Important Short Notes on Freedom Struggle of India (1857-1947) | RRB NTPC | SSC | UPSC

Indian Freedom Struggle 

THE REVOLT OF 1857 

• During the governor generalship of Lord Canning. (1848-1862). 
• Mangal Pandey (34th Native Infantry Regiment) on 29 March 1857 killed two Britisher officers Hugeson & Baugh on parade at Barracpore near Calcutta.
• The mutiny really started at Meerut on 10 May 1857.
• The revolt is known by several names: the Sepoy Mutiny (by the British Historians), the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion (by the Indian Historians), the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence (by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar).

Results of The Revolt

• End of company rule: the great uprising of 1857 was an important landmark in the history of modern India.
• The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India.
• Direct rule of the British Crown: India now came under the direct rule of the British Crow

Government Of India Act (1858)

• Rule of East India Company Ended.
• Governor General Post ended in India.
• And Viceroy of India Started.
• Doctrine of Lapse withdrawn.
• British pursued Divide and Rule policy
• The Minister of the British government called the Secretary of State of India was made responsible for the governance of India.
• Direct rule of the British Crown: India now came under the direct rule of the British Crown.

Important fact

1st Viceroy of India- Lord Canning (1858-62)

Last governor-general of India - Lord Canning (1856-1858)

Last viceroy & First governor general of independent India - Lord 

Mountbatten (1947-1948)

1st Indian Governor General of India - C.Rajagopalachari (1948-1950)

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS -1885

• Viceroy - Lord Dufferin (1884-1888)
• Formed in 1884 by A.O. Hume
• called for a Conference in Pune in December 1885 but the venue was shifted to Bombay for the outbreak of cholera in Pune.
• 72 delegates attended from all over India
• 1st president Of INC - WC Banerjee
• 1st British (non-Indian) President - George Yule
• Youngest President - Maulana Abul KalamAzad (He became the youngest President of the Indian National Congress, who held that office at the age of 35) in 1923.

Factors that Led to the Formation Of INC:

• Between the years 1870 and 1880, Indian people had become politically conscious and by the year 1885, there was a platform ready for the establishment of a political organization on a national basis.
• Development of Communication and Transportation.
• Spread Of Education.
• Discrimination.
• Economic Exploitation.

Important fact

• Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the president of the first session of the Indian National Congress held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay.
• Annie Beasant was the first female President of the Indian National Congress.
• Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress.
• Badruddin Tyabji was the first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress.
• George Yule was the first European President of the Indian National Congress.
• Dadhabhai Naoroji was the first Parsi President of the Indian National Congress.
• Hakim Ajmal Khan was the only person to be appointed as the President of INC, All India Muslim League & All India Khilafat Committee.

Important Session

• First Session: held at Bombay in 1885. President: W.C. Bannerjee Formation of Indian National Congress.
• 1887: Madras - President: Tayabaji became the First Muslim President.        
• 1888: Allahabad - President: George Yule became the 1st English President.
• 1886: Calcutta - President: Dadabhai Naoroji; National Congress and National Conference were merged.
• 1896: Calcutta. President: Rahimtullah Sayani; National Song 'Vande Mataram' sung for the first time by Rabindranath Tagore.
• 1901: Calcutta. President: Dinshaw E.Wacha; First time Gandhiji appeared on the Congress platform
• 1906: Calcutta. President: Dadabhai Naoroji; The word 'swaraj' was mentioned for the first time.
• 1907: Surat. President: Rash Bihari Ghosh;Split in Congress- Moderates & Extremist
• 1911: Calcutta. President: B.N. Dhar;First time recital of Jan-Gan-Man in Congress session
• 1916: Lucknow. President: A.C. Majumdar; Unity between two factions-Moderates and Extremists of Congress Lucknow Pact signed between Congress and Muslim League to build political consensus
• 1917: Calcutta. President: Annie Besant, First Woman President of Congress
• 1924: Belgaum President: Gandhiji (1st and last time)
• 1925: Kanpur President: Sarojini Naidu 1st Indian woman President (Nightingale of India).
• 1929: Lahore. President: Jawahar Lal Nehru; Passed the resolution on 'Poorna Swaraj.'; Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched;26 January to be observed as 'Independence Day'.
• 1931: Karachi President: Sardar Patel; resolution of fundamental rights and national economic policy.
• 1946: Meerut President:  Acharya Kripalani; Last session before independence

The Congress placed its demands before the government always in the form of petitions and worked within the framework of law. It was for this reason that the early Congress leaders were referred to as 'Moderates' (1885-905). During its first twenty years, the Congress made moderate demands. 

The members placed their demands before the Government always in the form of petitions and worked within the framework of law.

