Kartar Singh Jhabbar Sunder Singh Lyallpuri Tehal Singh Dhanju Buta Singh Lyallpuri
173-789: Narain Das [REDACTED] Governor of Punjab The Akali movement / ə ˈ k ɑː l i / , also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement , was a campaign to bring reform in the gurdwaras (the Sikh places of worship) in India during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Akalis also participated in
346-463: A jatha of retired soldiers reached the site, which was deemed by the government to be potentially destabilizing. National Non-cooperation leaders rallied to the cause by making speeches at the site, though support from Congress would wane after Gandhi's release in February 1924 as he wanted to separate the political issue of independence from religion. Christian missionary C.F. Andrews , visiting
519-699: A "Gurdwara Bill" to facilitate the settlement of the gurdwara disputes. The Bill provided setting up a Board of Commissioners for the management of the gurdwaras. However, the SGPC objected to the Government's right to appoint the Board members, and the bill was postponed. In On 17 November 1922, the "Sikh Gurdwaras and Shrines Bill" was introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly . All the Sikh and
692-488: A European woman, and ordinarily more problematic to imprison, was arrested in 1917. Now, as constitutional reform began to be discussed in earnest, the British began to consider how new moderate Indians could be brought into the fold of constitutional politics and, simultaneously, how the hand of established constitutionalists could be strengthened. However, since the Government of India wanted to ensure against any sabotage of
865-475: A Khalsa, all the warriors were equipped with a long-sword and dagger ( kirpan ). Some but not all of the warriors wore body armour, excluding helmets. Horses were incredibly valued and mounts of high-quality were targeted during raids on the enemy transport convoys (columns and baggage trains). Later-on as the Jathas succeeded in capturing hostile resources, they came into the possession of more firearms in
1038-631: A Railway Board; irrigation reform; reduction of peasant debts; lowering the cost of telegrams; archaeological research and the preservation of antiquities; improvements in the universities; police reforms; upgrading the roles of the Native States; a new Commerce and Industry Department; promotion of industry; revised land revenue policies; lowering taxes; setting up agricultural banks; creating an Agricultural Department; sponsoring agricultural research; establishing an Imperial Library; creating an Imperial Cadet Corps; new famine codes; and, indeed, reducing
1211-601: A Sikh had to master to succeed in a Jatha. The Jathas were in ordinary times independent of one another and had to depend on itself to survive, but they co-operated on missions. All of the Jathas submitted to the authority of the Sarbat Khalsa and attended the annual Diwali convening in Amritsar. If a Gurmata was passed by the Sarbat Khalsa, the Jathas obeyed it. The Mughal government made peace with
1384-622: A Sikh-Hindu conference was organized during the Punjab Congress Provincial Congress at Rawalpindi . The Jagat Guru Shankaracharya urged the Hindus to join the Sikhs in the struggle for taking control of the gurdwaras from mahants with personal interests. On 11 May, a number of Akali jatha s were asked to proceed to designated gurdwaras to take over their control. In October 1921, the SGPC executive committee passed
1557-607: A champion of the emancipation of Indian women, took up the cause of widow remarriage, especially of Brahmin widows, later converted to Christianity. By 1900 reform movements had taken root within the Indian National Congress. Congress member Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society , which lobbied for legislative reform (for example, for a law to permit the remarriage of Hindu child widows), and whose members took vows of poverty, and worked among
1730-470: A committee chaired by a British judge, Sidney Rowlatt , and was tasked with investigating "revolutionary conspiracies", with the unstated goal of extending the government's wartime powers. The Rowlatt Committee comprised four British and two Indian members, including Sir Basil Scott and Diwan Bahadur Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri , the present and future Chief Justices of the High Court of Bombay and
1903-579: A crowd of 30,000, was sent to mark the third anniversary of the Nankana massacre, and was fired upon by on the command of British administrators in Nabha, with about 300 injured, resulting in about 100 deaths. Jathas continued to Jaito until 101 akhand paths were completed on 6 August 1925, establishing the right to free worship. The Indian National Congress declared its support for the Akali agitation in at
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#17328021378752076-564: A demand for Purna Swaraj ( Hindustani language : "complete independence"), or Purna Swarajya. The declaration was drafted by the Congress Working Committee , which included Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari . Gandhi subsequently led an expanded movement of civil disobedience, culminating in 1930 with the Salt Satyagraha , in which thousands of Indians defied the tax on salt, by marching to
2249-551: A group of Akalis damaged a mahant's residence attached to the shrine. The police arrested 11 Akalis following a complaint. In December, the Government recognized the SGPC as the manager of the gurdwara, but also ordered the Akalis to follow the legal process for ejecting the Udasi mahants out of the premises. On 1 January 1924, an Akali jatha forcibly took the possession of the property occupied by Pala Ram. Around 34 Akalis were arrested by
2422-629: A loyal supporter of Gandhi and go on to play a prominent role in the Indian independence movement. When Gandhi was ordered to leave by the local British authorities, he refused on moral grounds, setting up his refusal as a form of individual Satyagraha . Soon, under pressure from the Viceroy in Delhi who was anxious to maintain domestic peace during wartime, the provincial government rescinded Gandhi's expulsion order, and later agreed to an official enquiry into
2595-484: A more radical resolution which asked for the British to declare that it was their "aim and intention ... to confer self-government on India at an early date". Soon, other such rumblings began to appear in public pronouncements: in 1917, in the Imperial Legislative Council , Madan Mohan Malaviya spoke of the expectations the war had generated in India, "I venture to say that the war has put
2768-425: A movement to overthrow the British and therefore to be suppressed, in addition to the casualties and arrests, there had been confiscation of properties and jagirs , fines, courts-martial for wearing the kirpan , or Sikh dagger, and black turbans traditionally signalling revolt, and penalties against publishers, editors, and presses supportive of the movement. The movement found support from almost all sections of
2941-544: A practical level, it was felt that there needed to be more communication and camaraderie between the British and Indians—not just between British army officers and their Indian staff but in civilian life as well. The Indian army was completely reorganised: units composed of the Muslims and Brahmins of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh , who had formed the core of the rebellion, were disbanded. New regiments, like
3114-402: A practical strategy adopted by the weak in the face of superior force; Satyagraha , on the other hand, was for him the "last resort of those strong enough in their commitment to truth to undergo suffering in its cause". Ahimsa or "non-violence", which formed the underpinning of Satyagraha , came to represent the twin pillar, with Truth, of Gandhi's unorthodox religious outlook on life. During
3287-529: A resolution asking Sunder Singh Ramgharia, a mahant previously appointed by the government who subsequently assumed a position as an SGPC secretary, to relinquish the keys of the Golden Temple's toshakhana , or vault, to the committee, as he represented government control over the temple's treasures and artifacts. The government would take possession of the keys in November, when Sunder Singh would seek
3460-572: A result of his civil liberties protests on behalf of the Indians in South Africa, Gandhi followed the advice of his mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale and chose not to make any public pronouncements during the first year of his return, but instead spent the year travelling, observing the country at first hand, and writing. Earlier, during his South Africa sojourn, Gandhi, a lawyer by profession, had represented an Indian community, which, although small,
3633-658: A result of the reunification of Bengal in 1911, a decision that was seen as ill-disposed to Muslims. In the Lucknow Pact , the League joined the Congress in the proposal for greater self-government that was campaigned for by Tilak and his supporters; in return, the Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims in the provincial legislatures as well as the Imperial Legislative Council. In 1916,
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#17328021378753806-581: A visit from Guru Arjan . The struggle between the Akalis and the mahant Sunder Das over the control of the site had resulted in the mahant keeping his position, though as part of a managing committee that would supervise him, similar to the toshakhana arrangement. However, in March 1921, the mahant reneged on the agreement, forcibly occupying the committee's office and destroying its records. A year later in August 1922, Akali volunteers chopped wood on land to fuel
