooperation stopped. Memory clue: 1919 Jallianwala → 1920 Non-Cooperation → 1922 Chauri Chaura: each step grew out of the last.
Spot the difference
| Event | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Rowlatt Act | 1919 | Protests across the country |
| Jallianwala Bagh | 1919 | Trust in British rule shattered |
| Non-Cooperation | 1920–22 | Withdrawn after Chauri Chaura |
Practice questions
- 1What is ‘satyagraha’?
- 2In which year was the Rowlatt Act passed?
- 3Who got the title ‘Sardar’, and why?
- 4What was the Khilafat movement for?
- 5At which session did Non-Cooperation formally begin?
- 6How did the Khilafat movement end?
- 7What followed Chauri Chaura?
- 8What did Tagore do after Jallianwala Bagh, and why?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1Holding firmly to truth through nonviolence and willing suffering.
- 21919.
- 3Vallabhbhai Patel, for leading the Bardoli movement.
- 4To preserve the religious authority of the Caliph of Turkey.
- 5The Nagpur session of December 1920.
- 6Turkey abolished the sultanate in 1922 and the Caliphate in 1924.
- 7Gandhi withdrew the movement; Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das formed the Swaraj Party.
- 8He returned his knighthood to express strong protest.
From the Simon Commission to Purna Swaraj and the Salt March (1927–1935)
If rules for your class are made without asking a single student, you would say, “Ask us too!” That is what Indians said about the Simon Commission in 1927.
Dominion status meant Indians would run internal affairs while Britain kept defence and foreign policy. Purna Swaraj means complete independence.
Key idea 1: The Simon Commission and Lala Lajpat Rai — The Simon Commission of 1927 came to study constitutional reform but had no Indian member. There were protests with ‘Simon Go Back’ slogans and black flags. In October 1928 police lathi-charged a peaceful march in Lahore; the injured Lala Lajpat Rai died two weeks later. In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Report asked for dominion status. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in 1931, aged 22–23.
- Easy: The Dandi march was about 380 km long.
- Medium: Why salt? — Everyone needs it, and the government’s monopoly and tax was an injustice everyone understood.
- Exam-type: What is the difference between dominion status and Purna Swaraj? — In dominion status Britain keeps defence and foreign policy and the monarch is head of state; under Purna Swaraj India holds everything.
In the figure: The demand (1929) came first and the action (1930) followed; then the pact and the 1935 Act.
Key idea 2: Purna Swaraj and the Salt March — At the December 1929 Lahore session the Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution. To press it, Gandhi led a Salt March of about 380 km in March–April 1930 and picked up salt at Dandi. The government held a salt monopoly and charged a high tax, so breaking the salt law became a simple and powerful symbol. Thousands were arrested, and many women broke the salt law. On 23 April 1930 troops fired at Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Peshawar; soldiers of the Royal Garhwal Rifles refused to fire on the unarmed crowd.
Key idea 3: The Gandhi–Irwin Pact and the Poona Pact — Under the 1931 Gandhi–Irwin Pact, prisoners not involved in violence were released and limited salt making was allowed; in return the Congress suspended civil disobedience and agreed to attend the Round Table Conference. The conference achieved no breakthrough, and the movement was withdrawn in 1934. The 1935 Act gave provinces some autonomy. In the Poona Pact, reserved seats for the Depressed Classes were increased instead of separate electorates.
What happened before? On 2 March 1930 Gandhi wrote a long letter to Viceroy Irwin. It criticised British rule, yet began “Dear Friend”. It was carried by a young English follower, Reginald Reynolds. Irwin did not reply himself; his secretary sent a short note of regret. So the march began on 12 March.
What happened next? In early May 1930 Gandhi was arrested. On 21 May Sarojini Naidu led about 2,500 satyagrahis to the Dharasana salt works. Police beat them with lathis while the volunteers kept walking forward peacefully. American reporter Webb Miller’s eyewitness report carried the news around the world.
1929 Lahore = the demand (Purna Swaraj); 1930 Dandi = the action (civil disobedience).
Treating dominion status and full independence as the same. Under dominion status Britain keeps defence and foreign policy.
The word ‘Purna’ itself is the clue. Memory clue: Dominion = ‘half a house’ (Britain keeps the keys); Purna Swaraj = the ‘whole’ house (all keys with India).
Spot the difference
| Point | Dominion status | Purna Swaraj |
|---|---|---|
| Internal affairs | With India | With India |
| Defence and foreign policy | With Britain | With India |
| Head of state | British monarch | India’s own |
Practice questions
- 1How many Indian members were in the Simon Commission?
- 2At which session was the Purna Swaraj resolution passed?
- 3How long was the Dandi march?
- 4What did the Congress agree to in the Gandhi–Irwin Pact?
- 5What was decided in the Poona Pact?
