Bangladesh Studies

Final Term_Lec 04
British Period
 1757:Battle of Palashi
1770: Famine
1793: Permanent Settlement
1857: Sepoy Revolt
1885: Formation of Congress
1905: Division of Bengal
Major 1906: Formation of Muslim
League

Events
1911: Annulment of Bengal
Division
1920: Non-Cooperation
Movement
1939-45: World War II and Era
of Decolonization
1946: (Aug 16) Direct Action
Day
1947: The Great Divide
 • Uprising of
Indian soldiers
of East India
Company
• This spread
throughout the
country
• Termed as
‘India’s First
Independent
Struggle’
Sepoy Revolt
 Sepoy Revolt

Reasons
Causes Impact
of failure
 • Use of pig and cow fat in the cartridge of
Enfield rifle
Causes • While loading the rifle, soldiers had to
bite off the end of the cartidges.
 Causes
• Discrimination against
Indian soldiers
• Religious reform:
Banning Sati practice,
introducing widow
remarriage act, etc.
• Campaign of
missionaries
• Reform of inheritance
law
 • Lack of leadership
• Non-cooperation from local elites
Failure • Middle class and peasants were
not engaged either
 Division of Bengal

• To create division among the locals, British divided

the greater Bengal into two parts.
• Muslim-majority Eastern part welcomed the decision,
but Hindu-majority West Bengal rejected it.
• West Bengal feared they would lose their authority and
business
• East Bengal was optimistic as it promised economic
progress
 Formation of Muslim League

• Prominent Congress leaders stood against the Division

of Bengal, and that disappointed the Muslims
• They felt Congress is not concerned about the interest
of Muslims at all and they need a separate political
party to voice their own demands.
 • In the annual Muslim Educational
Conference held in 1906 at Dhaka,
Muslim League was formed with
Formation of the objective to safeguard the
Muslim League interest of India’s Muslim
Community.
 Annulment of Bengal

• Swadeshi Movement formed against the British.

• Discord between Hindu and Muslim intensified.
• In face of mounting pressure from the Hindus, British
backed out and decision of dividing Bengal was
revoked
British took
the initiative
to build
University of
Dhaka to
placate the
Muslims of
East Bengal
 • On the order of Brigadier-General
Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, soldiers
Jallianwala opened fire on unarmed innocent
Bagh Massacre people and 1000 people died on the
spot
 Non-
cooperation
Movement

• Educational
institutions
were closed
down
• Courts were
abandoned
• Foreign clothes
were boycotted
 Non-cooperation Movement

• The campaign got

tremendous response
from countrymen.
• In 1922, some agitated
protestors burned 22
police officers of Chauri
Chaura village of Uttar
Pradesh.
• Gandhi called off the
movement after this
incident.
World War II (1939-1945)
Deadlock on Negotiation
Direct Action Day

• Hartal was called on Aug 16, 1946

• Hindu-Muslim riot broke out across the country
• Unprecedent carnage and chaos ensued
India Pakistan Independence
DETAILED PART
SEPOY REBELLION
 Sepoy Mutiny

• The revolt of 1857 was a prolonged period of

armed uprising in India against British
occupation.
• A large-scale rebellion, that may be called a full-
fledged war, spread out in India.
• This war bought about the end of British East
India Company’s rule in India, and led to the
direct rule by the British Government (British
Raj) of much of the Indian Subcontinent for the
next 90 years.
 Cause

• Use of cow and pig fat as the grease of the

cartridge of Enfield.
• Muslim and Hindu soldiers believed that it was
done to undermine their religious spirit.
 Social and Religious causes:

• The British made some major changes regarding

Hindu religion, like abolition of sati (1829),
Hindu widow remarriage act (1856), etc. These
steps created resentment among the natives.
• Christian missionaries were allowed to enter
India and carry on with their mission of
proselytizing.
• Changes in property inheritance law allowed a
son, who converted his religion, to become heir to
his father’s property.
 Military Grievances

• The extension of British dominion in India

had adversely affected the service condition
of the Sepoys.
• They were required to serve in area away
from their homes without payment or extra
benefit.
 Military Grievances

• An important cause of military discontent

was the General Service Enlistment Act,
1856, which made it compulsory for the
sepoys to cross the seas, when required.
• There was also discrimination in the pay
scale of Indian and British soldiers.
 Causes of Failure:
Lack of Leadership

