Chapter 6 Indian Struggle against Colonialism | indian struggle against colonialism questions and answers
1A. Choose the correct alternative and rewrite the statement.
Question - 1. The region of __________ had become a stronghold of Hansaji Naik.
[a] Satara
[b] Nanded
[c] Pune
[d] Nagpur
Solutions :
[b] Nanded
Question - 2. The British plant owners in Bihar were pressing the local farmers to grow only __________
[a] indigo
[b] tea
[c] coffee
[d] sugarcane
Solutions :
[a] indigo
Question - 3. The first session of the Indian National Congress was presided by __________
[a] Dwarkanath Tagore
[b] Vyomeshchandra Banerjee
[c] Dadabhai Nauroji
[d] Surendranath Banerjee
Solutions :
[b] Vyomeshchandra Banerjee
1B. Find the incorrect pair from group ‘B’ and write the corrected one.
Question - 1.
| Group ‘A’ | Group ‘B’ |
| 1.Kunwar Sinh | Lucknow |
| 2. Nanasaheb Peshwa | Kanpur |
| 3. Queen Lakshmibai | Jhansi |
| 4. Chimasaheb | Kolhapur |
2. Write the names of historical places/persons/events.
Question - 1. The region of the regime of the parallel government established in 1942 –
Solutions :
Satara District
Question - 2. The islands were conquered by Azad Hind Sena from the British in 1943 –
Solutions :
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
3. Write short notes.
Question - 1. The Extremists.
Solutions :
- The Indian National Congress split into two groups-The Moderates and The Extremists at the Surat session of the Congress in 1907.
- The ‘Extremists’ wing of thinkers insisted that independence should be a natural priority. An independent nation could provide the right set-up for social reformation.
- Lokmanya Tilak who was the leader of the Extremists said that the home taken over by others should be recovered first, then only we can reform it.
- He also felt that the British Government will not yield to applications, requests, and speeches.
- The Extremists did not agree with the Moderators’ policy of avoiding the resolutions of ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ and wanted to stop these attempts of the Moderators.
- The three leaders of the Extremists group were Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal. [Lal-Bal-Pal].
Question - 2. Azad Hind Sena.
Solutions :
The Azad Hind Sena was built by Rasbihari Bose by recruiting Indian soldiers and later on was reorganized under the leadership of Subhash Chandra Bose.
These were the Indian soldiers of the British army who were taken captive by the Japanese army.
Question - 3. Prati Sarkar.
Solutions :
Prati Sarkar or Parallel Government was established by Krantisinha Nana Patil, a revolutionist in the Satara district of Maharashtra.
He, with the help of his associates, put an end to the British regime in the Satara district and established ‘People’s Government’.
This government took over the administrative task of collecting revenue, maintaining law and order, solving court cases, and punishing criminals.
4. Answer the following Question -s in detail.
Question - 1. Lieutenant Outram was successful in crushing the revolt by the Bhils by the end of 1822.
Solutions :
A revolt of the Bhils in which thousands of Bhils participated was crushed by Lt. Outram.
However, he also stayed among the Bhils and won their confidence. He tried to bring them into the mainstream of urban life.
He adopted measures like the declaration of amnesty, land grants, agricultural loans and reprieve from the past crimes, and recruitment in the army to weaken the opposition from the Bhils.
Question - 2. Ravindranath gave up his title [Sir.]
Solutions :
- On 13th April 1919, the day of Baisakhi thousands of people had gathered for a meeting at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar for celebrating the festival.
- Many of them were not aware of the ban put by the government on public gatherings.
- Genera Dyer opened fire on these people without any prior warning.
- About four hundred innocent people were killed and thousands were injured in this incident. It is known as the ‘Jallianwala Bagh Massacre’.
- It created a wave of rage all through India.
- Rabindranath Tagore criticized this act and gave up his title [Sir].
5. State your opinion.
Question - 1. The rise of colonialism was the result of the spreading of European trade.
Solutions :
- The Europeans reached all over the world for several reasons such as the urge for adventures, to earn a name to discover unknown lands, to search for gold mines, etc.
- Later, trade and commerce increased to such a great extent for which there was economic, social, and political supremacy among them.
- The Europeans found potential markets in continents like Asia, America, and Africa where they established their colonies. And the first to do so were the Portuguese.
Question - 2. According to Swatantryaveer Savarkar, the Independence War of 1857 was the First War of Independence.
Solutions :
The revolt of 1857 was a unified and national uprising against the British authority.
The Indian war of Independence as described in his book ‘1857-The First War of Independence was considered to be the first war where the entire nation irrespective of caste, creed, race, and religion had come together and staged an armed protest against the British to gain independence from their colonial rule.
Try this. [Textbook Page No. 43]
Collect more information about ‘Kayamdhara’, ‘Ryotwari’, ‘Mahalwari’ land revenue systems and discuss it in the class. Also, discuss the present land system of ‘Anewari’.
Solutions :
[A] Kayamdhara or Jamindari:
- This system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793.
- It was introduced in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Varanasi.
- Zamindars were recognized as the owners of the lands.
- Zamindars were given the right to collect rent from the peasants.
[B] Ryotwari:
- The Ryotwari system was a land revenue system in British India introduced by Thomas Munro in 1820 based on a system administered by Captain Alexander Read in the Baramahal district.
- This was practiced in Madras and Bombay areas as well as Assam and Coorg provinces.
