DEGREE Prelims& Mains

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 …

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 t…

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…

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 w…

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 …

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 i…

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 meas…

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 elec…

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 …

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 Dalhous…

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 per…

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 …

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 co…

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 fr…

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 Zam…

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 …