• There was not any central leadership to

coordinate the nationwide revolt.
• Fragmented efforts from different parts of
the country failed to pose any major threat to
the well-organized British rule.
 Causes of Failure:
Non-cooperation from Elites and Common People

• The role and reaction of various classes of

people during the revolt present a gloomy
picture.
• The landed aristocracy were decidedly opposed
to the Sepoys and some of them rendered
logistic support to the company authorities by
supplying carts, carriages and elephants;
informing the movements of the fleeing sepoys
and finally organizing local volunteer corps to
resist the sepoys.
 Causes of Failure:
Non-cooperation from Elites and Common People

• The government acknowledged such services of

the landed aristocracy with thanks and
subsequently awarded them titles of Nawab,
Khan Bahadur, Khan Shaheb, Rai Bahadur, Rai
Shaheb, etc. and rewarded them with different
sorts of privileges.
 Causes of Failure:
Non-cooperation from Elites and Common People

• Following the role displayed by the landed

aristocracy, the middle class too sided with the
company’s government.
• The common people and the peasantry as a
whole were apathetic and remained untouched
by the revolt, though they suffered by the
artificial price hike.
 Consequence

• British public opinion was profoundly shocked

by the scale of the uprising and by the loss of
life on both sides-involving the massacre by the
rebels of captured Europeans, and the
indiscriminate killing of Indian soldiers and
civilians by the avenging British armies.
• The control of Indian administration was
passed on to the British Crown by the
Government of India Act, 1858.
 Indian National Congress

• It was founded in 1885 by a narrowly based national

elite.
• It gradually transformed into a broad nationalist
organization from the beginning of the 20th century.
• Allan Octavian Hume, a British ICS officer, took the
initiative for establishing an organization by the
western educated upper class Indians to function as
‘safety valve’ for venting the growing resentment of
Indians against British rule.
 Indian National Congress

• Hume had the blessings of British authority who

accepted the idea of such an organization as the loyal
opposition to the British Raj.
• Barrister Womesh Chandra Banerjee was chosen as
the first president of INC’s inaugural session in
Bombay in December 1885.
 Indian National Congress

• The Indian National Congress initially had little year round

activity and was active in its annual gatherings.
• Its delegates were mostly upper caste Hindus and its
leaders primarily came from the legal profession.
• Known for their loyalty to the Raj, they did not like radical
sort of political or social change and were interested in
having some say in government administration and
structures of political life.
 Partition of Bengal

• The partition of Bengal was, in fact, initiated by

Lord Curzon as part of a ‘divide and rule policy’.
• Partition took place eventually on January 11, 1905
and for this purpose Lord Curzon toured Bengal to
block the influence of the anti-British Hindu elite
and to appeal to Muslims inclined towards
separation.
• The demographic fact was that in Bengal there were
18 million Muslims and 12 million Hindus in 1905.
 Propounded Rationale

• Bengal, which included Bihar and Orissa since 1765,

was admittedly much too large for a single province of
British India.
• The premier province grew too fast for efficient
administration and required reorganization and
intelligent division.
• Calcutta and its nearby districts attracted all the energy
and attention of the government whereas many districts
in Eastern Bengal had been practically neglected
because of isolation and poor communication which
made good governance impossible.
 Divide and Rule Strategy

• The educated Bengali Hindus felt that it was a

deliberate blow inflicted by Curzon at the national
consciousness and growing solidarity of the
Bengali-speaking population.
• Defeat of the partition became the immediate target
of Bengalee nationalism.
 Contrasting Reaction from Muslims
and Hindus

• Muslims in Bengal were soon in support of

partition since it created a kind of awakening amidst
Muslims and gave them a sense of empowerment.
• Paradoxically, while Calcutta was fasting and
mourning the partition with a hartal, many
Muslims in Dhaka were celebrating the partition
with prayers of thanksgiving.
 Contrasting Reaction from Muslims
and Hindus

• Hindu in general saw partition with suspicion and

were resentful.
• The Hindu response was the Swadeshi Movement
and terrorist agitation.
• Among the Muslim leaders Nawab Salimullah and
Nawab Ali Chowdhury were in favor of
continuance of the partition as necessary for the
protection of the interests of the Muslims.
 Contrasting Reaction from Muslims
and Hindus

• The British government gave active support-even

financial measures-to support the leadership of
Nawab Salimullah.
• Most Muslims in Bengal had become dismayed by
increasing Hindu rituals and symbolism associated
with the anti-partition movement.
 Why did the West Bengal Oppose?

