TIMELINE OF INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE

TIMELINE OF INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE Partition of Bengal Formation of Indian (1905): viceroy Lord National Congress (1885): with the help Curzon divided Bengal of retired British civil The Vernacular Press Act (1878): servant A.O Hume; into two separate Split in INC passed by Viceroy Lord Lytton; first session held in (1907) between allowed government to confiscate Bombay provinces – East moderates and newspapers if they published anything radicals at Surat objectionable. Bengal (Muslim session of INC majority) and West Bengal (Hindu majority) 1857 The Arms Act (1878): passed by The Ilbert Bill (1883): The Indian Council Swadeshi & Boycott Formation of All Revolt Viceroy Lord Lytton; prohibited passed by viceroy Lord Act (1892) failed to Movements to protest Indians from possessing firearms Ripon; allowed the judges of include Indians in the the partition of Bengal. India Muslim League without licenses. Indian origin to try administration of the Europeans in India. The bill country; (1906) in Dacca by was withdrawn because dissatisfaction with Europeans in India reacted moderates, rise of Salimullah Khan harshly to it. Radicals in INC who demanded Swaraj. (Nawab of Dacca) Partition of Bengal Swadeshi Movement Boycott Movement Reason given by British: administrative convenience • Encouraged people to use things made in • Boycott meant that Indians were India, as against those which had been discouraged from buying goods which Real purpose: produced abroad. were manufactured in England so that British industries would have no markets • to weaken the feelings of nationalism in Bengal, • Shopkeepers were encouraged to keep in India. then one of the main centres of the INC Indian goods instead of British. • Bonfires were made of British-made • to divide the Hindus and Muslims using the Divide goods in many parts of India. and Rule policy. • In many places, British schools, colleges and universities were also boycotted.

Moreley-Minto Reforms (1909): also The Montagu-Chelmsford knowns as Government of India Act 1909; The Ghadar Party The Home Rule Reforms (1919) also known as • Overall number of elected members in the (1913): Revolutionary League (1916) by Imperial and Provincial Legislative organization outside Bal Gangadhar Champaran Satyagraha Government of India Act 1919 Council were increased India – Canada and Tilak and Annie USA to sent arms and Besant to achieve (1917) was a farmer's • Provincial Legislative councils • A system of indirect elections was ammunitions to Indian self-government uprising that took place in were enlarged and number of introduced for first time revolutionaries. or home rule. Champaran district of elected members were Bihar, India,Bengal. It increased. • Separate muslim electorates – only was the first Satyagraha muslims could stand for elections or vote movement led by • Elected members given more in reserved constituencies. Gandhiji. powers • Dyarchy – a system where First World Gandhiji Sabarmati Moderates and administration of some War begins arrived from Ashram Radicals of INC departments was in the hands of (1914) South Africa founded (1916) came together in governor of province and other (1915) Lucknow session departments under ministers. (1916) First World War ends (1918) During the World War I, the Central Powers made up of Germany, Austria- When the World War I ended in 1918 with England’s victory, India was Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire fought against the Allied Powers denied its promised reward. Instead of self-government. which consisted of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States. The New York Times in 1918 wrote \"The world must pay India in whatever India wants, for without Indian products, there would be greater difficulty More than 13 lakh Indian soldiers served during World War I fighting for the in winning the war.\" Britishers. As many as 74,187 of the Indian soldiers who served British in World War I lost their lives. But British had suffered heavy loss of money and property. They couldn’t give India what they promised. Instead they imposed the Rowlatt Act. This India supplied all sorts of material for the war, including clothing, weaponry was followed by Jallianwala Bagh massacre. including tanks, armored cars, guns etc. The British raised men and money from India, as well as large supplies of food, cash, and ammunition, collected After the incidence, Gandhiji lost faith in the goodwill of British by British taxation policies. government. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest. The Indian National Congress supported the British in the First World War because British promised to reward India with self-rule or home rule under the British throne after the war.

The Rowlatt Act (1919): gave (1928) Protesters Congress powers to the British government to arrest and imprison any person greeted Simon demanded Purna for an indefinite period without any trial. Gandhiji and Commission on its Swaraj or complete INC launched 6th April-Gandhiji started Anti- Non- Police station in arrival with black flags independence from Rowlatt satyagraha Cooperation Chauri Chaura Movement U.P burnt down and cries of ‘Simon go British rule by (1920) (Feb, 1922) back’. Congress under the Lala Lajpat Rai suffered leadership of injuries and died. Jawaharlal Nehru – at Lahore session in 1929 The Jallianwala Bagh Muhammad Ali, Gandhiji Dec 1922 Pro-changers The Simon Commission Dominion Status Massacre (1919): 13th April – suspended (1927) the British (1928) Motilal Nehru people of Amritsar had Shaukat Ali, Non- (CR Das, Motilal Nehru) government appointed a and Tej Bahadur gathered for a meeting to Cooperation 7-member commission Sapru drafted a protest the arrest of Dr Satyapal Maulana Abul Movement formed Swaraj Party under John Simon to tentative constitution and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew. (1922) study the working of the called the Nehru Kalam Azad, Hakim immediately and within the Congress to Government of India Act Report. It demanded General Dyer, the military in March, he was 1919. But no Indian Dominion Status for commander of Amritsar Ajmal Khan and arrested and contest elections and member was included. India. ordered his troops to open fire imprisoned for 6 upon the unarmed crowd. Hasrat Mohani years enter Legislative So INC session of Madras Hundreds were killed and resolved to boycott it. wounded. started Khilafat Councils. Muslim League also decided same. Movement (1920) No-changers (Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C Rajagopalachari) started constructive work in villages. Without even giving a warning to the people to disperse, General Dyer ordered his troops Non-Cooperation Movement to fire at the unarmed crowd for ten minutes and when their ammunition was exhausted, they left. In those ten minutes, according to the estimates of the congress, about 1000 • Students left British-aided schools and colleges and persons were killed and about 2000 wounded. The bullet marks can be still seen on the joined schools and colleges run by nationalists. walls of the Jallianwala Bagh which is now a national memorial. But on the official enquiry of the British revealed that there were 379 deaths and the Congress quoted more • Hundreds of lawyers including Motilal Nehru, than 1000 people died in the massacre. Chittaranjan Das, Asaf Ali and Rajendra Prasad gave up their legal practice and refused to attend courts. The massacre had been a calculated act and Dyer declared with pride that he had done it to produce a ‘moral effect’ on the people and that he had made up his mind that he would • British titles and legislative positions were surrendered. shoot down all men if they were going to continue meeting. He had no regrets. He went • People refused to pay taxes, join the military and take to England and some Englishmen collected money to honour him. government jobs. About 21 years later, on 13 March 1940, Udham Singh, an Indian revolutionary, shot Michael O’Dyer in England. • Hand-spinning and weaving with charkha increased. • Boycott of foreign cloth.

