INDIAN HISTORY
CHAPTER 1
The Rise and Growth of Indian Nationalism/Feelings of oneness) /1885 – 1905)
The East India Company who came as traders gradually began to
interfere in the internal politics of the country. For instance, they took part
in the internal politics which cemented them in rising in the real power. Some
of the puppet rulers who helped the EIC
in establishing their power were Nawabs like Mir Zafar, Mir Kasim, etc…. from
the historical point of view, the battle of Buxar greatly helped the EIC in
assuming the real power in the disguise of dual administration. Similarly in
the Bengal area, with the grant of Diwani Right (State Right 1765), the British
got the right of collecting the revenues on behalf of the Mughal Emperor. All
in all, these helped the company to start the policy of expansion throughout
India.
Gradually, for the next hundred years, the rule of the Company
became consolidated though the resistance against this alien rule continued by
the Indians. The great revolt of 1857 was the culmination of this resistance
against the alien rule. Slowly the EIC who first came as traders began to
extend their power through various means. With their policy of expansion and
exploitation, they started introducing railways, Telegraph, postal system and
all these indirectly had tremendous impact on the Indians. For instance, the
foundation of Culcutta, Bombay and Madras universities were kind of tacit
recognition of the demand of the Indians for higher education.
Slowly Indians began to open their eyes and came to know the true
colors of the British rule. Thus Indians surmise that the EIC in India was not
at all to benefit any Indians but to exploit whole of India. Hence, the period
1885-1905 is very important in the history of India because it was during this
period that witnessed the growth of Nationalism.
Factors responsible for the
Rise of Nationalism
i)
Administrative
and Economic Unity
Ø To rule and apply uniform law, the British
government has introduced railways, telegraph and postal system but such
facilities created opportunities to the people of different parts of contact
especially the political leaders
Ø With easy transport facilities, books and
journals reached the other parts of country and thus the love for mother land
gradually developed among Indians
Ø These facilities could also open contacts
among the people because they could travel from one place to another breaking
the isolation and this developed a feeling of oneness.
Ø Also, all the Indians had to follow same laws
and uniform administration which promoted the sense of belongings to one nation
and share common identity as Indians, which enhanced the growth of Nationalism.
Impact
v The improvement in communications and
increasing travelling facilities created opportunities to the people to
exchange their ideas.
v Easier/accessible contact made the people to
develop a feeling of oneness
v The printing materials like books, newsletter,
and journals are easily reached the other parts of India.
ii)
Western
Thoughts and Education
Ø John Macaulay introduced western education in
India with good intention but they were influenced by the western writers like
Milton and Shelly.
Ø He said that the Indians having western
knowledge will benefit the European Institutions.
Ø It gave rise to the new class known as ENGLISH
EDUCATED INDIANS who led the national movement.
Ø Many Indians went to England for further
western education.
Ø There they saw the different British political
institution and it was just opposite in India.The humiliation of British rule
and its colonial attitude made the Indians annoyed with the British.
Impact
v It brought liberal ideas of the west such as
freedom, democracy and nationalism
v English became a link language/ medium of
instruction
Unemployment increased and forced the educated
youth to join the movement.
iii)
The
Role of the Press and Literature
Ø In the 19th century, newspaper like
Hindu Patriot, Sambad Prabhakar and Indian Mirror have not only criticized the
government but also exposed the Indian views.
Ø In the second half of the 19th
century, newspaper like –the times of India, Pioneer and statesman have
supported the government policies but people were informed about the political
developments of the country
Ø Others like Amrita Bazar and the Hindu have
not only criticized the government but also Indians were instructed to unite
against the British Rule.
Ø Tilak has written articles in Keshari through
which people were reminded to seek the natural rights and freedom from the
British Government.
Ø Indian Literatures like Anandanath of Bankim
Chandra Chatterjee has greatly inspired the youths regarding the idea of
fighting against the British rule and it has become a bible of the Bengal
revolutionaries
Ø Thus, press and literature had greatly
promoted the sense of Nationalism
Impact
v The papers strongly criticized the government
policy and put forward Indian view points
v The Indian literature of the period also
helped the cause of Indian Nationalism
iv)
Economic
Exploitation of India
Ø The Economic Policy of East India Company was
Permanent Settlements, the Ryotwars and Mahalwari Settlements.