• The Calcutta lawyers apprehended that the creation

of a new province would mean the establishment of
a Court of Appeal at Dhaka and diminish the
importance of their own High Court.
• Journalist feared the appearance of local
newspapers, which would restrict the circulation the
Calcutta press.
 Why did the West Bengal Oppose?

• The business community of Calcutta visualized the

shift of trade from Calcutta to Chittagong, which
would be nearer, and logically the cheaper port.
• The Zamindars who owned vast landed estates both
in west and east Bengal foresaw the necessity of
maintaining separate establishment at Dhaka that
would involve extra expenditure.
 Swadesi Movement

• Agitation against the partition manifested itself in

the form of mass meetings, rural unrest and a
Swadeshi movement to boycott the import of British
manufactured goods.
 Formation of Muslim League

• The Muslim League was formed on 30 December of

1906 in Dhaka.
• The Muslim leaders of India met informally once a
year in a conference to discuss the educational
problems of the Muslim community and to
disseminate the thought of loyalty to the raj.
• Such a conference (All India Muslim Education
Conferenc) was held at Shahbag in Dhaka in 1906
against the backdrop of the Congress sponsored
agitation against the partition of Bengal (1905) and
Swadeshi Movement.
 Formation of Muslim League

• Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, the staunchest

supporter of the Partition of Bengal, felt the need to
form a political party to counter the anti-partition
agitation launched by the Congress cadres.
• He proposed in this conference to make a political
platform with the objectives of safeguarding the
interests of Indian Muslims.
• Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk, chairman of the conference,
supported the motion and thus All India Muslim
League (AML) came into being.
 Formation of Muslim League

• The Indian nationalist press dismissed the Muslim

League as rickety structure, destine a speedy
dissolution.
• It is true that initially the League as a political
organization lacked dynamism.
• But within a few years younger generation of the
Muslims with middle class background and radical
ideas found their way into the politics of the
Muslim League.
• Political activities got a momentum when
Muhammad Ali Jinnah took up its leadership in
1935.
 Formation of Muslim League

• In view of the ensuing general elections under the

India Act of 1935, Jinnah reorganized and
restructured the central and provincial branches of
the Muslim League and ask the new committees to
get ready for electoral politics ahead.
• Muslim League-though first initiated in Dhaka-
eventually veered away from Bengal, and seem to
be led by UP Muslim interests.
 Annulment

• In the face of increasing protest and opposition, the

British government gave in to the Hindu Bengali
campaign.
• The annulment of the partition of Bengal was
announced by King George V in Delhi on December
12,1911.
• Obviously, the British Government lost its appetite
for enforcing its policy in Bengal because of the
continued agitation.
 Annulment

• One of the major changes after the revocation of

Division of Bengal was the declaration of shifting
the capital to Delhi from Calcutta.
• By shifting the capital to the site of past Muslim
glory, the British hoped to placated Bengal’s
Muslim community now aggrieved at the loss of
provincial power and privilege in Eastern Bengal
 Annulment

• The annulment of partition was a cause of

celebration for Hindus but upsetting for the Muslims
of East Bengal.
 University of Dhaka (1921)
• All these events provide the context for the birth of the
University of Dhaka.
• To put it bluntly, DU is the result of all developments that
led to the partition of Bengal in 1905 and its annulment
in 1911.
• It was conceived to focus on Indian Bengali Muslim
needs for tertiary education.
• It was founded to give the Muslim community the
stimulus it needed to finally move towards gaining their
rightful position in the administration of colonial East
Bengal.
 Jalliwanwala Bagh Killing (1919)

• One of the most tragic and brutal events in India’s

history that resulted in the death of about 1,000
people.
• In the year 1919, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre had
occurred on the day of Baishakhi, a major Punjabi
festival, on April 13.
 Jalliwanwala Bagh Killing (1919)

• Early in April 1919 news of the arrest of Indian

nationalist leaders in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar
sparked riots in which a mob went rampage, killing
several Europeans.
• British and Indian troops under the command of
Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer were sent to
restore order and Dyer imposed Martial Law on
April 12, 1919.
• Under the proclamation, no public gathering would
be allowed. However, the public was not made
aware of the same.
 Jalliwanwala Bagh Killing (1919)

