Indian Nationalism & Decolonization
1858 British take political control of India
Causes of Indian nationalism: 1. discontent with British rule 2. India unified 3. leadership 4. common language 5. new print culture 6. nationalist orgs.
Political Nationalism desire for political freedoms: suffrage Indians in government independence
Cultural Nationalism development of “Indian” cultural identity rewrite histories Hinduism math/sciences art
Indian National Congress st – Indian elite only 1920s – mass movement (Gandhi) moderate constitutional methods Alan Octavian Hume, founder of Indian National Indian National Union, which became INC
Swadeshi Movement early 1900s Swadeshi = “one’s own country,” self- sufficiency boycott British goods Indians produce own goods nationalist education nationalism = mass movement
Muslim League 1906 seek Muslim political rights Muhammad Ali Jinnah – leader of Muslim League, founder of Pakistan, and first Governor-General of Pakistan
Gandhi ( ) leader of INC, 1920s- 1930s nonviolence (satyagraha)
Chronology - early life & training for his future role: 1869 – born in Gujarat – study law in Britain , – fight racism in SA
Chronology – protest against British rule builds & Gandhi becomes Indian leader: 1915 – Satyagraha Ashram 1919 – Amritsar Massacre – imprisonment 1924 – fast: Hindu-Muslim unity 1930 – Salt March January 1948 – fast: Hindu-Muslim unity 1948 – assassinated
Gandhi and followers on the Salt March
On the beach at Dandi, the end of the Salt March
Issues in the Indian nationalist movement method – nonviolence vs. violence religion – Hinduism vs. Islam women’s rights Q of westernization/modernization
Independence August 14, 1947 – Pakistan (Muslim majority) August 15, 1947 – India (Hindu majority)
India before (left) and after (right) 1947
Post-Independence Violence Hindu vs. Muslim 1 million deaths 12 million relocated Gandhi’s fast success
Jawaharlal Nehru ( ) 1st PM of India ( ) goal: modernize India, via socialist economics & democratic politics