Ø This economic policy affected the peasants,
artisans and labourers.
Ø Peasants were so poor that they could not
contest in the court of law.
Ø Their lands were evicted easily by the
landlords.
Ø The Indian market was flooded with the
machine-made products of England. This
compelled the Indian craftsmen to leave their age-old profession.
Ø EIC ruined the cottage industry and
handicrafts in India.
Ø Indians lost their livelihood. Hence, the peasants, artisans and labourers
revolt took place.
Impact
Ø The peasants were in poor condition.
Ø Indian handicraft industry was totally
shattered.
Ø A huge art of money/resources were drained off
from India and nothing was left for welfare of Indian people.
v)
Racial
Discrimination
Ø The British people, administrators and the
army officers were very arrogant towards the Indians and did not mix freely
with the Indians, treated them as niggers.
Ø British followed the following racial
discriminatory policies;
o
Indians
were not allowed to use parks, clubs, hospitals and travel in the first class
trains.
o
Indians
were not given any powers in the legislative council
o
All
important posts were given to the british
Ø The higher posts were exclusively for the
Europeans. For example, Surendranath
Banerjee was dismissed from the ICS service.
Ø Pandit Jawaharlal Nehuru had described the
situation as THERE WERE TWO WORLS- THE WORLD OF BRITISH OFFICIALS AND THE WORLD
OF INDIANS MILLIONS AND THERE WAS NOTHING IN COMMON BETWEEN THEM EXCEPT A
COMMON DISLIKE FOR EACHOTHER.
Ø Such kind of anti-Indian policies adopted by British was totally hated by the Indians
and thus, promoted the sense of Nationalism among Indians
Impact
o
The
British rulers considered themselves to be racially superior and considered Indians
as sub-human
o
Higher
services remained exclusively for the Europeans
ü Lord Lytton’s Arms Act- 1878
ü Vernacular press Act- 1878
vi)
Socio-Religious
movements and the Discovery of India’s Past
Ø Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the founder of Brahma
Samaj, he was the first man who started political agitation in India and he was
the first modern man of India.
Ø Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founded the Arya
Samaj and Suddhin movement that is conversion of non-Hindus to Hinduism.
Ø Swami Vivekananda instilled feelings of
patriotism and was known as the prophet of Nationalism
Ø The Indian researchers made Indians proud of
their heritage and ancient glory.
Impact
v The various socio-religious movements of the
19th century prepared the ground for the growth of nationalism
ü Raja Ram Mohan Roy- the first modern man of
India led Bramo Samaj
ü Swami Vivekananda- prophet of nationalism
ü Mrs. Annie Besant- the theosophical movement.
India’s past gave the sense of pride in
culture and heritage
vii)
Role
of Lord Lytton
Ø Lord Lytton was Viceroy of India from 1876 –
1880.
Ø His tenure is well known for his Anti-Indian
Attitude due to the following works:
§ He reduced the age limit for the civil service
examination from 21 to 19, thus making it impossible for Indians to compete for
it.
§ He enacted Vernacular Press Act 1878 which did
not permit the Vernacular Press to publish any anti-government news.
§ If any printer was found guilty, they were
heavily fined and their machines confiscated and they were severely punished.
§ He enacted the Indian Arms Act in 1878,
Indians were not allowed to sell or purchase any arms without permission of
British authority. This act was not
applicable to the Europeans.
Impact
Ø Age limit for civil service examination was
reduced to 21-19 years.
Ø He enacted vernacular press act (1878) by not
permitting the vernacular press to publish any anti-news (gagging Act)
Ø He also enacted the Indian Arms Act (1878)
whereby, the Indians were not allowed to sell or purchase any arms without the
permission of the authority.
