Editing History of India (section)

== Late modern period and contemporary history (1857–1947) ==
=== Rebellion of 1857 and its consequences ===
{{Main|Indian Rebellion of 1857}}
{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:Rani of jhansi.jpg|[[Rani of Jhansi|Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi]], one of the principal leaders of the rebellion who earlier had lost her kingdom as a result of the [[Doctrine of lapse]].
|File:Bahadur Shah II of India.jpg|[[Bahadur Shah Zafar]], the last Mughal Emperor. Crowned Emperor of India by the rebels, he was deposed by the British and died in exile in Burma.
|File:Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning - Project Gutenberg eText 16528.jpg|[[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Charles Canning]], the [[Governor-General of India]] during the rebellion.
|File:Dalhousie.jpg|[[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]], the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, who devised the [[Doctrine of Lapse]].
}}

The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a large-scale rebellion by soldiers employed by the British East India Company in northern and central India against the company's rule. The spark that led to the mutiny was the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle, which was insensitive to local religious prohibition. The key mutineer was [[Mangal Pandey]].<ref>Saul David, p. 70, ''The Indian Mutiny'', Penguin Books 2003</ref> In addition, the underlying grievances over British taxation, the ethnic gulf between the British officers and their Indian troops and land annexations played a significant role in the rebellion. Within weeks after Pandey's mutiny, dozens of units of the Indian army joined peasant armies in widespread rebellion. The rebel soldiers were later joined by Indian nobility, many of whom had lost titles and domains under the [[Doctrine of Lapse]] and felt that the company had interfered with a traditional system of inheritance. Rebel leaders such as [[Nana Sahib]] and the [[Rani of Jhansi]] belonged to this group.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=172}}, {{Harvnb|Bose|Jalal|2003|p=91}}, {{Harvnb|Brown|1994|p=92}}</ref>

After the outbreak of the mutiny in [[Meerut]], the rebels very quickly reached Delhi. The rebels had also captured large tracts of the [[North-Western Provinces]] and [[Awadh]] (Oudh). Most notably, in Awadh, the rebellion took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against British presence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=177}}, {{Harvnb|Bayly|2000|p=357}}</ref> However, the British East India Company mobilised rapidly with the assistance of friendly [[Princely states]], but it took the British the better part of 1858 to suppress the rebellion. Due to the rebels being poorly equipped and having no outside support or funding, they were brutally subdued.<ref>Christopher Hibbert, ''The Great Mutiny: India 1857'' (1980)</ref>

In the aftermath, all power was transferred from the British East India Company to the [[British Crown]], which began to administer most of India as provinces. The Crown controlled the company's lands directly and had considerable indirect influence over the rest of India, which consisted of the Princely states ruled by local royal families. There were officially 565 princely states in 1947, but only 21 had actual state governments, and only three were large (Mysore, Hyderabad, and Kashmir). They were absorbed into the independent nation in 1947–48.<ref>{{Citation|first=Wilhelm von|last=Pochhammer|title=India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent|publisher=Allied Publishers|year=1981|isbn=978-81-7764-715-0}}</ref>

=== British Raj (1858–1947) ===
{{Main|British Raj}}
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 1/2
| total_width       = 300
| caption_align     = center
| title             = British Raj
| image1            = British Indian Empire 1909 Imperial Gazetteer of India.jpg
| caption1          = The British Indian Empire in 1909. [[British India]] is shown in pink; the  [[princely state]]s in yellow.
| image2            = Victoriaterminus1903.JPG
| caption2          = A 1903 stereographic image of [[Victoria Terminus]] a [[terminal train station]], in Mumbai, completed in 1887, and now a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].
}}

