MODERN INDIAN HISTROY

Rise of Communalism in India

There are 3 types of communalism. First, passive communalism. In this the
communal leaders and the masses believe that their co-religionist posses the
same secular ideas and they form a social-politico front for the welfare of their
own community. Second is the liberal communalist. In this the masses and the
leaders propagate the ideas that the needs and welfare of the people of their
community are different from the other religion. The third type is extremist
communalist. In this the communalist are intolerant and profess the ideas that
two religions form two separate nations and cannot live together comfortably.
Following are the reasons for rise of communalism in India during
independence movement
1) Economic stagnation during British rule made the government job as the
sole saviour for the people. Hence people resorted to nepotism and
bribery to push their community people into govt jobs. To widen their
social base and to form a strong social plank they took resort of
communalism
2) Lack of political consciousness among masses especially among the
poor Muslim population led to driving the real political issue to
communal background. For eg the problem between Zamindars and
tenants was prevalent throughout India. But it was made a fight between
Hindus and Muslim by communalist.

3) British govt policy of divide and rule, separate electorate, free hand to
communalist newspaper and organisation, lethargy in dealing with
communal riots
4) Failure of national movement to contain communalist among themselves
during passive stage of struggle.
5) High distortion in Indias history textbook in school. It was highly
communal and biased toward Hindus. The British frightened the
Muslims about consequences of end of British rule. They played the
cards of Hindu domination after end of British rule.

INDIAN EDUCATION POLICY DURING BRITISH

Lord Curzon tried to reconstruct education system in India. He had several
prejudice against the vernacular education. He referred to poor quality of
teachers who he called the purveyors of certain articles to class of
purchasers and found faults in examination ridden system. His motives
were mostly political and partly educational. He justified official control of
education in name of quality and efficiency, but actually tried to restrict the
education and discipline educated towards loyalty to govt. The nationalist
view Curzon policies as strengthening imperialism and sabotaging
nationalist feeling.
The Indian Universities act, 1904
The act was passed according to the recommendations made by commission
set up under the presidency of Sir Thomas Raleigh in 1902.
1) the universities were required to make provisions for promotion of study
and research, to appoint university professors and lecturers, set up
university lab and libraries and undertake direct instructions to students

2) The numbers of fellow was fixed from not less than 50 to not more than
100.
3) The power of governor was increased tremendously. He was given
power to veto any regulation passed by senate of university. He can also
make addition or subtraction in the regulation at his will.
4) The act increased the university control over private college. The private
college were required to keep a proper standard of efficiency.
5) The governor-general-in-council was empowered to define the territorial
limits of a university and to decide the affiliation of college to
universities.
6) The positive point of the policy was the grant in aid was sanctioned as 5
lakh per annum for improvement of higher education and universities.
Thus the act tried to influence the government control, over education system.
Government resolution on education policy 1913
1) The sate of Baroda introduced compulsory primary education
throughout its territories. The nationalist tried hard to force government
to introduce the same throughout India. G.K Gokhale played a heroic
role to make the government accept the proposal.
2) The government rejected the principle of compulsory education but
accepted the policy of removal of illiteracy. The resolution encouraged
provinces to provide free primary education. The quality of secondary
was sought to improve. It also declared that universities must be est. for
each province and teaching activities of universities must be
encouraged.
Sadler commission 1917-19
The objective of the commission was to review the entire field from school
education to university education.

1) A 12 year school course was recommended. The govt was urged to set up
new type of institution called the intermediate college. After accessing the
intermediate examination, rather than matriculation, the students were to
enter the university. For the administration and control of secondary
education the commission recommended setting up of a board of secondary
and intermediate education.
2) It recommended less rigidity in framing the regulations of the universities.
3) Old Indian scattered colleges should be replaced by the centralised unitaryresidential -teaching autonomous bodies.
4) It stressed the need for extension of the facilities for female education and
recommended the establishment of special board of women education.
5) Substantial facilities for training of teachers and setting up of department of
education at universities in Calcutta and Dacca.
6) The university was required to provide course in applied science and
technology. It was also to provide facilities of personnel for professional
and vocational college.
The Sadler commission was of the view that secondary education was a
necessary condition for improvement of university education.

[During the Montagu Chelmsford reforms the education department was

transferred to ministries and central govt ceased to take direct interest in
educational matters. The central grants to education were discontinued.
Financial difficulties prevented provincial govt from taking up ambitious
schemes in education sector.]
The Hartog Committee, 1929
The committees objective was to address problems of falling quality of
education due to increase in colleges.
1) It emphasised the role of primary education, but condemned the policy
of hasty expansion to introduce compulsory education.