- In this system, the peasants or cultivators were regarded as the owners of the land.
- Ryot means peasant cultivator.
[C] Mahalwari system:
- The government of Lord William Bentinck Governor-General of India [1828-1835] introduced the Mahalwari system of land revenue in 1833.
- This system was introduced in N W Frontier, Agra, Gangetic Valley, Central Provinces, Punjab, etc.
- Had elements of both the Zamindari and the Ryotwari systems.
- This system divided the lands into Mahals. Sometimes the Mahals constituted one or more villages.
- The tax was assessed on the Mahal.
- Each individual farmer gave his share.
- Revenue was collected by the village headman or village leaders [Lambardar].
[D] Anewari System:
- Paisewari [originally known as Anewari] is a system of survey used by the government to decide whether a village is drought-hit or not
- Prior to the harvest, the Tehsildar along with farmers and representatives of the agricultural department takes stock of the crop and compares it with the yield of the last ten years
- If the value is less than 50 paise, the village is declared drought-hit, and drought mitigating measures are put in place.
Try to do this: [Textbook Page No. 46]
Vishnubhat Godse from Vasai was in Jhansi in 1857. Get the book, ‘Maza Pravas’ authored by him as the eyewitness of the happenings and read it.
Solutions :
- ‘Maza Pravas’ translates into English as “My Travels: The story of 1857 Mutiny” is a Marathi travelogue written by Vishnubhat Godse, who traveled on foot from Varsai, a village near Pen [present-day Maharashtra] to the Central and Northern parts of India during 1857-1858 and witnessed several incidents of what he calls “The Mutiny of 1857” also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
- During his travel, he witnessed the events at Mhow, worked for the Rani of Jhansi for a few months, visited Ayodhya, eventually returning penniless to his village.
- Apart from his encounters with the mutiny he also visited most of the Hindu holy places.
Try to do this: [Textbook Page No. 55]
Collect information and pictures about revolutionaries and freedom fighters from your area and make a presentation.
Solutions :
Students should do this activity by themselves
Projects [Textbook Page No. 56]
[a] The Rising Ballad of Mangal Panday
[b] The Legend of Bhagat Singh
[c] Khele Hum Jee Janse
These are some Hindi films. Watch them and verify the historical truth of the incidences shown in it.
Solutions :
Students do by themselves
Chapter 6 Indian Struggle against Colonialism | indian struggle against colonialism questions and answers
In this lesson we will study the Indian
struggles against colonialism.
6.1 Struggles before 1857
In 1818, the British East India Company
took complete charge of Khandesh. The Bhils
in the region of Satpuda, Satmala and Ajintha
united against the British. Trimbakji Dengale,
an advisor of Bajirao Peshwa II, was
imprisoned by the British. He somehow
managed to escape from the prison. Under
the leadership of Godaji and Mahipa, nephews
of Trimbakaji Dengale, the Bhils revolted
against the British. There were 8000 of them
who participated in the revolt.
Captain Briggs blocked all the supplies
coming to the Bhils. At the same time Mount
Stuart Elphinston, a British officer adopted a
policy of pacifying the Bhils. They were
recruited to protect the travellers.
He offered
them jobs and pensions. However, the policy
of cornering the Bhils was also continued.
Major Morin left no alternative for the Bhils
but to surrender. Around 1822, the revolt
under the leadership of Hariya Bhil was
crushed by Captain Robinson. Another revolt
of the Bhils, in which thousands of Bhils
participated, was crushed by Lieutenant
Outram. However, he also stayed among the
Bhils and won their confidence. He tried to
bring them in the mainstream of urban life He adopted measures like declaration of
amnesty, land grants, agricultural loans
(tagai), reprieve from the past crimes and
recruitment in army to weaken the opposition
from Bhils.
Revolt of the Paiks : Since mediaeval
period there was a system of employing
soldiers known as Paiks (soldiers on call,
who own their weapons), who served the
kings of petty states in Odisha.
They were given free farm lands for
cultivation by these kings. When not on
war, they lived by cultivating these lands.
In the times of war they were called to
fight for their king.
In 1803, the British took over Odisha
from the Bhosale of Nagpur. The British
seized the lands cultivated by the Paiks
for generations. It enraged the Paiks. Also
the salt tax had made salt an unaffordable
commodity making daily life of people
miserable. This situation resulted in an
armed revolt by Paiks. Bakshi Jagbandhu
Bidyadhar was the leader of this revolt.
Hansaji Naik ruled the region of Nanded.
He refused to merge his territory in Nizam’s
dominion. On the contrary, he conquered
some forts of the Nizam. A war was
inevitable. Major Pitman, Captain Evans,
Captain Taylor with a regiment of 400
soldiers joined Nizam for his protection. The
war continued for 25 days. In the end Hansaji
was defeated.
In Satara District the Ramoshi community
revolted under the leadership of Chitursingh.
Santaji Naik and Umaji Naik were among
the captains heading the Ramoshi groups.
They seized the consignment of some
moneylenders that was in the transit from Pune to Mumbai. In 1824,
Umaji Naik seized the
government treasury at
Bhamburde (presently
Shivajinagar, Pune). Both
together, with their activities,
made the British desperate.
To put an end to their
activities the British
Government declared an
award of Rs. 5000 each, for
catching Umaji Naik and his
mates Bhujba, Pandya and Yesaji. Meanwhile
Umaji Naik regularly held meetings with his
people and planned further actions.
