2.4 Modern Indian History, Freedom Struggle & Cultural Heritage

Modern Indian History, Freedom Struggle & Cultural Heritage

For candidates preparing for the Coal India Management Trainee (CIL MT) Computer-Based Test, Modern Indian History and Cultural Heritage form an essential component of Paper-I General Awareness. Questions evaluate the progression of the anti-colonial struggle from the 1857 uprising through 19th-century reform movements, landmark Indian National Congress (INC) sessions, Gandhian mass movements, revolutionary contributions, post-independence integration of princely states, and India's UNESCO World Heritage cultural monuments.

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1. The Revolt of 1857 & The Advent of Crown Rule

The Revolt of 1857 (termed the First War of Independence by V.D. Savarkar) represented the first major armed uprising against the British East India Company.

                  ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                  │      Causes of the Revolt of 1857      │
                  └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
         ┌────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────┐
         ▼                            ▼                           ▼
┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│Political Causes │          │ Economic Causes │         │Socio-Religious  │
│• Doctrine of    │          │• Ruin of Indian │         │• Lex Loci Act   │
│  Lapse          │          │  Handicrafts    │         │• Interference in│
│• Annexation of  │          │• Heavy Land Tax │         │  Customs/Faith  │
│  Awadh (1856)   │          │• Drain of Wealth│         │• Missionaries   │
└─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘
                   ┌──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┐
                   ▼                                                     ▼
        ┌─────────────────────┐                               ┌─────────────────────┐
        │   Military Causes   │                               │  Immediate Trigger  │
        │• General Service    │                               │• Introduction of    │
        │  Enlistment Act     │                               │  Enfield Rifle with │
        │• Discrimination in  │                               │  Greased Cartridges │
        │  Pay and Promotions │                               │  (Cow & Pig Fat)    │
        └─────────────────────┘                               └─────────────────────┘

Primary Catalysts of the 1857 Revolt

• Political Causes: Lord Dalhousie's aggressive imperial policy of the Doctrine of Lapse (annexing Satara [1848], Sambalpur [1849], Jhansi [1853], Nagpur [1854]) and the annexation of Awadh in 1856 on grounds of alleged misgovernance (ousted Nawab Wajid Ali Shah).
• Economic Causes: Destructive land revenue systems (Permanent Settlement of 1793 in Bengal/Bihar, Ryotwari in Madras/Bombay, Mahalwari in Central/Northern India), de-industrialization of traditional textile artisans, and systematic wealth extraction.
• Military & Immediate Causes: The General Service Enlistment Act, 1856 (requiring Indian recruits to serve overseas, violating upper-caste taboos) and the introduction of the new Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle, whose greased paper cartridge had to be bitten off before loading (rumored to contain beef tallow and pork lard).

Major Centres, Leaders & British Suppressors

Aftermath: Government of India Act, 1858

• End of Company Rule: Transferred the governance of India from the British East India Company to the British Crown.
• Creation of Viceroy: The Governor-General of India was designated the Viceroy of India (acting as direct representative of the Crown). Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India.
• Secretary of State for India: Established the office of the Secretary of State for India, a member of the British Cabinet assisted by a 15-member Council of India.
• Peel Commission: Reorganized the Indian Army along "martial and non-martial" race classifications, significantly raising the ratio of European soldiers to Indian sepoys.

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2. Socio-Religious Reform Movements of the 19th Century

The 19th century witnessed an intellectual renaissance targeting regressive social customs, caste discrimination, and female subjugation.

                  ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                  │    19th-Century Reform Movements       │
                  └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
         ┌────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────┐
         ▼                            ▼                           ▼
┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│Eastern Renaissance│        │Western Movements│         │Northern Revival │
│• Brahmo Samaj   │          │• Satyashodhak   │         │• Arya Samaj     │
│  (R.R. Mohan Roy)│         │  (Jyotirao Phule│         │  (D. Saraswati) │
│• Widow Remarriage│         │• Prarthana Samaj│         │• Ramakrishna    │
│  (I.C.Vidyasagar│         │  (M.G. Ranade)  │         │  Mission (Vivek.)│
└─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

Key Reformers and Organizations

1. Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833):

   • Termed the "Father of Modern Indian Renaissance".
   • Founded the Atmiya Sabha (1815) and the Brahmo Samaj (1828) in Calcutta, advocating monotheism and denouncing idol worship, caste rigidity, and superstitious rituals.
   • Relentless campaigning led to the enactment of the Bengal Sati Regulation (Regulation XVII of 1829) by Governor-General Lord William Bentinck, legally banning the barbaric practice of Sati.
   • Published journals: Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali) and Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian).

2. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891):

   • Championed female education and widow remarriage.
   • His pioneering social efforts led to the passage of the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act (Act XV of 1856) under Governor-General Lord Canning (drafted by Lord Dalhousie).

3. Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824–1883):

   • Founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875.
   • Proclaimed the slogan "Go Back to the Vedas" and authored Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth).
   • Rejected idol worship, polytheism, and hereditary caste hierarchy; initiated the Shuddhi Movement for reconversion.

4. Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902):

   • Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; established the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 at Belur Math (West Bengal).
   • Delivered the world-renowned address on universal tolerance at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago (1893).

5. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (1827–1890):

   • Pioneer of anti-caste movement in Maharashtra; established the Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) (Truth Seekers' Society).
   • Authored the seminal book Gulamgiri (1873) and founded the first school for lower-caste girls in Pune (1848) with his wife Savitribai Phule.

6. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898):

   • Initiated the Aligarh Movement promoting modern scientific education among Indian Muslims.
   • Founded the Scientific Society (1864) and the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (1875) at Aligarh, which grew into Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920.

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3. The Indian National Congress & Nationalist Phases

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, attended by 72 delegates.

• Key Architect: Allan Octavian Hume (A.O. Hume), a retired British civil servant.
• First President: Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee (W.C. Bonnerjee).
• Viceroy at Inception: Lord Dufferin.

Phases of the Indian National Movement

                  ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                  │    Three Phases of the National Move.  │
                  └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
         ┌────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────┐
         ▼                            ▼                           ▼
┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│  Moderate Era   │          │  Extremist Era  │         │  Gandhian Era   │
│  (1885 – 1905)  │          │  (1905 – 1918)  │         │  (1919 – 1947)  │
│• 3Ps: Petitions,│          │• Lal-Bal-Pal &  │         │• Non-Cooperation│
│  Prayers, Protest│         │  Aurobindo Ghosh│         │• Civil Disobed. │
│• Dadabhai       │          │• Swadeshi, Boy- │         │• Quit India     │
│  Naoroji, Gokhale│         │  cott, Swaraj   │         │• Mass Movements │
└─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

1. The Moderate Phase (1885–1905):

   • Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji ("Grand Old Man of India", formulated the Drain of Wealth Theory in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India), Gopal Krishna Gokhale (founded Servants of India Society in 1905; political guru of Mahatma Gandhi), Surendranath Banerjee, Pherozeshah Mehta.
   • Strategy: Constitutional agitation through 3Ps (Prayers, Petitions, and Protests).

2. The Extremist / Assertive Nationalist Phase (1905–1918):

   • Leaders: Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab, Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Maharashtra, Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal) and Aurobindo Ghosh.
   • Famous Declaration: Bal Gangadhar Tilak declared: "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!"
   • Tilak organized the Ganpati Festival (1893) and Shivaji Festival (1895) to mobilize public nationalist sentiment, and published newspapers Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English).

Major Milestone Events (1905–1918)

• Partition of Bengal (1905): Announced by Viceroy Lord Curzon on July 19, 1905 (came into force on October 16, 1905), dividing Bengal on communal lines. Sparked the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement (1905–1908). Annulled in 1911 by Lord Hardinge II at the Delhi Durbar, where the capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
• Surat Split (1907): At the 23rd INC session at Surat (presided by Rash Behari Ghosh), the Congress split into Moderates and Extremists.
• Morley-Minto Reforms (1909): Enacted as the Indian Councils Act, 1909, introducing separate communal electorates for Muslims (Lord Minto is known as the "Father of Communal Electorate").
• Lucknow Session of INC (1916): Presided over by Ambica Charan Mazumdar. Marked two major historic reunions:
  1. Readmission of Extremists back into the Congress.
  2. The Lucknow Pact (1916): Joint agreement between INC and the All-India Muslim League.
• Home Rule League Movement (1916): Bal Gangadhar Tilak (launched from Belgaum in April 1916 covering Maharashtra, Karnataka, Central Provinces) and Annie Besant (launched from Madras in September 1916 covering the rest of India).

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4. The Gandhian Era (1919–1947) & Major Mass Movements

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915 (celebrated as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas).

Early Regional Satyagrahas in India

1. Champaran Satyagraha (1917, Bihar): Gandhi's First Civil Disobedience in India, protesting the oppressive European Tinkathia system (forcing peasants to cultivate indigo on $3/20^{\text{th}}$ of their land).
2. Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918, Gujarat): Gandhi's First Hunger Strike, intervening in a dispute between cotton mill owners and workers over the withdrawal of the Plague Bonus (secured a $35%$ wage hike).
3. Kheda Satyagraha (1918, Gujarat): Gandhi's First Non-Cooperation, organizing revenue tax withholding by peasants following total crop failure.

The Nationwide Mass Movements

                  ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                  │     Gandhian Nationwide Movements      │
                  └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
         ┌────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────┐
         ▼                            ▼                           ▼
┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│Non-Cooperation  │          │Civil Disobedienc│         │  Quit India     │
│Movement(1920-22)│          │Movement(1930-34)│         │Movement (1942)  │
│• Nagpur Resolu. │          │• Dandi Salt     │         │• "Do or Die"    │
│• Chauri Chaura  │          │  March (240 mi) │         │• Operation Zero │
│  Withdrawal     │          │• Gandhi-Irwin   │         │  Hour Arrests   │
└─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

1. Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919):

   • Rowlatt Act (1919): Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, empowering the British administration to arrest and detain any person without warrant or trial ("No Dalil, No Vakil, No Appeal").
   • Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919, Amritsar): On Baisakhi day, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open fire without warning on an unarmed gathering peacefully protesting the arrest of leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal. Over 1,000 innocents were martyred. In protest, Rabindranath Tagore renounced his British Knighthood, and Mahatma Gandhi surrendered his Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal.

2. Non-Cooperation & Khilafat Movement (1920–1922):

   • Endorsed at the special Calcutta Session (Sept 1920) and ratified at the Nagpur Session (Dec 1920) presided by C. Vijayaraghavachariar.
   • Boycott of government schools, law courts, foreign textiles, surrender of honorary titles, and picketing of liquor shops.
   • Chauri Chaura Incident: On February 4/5, 1922, a violent mob clashed with police and set fire to the police station in Chauri Chaura (Gorakhpur, UP), killing 22 policemen. Distressed by the departure from non-violence, Gandhi unilaterally withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement on February 12, 1922 (Bardoli Resolution).

3. Civil Disobedience Movement & The Dandi March (1930–1934):

   • Historic Lahore Session (December 1929): Presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. Passed the historic Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) resolution. The Indian Tricolour was unfurled on the banks of River Ravi on midnight of December 31, 1929. January 26, 1930 was declared the first Independence Day.
   • Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha): On March 12, 1930, Gandhi marched from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 chosen satyagrahis, covering 240 miles (390 km) to Dandi on the Gujarat coast. On April 6, 1930, he broke the British salt monopoly by picking up a lump of natural salt, launching nationwide Civil Disobedience.
   • Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 5, 1931): Signed between Lord Irwin and Gandhi, leading to the suspension of Civil Disobedience and INC participation in the Second Round Table Conference (1931) in London (the only RTC attended by Gandhi).
   • Poona Pact (September 24, 1932): Signed in Yerwada Central Jail between Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Madan Mohan Malaviya (on behalf of fasting Gandhi). Abandoned separate communal electorates for Depressed Classes in favor of increased reserved seats in joint general electorates.

4. Quit India Movement (August 1942):

   • Triggered by the failure of the Cripps Mission (1942) (described by Gandhi as a "post-dated cheque on a crashing bank").
   • On August 8, 1942, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) passed the historic Quit India Resolution at Gowalia Tank Maidan (August Kranti Maidan) in Bombay. Gandhi delivered his clarion call: "Do or Die" (Karo ya Maro).
   • In the early morning of August 9, 1942, under Operation Zero Hour, the British government arrested all top national leaders (Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad).
   • The movement transformed into a spontaneous mass uprising. Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the National Flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan; Usha Mehta operated an underground Congress Radio. Parallel governments (Prati Sarkar) were established in Ballia (UP, under Chittu Pandey), Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal), and Satara (Maharashtra, under Nana Patil).

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5. Revolutionary Nationalism & Subhas Chandra Bose's INA

Alongside mainstream Gandhian satyagraha, revolutionary patriots pursued armed struggle against colonial rule:

• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA): Reorganized in September 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla (Delhi) by Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Bhagwati Charan Vohra.
• Saunders Murder (1928): Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Azad assassinated Assistant Superintendent of Police John Saunders in Lahore to avenge the brutal death of Lala Lajpat Rai from police lathi charges during the Simon Commission protests.
• Central Assembly Bombing (April 8, 1929): Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw harmless smoke bombs and leaflets in the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi to "make the deaf hear", courting arrest.
• Martyrdom: Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev were executed on March 23, 1931 in Lahore Central Jail (observed as Shaheed Diwas).
• Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930): Led by Surya Sen (Masterda) and brave women revolutionaries like Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Datta in Bengal.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose & The Indian National Army (INA)

• Elected President of the INC at Haripura (1938) and re-elected at Tripuri (1939) defeating Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Resigned due to ideological differences and founded the Forward Bloc (1939).
• Escaped house arrest in Calcutta in January 1941 (The Great Escape), traveling through Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and Germany to Japan.
• In July 1943, Netaji assumed supreme command of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army - INA) in Singapore (originally founded by General Mohan Singh and reorganized with Rash Behari Bose).
• Established the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind Sarkar) on October 21, 1943 in Singapore. Given administrative control of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by Japan, renaming them Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep.
• Gave immortal slogans: "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!", "Delhi Chalo", and "Jai Hind".
• Red Fort Trials (1945–46): British military court martial of INA officers (Prem Kumar Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, Shahnawaz Khan) triggered massive nationwide public revolts and the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny of February 1946 on HMIS Talwar in Bombay.

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6. Partition, Independence & Integration of Princely States

• Cabinet Mission Plan (1946): Composed of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander. Recommended a three-tier federation and the establishment of the Constituent Assembly.
• Mountbatten Plan (June 3, 1947): Proposed the partition of British India into two independent dominions—India and Pakistan.
• Indian Independence Act, 1947: Enacted by the British Parliament, creating the sovereign dominions of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947.
• Integration of Princely States: Led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ("Bismarck of India" / "Iron Man of India") assisted by Ministry Secretary V.P. Menon. Successfully integrated 562 out of 565 princely states through Instruments of Accession. The three recalcitrant states were resolved decisively:
  1. Junagadh: Accession settled through a public plebiscite (February 1948) after the Nawab fled to Pakistan.
  2. Hyderabad: Integrated through Operation Polo (a police action launched on September 13, 1948) after the Nizam's Razakars unleashed violence.
  3. Jammu & Kashmir: Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India on October 26, 1947 following an invasion by Pakistani tribal raiders.

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7. Cultural Heritage & UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

India is home to over 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, reflecting its rich architectural and spiritual legacy across centuries.