India 1882-1914 Flashcards
How was the Indian Civil Service flawed?
The exam took place in Britain (until 1919) and very little education in India
How many Indians in the ICS by 1887?
12
What percentage of the ICS was Indian by 1913?
5%
When was the Ilbert Bill issued and under which Viceroy?
1883
Lord Ripon
What did the Ilbert Bill do?
It said that Indian judges could try an accused European
What was the “White Mutiny”?
- British response to the Ilbert Bill
- The Ilbert Bill was changed to a European defendant had the right to be trialled by an at least half European jury
When, where and by whom was the Indian National Congress founded?
- 28th December 1885
- Bombay
- (British) A O Hume
When did the 1892 Indian Councils’ Act do?
It modestly increased the number of Indians on Provincial Legislative Courts
Outline the Partition of Bengal
- 16th October 1905
- No formal consultation with Indians or Bengals
- Enacted by Lord Curzon
Who made up Western Bengal’s population?
42 million Hindus
9 million Muslims
Who made up Eastern Bengal’s population?
12 million Hindus
18 million Muslims
Why did the British part India?
- Bengal had been a problem for a long time
- 78 million people = vulnerable to famine and prone to unrest
- Divide and rule: divisions between Hindus and Muslims
What percentage was the Indian population Hindu:Muslim?
70% to 24%
When were Muslims forced out of Congress?
After 1905
When did Muslims create the Muslim League?
December 1906
Outline the split of the INC
- 1907
- Moderates lead by Gokhale
- Radicals/agressive nationalists lead by Tilak
What did the Morely-Minto Reforms / Indian Councils Act of 1909 grant?
- Allowed Indians to sit on the Imperial Legislative Council
- Total elected memebership of all councils from 39 in 1892 to 135 more
- Council grew from 16 to 60 additional Indian members (27 elected)
- Elective element in provincial councils
- Indian was appointed to VR’s Exec Council and 2 to SoS’ Indian Council in London for the first time
What did partition lead to?
- Swadesh (campaign for independence) with Tilak at forefront of self-sufficiency campaign, boycotts of British goods inc Lancashire cotton
- Consequent divisions in Congress w radicals like Tilak excluded
What did Lord Hardinge do for India?
- Reunified Bengal in 1911
- Moved capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911 (Calcutta = INC/nationalist hotbed)
Evidence of education
- By 1882, 209 English schools in India
- By 1900, Calcutta uni largest in world
Evidence of Lord Curzon improving infrastructure
- Irrigated 3 million acres of land
- 8 times more land available for farming
- Railway lines extended by 10 km
Social positives
Public health and life expectancy increased due to quinine treatment for malaria and improved water supplies
How did the British exploit Indians and what were the consequences of this?
- Actively suppressed Indian domestic market so British could thrive e.g. Lancashire cotton; by 1880s, 20% of British total exports went to India, by 1909 exports worth £137m
- Famines in 1896-97, 1899-1900
Examples of violence after partition?
- 1908 in Bengal bomb intended for a local judge was thrown into wrong carriage and 2 European women killed
- 1909 in London an official at India Office assassinated and shot by Punjabi man