3979-598: A watershed in the imperial relationship between Britain and India. Shortly before the outbreak of war, the Government of India had indicated that they could furnish two divisions plus a cavalry brigade, with a further division in case of emergency. Some 1.4 million Indian and British soldiers of the British Indian Army took part in the war, primarily in Iraq and the Middle East . Their participation had
4152-545: A wider cultural fallout as news spread of how bravely soldiers fought and died alongside British soldiers, as well as soldiers from dominions like Canada and Australia. India's international profile rose during the 1920s, as it became a founding member of the League of Nations in 1920 and participated, under the name "Les Indes Anglaises" (British India), in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. Back in India, especially among
4325-642: Is an armed body of Sikhs that has existed in Sikh tradition since 1699, the beginning of the Khalsa (Sikh martial order). A Jatha basically means a group of people. The word derives from the Sanskrit word yūtha , meaning a "herd, flock, multitude, troop, band, or host". After the creation of the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh is said to have created the Damdami Taksal in 1706. Its first Jathedar (leader)
4498-691: Is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain , a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar Desert . In addition, at various times, it included Aden (from 1858 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1858 to 1937), Upper Burma (from 1886 to 1937), British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and the Straits Settlements (briefly from 1858 to 1867). Burma
4671-491: The Babbar Akali Movement , formed in 1921, rejected non-violence and gave stiff resistance to the British, which led to small battles and assassinations, and eventually by 1939 were down to large shootouts. During the partition of Punjab in 1947, many Sikhs began to form armed Jatha squads for both defensive and offensive purposes against Muslims . When British rule came to an end in India, it had to make
4844-654: The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 added to the general jitters; the former among the population already experiencing economic woes, and the latter among government officials, fearing a similar revolution in India. To combat what it saw as a coming crisis, the government now drafted the Rowlatt committee's recommendations into two Rowlatt Bills . Although the bills were authorised for legislative consideration by Edwin Montagu, they were done so unwillingly, with
5017-683: The British colonial police . During these difficult times, Sikhs began forming jathas and new armed squads in British India, and many villages and towns relied on the protection of the Sikh jathas. Sikhs carried out many attacks and assassinations on the British, resulting in many Sikhs arrested and executed. The Sikhs played an influential role in the Indian independence movement . Prominent figures include Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh , who traveled to London and hunted down people who got away with
5190-584: The Census of British India in 1871, which had for the first time estimated the populations in regions of the Muslim majority (for his part, Curzon's desire to court the Muslims of East Bengal had arisen from British anxieties ever since the 1871 census—and in light of the history of Muslims fighting them in the 1857 Mutiny and the Second Anglo-Afghan War —about Indian Muslims rebelling against
5363-634: The Government of India Act 1935 , which authorised the establishment of independent legislative assemblies in all provinces of British India, the creation of a central government incorporating both the British provinces and the princely states, and the protection of Muslim minorities. The future Constitution of independent India was based on this act. However, it divided the electorate into 19 religious and social categories, e.g., Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Depressed Classes, Landholders, Commerce and Industry, Europeans, Anglo-Indians, etc., each of which
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5536-679: The High Court of Madras . It presented its report in July 1918 and identified three regions of conspiratorial insurgency: Bengal , the Bombay presidency , and the Punjab . To combat subversive acts in these regions, the committee unanimously recommended that the government use emergency powers akin to its wartime authority, which included the ability to try cases of sedition by a panel of three judges and without juries, exaction of securities from suspects, governmental overseeing of residences of suspects, and
5709-769: The Indian independence movement against the British Government, and supported the non-cooperation movement against them. Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha in a general meeting in Lahore in March 1919 formed the Central Sikh League in March 1919, which was formally inaugurated in December of that year. In its periodical, the Akali , it listed among its objectives the goals of bringing back control of
5882-576: The Islamic Republic of Pakistan ). Later, the People's Republic of Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added in 1886, and the resulting union, Burma , was administered as an autonomous province until 1937, when it became a separate British colony, gaining its own independence in 1948. It
6055-517: The Khalsa College, Amritsar under the control of representatives of the Sikh community (accomplished in November 1920 by negating government control through refusing government grants), liberating gurdwaras from mahant control, and encouraging Sikhs to participate in the independence movement, lending support to the non-cooperation movement in October 1919. The Central Sikh League demanded
6228-557: The Minto–Morley Reforms , and more recently of the Congress-Muslim League Lucknow Pact, was reaffirmed, with seats being reserved for Muslims, Sikhs , Indian Christians , Anglo-Indians , and domiciled Europeans, in both provincial and Imperial legislative councils. The Montagu–Chelmsford reforms offered Indians the most significant opportunity yet for exercising legislative power, especially at
6401-718: The Nankana massacre . Visitors attempting to seek refuge in the gurdwara were chased and killed, and piles of dead and wounded were lit on fire to attempt to destroy evidence of the massacre. Two days later, Mahatma Gandhi and the Governor of the Punjab province visited the site, accompanied by a number of Sikh and Hindu leaders. Gandhi sympathized with the Sikhs and said that the Mahant had "out-Dyered Dyer ." The attending politicians utilized widespread anti-government feelings to exhort
6574-575: The Partition of Bengal , which was a strategy set out by Lord Curzon to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi movement and the Boycott movement. The movement consisted of the boycott of foreign goods and also the social boycott of any Indian who used foreign goods. The Swadeshi movement consisted of the usage of natively produced goods. Once foreign goods were boycotted, there
6747-688: The Second Anglo-Afghan War ) and the attempts to control the vernacular press (e.g. in the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 ). It was, however, Viceroy Lord Ripon 's partial reversal of the Ilbert Bill (1883), a legislative measure that had proposed putting Indian judges in the Bengal Presidency on equal footing with British ones, that transformed the discontent into political action. On 28 December 1885, professionals and intellectuals from this middle-class — many educated at
6920-411: The Singh Sabha movement to refer to "bands of preachers and choirs", an association which survives until the present-day. However, during the later Gurdwara reform movement , the terms began to take on a martial tone once again, resuscitating and harking back to the 18th century's context for the word. The group of Sikhs protesting and fighting for the freedom of Sikh shrines and places of worship from
7093-571: The Udasi mahant s (clergymen) or managers appointed by the Governors. The Udasis had come to control Sikh shrines in the eighteenth century during the period of increased persecution of the Khalsa by the Mughal Empire during that time forced them to yield control of Sikh institutions to those without external identifiers; the Khalsa would subsequently focus on political power resulting in
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7266-547: The Viceroy and the central government in New Delhi, other departments like public health, education, land-revenue, local self-government were transferred to the provinces. The provinces themselves were now to be administered under a new diarchical system, whereby some areas like education, agriculture, infrastructure development, and local self-government became the preserve of Indian ministers and legislatures, and ultimately
7439-426: The toshakhana keys to the Baba Kharak Singh of the SGPC on 17 January 1922, and agreed to the unconditional release of all Sikhs arrested, the number of whom had been increasing up to that point. As Sikh concerns were now linked with the wider non-cooperation movement, Gandhi would telegraph the SGPC in January 1922 with "Congratulations, first decisive battle for India's freedom won." The government's attitude toward
