Nationalist Movements In India

The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.

The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. It later took root in the newly formed Indian National Congress with prominent moderate leaders seeking the right to appear for Indian Civil Service examinations in British India, as well as more economic rights for natives. The first half of the 20th century saw a more radical approach towards self-rule by the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate, Aurobindo Ghosh and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.

The final stages of the independence struggle from the 1920s was characterized by Congress' adoption of Mahatma Gandhi's policy of non-violence and civil disobedience. Intellectuals such as Rabindranath Tagore, Subramania Bharati, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay spread patriotic awareness. Female leaders like Sarojini Naidu, Pritilata Waddedar, and Kasturba Gandhi promoted the emancipation of Indian women and their participation in the freedom struggle.

Few leaders followed a more violent approach. This became especially popular after the Rowlatt Act, which permitted indefinite detention. The Act sparked protests across India, especially in the Punjab province, where they were violently suppressed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

The Indian independence movement was in constant ideological evolution. Essentially anti-colonial, it was supplemented by visions of independent, economic development with a secular, democratic, republican, and civil-libertarian political structure. After the 1930s, the movement took on a strong socialist orientation. It culminated in the Indian Independence Act 1947, which ended Crown suzerainty over India and created Pakistan.

India remained a Crown Dominion until 26 January 1950, when the Constitution of India established the Republic of India. Pakistan remained a dominion until 1956 when it adopted its first constitution. In 1971, East Pakistan declared its own independence as Bangladesh.

Background

Early British Colonialism in India

The first European to reach India was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who reached Calicut in 1498 in search of spice. Just over a century later, the Dutch and English established trading outposts on the Indian subcontinent, with the first English trading post set up at Surat in 1613.

Over the next two centuries, the British defeated the Portuguese and Dutch but remained in conflict with the French. The decline of the Mughal Empire in the first half of the eighteenth century allowed the British to establish a foothold in Indian politics. During the Battle of Plassey, the East India Company's Army defeated Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and the company established itself as a major player in Indian affairs. After the Battle of Buxar of 1764, it gained administrative rights over Bengal, Bihar and the Midnapur part of Odisha.

After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, most of southern India came either under the company's direct rule, or under its indirect political control in a subsidiary alliance. The Company subsequently seized control of regions ruled by the Maratha Empire, after defeating them in a series of wars. Much of Punjab was annexed in 1849, after the defeat of Sikh armies in the First (1845–46) and Second (1848–49) Anglo-Sikh Wars.
File:Clive.jpg, Robert Clive with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey. Mir Jafar's betrayal towards the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal in Plassey made the battle one of the main factors of British supremacy in the sub-continent.
File:Tipu death.jpg, ''The Last Effort and Fall of Tipu Sultan'' by Henry Singleton, c. 1800. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore, most of South India was now either under the company's direct rule, or under its indirect political control.

Early Rebellions

Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone was an early rebel against the British presence in Tamil Nadu. He became a military leader in the town of Ettayapuram and was defeated in battle against the British and Maruthanayagam's forces. He was executed in 1757. He was considered among the earliest freedom fighters. Tamil Nadu Government under former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa inaugurated his statue in Chennai, opposite to Egmore Railway station.Puli Thevar opposed the Nawab of Arcot, who was supported by the British.

In Eastern India and across the country, Indigenous communities organized numerous rebellions against the British and their fellow dominant caste oppressors, especially landlords and moneylenders. One of the earliest of these on record was led by Binsu Manki around 1771 over the transfer of Jharkhand to the East India Company. The Rangpur Dhing took place from 1782 to 1783 in nearby Rangpur, Bengal. Following the Binsu Manki's revolt in Jharkhand, numerous rebellions across the region took place including the Bhumij Revolt of Manbhum from 1798 to 1799; the Chero Uprising of Palamu in 1800 under the leadership of Bhukan Singh, and two uprising of the Munda community in Tamar region, during 1807 led by Dukan Mank, and 1819-20 under the leadership Bundu and Konta. The Ho Rebellion took place when the Ho community first came in contact with the British, from 1820 to 1821 near Chaibasa on the Roro River in West Singhbhum, but were defeated by the technologically enhanced colonial cavalry. A larger Bhumij Revolt occurred near Midnapur in Bengal, under the leadership of Ganga Narain Singh who had previously also been involved in co-leading the Chuar Rebellions in these regions from 1771 to 1809. Syed Mir Nisar Ali Titumir was an Islamic preacher who led a peasant uprising against the Hindu Zamindars of Bengal and the British during the 19th century. Along with his followers, he built a bamboo fort (''Bansher Kella'' in Bengali) in Narkelberia Village, which gained a prominent place into Bengali folk legend. After the storming of the fort by British soldiers, Titumir died of his wounds on 19 November 1831. These rebellions lead to larger regional movements in Jharkhand and beyond such as the Kol Insurrection led by Singhray and Binray Manki, where the Kol ( Munda, Oraon, Bhumij and Ho communities) united to rebel against the "outsiders" from 1830 -1833.

