Transcript BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY In 1600, the British East India Company was set up by a group of British merchants in.

BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY
In 1600, the British East India Company was set up by a group of British merchants in order to
trade silver in return for Indian silk. By 1690 the Company had founded Calcutta as a trading
station. However, they began to realise that if they wanted their trade to be secure, they had to gain
political control over parts of India so towards the end of the century, they began to take control of
other areas of India.
REBELLION
However, Indians did not like a foreign power governing them. In 1857, Indian soldiers known as
sepoys, mutinied and killed their officers. After the uprising was crushed, the British government
abolished the East India Company and ruled India directly, setting up a Viceroy (representative of
the British government) to govern India. Further control was enforced by Queen Victoria being
made Empress of India in 1877.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
However, the British did realise that Indians should have a greater say in government and so
allowed the formation of the Indian National Congress Party in 1885. However, the Muslim
community felt that their voice was not being heard in the party and so in 1906, the Muslim League
was formed in order to protect Muslim interests.
DEMANDS FOR INDEPENDENCE
The end of World War One in 1918 saw many Indians demanding
independence from British rule. There were a number of non-cooperation
campaigns led by Mahatma Gandhi who called for non-violence. In 1921, he
became the leader of the Congress Party.
Mahatma
Gandhi
During the 1920s, many Muslims who were part of the
Congress Party became increasingly unhappy as they
felt that Muslim interests were being ignored. One such
member was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In 1929, he made
the decision to leave the Congress Party and join the
Muslim League. He soon became the leader of this
party. The same year also saw Jawaharlal Nehru
become president of the Congress Party.
Muhammad
Ali Jinnah
TOWARDS A MUSLIM NATION
In central India in 1937, Congress won the majority in an election. However,
they refused to choose any Muslim politicians in the government which
caused problems with the Muslim communities. The result made Jinnah
realise that the only way that he was going to win support from Muslims
was to argue that they needed to have a nation based on religious grounds.
However, he did not make this clear until 1940, when through the Lahore
Resolution, the Muslim League announced it wanted a Muslim nation.
Jawaharlal Nehru
WORLD WAR TWO
In 1942, Congress launched the Quit India campaign in which they refused to support the British in
the war and demanded that they should leave India. This campaign was criticised by the Muslim
League who thought that they would be in a better bargaining position if they supported the
British.
There was another attempt to settle matters, this time in 1945 in what was called the Simla
Conference. Here there was a suggestion to form an Executive Council which would have four
members. The Congress Party suggested two of its members who were Muslims. However, Jinnah
refused the idea so talks came to a halt once again.
PARTITION PLANS
The leaders met up once again in the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. The British suggested two
possible plans. The first one proposed that India should be split along the lines of where there were
Hindu or Muslim majority provinces. These provinces would have their own power but there
would be a central government to deal with issues such as foreign affairs. The second plan was to
have two countries: a Pakistan with a majority Muslim population and the rest would be India
with a Hindu majority. Congress rejected both ideas which led to the League being angered and in
turn, they instigated a peaceful strike in Calcutta. This turned into violence, leaving many dead.
Louis Mountbatten
MOUNTBATTEN
In 1947, Louis Mountbatten was made the
Viceroy of India. He accepted the idea of
partitioning India. The date for independence
was set for June 1948. However, in February
1947, Mountbatten announced that he was going
to bring it forward to August 1947. Sir Cyril
Radcliffe was appointed to partition India.
However, Radcliffe had no experience in this
field. The key area that was the most problematic
was the state of Punjab. It had a Muslim majority
but Sikhs viewed it as their homeland.
Master Tara
Singh
The Sikh representative was Master Tara Singh, through his party called the Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD). On the 3rd of March 1947, Master Tara Singh, sword in hand, made a speech calling for
‘Death to Pakistan’ in front of a Pro-Pakistan crowd. This led to riots and violence across areas in
Punjab.
PARTITION AND THE AFTERMATH
On the 14th and 15th of August 1947, Pakistan and India were
given independence but the boundary between the two
countries was not announced. This were made public on the
17th of August 1947 and led to panic and a mass migration
amongst the Muslim and Sikh communities. Sikhs did not want
to be in a Muslim country and so migrated to India. Muslims
who found themselves on the India side of Punjab migrated to
Pakistan. There were major riots and killings on both sides and
it is estimated that between 200,000 and one million people
died.