Ø This was not applicable to the Europeans.
viii)
Ilbert
Bill Controversy (1883-1884)
(The Ilbert
Bill was a bill introduced in 1883 for British India by Lord
Ripon that
proposed an amendment for existing laws in the country at the time to allow Indian judges
and magistrates the jurisdiction to try British offenders in criminal cases at
the District level, something that was disallowed at the time. However, the
introduction of the bill led to intense opposition in Britain and from British settlers in India that
ultimately played on racial tensions before it was enacted in 1884 in a
severely compromised state. The bitter controversy deepened antagonism between
the British and Indians and was a prelude to the formation of the Indian
National Congress the
following year.)
The
next Viceroy who came to rule India was Lord Ripon and he was a liberal minded
person. He knew that Indians were
suffering in the hands of British. So he
wanted to remove discrimination in the field of Judiciary. According to the existing law, Indian Judges
had no authority to take cases against the Europeans. Lord Ripon wanted to remove this
anomaly. So he introduced a Bill (Law)
known as ILBERT BILL. According to this
bill, he wanted the Indian Judges to decide the cases of the Europeans. All the Europeans were united and were
against Lord Ripons new bill. So Lord
Ripon changed the bill, like the Indians can try the case only with the help of
the Europeans and they cannot do alone.
The
Indians learnt that organized agitation could deflect the government from its
purpose. So it was an eye-opener to the
India leaders.
Impact
o
The
controversy on this bill passed by lord Ripon became an eye-opener to the
Indian leaders
o
They
learnt that the value of organized agitation could deflect the government from
its purpose
ix)
Current
International events and its impacts
Ø The International events like the American War
of Independence and the Greek War of Independence inspired the Indians to
believe in their power against the British for their Independence.
Impact
v The international events like the American war of independence,
the French revolution etc. greatly fired the imagination of the young Indians
v It served as great source of inspiration to
the educated Indians.
x)
Contribution
of Important Personalities
Ø Surendranath Banerjee influenced the students
with his lectures on the rise of Sikh power and Italian Freedom Movement.
Ø He inspired Gokhale who served the motherland.
Ø Rabindranath Tagore inspired the Indian with
his poems like Shivaji, Sikh Guru Banda and Guru Govind.
Impact
v Important personalities like SN Banerjee, M.G Ranade, Gokhale,
Rabindranath Tagore, had greatly influenced and stirred the Indian minds.
v Leader like Derozio taught and infused in them
the spirit of patriotism
Beginning of Political Agitation
Ø Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first person to start
political agitation in India as follows
ü In 1823 when the Acting Governor General Adam
issued a Press Ordinance taking away the liberty of the press. He submitted a
petition to the Supreme Court and to the King in London against the Ordinance.
ü He opposed the Jury Act of 1926 which
introduced religious discrimination.
ü He demanded the replacement of Persian by
English as the official language.
ü He demanded separation of executive and
judiciary.
ü He demanded appointment of Indians in the Civil
Service.
Ø Although all his above demand remained
unfulfilled, the political agitation was continued by other people in India. In
this way, the agitation tradition started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy was carried on.
FORMATION OF VARIOUS POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN INDIA BEFORE THE FORMATION OFINDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS BETWEEN THE PERIODS (1870-1885)
Ø The land holder’s society of Bengal, Bihar and
Orrisa (1837) to protect the class interest
Ø British India society in England (1839) -It
was established to protect free traders in England
Ø Bengal British India Society (1843/48)- to
protect and promote general public interest
Ø British Indian Association(1851)- It is an
culmination of the landholders society and Bengal British to have an organized
All India Movement
Ø Formation of Bombay Association and Madras
Native Association in 1852
Ø Formation of madras Native Association in 1852
Ø Formation of India League in 1857 which was
targeted to instill the sense of Nationalism in the minds of Indians
Ø Formation of new association ‘Indian league’
(1875) later replaced by ‘Indian Association’ (26 July,1876) in Calcutta by
Surrendranath Banerjee. It had three objectives;
1)
Creation
of a strong body of public opinion in the country
2)
Unity
among all the Indian races based on common political interests and aspiration
3)
To
promote friendly feelings between Hindus and Muhammadans and to involve the
great masses in the great public movement of the day.
