MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (5 QUESTIONS)

ANNEXATION OF AWADH

Awadh is widely believed to have been annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. However, it was annexed by Lord Dalhousie under the pretext of misgovernance in 1856.

Although Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was a capable ruler, the British resident of Awadh gave exaggerated reports about his incompetence to the company authorities.

This gave the East India Company a Casus Belli (cause for war in Latin) to conquer Awadh.

On 7th February 1856, Lord Dalhousie issued orders to depose Wajid Ali Shah on account of alleged internal misrule. Then the kingdom of Awadh was annexed to the British Empire.

CORNWALLIS CODE (1793)

Cornwallis Code was actually a set of around 48 regulations enacted by the East India Company to improve the governance of its territories in India.

The Code was developed under the guidance of Lord Cornwallis, who served as Governor of Bengal from 1786 to 1793.

It contained provisions regarding various areas of administration ranging from land revenue, governance, police, judicial and civil administration.

The Permanent Settlement or Zamindari System of Bengal was the most significant provision of Cornwallis Code.

The Code also separated judicial functions from the office of the district collector and judicial officers were appointed in every district.

The traditional posts of jurists like Qazis were abolished. It also led to set up of four circuit courts of appeals in four major towns against the decisions of the district courts.

It gave due respect to inheritance and other traditional laws of Hindus and Muslims and appointed Indian subordinate officials to assist the European judges in these matters.

For the first time, native Indians were empowered to file cases against the British nationals and it tried to bring parity for all British Indian subjects irrespective of their nationality.

It also strengthened the system of policing and provided for establishment of thanas and appointment of one daroga in every thana under the control of the district magistrate.

It also reclassified the personnel of the Company into three groups – revenue, judicial and commercial.

Officials in the first two the first two groups were prohibited from conducting private trade, but at the same time their pay and perks were enhanced significantly.

The higher ranks of the services were restricted to the British only depriving the Indians of any responsible office.

British Goverment in India virtually rested on Cornwallis Code until the Charter Act of 1833.

VERNACULAR PRESS ACT, 1878

There was a strong public opinion against the imperialistic policies of Lord Lytton, compounded by terrible famine (1876-77) on one hand and lavish expenditure on Delhi Durbar (1877) on the other.

The Vernacular Press Act (VPA) was enacted for ‘better control’ of nationalists using vernacular languages as their medium of expression and to effectively punish and repress 'seditious writing'.

The provisions of the Act included the following:

1) The district magistrate was empowered to call upon the publisher of the vernacular newspaper to enter into a bond with the Government undertaking not to cause disaffection against the Government through published material; the publisher could also be required to deposit security, which could be forfeited if the regulation were contravened and the press equipment could be seized if the offence re-occurred.

2) The magistrate’s action was final and no appeal could be made in a court of law.

3) A vernacular newspaper could get exemption from the Act by submitting proofs to a government censor.

The Act was nicknamed “The Gagging Act”.

The worst features of this Act were—(i) discriminaton between English and vernacular press (ii) no right of appeal.

Under VPA, proceedings were instituted against Som Prakash, Bharat Mihir, Dhaka Prakash and Samachar.

Incidentally, the Amrita Bazar Patrika turned overnight into an English newspaper to escape the VPA.

There was strong opposition to the Act and finally Lord Ripon repealed it in 1882.

CHAURI CHAURA INCIDENT

The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4th February,1922.

Lord Reading was the Viceroy at that time.

The incident took place at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district of the United Province (modern Uttar Pradesh) in British India, when a large group of protesters participating in the Non-cooperation movement, clashed with police.

On 4 February,1922 about 2500 people marched towards the Chauri Chaura market to picket a shop selling liquor.

One of their leaders was arrested. A group of people then marched towards the police station demanding the release of the arrested leader. The police fired shots in the air hoping to disperse and the crowd. However, the crowd became agitated and started pelting stones at the police. Things were getting out of hand and the sub-inspector at the station came forward and fired at the crowd killing 3 people.

This incensed the people who then charged at the policemen who were heavily outnumbered. The police station was set ablaze by the people and all the policemen and officials inside were charred to death.

22 policemen were killed in the incident. The British government in response, imposed martial law in the area and arrested hundreds of people.

As a direct outcome of the Chauri Chaura Incident, Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non Cooperation Movement on 12 February, 1922 since he felt that the people were not ready to take up a non-violent movement.