2) For secondary education it recommended a selective system for

admission to sideline the undeserving students and urged the retention of
most boys of rural pursuit at middle vernacular school stage.
3) It recommended that all efforts should be concentrated in improving
university work.
Wardha scheme of basic education
Under the act of 1935 the congress party evolved a national scheme of
education. Mahatma Gandhi proposed the scheme came to be called as
Wardha scheme. The principle of the basic education was learning through
activity. The zakir Husain committee worked out details of scheme. The
scheme centred on manual productive work. The start of world war in
1939 and resignation of congress ministries postponed the scheme.
THREE PHASES OF ECONOMIC PLUNDER
1) MERCHANTILE PHASE(1757-1800):
-

company achieved diwani rights and revenue collection of

provinces of Bengal and Bihar

period of imperialism

wanted favourable balance of trade

free passes to European goods

Company servants were infected with earning quick money. Thus

receiving high bribes.

Revenue farming by warren hasting.

Forcing small artisan to sell their product at cheap price and

selling them on high price.

2) SYSTEMATIC DEINDUSTRALISATION (19TH CENTURY)

Colonisation of India by defeating Indian kings and queens by

subsidiary alliance and doctrine of lapse.

Initiation of new imperialism

3) ENTRY OF FOREIGN CAPITAL IN INDIA(1900-1947)

[British policy toward Indian states can be divided in 5 stages
1) EIC struggle for equality of status (1740-65)
2) Policy of ring fence(1765-1813)
3) Policy of subordinate isolation by lord Wellesley (1813-1857)
4) Policy of subordinate Union (1857-1935)
5) Policy of equal federation (1935-47)]

BRITISH RING FENCE POLICY (1765-1813)

-

It is policy adopted by British EIC to form buffer states around

their colonies for protection from French, Maratha and Afghan
invaders.

They wanted equality of status on par with Indian rulers and

didnt posses ambitions of making Indian princes subordinate to
British rule.

They wanted to protect the territories of neighbouring state for

protection of their colonies. They asked the neighbouring princes
to bear the cost of British troops stationed in their territory for
their protection.

REASONS OF FALURE OF MARATHA EMPIRE

1) INEPT LEADERSHIP: Despotic rule and personalities like Baji
Rao II and Daulat Sindhia brought doom to empire. Besides
driving many loyal sardars in enemy camp he himself went into
arms of British by treaty of Bassien. Fond of luxury and indolent.
Total absence of first rate personalities in 19th century.
2) DEFECTS OF MARATHA STATE: no attempt was made for
communal improvement, spread of modern education or

unification of state. Absence of stable economic policies added to

woes. During long wars with Mughals cultivators left agriculture
and joined army.

Now their economy relied on plundering

Mughal provinces. Thus Maratha Empire subsisted not on

resources of Maharashtra but on levies and plunder of acquired
territories. Maratha chief resorted to mortgage of territories to
bankers to fulfil their luxury.
3) WEAK POLITICAL SETUP:

Maratha Empire was loose

confederation of leadership Peshwa. Powerful chief like

Gaikwad, Holkar, Sindhia and Bhonsle carved out semi
independent state and paid only lip service to authority of
Peshwa. Poona govt weakened after battle of Panipat and feudal
units declared their independence. In matters outside their
kingdom the chiefs often took opposite side to the detriment of
overall empire. There was absence of corporate spirit among the
Maratha chiefs.
4) INFERIOR MILITARY SYSTEM: no match to English. Forces
poorly organised and undisciplined. Treachery in Maratha ranks
played havoc. The mercenary soldiers had no higher motive than
of personal interest. Abandonment of guerrilla system of warfare
proved disastrous. Neglected cavalry, artillery and infantry. Weak
military intelligence. Marathas were ignorant.
5) SUPERIOR ENGLISH DIPLOMACY: English were superior in
diplomacy than Maratha. In 2nd Maratha war English won over
Gaikwad while Peshwa was still their ally by treaty of Bassien.
REASONS FOR FRENCH FAILURE IN INDIA
1) Superior navy of British EIC: French lost most of its navy during
Austrian war for succession and seven years of war in America.
2) Despotic rule: French depended on leadership from their monarch.
King Louis XV was a leader fond of luxury and incapable of handling

wars and crisis. British on other had had Whig party who set up a system
of constitutional monarchy.
3) Difference between French and British EIC: British EIC was a
private commercial body free of govt interference while French were
govt body dependent on govt. the French servants had little to care about
profits and dividends. Hence their finances deteriorated.
4) Annexation of Bengal by British gave them edge over French.
5) French were trying to expand their continental boundaries in Europe and
colonies far away at the same time. This took toll of their attention and
expenditure. British only concentrated on expanding their colonies.
6) Dupleix of French Company just concentrated on annexation of
territories and hardly paid attention towards companys finances.