7612-447: The untouchable community . By 1905, a deep gulf opened between the moderates, led by Gokhale, who downplayed public agitation, and the new "extremists" who not only advocated agitation, but also regarded the pursuit of social reform as a distraction from nationalism. Prominent among the extremists was Bal Gangadhar Tilak , who attempted to mobilise Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity, displayed, for example, in
7785-567: The Akali reformers, as well as to Hindus and Muslims who opposed the authorities. They issued 15 issues of the Babbar Akali Doaba from a moving press throughout Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur from August 1922 to May 1923, and in 1923 committed a series of political assassinations; they were declared unlawful in August 1923 and in under a year most Babbar Akali leaders would be arrested or killed. Those arrested would be tried in 1925 and considered to be fighting for independence and Sikh rule, with six hangings in February 1926. Several organizations, including
7958-418: The Akalis headed to Hasan Abdal , where Gurdwara Panja Sahib was under the control of Mahant Mitha Singh. Singh allowed sale of cigarettes inside the gurdwara, and was disliked by the Sikhs. The Akalis led by Kartar Singh Jhabbar took control of the gurdwara on 20 November 1920. However, the local Hindus, who also frequented the gurdwara for worship, opposed this takeover. Around 5–6 thousand of them surrounded
8131-411: The Akalis would grow more contentious by midyear however, as the Akalis would begin to consider independence as their best option. The most notable conflict between the Akalis and the colonial government, highlighting the larger problem of private resource management of gurdwaras, occurred in August 1922 at the Guru-ka-Bagh ("garden of the guru") shrine 12 miles from Amritsar near Ajnala , built to mark
8304-429: The Assistant Director of CID , Punjab states: Gandhi's propaganda makes its appeal mainly to the urban classes, which lack both the stamina and physical courage to oppose successfully even small bodies of police; the Akali campaign is essentially a rural movement, and its followers are men of fine physique with a national history of which the martial characteristics have been purposely kept alive both by Government and by
8477-411: The British Government; over 400 had been killed and another 2,000 had been injured during the movement. The movement fueled the anti-British Government feeling among the Sikhs. It also led to an anti-Hindu sentiment among a section of Sikhs, who identified the pro-Udasi mahants such as Narain Das and their supporters with the Hindu community. As the British authorities came to see the Akali movement to be
8650-431: The British enterprise in India, it had not derailed it. Until 1857, the British, especially under Lord Dalhousie , had been hurriedly building an India which they envisaged to be on par with Britain itself in the quality and strength of its economic and social institutions. After the rebellion, they became more circumspect. Much thought was devoted to the causes of the rebellion and three main lessons were drawn. First, at
8823-422: The British felt disenchanted with Indian reaction to social change. Until the rebellion, they had enthusiastically pushed through social reform, like the ban on sati by Lord William Bentinck . It was now felt that traditions and customs in India were too strong and too rigid to be changed easily; consequently, no more British social interventions were made, especially in matters dealing with religion, even when
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#17328021378758996-430: The British felt very strongly about the issue (as in the instance of the remarriage of Hindu child widows). This was exemplified further in Queen Victoria's Proclamation released immediately after the rebellion. The proclamation stated that 'We disclaim alike our Right and Desire to impose Our Convictions on any of Our Subjects'; demonstrating official British commitment to abstaining from social intervention in India. In
9169-408: The British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils with the Indian Councils Act of 1892 . Municipal Corporations and District Boards were created for local administration; they included elected Indian members. The Indian Councils Act 1909 , known as the Morley-Minto Reforms ( John Morley was the secretary of state for India, and Minto was viceroy)—gave Indians limited roles in
9342-424: The British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a princely state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861; however, the issue of sovereignty was left undefined. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, but not part of British India. Although the Indian Rebellion of 1857 had shaken
9515-423: The Central Sikh League, would issued appeals to raise funds for the families of those killed and hanged, and they would be celebrated in poetry and literature. Amid the ongoing agitations, the SGPC urged the British Government to release the protestors and legalize its control of the gurdwaras. On 1 May 1921, the influential Sikh leaders passed a resolution for launching a passive resistance movement. The next day,
9688-497: The Congress primarily debated British policy toward India. Its debates created a new Indian outlook that held Great Britain responsible for draining India of its wealth. Britain did this, the nationalists claimed, by unfair trade, by the restraint on indigenous Indian industry, and by the use of Indian taxes to pay the high salaries of the British civil servants in India. Thomas Baring served as Viceroy of India 1872–1876. Baring's major accomplishments came as an energetic reformer who
9861-415: The Crown). In the three decades since, Muslim leaders across northern India had intermittently experienced public animosity from some of the new Hindu political and social groups. The Arya Samaj , for example, had not only supported Cow Protection Societies in their agitation, but also—distraught at the 1871 Census's Muslim numbers—organized "reconversion" events for the purpose of welcoming Muslims back to
10034-401: The Golden Temple had refused to allow low-caste Hindu converts to offer prayers in the shrine. Kartar Singh Jhabbar walked to the Akal Takht in the temple premises, urging the Sikhs to give up the caste-based restrictions and reform the gurdwaras. On 28 June 1920, the Golden Temple came under the control of an elected committee called Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Next,
10207-545: The Government of India reporting 379 dead, with 1,100 wounded. The Indian National Congress estimated three times the number of dead. Dyer was removed from duty but he became a celebrated hero in Britain among people with connections to the Raj. Historians consider the episode was a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India. In 1920, after the British government refused to back down, Gandhi began his campaign of non-cooperation , prompting many Indians to return British awards and honours, to resign from
10380-470: The Hindu fold. In 1905, when Tilak and Lajpat Rai attempted to rise to leadership positions in the Congress, and the Congress itself rallied around the symbolism of Kali, Muslim fears increased. It was not lost on many Muslims, for example, that the rallying cry, "Bande Mataram", had first appeared in the novel Anand Math in which Hindus had battled their Muslim oppressors. Lastly, the Muslim elite, and among it Dacca Nawab , Khwaja Salimullah , who hosted
10553-488: The Hindu members opposed the bill, but it was passed by 41 votes to 31 votes. In 1923, the Akalis made plans to bring under their control Gurdwara Gangsar at Jaitu (or Jaito) in the Nabha State . The erstwhile Maharaja (ruler) of Nabha Ripudaman Singh had been sympathetic to the Akali and the Indian nationalist cause, but was deposed by the British Government, made to abdicate to his minor son on 9 July 1923. The SGPC held protest meetings, and on 4 August resolved to take up
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#173280213787510726-408: The Indian National Congress surprised Raj officials, who previously had seen the Congress as a small elitist body. The British separated Burma Province from British India in 1937 and granted the colony a new constitution calling for a fully elected assembly, with many powers given to the Burmese, but this proved to be a divisive issue as a ploy to exclude Burmese from any further Indian reforms. With
10899-422: The Indian electorates, while others like irrigation, land-revenue, police, prisons, and control of media remained within the purview of the British governor and his executive council. The new Act also made it easier for Indians to be admitted into the civil services and the army officer corps. A greater number of Indians were now enfranchised, although, for voting at the national level, they constituted only 10% of
11072-402: The League's first meeting in his mansion in Shahbag , was aware that a new province with a Muslim majority would directly benefit Muslims aspiring to political power. The first steps were taken toward self-government in British India in the late 19th century with the appointment of Indian counsellors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members;
11245-401: The Muslim League had anywhere between 500 and 800 members and did not yet have the wider following among Indian Muslims that it enjoyed in later years; in the League itself, the pact did not have unanimous backing, having largely been negotiated by a group of "Young Party" Muslims from the United Provinces (UP), most prominently, two brothers Mohammad and Shaukat Ali , who had embraced