The Santhal Hul was a movement of over 60,000 Santhals that happened from 1855 to 1857 (but started as early as 1784) and was particularly led by siblings - brothers Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav and their sisters Phulo and Jhano from the Murmu clan in its most fervent years that lead up to the Revolt of 1857. More than 100 years of such escalating rebellions created grounds for a large, impactful, millenarian movement in Eastern India that again shook the foundations of British rule in the region, under the leadership of Birsa Munda. Birsa Munda belonged to the Munda community and lead thousands of people from Munda, Oraon, and Kharia communities in "Ulgulaan" (revolt) against British political expansion and those who advanced it, against forceful conversions of Indigenous peoples into Christianity (even creating a Birsaite movement), and against the displacement of Indigenous peoples from their lands. To subdue these rising tensions which were getting increasingly out of control of the British, they aggressively set out to search for Birsa Munda, even setting up a reward for him. They brutally attacked the Dombari Hills where Birsa had repaired a water tank and made his revolutionary headquarters between January 7–9, 1900, murdering a minimum of 400 of the Munda warriors who had congregated there, akin to the attacks on the people at Jallianwallah Bagh, however, receiving much less attention. The hills are known as "Topped Buru" today - the mound of the dead. Birsa was ultimately captured in the Jamkopai forest in Singhbhum, and assassinated by the British in jail in 1900, with a rushed cremation/burial conducted to ensure his movement was subdued.

The toughest resistance the Company experienced was offered by Mysore. The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in over the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East India Company (represented chiefly by the Madras Presidency), and Maratha Confederacy and the Nizam of Hyderabad on the other. Hyder Ali and his successor Tipu Sultan fought a war on four fronts with the British attacking from the west, south, and east, while the Marathas and the Nizam's forces attacked from the north. The fourth war resulted in the overthrow of the house of Hyder Ali and Tipu (who was killed in the final war, in 1799), and the dismantlement of Mysore to the benefit of the East India Company, which won and took control of much of India. Pazhassi Raja was the prince regent of the princely state of Cotiote in North Malabar, near Kannur, India between 1774 and 1805. He fought a guerrilla war with tribal people from Wynad supporting him. He was captured by the British and his fort was razed to the ground.

In 1766 the Nizam of Hyderabad transferred the Northern Circars to the British authority. The independent king Jagannatha Gajapati Narayan Deo II of Paralakhemundi estate situated in today's Odisha and in the northernmost region of the then political division was continuously revolting against the French occupants since 1753 as per the Nizam's earlier handover of his estate to them on similar grounds. Narayan Deo II fought the British at Jelmur fort on 4 April 1768 and was defeated due to superior firepower of the British. He fled to the tribal hinterlands of his estate and continued his efforts against the British until his natural death on the Fifth of December 1771.

Rani Velu Nachiyar (1730–1796), was a queen of Sivaganga from 1760 to 1790. Rani Nachiyar was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using stick), horse riding and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English, and Urdu. When her husband, Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar, was killed in battle with British soldiers and the forces of the Nawab of Arcot, she was drawn into battle. She formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British, whom she successfully challenged in 1780. When the inventories of the Britishers were discovered, she is said to have arranged a suicide attack by a faithful follower, Kuyili, dousing herself in oil and setting herself alight and walking into the storehouse. Rani formed a women's army named "Udaiyaal" in honour of her adopted daughter, who had died detonating a British arsenal. Rani Nachiyar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom, and ruled it for a decade more.