EAST INDIA COMPANY (EIC)

The East India Company (EIC) was a British joint-stock company founded in 1600.

From its origins as a small trading enterprise, the East India Company emerged as a powerful commercial and political organisation, whose presence helped shape the history of India.

It had been granted a royal charter conferring the monopoly of British trade in the whole of Asia and the Pacific.

Company rule in India commenced in 1757, after victory of the British in the Battle of Plassey and grant of diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765.

In 1773, East India Company established their capital in Calcutta, and appointed its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings and became directly involved in governance.

Charter Act of 1833 ended the monopoly of EIC in trade with China and the monopoly to trade in tea in India.

Company rule in India lasted until 1858. It ended after the Revolt of 1857 and the consequent promulgation of Government of India Act,1858.

Henceforth, British Crown assumed the task of administering India directly.

HOW GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1858 ENDED THE RULE OF EAST INDIA COMPANY IN INDIA

The Government of India Act, 1858 :

1) Changed the designation of the Governor-General of India to that of Viceroy of India. The Viceroy was the direct representative of the British Crown in India. Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India.

2) It ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Control and Court of Directors.

3) It created a new office, Secretary of State for India, vested with complete authority and control over Indian administration. The secretary of state was a member of the British cabinet and was responsible ultimately to the British Parliament.

Indian Home Rule Leagues

Home Rule League, either of two organizations of the same name were established in India in April and September 1916, respectively, by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant.

The term, borrowed from a similar movement in Ireland, referred to the efforts of Indian nationalists to achieve self-rule from the British Indian government.

Tilak’s group, founded at Poona, concentrated its efforts mostly in western India, and that of Annie Besant, set up at Madras had more of an all-India scope. Both, however, worked toward the same objective of mobilizing Indian public opinion—largely by peaceful means—in favour of self-government, and from the start each worked closely with the other.

Pressure by Home Rule Leagues on the British contributed to the drafting of the Montagu Declaration in 1917 by Edwin Samuel Montagu, secretary of state for India, which in turn laid the groundwork for political reforms in India instituted by Britain after World War I.

By then, however, the influence of the Home Rule organizations had diminished. Although their role in the Indian independence movement had been modest, they did succeed in helping to sustain the movement’s impetus during the war years—as manifested in the signing of the Lucknow Pact in December 1916.

Dadabhai Naoroji

1851: joined Navrozji Fardunji in founding the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha, a vehicle for Zoroastrian religious reform in the Parsi community, published the first edition of Rast Goftar.

1854 : appointed as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Elphinstone College, becoming the first-ever Indian to hold this rank at a British-administered institution of higher education.

1855 : helped establish Cama & Co. as a partner, the first Indian commercial firm in the United Kingdom.

1866 : established the East India Association in London.

1883 : started the newspaper 'Voice of India' in Bombay with Behramji Malabari.

29 November 1884 : delivered a speech in Bombay to mark the retirement of the viceroy, Lord Ripon. Naoroji invoked, for the first time in public, the idea of self-government for India.

December 1886 : served as president of the second session of INC, held in Calcutta.

1892 : Became the first Indian to be elected as a member of the British House of Commons as a Liberal Party candidate from Finsbury Central.

December 1893 : Presided over the Lahore Session of INC.

1901 : published Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, a compilation of his economic writings from the past 30 years.

December 1906 : presided over the Calcutta Session of INC. He delivered his presidential address on 26 December, calling for swaraj.

Nehru Report (1928)

When the Simon Commission came to India in 1928, it was vehemently opposed by Indians for the lack of even a single Indian in the Commission.

So, the Secretary of State for India, Lord Birkenhead challenged the Indian leaders to draft a Constitution for India, implicitly implying that Indians were not capable of finding a common path and drafting a constitution for themselves.

Indian political leaders across political spectrum accepted this challenge and an All Party Conference was held and a committee was appointed with the task of drafting a constitution.

This committee was headed by Motilal Nehru with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Secretary.

The draft Constitution prepared by the committee was called the Nehru Report.

Nehru Report was submitted at the Lucknow session of the All-Party Conference on August 28, 1928.

This was the first major attempt by Indians to draft a Constitution for themselves.

Pirpur Report

>> Indian National Congress came in power in 7 British Indian provinces after the General Elections of 1937.