11418-516: The Mutiny. Since Dalhousie had embraced the technological change then rampant in Great Britain, India too saw the rapid development of all those technologies. Railways, roads, canals, and bridges were rapidly built in India, and telegraph links were equally rapidly established so that raw materials, such as cotton, from India's hinterland, could be transported more efficiently to ports, such as Bombay , for subsequent export to England. Likewise, finished goods from England, were transported back for sale in
11591-429: The Pan-Islamic cause; however, it did have the support of a young lawyer from Bombay, Muhammad Ali Jinnah , who was later to rise to leadership roles in both the League and the Indian independence movement. In later years, as the full ramifications of the pact unfolded, it was seen as benefiting the Muslim minority élites of provinces like UP and Bihar more than the Muslim majorities of Punjab and Bengal; nonetheless, at
11764-407: The SGPC. The term Akali derives from the word Akal ("timeless" or "immortal") used in the Sikh scriptures. The movement was named for the Akalis, a Khalsa militant order from the time of Guru Gobind Singh which had risen to prominence under Akali Phula Singh , one of the commanders of the Sikh Empire . By the early 20th century, a number of Sikh gurdwaras in British India were under the control of
11937-399: The Sikh Empire. The main aim of the Akali movement was to have the Sikh gurdwaras released from the control of the traditional clergy, which had become powerful and ritualized. The non-violent movement began in 1920, with the jathas , led by Kartar Singh Jhabbar , playing a major role. The first shrine chosen for reform was the Babe di Ber gurdwara in Sialkot . It was under the control of
12110-458: The Sikh community, especially the peasantry, artisans, laborers, ex-soldiers, and emigrants returning from abroad. British Raj The British Raj ( / r ɑː dʒ / RAHJ ; from Hindustani rāj , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent , lasting from 1858 to 1947. It is also called Crown rule in India , or Direct rule in India . The region under British control
12283-403: The Sikhs and Baluchis, composed of Indians who, in British estimation, had demonstrated steadfastness, were formed. From then on, the Indian army was to remain unchanged in its organisation until 1947. The 1861 Census had revealed that the English population in India was 125,945. Of these only about 41,862 were civilians as compared with about 84,083 European officers and men of the Army. In 1880,
12456-436: The Sikhs and the government also lead to the consolidation of ties between the Akalis and noncooperation leaders, and the allegations of government interference in religious affairs began to affect the public opinion of Sikh soldiers, disbanded soldiers, and peasantry, on which colonial stability depended, and the threat of a major civil disobedience at the beginning of 1922. To prevent unrest, the government relented, handing over
12629-517: The Sikhs for a short sliver of time between 1733 and 1735 and allowed the Jathas to reside in Amritsar without being harassed. During this period, Nawab Kapur Singh, leader of the Sikhs at that time, decided to organize the various Jathas into two groups (' Dals ', referring to a "branch" or "section"): the Budha Dal (army of the old) and the Taruna Dal (army of the young). The Taruna Dal itself
12802-519: The Sikhs themselves. In 1925, after further demands and protests from SGPC, a new "Sikh Gurdwara Bill" was introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly on 7 May and adopted in July. It came into force on 1 November 1925, and awarded the control of all the historical shrines to SGPC. A tribunal was set up to judge the disputes, and all the Akali prisoners were released. By this time, an estimated 30,000 people had been arrested by
12975-477: The Sikhs to join the national noncooperation movement, which was supported by a resolution passed by the SGPC in May 1921 appealing to Sikhs to begin civil disobedience. As the Sikh reformers were now aligned with the national movement, colonial administrators began to rethink its position on non-interference in gurdwara management and acceptance of the increasing control of the SGPC. Akalis headed to Nankana upon hearing
13148-518: The United Nations and the Food and Agricultural Organisation well into the 1970s. By 1880, a new middle class had arisen in India and spread thinly across the country. Moreover, there was a growing solidarity among its members, created by the "joint stimuli of encouragement and irritation". The encouragement felt by this class came from its success in education and its ability to avail itself of
13321-466: The accompanying declaration, "I loathe the suggestion at first sight of preserving the Defence of India Act in peacetime to such an extent as Rowlatt and his friends think necessary." In the ensuing discussion and vote in the Imperial Legislative Council, all Indian members voiced opposition to the bills. The Government of India was, nevertheless, able to use of its "official majority" to ensure passage of
13494-598: The act and resolved to fight for the Sikh right of free worship, sending jathas from the Akal Takht to Jaito to complete the ceremony. The SGPC and Akali Dal were declared to be unlawful organizations on 12 October 1923, with the 60 members of the Jaito Morcha committee arrested for treason against the Crown, though the members were replaced and the morcha continued. A jatha of 500 Akalis, seen off from Amritsar by
13667-549: The administration of the Golden Temple to be transferred from the government to an elected representative body of Sikhs answerable to the panth , and in October 1920 took control of the Golden Temple and Akal Takht . The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919 during the course of the national independence movement, subsequent words of support from Arur Singh, the head priest of the Golden Temple , to General Dyer , and
13840-520: The advice of the Deputy Commissioner, who sent his subordinate Lala Amar Nath to take the keys. which prompted the SGPC to accuse the government of meddling in Sikh affairs, and appeal to Akali jathas to meet at Amritsar and organize protest meetings. The government would in response affix their own locks to the toshakhana in defiance, escalating the situation, and Akali protestors were arrested and given punishments. The conflict between
14013-487: The annual public Ganapati festivals that he inaugurated in western India. The viceroy, Lord Curzon (1899–1905), was unusually energetic in pursuit of efficiency and reform. His agenda included the creation of the North-West Frontier Province ; small changes in the civil services; speeding up the operations of the secretariat; setting up a gold standard to ensure a stable currency; creation of
14186-522: The benefits of that education such as employment in the Indian Civil Service . It came too from Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858 in which she had declared, "We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligation of duty which bind us to all our other subjects." Indians were especially encouraged when Canada was granted dominion status in 1867 and established an autonomous democratic constitution. Lastly,
14359-557: The bills early in 1919. However, what it passed, in deference to the Indian opposition, was a lesser version of the first bill, which now allowed extrajudicial powers, but for a period of exactly three years and for the prosecution solely of "anarchical and revolutionary movements", dropping entirely the second bill involving modification the Indian Penal Code . Even so, when it was passed, the new Rowlatt Act aroused widespread indignation throughout India, and brought Gandhi to
14532-410: The burgeoning Indian markets. Unlike Britain, where the market risks for the infrastructure development were borne by private investors, in India, it was the taxpayers—primarily farmers and farm-labourers—who endured the risks, which, in the end, amounted to £50 million. Despite these costs, very little skilled employment was created for Indians. By 1920, with the fourth largest railway network in
14705-525: The case. Although the British planters eventually gave in, they were not won over to the farmers' cause, and thereby did not produce the optimal outcome of a Satyagraha that Gandhi had hoped for; similarly, the farmers themselves, although pleased at the resolution, responded less than enthusiastically to the concurrent projects of rural empowerment and education that Gandhi had inaugurated in keeping with his ideal of swaraj . The following year Gandhi launched two more Satyagrahas—both in his native Gujarat —one in
14878-411: The cause, condemning the act in a meeting at Jaito on 25 August. When the SGPC launched an agitation, its leaders and members were arrested on the charge of sedition . Subsequently, several marches were organized in support of the agitation. The protesters were arrested, beaten and shot at by the police at various instances. With the disruption of a subsequent Akhand Path ceremony, the SGPC condemned
15051-462: The central and provincial legislatures. Upper-class Indians, rich landowners and businessmen were favoured. The Muslim community was made a separate electorate and granted double representation. The goals were quite conservative but they did advance the elective principle. The partition of Bengal was rescinded in 1911 and announced at the Delhi Durbar at which King George V came in person and