After 1857, the colonial government strengthened and expanded its infrastructure via the court system, legal procedures, and statutes. The [[Indian Penal Code]] came into being.<ref>"Law Commission of India&nbsp;– Early Beginnings"</ref> In education, [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay]] had made schooling a priority for the Raj in 1835 and succeeded in implementing the use of English for instruction. By 1890 some 60,000 Indians had matriculated.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Suresh Chandra Ghosh|year=1995|title=Bentinck, Macaulay and the introduction of English education in India|journal=History of Education|volume=24|issue=1|pages=17–25|doi=10.1080/0046760950240102}}</ref> The Indian economy grew at about 1% per year from 1880 to 1920, and the population also grew at 1%. However, from 1910s Indian private industry began to grow significantly. India built a modern railway system in the late 19th century which was the fourth largest in the world.<ref>{{cite journal|author=I.D. Derbyshire|year=1987|title=Economic Change and the Railways in North India, 1860–1914|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=21|issue=3|pages=521–545|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00009197|jstor=312641|s2cid=146480332}}</ref> Historians have been divided on issues of economic history, with the Nationalist school arguing that India was poorer due to British rule.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Robb|first=Peter|date=November 1981|title=British Rule and Indian 'Improvement'|journal=Economic History Review|volume=34|issue=4|pages=507–523|jstor=2595587|doi=10.2307/2595587}}</ref>

In 1905, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]] [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|split the large province of Bengal]] into a largely Hindu western half and "Eastern Bengal and Assam", a largely Muslim eastern half. The British goal was said to be efficient administration but the people of Bengal were outraged at the apparent "divide and rule" strategy. It also marked the beginning of the organised anti-colonial movement. When the Liberal party in Britain came to power in 1906, he was removed. Bengal was reunified in 1911. The new Viceroy Gilbert Minto and the new Secretary of State for India [[John Morley]] consulted with Congress leaders on political reforms. The [[Indian Councils Act 1909|Morley-Minto reforms of 1909]] provided for Indian membership of the provincial executive councils as well as the Viceroy's executive council. The Imperial Legislative Council was enlarged from 25 to 60 members and separate communal representation for Muslims was established in a dramatic step towards representative and responsible government.<ref>S.A. Wolpert, ''Morley and India, 1906–1910'', (1967)</ref> Several socio-religious organisations came into being at that time. Muslims set up the [[All India Muslim League]] in 1906 to protect the interests of the aristocratic Muslims. The [[Hindu Mahasabha]] and [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) sought to represent Hindu interests though the latter always claimed it to be a "cultural" organisation.<ref>''Democracy and Hindu nationalism'', Chetan Bhatt (2013)</ref> Sikhs founded the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]] in 1920.<ref>Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''Shiromani Akali Dal (1920–2000)''. Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2001.</ref> However, the largest and oldest political party [[Indian National Congress]], founded in 1885, attempted to keep a distance from the socio-religious movements and identity politics.<ref>''The History of the Indian National Congress'', B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1935)</ref>

{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:VictoriaQueen1862Empress1886.jpg|Two silver rupee coins issued by the British Raj in 1862 and 1886 respectively, the first in obverse showing a bust of [[Queen Victoria|Victoria, Queen]], the second of Victoria, Empress.  Victoria became [[Empress of India]] in 1876.
|File:Sir R. Ross on steps of laboratory in Calcutta, 1898 Wellcome L0011943.jpg| [[Ronald Ross]], left, at [[David Douglas Cunningham|Cunningham's]] laboratory of Presidency Hospital in Calcutta, where the transmission of [[malaria]] by mosquitoes was discovered, winning Ross the second [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine]] in 1902.
|File:'552. Darjeeling. The loop No. 3, near Candaria', albumen print, c.1870.jpg| A [[Darjeeling Himalayan Railway]] train shown in 1870.  The railway became a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1999.
|File:NewDelhiInaugurationSecondDayCancellation27Feb1931.jpg|A second-day cancellation of the stamps issued in February 1931 to commemorate the inauguration of [[New Delhi]] as the capital of the British Indian Empire. Between 1858 and 1911, [[Calcutta]] had been the capital of the Raj.
}}

