NATIONALISM IN THE SUBCONTINENT

NATIONALISM IN THE SUBCONTINENT Nationalism in the Subcontinent or the movement expressing an intense loyalty and desire for national independence with the intent of promoting its culture and interest was borne out of political persecution, extreme economic hardship, cultural and social degradation, and racism under the British raj in India.

THE SEPOY MUTINY THE SEPOY MUTINY, 1857 ROBERT CLIVE, 1757 Nationalism in India found its expression in 1857 when the Sepoy (soldiers) in the Indian Army revolted against the British and attempted to restore Indian rule under Bahadur Shah II, the last of the lesser Moghuls. The British who first gained a foothold on the soil of India in 1757 had established complete political control of India by 1857 and decided to formally abolish the Mughal Empire. Resentment among Indian people grew as Western education eroded both Hindu and Islamic culture. RANI OF JANSI

SUPRESSION OF THE REBELLION The Sepoy Mutiny was brutally crushed by the British Army. British Crown Rule assumed direct rule in 1858. The British used Sikhs and Gurkhas to crush the mutiny. British officers hang so-called mutineers after the Indian Revolt of 1857

BRITISH COLONIZERS DISGUISED AS TRADERS IN INDIA The British went to India as traders but they eventually colonized India, by deposing the Moghul rule . The wealth of Moghul India was used to industrialize Great Britain. The East India Company incorporated in 1600 to trade with India and the Spice Islands (East Indies) established its first factory/station at Surat on the West Coast (Bombay Presidency) around 1612 and the second at Fort St. George (Madras Presidency) 1640. EAST INDIA COMPANY IN BOMBAY

MOGHUL INDIA The Great Moghuls enriched the country and have left their mark in the history of medieval India not only as conquerors but as builders of a great empire of which present day India boasts of its proud heritage

MOGHUL INDIA (Contd) It has been said that “All the gold and silver of the universe found 1001 channels for entering into India but there was not a single outlet for the precious metals to go out of the country”

THE PLUNDER OF MOGHUL WEALTH EAST INDIA HOUSE, 1817 The exploitation of India initiated by the British soon after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, set in motion the Industrial Revolution in England. Between Plassey (1757) and Waterloo (1815), a sum of £1,000 million was transferred from India hoards to English banks. An average of £17.2 million per annum flowed into the British economy from India. Within a span of forty years, the British Raj had eliminated 20 million people in Bengal by the use of force and man-made famine. Paddy fields were destroyed for the production of opium and indigo, which were exported to China.

INDIAN NATIONALISM (Contd) Nationalism gained momentum in the post-Mutiny era, which was one of distrust and discrimination marked by the arrogant claim of the British’s to racial superiority. For the Indians it was a period of frustrated hopes and unfulfilled aspirations. The British Raj used the principle of “Divide and Rule” throughout its colonial rule in the Subcontinent. Nationalism saw the birth of Hindu Nationalism led by the Indian National Congress and the Muslim Nationalism led by the Muslim League.

MOVEMENTS IN BRITISH INDIA THE BIRTH OF POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN BRITISH INDIA The reactionary attitude of the British Government convinced the educated Indians the necessity of organizing their political life. The Indian National Conference was founded in 1883 by Surendra Nath Banarjee with the object of making it the centre of an all-India movement. This Association proved to be the precursor of the Indian National Congress.

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS The first meeting of the Indian National Congress, Bombay, December 28, 1885 The Indian National Congress was born on 28 December 1885 in Bombay under the presidency of Mr. W. C. Banerjee, a prominent Bengali barrister. It resembled a formal opposition party and the membership from the beginning was overwhelmingly Hindu.

THE MUSLIM LEAGUE - I Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Khan On December 30 1906, at the annual meeting of Muslim Educational Conference held at Dhaka, the Nawab of Dhaka, Salimullah Khan, one of Eastern Bengal’s, largest landowners proposed the establishment of a political party to safeguard the interests of the Muslims. The All India Muslim League was thus formed.

THE MUSLIM LEAGUE, II Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk chaired the meeting at Dhaka Almost 3,000 delegates attended the session making it the largest-ever representative gathering of Muslim India. The Muslim League led the demand for a separate state for the Muslims of India. The Annual Muslim Educational Conference in Dhaka, 1906

GANDHI AND INDIAN NATIONALISM Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a barrister trained in England entered into the arena of Indian politics in 1919. Gandhi united in his own person the culture of the West with the racial and religious instincts of the East. Started the passive resistance or non-violence as a challenge to the Government.

SATYAGRAHA Gandhi called for Satyagraha (community living/self-reliant)

GANDHI & AHIMSA The Salt Satyagraha started on March 12, 1930, with the undertaking of the Dandi Yatra (Dandi March).  Within a month, people all over India were making salt illegally. The triggering factor for this movement was the British monopoly of salt trade in India. Mass civil disobedience of British laws without violence became the norm in the Indian fight for freedom. Elements of Gandhi’s philosophy were rooted in the Indian religions of Jainism and Buddhism. Both of these advocate ahimsa (non-violence), which is “absence of the desire to kill or harm” .

Gandhi and Indian Nationalism Gandhi united with the Muslims. Asked the Indian nationals to renounce all government titles. Boycott of legislatures, law courts and government schools and colleges.

MD. ALI JINNAH & THE MUSLIM LEAGUE Mohammad Ali Jinnah, known as Quaid I Azam studied at Bombay University and at Lincoln's Inn in London. He joined the Muslim League in 1913 while he was still a member of the Indian National Congress, which was working for the autonomy of India from British rule. In 1916, he was elected the President of the Muslim League.

THE TWO-NATION THEORY In India democracy based on majority rule would not be workable. After provincial elections in 1937, the Congress refused to form coalition administrations with the Muslim League in mixed areas. Relations between Hindus and Muslims began to deteriorate. The Muslims were not a minority but a separate nation and that they must have their separate homeland with a separate state, i.e. Pakistan: this was the “two nation theory”. In 1940, at a Muslim League session in Lahore, the first official demand was made for the partition of India and the creation of a Muslim state of Pakistan.

A SEPARATE HOME FOR THE INDIAN MUSLIMS The partition of India was the only solution to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims.

The Birth of India and Pakistan “Quit India” Resolution was endorsed by the All-India Congress Committee in 1942. Jinnah added the slogan “Divide and Quit”. Prime Minister Mr. Clement Attlee announced the transfer of power before June 1948.

Lord Louis Mountbatten LORD MOUNTBATTEN Lord Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy to arrange for the transfer of power. The actual division between the two new dominions was done according to what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan. Lord Louis Mountbatten

INDIA & PAKISTAN British Colonial Policy colored by communalism saw the birth of two independent states: India and Pakistan. On July 14, the British Parliament passed the India Independence Act, by which two independent dominions were created in the Subcontinent. Pakistan was born on August 14, 1947. Jinnah became the first Governor- General of Pakistan. India was born on August 15, 1947 with Lord Mountbatten as the first Governor General of India.

THE RADCLIFFE LINE The boundary lines drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe Commission were made known on August 17, 1947. The border between India and Pakistan was determined by a British Government-commissioned report usually referred to as the Radcliffe Line after the London lawyer, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who wrote it. Pakistan came into being with two non-contiguous enclaves, East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) and West Pakistan, separated geographically by India. India was formed out of the majority Hindu regions of the colony, and Pakistan from the majority Muslim areas.