15224-581: The civil services, and to again boycott British goods. In addition, Gandhi reorganised the Congress, transforming it into a mass movement and opening its membership to even the poorest Indians. Although Gandhi halted the non-cooperation movement in 1922 after the violent incident at Chauri Chaura , the movement revived again, in the mid-1920s. The visit, in 1928, of the British Simon Commission , charged with instituting constitutional reform in India, resulted in widespread protests throughout
15397-422: The clergymen at the gurdwara had allegedly raped the 13-year-old daughter of a Hindu devotee from Sindh . The mahant's conduct had been widely condemned by the local congregation, though the large revenue from the gurdwara estates insulated him from public pressure. With the movement gaining momentum, public meetings passed resolutions condemning his conduct, and worried about being ousted by the Akalis, he turned to
15570-475: The clock ... fifty years forward ... (The) reforms after the war will have to be such, ... as will satisfy the aspirations of her (India's) people to take their legitimate part in the administration of their own country." The 1916 Lucknow Session of the Congress was also the venue of an unanticipated mutual effort by the Congress and the Muslim League, the occasion for which was provided by
15743-401: The committee's composition, expressed in a large gathering at the Golden Temple on 16 November 1920 attended by over 10,000 Sikhs, the committee in charge of the Golden Temple was reformulated with 175 members to form a managing committee for all gurdwaras. The government, publicly pursuing a policy of neutral non-interference though still managing to have some appointees on the committee, allowed
15916-564: The community kitchen was to deliberately undermine their faith, and the arrests drew more Akali volunteers to the site, with the SGPC launching a campaign to send non-violent Akali jathas to the gurdwara daily. Over 200 volunteers were arrested by August 25, and by October 19 over 2,450 would be arrested by authorities. As continuous waves of Akalis kept arriving, the authorities began to use violent methods, being declared an unlawful assembly, as bands of 50 to 100, and sometimes over 200 Akalis would take blows in non-violent resistance. On October 25,
16089-659: The contemporary Ali ud-Din Mufti in his Ibrat Namah . Finally, on the annual Diwali meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar in 1748, the Jathas were reorganized into a new grouping called misls , with 11 Misls forming out of the various pre-existing Jathas and a unified army known as the Dal Khalsa Ji . Ultimate command over the Misls was bestowed to Jassa Singh Ahluwalia . The words Jatha and Jathedar began to fall into disuse after this point, as leaders of Misls preferred
16262-579: The continuing distrust of Indians resulted in a declining base in terms of quality and quantity. By 1945 Indians were numerically dominant in the ICS and at issue was divided loyalty between the Empire and independence. The finances of the Raj depended on land taxes, and these became problematic in the 1930s. Epstein argues that after 1919 it became harder and harder to collect the land revenue. The Raj's suppression of civil disobedience after 1934 temporarily increased
16435-424: The control of gurdwaras passing under the control of committees appointed by the SGPC. In 1921, the Akalis turned their focus to the gurdwara at Nankana Sahib , the birthplace of the first Sikh Guru Nanak . The gurdwara was under the control of a mahant called Narain Das, who was accused of allowing immoral activities in the temple premises, including licentiousness and the misappropriation of gurdwara funds. One of
16608-500: The control of hereditary mahants were termed Akali Jathas . The term Jatha began to refer to a "band of [Sikh] volunteers going forward to press a demand or to defy an unjust fiat of the government". This semantic of the word is still used. Jathas existed during the British Raj in the Punjab , northern India. During this time, the British imprisoned many Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims, and many villages and towns being raided by
16781-446: The control of the gurdwara at Bhai Pheru . The gurdwara was controlled by Udasi mahants including Pala Ram, the brother of Narain Das (who was responsible for the Nankana massacre). The mahant agreed to transfer the control of the gurdwara to SGPC, after being offered a pension. However, in August 1923, when the Akalis decided to eject the Udasi tenants housed in the gurdwara premises, they faced considerable resistance. On 4 December 1923,
16954-522: The control of the gurdwaras using violent methods. Some Akalis and Ghadarites would react against the killing of the Nankana massacre, attempting assassinations against officials held responsible for the killings, as well as their native supporters. Arrests of the militant leaders would follow, but the Babbar Akali Jatha, founded in August 1922 with the aim of defending the faith and political independence, would make overtures to ex-soldiers and
17127-729: The country, but especially in the Madras Presidency and in regions like Sind and Gujarat that had hitherto been considered politically dormant by the Congress. Both leagues rapidly acquired new members—approximately thirty thousand each in a little over a year—and began to publish inexpensive newspapers. Their propaganda also turned to posters, pamphlets, and political-religious songs, and later to mass meetings, which not only attracted greater numbers than in earlier Congress sessions, but also entirely new social groups such as non- Brahmins , traders, farmers, students, and lower-level government workers. Although they did not achieve
17300-593: The country. Earlier, in 1925, non-violent protests of the Congress had resumed too, this time in Gujarat, and led by Patel, who organised farmers to refuse payment of increased land taxes; the success of this protest, the Bardoli Satyagraha , brought Gandhi back into the fold of active politics. At its annual session in Lahore , the Indian National Congress, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru , issued
17473-462: The crucial decision of determining the borders of the new country of Pakistan. Some historians say the biggest mistake the British made before they left India was splitting the Sikh main land of Punjab in two, giving one half to the Islamic government of Pakistan and the other half to be run by a Hindu government. This led to non-stop bloodshed between many Sikhs and Muslims. Thousands of Muslims fled
17646-470: The effect of approximately doubling the index of overall prices in India between 1914 and 1920. Returning war veterans, especially in the Punjab, created a growing unemployment crisis, and post-war inflation led to food riots in Bombay, Madras, and Bengal provinces, a situation that was made only worse by the failure of the 1918–19 monsoon and by profiteering and speculation. The global influenza epidemic and
17819-418: The encouragement came from the work of contemporaneous Oriental scholars like Monier Monier-Williams and Max Müller , who in their works had been presenting ancient India as a great civilisation. Irritation, on the other hand, came not just from incidents of racial discrimination at the hands of the British in India, but also from governmental actions like the use of Indian troops in imperial campaigns (e.g. in
17992-462: The execution of Banda Singh Bahadur and persecution of the Sikhs by the Mughal authorities led to the Sikhs gathering in armed nomadic groups, termed Jathas. Each Jatha was headed by a local leader, known as a Jathedar . The Jathedar was chosen based on merit alone, as only the most daring and courageous warrior of a particular band was selected for the honour. Devout Sikhs of the Khalsa joined
18165-544: The face of new strength demonstrated by the nationalists with the signing of the Lucknow Pact and the founding of the Home Rule leagues , and the realisation, after the disaster in the Mesopotamian campaign , that the war would likely last longer, the new viceroy, Lord Chelmsford , cautioned that the Government of India needed to be more responsive to Indian opinion. Towards the end of the year, after discussions with
18338-407: The fires of the gurdwara's free community kitchen , for which the mahant had them arrested for theft at the encouragement of the authorities, provoking a major struggle with the Akalis, who contended that the mahant could not claim private possession of the property, as it belonged to the Sikh panth , or congregation. The Akalis warned the government that denying Sikhs the right to gather fuel for
18511-572: The forefront of the nationalist movement. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre or "Amritsar massacre", took place in the Jallianwala Bagh public garden in the predominantly Sikh northern city of Amritsar . After days of unrest Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer forbade public meetings and on Sunday 13 April 1919 fifty British Indian Army soldiers commanded by Dyer began shooting at an unarmed gathering of thousands of men, women, and children without warning. Casualty estimates vary widely, with
18684-444: The form of matchlocks to equip their ranks with. The Sikhs avoided the use of heavy-artillery pieces as it impeded their military strategy of being quick and mobile. As per Rattan Singh Bhangu in his Panth Prakash , some light-artillery pieces were used by the Sikhs of this era, such as zamburaks (camel-mounted swivel cannons) and a long-range musket known as a janjail . The terms "jatha" and "jathedar" were revived during
