Non Co-operation and Khilafat Movement

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919: Dyarchy In a system called “dyarchy,” the nation-building departments of government — agriculture, education, public works, and the like — were placed under ministers who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the “steel frame” of British rule — finance, revenue, and home affairs — were retained by … Read more

Gandhi’s early career and activism

Gandhi was the first Indian barrister to have come to South Africa. He was faced with various racial discriminations within days of his arrival in SA. He led the Indian struggle in SA. The first phase of Gandhi’s political activities from 1894-1906 may be classified as the ‘moderate’ phase. He set up the Natal Indian … Read more

Lucknow Pact (1916)

Nationalists saw that their disunity was affecting their cause Two important developments at the Lucknow Session of Congress The two wings of the Congress were again united The Congress and the Muslim League sank their old differences and put up common political demands before the government. INC and ML passed the same resolutions at their … Read more

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Rowalt act

Provincial LC enlarged. More elected members Dyarchy Some subjects were reserved and remained under the direct control of the Governor; others such as education, public health and local self-government were called transferred subjects and were to be controlled by the ministers responsible to the legislature. At the centre, there were two houses of legislature. Response … Read more

World War I and Indian Nationalism-

Increasing number of Indians from Punjab were emigrating to North America. The British government thought that these emigrants would be affected by the idea of liberty. Hence, they tried to restrict emigration. Tarak Nath Das, an Indian student in Canada, started a paper called Free Hindustan. The Hindi Association was setup in Portland in May … Read more

Growth of Communalism

Definition Communalism is the belief that because a group of people follow a particular religion they have, as a result, common secular, that is, social, political and economic interests. Second stage: Secular interests of followers of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the followers of another religion Third stage: The interests … Read more

Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909

Increased the number of elected members in the Imperial Legislative Council and the provincial council However, most of the elected members were elected indirectly The reformed councils still enjoyed no real power, being merely advisory bodies. Introduced separate electorates under which all Muslims were grouped in separate constituencies from which Muslims alone could be elected. … Read more

Revolutionary Terrorism and Bhagat Singh

Revolutionary young men did not try to generate a mass revolution. Instead they followed the strategy of assassinating unpopular officials 1904: VD Savarkar organized Abhinav Bharat Newspapers like The Sandhya and Yugaantar in Bengal and the Kal in Maharashtra advocated revolutionary ideology Kingsford Incident: In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw bomb at a … Read more

Freedom of Press

On 29th January 1780, the Hickey’s Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertizer was published. It was the first English newspaper to be printed in the Indian sub-continent. The press was the chief instrument of forming a nationalist ideology The resolutions and proceedings of the Congress were propagated through press. Trivia: nearly one third of … Read more

Rise of National Movement and Indian National Congress

Why did national movement arise? Indian nationalism rose to meet the challenges of foreign domination The British rule and its direct and indirect consequences provided the material and the moral and intellectual conditions for the development of a national movement in India. Clash of interest between the interests of the Indian people with British interests … Read more