INDIA THEME 1 Flashcards
Why was India important to the Raj not gonna be assessed
- because they traded goods between eachother, in the 1860’s the Suez Canal opened up which allowed Britain and India to trade spices and wool, cotton and steel.
Furthermore, there were no tariffs on British goods in the Indian market eventhough there were meant to be.
tariffs made imported goods more expensive but the removal of these meant that British economy grew whereas Indian markets suffered
Economic contribution
1918, Indian revenues heavily helped the war, £146million
most of the expenditure was made out of war loans - 355million in 1917 and an additional 35million in 1918
military expenditure also grew - Indian demands grew 16% bet 1916 and 17 - then another 10 between 1917 and 1918.
What was the military contribution from India in ww1
- Princely states said that the British had their full support, they offered men from their states
- Bal Tilak, an extremist, also urged indians to come forward, comes from a cultural standpoint Bec it was a matter of respect and reputation - honourable.
- By 1918, 64,500 had died, and 827,000 had enlisted in the war. The first troops to go in the battle of Ypres made up of 16k British and 28,500.
In December 1915, some troops stationed in Middle East coz they couldn’t handle the weather.
Despite losing the battle to the Turks, troops sent to syria (think) and they suffered heavy losses there too.
1.5million combatants and non combatants - 60,000 died
positives of the war assessed
indian manufacturing industries grew as the imports and exports of steel cotton and iron grew. Bombay saw dividends grew - grew from 6% in 1914 to above 30% in 1917
negatives of war asssesed
food grain prices rose to 93% - increased shortages of fuel and food
worrys for those who were away on war.
viceroy received complaints about petty violence continuously.
Montagu declaration of 1917 assessed
in order to grant some self governance as a reward for the war effort, montagu (secretary of state)
lord Chelmsford did not want to but he was persuaded
montagu visited India and saw what they wanted
however he saw that the Indian govt was ran very weakly.
The Indian council act of 1909 - and why it was created assessed
WHY? there were considerable differences between the Indian Hindus and the Indian Muslims, they both wanted representation but because of their religious indifferences, this was hard. not enough muslim delegates also a low chance of them being elected thus outvoted.
What? 60 Indian reps to be on viceroys executive council - 27 to be constituencies
provincial assemblies to have greater say
sep electorates - moreley appointe 2 Indians from London to do this - urged to appoint Satyendra sinha - adv for bengal.
Rowlatt act and the commission assessed
- London offices thought that India was becoming increasingly anti war and the government in westminister wanted to ensure that India remained focused on fighting the war. Hence they sent a commission led by sir ST Rowlatt. He went to India and concluded that areas such as Bengal, Madras and Punjab were anti revolutionary and should be watched. 1918
- Because of this the Rowlatt act was passed, it mirrored the defence of India act however in this act, anything that was considered anti revolutionary was considered to be illegal and punishable. thus, protest was banned.
- The act was strongly opposed by montagu however, lord Chelmsford allowed for it to become a legislation.
- Jinnah left congress as the act was considered to be absurd.
- All 22 members of the indian congress voted against it but they were outvoted 1919
amritsar massacre 1919 assessed
- Prior to this there had been hartals happening in Punjab, however they gained momentum with the arrests of Dr Kitchlew and Dr Pal. There was unity between the hindus and muslims
Marcia Sherwood was a white british lady and she was brutally beaten up and saved by a indian doc - still 100 european women had to seek refuge. - Raj had lost control
part 2 of Amritsar massacre
- on the day of baisakhi, pilgrims flocked the golden temple -between 10,000 and 20,000 people ignored the curfew at the jallianwala bagh. he thought that protests were happening because of the rowlatt act and there was planning for some conspiracies against the raj
- General Dyer took a troop of 1,000 to the temple and without any warning, he fired 1,650 rounds at the crowd for 15mins
- he then left them to take care of themselves.
- lots of people wounded
Reaction of the Amritsar massacre
- split decision in westminster - some thought he had bottled any good relationship that the indians could have with the raj - others thought that he was simply doing the best he could given the circumstances
- However a commision led by hunter was sent to india in order to conclude whether there were any conspiracies going on
- after the massacre, dyer introduced martial law - especially saying salam to any british person they saw - and crawling on all 4 at the kuchria.
after listening to everyone, they concluded that there were no conspiracies
dyer to resign and o dwyer lightly reprimanded.
The government of india act 1919
- from the montagu declaration
- princely states to be enlarged
- they were to be given autonomy over the education, healthcare, agriculture however financial decisions and military decisions to be in the hands of the british raj
- viceroy to have an elective council of 6 civillians and 3 indians
- basc created a dyarchy of power - albeit it was exploitive
The lucknow pact 1916
- result of increasing tensions between the hindus and the muslims
- due to the partition of bengal- muslim league thought that the raj were no longer sympathethic and they were no longer going to cooperate
thus they wanted separate electorates as the declaration of war against turkey also caused resentment. - lucknow pact - separate electorates for the muslim representation
home rule leagues 1916
Home rule leagues that were ran by annie besant and bal tilak who brought the idea of independency to masses of indian people who were not happy with the doings of congress.
- Tilak - operated in western India mainly maharashta and gained 32,000 members
- besant all india home league grew more slowly but had a network of committees that covered most of India.
HRL - concerned domestic affairs to be able to have autonomy on such affairs. They both toured widely speaking to public and handing out phamphlets whilst joining each other. they asked organisations to print them in the paper and etc. fiery speeches.
Jinnah joined Annie besant’s in 1917 - excitement and enthusiasm were widespread and the raj saw that thousands had signed petitions
they spread political awareness in previously unpolitical places.
provincial assemblies were shocked at this and tilak was arrested on sedition and required to give 40,000 rupees. besant confined.
