Indian Independence Movement

The Indian Independence Movement was a series of revolutions empowered by the people of India put forth to battle the British Empire for complete political independence, beginning with the Rebellion of 1857, reaching its climax with Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement (1942-1945), and Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army invasion of British India during World War II, and freedom came on August 15, 1947.

European rule

:Main articles: European colonies in India, British East India Company, Company rule in India,British Raj

Related Topics:
European colonies in India - British East India Company - Company rule in India - British Raj

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European traders came to Indian shores with the arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 at the port of Calicut, Kerala in search of the lucrative spice trade. After 1757's Battle of Plassey, during which the British army under Robert Clive defeated the Nawab of Bengal, the British East India Company established itself. This is widely seen as the beginning of the British Raj in India. The Company gained administrative rights over Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765 after the Battle of Buxar.

Related Topics:
Indian - Vasco da Gama - 1498 - Calicut - Kerala - Spice - 1757 - Battle of Plassey - Robert Clive - Nawab - Bengal - British East India Company - British Raj - Bihar - Orissa - 1765 - Battle of Buxar

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The British parliament enacted a series of laws to handle the administration of the newly conquered provinces, including the Regulating Act of 1773, the India Act of 1784, and the Charter Act of 1813; all to enhance the British government's rule. In 1835 the English language was introduced as the medium of instruction. Western-educated Hindu elites sought to rid Hinduism of its much criticized social practices: the caste system, child marriage, and sati. Literary and debating societies were initiated in Bombay and Madras, becoming forums for open discourse. Educational attainments and skillful use of the press by these early reformers enhanced the possibility of effecting broad reforms without compromising societal values or religious practices.

Related Topics:
Regulating Act - 1773 - 1784 - 1813 - 1835 - English language - Hinduism - Caste - Sati - Bombay - Madras

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Even while these movements towards modernity occurred in Indian society, the British rule in India, immediately before 1857, was taking a turn for the worse. The memoirs of Henry Ouvry of the 9th Lancers records many "a good thrashing" to careless servants. A spice merchant, Frank Brown, wrote to his nephew saying that stories of maltreatment of servants were not exaggerated and that he knew people who kept an orderly "purposely to thrash" the others. As the English became political masters of the continent they threw away restraints on their behaviour, giving parties in mosques, dancing to the music of regimental bands on the terrace of the Taj Mahal, using whips to force their way through crowded bazaars (as recounted by General Henry Blake), and even mistreating the sepoys. In the years after the annexation of Punjab in 1849 there had been several mutinies among the sepoys which were put down by force.

Related Topics:
9th Lancers - Taj Mahal - Henry Blake - Sepoy - 1849

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