Topic 1 Flashcards
What was the percentage of Hindus in India (1914) ?
70%
What are princely states?
Nominally sovereign entities of the British Indian Empire that were not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule.
Who was at the bottom of the Caste system?
Untouchables
Why was religion in India divided?
Because brits set different groups apart from each other often in mutual misunderstanding and distrust.
Who formed the largest minority group in India?
Muslims (around 20%).
Where were Muslims in a majority?
North East and North West.
when was the Indian National Congress created?
1885
When was the Muslim League created?
1906
How did Indians respond to the outbreak of WW1?
Offers of support poured from Congress, the Muslim League and the princely states
How many princely states put their armies at the disposal of the British?
27
Who was the leader of extremist faction in Congress that declared his loyalty?
Bal Tilak
What did Gandhi do and what was he at the time?
He urged Indians to give service in order to show their desire to share in the responsibilities of membership of the British Empire. He was a little-known lawyer.
Where did many Indian troops sail off to? Why?
Flanders, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. In order to serve overseas as combatants and support staff.
How many Indians had enlisted by November 1918?
827,000
How many Indian soldiers died in the war?
64,500 Indians
What were the attitudes to fighting?
for most Indian soldiers, going to war was part of their ancestral tradition of obligation to whoever was their emperor, for others it was an honour - martyrdom, or others it was a simple way of earning some form of concessions, compensation as well as some respect.
Did India become a crucial source of supply for the Allied cause during WW1?
Yes, India poured men and materials into the war effort.
How many million £ did India attribute in revenues for the war effort and in war loans?
£144 million in revenues, £35 million in war loans
By how much did prices of food grains rise by?
90%
What did the rise in the prices of food grains lead many to?
theft and minor riots
By how much did the prices of Indian made goods rise by?
60%
examples of necessities that were Indian-made that were unaffordable due to the taxations etc?
clothing
how many Indians had been recruited into combatant and non-combatant roles?
1.5 million
how many animals had been sent overseas?
184,000
what did Indians do in the Mesopotamia campaign?
They campaigned against the Ottoman Turks in Iraq
What happened to troops in Iraq (Mesopotamia)?
They were badly led and under-equipped - as Indian industry was not geared up to the production of weapons and vehicles and the Allies could not afford to divert supplies from Europe.
Did the British surrender when in Mesopotamia? and if so what happened?
Yes they did, they were forced to march in the desert where hundreds died.
was the Indian contributions very strong and successful?
yes: great economic; political and military contributions, Indians were loyal and dutiful - stable situation
no: unstable situation - the Ghadar Mutiny, Montagu Declaration + Home Rule Leagues
What was the Ghadar Mutiny and what did it result in?
a mutiny in punjab, intended to end the British Raj. - resulted in 5000 arrests and 46 hangings.
It contributed to the British anxieties.
Montagu Declaration 1917.
it claimed to compensate Indians with some form of self government in consequence of their war efforts - IT NEVER OCCURRED + NO TIME SCALE WAS GIVEN - this suggestion was futile and entailed that the Indian contributions were insufficient.
Home Rule Leagues.
A movement passed from 1916-18 - founded by Besant (British socialist) and Tilak (extremist) in order to achieve self-government
How many supporters did the Home Rule Leagues attract?
32,000
Montagu Declaration of 1917 - main points
It proposed the increased participation of Indians in the administration and the development of self-governing institutions - the declaration committed the British government to granting some form of self determination to India
What did the Defence of India Act 1915 intend to do?
It intended to curtail the nationalist and revolutionary activities during and after the war (1)
Main points of The Rowlatt Acts
- trial by judges sitting without jury
- censorship
- house arrest of suspects
How did Montagu react to the Rowlatt Acts?
He sanctioned the Act with extreme reluctance
How were the British seen ‘carrot and stick approach’?
Duplicitous:
carrot: Montagu Declaration
stick: Rowlatt Act
What were organised in consequence of the acts?
hartals (protests)
What triggered riots during the interim (1919)?
the arrest of Dr Kitchlew and Dr Pal - anti-raj protests
what happened during these riots?
the situation was anarchic and chaotic: banks were stormed, buildings fired at and three Europeans killed
Where were the British ‘losing’ control?
