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William Mackinnon founds Calcutta and Burma Steam Navigation company
Succeeded his work in the trading bays in Bengal -
Indian Mutiny breaks out
Upset over the East India Company's long history of high taxation and local insensitivity, 85 sepoys rebelled. They refused to use bullet cartridges that were rumoured to be greased in cow/pig fat, violating both the Hindu and Muslim religions. Badahur Shah led a rebellion to free the imprisoned 85, leading to a year-long conflict that saw the EIC lose 1/6th of the control of India. The EIC was soon dissolved and the British Government assumed leadership of India, beginning the British Raj. -
Siege of Cawnpoor
The death of British civilians fuelled Social Darwinism about Indian inferiority. Emperor's sons were executed, preventing the Mughal Empire from being established. -
Government of India Act commences
Nationalised the East India Company, granting Queen Victoria control over their territories. A Secretary of State for India, Viceroy, Legislative Council of 5 and India Council of 15 members was created. A further reason for the breakout of the Indian mutiny were rumours of Hindu troops being sent by sea to Burma potentially offending caste laws about crossing waters. -
Birth of Mohandas Gandhi
Born to a Hindu family in Pordanbar, his eventual name 'Mahatma' meant great sooul and was attributed to him by his followers. -
India's economy
India had a colonial tariff with Britain of 0% relative to 20% with the USA, prompting all business towards British manufacturers. Railway construction was similarly built to cater to British business interests. The Great Indian Peninsular Company built 4,000 miles of railway line in India. India's infrastructure was improved primarily to facilitate the transport of British troops across the region. Home industries could not develop as their raw materials were exported whilst they imported BrMG -
Disraeli names Queen Victoria as 'Empress of India'
The Indian military was changed accordingly, with disloyal Bengals resuting in 62 out of 74 Bengali regiments disbanded. No indigneous Indians could become officers, Indians were mixed by caste and religion as troops and Gurkhas and Sikhs were rewarded for their loyalty. Indians were also used to suppress the Arabi Revolt -
Anglo-Afghan Agreement
Ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It ceded various frontier areas and Afghanistan's foreign policy to the British, supported by Disraeli. Afghanistan essentially became a British protectorate. -
Exports
India's main export throughout the British Empire was tea, but it also exported opium to China which contributed to the Opium Wars -
Indian National Congress formed
The Congress voiced complaints over the divide and rule policy of the Indian Civil Service that accentuated geographic, caste and religious divides. It advocated for Home Rule and represented the Anglo-Indian elite The Servants of India Society was formed of the lower castes. -
Nationalist 'Kaal' newspaper founded
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Imperial Cadet Corps founded
Curzon developed an Anglo-Indian nationality, attempting to give the Indian nobility a military education and paid £40,000 to the restoration of the Taj Mahal. However, he was hostile to the INC and didn't want Indian representation in the Executive Council. -
North-West Frontier Province formed
Lord Curzon, who had become Viceroy 2 years previous, aimed to defend India from Russian incursions in Afghanistan. His reformist policies included universities, police, the adoption of the gold standard and decreased taxation. Modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. He also dispatched a military expedition to Tibet vis-a-vis Russian expansion. He oversaw the construction of 10,000 km of railway, famine relief projects and agricultural, medical and scientific progress. -
Young India Society founded
Abhinav Bharat Society organised by Vinaya Damodar Savarkar and his brother to welcome Indian revolutionaries. -
Death of William Digby
A prominent critic of British governance in India, Digby lived in India when the Great Famine of 1876-78 claimed 5.5 million lives from drought, famine and malaria. Gandhi authored an obituary in which he spoke highly of Digby's life. -
Swadeshi movement emerges in response to Bengal Partition
In response to Curzon's partition of Bengal, Swadeshi (of one's own country) encouraged boycotts of British goods and Indian self-sufficiency. This movement would inspire Gandhi, and by 1914 the widespread Indian education demonstrated to the British that nationalist sentiment was far too widespread to be ignored. -
Curzon Partitions Bengal
East Bengal and Assam split from West Bengal and Bihar, creating a sectarian Muslim/Hindu divide. Curzon was forced to resign after a strong reaction from educated Indian/Bengali nationalists to this policy. Wealthy land-owning Hindus who owned land in the East boycotted British goods. Curzon sought to weaken the influence of wealthy Hindu elites and make for more efficient administration. -
All-India Muslim League founded
Muslim Elite had established the league in Dhaka, Bangladesh. -
Arrest of Bal Tilak
Tilak had sympathised with the two boys accused of murdering two women in Calcutta in an assassination attempt of Chief Presidency magistrate Douglas Kingsford. Released 8 years later, he worked alongside Annie Besant to unite India -
Representative government introduced as part of Morley-Minto reforms
Viceroy Minto and Secretary of State for India John Morley's limited reforms included the election of 27 Indians to the Viceroy's Council. A year later, 135 Indians were elcted to larger, provincial councils. -
Death of Arthur Jackson and Curzon Wyllie
Assassinated by pro-independence Indian revolutionaries who sought retribution for the deaths of detained Bengali nationalists. British responded with suppression, shutting down newspapers and imprisoning journalists. -
Lord Hardinge becomes Viceroy
