chapter 14 section 3

Mohandas Gandhi

He was born in 1869 in Gujarat, in western India. He studied in London and became a lawyer. In 1893 he went to South Africa to work in a law firm serving Indian workers there. He learned of the racial exploitation of Indians living in South Africa. On his return to India, he became active in the independence movement. He began a movement based on nonviolent resistance. Its aim was to force the British to improve the lot of the poor and to grant independence to India.

Queen Victoria

In 1876, she took the title Empress of India. The people of India were now her colonial subjects, and India became her "Jewel in the Crown." Even though her rebellion failed, it helped to fuel Indian nationalism. The rebellion marked the first significant attempt by the people of South Asia to throw off British rule. Then, a new generation of Indian leaders would take up the cause.

Indian National Congress

In 1885, a small group of Indians met in Bombay to form this group. This did not demand immediate independence. Instead, it called for a share in the governing process. It had difficulties because of religious differences. It sought independence for all Indians, regardless of class or religious background. Many of its leaders were Hindu and reflected Hindu concerns.

Bombay

Many people were from this urban area. The first Indian nationalists were upper-class and English-educated.

viceroy

a governor who ruled as a representative of a monarch. This was also known as a British official.

Kanpur

a place where Indians massacred 200 defenseless women and children in a building known as the House of the Ladies. Recapturing Kanpur, the British took their revenge before executing the Indians.

Sepoys

another term for Indian soldiers. It was to protect the company's interests in the region.

Estate

country home. Tagore liked to invite the great thinkers of the time to his expansive country home, or estate. There he set up a school that became an international university.

Civil

involving the general public or civic affairs. A British civil service staff assisted the viceroy. This staff of about 3,500 officials ruled almost 300 million people, the largest colonial population in the world.

Rabindranath Tagore

the most famous Indian author; winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He had many talents- he was a social reformer, spiritual leader, educator, philosopher, singer, painter, and international spokesperson for the moral concerns of his age. He set to music the Bengali poem Bande Mataram, which became Indian nationalism's firth anthem.