It was for this reason that the early Congress leaders were referred to as 'Moderates' They asked for.

• (a) representative legislatures,
• (b) Indianization of services, 
• (c) reduction of military expenditure, 
• (d) education, employment and holding of the ICS (Indian Civil Services) examination in India,
• (e) decrease in the burden of the cultivators, 
• (f) defence of civil rights, 
• (g) separation of the judiciary from the executive, 
• (h) change in the tenancy laws,
• (i) reduction in land revenue and salt duty, 
• (j) policies to help in the growth of Indian industries and handicrafts, 
• (k) introduction of welfare programmes for the people.

Victoria Memorial: 1901 (Calcutta)

Queen Victoria, who was the Empress of British India, died in January 1901, Curzon suggested building a grand memorial to honour her. He proposed the memorial to be a stately edifice with a museum where visitors get a glimpse of the marvels of the past. The foundation for the memorial was laid on 4 January 1906 by the Prince of Wales, who later became King George V. The building was formally inaugurated and opened for public visits in 1921

Partition of Bengal 1905 

• Viceroy : Lord Curzon (1899-1905)
• The decision to split Bengal into Two came in July and by October 16, 1905, Bengal had been divided.
• Announced on 19th July, 1905.
• Came into effect on 16 October 1905
• Divided into two - Hindu-dominated west which consisted of Bihar, Odisha, etc. and Muslim-dominated East Bengal with Assam.

Swadeshi Movement

Background:

• Since 1765 (following the Battle of Buxar) the province of Bengal, which included present-day West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Bangladesh and Assam was under the British.
• It was a very large area and the population rose to almost 80 million by the first few years of the 20th century. Calcutta was the capital of the province and also of British India. There were difficulties in administering such a large area. Partition of Bengal was carried out by the British viceroy in India, Lord Curzon, despite strong Indian nationalist opposition. 
• It divided Bengal into Hindu-dominated West which consisted of Bihar, Odisha, etc. and Muslim-dominated East Bengal with Assam on October 16, 1905.
• Swadeshi Movement -The Swadeshi movement was started as a response to the partition decision taken by Lord Curzon
• The movements included using goods produced in India and burning British-made goods.. Bal Gandadhar Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi and Boycott movement after the British government decided the partition of Bengal. 
• In 1911, The partition of Bengal Canceled.
• The movement had its roots in the anti-partition movement which was started to oppose Lord Curzon's decision of dividing the province of Bengal.
• The Anti-Partition Campaign was launched by Moderates to exert pressure on the government to prevent the unjust partition of Bengal from being implemented.
• The partition led to protest meetings in Bengal under which the pledge to boycott foreign goods was first taken.
• After the partition came into force, widespread opposition was shown by the people of Bengal by singing Vande Mataram. Rabindranath Tagore also composed Amar Sonar Bangla.
• People tied Rakhis on each other's hands as a symbol of unity.

Congress Reaction:

• The Indian National Congress (INC) took up the Swadeshi call in the Benaras session in 1905 Presided by G.K. Gokhle and supported the Swadeshi and boycott movement in Bengal.
• The radical nationalists (Lal Bal Pal) wanted the movement to be taken outside Bengal and go beyond just the boycott of foreign goods.
• on 7 Aug 1905, a resolution to boycott bristish goods was adopted at a meeting of the INC held in Calcutta. 
• Tilak took the movement to Pune and Mumbai.
• Ajit Singh & Lala Rajpat Rai spread the swadeshi movement in Punjab and other parts of Northern India.
• Syed Haidar Raza in Delhi, Jammu, etc
• Chidambaram Pillai spread in Madras Presidency.
• In the 1906 Congress Session held at Calcutta, the INC under the presidentship of Dadabhai Naoroji declared self-government or Swaraj as the goal of the INC.

Impact of the Swadeshi Movement

• The decline in Imports: It resulted in a significant decline in foreign imports during 1905-1908.
• Growth of Extremism: The movement resulted in the growth of extreme nationalism amongst youth which took to violence and wanted to bring an instant end to British dominance.
• Morley-Minto Reforms: It forced the British dispensation to offer some concessions to Indians in the form of Morley-Minto reforms in 1909.
• Establishment of Swadeshi Institutions: Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan, the Bengal National College and some national schools and colleges in various parts of the country were set up.
• In August 1906, the National Council of Education was set up to organise the national education system.
• A Bengal Institute of Technology was set up for technical education.

Scrappin of the partition Of Bengal

• Curzon left for Britain in 1905, but the agitation continued for many years.
• Partition was finally reversed in 1911 by Lord Hardinge in the face of unrelenting opposition.