>> The Muslim League could form the government in only one province.

>> The League wanted to portray a negative image of the Congress and it directed its efforts to portray the plight of Muslims under Congress rule.

>> The 1938 Pirpur Report brought out by the League listed cruelties suffered by Muslims in the Congress-ruled provinces. It tried to project a pro-Hindu stance and anti-Muslim bias in them.

> This report became an important document used to demand and justify the partition of the country.

Fourteen Points

>> On December 1928, during all parties meeting Jinnah proposed some amendments on the Nehru Report.

> He proposed ‘Fourteen Points’ for safeguarding the rights and interests of the Muslims in any future constitution of the country.

Dickie Bird Plan

Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India prepared the Dickie Bird Plan for India’s independence.

The main proposal of this plan was that the provinces should become first independent successor states, rather than a Union of India or the two dominions of India & Pakistan.

As per this plan, first all the provinces viz. Madras, Bombay, United Provinces of Bengal, Punjab & North West Frontier etc. were proposed to be declared independent.

The States later would decide whether to join either India or Pakistan or to remain independent.

This plan was not discussed in detail with the Indian leaders. Mountbatten gave the final touch to the plan and sent it to London. Later when he moved to Shimla, Jawahar Lal Nehru joined him as a guest. Here the details of the plan were put by Mountbatten before Nehru.

Nehru rejected the plan right away and told that this plan would invite Balkanization of India and would provoke conflict and violence. Consequently, Mountbatten cabled to England and this plan was cancelled. So it was also called the Balkan Plan.

Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy

The Charter Act of1813 directed the East India Company to spend a sum of Rs.1 lakh annually towards the spread of education.

Despite the directive of the British Government, the East India Company took no initiative to spend the money for the promotion of education in India.

This indifference was largely due to the controversy that reared its head in the official circles regarding the type of education to be introduced in India.

The opinion that favored the introduction of western, scientific knowledge in India using English as medium of instruction, came to be known as the Anglicists, while
the Orientalists were in favor of promoting and disseminating the traditional oriental learning in vernacular languages.

This Orientalist-Anglicist controversy continued for quite some time. Ultimately, the controversy was settled in 1835 under the Governor-Generalship of Lord William Bentinck.

Hands of Lord William Bentinck were strengthened by the coming of Lord Macaulay to India as the Law member of the Governor-General's Council. Lord Macaulay was in favor of introducing Western education in India.

On the strength of the opinion Macaulay expressed in his famous Education Minute, Lord Bentinck introduced Western education and thus the Anglicists won the day.

Surendranath Banerjee

Surendranath Banerji cleared the Indian Civil Service competitive examination in 1869, but was barred owing to a dispute over his exact age.

After clearing the matter in the courts, he cleared the exam again in 1871 and was posted as Assistant Magistrate in Sylhet.

Surendranath Banerjee was the second Indian to pass the Indian Civil Service Exam, after Satyendranath Tagore who had passed the exam in 1863.

In 1874 Surendranath Banerjee was dismissed from his post of Sylhet for a minor and apparently inadvertent procedural error.

He was the first Indian to be dismissed from Indian Civil Service.

After the Revolt of 1857 in India, the British recruited the soldiers in the British Indian Army from Gurkha, Sikh and Pathan communities on a large scale and declared them as martial communities.

The chronological order of British conquest/annexation of the following Indian states/dominions:

• Bengal - Battle of Plassey (1757), Battle of Buxar (1764)

• Mysore - Tipu Sultan was defeated and killed in the fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799).

• Carnatic Region - Annexed by the Carnatic Treaty (1801) signed with Nawab of Arcot.

• Maratha Empire - Annexed after British victory in third Anglo-Maratha War (1818)

• Punjab - The two Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-46; 1848-49) resulted in the conquest and annexation of Punjab

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East India Company (VOC; Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie), founded in 1602, is often considered the first truly multinational corporation.

In 1610, VOC gained a foothold in Batavia (Indonesia / Dutch East Indies) and conquered most of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by 1640.

The major trading hub of Malacca was taken from the Portuguese in 1641.

By the mid 17th century, the Dutch had replaced most local trading networks with their own with a series of fortified trading posts, ousting other European powers and monopolising the trade between India and Java.

During the time of partition of India, Punjab province came forward with the plan for united and independent existence but this idea was rejected. Due to the efforts of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, PEPSU came into existence consisting of East Punjab, Patiala and the hill states.