==== Indian Renaissance ====
{{Main|British Raj|Bengali Renaissance}}
{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:Syed Ahmed Khan.jpg|Sir [[Syed Ahmad Khan]] (1817–1898), the author of ''Causes of the Indian Mutiny'', was the founder of [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College]], later the [[Aligarh Muslim University]]
|File:Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati 1858-1922 front-page-portrait.jpg|[[Pandita Ramabai]] (1858–1922) was a [[reform movement|social reformer]], and a pioneer in the education and emancipation of women in India
|File:Rabindranath Tagore unknown location.jpg|[[Rabindranath Tagore]] (1861–1941) was a [[Bengali language]] poet, short-story writer, and playwright, and in addition a music composer and painter, who won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1913
|File:Srinivasa Ramanujan - OPC - 2 (cleaned).jpg|[[Srinivasa Ramanujan]] (1887–1920) was an Indian mathematician who made seminal contributions to [[number theory]]
}}

The Bengali Renaissance refers to a social reform movement, dominated by [[Bengali Hindus]], in the [[Bengal|Bengal region]] of the Indian subcontinent during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of British rule. Historian [[Nitish Sengupta]] describes the renaissance as having started with reformer and humanitarian [[Raja Ram Mohan Roy]] (1775–1833), and ended with Asia's first Nobel laureate [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (1861–1941).<ref>{{cite book|author=Nitish Sengupta|author-link=Nitish Sengupta|year=2001|title=History of the Bengali-speaking People|publisher=UBS Publishers' Distributors|pages=210–213|isbn=978-81-7476-355-6|quote=Producing in about three quarters of a century so many creative stalwarts in literature, art, music, social and religious reform and also trading and industry ... The Bengal Renaissance can be said to have started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775–1833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) ... On the whole, it remained an elitist movement restricted to Hindu ''bhadralok'' (gentry) and ''zamindars''.}}</ref> This flowering of religious and social reformers, scholars, and writers is described by historian [[David Kopf]] as "one of the most creative periods in Indian history."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kopf|first=David|author-link=David Kopf|date=December 1994|title=Amiya P. Sen. Hindu Revivalism in Bengal 1872|type=Book review|journal=American Historical Review|volume=99|issue=5|pages=1741–1742|doi=10.2307/2168519|jstor=2168519}}</ref>

During this period, Bengal witnessed an [[intellectual]] awakening that is in some way similar to the [[Renaissance]]. This movement questioned existing orthodoxies, particularly with respect to women, marriage, the [[dowry]] system, the [[caste system]], and religion. One of the earliest [[social movement]]s that emerged during this time was the [[Young Bengal]] movement, which espoused [[rationalism]] and [[atheism]] as the common denominators of civil conduct among upper caste educated Hindus.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sharma|first=Mayank|title=Essay on 'Derozio and the Young Bengal Movement'|date=January 2012|url=http://www.preservearticles.com/2012010119327/essay-on-derozio-and-the-young-bengal-movement.html|access-date=9 August 2017|archive-date=14 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224008/http://www.preservearticles.com/2012010119327/essay-on-derozio-and-the-young-bengal-movement.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It played an important role in reawakening Indian minds and intellect across the Indian subcontinent.

==== Famines ====
{{Main|Famine in India|Timeline of major famines in India during British rule}}
{{See also|Demographics of India}}
{{Gallery
|align=center
|width=180 |File:FaminesMapOfIndia1800-1885.jpg|Map of famines in India during [[British Empire]] in year 1800–1885.
|File:Bellary Zilla,Great Famine of 1876–78..jpg|Engraving from ''[[The Graphic]]'', October 1877, showing the plight of animals as well as humans in [[Bellary district]], [[Madras Presidency]], British India during the [[Great Famine of 1876–1878]]
|File:FamineReliefAhmedabad1901.jpg|Government famine relief, Ahmedabad, India, during the [[Indian famine of 1899–1900]]
|File:OrphansWhoSurvivedBengalFamine1943.jpg|A picture of orphans who survived the [[Bengal famine of 1943]], a man-made disaster by the British government
}}

During British East India Company and [[British Raj|British Crown]] rule, India experienced some of deadliest ever recorded [[famines in India|famines]]. These famines, usually resulting from crop failures and often exacerbated by policies of the colonial government,<ref name="davis" /> included the [[Great Famine of 1876–1878]] in which 6.1&nbsp;million to 10.3&nbsp;million people died,<ref>Davis, Mike. ''Late Victorian Holocausts''. 1. Verso, 2000. {{ISBN|1-85984-739-0}} p. 7</ref> the [[Great Bengal famine of 1770]] where between 1 and 10 million people died,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Datta|first=Rajat|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44927255|title=Society, economy, and the market : commercialization in rural Bengal, c. 1760-1800|date=2000|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|isbn=81-7304-341-8|location=New Delhi|pages=262, 266|oclc=44927255}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Amartya Sen|title=Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation|url=https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena|url-access=registration|year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-828463-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena/page/39 39]}}</ref> the [[Indian famine of 1899–1900]] in which 1.25 to 10&nbsp;million people died,<ref name="davis">Davis, Mike. ''Late Victorian Holocausts''. 1. Verso, 2000. {{ISBN|1-85984-739-0}} p. 173</ref> and the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] where between 2.1 and 3.8 million people died.<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenough|first=Paul Robert|date=1982|title=Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Famine of 1943–1944|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-503082-2}}</ref> The [[Third plague pandemic]] in the mid-19th century killed 10&nbsp;million people in India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/zoonotic/en/index4.html|title=Plague|access-date=5 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217172854/http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/zoonotic/en/index4.html|archive-date=17 February 2009}}. World Health Organisation.</ref> Despite persistent diseases and famines, the population of the Indian subcontinent, which stood at up to 200&nbsp;million in 1750,<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Colin Clark (economist)|Colin Clark]]|title=Population Growth and Land Use|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]]|year=1977|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KKvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|isbn=978-1-349-15775-4}}</ref> had reached 389&nbsp;million by 1941.<ref>[http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/chapters_preview/98/1iie2806.pdf "Reintegrating India with the World Economy"]. Peterson Institute for International Economics.</ref>

==== World War I ====
{{Main|Indian Army during World War I}}
{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:Hodsons Horse France 1917 IWM Q 2061.jpg|Indian Cavalry on the Western front 1914
|File:2nd Indian Cav Div.jpg|Indian cavalry from the [[Deccan Horse]] during the [[Battle of Bazentin Ridge]] in 1916.
|File:Indian Army QF 3.7 inch gun battery Jerusalem 1917.jpg|Indian Army gunners (probably 39th Battery) with [[3.7-inch mountain howitzer]]s, Jerusalem 1917
|File:India Gate in New Delhi 03-2016.jpg|India Gate is a memorial to 70,000 soldiers of the [[British Indian Army]] who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War
}}
During [[World War I]], over 800,000 volunteered for the army, and more than 400,000 volunteered for non-combat roles, compared with the pre-war annual recruitment of about 15,000 men.<ref>{{harvnb|Pati|1996|p=31}}</ref> The Army saw early action on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] at the [[First Battle of Ypres]]. After a year of front-line duty, sickness and casualties had reduced the Indian Corps to the point where it had to be withdrawn. Nearly 700,000 Indians fought the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign. Indian formations were also sent to East Africa, Egypt, and Gallipoli.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mgtrust.org/ind1.htm|title=Participants from the Indian subcontinent in the First World War|website=Memorial Gates Trust|access-date=12 September 2009}}</ref>

Indian Army and [[Imperial Service Troops]] fought during the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]]'s [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign#Suez Canal Campaign (1915–1916)|defence of the Suez Canal]] in 1915, at [[Battle of Romani|Romani]] in 1916 and to [[Battle of Jerusalem (1917)|Jerusalem]] in 1917. India units [[Occupation of the Jordan Valley (1918)|occupied the Jordan Valley]] and after the [[German spring offensive]] they became the major force in the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] during the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]] and in the [[Desert Mounted Corps]]' advance to [[Damascus]] and on to [[Aleppo]]. Other divisions remained in India guarding the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North-West Frontier]] and fulfilling internal security obligations.