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an eighteenth-century Polygar and chieftain from Panchalankurichi in Tamil Nadu, India who waged the Polygar war against the East India Company. He was captured by the British and hanged in 1799 CE. Kattabomman refused to accept the sovereignty of East India Company, and fought against them. Dheeran Chinnamalai was a Kongu Nadu chieftain and Palayakkarar from Tamil Nadu who fought against the East India Company. After Kattabomman and Tipu Sultan's deaths, Chinnamalai sought the help of Marathas and Maruthu Pandiyar to attack the British at Coimbatore in 1800. The British forces managed to stop the armies of the allies, forcing Chinnamalai to attack Coimbatore on his own. His army was defeated and he escaped from the British forces. Chinnamalai engaged in guerrilla warfare and defeated the British in battles at Cauvery in 1801, Odanilai in 1802 and Arachalur in 1804.

In 1804 the King of Khordha, Kalinga was deprived of his traditional rights to the Jagannath Temple. In retaliation, a group of armed Paiks attacked the British at Pipili. Jayee Rajguru, the chief of Army of Kalinga requested a common alliance against the British. After Rajguru's death, Bakshi Jagabandhu launched an armed rebellion against the East India Company's rule in Odisha. This is now known as the Paik Rebellion, the first Rebellion against the British East India Company.

File:Puli Thevar Statue in his Nerkattumseval Palace 2013-08-12 06-35.jpeg, Puli Thevar
File:Veera Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja.jpg, Pazhassi Raja, fought the British in a series of continuous struggles for 13 years during the Cotiote War.
File:Velu Nachchiyar 2008 stamp of India.jpg, Velu Nachiyar
File:Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone.jpg, Maveeran Azhagu Muthukon
File:Bakshi Jagabandhu.jpg, Statue of Bakshi Jagabandhu, the leader of Paika Rebellion
File:Ganga Narayan Singh.jpg, Ganga Narayan Singh, leader of Bhumij rebellion
File:Birsa Munda, photograph in Roy (1912-72).JPG, Birsa Munda, leader of Munda rebellion (Ulgulan)
File:Stamp of India - 2002 - Colnect 158245 - Sido Murmu - Kanhu Murmu.jpeg, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, leaders of Santhal rebellion

Rebellion of 1857

The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a large rebellion in the northern and central India against the East India Company. It was suppressed and the British government took control of the company. The conditions of service in the company's army and cantonments increasingly came into conflict with the religious beliefs and prejudices of the sepoys. The predominance of members from the upper castes in the army, perceived loss of caste due to overseas travel, and rumours of secret designs of the government to convert them to Christianity led to growing discontent. The sepoys were also disillusioned by their low salaries and the racial discrimination practised by British officers in matters of promotion and privileges.

The indifference of the British towards native Indian rulers and the annexation of Oudh furthered dissent. The Marquess of Dalhousie's policy of annexation, the doctrine of lapse and the projected removal of the Mughals from their ancestral palace at Red Fort also led to popular anger.

The final spark was provided by the rumoured use of tallow (from cows) and lard (pig fat) in the newly introduced Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle cartridges. Soldiers had to bite the cartridges with their teeth before loading them into their rifles, ingesting the fat. This was sacrimonious to both Hindus and Muslims.

Mangal Pandey was sepoy who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857. His defiance to his British superiors and later his execution ignited the fire for 1857 Indian Rebellion.

On 10 May 1857, the sepoys at Meerut broke rank and turned on their commanding officers, killing some of them. They reached Delhi on 11 May, set the company's toll house on fire, and marched into the Red Fort, where they asked the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, to become their leader and reclaim his throne. The emperor eventually agreed and was proclaimed ''Shehenshah-e-Hindustan'' by the rebels. The rebels also murdered much of the European, Eurasian, and Christian population of the city.

Revolts broke out in other parts of Oudh and the North-Western Provinces as well, where civil rebellion followed the mutinies, leading to popular uprisings. The British were initially caught off-guard and were thus slow to react, but eventually responded with force. The lack of effective organisation among the rebels, coupled with the military superiority of the British, brought a rapid end to the rebellion. The British fought the main army of the rebels near Delhi, and after prolonged fighting and a siege, defeated them and reclaimed the city on 20 September 1857.Subsequently, revolts in other centres were also crushed. The last significant battle was fought in Gwalior on 17 June 1858, during which Rani Lakshmibai was killed. Sporadic fighting and guerrilla warfare, led by Tatya Tope, continued until spring 1859, but most of the rebels were eventually subdued.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a turning point. While affirming the military and political power of the British, it led to a significant change in how India was to be controlled by them. Under the Government of India Act 1858, the East India Company's territory was transferred to the British government. At the apex of the new system was a Cabinet minister, the Secretary of State for India, who was to be formally advised by a statutory council; the Governor-General of India (Viceroy) was made responsible to him, while he in turn was responsible to the government.

