India Timeline 1900-1947

Aftermath of partition

"Communal genocide" fear, anger an drevenge was communal (not against the Brits who had begun the withdrawal of troops).British troops would not intervene to stop any violence after independence, broken up Indian and Pakistani armies were in no position to either. Armed militias rose to protect/inimidate, 38 Sikhs knifed to death 14 August, Muslim mob burnt down gurdwara killing hundreds of Sikhs, Muslim women in Punjab dragged into the street then raped and hacked to death, militia in Punjab shot 84 Muslims. Trains pulled into destinations of new homelands with no living passengers, criminal gangs preyed on migrants, death squads cleared neighbourhoods, mass rape used and girls sold for food in refugee camps.

Mutinies Feb 1946

20,000 sailors in the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi mutinied. 3 INA soldiers were symbolically court martialled => united the 3 religions. INC told them to stop => angered nationalists.

WWI 1914-1918

27 states sent troops, 827,000 Indians enlisted, 64,449 soldiers died. The failed Mesopotamia campaign "Mess-pot" exposed British weakness. Turkey was on Germany's side = Indian Muslims reluctant to fight fellow Muslims. Increased taxation, higher prices, fuel shortages and monsoon failure led to famine.

Rowlatt Act 1919

After GoIA 1919 and it was to combat revolutionary conspiracies. It completely undid all the progress made by GoIA. Allowed emergency powers like imprisonment without trial and censorship. After post-WW1 loyalty, it was a slap in the face.

Menon Plan

After Nehru's rejection of Plan Balkan, VP Menon quickly drew up a new plan in a matter of hours. Agreed on 2 states (India and Pakistan) with dominion status in the commonwealth. No further deliberation by constituent assembled (states would use structure of 1935 Act) and provincial assemblies would choose which state to join. Sikhs had no choice but to agree, Jinnah had won Pakistan but with the partition of Bengal and Punjab "moth eaten state" was almost guaranteed, Gandhi did not break his vow of silence.

Lucknow Pact 1916

Agreement between INC and ML re proportion of seats Muslims would have in an Indian Parliament. No Muslim could contest a seat out of the quota and no legislation could be passed if 75% of the community against it.

Sir Cyril Radcliffe draws the border

Arrived 36 days before partition and had never been to India before. He received outdated census figures, faced pressure from both Hindus and Muslims (about Bengal and the Punjab), Mountbatten used his influence for INC benefit, Sikh holy city in Pakistan, alarm about troops arriving led to massacres, confusion + controversy about borders which were not announced until after partition.

Viceroy Curzon split Bengal 1905

Attempt to divide and rule a large and traditionally quite disruptive / dissenting population. Rioting, terrorism and swadesh ensued. Curzon resigned within days due to an unrelated dispute with Lord Kitchener.

Chelmsford Montagu Report 1917

August 1917 Montagu (Secretary of State for India) = gradual development of self-governing institutions. Led to Government of India Act 1919 which proposed "dyarchy" a system of a power divide between Indians and the British.

Government of India Act 1935

Brit politicians tried to make an Indian Constitution. India Defence League formed in protest in Britain by people who thought the changes were too radical (e.g. Rudyard Kipling and Winston Churchill. India divided into 11 states (w/ each legislative assembly and provincial gov) which controlled everything except defence and foreign affairs (viceroy). Governor w/ emergency powers, no dyarchy, same separate electorates. INC wanted swaraj, strong central gov and no more reserved seats for minorities and ML wanted more muslim power and guarantee of rights => it was rejected.

April Conference

Conference of 11 governors concerned about violence / civil war recommended a plan asap but Jinnah made things difficult with his Pakistan in the East and West.

15 August 1947

Day Mountbatten set for partition, 2nd anniversary of when Japanese surrendered in WWII (date of freedom would be marred by memories of the catastrophic violence). Set for stroke of midnight.

Non co-operation 1920

Death of Tilak and Gokhale led to Gandhi rising to power in the INC. In response to Rowlatt and Amritsar, Gandhi led the 1st great sataygraha. This included boycotting elections, handing titles back to the Raj, removing kids from gov. funded schools, withholding taxes and swadesh. Many students boycotted exams, taxes were not pages, up to 90% of voters boycotted elections in some areas and 200 lawyers stopped work. Bombay hartal turned violent with 53 killed and 100s injured. Chauri Chuara 1922 stopped non co-op when INC supporters torched police station and 22 were killed. Gandhi stopped it (later arrested)

Elections 1937

Despite rejecting GoIA, INC took part in elections and swept the board, winning all 716 seats. ML failed (disorganised) 15% of seats. INC defined as government in waiting.

Nehru Report 1927

Drafted by Sapru and Motilal Nehru, recommended dominion status, no separate electorate system for minorities (only central power) and the INC backed it.

1920s Rentrenchment

Following civil disobedience collapse INC regrouped and consolidated. Membership grew from 100,000 to 2 mill by 1921. Many muslims left after non co-op but INC reached out to bigger groups and areas. Restructured (CWC and AICC). The young hooligans also rose to significance: Sunhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru who lobbied for more action and wanted only swaraj.

Amritsar Massacre 1919

Following these emergency powers, there was a prohibited meeting of a large group of people in the Jallianwala Bagh (but they didn't know about the restrictions) but also mostly a group of civilians. General Dyer marched in with 75 troops and opened fire into the densest part of the crowd for 10 minutes. 379 killed and 1000 injured.

2nd Round Table Conference 1931

Gandhi sole representative of INC, Jinnah for ML, Dr Ambedkar for Untouchables and Master Singh for Sikhs. All demanded separate electorates and protections. Gandhi ill-prepared citing only "Goad as my guide". Arguments over balance of power / electorates / power of princes => no workable constitution.

Salt March 1930

Gandhi's second great satyagraha. He chose salt as a symbol of British oppression (they taxed a basic necessity and controlled its production). March he walked from his ashram to the Gujarat coast and took a handful of salt and urged Indians everywhere to do the same. Mass arrests (Nehru and Gandhi included) and gave him international reputation. Salt seized, swadesh, taxes not paid, non co-op with authorities, Bombay and Gujarat most turbulent, over 300,000 imprisioned, by end of 1930 it ran out of steam.

Indian elections 1946

INC won 90% of seats = resounding victory + clearly HIndu choice of representation. Yet ML won 75% of all Muslim vote and 90% of the seats reserved for muslims in the provinces and all 30 muslim seats in the assembly. Muslims resoundingly chose ML as their voice. The elections occurred in an atmosphere of violence.

Crawling Order

In a spot where a British woman, Miss Sherwood, was assaulted, Indians had to crawl past = humiliation for Indians.

Quit India 1942

In response to Cripps. August INC sanctioned Gandhi's 3rd satyagraha. Horrific riots, killings, attacks on Europeans, damage and destruction of government property. Police stations, railways and telephone lines destroyed = very serious inn wartime (fear of Japanese attack). United provinces crowd of 4000 attacked a police station and 50 of them were killed. In the united provinces and Bihar the RAF was used against crowds attacking railroads (2 crewmen murdered after a crash). CWC imprisoned. Emergency powers instated = curfews, public whippings and mass arrests. Suppressed by the end of 1942 but 57 battalions were needed to do it. Brits angry = treachery during the war. 3000 died.

Cripps Mission 1942

In response to Roosevelt's pressure, CHurchill sent overSir Stafford Cripps to discuss concessions. Cripps was friends with INC leaders. He offered dominion status after the war = not nearly enough. Also Indians would elect assembly to draft constitution + any province could disassociate itself from an Indian union. Gandhi called it a "post dated cheque from a failing bank" and told him to "take the next plane home". INC and ML rejected offer.

INA

Indian National Army was formed by Subhas Chadra Bose as a way to fight for independence by fighting against the British in WWII. The INA had somewhere between 15,000 - 50,000 soldiers but they were pitifully supplied and were decimated. Not a military threat to the Raj but a betrayal and could cause havoc within the Raj.

1885 INC

Indian National Congress established

1883 Rippon Reforms

Introduced local self government, existing municipal councils given powers to raise money.

Lahore Decleration 1940

Jan 1940 Jinnah wrote an article referring to Muslims and Hindus as two nations. March 1940 60,000 muslims heard Jinnah speak at Minto Rock in Lahore where he alluded to Pakistan for the 1st time. Deliberately vague and did not fully clarify his intentions until 6 years later. This brought unity to the Muslims. Jinnah argued that "hostage theory" would protect Hindu and Muslim minorities in the other sovereign nation => the fear of majority retaliation in the neighbouring country would protect minorities.