18857-563: The form predominantly of the Swadeshi ("buy Indian") campaign led by two-time Congress president, Surendranath Banerjee , and involved boycott of British goods. The rallying cry for both types of protest was the slogan Bande Mataram ("Hail to the Mother"), which invoked a mother goddess, who stood variously for Bengal, India, and the Hindu goddess Kali . Sri Aurobindo never went beyond
19030-533: The founding of the All-India Muslim League in Dacca . Although Curzon, by now, had resigned his position over a dispute with his military chief Lord Kitchener and returned to England, the League was in favour of his partition plan. The Muslim elite's position, which was reflected in the League's position, had crystallized gradually over the previous three decades, beginning with the revelations of
19203-401: The full control of their hereditary rulers, with no popular government. To prepare for elections Congress built up its grass roots membership from 473,000 in 1935 to 4.5 million in 1939. In the 1937 elections Congress won victories in seven of the eleven provinces of British India. Congress governments, with wide powers, were formed in these provinces. The widespread voter support for
19376-433: The general disturbances in Punjab in 1919 provoked an outcry among Singh Sabha circles, and increased Sikh urgency to reclaim control of the gurdwaras . To pacify these sentiments, the colonial Punjab Government appointed a provisional committee of 36 members, entirely from Sikh landed aristocrat families, to formulate proposals regarding the operation of the Golden Temple. Following the Central Sikh League's disapproval of
19549-470: The government for help. When the government did not respond, Narain Das made his own arrangements, preemptively fortifying the premises and hiring approximately 80 mercenaries. When a jatha of over 100 Sikh made an unscheduled trip to Nankana on 20 February 1921 without any intention yet of taking it, the Pashtun guards of the Mahant opened fire without warning, killing 130 people in what came to be known as
19722-512: The government in London, he suggested that the British demonstrate their good faith—in light of the Indian war role—through a number of public actions, including awards of titles and honours to princes, granting of commissions in the army to Indians, and removal of the much-reviled cotton excise duty, but, most importantly, an announcement of Britain's future plans for India and an indication of some concrete steps. After more discussion, in August 1917,
19895-586: The gurdwara on the night of the Akali takeover, but were dispersed by the police. Nevertheless, the gurdwara was later successfully brought under the authority of the SGPC. The Akalis then took control of the Gurdwara Sacha Sauda at Chuhar Kana (in present-day Pakistan). They then turned their attention to the Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahib , whose clergymen were accused of allowing dancing girls, smoking and drinking inside
20068-549: The killings in India. Most Sikh prison inmates were executed after the assassination of the high ranking British officer John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon , head of the Simon Commission from the British Parliament. There was also a bombing targeting the British courts. Bhagat Singh was said to have been behind most of the actions carried out against the British and was later hanged. Some Sikh jathas such as
20241-601: The latter were sleeping. Two Akalis were killed and several wounded, and a jatha two weeks prior had also been beaten. The next day, the Sikhs from the surrounding villages took control of the Gurdwara, and a managing committee appointed by the SGPC. Following this, the Akalis led by Kartar Singh then took control of five more gurdwaras, including the Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh near Amritsar . The British, believing that gurdwara control could be contested in court, did not like
20414-545: The law when he edited the Bande Mataram magazine; it preached independence but within the bounds of peace as far as possible. Its goal was Passive Resistance. The unrest spread from Calcutta to the surrounding regions of Bengal when students returned home to their villages and towns. Some joined local political youth clubs emerging in Bengal at the time, some engaged in robberies to fund arms, and even attempted to take
20587-548: The leaders of the Indian National Congress , the war led to calls for greater self-government for Indians. At the onset of World War I, the reassignment of most of the British army in India to Europe and Mesopotamia , had led the previous viceroy, Lord Harding , to worry about the "risks involved in denuding India of troops". Revolutionary violence had already been a concern in British India; consequently, in 1915, to strengthen its powers during what it saw
20760-412: The lives of Raj officials. However, the conspiracies generally failed in the face of intense police work. The Swadeshi boycott movement cut imports of British textiles by 25%. The swadeshi cloth, although more expensive and somewhat less comfortable than its Lancashire competitor, was worn as a mark of national pride by people all over India. The overwhelming, but predominantly Hindu, protest against
20933-561: The magnitude or character of a nationwide mass movement, the Home Rule leagues both deepened and widened organised political agitation for self-rule in India. The British authorities reacted by imposing restrictions on the Leagues, including shutting out students from meetings and banning the two leaders from travelling to certain provinces. The year 1915 also saw the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to India. Already known in India as
21106-429: The new British-founded universities in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, and familiar with the ideas of British political philosophers, especially the utilitarians assembled in Bombay — founded the Indian National Congress . The 70 men elected Womesh Chunder Bonerjee as the first president. The membership consisted of a westernised elite, and no effort was made at this time to broaden the base. During its first 20 years,
21279-482: The new Liberal secretary of state for India, Edwin Montagu , announced the British aim of "increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration, and the gradual development of self-governing institutions, with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire". Although the plan envisioned limited self-government at first only in
21452-557: The new committee, and in December 1920 the committee was named the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, or SGPC, which coordinated the activities of Akali jathas , or volunteer groups, to liberate all gurdwaras from the corrupt mahants. The Akali movement was started in 1920 by the Central Sikh League's political wing, the Akali Dal, which was founded in Amritsar in December 1920 and assisted
21625-629: The newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption. The railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. After, the Great Famine of 1876–1878 , The Indian Famine Commission report was issued in 1880, and the Indian Famine Codes , the earliest famine scales and programmes for famine prevention, were instituted. In one form or other, they would be implemented worldwide by
21798-442: The news in the thousands, and access to the gurdwara was restricted by the government, though eventually conceded. The British Government, finding itself under immense political pressure, agreed to transfer the control of the gurdwara to the Akalis on 3 March 1921. Narain Das and 26 of his henchmen were arrested. A section of Akalis rejected the peaceful methods adopted by SGPC, and formed the breakaway Babbar Akali movement to seize
21971-451: The outbreak of World War II in 1939, the viceroy, Lord Linlithgow , declared war on India's behalf without consulting Indian leaders, leading the Congress provincial ministries to resign in protest. The Muslim League, in contrast, supported Britain in the war effort and maintained its control of the government in three major provinces, Bengal, Sind and the Punjab. Jatha A Jatha ( Punjabi : ਜੱਥਾ [sg] ; ਜਥੇ [pl] ( Gurmukhi ) )
22144-418: The partition of Bengal and the fear in its wake of reforms favouring the Hindu majority, led the Muslim elite in India to meet with the new viceroy, Lord Minto in 1906 and to ask for separate electorates for Muslims. In conjunction, they demanded proportional legislative representation reflecting both their status as former rulers and their record of cooperating with the British. This led, in December 1906, to
22317-403: The police for this action on the next day. In subsequent days, a number of Akali jatha s staged demonstrations at the site. A total of 5,251 persons were arrested for the demonstrations, and 3,092 of these were sent to the prison. The British Government considered the Akali movement to be a greater threat than Mahatma Gandhi 's civil disobedience movement. A 1921 memorandum signed by D. Petrie,
22490-483: The power for provincial governments to arrest and detain suspects in short-term detention facilities and without trial. With the end of World War I, there was also a change in the economic climate. By the end of 1919, 1.5 million Indians had served in the armed services in either combatant or non-combatant roles, and India had provided £146 million in revenue for the war. The increased taxes coupled with disruptions in both domestic and international trade had