In a royal proclamation made to the people of India, Queen Victoria promised equal opportunity of public service under British law, and also pledged to respect the rights of native princes. The British stopped the policy of seizing land from the princes, decreed religious tolerance and began to admit Indians into the civil service. However, they also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native Indian ones, and allowed only British soldiers to handle artillery. Bahadur Shah was exiled to Rangoon where he died in 1862.

In 1876 the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli proclaimed Queen Victoria the Empress of India. The British Liberals objected as the title was foreign to British traditions.

Rise of organized movements

The decades following the Rebellion were a period of growing political awareness, the manifestation of Indian public opinion and the emergence of Indian leadership at both national and provincial levels. Dadabhai Naoroji formed the East India Association in 1867 and Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian National Association in 1876. Inspired by a suggestion made by A.O. Hume, a retired Scottish civil servant, seventy-two Indian delegates met in Bombay in 1885 and founded the Indian National Congress. They were mostly members of the upwardly mobile and successful western-educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such as law, teaching and journalism. At its inception, Congress had no well-defined ideology and commanded few of the resources essential to a political organization. Instead, it functioned more as a debating society that met annually to express its loyalty to the British and passed numerous resolutions on less controversial issues such as civil rights or opportunities in government (especially in the civil service). These resolutions were submitted to the Indian government and occasionally to the British Parliament, but the Congress's early gains were slight. "Despite its claim to represent all India, the Congress voiced the interests of urban elites; the number of participants from other social and economic backgrounds remained negligible. However, this period of history is still crucial because it represented the first political mobilization of Indians, coming from all parts of the subcontinent and the first articulation of the idea of India as one nation, rather than a collection of independent princely states.

Religious groups played a role in reforming Indian society. These were of several religions from Hindu groups such as the ''Arya Samaj'', the ''Brahmo Samaj'', to other religions. The work of men like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Subramanya Bharathy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore and Dadabhai Naoroji, as well as women such as the Scots–Irish Sister Nivedita, spread the passion for rejuvenation and freedom. The rediscovery of India's indigenous history by several European and Indian scholars also fed into the rise of nationalism among Indians.

The triumvirate also is known as Lal Bal Pal (Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai), along with V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Sri Aurobindo, Surendranath Banerjee, and Rabindranath Tagore were some of the prominent leaders of movements in the early 20th century. The Swadeshi movement was the most successful. The name of Lokmanya began spreading around and people started following him in all parts of the country.

The Indian textile industry also played an important role in the freedom struggle of India. The merchandise of the textile industry pioneered the Industrial Revolution in India and soon England was producing cotton cloth in such great quantities that the domestic market was saturated, and the products had to be sold in foreign markets.

On the other hand, India was rich in cotton production and was in a position to supply British mills with the raw material they required. This was the time when India was under British rule and the East India Company had already established its roots in India. Raw materials were exported to England at very low rates while cotton cloth of refined quality was imported to India and sold at very high prices. This was draining India's economy, causing the textile industry of India to suffer greatly. This led to great resentment among cotton cultivators and traders.

After Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal in 1905, there was massive opposition from the people of Bengal. Initially, the partition plan was opposed through press campaign. The total follower of such techniques led to the boycott of British goods and the people of India pledged to use only swadeshi or Indian goods and to wear only Indian cloth. Imported garments were viewed with hate. At many places, public burnings of foreign cloth were organized. Shops selling foreign cloths were closed. The cotton textile industry is rightly described as the Swadeshi industry. The period witnessed the growth of swadeshi textile mills. Swadeshi factories came into existence everywhere.

According to Surendranath Banerji, the Swadeshi movement changed the entire texture of Indian social and domestic life. The songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore, Rajanikanta Sen and Syed Abu Mohd became the moving spirit for the nationalists. The movement soon spread to the rest of the country and the partition of Bengal had to be firmly inhaled on the first of April, 1912.

Rise of Indian nationalism

By 1900, although the Congress had emerged as an all-India political organisation, it did not have the support of most Indian Muslims. Attacks by Hindu reformers against religious conversion, cow slaughter, and the preservation of Urdu

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases