India: Struggle for independence

After 200 years of British rule, India finally achieved its independence. A lot of revolts and rebels took place that helped the people of India gain their freedom back. Starting from the first freedom struggle to the last, a lot of bloodshed took place. Numerous heroes helped the people of India gain back their independence. India’s struggle for independence was long and tiring. It took the sacrifices of numerous leaders and a lot of bloodsheds to gain the title of independence. Many mass movements proved to be instrumental in India’s struggle for Independence.

All about Indian Nationalism

The country of India was always diverse in terms of culture and religion but it was unified through the different empires that settled in the country like the Mauryan Empire and the Mughal Empire. There was always a sense of unity between the people of the country for a very long period although the administration system and the government did change from time to time. After the end of the Mughal dynasty, India disintegrated into a plethora of princely states. The British were the reason why the Mughal dynasty fell. Then the British took control over the princely states and then made an empire of their own. However, the people living in the country did not accept the foreign rule. The somewhat educated people realized that the British Empire always favored their own country and India was nothing but a market to them. Therefore these educated people wanted India to be free and therefore they spread awareness. Nationalism played an important role in India’s struggle for independence. 

A brief description of the foundation of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885

In the later phase of the nineteenth century, there was an emergence of several political organizations in British India. One of the most important and prominent political organizations was the Indian National Congress, also known as the Congress Party). The initial reason for the foundation of the Indian National Congress was to provide a platform for the political and civic dialogue between both India and the British Raj and thus the educated Indians to gain a major share of the government. Later, due to the influence of great leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Congress Party played a crucial role in introducing and organizing mass movements against the British government. The Viceroy, Lord Curzon (1899-1905), tried to remove Calcutta from its position because the Congress Party made Calcutta the center from where they were manipulating people all over the country. Lord Curzon decided to go as he did not want India’s struggle for Independence to be successful. 

The decision of separating Bengal into two halves was already in the air since December 1903. From 1903 to 1905 the Congress Party attempted to introduce petitions, speech, memoranda, public meetings, and press campaigns. The objective of these was to turn people against the partition of Bengal. However, in 1905 the Viceroy named Lord Curzon finalized the British attempt of partitioning Bengal by announcing the decision in public. The partition took place on 16th October 1905. The partition meant to separate people based on religion. Curzon also made a promise of making Decca the new capital. This decision of partitioning Bengal dissatisfied a lot of Indians and they thought it was the classic technique of ‘divide and rule’ which the British often apply. This decision of Lord Curzon triggered the Swadeshi Movement and thus strengthened India’s struggle for independence. 

List of movements

Following is a list of events that triggered the Nationalistic feeling among Indians even more and strengthened India’s struggle for Independence which led to the British losing its control over India.

1857 Sepoy Mutiny, Revolt Of 1857

1885 Formation of Indian National Congress 

1905 Partition Of Bengal 

1907 Split of Congress 

1906 Formation Of Muslim league 

1912 Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy 

1913 Ghadar Party 

1914 -1917 Hindu-German Conspiracy trial

1915 Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa 

1916-1918 joining of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Indian National Congress

1919 Rowlatt Satyagraha

Conclusion

Nationalism played an important part in motivating and making people aware of the catastrophic effects of British rule. The Congress party played an important role in organizing mass movements against British rule. The movements helped India in gaining freedom back. Thus, it sums up India’s struggle for independence. There are numerous India’s struggle for independence books available in the market that explains every movement and its effect.