ONE LINER
-

The only European country that didnt prohibit or imposed heavy

duties on Indian cotton goods is Holland.

Imperial Preference: It was a proposed system of reciprocallyenacted tariffs

or free

trade agreements

between

the dominions and colonies of the British Empire.

-

Lahore conspiracy case (1st): 1915, Ghadar party; 2 nd Lahore

conspiracy: murder of john Saunders.

Meerut conspiracy case: 1929, to overthrow the British rule

organised by communist party.

Alipore conspiracy 1908: by Kudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki to

kill lord Kingsford

Delhi conspiracy 1912: to kill lord Hardinge by Rash Bihari Bose

and Sachindra Sanyal.

All India village industries association was established by

Mahatma Gandhi in 1934.

INDIAN RENAISSANCE
-

It was an intellectual, cultural and social regeneration during the

early phase of colonialism in India, generally described as
renaissance. It distinguishes from pre-colonial movements due
to formers attachment to modernity.

Carried out by urban middle class educated Indians.

Modernity in India had a different trajectory. Its origin was not in

indigenous intellectual and cultural churning but in the influences
disseminated by the colonial state and its agencies. Indian
renaissance was a counter effect to dominance of western culture
in India.

The cultural creativity and intellectual efflorescence that were the

hallmarks of the European Renaissance were conspicuous by
their absence in the Indian situation. The period of renaissance
was not particularly known for creativity, which received an
impetus only when renaissance and reformation merged with
nationalism and tried to usher in an alternative modernity.

Indian renaissance got enmeshed in religion, leading to sectarian

consciousness, which in turn undermined some of the core values
of renaissance such as religious universalism.

Reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, Devendranath Tagore,

Keshab Chandra Sen and Narayana Guru did to propagate
monotheism and the unity of the godhead was indeed significant,
but in a multi-religious society, the invocation of Vedanta as the
source of inspiration adversely affected the principle of
universalism which all of them upheld. This contradiction, which
remained unresolved, had serious repercussions for the state of
secularism in post-Independence India.

The renaissance in India was an attempt to create a cultural world

which would suit the modern requirements of an emerging
middle class so that it could emancipate itself from the shackles
of feudal practices. It partially succeeded in this social task:
inhuman social practices such as sati and infanticide were
abolished, cruel religious rituals and women managed to gain
some element of freedom from patriarchal control.

Although the renaissance brought about a qualitative change in

perspectives and practices, its impact was limited to a very small
section of society. Yet, it did generate a cultural and intellectual
break without which the later movements would not have been
possible. In this sense, the regeneration of the 19th century was a
precursor to modernity in India.

.
Weaknesses
-

The renaissance in India was a response to human suffering as

expressed in social and religious practices; yet, it was not
sensitive to the problem of political subjection. The attitude of the
leaders of the renaissance towards the feudal order and colonial
rule was, at best, ambivalent. They could neither associate
themselves with anti-colonial movements nor give lead to antifeudal opposition.

invoking religion either for approval or opposition helped the

development of religious particularism, which eventually led to
an unbridgeable gulf between different communities.

The secular tradition was not invoked even when the unity of the
godhead was accepted as the guiding principle. The reformation
invariably harped back to the Vedas for legitimacy, and almost

every renaissance leader was involved in the propagation of the

ideas of Vedanta:
-

Among Muslims also, the influence of religious texts was

evident. Be it for a Makthi Tangal in Kerala or a Syed Ahmed
Khan in northern India, reforms were to follow scriptural
prescriptions. However, they tried to interpret scriptures in such a
fashion that the demands of a modern society could be
accommodated.

Like modernity, rationality was also borrowed from the West

through the colonial agency and therefore had no roots of its own.
Faith on the other hand was rooted in indigenous culture and
belief. Hence, the triumph of faith over reason undid much of
what the renaissance tried to do.

Renaissance was carried by upper caste educated people hence

lower caste stayed away from it and renaissance couldnt create a
mass base.

Renaissance should have led to rationality and cultural reforms.

But it led to starting of revivalist movements. Eg: ahmediya
movement, theosophical society.

Notwithstanding this positive contribution, the renaissance

promoted by the colonial intelligentsia was not powerful enough
to overcome the cultural backwardness of society. Many of the
ills of contemporary Indian society can be traced to the
unfinished agenda of the renaissance
Literature

The introduction of English language in India during renaissance

cannot be understated. The educated Indians in 19th century were
completely in favour of English language as since the decline of
Sanskrit they didnt have a common language.

