DEGREE Prelims& Mains

August Offer 1940 ▪️ In March 1940, Congress met at Ramgarh in Bihar in its annual session and passed a resolution offering the British Government support in the war, if a provisional National Government is setup at Centre. ▪️ In response to it, Lord Linlithgow proposed the August Offer. The August Offer turned down the demand of the Congress to set up a national Government at the center but proposed the following: ▪️ After the war, a representative “Constitution Making Body” shall be appointed immediately after the war. ▪️ The number of Indians in the Viceroy’s Executive council will be increased. ▪️ A War Advisory Council would be set up. ▪️ The Congress did not approve the August Offer. Jawaharlal Nehru termed the whole idea was “dead and doornail”. The Muslim League said that it will not be satisfied with anything short of the partition of India.

Dual Government in Bengal • After the battle of Buxar, the East India Company became the real masters of Bengal. • Robert Clive introduced the dual system of government, i.e., the rule of the two— the Company and the Nawab—in Bengal in which both the Diwani, i.e., collecting revenues, and Nizamat, i.e., police and judicial functions, came under the control of the Company. • The Company exercised Diwani rights as the diwan and the Nizamat rights through its right to nominate the deputy subahdar. • The system held a great advantage for the Company. It left the appearance of authority to the puppet Indian ruler while keeping the sovereign power in the hands of the Company. The Nawab was responsible for maintaining peace and order, but he depended both for funds and forces upon the Company because the latter controlled the army and revenues. • But neither the Company nor the Nawab cared for administration and public welfare. • Warren Hastings did away with the dual system in 1772.

Treaty of Salbai (1782) • It marked the end of the first phase of the struggle between the Marathas and the British. • The Treaty of Salbai was signed in May 1782; it was ratified by Hastings in June 1782. The treaty guaranteed peace between the two sides for twenty years. The main provisions of the Treaty of Salbai were: • Salsette should continue in the possession of the English • The whole of the territory conquered since the Treaty of Purandhar (1776) including Bassein should be restored to the Marathas • The English should not offer any further support to Raghunathrao and the Peshwa should grant him maintenance allowance • The Peshwa should not support any other European nation

Treaty of Bassein (1802) • It was signed between the British East India Company and Baji Rao II, the Maratha Peshwa of Pune in 1802. As per the treaty, the Peshwa agreed to: • Receive from the Company a native infantry with the usual proportion of field artillery and European artillerymen attached, to be permanently stationed in his territories • Cede to the Company territories yielding an income of Rs 26 lakh • Surrender the city of Surat • Give up all claims for Chauth on the Nizam’s dominions • Accept the Company’s arbitration in all differences between him and the Nizam or the Gaekwad • Not to keep in his employment Europeans of any nation at war with the English • Subject his relations with other states to the control of the English • The Peshwa accepted the subsidiary alliance and the British made immense gains. The provision of keeping English troops permanently in Maratha territory was strategical.

The Hunter Committee of Inquiry • The massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh shocked Indians and many Britishers as well. The Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, ordered that a committee of inquiry be formed to investigate the matter. • So, on October 14, 1919, the Government of India announced the formation of the Disorders Inquiry Committee, known as the Hunter Committee/ Commission after the name of chairman, Lord William Hunter. • The purpose of the commission was to “investigate the recent disturbances in Bombay, Delhi, and Punjab, about their causes, and the measures taken to cope with them”. • There were three Indians among the members, namely, Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University and advocate of the Bombay High Court; Pandit Jagat Narayan, lawyer and Member of the Legislative Council of the United Provinces; and Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Khan, lawyer from Gwalior State.

Attlee’s Statement • Clement Attlee, the British Prime Minister made an announcement on February 20, 1947 declaring the British intention of leaving the Indian subcontinent. It said: • A deadline of June 30, 1948 was fixed for transfer of power even if the Indian politicians had not agreed by that time on the constitution. • The British would relinquish power either to some form of central government or in some areas to the existing provincial governments if the constituent assembly was not fully representative, i.e., if the Muslim majority provinces did not join. • British powers and obligations vis-a-vis the princely states would lapse with transfer of power, but these would not be transferred to any successor government in British India. • Mountbatten would replace Wavell as the viceroy.

WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS • In 1910, Sarla Devi Chaudhurani convened the first meeting of the Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad. • Ramabai Ranade founded the Ladies Social Conference (Bharat Mahila Parishad), under the parent organisation National Social Conference, in 1904 in Bombay. • Pandita Ramabai Saraswati founded the Arya Mahila Samaj to serve the cause of women. She pleaded for improvement in the educational syllabus of Indian women before the English Education Commission which was referred to Queen Victoria. • In 1925, the National Council of Women in India, a national branch of the International Council of Women, was formed. Mehribai Tata played a vital role in its formation and advancement. • The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), founded by Margaret Cousins in 1927, was perhaps the first women’s organisation with an egalitarian approach.

PAKISTAN RESOLUTION (1940) • Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for the 27th annual session of All India Muslim League which was held from March 22 to 24, 1940 at Lahore. It was in this session the Pakistan Resolution was passed. • This resolution called for “grouping of geographically contiguous areas where Muslims are in majority (North-West and East) into independent states in which constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign and adequate safeguards to Muslims where they are in minority”. • With the passage of this Resolution, the Muslims changed their demand from “Separate Electorates” to a “Separate State.” This Resolution rejected the idea of a United India and the creation of an independent Muslim state was set as their ultimate goal.

CHARTER ACT OF 1833 • The Governor-General of Bengal became the Governor-General of India. • The Company’s monopoly over trade with China in tea also ended. • The commercial functions of the company in India were taken away completely and the company henceforth was to remain in India only as a political functionary. • A law member was added to the governorgeneral’s council for professional advice on law-making. • The Act established one legislative council for all British territories in India.

TIPU SULTAN • Tipu Sultan was born in November 1750 to Haidar Ali and Fatima. A well-educated man, he could freely converse in Arabic, Persian, Kanada, and Urdu. • He organized his army on the European model with Persian words of command. • Tipu was a patron of science and technology. • He is credited as the ‘pioneer of rocket technology’ in India. He wrote a military manual explaining the operation of rockets. • Tipu was a great lover of democracy and a great diplomat. He gave his support to the French soldiers at Seringapatam in setting up a Jacobin Club in 1797. • Tipu himself became a member of the Jacobin Club and allowed himself to be called Citizen Tipu. He planted the Tree of Liberty at Seringapatam.

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Government of India Act, 1919 • The British government, not prepared to part with or even share its power with the Indians, once again resorted to the policy of ‘carrot and stick’. The carrot was represented by the insubstantial Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms, while measures such as the Rowlatt Act represented the stick. Main Features • Provincial Government • Introduction of Dyarchy. • Provincial legislative councils were further expanded and 70 percent of the members were to be elected. • The system of communal and class electorates was further consolidated. • Central Government • No responsible government was envisaged in the Act for the government at the all-India level. • A bicameral arrangement was introduced. • The governor-general was to be the chief executive authority. • The Act clarified that there would be a gradual development of self-governing institution in India and not self-determination of the people of India.

JINNAH DIRECT ACTION RESOLUTION • The Muslim League under Mohammad Ali Jinnah withdrew its acceptance from the long-term plan of Cabinet Mission in response to Nehru’s statement and gave a call for “direct action” from August 16 to achieve Pakistan. • Nehru during the Constitutional Assembly election stated, “We are not bound by a single thing except that we have decided to go into the Constituent Assembly (implying that the Constituent Assembly was sovereign and would decide the rules of procedure). The big probability is that there would be no grouping as NWFP and Assam would have objections to joining Muslim majority sections B and C.” • Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for Muslims all over the country to ‘suspend all business’. This was to put pressure on the British government to relent to the Muslim League’s (headed by Jinnah) demand of dividing the country on the basis of religion, thereby allowing the creation of a Muslim dominated Pakistan.

SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE Wellesley’s policy of subsidiary alliance was, in fact, an extension of the ring-fence system. Under the system, the allying Indian state’s ruler was compelled to: • Accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory • Pay a subsidy for its maintenance • Accept posting of a British resident in his court • Not employ any European in his service without the prior approval of the British. • Not negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the governor-general • In return for all this, the British would defend the ruler from his enemies and adopt a policy of non-interference in the internal matters of the allied state.

DOCTRINE OF LAPSE • It stated that the adopted son could be the heir to his foster father’s private property, but not the state; it was for the paramount power (the British) to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it. • Though this policy is attributed to Lord Dalhousie (1848-56), he was not its originator. It was a coincidence that during his governor general ship several important cases arose in which the ‘Doctrine’ could be applied. • Dalhousie showed too much zeal in enforcing this policy which had been theoretically enunciated on some previous occasions. • Some states lapsed were: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Bhagat (1850), Udaipur (1850), Nagpur (1854), Jhansi (1855).

FRENCH SETTLEMENTS • In 1667, Francois Caron headed an expedition to India, setting up a factory in Surat. • Mercara, a Persian who accompanied Caron, founded another French factory in Masulipatnam in 1669 after obtaining a patent from the Sultan of Golconda. • In 1673, the French obtained permission from Shaista Khan, the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal, to establish a township at Chandernagore near Calcutta. • Pondicherry was founded in 1674. • Mahe, Karaikal, Balasore and Qasim Bazar were a few important trading centres of the French East India Company.

THE POLICY OF RING FENCE • Warren Hastings followed a policy of ring-fence which aimed at creating buffer zones to defend the Company’s frontiers. • Broadly speaking, it was the policy of defense of their neighbours’ frontiers for safeguarding their own territories. • The states brought under the ringfence system were required to maintain subsidiary forces that were to be organized, equipped and commanded by the officers of the Company who, in turn, were to be paid by the rulers of these states.

BHIL REVOLT • The Bhils who lived in the Western Ghats controlled the mountain passes between the north and the Deccan. • They revolted against Company rule in 1817-19, as they had to face famine, economic distress, and misgovernment. • The British used both force and conciliatory efforts to control the uprising. However, the Bhils revolted again in 1825, 1831 and in 1846. • This uprising took place in Khandesh region of Maharastra under the leadership of Sewaram due to the agrarian hardships.

CHUAR UPRISING • Famine, enhanced land revenue demands and economic distress goaded the Chuar aboriginal tribesmen of the Jungle Mahal of Midnapore district and also of the Bankura district (in Bengal) to take up arms. • These tribals were basically farmers and hunters. • The uprising lasted from 1766 to 1772 and then, again surfaced between 1795 and 1816. • The term Char or Chuar was used for local tribals in Bengal and it was a derogatory word {meaning pig}. • Leader of this revolt was Durjan Singh, a displaced Zamindar who along with his 1500 followers created havoc. • Some historians object the use of term “Chuar” for this rebellion because it was derogatory term used by ruling class. Some want this revolt to be named as ‘Freedom Struggle of the Jangal Mahal’.

SANTHAL REBELLION • It was a revolt against the oppression of the colonial rule to end despotic British revenue system and the zamindari system in India. • The rebellion was led by the four Murmu Brothers - Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav. • The Santhals took to arms. In many villages, the Zamindars, money lenders and their operatives were put to death. • The revolt was brutally crushed, the two celebrated leaders Sidhu and Kanhu were killed. • The legend of the Santhal Rebellion lives on as a turning point in Santhal pride and identity.

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799) • Lord Wellesley, an imperialist to the core was concerned about Tipu’s growing friendship with the French and aimed at annihilating Tipu’s independent existence or force him to submission through the system of Subsidiary Alliance. • The war began on April 17, 1799 and ended on May 4, 1799 with the fall of Seringapatam. The English was again helped by the Marathas and the Nizam. • The new state of Mysore was handed over to the old Hindu dynasty (Wodeyars) under a minor ruler Krishnaraja III, who accepted the subsidiary alliance.