SOME OF THE ISSUES RAISED BY THE “INDIAN ASSOCIATION”
v Regarding the reduction of age limit for civil
service examination (21-19 yrs) to be raised to 22 years.
v Against Vernacular Press Act which denied the
freedom of press for Indians
v M.G. Ranade- ‘Poona Sarvajanik Sabha’.
ü It brought out a journal arousing political
consciousness
ü Its aim was to educate the public opinion
ü To draw the attention of the government to the
economic hardships of the people
v The Bombay Presidency Association led by
Dadabhai Naraoji, Pheroz Shah Mehta, Badrudin Tyabji were also raised and
worked successfully.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VARIOUS POLITICAL ASSOCIATION/FORERUNNERS OF INC (INDIANNATIONAL CONGRESS)
v It laid the foundation for the formation of
INC
v After 1885, these associations became the
regional branch of the INC
The Foundation of the Indian
National Congress (INC):
Since the situation was already created with the formation of
various associations by different leaders like S.N. Banerjee, M.G Ranade etc.
It became easier for the formation of INC. Thus the situation was well prepared
for the formation of an All India
Political Organization. So, the Indian
association took advantage of the international exhibition which is going
to be held at Calcutta and invited all prominent leaders and other associations
of the country. Thus the Indian
Association has been rightly described as the precursor of INC.
It can also be said that the INC was formed by the combined
efforts of both the English men and the Indian Leaders. A.O. Hume, a retired
official is said to be the founder of INC. The first meeting of INC was held at
Bombay in 1885 with W.C Bannerjee (a renowned barrister of Bengal) as its first
President of INC. After the foundation of INC, political movement started in an
organized manner and decided to meet every year.
Factors responsible for the origin of INC
Ø As a result of the growth of national
consciousness, many political organizations came into existence during the
second half of the 19th century. The gulf between the educated
Indians and the British Officials was widening. This paved the way for the
formation of an organization which could build public opinion against the
government. So, we can say that the formation of the congress cannot be
ascribed to the initiative of an individual only. The situation was already
ripe/ready for the formation of all-India Organization.
Ø The role of A.O. Hume (a retired Indian Civil
Servant) – A.O Hume wanted to set up an organization that would draw the
attention of government towards the drawbacks of administration and also
suggest the means to remove it. In fact many Indian leaders had been planning
to form an all-India Organization of Nationalist political workers, but it was
British official A.O Hume who was successful in doing so.
Ø The role of Lord Dufferin- the INC got the
blessings of Lord Dufferin because his idea was to have a political
organization through which the government could ascertain the real wishes of
the people and thus save the administration from any possible political
outburst in the country.
Ø Similarly, the Indian leaders co-operated with
A.O Hume to avoid official hostility at an early stage of their political work.
Thus it can be concluded that the formation of the Indian National Congress was
the result of the combined efforts of Englishmen and Indians though both the
parties were having different motives.
According to W.C Bannerjee in 1898, A.O Hume had acted under the
direct advice of Viceroy Lord Dufferin. His view is that A.O Hume and viceroy
had planned to use the congress as the ‘safety
valve’ (a way
of getting rid of strong feelings without causing harm)so that grievance of the middle class would
exhaust themselves by criticizing the government and its actions. However, the
formation of the INC cannot be ascribed to the initiative of an individual
only. The situation was ready for the formation of an All-India Organization.
Surrendranath Bannerjee and Hume tried to take advantage of the situation. Thus
Anil seal of the Cambridge Group suggested that it was the ‘Age of the Association’ and congress or
something like it was bound to emerge under the compulsion of the history.
Official Attitude towards the Congress
The INC was formed by the combined efforts of both the Englishmen
and Indian leaders to fulfill their own motives/purposes. That is why in the
beginning, the congress was not anti-British in its attitude. They respected
British liberalism and justice. Similarly, in the initial stage, many
government officials attended the meeting of the congress and even took part in
the deliberation and drafting of the resolution.