22663-577: The power of the revenue agents but after 1937 they were forced by the new Congress-controlled provincial governments to hand back confiscated land. Again the outbreak of war strengthened them, in the face of the Quit India movement the revenue collectors had to rely on military force and by 1946–47 direct British control was rapidly disappearing in much of the countryside. In 1935, after the Round Table Conferences, Parliament passed
22836-599: The provinces—with India emphatically within the British Empire—it represented the first British proposal for any form of representative government in a non-white colony. Montagu and Chelmsford presented their report in July 1918 after a long fact-finding trip through India the previous winter. After more discussion by the government and parliament in Britain, and another tour by the Franchise and Functions Committee for
23009-515: The provincial level; however, that opportunity was also restricted by the still limited number of eligible voters, by the small budgets available to provincial legislatures, and by the presence of rural and special interest seats that were seen as instruments of British control. Its scope was unsatisfactory to the Indian political leadership, famously expressed by Annie Besant as something "unworthy of England to offer and India to accept". In 1917, as Montagu and Chelmsford were compiling their report,
23182-562: The purpose of identifying who among the Indian population could vote in future elections, the Government of India Act 1919 (also known as the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms ) was passed in December 1919. The new Act enlarged both the provincial and Imperial legislative councils and repealed the Government of India's recourse to the "official majority" in unfavourable votes. Although departments like defence, foreign affairs, criminal law, communications, and income-tax were retained by
23355-464: The reform process by extremists, and since its reform plan was devised during a time when extremist violence had ebbed as a result of increased governmental control, it also began to consider how some of its wartime powers could be extended into peacetime. After the 1906 split between the moderates and the extremists in the Indian National Congress , organised political activity by the Congress had remained fragmented until 1914, when Bal Gangadhar Tilak
23528-414: The removal of untouchability from Indian society; and the exercise of swadeshi —the boycott of manufactured foreign goods and the revival of Indian cottage industry . The first two, he felt, were essential for India to be an egalitarian and tolerant society, one befitting the principles of Truth and Ahimsa , while the last, by making Indians more self-reliant, would break the cycle of dependence that
23701-507: The rural Kaira district where land-owning farmers were protesting increased land-revenue and the other in the city of Ahmedabad , where workers in an Indian-owned textile mill were distressed about their low wages. The satyagraha in Ahmedabad took the form of Gandhi fasting and supporting the workers in a strike, which eventually led to a settlement. In Kaira, in contrast, although the farmers' cause received publicity from Gandhi's presence,
23874-488: The same time, it was felt that the peasants, for whose benefit the large land reforms of the United Provinces had been undertaken, had shown disloyalty, by, in many cases, fighting for their former landlords against the British. Consequently, no more land reforms were implemented for the next 90 years: Bengal and Bihar were to remain the realms of large land holdings (unlike the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh ). Third,
24047-537: The satyagraha itself, which consisted of the farmers' collective decision to withhold payment, was not immediately successful, as the British authorities refused to back down. The agitation in Kaira gained for Gandhi another lifelong lieutenant in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , who had organised the farmers, and who too would go on to play a leadership role in the Indian independence movement. In 1916, in
24220-505: The sea and making their own salt by evaporating seawater. Although, many, including Gandhi, were arrested, the British government eventually gave in, and in 1931 Gandhi travelled to London to negotiate new reform at the Round Table Conferences . In local terms, British control rested on the Indian Civil Service (ICS), but it faced growing difficulties. Fewer and fewer young men in Britain were interested in joining, and
24393-401: The second half of the 19th century, both the direct administration of India by the British crown and the technological change ushered in by the industrial revolution, had the effect of closely intertwining the economies of India and Great Britain. In fact many of the major changes in transport and communications (that are typically associated with Crown Rule of India) had already begun before
24566-436: The shrine's premises. The clergymen were also accused of spreading the teachings of Arya Samaj , a Hindu reform movement some of whose leaders had criticized Sikhism. A group of 40 Akalis, led by Kartar Singh, arrived at the gurdwara on 25 January 1921, performed ardas (Sikh prayer) and declared that the gurdwara was now under their control. Henchmen employed by the mahants attacked the Akalis with crude bombs and bricks while
24739-592: The site in September 1922, was shocked at the administration's brutality, describing Akali tactics as "a new lesson in moral warfare." He protested to Edward MacLagan , the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, and the conflict was settled by having the mahant sell the land to Sir Ganga Ram , a private Hindu philanthropist, who handed it over to the Akalis on 17 November 1922. Over 5,000 volunteers were released in March 1923. The Government meanwhile launched
24912-691: The smoke nuisance in Calcutta. Trouble emerged for Curzon when he divided the largest administrative subdivision in British India, the Bengal Province , into the Muslim-majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam and the Hindu-majority province of West Bengal (present-day Indian states of West Bengal , Bihar , and Odisha ). Curzon's act, the Partition of Bengal , had been contemplated by various colonial administrations since
25085-463: The special Congress Session in Delhi. The Akalis were then joined by several non-Sikhs, including Jawaharlal Nehru (later the first Prime Minister of India) and Kasturiranga Santhanam . Nehru and others were arrested during one such march. Finally, the Government of Punjab relented and agreed to transfer the control of the gurdwara to the Akalis. While the Jaitu agitation was on, the Akalis also sought
25258-579: The standing Indian Army consisted of 66,000 British soldiers, 130,000 Natives, and 350,000 soldiers in the princely armies. Second, it was also felt that both the princes and the large land-holders, by not joining the rebellion, had proved to be, in Lord Canning's words, "breakwaters in a storm". They too were rewarded in the new British Raj by being integrated into the British-Indian political system and having their territories guaranteed. At
25431-450: The superiority of this new form of organised agitation, which had achieved some success in the Irish home rule movement , over the political violence that had intermittently plagued the subcontinent during the years 1907–1914. The two Leagues focused their attention on complementary geographical regions: Tilak's in western India, in the southern Bombay presidency , and Besant's in the rest of
25604-463: The term ' Sardar ' to refer to themselves, due to Afghan influence. After the rise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the establishment of the Sikh Empire , various aspects of 18th century Sikhism, including Jatha formations, were abolished. 18th century warriors of a jatha were equipped at-first with knobbed clubs , spears , battle axes , bow and arrows , and matchlocks . As mandatory for
25777-465: The time of Lord William Bentinck, but was never acted upon. Though some considered it administratively felicitous, it was communally charged. It sowed the seeds of division among Indians in Bengal, transforming nationalist politics as nothing else before it. The Hindu elite of Bengal, among them many who owned land in East Bengal that was leased out to Muslim peasants, protested fervidly. Following
25950-417: The time, the "Lucknow Pact" was an important milestone in nationalistic agitation and was seen as such by the British. During 1916, two Home Rule Leagues were founded within the Indian National Congress by Tilak and Annie Besant , respectively, to promote Home Rule among Indians, and also to elevate the stature of the founders within the Congress itself. Besant, for her part, was also keen to demonstrate
26123-541: The total adult male population, many of whom were still illiterate. In the provincial legislatures, the British continued to exercise some control by setting aside seats for special interests they considered cooperative or useful. In particular, rural candidates, generally sympathetic to British rule and less confrontational, were assigned more seats than their urban counterparts. Seats were also reserved for non-Brahmins, landowners, businessmen, and college graduates. The principal of "communal representation", an integral part of