Succeeding Minto, Hardinge moved India's capital to Delhi to undermine Hindu revolutionaries and declared war on India's behalf in the First World War. -
India's literacy rate grows 2.4% in 39 years
Since the 1872 data -
Bengal reunified
King George V announced the reversal of the Partition of Bengal -
Muhammad Ali Jinnah leads Muslim League
He supported an independent Muslim-majority Pakistan, contrary to Gandhi and Nehru -
Singapore Mutiny
Indian sepoys rebelled whilst guarding the SMS Emden, despite a lack of support from the Germans. Despite this incident, over 1 million Indian soldiers as part of Expeditionary forces fought for Britain, fighting the Germans on the Western Front or in East Africa, and the Ottomans in Egypt and Gallipoli. -
Montagu Declaration
Secretary of State for Indian Edwin Montagu outlined the principles of dyarchy and Indian self-government, acknowledging the contributions of Indians in the British war effort. India's income taxes had generated 12% of its budget, reflecting the high tax burden (a 10% rise in 6 years). India had experienced inflation and shortages during the war, though their manufacturers benefitted from a higher market share as British factories focussed on the war effort. -
Gandhi leads Indigo farmers in Bihar
His legal knowledge aided the workers on Indigo farms in Bihar to challenge landlords on unfair crop prices. He championed Indian culture and history, as well as social movements such as women's rights and efforts to end poverty. Gandhi's vision of an agricultural, rural India contrasted with Nehru's vision of an industrial, modernised India that could enjoy socialist principles. -
Rowlatt Act
Allowed Indians to be tried in courts without juries, and allowed for suspects to be detained without trial. Undermined the rule of law. -
Amritsar Massacre
General Dyer ordered his army to violently disperse the crowd of nationalists and Sikh pilgrims that had gathered in a public square. 379 people died, in response to an attack on a missionary and local peoples. The massacre challenged British moral authority, dyarchy and joint governance, and the support Dyer received from some members of the Commons and Lords galvanised anti-British sentiment in India. Montagu called the massacre "terrorism, racial humiliation and frightfulness" -
Government of India Act
REalised dyarchy by dividing provincial governments into two - one controlled by a British Governor and one elected by local people. 7 million Indians could vote on provinicial representatives for themselves. Secretary of State for India Montagu promoted decentralisation and quotas for Indians in government. -
Gandhi leads non-cooperation movement
Following the Amritsar massacre, Gandhi called on Indians to boycott British goods. This drew support from middle-class Indians. Congress agreed on the principle of satyagraha, moral reasoning and civil disobedience. Delegitimising British backed elections and schools. Gandhi preferred handing back awards an honours bestowed on Indians by the Raj. Economic resistance e.g boycotts and denial of land tax. -
Gandhi elected President of the Indian National Congress
Member of the Congress Party -
Simon Commission begins
Reviewed the progress of the 1919 Act and made recommendations. -
India during the Great Depression
Tharoor argues that 1bn rupees were lost from circulation in the Indian economy by 1930, and a further billion by 1938. The steady British tax demands amidst falling agricultural prices prompted British manipulation of Indian currency. Britain insisted that the Indian rupee stay fixed at 1 shilling sixpence, protecting British assets despite starvation amongst Indians. -
Round Table Conferences
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Government of India Act
Created a Reserve Bank of India. Increased provincial autonomy and the Indian electorate to 35 millions, introducing direct elections. Dyarchy was dismantle as the Indian provinces essentially had more autonomy. Enacted in the same year as Lord Linlithglow becomes Viceroy of India, he believed that piecemeal reform would satiate the appetite of the more extreme Indian nationalists. -
Lord Linlithglow declares war on behalf of India
Linlithglow and the British government did not consult the elected politicians in India. The Muslim League supported this decision, but the INC resigned in protest. Their insistence on post-war independence led to Gandhi and Nehrus' arrests. Congress and the League rejected Linlithglow's proposals for reform, and he retaliated by suppressing Indian civil disobedience - censoring the press, monitoring INC members and imprisoning tens of thousands. -
Sir Stafford Cripps promises India Dominion status
Accompanied a diplomatic mission aiming to satisfy nationalists and secure Indian co-operation for the duration of the war. -
'Quit India' campaign launched
Ordered a civil disobedience movement to bring about a British withdrawal and Indian independence. Gandhi launched the campaign in a speech in Mumbai, calling on Indians to fight the tyranny of colonialism. He was arrested by the British within 24 hours. Linlithglow was blamed for division and stifled economic development, and his reactionary and repressive approach perhaps accelerated the decline of the British Raj. -
Indian National Army founded
Subhas Chandra Bose's army pledged to work with the Japanese against the British, some 43,000 Indians joined the army. -
India and Pakistan become independent states
Gandhi was strongly opposed to partition, and partition led to the displacement of over 10 million people and bitter inter-faith violence. This was confirmed by the final Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten. Pakistan inherited 1/3 of the Indian Army, 17% of its tax revenue and few well-trained officials, possibly sowing the seeds for disputes over Kashmir, Bangladesh and nuclear weapons programmes. -
Gandhi assassinated by Hindu nationalist
Assassinated in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organisation who felt that Gandhi was favouring Muslim interests.