To stop Umaji Naik had issued a charter
against the British. The Charter said,
“Wherever in our country, Europeans, if
spotted, should be caught and killed
without a concern to their official
position. Whosoever, successfully does it
will be rewarded by the new government
in way of money, lands and Jahagirs.
This is an opportunity for those who
wish to reclaim their lost lands, rights
and properties under the British rule.
They may avail of this opportunity. The
British military has recruited Hindi
soldiers - mounted and foot soldiers.
They
should leave their jobs in the British
military. They should not obey their
superior’s orders. If they do not follow
this instruction then the new government
will punish them. Put the bungalows of
the Europeans on fire. Loot the
Government treasury. Whosoever, does it
will be allowed to retain the money with
himself. Don’t deposit the collected
revenue in the government treasury. It is
obligatory to comply with our orders for
every person, may he be a Hindu or a
Muslim. It’s the time now for the
prediction of a doom for the British rule,
to come true.”
it, the British Government ordered the
peasants not to offer the rebels any
food, clothing, shelter and money. In
addition people were also threatened
with confiscation of their lands. They
also ordered people to inform the
government about Umaji’s whereabouts,
if they come to know of it. Captain
Davis with the help of five companies
of cavalry began chasing Umaji.
However, he did not succeed in his
task. The rebels were continuously at
war with the British, often changing locations
from Satara, Wai, Bhor to Kolhapur.
Captain
Mackintosh took over the task of capturing
Umaji. Umaji ordered his mates to kill the
British officers. However, the British caught
Umaji near Bhor. Umaji was presented in the
court and was sentenced to death. He was
hanged at Pune.
In 1828, Phondsavant Tandulwadikar,
the in-charge (‘Killedar’) of Mahadevgadh
rebelled against the British. However the
British promptly crushed it.
Angered by the British policies, the
members of Sawantwadi aristocracy got
together and revolted against the British.
However, Spooner*, the British political agent
was successful in crushing it. Even after their
defeat a few of the Sawantwadi aristocracy
reattempted a revolt. By then the British had
imposed military law in the area. Captain
Outram finally managed to end the revolt
permanently.
In Kolhapur state, there used to be
keepers of forts, called ‘Gadkari’. A Gadkari
was a salaried officer in the Maratha regime.
However, the British Government took away
the authority of the Gadkaris and stopped
paying them salary. The first resistance to
this decision was raised at Samangadh near
Kolhapur. Captain Outram arrived with his
platoons to bring the Gadkaris under control.
However, in the first run the rebels were
successful in taking charge of Panhala,
Pavangadh and Vishalgadh. Later, more
equipped platoons arrived from Madras
(Chennai) and the Gadkaris were forced to
surrender
6.2 Freedom Struggle of 1857
The freedom struggle of 1857 was the
result of mounting pressures because of
increasing discontent of Indian soldiers in the
British army and also political, social,
religious and economic reasons. The treatment
given to Indian soldiers and the restrictions
imposed on them were at the root of their
discontent. The soldiers felt hurt because of
many reasons, such as cuts in their allowances,
being compelled to cross the sea, frequent
humiliation during daily parade, partiality
ruling large in matters of transfers, being left
out during promotions, etc.
On the civil front, Lord Dalhousie
adopted the Doctrine of Lapse*
.
It created
discontent among the rulers of princely states
who were subjected to his policy. By
implementing this policy Dalhousie annexed
the states of Satara, Jaitpur, Sambalpur,
Udaipur, Nagpur and Jhansi to the British
empire.
*Policy of not permitting an adopted son (Dattak) to succeed
a deceased ruler of a princely state unless there was a preapproval to such succession by the British Government.
Annexation of the princely states put the
soldiers in their army out of job. They
returned to agriculture increasing the pressure
on the cultivable land. Gradually, people also
began to believe that through administrative
policies the company government was trying
to destroy their religion. Along with annexing
the states the British Government also seized
inherited land holdings, which had made a
large number of Indians unhappy.
The British Government tried to introduce
new land revenue systems like ‘Kayamdhara
or Jamindari’ (permanent settlement),
‘Ryotwari’ and ‘Mahalwari’. These revenue
systems were formed without any concern to
Indian tradition of revenue systems, Indian
cropping cycle and Indian climate. The new
revenue systems introduced by the British
made the common farmer penniless while
making the government and the landlords
rich. Earlier, the land tax could be paid by
way of food grains and other commodities.
Now the farmer had to pay it in hard cash.
Despite of good or bad harvest, there was
no option but to pay the tax. More so if
there was a famine, the farmer was driven
to a dire condition. Droughts, epidemics used
to affect people and animals the most.
However, the British outlook used to be
absolutely unsympathetic. Thus, the farmer
was caught between the governments and
moneylenders.
Earlier, selling of agricultural
land was not allowed. Now the British
Government defined agricultural land as
sellable. The farmers who were in difficult
situation had no alternative but to sell
portions of their land, for getting some hard
cash. Lands thus acquired, were brought
under cultivation of cash crops like indigo by
the British owners. The labourers employed
on their plants were exploited to the utmost.
Their conditions were miserable.
Unemployment, despair, disbelief loomed
large all over India, which had made the life
of common people very difficult.
Not only the monetary exploitation but
also forced religious conversions, British
policies with regard to Indian customs and
traditions contributed to the increasing
discontent among Indian people.