26296-401: The various Jathas, which appealed to them to advance the cause of their religion and fight oppression. An important selection criterion for joining a Jatha was skill in horsemanship, as cavalry tactics and guerilla warfare was vital to the fighting style of the Jathas against the far more numerous Mughal and Afghan forces. Therefore, agility and maneuverability were the most critical skills that
26469-474: The wartime partnership between Germany and Turkey. Since the Turkish Sultan , or Khalifah , had also sporadically claimed guardianship of the Islamic holy sites of Mecca , Medina , and Jerusalem , and since the British and their allies were now in conflict with Turkey, doubts began to increase among some Indian Muslims about the "religious neutrality" of the British, doubts that had already surfaced as
26642-494: The whims of those markets, lost land, animals, and equipment to money-lenders. The latter half of the 19th century also saw an increase in the number of large-scale famines in India . Although famines were not new to the subcontinent, these were particularly severe, with tens of millions dying, and with many critics, both British and Indian, laying the blame at the doorsteps of the lumbering colonial administrations. There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in
26815-485: The widow of the mahant Harnam Singh. She initially resisted the takeover of the gurdwara by the Akalis, as it was her only source of income, but relented after she was offered a pension. The control of the gurdwara was then transferred to an elected committee headed by Baba Kharak Singh . The next major target of the Akalis was the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. The priest of
26988-535: The world and a history of 60 years of its construction, only ten per cent of the "superior posts" in the Indian Railways were held by Indians. The rush of technology was also changing the agricultural economy in India: by the last decade of the 19th century, a large fraction of some raw materials—not only cotton, but also some food-grains—were being exported to faraway markets. Many small farmers, dependent on
27161-444: The years 1907–1914, Gandhi tested the technique of Satyagraha in a number of protests on behalf of the Indian community in South Africa against the unjust racial laws. Also, during his time in South Africa, in his essay, Hind Swaraj , (1909), Gandhi formulated his vision of Swaraj , or "self-rule" for India based on three vital ingredients: solidarity between Indians of different faiths, but most of all between Hindus and Muslims;
27334-429: Was Baba Deep Singh who died at the age of 83 by having his head severed in a battle against Durrani forces. In the Sikh tradition, a Jatha refers to a group of Sikh volunteers working together for a common cause, whether that cause is violent or peaceful. The term was already in use by the first half of the 18th century amongst the Sikhs but its exact point of origin has not been traced as of yet. The aftermath of
27507-577: Was a gap which had to be filled by the production of those goods in India itself. Bal Gangadhar Tilak said that the Swadeshi and Boycott movements are two sides of the same coin. The large Bengali Hindu middle-class (the Bhadralok ), upset at the prospect of Bengalis being outnumbered in the new Bengal province by Biharis and Oriyas, felt that Curzon's act was punishment for their political assertiveness. The pervasive protests against Curzon's decision took
27680-596: Was a time of increased vulnerability, the Government of India passed the Defence of India Act 1915 , which allowed it to intern politically dangerous dissidents without due process, and added to the power it already had under the Indian Press Act of 1910 to imprison journalists without trial and to censor the press. It was under the Defence of India act that the Ali brothers were imprisoned in 1916, and Annie Besant ,
27853-627: Was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom , which were collectively called British India , and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy , called the princely states . The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire , though not officially. The area of British India contained much of the present-day states of Pakistan , India , Bangladesh , and Myanmar (Burma) . This system of governance
28026-455: Was crowned Emperor of India . He announced the capital would be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. This period saw an increase in the activities of revolutionary groups , which included Bengal's Anushilan Samiti and the Punjab's Ghadar Party . However, the British authorities were able to crush violent rebels swiftly, partly because the mainstream of educated Indian politicians opposed violent revolution. The First World War would prove to be
28199-521: Was dedicated to upgrading the quality of government in the British Raj. He began large scale famine relief, reduced taxes, and overcame bureaucratic obstacles in an effort to reduce both starvation and widespread social unrest. Although appointed by a Liberal government, his policies were much the same as viceroys appointed by Conservative governments. Social reform was in the air by the 1880s. For example, Pandita Ramabai , poet, Sanskrit scholar, and
28372-474: Was further split into five sub-sections. Each sub-section of the Taruna Dal flew its own banner. However, state oppression of the Sikhs shortly after began again and the jathas started dividing themselves into more and more groups. Then on the annual Diwali convening of the Sarbat Khalsa in 1745, a Gurmata was passed that reorganized the Jathas into 25 groups. Yet the number of Jathas kept on ballooning until around 65 Jathas had begun to be known, as recorded by
28545-563: Was given separate representation in the Provincial Legislative Assemblies. A voter could cast a vote only for candidates in his own category. The 1935 Act provided for more autonomy for Indian provinces, with the goal of cooling off nationalist sentiment. The act provided for a national parliament and an executive branch under the purview of the British government, but the rulers of the princely states managed to block its implementation. These states remained under
28718-643: Was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India ). It lasted until 1947, when the British Raj was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Union of India (later the Republic of India ) and Pakistan (later
28891-403: Was invited by a group of disgruntled tenant farmers who, for many years, had been forced into planting indigo (for dyes) on a portion of their land and then selling it at below-market prices to the British planters who had leased them the land. Upon his arrival in the district, Gandhi was joined by other agitators, including a young Congress leader, Rajendra Prasad , from Bihar, who would become
29064-632: Was perpetuating not only the direction and tenor of the British rule in India, but also the British commitment to it. At least until 1920, the British presence itself was not a stumbling block in Gandhi's conception of swaraj ; rather, it was the inability of Indians to create a modern society. Gandhi made his political debut in India in 1917 in Champaran district in Bihar , near the Nepal border, where he
29237-413: Was referred to coastal regions and northern part of the island at that time (now Sri Lanka ) was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens . These coastal regions were temporarily administered under Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, but for later periods the British governors reported to London, and it was not part of the Raj. The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan , having fought wars with
29410-420: Was released from prison and began to sound out other Congress leaders about possible reunification. That, however, had to wait until the demise of Tilak's principal moderate opponents, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta , in 1915, whereupon an agreement was reached for Tilak's ousted group to re-enter the Congress. In the 1916 Lucknow session of the Congress, Tilak's supporters were able to push through
29583-653: Was renamed Myanmar in 1989. The Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden was also part of British India at the inception of the British Raj, and became a separate colony known as Aden Colony in 1937 as well. As India , it was a founding member of the League of Nations , and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945 . India was a participating state in the Summer Olympics in 1900 , 1920 , 1928 , 1932 , and 1936 . The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, except for small holdings by other European nations such as Goa and Pondicherry . This area
29756-419: Was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948. The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf and the other states under the Persian Gulf Residency were theoretically princely states as well as presidencies and provinces of British India until 1947 and used the rupee as their unit of currency. Among other countries in the region, Ceylon , which
29929-425: Was sufficiently diverse to be a microcosm of India itself. In tackling the challenge of holding this community together and simultaneously confronting the colonial authority, he had created a technique of non-violent resistance, which he labelled Satyagraha (or Striving for Truth). For Gandhi, Satyagraha was different from " passive resistance ", by then a familiar technique of social protest, which he regarded as
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