Partition annulled

• Owing to mass political protests, the partition was annulled in 1911.
• New provinces were created based on linguistic lines rather than religious lines. Bihar and Orissa Provinces were carved out of Bengal. (Bihar and Orissa became separate provinces in 1936).
• A separate Assam province was created.
• The capital of British India was moved to Delhi from Calcutta in 1911.
  

Formation Of Muslim League (1906)

• On December 30,1906, the Muslim league was formed under the leadership of Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dhaka and Khwaja Salimullah to safeguard the rights of Muslims.
• Founded in Dhaka (Now in Bangladesh)
• It was the first Muslim Political Party of India.

Factors that promote the Muslim League are

• British Plan,
• Lack of Education,
• Loss of Sovereignty by Muslims,
• Expression of Religious Colour,
• Economic backwardness of India.

Objectives

• To safeguard the rights of Muslims
• The feeling of Loyalty Towards the British Government
• To overcome the feeling of hostility among Muslims towards other communities.

Surat Split, 1907

• In 1905 (Banaras Session of the INC): Gokhale was the President and for the first time he had a discussion over 'Swaraj'.
• In 1906, Dadabhai Naoroji (who was the President of the INC session at Calcutta), in his Presidential address, used the word Swaraj. Thus, the word, 'Swaraj' wasn't untouchable to them, but they were reluctant to pass the resolution over 'Swaraj'.

In 1907, Surat Session: The two main objectives placed by the extremists were:

1. Demand for the resolution of Swaraj
2. Lala Lajpat Rai to be made the President of the INC

• These two demands were not acceptable to the moderates. Thus, instead of Lala Lajpat Rai the moderates supported the idea of Rash Behari Ghosh as the President. 
• This was the first time that there was to be an election in the INC for Presidentship. In between the elections, the extremists were expelled from the INC, and the moderates had complete command over the affairs of the INC. Rash Behari Ghosh became the President of the Surat session.
• The Surat split was a victory of the British policy of Divide and Rule, and after a long time, the British believed that they were in control of the affairs of the moderates over the INC.
• The moderates and extremists were working together for the Bengal movement. The extremists were of the view that the movement should be expanded and should target the government. Both sides thus viewed each other as the enemy.
• The extremist leader Tilak and the moderate leader Gokhale wanted to avoid a split as they knew that a divided congress could be easily subdued by the British. But they had to kneel before the other leaders of their factions. 
• Finally in 1907 under the presidentship of Rash Bihari Ghosh,   the party split in Surat. Immediately after the split, the leaders of the extremists were repressed by the government and the faction was left leaderless. 
• Tilak was imprisoned in Burma; Aurobindo Ghosh gave up politics for religion. Pal retired from politics and Lala Lajpat Rai went abroad for an extended stay.
• The moderates too were fooled and no concessions were given by the Morley Minto reforms. Instead, it sowed the seeds of communal representation which finally led to the partition of India. They lost their credibility and support. The period from 1907-1914 was a dark period for the Congress.

Important Facts

• Congress Divided Into Two - Extremists and Moderates
• Done In the Surat session of INC 1907
• President - Ras Bihari Ghosh
• Extremist Camp led by - Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal
• Moderates Camp led by - Gopal Krishna Gokhale
• The session of 1907 was held at the bank of River Tapti

Important Leaders

• Extremist: ( Lala Lajpat Rai, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose ).
• Moderates: (A.O. Hume. W.C. Banerjee. Dadabhai Naoroji Gopalakrishna Gokhale. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya)

Annulment Of Partition Of Bengal

• Towards the end of 1910, India had a new Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, and a new Secretary of State, Lord Crewe, in place, respectively, of Lord Minto and Lord Morley.
• Both Lord Hardinge and Lord Crewe felt that the unrest in India was chiefly due to the Partition of Bengal, and there would be no peace until this grievous wrong was remedied.
• But as soon as Lord Hardinge realised the seriousness of the situation in the two Bengals, he made up his mind and carried his whole Council with him.
• According to the suggestion of the Governor-General-in- Council, King George V at his Coronation Durbar in Delhi in December 1911 announced the revocation of the Partition of Bengal and the two parts of Bengal were reunited.

Important Announcement

• Owing to mass political protests, the partition was annulled in 1911.
• A separate Assam province was created.
• The capital of British India was moved to Delhi from Calcutta in 1911.

Morley-Minto Reform (1909)

• The reform introduced a system of separate electorates under which Muslims could only vote for Muslim candidates.

Home Rule Movement (1915-1916)

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded the Indian Home Rule League in Pune on 28 April 1916.
• Annie Besant (Irish Rebellion) started the Home Rule Movement in India in September 1916.
• In 1920 all India Home Rule League changed its name to Swarajya Sabha.

Lucknow Session, (1916)

• The Lucknow Pact was a significant political event that took place in British India place during the First World War.
• In 1916, both the League and Congress held their sessions simultaneously at Lucknow.
• Both parties together signed and adopted the joint scheme of political reforms. This agreement came to be known as the Lucknow Pact.
• It led to Hindu-Muslim unity.
• While Congress accepted the scheme of separate electorates for the Muslims, the Muslim League accepted the principle of election and majority rule.
• Congress was then led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, while Mohammed Ali Jinnah represented the League.
• In fact, Jinnah was then a member of both the League and the Congress and the chief architect of the pact.
• In 1916 freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu described him as the 'Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity' for playing a key role in the signing of The Pact.

Major Demands made in the Pact

• Self-rule for India
• One-third representation of Muslims in the Central Govt
• Separation of the executive from the judiciary
• Separate electorates for all communities
• More representation of Indians in Central Legislative and Provincial Councils.

Important Facts

• Lucknow Pact passed in December 1916.
• the president of this joint session was Ambica Charan Mazumdar.
• It is a Pact Of Hindu - Muslim unity
• Congress was then led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, while Mohammed Ali Jinnah represented the League.
• it was adopted by the Congress at its Lucknow session on December 29 and by the league on Dec. 31, 1916

Montague Declaration / August Declaration (1917)

• The control over the Indian government would be transferred gradually to the Indian people.

Gandhian Era (1917 - 1947)

Introduction

• Mahatma Gandhi was in South Africa when he was summoned by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, after which he returned to India on Jan 9, 1915.
• The period from 1915 to 1947 is referred to as the Gandhian Era. During this period many incidents, satyagrahas, acts, and marches were carried out to support the Indian independence movement.

List of Major Incidents during the Period 1917 - 1947 (Gandhian Era)

1. Champaran Agitations (1917) 

The Champaran Satyagraha is considered to be a vital event in the history of India's freedom struggle. It was India's first Civil Disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against the injustice meted out to tenant farmers in the Champaran district of Bihar.

• Under British rule, many farmers in the Champaran district of Bihar were forced to grow indigo in their lands, much to their dismay. To fight this, a money lender named Raj Kumar Shukla reached out to Gandhiji and requested him to come and help them
• In this, the ryot was under an obligation to cultivate three kathas per bigha of his land with indigo i.e. 3/20th of his landholding (1 beegha= 20 kathas).
• The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo fera, a cash crop for Indigo dye whose demand had been declining over two decades and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy with this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.

2. Kheda Satyagrah (1918)
Background:

• Peasants were already struggling with the destruction of crops by late rains, a sudden rise in agricultural wages, a high rate of inflation and the outbreak of bubonic plague.
• The peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue and were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed instead British government raised the revenue.
• Local leaders, already running no revenue Campaign, through the Gujarat Sabha got in touch with Gandhi in January 1918, but it was not until 22 March that Gandhi decided to launch a satyagraha in their support.

What happened in Kheda:

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and a close coterie of devoted Gandhians, namely Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, Indulal Yagnik and Ravi Shankar Vyas toured the countryside, organized the villagers and gave them political leadership and direction.
• Many aroused Gujaratis from the cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara joined the organizers of the revolt, but Gandhi and Patel resisted the involvement of Indians from other provinces, seeking to keep it a purely Gujarati struggle. By April the Bombay government partially fulfilled the peasants' demands by not confiscating the properties of defaulting peasants who could not pay, and in June Gandhi withdrew the campaign.
• British government after facing a united opposition agreed on a compromise and the revenue was waived for that year and the next year.

3. Ahmedabad Mill Worker Strike

• Ahmadabad was the second largest city of the Bombay Presidency and was a long-established commercial centre. Under the British, the cotton industry grew in the city and Ahmadabad became a modern Industrial town of the 20th century.
• In February March 1918, there was a situation of conflict between the Gujarat Mill owners and workers on the question of the Plague Bonus of 1917. The Mill Owners wanted to withdraw the bonus whole the workers demanded a 50% wage hike. The Mill Owners were willing to give only a 20% wage hike.
• In March 1918, under the leadership of Gandhi, there was a strike in the cotton mills. In this strike, Gandhi used the weapon of the Hunger strike. If Gandhi had not been there as a leader of this revolt, maybe the shops would have been picketed, but it was carried out in a pure non-violent disciplined way. The result was that the strike was successful and the workers got a 35% wage increase.

Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919)

• The Rowlatt Act was passed by the British government to increase their grip on power over the common folk. 
• This law was passed in March 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council which gave them the power to arrest any person without any trial.
•  To abolish this act, Gandhi and the other leaders called for a Hartal (suspension of work) to show Indians' objection to this rule.
• On 6 April 1919, Mahatma Gandhi started a non-violent Satyagraha against the unjust Rowlatt Act passed by the British government.
• The Rowlatt Act was the popular name for the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 passed by the British Indian government.
• This Act was termed the 'Black Act' by the Indian public because of its unjust and restrictive nature.
• The Act gave the government the power to imprison any person suspected of terrorist activities for a maximum period of two years without trial.
• This Act which gave the police huge powers was opposed by the people. The Act was described as "No Dalil, No Vakil, No Appeal".
• The government clamped down heavily on the people. There were violent clashes in many parts. While the hartal was successful in Delhi, Punjab and a few other places witnessed violence. In the wake of the violence, the hartal was suspended by Gandhi.
• The protests were very intense in Punjab. Two Congress leaders Dr. Satya Pal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew were arrested.
• The army was deployed in Punjab where martial law was enacted. The infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in Amritsar on 13th April 1919. The people had gathered in the enclosed garden to celebrate Baisakhi and also to condemn the arrest of the two leaders.
• General Dyer arrived there with his troops and without warning fired upon the unarmed crowd. According to the inquiry conducted by the Indian National Congress later, about 1500 people were killed that day.

After the Incident

• The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915. Gandhi soon began organizing his first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22).
• The then government of India ordered an investigation of the incident (the Hunter Commission), which in 1920 censured Dyer for his actions and ordered him to resign from the military.

Khilafat Movement (1920 - 1922)

• Turkey's Alliance against the British: Muslims all over the world, including India, regarded the sultan of Turkey as their spiritual leader, Khalifa (Caliph). During the First World War, Turkey had allied with Germany and Austria against the British.
• Discontented Indian Muslims: The Indian Muslims supported the government during the First World War with an understanding that the sacred places of the Ottoman Empire would be in the hands of Khalifa.
• However, after the War, the Ottoman Empire was divided, Turkey was dismembered and the Khalifa was removed from power.
• This angered the Muslims who took it as an insult to the Khalifa. The Ali brothers, Shoukat Ali and Mohammad Ali started the Khilafat Movement against the British government.

Non-Cooperation Movement (1920 - 1922)

• The Non-cooperation Movement was launched on 5th September 1920 by the Indian National Congress (INC) under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In September 1920, in a Congress session in Calcutta, the party introduced the Non-Cooperation programme. The period of the non-cooperation movement is taken as September 1920 to February 1922. It signified a new chapter in the history of the Indian freedom struggle.
• The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in the wake of a series of events including the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre & Rowlatt Act.

The non-cooperation movement was based on two aspects namely, struggle & rules of conduct. Here are some of its features:

• Renunciation from their titles and notable posts
• The non-cooperation movement pushed the use & manufacturing of goods & products made in India encouraged more & interdicted the use of British products.
• The most essential feature of the non-cooperation movement was to follow a non-violent & peaceful fight against British rules.
• Indians were asked to refuse to take part in elections for the legislative council.
• Prohibiting & withdrawing British education institutions

Causes of Non-Cooperation Movement

1. World War 1
2. Economic Crises
3. Khilafat Movement
4. Rowlatt Act
5. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement: In February 1922, at Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, twenty-two policemen were brutally killed by the violent mob after the conflict between the mob and the policemen of the Thana.
• The news shocked Gandhi too much. Not happy with the increasingly violent trend of the movement, he immediately announced the withdrawal of the movement.
• Most of the nationalist leaders including C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, Subhash Bose, and Jawaharlal Nehru, however, expressed their disagreement with Gandhi's decision to withdraw the movement.
• In March 1922, Gandhi was arrested and sentenced to six years in jail.

Swaraj Party (1923)

• After the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation movement and the arrest of Gandhiji in March 1922 and his conviction and imprisonment for 6 years, there was disintegration, disorganization and demoralization in the nationalist ranks.
• There arose the danger of the movement lapsing into passivity.
• Many began to question the wisdom of the total Gandhian strategy. Others started looking for ways out of the impasse.
• At this stage, a new lead was given by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru.
• These leaders proposed that instead of boycotting the legislature, non-cooperation should be carried into them.

Formation of Swaraj Party

• The proposal of council-entry attracted several congressmen but it was stoutly opposed by orthodox Gandhians led by Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel etc.
• There was a split in the Congress.
• The No-Changers or orthodox Gandhians decried the programme of council entry and desired the congress to follow Gandhi's constructive programme.
• The Pro-Changers or Swarajists wanted the constructive programme to be coupled with a political programme of council-entry.
• The matter came to a head in December 1922 at the Gaya Session of the Congress.
• Due to differences between the two schools of thought the proposal was defeated by 1748 to 890 votes.
• On being outvoted C.R. Das announced the formation of the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party better known later as the Swaraj Party on 31 December, 1922 with himself as President and Motilal as Secretary.
• The adherents of the council-entry programme came to be popularly known as pro-changers or Swarajists and those still advocating the boycott of the councils as no changes.

Arguments of Swarajists or Pro-Changers

• The Swarajists claimed that council entry would not negate
• the Non-Cooperation Movement. The idea was to wreck the reforms from within.
• The Swarajists said that work in the councils was necessary to fill in the temporary political void.
• This would keep up the morale of the politicized Indians and enthuse the people.
• By joining the councils, Congress could prevent the government from stuffing the council with undesirable elements and getting legitimacy for their laws.
• The Swarajists claimed that they would transform the legislatures into arenas of political struggle.

Arguments of No-Changers

• The no-changers opposed council entry mainly because parliamentary work would lead to the neglect of constructive and other work among the masses.
• It would lead to the loss of revolutionary zeal and political corruption.
• The legislators who would go into the councils to wreck them would gradually give up the politics of obstruction.
• They would get sucked into the imperial constitutional framework, and start cooperating with the Government on petty reforms and piecemeal legislation.
• Constructive work among the masses, on the other hand, would prepare them for the next round of civil disobedience.

Simon Commission (1927)

• The Government of India Act 1919 made a provision for a review committee on its work after 10 years. However, the conservative government was staring at defeat and it felt that this constitutional question couldn't be left in the hands of an inexperienced labour party. Thus the Indian Statutory Commission popularly known as the Simon Commission was appointed in 1927.
• Chairman - Sir John Simon
• However, as no Indian was on the committee it was met with boycott unanimously throughout India by all parties.
• Wherever the committee went it was greeted with black flags and hartals. The police response was brutal and many places saw lathi charges even on senior leaders. The youth got a chance for political demonstrations and many youth leagues sprang up throughout the country.

Why was the Simon Commission boycotted?

• Indians were outraged at their exclusion from the Commission.
• The Congress Party decided to boycott the Commission at their session at Madras in 1927.
• The Muslim League led by M A Jinnah also boycotted it.
• When the Commission landed in February 1928, there were mass protests, hartals and black flag demonstrations all over the country.
• People were chanting the slogan, 'Simon Go Back.'
• The police resorted to lathi charges to suppress the movement. Even senior leaders like Pandit Nehru were not spared.
• In Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai, who was leading the demonstration against the Simon Commission, was brutally lathi-charged. He died later that year due to injuries sustained then.
• Bhagat Singh planned to kill the Superintendent of Police Scott. who ordered a lathi-charge at the protestors as revenge for Lala Lajpat Rai's death. However, Bhagat Singh and his associates ended up killing the Assistant Superintendent of Police John P Saunders and went into hiding.

Nehru Report, (1928)

• At the annual session of the Congress in Madras in December 1927, a resolution was passed which advocated the boycott of the Simon Commission "at every stage and in every form".
• Other factions of the politicians also joined the suit.
• On February 3, 1928,   a complete Hartal was observed in Mumbai on the day when the Simon Commission landed in Bombay. Wherever the commission goes, people come out in processions and show him "Simon Go Back".
• But the commission had to do its duty. It visited twice in 1928 and 1929 and finally submitted its report in May 1930.
• But, it was not to be accepted by the Indian Leaders. The secretary of state for India was Lord Birkenhead, who threw a challenge to these congressmen to prepare a draft of the constitution of India. The political leaders accepted the challenge and this was followed by a call for All party conferences in February and May 1928.
• The outcome of the All Parties Conference was that a committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of Motilal Nehru, to draft the proposed constitution.
• The draft constitution was prepared which was called "Nehru Committee Report". This report was submitted on August 28, 1928, at the Lucknow conference of all the parties. But MA Jinnah Voted against this report.
• At the all-party conference held in Calcutta in 1928 to discuss the report, Jinnah made three amendments to the report:
• 1/3rd representation of Muslims in the Central Legislature. Reservation of Muslims in Punjab and Bengal in proportion to their populations until adult suffrage was established.
• Residual powers are to be vested with the provinces and not the centre.
• Since these demands of Jinnah were not met, he gave the 'Fourteen Points' in March 1929, which served as the basis of all future agenda of the League.

Key Points of Nehru Report

The main points of the Nehru report were as follows:

• India would be given Dominion status. This means independence within the British Commonwealth.
• India will be a federation that shall have a bicameral legislature at the centre and the Ministry would be responsible to the legislature.
• The Governor General of India would be the constitutional head of India and would have the same powers as that of the British Crown.
• There will be no separate electorate.
• The draft report also defined citizenship and fundamental rights.

14 point of Jinnah (9 March 1929)

• Jinnah the leader of the Muslim League did not accept the Nehru report.

Lahore Session (Dec 1929)

• Under the Presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru declared Porna Swaraj at Ravi River.
• On 31 December 1929, the newly adopted tri-colour flag unfurled.
• 26 January 1930 was fixed as independence day.

Dandi March Salt Satyagraha (1930)

• Gandhiji launched another civil disobedience movement along with 78 followers from Sabarmati ashram on 12 March 1930 for the small village Dandi (navsari district) to break the salt law.
• Gandhi covered a distance of 240 miles in 24 days (12 March to 5 April)
• On reaching the seashore on 6 April broke the salt law by picking up salt from the seashore.

Gandhi - Irwin Pact (5 March 1931)

• The rejection of demands put forward by Mahatma Gandhi in the Delhi Manifesto led to the Lahore Congress session. Later, under the civil disobedience movement, Gandhi put forward 11 demands and gave an ultimatum of January 31, 1930, to accept or reject. In July 1930 the viceroy, Lord Irwin, suggested a round table conference and reiterated the goal of dominion status.
• On January 25, 1931, Gandhi and all other members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) were released from jail unconditionally. The CWC authorised Gandhi to initiate discussions with the viceroy Lord Irwin. Later a pact was signed in Delhi, which came to be known as the Delhi- Pact or Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 in London.
• Sarojini Naidu called Gandhi and Irwin "the two Mahatmas".

Background of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact

• The Second Round Table Conference was to be held in 1931 in London.
• In 1930, the Salt Satyagraha was conducted and India and Gandhi received worldwide attention. The British government in India was criticised for its unjust treatment of Indians.
• Gandhi and many other leaders were imprisoned along with thousands of Indians.
• Lord Irwin wanted the issue to come to an end.
• So, Gandhi was released from prison in January 1931.
• The then Congress President Sardar Vallabhai Patel authorised Gandhi to hold talks with Lord Irwin.
• Accordingly, Gandhi met Irwin and held negotiations. It was for the first time that the two were meeting as 'equals'.

Features of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact

• The Indian National Congress (INC) agreed to take part in the Round Table Conference.
• The INC would stop the civil disobedience movement. Withdrawal of all ordinances that curbed the activities of the Congress.
• Withdrawal of all prosecutions except those involving violent crimes.
• Release of those who were arrested for taking part in the civil disobedience movement.
• Removal of the salt tax.

First Round Table Conference (12 Nov 1930)

• Viceroy- Lord Irwin (1926 to 1931)
• The First Round Table Conference (November 1930- January 1931) was held in London. After the launch of the civil disobedience movement by INC under the leadership of Gandhi and after his arrest there were widespread mass demonstrations and protests against the British. Therefore the British government felt the need to initiate talks with Indian leaders.
• The first round table conference held in 1930 was inaugurated by King George V on November 12, 1930, in London. The conference was chaired by the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald.
• the leaders of the Indian National Congress and business leaders did not participate in the first Round Table conference.
• Muslim League: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Mohammed Shafi, Aga Khan
• Hindu Mahasabha: B.S Monjee and M.R.Jayakar Depressed classes: Dr BR Ambedkar, Rettamalai Srinivasan
• Sikhs: Sardar Ujjal Singh

Second round Table Conference (1931)

• Viceroy- Lord Willingdon (1931 to 1936)
• The session started on 7 September 1931. The major difference between the first and the second conference was that the INC was participating in the second one. This was one of the results of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• The British decided to grant a communal award for representing minorities in India by providing separate electorates for minority communities. Gandhi was against this.
• In this conference, Gandhi and Ambedkar differed on the issue of separate electorates for the untouchables. Gandhi was against treating untouchables as separate from the Hindu community. This issue was resolved through the Poona Pact of 1932.
• Indian National Congress (INC) - Mahatma Gandhi
• Depressed classes - Dr BR Ambedkar
• Women - Sarojini Naidu
• Muslims - Md. Ali Jinnah, Aga Khan

Third Round Table Conference (1932)

• The third Round Table Conference took place between 17 November 1932 and 24 December 1932.
• Outcome:
•  Not much was achieved at this conference either. The recommendations of this conference were published in a White Paper in 1933 and later discussed in the British Parliament. The recommendations were analysed and the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed on its basis.

• Who attended all 3 round table conferences?

• B.R. Ambedkar and Tej Bahadur attended all three round table conferences. Mahatma Gandhi took part in the Second Round Table Conference

The Communal Award / Mac Donald Award (16 Aug 1932)

Poona Pact (24 Sep 1932)

• in 1932, B.R. Ambedkar negotiated the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi. The background to the Poona Pact was the Communal Award of August 1932 which provided a separate electorate for depressed classes.
• According to Gandhi caste issue is a social one. He wanted to reform it by changing the hearts and minds of people.
• Poona Pact was an agreement between Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi signed on September 24, 1932. This pact ended Gandhi's fast to death.
• The Poona Pact (September 1932) gave Depressed Classes (later to be known as Scheduled Caste) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils.
• Madan Mohan Malaviya signed it on behalf of Gandhi.

Pakistan Resolution / Lahore Resolution (24 March 1940)

• Chaudhary Rehmat Ali invented the term Pakistan in 1935.

August Offer / Linlithgow Offer (8 Aug 1940)

• The British government was to establish dominion status.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad President of the Congress rejected the August offers.
• Muslim league accept the offer.

Cripps India Mission (March - April 1942)

• In March 1942, a mission headed by Stafford Cripps was sent to India with constitutional proposals to seek Indian support for World War II.
• Indian nationalists had agreed to support the Allied on the condition that substantial power was transferred immediately and complete
• independence would be given after the war. Why did the Cripps Mission Fail? The proposals were seen as too radical by the British and as too conservative by the INC who wanted complete independence. The Mission was rejected by the INC, the Muslim League and other Indian groups.
• Mahatma Gandhi said that Cripps' offer of Dominion Status after the war was a "post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank".

Quit India Movement (1942)

• On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to end British rule and launched the Quit India Movement at the session of the All-India Congress Committee in Mumbai.
• Gandhiji gave the call "Do or Die" in his speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, now popularly known as August Kranti Maidan.
• Aruna Asaf Ali popularly known as the 'Grand Old Lady' of the Independence Movement is known for hoisting the Indian flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai during the Quit India Movement.
• The immediate cause for the movement was the collapse of Cripps Mission.
• The British assumption of unconditional support from India to the British in World War II was not taken well by the Indian National Congress.
• The anti-British sentiments and demand for full- independence had gained popularity among the Indian masses.
• Women Participation: Women took active participation in the movement. Female leaders like Usha Mehta helped set up an underground radio station which led to the awakening of the movement.
• Quit India term was coined by Yusuf Meherally.

CR Formula (1945)

• The objective of the CR Formula was to solve the political deadlock between the All-India Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. League's position was that the Muslims and Hindus of British India were two separate nations and hence the Muslims had the right to their own nation.
• The Core principle of the CR Formula was a proposal for the Congress to offer the League Muslim Pakistan based on a plebiscite of all the peoples in the regions where Muslims made a majority.
• V.D. Savarkar condemned the plan.

Wavell Plan and Shimla Conference (14 Jun -14 Jul 1945)

• Viceroy: Lord Wavell (1943-1947)
• The Wavell Plan was first presented at the Shimla Conference in 1945. It was named after the Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell.
• It is also known as the Breakdown Plan.
• Formation of a new Executive Council at the centre in which all the members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indian.
• In the Proposed Executive Council which was to have 14 members, the Muslims who constituted only about 25% of the total population were given the right to be overrepresented by selecting 6 representatives.
• The Congress while objecting to the demand asserted its rights to select the representative of any community, including Muslims, as the Congress nominees to the Council.

Royal Indian Navy / Rating Mutiny (18 Feb 1946)

• Bombay rating of HMS Talwar struck work due to flagrant racial discrimination unpalatable food and abuse after the arrest of B.C Dutt.
• On 19 Feb HMS Hindustan in Karachi also mutinied.
• Vallab Bhai Patel and Jinnah Jointly persuaded the rating to surrender on 23 Feb 1946.

Cabinet Mission (Mar 1946)

• Prime Minister Lord Attlee made a declaration on 15 March 1946 regarding constitutional reform to be introduced in India.
• Lord Pathick Lawrence, Stafford Cripps and A.V Alexander visited India.
• Muslims accepted the plan on 6 Jun 1946.

Formation of  Constituent Assembly (9 Dec 1946)

• Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as president.
• Muslim league did not join the assembly.
• the first session of the constitution assembly on 13 Dec 1946 by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.
• the constituent assembly appointed the drafting committee with DR. B.R Ambedkar as the chairman on 29 Aug 1947 and constitutional advisor B.N Rao.
• the drafting committee headed by DR. B.R Ambedkar submitted a draft constitution of India to the president of the assembly on 21 Feb 1948.
• Third and Final reading of the draft was completed on 26 Nov 1949.
• 26 Nov observed as Constitution Day. 
• On 26 Jan 1950 date is referred to in the constitution as the Date of its commencement.