The Cabinet Mission came up with a plan in May 1946, which intended to create a United India with independent Muslim and Hindu majority provinces. The demand of Pakistan was raised by Muslim League was rejected.

Cabinet Mission Plan was the last opportunity to avoid the partition of India with the formation of interim Government having both Congress and League nominees. But, Muslim League rejected the plan and did not attend the first meeting of Constituent Assembly on Dec 9, 1946.

After rejecting the Cabinet Mission Plan and refusing to participate in the formation of the interim government, Muslim League appealed to the Muslims to resort to direct action to achieve their homeland Pakistan.16th August 1946 was fixed as "Direct Action Day" which led to large scale communal riots in Calcutta.

As a result, the last opportunity to avoid the partition of India was lost.

Indian National Congress (INC) declared its policy towards princely states for the first time in its Nagpur Session in 1920. It called upon the Indian rulers to grant full responsible government in their States.

Congress allowed the people of the princely states to get enrolled as members, but they could not initiate political activity in their state in the name of the Congress.

The three Indian National Army (INA) soldiers Shahnawaz Khan, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Prem Kumar Sahgal were charged of treason during World War II.

Indian National Congress (INC) formed INA Defence Committee consisting of 17 advocates including Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Kailash Nath Katju, Jawaharlal Nehru and Asaf Ali.

Bhulabhai Desai was the leading counsel for the defence. The trial began in October 1945 at Red fort in Delhi.

In pre-independence era, Indian National Congress (INC) elected three women presidents.

Annie Besant was a British Theosophist. She was elected as the first woman President of INC in 1917. Annie Besant presided over the Calcutta Session of INC.

In 1925, Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian woman to be elected as the President of INC. She presided over the Kanpur Session of INC.

Then in Calcutta Session of 1933, Nellie Sengupta was elected as the second Non-Indian woman President of INC . Nellie was one of the key players in the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Free Indian Legion was raised by Subhash Chandra Bose as part of his efforts of waging war against Britain, when he came to Berlin in 1941 seeking German aid. It consisted of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europes.

Tripuri Session of the Indian National Congress (1939)

In March 1939, Congress met at annual session at Tripuri near Jabalpur.
Subhash Chandra Bose was re-elected as President of INC at Tripuri Session by defeating the Gandhiji’s candidate Pattabhi Sitaramaiyya.

He demanded that the Congress should deliver a six-months ultimatum to Britain and if its rejected, a country-wide struggle for ‘Poorna Swaraj’ should be launched.

His demands went unheeded and his powers as President were sought to be curtailed. He, therefore, resigned in April 1939 and announced the formation of the Forward Bloc within the Congress. in May 1939.

Aruna Asaf Ali was a female freedom fighter who is widely remembered for sneaking past the police and hoisting Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan, Bombay and later for organizing underground activities for coordination between revolutionaries during Quit India Movement.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917) marked Gandhiji's entry into politics but at regional level for indigo planters of Bihar. But it was Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) that launched him in the All-India level politics.

Vinayak Savarkar and Ganesh Savarkar started Mitra Mela,a revolutionary secret society in Nasik in 1899.

It was one among several such revolutionary societies functioning in Maharashtra at that time, which believed in the overthrow of British rule through armed rebellion.

In 1904, in a meeting attended by 200 members, Vinayak Savarkar renamed it 'Abhinav Bharat' taking after Giuseppe Mazzini's 'Young Italy'.

Aundh Experiment

The Aundh Experiment was an early test of village-level self-government in British India which began in 1938.

Mahatma Gandhi and Maurice Frydman helped to draft the Swaraj Constitution, which handed over rule of Aundh State from the Raja to the residents.

The Aundh state implemented the Swaraj Constitution of Mahatma Gandhi from January 1939.

It was in place for the next 10 years, until 1948, when Aundh merged with independent India.

Indian Statutory Commission (popularly known as Simon Commission)

It was appointed by the British Government in 1927 under the chairmanship of John Simon to review the working of dyarchy introduced by GoI Act 1919 and suggest future measures.

It consisted of 7 British Members of Parliament, but no Indian member.

Response of the Indians

An all-white commission with the exclusion of Indians was seen a violation of the principle of self-determination and as a deliberate insult to the self-respect of Indians.

