1. Indian Nationalism & Nation-building
Indian Nationalism & Nation-building

2. If a British Colonial Official were asked to provide evidence of the ways by which British Rule benefitted India, what would he say?
If an Indian citizen were asked to give proof of the ways British Rule harmed India, what would he or she say?

3. Roots of Indian Nationalism
If the Indian people want independence, what could possibly unite them in hopes of achieving that goal?
common desire to see British removed
cultural unity
But was India really united culturally?
-who are the Indians really?
Hindu Indians? ( =majority)
Muslim Indians? ( =minority)
There were many different cultural groups in India & many Indian nationalist movements w/ various strategies to meet their goals.

4. The Indian National Congress
an early Indian nationalist organization
established 1885
led by European-educated Indians
after WWI, became interested in winning freedoms & independence for ALL Indians
early members:
Mahatma Gandhi
Jawaharlal Nehru
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
many Muslims left in 1906  formed “Muslim League”
different goals for independence

5. Two NATIONALIST Paths to INDEPENDENCE…
The Muslim League
Goal: independent Indian nation for Muslims (Pakistan)
Key leaders:
Jinnah
Strategy:
satisfy & support the British so they’ll eventually create a free Muslim nation from India
Indian National Congress
Goal: independent nation for all Indians
Key leaders: Gandhi & Nehru
Strategy:
civil- disobedience
passive resistance

6. “We [Muslim Indians] want a separate state of our own
“We [Muslim Indians] want a separate state of our own. There we can live according to our own notions of life … We should be free … Is Britain going to stand with its bayonets and hand over authority to the Indian majority?”
Muhammad Ali Jinnah

7. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi
Image: Gandhi practicing civil disobedience by producing cotton cloth in his own home, thus breaking the British law forbidding Indians from producing their own.

8. 1930s-40s: Strategies for Independence
Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience:
refused to comply with certain laws seen as unfair or unjust as a peaceful form of political protest
encouraged peaceful strikes, boycotts, marches fasting
example:
Salt March, 1930
Jinnah’s Muslim League:
built up fears amongst Muslims that Hindus would dominate them after independence
encouraged Muslim Indian support for British

9. Gandhi’s Salt March, 1930
Part of Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaign to convince Britain to grant India its independence
Non-violently protested against the British salt monopoly in India
Gandhi led peaceful protestors on a 24 day, 240 mile march to the Indian Ocean to produce salt without paying the salt tax
Gandhi’s Salt March created global awareness of Britain’s mis-rule of India and brought large numbers of Indians to the pro-independence movement.

10. Gandhi & Nehru

11. A Negotiated Independence: 1945-1947
After WWII, British Parliament agreed to independence.
negotiations with both nationalist movements
end result  partition [division] & independence of India, 1947:
BRITISH INDIA
INDEPENDENT INDIA
INDEPENDENT PAKISTAN
created where Muslim majority lived
Jinnah = 1st prime minister
Muslim League
Islamic republic became a dictatorship
created where Hindu majority lived
Nehru = 1st prime minister
Indian National Congress
world’s largest democracy

12. India & Pakistan: Results of Partition
12 million forced to migrate across new borders  refugee crisis
Hindu-Muslim violence intensified
conflict over Kashmir continues
nuclear arms race
terrorist attacks