Direct Action Day 1946

Jinnah was betrayed by Nehru and INC and by the Cabinet Mission (who had left). He called for "Direct Action Day" 16 August, he "bid goodbye to constitutional methods". In Calcutta more than 5000 were dead, 20,000 seriously injured and 100,000 made homeless. Muslims and Hindus murdered one another across India. Gandhi remarker "if India wanted a bloodbath she could have it" and Jinnah commented that "Pakistan was worth the sacrifice of 10 million Muslims".

Home Rule League 1916

Led by Tilak and Annie Besant. Sought reform but not overthrowing Raj. By 1918 60,000 Indians supported it.

WWII 1939-45

Linlithgow announced without consultation. INC reacted with mass resignations and declarations of outrage. Muslim League declared support for the British in hope of winning political failure. America opposed UK's empire, Churchill forced into making concessions in exchange of USA's military help => Atlantic Charter 1941. 2 million Indians joined the army. British occupied with the war = demands for purna swaraj ignored + Britain once again directly governed the provinces for the 1st time since 1919.

The Cabinet Mission 1946

Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps, AV Alexander went to India to try to maintain an united India and to ensure a speedy transfer of power. 2nd Simla Conference worked through the Mission's proposals: All India Union responsible for federal affairs (defence, foreign affairs etc) and then 3 clusters of provincial governments (Hindu, Muslim and balance) with each group electing its own government. Did not give much consideration to the Sikhs or princely states. All groups found it acceptable. HOWEVER Nehru ruined everything by giving a press conference in which he declared in an INC majority they would disregard all they agreed and do what they wanted. Jinnah = horrified.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931

Meeting brokered by Indian businessmen worried about the economy, came together as equals, INC civil disobedience suspended, 19,000 supporters released from jail, emergency restrictions relaxed and Gandhi agreed to Round Table Conference.

Interim Government 1946

Nehru became PM of interim government and Wavell was replaced by Lord Mountbatten March 1947.

3rd Round Table Conference 1932

Not attended by Labour / INC = unimportant. The new Viceroy Willingdon took a tough line, Gandhi was arrested, INC outlawed, within 4 moths 80,000 in prison and protests.

Communal Award 1932

PM Ramsay MacDonald announced August 1932. Designated the minority groups separate electorates => Gandhi furious (hated the idea and the concept of Untouchables being designated as a different class). Declared fast-unto-death in protest, only stopped by Dr Ambedkar meeting in Yervada jail and agreed to allocated seats.

Plan Balkan 3rd May

Proposed all decisions on a provincial level, 11 provinces could be autonomous and so could princely states. Attempt to secure local government but some said it was Mountbatten seemed to be distancing himself from process early. Nehru got an early look at the plan on a holiday at Simla = hated it. "picture of fragmentation, conflict and disorder".

1861 India Councils Act

Provincial legislative councils set up

Morley Minto 1908

Reforms putting Indians on the viceroy council, introducing separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims and the councils were enlarged.

Simon Commission 1927

Review of Montagu-Chelmsford reforms due in 1929 but Conservative gov brought it forward, afraid of a Labour general election victory. When parliamentary delegation was sent to India, there were many demonstrations, parts of ML and INC boycotted and report changed nothing.

Irwin Decleration 1929

Sympathetic response to nationalists (Irwin and Labour) claimed dominion status was a natural progression. Invited INC to Round Table Conference but INC boycotted (wanted full swaraj).

India Mutiny 1857

The annexing of princely states, introduction of railways (feared to lead to religious impurity) and removing an allowance for sepoys all triggered uprising. % of Indians to British reduced to 3:1 in army. Sepoys were recruited from different areas. Mutiny complex created social barrier.

Simla Conference 1945

Wavell met with major players of nationalism and many INC members had to be released from prison to attend. Fierce disagreements between INC and ML about future muslim electorate = nothing decided. July 1945 Labour won the election.

Muslim League 1906

muslim nationalist group set up following Simla Deputation where rulers sympathetic to Muslims drafted plans for separate electorates.