In the year 1856, Indian soldiers in the
British army were given long range Enfield
rifles and new cartridges for loading in these
rifles. A rumour spread in army camps that
these new cartridges are smeared with cow
and pig fat. In order to load the gun with a
cartridge, one had to break it open with
teeth. The idea of breaking a cartridge
smeared with cow or pig fat, with one’s teeth
was repugnant to Indian soldiers for religious
reasons. The Indian soldiers who refused it
were forced to do so by the British. Finally,
in the month of March of 1857, Mangal
Pandey, who was posted in Barakpur
Cantonment, gave a vent to the rage of
Indian soldiers. The British punished him by
hanging to death. This escalated the fury
among Indian soldiers. Soon after this
incidence the Indian soldiers in Lucknow
Cantonment revolted, followed by the revolt
of cavalry units in Merath. In the chaotic
situation created by the sudden revolt, Indian
soldiers broke into rampage killing British
individuals and taking revenge on their
families, at times turning it into blind
massacre, putting houses on fire and so on.
Some soldiers began to march towards Delhi.
On 12th May 1857, Delhi was captured
and was completely under the control of
Indian soldiers. They handed over the reins
of the uprising to the
Mughal Emperor
Bahadur Shah. He
was reinstated as the
ruling emperor of
India, declaring him to
be ‘Shahanshah-iHindostan’. However,
he was the nominal
leader of the uprising.
Its de-facto leaders
were Nanasaheb Peshwa, Tatya Tope, Rani
Lakshmibai, Maulavi Ahmadulla, Begum
Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh and Senani
Bakht Khan. The uprising was more intense
in Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and some
parts of West Bihar. Bakht Khan took the
responsibility of assuring the safety of Delhi.
On 27th May 1857, the British army
attacked Delhi with an intention of recapturing
Delhi. They staked their entire strength on
this purpose. Brigadier John Nicolas was
killed in the battle. Ultimately, the British
could conquer Delhi because of Sir John
Lawrence, a British diplomat and the Sikh
platoon. British General Hudson was the one
who arrested Bahadur Shah. After arrest,
Bahadur Shah was sent to Rangoon (Burma /
Myanmar).
He died there in 1862.
Prior to the capture of Delhi, the feeling
of dissatisfaction had spread in many places
and the riot was quickly intensified in
Ayodhya, Lucknow and the Northwestern
province. Very soon it spread like a wild fire
in Aligarh, Itawa, Mathura, Bareli, Azamgadh,
Faizabad, Kanpur, Jhansi, and Ahmadabad.
The Indian soldiers at Jalandhar,
Ludhiyana, Multan, Sialkot in Punjab actively
responded to the uprising. Similar instances
took place in places like Gwalior, Indore,
Mhow and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. The
uprising reached Nasirabad Cantonment and
rest of Rajasthan.
The uprising also reached Dhaka,
Chittagong and Madariganj, presently in
Bangladesh and Bhagalpur in Bihar. In Bihar,
the soldiers at Dinapur, near Patna revolted
under the leadership of Kunwar Singh who
was a landlord from west Bihar. Kunwar
Singh also received a good response from
places like Hazaribagh (presently in
Jharkhand) and Deogarh, Sambalpur in
Odisha.
Nanasaheb Peshwa
led the uprising from
Kanpur. General
Havelock went to
Kanpur to suppress the
uprising. Nanasaheb
Peshwa and Tatya Tope
made an unsuccessful
attempt of keeping
their hold on Kanpur.
Sir Colin Campbell, the British Commanderin-Chief, defeated Tatya Tope and regained
the control over Kanpur.
In this war Tatya
Tope and Begum Hazrat
Mahal were initially on
the winning side. The
British army under the
leadership of Havelock
and Outram was not very
successful to begin with.
Then the King of Nepal
Jang Bahdur, arrived with
his Gurakha platoons to
help the British.
Maulavi Ahmadulla led the
army of Indian soldiers. Colin Campbell with
his military skills and experience conquered
Lucknow.
Governor General Lord Canning ordered
Colonel Neil to march to Banaras (Varanasi)
and Allahabad. The revolting soldiers had a
great backing in these cities. Colonel Neil
used canons to answer the rifles of Indian
soldiers. His tactics took a cruel turn when
he ruthlessly massacred and hanged many
people. Hearing the news from Varanasi, the
soldiers in Allahabad reacted by taking
revenge on the Europeans in the city. Many
Europeans were killed there. When Colonel
Neil came to know this, he straightaway
proceeded to Allahabad and indiscriminately
killed the Indians. The British atrocities
reached its climax.
Try to do this:
Vishnubhat Godse from Vasai was in
Jhansi in 1857. Get the book, ‘Maza
Pravas’ authored by him as the eyewitness
of the happenings and read it.
In Jhansi, the Indian soldiers rose against
the British. They got organised under the
leadership of Nanasaheb Peshwa, Tatya tope
and Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi. Field
Marshall Sir Hugh Rose put Jhansi under
siege. Tatya Tope came to the queen’s rescue
but he was defeated
by Hugh Rose. The
British also conquered
Kalpi. Lakshmibai, the
queen died in the
battlefield. Sardar
Mansingh of Gwalior
handed over Tatya
Tope to the British by
treachery. Tatya Tope
was hanged to death
in 1859. Nanasaheb Peshwa, wife of Bajirao
Peshwa II and nephew Raosaheb escaped to
Nepal and settled there permanently.
In Maharashtra, Rango Bapuji Gupte
attempted to organise a rebellion at Satara
but he was unsuccessful. His associates were
punished for it. Babasaheb Bhave, the ruler
of the Nargund state joined the uprising in
1858.
The British Government got a whiff of
the plan of revolt in Mumbai. Immediately
the people, who were involved in the plan
were blown to death by tying them to a
cannon. The Bhils in Khandesh also joined
in the revolt. Their leaders Bheema Naik and
Kajarsingh Naik seized a government treasury
worth seven lakhs. The Bhils and the British
confronted each other at Ambapani (Jalgaon
District).
At Kolhapur, Ramji Shirsat, who was
awaiting the news of the uprising in the
north, took charge of the government treasury
and began to organise the soldiers and others
under his leadership. In response to the
uprising, Chimasaheb, a member of the royal
house of Kolhapur, also joined and took
over the leadership of the rebels. The uprising
was supported well by the people in Kolhapur,
Belgaon and Dharwad.
The nationwide rage created by the war
of 1857 could not be quelled in short time.
It continued for more than a year.
The
number of soldiers, involved in the war at
Delhi, Merath, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gwalior
and some other places was considerably
large, around one lakh. They were adequately
armed. They possessed right state of mind,
also not lacking in valour and yet they were
defeated.
Queen Victoria of England acknowledged
the rage of Indian people, which gave rise
to the war of 1857. To establish peace, she
addressed the issue by publishing a charter,
known as the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’. She
declared that all Indians were her subjects
and she wanted to assure them of few things.
Her assurance included a promise of no
discrimination on the basis of race, creed
(faith system), caste and birth place,
employment on the basis of qualification and
skills, no interference in religious matters,
fulfillment of the agreements with the rulers
of princely states, etc.
The war of 1857 also had a deep impact
on the Indian society. Provincial and
communal loyalties were gradually replaced
by a feeling of being united as a nation and
national loyalty. It was dawned on Indian
people that they cannot win in an armed
combat with the British and a need was felt
to find more innovative methods to counter
the British rule.
Becoming aware of the power of united
Indian people during the 1857 war, the
British adopted a policy of ‘divide and rule’
6.3 Background of Founding the Indian
National Congress
The founding of Indian National Congress
that eventually followed the 1857
Independence war, was the key event in the
independence movement of India. It was the
first organisation in India that pulled people
from all quarters of India.
Dwarkanath Tagore established ‘Land
Holders Association’ in 1837 to safeguard the
interests of landlords. In 1839, William
Adams, a friend of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
established ‘British India Society’ in London
to acquaint the British citizens in England
with the conditions in British India.
Later,
George Thompson, a friend of Dwarkanath
Tagore established ‘Bengal British India
Society’. In 1851, ‘The Land Holder’s
Association’ and the ‘Bengal British India
Society’ merged together and ‘British Indian
Association’ was founded. By the initiative
of Harishchandra Mukherjee, this organisation
dispatched a document presenting grievances
of the Indian people to the British Parliament.
At about the same time, ‘Madras Native
Association’ also began to work on similar
lines. In 1866, Dadabhai Nowrojee in
collaboration with Vyomeshchandra Banerjee
established ‘East India Association’ in London
and began the work of creating awareness
about Indian conditions.
The ‘India League’
was active in this regard from 1875. Later,
Surendranath Banerjee established ‘Indian
Association’ and declared that this association
would work for uniting Indians of various
racial origin and caste, with the help of
common political interests and aspirations.
Indian Association called a conference of the
representatives of various Indian provinces,
in 1883 at Kolkata.
The ‘Madras Mahajan Sabha’ founded
in 1884 was an important nationalist
organisation. At about the same time English
education and urge for social reforms resulted
in the formation of ‘Bombay Presidency Association’ in January 1885 by Justice
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, Pherozeshah
Mehta and their associates.
6.4 Founding of the Indian National
Congress
On 28th December 1885, the first session
of Indian National Congress was held at
Mumbai, in ‘Gokuldas Tejapal Sanskrit
College’. It was attended by 72 delegates
from various parts of India. Vyomeshchandra
Banerjee presided over this session. Many
eminent people like Pherozeshah Mehta,
Dadabhai Nowrojee, Rahimtulla Sayani,
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, Gopal Krishna
Gokhale participated in the proceedings of
this session. Allan Octavian Hume, a British
officer in India took significant lead in the
founding of Indian National Congress. In this
first session nine resolutions were passed.
Through these resolutions, demands for
appointing a commission to enquire into the
British administration in India, to appoint
elected representatives of people on central
and provincial legislative assemblies, to
employ Indians in the administrative services,
to conduct civil service examinations in India,
to curtail military expenses, to sanction more
funds for higher education and to make
provisions for technological education were
put forth.
t forth.
6.5 ‘Moderates’ and ‘Extremists’
At about the same time, a debate
emerged, especially in Maharashtra, arguing
about the priority of political reforms over
priority of social reforms. The ‘Extremists’
wing of thinkers insisted that independence
should be the natural priority. An independent
nation could provide a right set-up for social
reformation. On the other hand, the Moderates
thought that without social reformation
independence was incomplete. They did not
mind appealing to the British Government to
help in the task of social reforms.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was at the helm
of those who insisted on the priority of social
reforms. He used to say that we need to first
reform ourselves. On the contrary, Lokmanya
Tilak, who was the leader of the Extremists,
used to say that the home taken over by
others should be recovered first, then only we
can reform it.
Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna
Gokhale were the leaders of the Moderates.
They felt that if they could convince the
government about their grievances, with
necessary proofs, the government will not
disappoint them. Lokmanya Tilak, on the
contrary, felt that British Government will not
yield to applications, requests and speeches.
The differences between Moderates and
Extremists reached its climax in the session
of Indian National Congress held at Surat in
1907. The Moderates wanted to avoid the
resolutions of ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’. The
Extremist wanted to stop
these attempts of the
Moderates. This
increased the tension
during the session.
Reconciliation became
impossible. Ultimately
the Indian National
Congress split into two
groups.
To control the programmes of Indian
National Congress, Lord Curzon planned the
partition of Bengal. After the partition of
Bengal, the British Government began to
take strict actions against the leaders of the
Extremists. Lokamanya Tilak was sent to
Mandalay prison for 6 years under the charge
of treason. Bipinchandra Pal was imprisoned
and Lala Lajpat Rai was deported.
Lokmanya Tilak returned to India after
completing a six year term in the prison of
Mandalay in 1914. After that there was a
reconciliation between Moderates and
Extremists and they came together in the
Congress session at Lucknow.
6.6 Armed Revolutionaries in India
The Indian movements against the
British imperialism took many forms. One
of the movements was of armed revolution.
The main objective of the armed
revolutionaries was to weaken government
administration, to dispel the fear of the
government in people’s mind and thus to
uproot the British rule from India.
Ram Singh Kuka had planned a revolt
in Punjab against the British Government.
In Maharashtra, Vasudev Balwant Phadke,
was the one to do the same. Commissioner
Rand’s methods of treating people during
the plague epidemic in Pune were atrocious.
Enraged by it, Damodar and Balkrishna
Chapekar, the two brothers killed Rand.
In 1899, with the initiative of Ganesh
Damodar Savarkar and his brother Vinayak
Damodar Savarkar, ‘Mitra Mela’, a secret
organisation was established at Nasik. The
same organisation was renamed in 1904 as
‘Abhinav Bharat’. The same year Vinayak
Damodar Savarkar went to England for
higher education.
From there he began to
send revolutionary literature, pistols, etc. to
the members of Abhinav Bharat. He wrote
a biography of Joseph Mazini, an Italian
revolutionary. He also
wrote the book, ‘1857 -
The First War of
Independence’. The British
Government came to know
of the activities of
‘Abhinav Bharat’. Ganesh
Damodar Savarkar was
arrested by the British
Government. Jackson, the
British collector punished him with life
sentence. Anant Lakshman Kanhere a
young Indian revolutionary killed Jackson
to avenge the punishment given to Ganesh
Damodar Savarkar. The government held
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for Jackson’s
murder.
He was arrested and had to face
a trial in the court. He was declared guilty
and sentenced to rigorous inprisonment for
50 years at Andaman.
A revolutionary organisation named as
‘Anusheelan Samiti’ was active in Bengal.
Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother Barindra
Kumar Ghosh were at the head of this
orgnisation. The organisation had a centre
of bomb making at Maniktala near Kolkata.
In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla
Chaki of Anusheelan Samiti, made a plan
of Kingsford's assasination who was an
evil British magistrate. However, the horse
cart which was bombed by them did not
carry Kingsford but two British women
instead. They both died. Prafulla Chaki
shot himself and Khudiram Bose was
arrested and hanged.
Shyamji Krishna
Verma had founded
‘India House’ in London.
This organisation used to
give scholarships to
Indian students in
England taking higher
education. Madam Cama
belonged to the group
formed by Shyamji Krishna Verma.
She
was a socialist and a revolutionary. In the
‘World Socialist Conference’ in Germany
she raised the issue of
India’s independence.
She unfurled a flag
representing India.
Madanlal Dhingra shot
Curzon Wyllie to death
and was arrested and
hanged for it.
Indians in America
and Canada had
established a revolutionary orgnisation,
which was named as ‘Gadar’. Lala
Hardayal, Bhai Paramanand, Dr. Pandurang
Sadashiv Khankhoje were among the main
leaders of this organisation.
Gadar means
uprising. ‘Gadar’ was the name of the
newspaper as well, published by this
organisation. This newspaper gave the
message of patriotism and revolution to
Indians. Hutatma Vishnu Ganesh Pingale
contributed in a great way in this work.
Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla, Roshan
Singh, Rajendra Lahiri of ‘Hindustan
Republic Association’ had masterminded a
plan for raising money for revolutionary
work, which came to be known as ‘Kakori
conspiracy’. They sacked a train which
was carrying the government treasury, when
it had stopped at Kakori station in Uttar
Pradesh. The government was prompt in
action. All of them were captured
immediately and hanged.
This was the time when some young
people in India established the ‘Communist
Party’ following the revolutionary thoughts
of Karl Marx. Their aim was to uproot the
colonial British rule and to establish the
rule of working class people (proletariat).
Members of the Communist Party were
tried under the charge of attempting armed
revolution.
The Merath case and Kanpur
case in this context received a lot of
publicity. Comrade Shripad Amrut Dange,
Muzaffar Ahmed, Keshav Neelkanth
Jogalekar were among the accused in these
cases.