Advent of renaissance saw decline of Sanskrit and simplification

of Bengali language.

Predominance of secular ideas, patriotic feelings and national

spirit has shaped the Indian literature.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy aroused with new religious modernisation

writings, Akshay kumar Dutt began new prose and new poetry.

Printing press and journals also developed at start of 19th century.

Bengal became pioneer in novel and drama. Bamkin Chandra

chaterjee (anand math on sanyasi rebellion)and madhusudan dutt
were important writers. Sarat Chandra is considered an excellent
novelist of his time. His novels like pather dabi, srikanta are
famous. Neel darpan by dinbandh mitra.

Bengali literature is distinguished for its revolt against social

evils, religious reform movement. Bengali poetry is a
phenomenon of inexhaustible richness and variety.

Spiritual text also famous of ramkrishna paramhansa and swami

vivekanand.
Painting

Abanindranath Tagore is considered as father of renaissance in

Indian painting. His struggle for revival of Indian art was to
counteract the spread of European painting and to save Indias
dying art.

He organised exhibition of Indian painting in France under the

banner of Tagore school of art. Soon exhibition were held in
other cities of world.

An Indian society of oriental art was est. and Tagore personally

taught art. A journal called Rupam was also started for spread of
Indian art.

The contemporary artist took to traditional Indian painting

depicting Radha-Krishna.

He created band of new artist viz. nandalal bose, aurendra

ganguly, hakim khan etc.

TREATY OF ALLAHABAD 1765

-

The treaty was signed between Mughal emperor Shah Alam II

and the British after the battle of Buxar.

Mughal Emperor granted Fiscal Rights (Diwani) or right to

administer the territory and collect taxes to the East India
Company at Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Thus the British became
the masters of fate of the people of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa and
now

they

would

collect

the

revenue.

INA TRIALS
-

INA was raised for second time by Subhash Chandra Bose in

1943 in Singapore with the help of Japanese. The recruits for the
army were the Indian prisoners of war captured by Japanese
army.

The volunteers and finance for the army came from Indian
merchants and traders living in south East Asia.

The first encounter of INA was in Imphal along with the Japanese
army. The battle with the British turned out to be disastrous.
Many of the INA officers and army men were take prisoners by
the british. (the reason for failure was the demoralised nature of
INA men. The Japanese didnt treat them on par with their
soldiers and were asked to do menial jobs. The weapons given to
Indians were outdated.)

The British decided to conduct the court martial trial openly in

Red fort of Delhi in dec 1945. Almost 7000 men from INA were
already removed from service without trial.

The first trial consisted of Colonel Prem Sahgal,Colonel

Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan.

The

trials

covered

arguments

based

on

Military

Law, Constitutional Law, International Law, and Politics. These

trials attracted much publicity and public sympathy for the
defendants who were perceived as patriots in India. The public
out cry during trials was called the edge of the Volcano.
-

The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League both made
the release of the three defendants an important political issue
during the agitation. Bhulabhai desai, Jawaharlal Nehru and
tejbahadur sapru defended the three in the trials.

Beyond the concurrent campaigns of noncooperation and

nonviolent protest, this discontent of INA trials spread to include
mutinies and wavering support within the British Indian Army.
This movement marked the last major campaign in which the
forces of the Congress and the Muslim League aligned together;
the Congress tricolour and the green flag of the League were
flown together at protests.

During the trial, mutiny broke out in the Royal Indian Navy,
incorporating ships and shore establishments of the RIN
throughout India, from Karachi to Bombay. At some places,
NCOs in the British Indian Army started ignoring orders from
British superiors. In Madras and Pune, the British garrisons had
to face revolts within the ranks of the British Indian Army.

It proved to be a decisive turn in the final phase of British rule in

India. The British realised that they can no longer trust on Indian
army which was the major force of British empire in India and
the rising mutinies in army barrack has given it a India vs.
British colour. After the end of trials the British were forced to
send cabinet mission plan to discuss the transfer of power to
Indians as soon as possible.

Muslim renaissance
-

syed ahmed khan, Aligarh movement

wahabi, deoband

tablighi movement, to counteract arya samajs motto of shuddi

and bring back converted muslims to hindu fold.

Importance of Christian missionaries in India.

Womens role in Indias freedom struggle.
Role of foreigners in Indias freedom struggle.
Caste movement in India.
CONTRIBUTION OF YOUTH IN FREEDOM STRUGGLE (SUMIT
SARKAR)