(1937) the Act was Civil First Round Table 2nd Round Table Civil rejected by the Congress Disobedience Conference (1931) Disobedienc Movement Conference Nov As Independence e Movement as it did not satisfy any (1930): Gandhiji was not agreed on, withdrawn by called for it with (1930) INC Gandhiji revived the Congress important objectives. Gandhiji himself breaking Civil Disobedience (1934) launched the Salt Law. boycotted the Movement Congress participated in Individual Satyagrahas conference and so the provincial legislative 1940 no decision could assemblies in 1937 and be taken won with a thumping victory Dandi March 12 Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931): 3rd Round Table Civil The Government of India Act World War 2 started (1939) March 1930: Conference Disobedienc of 1935 with the following goals: Many Congress leaders offered Gandhiji • The Congress agreed to (1932) held in e Movement to support the British in war for marched from withdraw the Civil London failed suspended • Establishing a federation in independence after the war. Sabarmati Disobedience Movement and because by the India. When it became clear that Ashram to the attend the 2nd Round Table Congress didn’t Congress British didn’t agree to this, coastal town of Conference. take part. (1933) • Achieving provincial autonomy Congress ministers resigned in Dandi, joined by • Approving a bi-cameral protest and a political agitation people of all • The British government was launched all over the classes and promised to release all Indian Legislature at the centre and in country. communities. prisoners arrested for some provinces. participating in Civil • Proposing the setting up of a Subhash Chandra Bose formed Disobedience Movement and Federal Court to settle disputes All India Forward Bloc . remove Salt Tax. between central and provincial governments Salt Satyagraha-Dandi March Indivdidual Satyagraha • In those days, salt manufacturing was the monopoly of the British government. People had to pay a tax The Individual Satyagraha announced by Gandhiji was whenever they purchased salt. not to seek independence but to affirm the right of speech. • After covering a distance of 385 km over a period of 25 days, they made it to Dandi. On the morning of April 6, Gandhiji and his followers picked up handfuls of salt along the shore, thus technically Calling for another nation-wide movement could have “producing” salt and breaking the law. Gandhiji called out to other Indians to break salt laws. led to violence. non-violence was set as the centerpiece of Individual Satyagraha. This was done by carefully • Thousands of women took part in picketing shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. selecting the Satyagrahis. • Sarojini Naidu led a march of the satyagrahis to government owned salt depots. • Important women organisations – Desh Sevika Sangh and Nari Satyagraha Samiti. The first Satyagrahi selected was Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who was sent to Jail when he spoke against the • In the north-west, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi, led the movement. His war. organization called Khudai Khidmatgar played an important role. • Manipuri people played a significant role. • Rani Gaidinliu joined the freedom struggle at the age of 13 – she was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment at 16 years of age. She was given the title ‘Rani’ by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Subhash Chandra The Cabinet Mission (1946): In Feb (1947), July (1947) Britain’s Parliament Clement Attlee, passed Indian Independence Act. Bose (1941): • The British Prime Minister Constituent the British Prime It ordered that the dominions of Clement Attlee sent a 3 Assembly Minister India and Pakistan be demarcated escapes house arrest member Cabinet Mission to began its work announced that by midnight of August 14–15, India to hold talks with the of drafting a power would be 1947 and that the assets of the and reached Tokyo Indian leaders and settle terms Constitution transferred to for transfer of power. for India Indians by June world’s largest empire-be (Japan). He formed (1946) 1948 divided within a single month. the Indian National Army in 1942 Quit India Muslim League observed September 1946 An March 1947 Lord June 1947 Lord Mountbatten announced the plan 16 August 1946 as Direct for the partition of India with two independent Movement 1942: On Action Day. interim government Louis dominions – Pakistan and India. 8th August, the All The Cabinet Mission headed by Nehru was Mountbatten The two states, India and Pakistan could make its rejected demand for own constitution. India Congress Pakistan. Led by MA formed by Congress. became the Jinnah, they came up with The princely states were given a choice to join Committee met in Two Nation Theory and Although Muslim League Viceroy and held either Pakistan or India or to remain independent. demanded a state of joined the interim Bombay and passed Pakistan. government, they couldn’t discussions with A Boundary Commission was appointed to co-exist. They boycotted determine the boundaries between what was to be the historic Quit India the Constituent Assembly Indian leaders and Pakistan and the rest of India. and intensified demand for Movement. partition. concluded that Announcement of partition alone could solve the Indian problem. partition led to communal riots, Through the efforts of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, about 562 princely states joined India. Before the Partition of India in 1947, killing, burning of about 584 princely states, also called “native states”, existed in India, which were not fully and formally part of British India, houses, etc. Many had to flee their Upon Independence, they were given the choice of either joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. Through tact homes and and diplomacy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel managed to integrate many princely states within the Union of India. homeland and became refugees. • Federation: a union of states in which the member states retain control over Gandhi, who accepted no office, chose to walk barefoot through the riot-torn areas of Bengal and Bihar, where internal matters but surrender their control over matters that concern the entire he tried through his presence and influence to stop the federation such as railways and defence. communal killing. He then returned to Delhi, and there he preached nonviolence daily until he was assassinated • Bi-cameral: relating to legislative body comprising of two houses., E.g. Lok by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. Sabha and Rajya Sabha • Interim government: a temporary government formed to take over the office till a properly elected government assumes the office.

• Subhash Chandra Bose joined the Indian National Congress in 1921 but • Revolutionary Nationalism before 1920 (Gandhiji’s arrival) quit over ideological differences with Gandhiji and formed his own party All India Forward Bloc in 1939. • Many people associated were not happy with the slow pace of change and advocated the use of violence to overthrow the Birtish. • When the Second World War broke out, the British kept him under house arrest considering him a dangerous revolutionary. • They engaged in assassinations of British officials and looting of money and arms. • In 1941, Bose escaped from India and reached Tokyo (Japan). Here, he became the leader of Indian National Army and gave the slogan , ‘Chalo • Many established secret societies. The most famous among them were Delhi’ and the salutation Jai Hind, which became the source of inspiration Abhinav Bharat Society in Maharashtra and Anushilan Samiti in Bengal. to the Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA). • Prominent revolutionary leaders before 1920: VD Savakar, Ajit Singh, • The INA joined the Japanese forces and Madam Bhikaiji Cama and Lala Hardayal. advanced towards India via Burma. They planted the Indian Flag at Morang in Manipur. • The defeat of Japan in the Second World War in 1945 forced the INA to abandon its plans. • Revolutionary Nationalism after 1920 (Gandhiji’s arrival) • Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaquallah Khan, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, BK Dutt, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Surya Sen, Pritilata Wadeddar and Kalpana Dutt. • Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Ashfaquallah Khan and Rajendra Lahiri were arrested and tried for the Kakori Conspiracy Case and sentenced to death. • Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were tried in the Lahore Conspiracy case and hanged. They had also thrown a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly. • Chandra Shekhar Azad was killed in an encounter in Allahabad. • The most daring activity was the attach on the armoury at Chittagong by Surya Sen and his associates Pritilata Wadeddar and Kalpana Dutt in April 1930. Surya Sen was arrested and hanged in 1933.