The young revolutionaries
Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh,
Rajguru and Sukhdev had a secular way
of thinking. In 1928, they established
‘Hindustan Socialist Republican Association’
in Delhi. Their goal was to free India from
the British exploitation. They wanted to rip
off the British system that exploited the
farmers and labourers.
Their organisation
had an independent department called
‘Hindustan Socialist Republican Army’ for
collecting arms and to execute their plans.
Chandrashekhar Azad was the chief of that
department.
The members of this organisation had
completed several adventurous tasks.
Bhagatsingh and Rajguru avenged the death
of Lala Lajpat Rai. Saunders was killed to
teach a lesson British officers. The British
Government had submitted two bills in the
Central Legislative Assembly, which were
absolutely damaging to civil rights. Bhagat
Singh and Batukeshwar Datta, exploded a
bomb in the Legislative Assembly and
surrendered to police. Bhagat Singh,
Rajguru, Sukhdev were hanged at Lahore
in 1931 under the charge of treason.
Chandrashekhar Azad became a martyr,
Surya Sen was the leader of the
revolutionary group working with Hindustan
Socialist Republican Army, in Chittagong,
in Bengal. He prepared a plan to attack on
the British armouries. They carried out the
plan. While they were nearing success,
unfortunately, Surya Sen and some of his
colleagues were captured by the police.
Surya Sen and his colleagues sacrificed
their lives for the cause of nation. Kalpana
Dutt, one of this group, got a life sentence.
Preetilata Waddedar escaped the police, but
sacrificed her own life. Shanti Ghosh and
Suniti Chaudhury, the two school going
girls shot Charles Buckland, the British
magistrate.
They were caught and sentenced
to imprisonment for life. Beena Das, a
member of Indian National Congress,
attempted to kill Stanley Jackson, the
Governor of Bengal, by shooting at him
during the convocation ceremony of the
University of Calcutta (Kolkata). She was
caught and sentenced to nine year’s rigorous
imprisonment.
The revolutionaries have contributed
significantly to the Independence Movement
in India. They were courage and
determination personified. Their loyalty to
nation and readiness to sacrifice their lives
are unmatched. Their sacrifice has been a
source of inspiration to all.
6.7 Mahatma Gandhi: Non-Violent
Resistance Movement
The mantle of Lokmanya Tilak, after his death in 1920, was passed on to
Mahatma Gandhi. He became the leader of
India’s Independence Movement. Under his
leadership the independence movement
expanded considerably.
Gandhiji’s work began in South Africa.
The British regime in South Africa had
reduced the natives and the Indians there
to a very insignificant status. Several
discriminatory laws and regulations were
imposed on them. Gandhiji stood up against
those laws and regulations. He was
successful in it with non-violent means. In
1915 Gandhiji returned to India.
In 1917, he took up the issues of the
farmers in Champaranya in Bihar. The
British plant owners
there were pressing
local farmers to
cultivate only indigo.
Not only that, they
used to buy indigo
from them at very
low rates.
Gandhiji
decided to protest
against this exploitation and to relieve the
farmers from their misery by doing
Satyagraha. Gandhiji was successful in his
efforts and the British Government banned
compulsion of cultivating indigo. The
farmers were relieved from the harassment
of the British plant owners.
The British Government formed a
committee to suppress the national movement
that was spreading rapidly. Sir Sydney
Rowlatt, the British officer was the president
of the committee. An Act was passed in
1919 by this committee which came to be
known as the Rowlatt Act. This act
authorised the British Government to
imprison any Indian without warrant and
to put under trial without inquiry. Mahatma
Gandhi decided to protest against this act
through satyagraha. He appealed on 6th
April 1919 to all people to go for a mass
protest (hartal) by closing down all daily
transactions.
There were mass protests in Punjab.
13th April 1919 was the day of ‘Baisakhi’
festival. Thousands of
people had gathered for
the meeting held at
Jallianwala Bagh in
Amritsar for celebrating
the festival. Many of
them were not aware of
the ban put by the
government on public
gatherings. General Dyer opened fire on
these people without any prior warning.
About four hundred innocent people were
killed and thousands of them were injured
in this incident. It is known as ‘Jalianwala
Bagh Massacre’. It created a wave of rage
all through India. Ravindranath Tagore
criticised this act in very severe terms and
gave up his title (Sir)
In 1920, in the session of Indian
National Congress held at Nagpur, a
resolution was passed to start the ‘Non Cooperation Movement’ all over India.
Mahatma Gandhi was asked to lead the
movement. It was decided to boycott all
schools, colleges, legislative bodies, courts,
government offices and imported goods.
Indian people responded to the Non
Co-operation movement and boycott in a
commendable way. Students participated in
it on a large scale. Several highly
acknowledged Indian lawyers stopped their
practice and participated in the movement.
Among them were Chittaranjan Das, Motilal
Nehru, M.R. Jaikar, Saifuddin Kichalu,
Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajgopalachari. At
many places imported clothes were publicly
burnt. The farmers gave tremendous
response to Mahatma Gandhi’s appeal of
non co-operation. The working class also
participated in the movement on very large
scale. A nationwide series of public strikes
was started. There were 396 instances of
public strikes during the year 1921 alone.
The leaders of Indian National Congress
had organised these strikes at several
places. ‘Charkha’ (the Indian spinning
wheel) became the symbol of ‘Swarajya’
and ‘Swadeshi’ became a household term
in India.
The British Government had levied
heavy tax on salt, an essential commodity
in daily life. Mahatma Gandhi declared
satyagraha to protest against this tax. On
the day of 12th March 1930, he began a
march from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi
on Gujarat seacoast, against this unjust tax.
On 6th April on the seacoast at Dandi, he
broke the British law of salt with a token
act of collecting a handful of salt from
there.
6.8 Azad Hind Sena
In the year 1939, Hitler pushed Europe
in World War II. The British Government
without the consent of its Indian subjects
decided to involve India as one of the
participant countries in the war. Mahatma
Gandhi and the Indian
National Congress were
against this decision of
the British Government.
In this war Japan
decided to fight as
Germany’s allied
nation. Japan conquered
the regions under
British rule in Southeast
Asia. Many Indian soldiers in the British
army were taken captive by the Japanese
army. Rasbihari Bose built ‘Azad Hind
Sena’ by recruiting these Indian soldiers
and later it was reorganised under the
leadership of Subhash Chandra Bose.
In
1943, Subhash Chadra Bose established
‘Azad Hind Sarkar’ in Singapore. At the
end of 1943 he had already conquered
Andaman and Nicobar. “Tum Muze Khoon
Do! Main Tumhe Azadi Dunga!” (“Give
me your blood! I shall give you
independendce!”) This speech by him turned
into a key slogan among Indians. In 1944,
he had conquered the Arakan province and
the British outposts on the east border of
Assam. The soldiers of Azad Hind Sena
kept fighting in very adverse conditions.
They could not reach and capture Imphal.
6.9 ‘Quit India’ Movement of 1942
The executive council of the Indian
National Congress passed a resolution at
Wardha that the British should quit India.
This resolution was to
receive final approval in
the session at Mumbai.
On 7th August 1942 the
session of Indian National
Congress began on the
Gowalia Tank Ground in
Mumbai. Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad was the
President of this session.
On 8th August, in this session Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru presented the resolution
of ‘Quit India’ and it was approved with
great majority. It was demanded that the
British should immediately leave India. In
this session it was also decided that the
‘Quit India’ movement should be taken
forward with a non-violent apporoch under
Mahatma Gandhiji’s
leadership. Mahatma
Gandhi appealed to
all Indians saying,
“This movement is
not of the Indian
National Congress,
but of all Indians.
Every Indian man
and woman should
know in their mind
that they are free citizens from this very
moment and they should prepare themselves
to fight”. While emphasising that this was
going to be a very rigorous fight Mahatma
Gandhi said, “Today I am going to give
you the mantra, ‘Do or Die’.
This should
be the oath to which we commit ourselves.
Prepare to sacrifice yourselves for this
oath.’’ Gandhiji’s words created a new
spirit among Indians.
The British Government tried to crush
the ‘Quit India’ movement before it started.
Before the day of 9th August could see
sunlight, all prominent leaders like Gandhiji,
Maulana Azad, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
Vallabhbhai Patel were arrested. The
government put a ban on public gatherings,
speeches, rallies and protestations. It sealed
all the offices of Indian National Congress,
in the country.
The resistance put up by all,
aged and young in the villages like Chimur,
Ashti, Yawali, Mahad, Gargoti, etc. with
steadfastness and courage will indeed be
remembered for ever.
By the end of 1942 this movement
supported by common people took a
different turn. Its leadership was assumed
by the young socialist leaders. Jayprakash
Several revolutionary groups were
established in the country at local levels.
The groups like ‘Azad Dasta’ established
by Bhai Kotwal, in Karjat Taluka, ‘Lal
Sena’ in Nagpur established by General
Awari left no alternative for the British
Government but pray god. In Mumbai
Vitthal Javheri, Usha Mehta and their
colleagues started a transmission centre,
named ‘Azad Radio’.
In 1942, in some parts of India, people
were sucessful in
uprooting the British
Governance.
In
Midnapur District
(Bengal), Balia (U.P.)
and Bhagalpur, Purnia
(Bihar) near Azamgarh
the British officers
were forced to leave
their offices. People
took charge of the
governance at these places. Krantisinha
Nana Patil, a revolutionist established
Pratisarkar (parallel government) in the
Satara district of Maharashtra. He, with the
help of his associates put an end to the
British regime in Satara district and
established ‘People’s Government’. This
government took over the administrative
tasks like collecting revenue, maintaining
law and order, solving the court cases,
punishing criminals.
In this period the foundation of the
British rule in India became weak. The
‘Quit India’ movement was an expression
of the strong opposition of the Indian
people to the British rule. The British
administrators became aware that it will be
difficult for them to rule the Indians any
longer. The end of the British Empire was
evident to them. The ‘Rebellion of the
Sailors of the British Indian Navy - 1946’
added to the unrest against the British.
Thus, when the possibility of India
becoming a free nation had become evident,
Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his party, the
‘Muslim League’ began to insist on a
separate nation for the Muslims. There
were many communal riots in many parts
of the country. It finally resulted in the
partition of the country. In the month of
August of 1947, ‘India’ and ‘Pakistan’ two
separate nations came into existence.
History tells us that it was India, the
nation that created an example for the
world of fighting successfully against the
colonial rule. It gave inspiration to many
countries who were suffering under the
shackles of colonial rule.
The Constitution of independent India
came into implementation on 26th January
1950. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s vision
was the major force in shaping the
‘Constitution of India’. The fundamental
values on which the struggle for India’s
freedom was founded, included, Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity and Justice. These
values have built the foundation of Indian
Constitution.