The commission was met with black flags and calls of ‘Simon Go Back’ wherever it went.

The police came down heavily on protestors. In one such incidence of lathi-charge, Lala Lajpat Rai was severely injured and succumbed to his injuries.

Indian National Congress in its Madras session (1927) decided to boycott commission at every stage and every form.

Indian leaders accepted of the challenge of the Secretary of State Birkenhead to frame a constitution on their own, the outcome of which was Nehru Report of 1928.

Cunningham Circular of 1930 (Assam)

To discourage and stop students from participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement, J.R. Cunningham, the then director of Public Information of Assam, issued a circular in 1930 imposing a blanket ban on any anti-British and pro-swadeshi activity by students.

He also ordered the students to sign an undertaking that they would have to quit their schools and colleges if they participated in anti-government demonstrations or movements.

Refusing to oblige, thousands of students throughout Assam left their institutions of learning.

Home Charges

Home Charges represented the single biggest source of the drain of wealth, the expenses in Britain borne by the Indian treasury.

For example-paying for the expenses of Secretary of State and his establishment at the India Office in London.

These Home Charges were a huge burden on Indian finances and contributed to a sustained and continuous deficit in the budget throughout the 19th century.

Home charges included pensions to British Indian officials, army officers, military and other stores purchased in England.

Congress Working Committee (CWC)

It is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress (INC).

Creation of Congress Working Committee (CWC) for carrying out day to day affairs of INC for organised grassroots political activism, instead of meeting of delegates just once a year, was proposed for the time by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Lucknow Session of Indian National Congress.

The proposal was not accepted at that time. But four years later, CWC was formed in Nagpur session (1920) of INC, when Mahatma Gandhi launched Non Cooperation Movement at mass scale because CWC was considered strategic imperative from planning perspective.

The Aundh Experiment was an early test of village-level self-government in British India which began in 1938.

Mahatma Gandhi and Maurice Frydman helped to draft the Swaraj Constitution, which handed over rule of Aundh State from the Raja to the residents.

The Aundh state implemented the Swaraj Constitution of Mahatma Gandhi from January 1939 and it was in place for the next 10 years, until 1948, when Aundh merged with independent India.

Bardoli Taluk in Gujarat was hit by floods and famines in 1925, which adversely affected crop yield. This affected the farmers financially, but tax rates were increased by 22% by Bombay Presidency.

In 1928, farmers in Bardoli invited Vallabhai Patel to launch a no-tax protest movement.

Patel was an exemplary commander of non-violent Satyagrahis in Bardoli.

He divided the taluk into camps and organised hundreds of men and women under the camps.

A large number of women took active part in the movement. It was these women of Bardoli who gave Vallabhbhai Patel the title of ‘Sardar’.

Home Charges represented the single biggest source of the drain of wealth, the expenses in Britain borne by the Indian treasury.

For example-paying for the expenses of Secretary of State and his establishment at the India Office in London.

These Home Charges were a huge burden on Indian finances and contributed to a sustained and continuous deficit in the budget throughout the 19th century. Home charges included pensions to British Indian officials, army officers, military and other stores purchased in England.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress(INC).

Creation of Congress Working Committee(CWC) for carrying out day to day affairs of INC for organised grassroots political activism, instead of meeting of delegates just once a year, was proposed for the time by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Lucknow Session of Indian National Congress.

The proposal was not accepted at that time. But four years later, CWC was formed in Nagpur session(1920) of INC, when Mahatma Gandhi launched Non Cooperation Movement at mass scale because CWC was considered strategic imperative from planning perspective.

Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA)

Context- Special Ministerial conference of CICA was held recently. India also participated in the event.

India underscored its commitment towards a pluratistic cooperative security order in Asia through CICA and also reaffirmed its support for Afghan peace process.

CICA is a pan-Asia inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

Genesis:

The idea of convening the CICA was first proposed by Kazakhstan in October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

CICA was officially established in 1999.

Its secretariat is in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Membership:

For becoming member of CICA, a country/state must have at least part of its territory in Asia.

CICA has 27 member states; 8 observer states; 5 observer organizations including the UN.

India has been member since its inception.

Amongst the neighbouring countries of India - Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar are neither CICA members nor observers.

All decisions within CICA framework are taken by consensus.

CICA Summit is held after every four years.

Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs is required to be held every two years.