• The people who came in the Bagh were celebrating

Baishakhi and they were not involved in any protest.
• Women and children were among the crowd.
• Dyer marched a force of 90 soldiers in to the
enclosure and without warning, they opened fire for
10-15 minutes on the panicked crowd.
• Many died when they jumped into a deep well to
escape the gunfire.
 Jalliwanwala Bagh Killing (1919)

• The news of the massacre provoked fierce outcry in

India and Britain.
• A committee under Lord Hunter, a Scottish judge
was appointed to report on the event, and Dyer was
forced to resign from Indian army.
• The episode helped to gather recruits to Mahatma
Gandhi’s campaign of non-violence resistance to
British rule.
NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT 1920
Non-Cooperation Movement

• To advance the Indian nationalist cause, the Indian

National Congress under the leadership of Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi decided in 1920 to follow a policy
of passive resistance to British rule.
 Context

• Indians thought that in return for the extensive support of

manpower and resources they had provided to Britain
during the WWI, they would be rewarded by autonomy
at the end of the war.
• But the Government of India Act 1919 was
disappointing.
• India’s indirect participation in the war caused a lot of
economic hardships to the people.
 Context

• The Rowlatt Act, the Jalliwanwala Bagh massacre,

martial law in Punjab, ill-considered scheme of
Dyarchy dented the Indian politician’s trust on the
goodwill of British rulers.
• Gandhi, so far believing in the justice and fair play of the
government, now felt that non-cooperation with the
government must be started.
• At the same time, harsh terms of the Treaty of Sevres
between the Allies and Turkey was resented by the
Muslims in India.
 Context

• The Muslims started the Khilafat Movement and Gandhi

decided to rope them in the Non-cooperation movement.
• The combined forces of Hindus and Muslims brought
about momentum to the Anti-British movement.
Non-Cooperation Movement

• The movement was launched formally on August 1,

1920.
• Gandhi along with Ali brothers undertook a nation-wide
tour during which he addressed hundreds of meetings.
Non-Cooperation Movement

• The Non-cooperators were not to attend government duties.

• Withdraw children from schools and colleges and establish
national schools and colleges.
• Indians were to boycott British courts and establish private
arbitration courts.
• The most successful item of the program was the boycott of
foreign cloth.
• The value of foreign cloths fell from Rs. 102 crore in 1920-
21 to 57 crore in 1921-22.
Non-Cooperation Movement:
Congress Restructured

• The Congress was reorganized to function effectively and

its doors were opened to the massed in the small towns
and villages whose political consciousness Gandhi was
shaping.
Non-Cooperation Movement

• Emboldened by the successful defiance of the

government, non-cooperators became more and more
aggressive.
• It registered considerable success all over India.
• Unfortunately the tragedy of Chauri Chaura changed the
course of the movement.
• A mob of 3,000 killed 25 policemen and one inspector.
• This incident put Gandhi off who stood for non-violence.
• In February 1922 the non-cooperation movement came
to an end.
Non-Cooperation Movement

• Gandhiji called off the movement saying people were not

ready for revolt against the government through Ahisma
(non-violence).
• A lot of leaders expressed their frustration at Gandhi’s
decision due to sporadic incidents of violence.
 Gandhi’s Rise to Popularity

• Gandhi was swept to the top of Indian politics in 1919-

20 because he had caught the imagination of the
people.
• He was loved and respected as the Mahatma, the great
soul; with voluntary poverty, simplicity, humility and
saintliness.
• It was not only for his message that people came to him,
but also for catching a sight of the Mahatma
• Many gave up their lucrative careers and queued up for
prison under Gandhi’s leadership.
 Direct Action Day

• It marked the beginning of several acts of violence spread

over the country.
• Communities that had coexisted for almost a millennium
attacked each other in a terrifying outbreak of sectarian
violence.
• Bengal, Punjab, and Kashmir were hardest hit.
• Total casualty hovered around 1 to 2 million.
• The demand for separate land for Hindu and Muslim
became more acute than ever.
 Direct Action Day

• Suhrawardy made incendiary speeches provokin rioters

against his own Hindu populace and writing in
newspaper

• “ Bloodshed and disorder are not necessarily evil in

themselves, if resorted to for a noble cause.”
 The Great Divide

• In August 1947, the subcontinent was divided into two

independent nation states: Hindu-majority India and
Muslim-majority Pakistan.
• It triggered the biggest migration of the 20th century.
• Around 15 million people were uprooted.
• The effect of hostility along the lines of religion and
nationality still prevails throughout the Indian
subcontinent.