- 6What did the Royal Garhwal Rifles soldiers do?
- 7What happened after Lala Lajpat Rai’s death?
- 8Why did the Dharasana raid matter after Dandi?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1None.
- 2The Lahore session, December 1929.
- 3About 380 km.
- 4To suspend civil disobedience and attend the Round Table Conference.
- 5Reserved seats for the Depressed Classes were increased instead of separate electorates.
- 6They refused to fire on the unarmed crowd in Peshawar.
- 7National feeling was inflamed; revolutionaries sought revenge and the demand for complete self-rule grew stronger.
- 8Sarojini Naidu led it after Gandhi’s arrest, and Webb Miller’s report drew the world’s attention.
World War II, the INA, Quit India, Partition and Independence (1939–1947)
When a family works day and night for someone else’s festival while its own house stays unrepaired, resentment grows. Indians felt this way during World War II.
The Quit India Movement (1942) was Gandhi’s call to the British to leave India at once, with the slogan “Do or Die”.
Key idea 1: The burden of war and the INA — In World War II over 2.5 million Indian soldiers served as volunteers; official figures say at least 87,000 died. There were shortages and high taxes, and a terrible famine in Bengal in 1943. Subhas Chandra Bose escaped house arrest in 1941 and reached Germany, then Singapore in 1943, where he formed the Indian National Army and declared the Azad Hind government. The INA fought alongside Japan in Burma and north-east India but was defeated.
- Easy: The Quit India slogan: “Do or Die”.
- Medium: Why did most leaders reject the Cripps Mission? — It offered dominion status only after the war and let provinces opt out.
- Exam-type: What warning did the 1946 mutinies give the British? — They could no longer rely on the Indian military to hold the empire.
In the figure: In the five years from 1942 to 1947 events moved fast.
Key idea 2: The Cripps Mission and Quit India — The Cripps Mission of 1942 offered dominion status after the war with the option for provinces to opt out; most leaders including Gandhi rejected it. In August 1942 Gandhi gave the call “Do or Die”. Almost the whole Congress leadership was arrested, yet the people carried on; Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan kept the underground movement going. Viceroy Linlithgow called it the most serious rebellion since 1857. Kanaklata Barua, 17, of Assam was shot dead in the movement.
Key idea 3: 1946, Partition and Independence — In 1946 mutinies broke out in the air force and the navy; the British saw that they could no longer rely on the Indian military. The Cabinet Mission stalled because of differences between the Congress and the Muslim League. After ‘Direct Action Day’ on 16 August 1946 terrible communal violence hit Calcutta. In July 1947 Radcliffe had only five weeks to draw the borders. India became independent on 15 August 1947, but Partition brought migration and violence. Sardar Patel led the effort to bring over 560 princely states into India; most joined peacefully.
What happened before? In March 1942 Prime Minister Churchill, under pressure, sent Stafford Cripps to India. The offer was dominion status after the war, but provinces could opt out. Most leaders including Gandhi found it insufficient and rejected it. In August came the Quit India call.
What happened next? On the morning of 9 August 1942 most leaders had been arrested, yet people gathered at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, and Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the national flag there. On 14 August 1942, Usha Mehta, then 22, and her colleagues began broadcasting the ‘Secret Congress Radio’, announced as coming from ‘somewhere in India’.
In 1942 the leaders were in jail but the people carried on; it showed the British they could not rule without Indian consent.
Thinking the INA won a base in India. It was defeated militarily and could not set up a base in India.
1942 to 1947: four key words. Memory clue: Quit (1942) → INA (1943) → Mutiny (1946) → Independence (1947): remember Q-I-M-I!
Spot the difference
| Event | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Indian National Army | 1943 | Defeated, but admired for courage |
| Quit India | 1942 | Brutally suppressed, but a strong warning to the British |
| Naval mutiny | 1946 | British trust in the military shaken |
Practice questions
- 1What was the Quit India slogan?
- 2Who built the Indian National Army?
- 3When did India become independent?
- 4What did the Cripps Mission offer?
- 5What was the ‘Radcliffe Line’?
- 6Which two events of 1946 pressed the British?
- 7What happened at Gowalia Tank Maidan on 9 August 1942?
- 8Why did people hold different views about the INA?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1“Do or Die”.
- 2Subhas Chandra Bose (1943, Singapore).
- 315 August 1947.
- 4Dominion status after the war; provinces could opt out.
- 5The boundary splitting Punjab and Bengal, drawn by Cyril Radcliffe.
- 6The air force and naval mutinies, and the deadlock in the Cabinet Mission talks.
- 7With the leaders arrested, Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the national flag.
- 8Bose’s courage was admired, but his alliance with Germany and Japan was criticised.
World War II, the INA, Quit India, Partition and Independence (1939–1947)
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