Amritsar
who was the mission doctor that was brutally beaten and saved and treated by Hindus?
Sherwood
How many people died/ were wounded in consequence of the Amritsar Massacre?
Dead: 400 Wounded: 1500
For how long did the troops fire without pause at the Indians?
10-15 minutes
What festival was happening on the 13 April 1919?
Baisakhi day
What happened after the notorious atrocity (massacre)?
Dyer set about establishing martial law - after this, actions were approved by the General
What did the martial law consist of?
Salaam: Indians had to bow down whenever they came across a European
what was the crawling order? who imposed it?
Dyer imposed the ‘Crawling Order’ where Indians had to crawl to pass by the narrow road where Sherwood was assaulted
Was martial law offensive, and was it meant to be?
Martial law was offensive to Hindus - Dyer intended it to be as such
Was the Amritsar Massacre a watershed’/turning point?
It was - one of the most significant ones! - rise in NATIONALISM
Impact in Britain (Amritsar Massacre)?
Hunter Commission - The commission was formed to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre event.
what happened to Dyer, and was he repentant?
Dyer was forced to resign and was unrepentant
Impact in India (Amritsar Massacre)?
Congress set up the Punjab Sub-Committee - it examined 1700 witnesses and published 650 verified statements. THEIR FINAL REPORT WHICH INCLUDED GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHS, AMOUNTED TO A SAVAGE INDICTMENT OF THE WAY IN WHICH INDIA WAS GOVERNED AND WAS CALCULATED TO AROUSE DEEP FEELINGS OF ANGER AND RESENTMENT AMONG THE INDIAN SUBJECTS OF THE RAJ
Who was the Government of India 1919 issued by and what was it?
Montagu and Chelmsford (a report)
What were the main parts of the Gov of India Act 1919?
Dyarchy
- The provincial and central legislative councils were enlarged
- The British retained control of military matters, foreign affairs, currency, communications and criminal law
- Franchise was extended (10% of the male population was enfranchised)
- reserved seats for Muslims, Christians, Sikhs…
- women (some) could now vote
Hindu reaction to the gov of India act 1919
Hindus hated the idea of ‘reserved seats’, believing this to be divisive, anti-democratic and inappropriate in a society that was working towards democracy on the Western European model
who else did not like the gov of India act much?
those hoping for home rule, they were bitterly disappointed
what did congress do (gov of India act)
congress rejected it and boycotted the first elections held under the act
what was the Lucknow pact?
The Lucknow Pact was an agreement reached between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League (AIML) at a joint session of both the parties held in Lucknow in December 1916. Through the pact, the two parties agreed to allow representation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures.
was there a sense of rapprochement in consequence of the Lucknow pact
yes a great sense!
was the Lucknow pact simply an agreement?
yes, because neither the Muslim League nor Congress had the power to impose it.
what year was the Lucknow pact made?
1916
who was an important figure in the Lucknow pact?
Jinnah, he worked tirelessly to bring about rapprochement between Congress and Muslim League (in the pursuit of a common aim: self-government)
who led the Lucknow pact?
jinnah
did Jinnah agree with the idea of separate electorates?
no, he was secular
who did the home rule leagues attract
Jinnah and many Congress members
what was the greatest consequence of the Amritsar massacre (apart from the Hunter commission and Punjab-sub committee)?
the emergence of Gandhi and his hartals/satyagraha
why did the satyagraha (1919) consequently fail?
hartals were held to a greater or lesser extent, in most of India’s provinces (lack of geographical support), there was lots of violence in Gujarat and Punjab - Gandhi immediately called for a stop to the Rowlatt satyagraha but the violence continued
why did the satyagraha (1919) consequently succeed?
Many loyal Indians turned against the Raj. -> From Anglophiles to anti-Raj
why was the Amritsar massacre so significant, what did it reveal?
Indians believed it revealed and shed light on the true nature of the British rule