However, the general attitude of the British people was not very
cordial from the very beginning. E.g. the British press from the beginning
regarded the congress as the greatest enemy of the British rule. Gradually the
official attitude of sympathy changed when the congress leaders demanded more
constitutional reforms especially after the second and third sessions. The
congresses were regarded as the ‘Factory of Sedition’ and congress leaders were regarded as ‘Disloyal Baboos’
and ‘seditious
Brahmins’ by the British officials.
Viceroy Dufferin branded Congress as a ‘Microscopic minority’. Another Viceroy Lytton remarked that
the members “represent
nothing but the social anomaly of their own position”.However, they feared that the few
intelligent minorities would determine the course of history or the fate of a
nation. In other words, the officials feared that the few educated
intelligentsia would disrupt their Administration. So, the government started
adopting Anti-Congress elements against the congress. Following are the some of
the measures implemented by the government against the congress:
Ø Most important measure was to create
misunderstanding between Hindus and Muslim by encouraging Syed Ahmed Khan
Ø The Government became more hostile under the
viceroy Curzon and started following a policy of favoring the anti-congress
elements like pressurizing the rich and aristocratic to withdraw their
patronage from the congress. However, the British officials failed to realize
that the middle, not the rich and the wealthy class was the backbone of INC.
THE PROGRAMME AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE EARLY MODERATES/NATIONALISTS [1885-1905]
The early moderates/nationalist leaders followed the policy of
Prayers and petition. They didn’t want to annoy the government at an early
stage and were cautious in their demands. They believe in the policy of
agitation through constitutional means of holding public meetings and sending
petitions. At the session, the government policy was discussed and resolutions
were passed in a force full manner and lasted for only three days a year.
That’s why it is also known as “Three
days tamasha” by Aswini Kumar Dutta.
DEMANDS OF THE EARLY CONGRESS/MODERATES
v CONSTITUTIONAL
DEMAND AND ADMINISTRATIVE REORGANISATION
ü The organization of the provincial council
ü The abolition or reconstitution of the Indian
Council
ü Separation of the judiciary from the executive
v CIVIL
RIGHTs
ü Simultaneous examination for ICSE in India and
England
ü The appointment of Indians to the commissioner
ranks in the army
v ECONOMIC
RELIEF
ü The reduction of military expenditure
ü The total abolition of duty on salt and sugar
ü Reduction
of land tax for the benefit of the peasantry
Of all
the demands, the economic demands were radical in nature- they wanted to change
the existing economic relation between India and England by opposing the
alien/foreign rulers to convert India into a supplier of raw materials and a
market for British products. Criticisms were made on government policy on
trade, tariff, transports and taxation.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE EARLY MODERATES
Though the early nationalists didn’t achieve success in the early
period (1885-1905), their contributions cannot be underestimated.
Ø The early nationalists/moderates were
successful in creating a wide national awakening.
Ø The congress was true national body in true
sense of term- ‘the door was open to all the classes and communities’. The
program was broad enough to accommodate all interests.
Ø Throughout their economic propaganda the early
nationalists exposed the exploiting nature of the British government. (draining
of wealth)
Ø The moderates were also successful in
popularizing the democratic ideas, civil rights/liberty and the values of
representative institutions and also gave a reality to the ideal of Indian
unity; develop patriotic feelings among all classes of people.
Ø Most importantly,
the early nationalists laid strong foundations for the national movement to
grow upon and they deserve a high place among the makers of Modern India.
CRITICISM ON EARLY MODERATES/WHY THE NATIONAL CONGRESS LOST POPULARITY
The early moderates have been criticized for their moderation.
Following are the some of the reasons why the early moderates could not achieve
much.
o
The
early moderate leaders followed the policy of prayer and petition. Their
methods and demands were moderates in nature, referred by Tilak as “Political Mendicancy”.
o
The
moderates gradually lost their significance/popularity with emergence of the
extremist leaders.
o
The
moderate were mostly Anglicized in their personal life and maintained highly
elitist (sophisticated) life style. So, didn’t have contact with the
masses/common people.
But still the moderates made valuable contributions for the
country which bore fruits in the long-run.
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