One million Indian troops served abroad during the war. In total, 74,187 died,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/document.asp?menuid=5&submenuid=24&id=6&menuname=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Annual%20report&menu=subsub|title=Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2007–2008 Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926220138/http://www.cwgc.org/document.asp?menuid=5&submenuid=24&id=6&menuname=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Annual%20report&menu=subsub|archive-date=26 September 2007}}</ref> and another 67,000 were wounded.{{sfn|Sumner|2001|p=7}} The roughly 90,000 soldiers who died fighting in World War I and the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War|Afghan Wars]] are commemorated by the [[India Gate]].

==== World War II ====
{{Main|India in World War II}}
{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:Monty, wavvel, auk.jpg|General [[Claude Auchinleck]] (right), Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, with the then [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy]] [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Wavell]] (centre) and [[Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|General Montgomery]] (left)
|File:Indian women training for air raid precautions (ARP) duties in Bombay, 1942. IND1492.jpg|Indian women training for [[Air Raid Precautions]] (ARP) duties in Bombay in 1942
|File:INDIAN TROOPS IN BURMA, 1944.jpg|Indian infantrymen of the [[7th Rajput Regiment]] about to go on patrol on the [[Arakan Campaign 1942–43|Arakan front]] in Burma, 1944
|File:VictoryWorldWar2BritishRaj.jpg|The stamp series "Victory" issued by the Government of British India to commemorate allied victory in World War II
}}

British India officially declared war on [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1939.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kux|first=Dennis|title=India and the United States: estranged democracies, 1941–1991|publisher=Diane Publishing|isbn=978-1-4289-8189-8|year=1992}}</ref> The British Raj, as part of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Nations]], sent over two and a half million volunteer soldiers to fight under British command against the [[Axis powers]]. Additionally, several Princely States provided large donations to support the Allied campaign. India also provided the base for American operations in support of China in the [[China Burma India Theater|China Burma India Theatre]].

Indians fought throughout the world, including in the [[European theatre of World War II|European theatre against Germany]], [[North African Campaign|in North Africa against Germany and Italy]], against the Italians in [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East Africa]], in [[Syria-Lebanon Campaign|the Middle East]] against the [[Vichy French]], in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II|South Asian region defending India against the Japanese and fighting the Japanese in Burma]]. Indians also aided in liberating British colonies such as Singapore and Hong Kong after the Japanese surrender in August 1945. Over 87,000 soldiers from the subcontinent died in World War II.

The [[Indian National Congress]] denounced Nazi Germany but would not fight it or anyone else until India was independent. Congress launched the [[Quit India Movement]] in August 1942, refusing to co-operate in any way with the government until independence was granted. The government immediately arrested over 60,000 national and local Congress leaders. The [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] rejected the Quit India movement and worked closely with the Raj authorities.

[[Subhas Chandra Bose]] (also called ''Netaji'') broke with Congress and tried to form a military alliance with Germany or Japan to gain independence. The Germans assisted Bose in the formation of the [[Indian Legion]];{{sfn|Müller|2009|p=55}} however, it was Japan that helped him revamp the [[Indian National Army]] (INA), after the [[First Indian National Army]] under [[Mohan Singh (general)|Mohan Singh]] was dissolved. The INA fought under Japanese direction, mostly in Burma.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=viii}}</ref> Bose also headed the [[Provisional Government of Free India]] (or [[Azad Hind]]), a government-in-exile based in Singapore.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sarkar|1989|p=410}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=426}}</ref>

By 1942, neighbouring [[Myanmar|Burma]] was invaded by Japan, which by then had already captured the Indian territory of [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. Japan gave nominal control of the islands to the [[Provisional Government of Free India]] on 21 October 1943, and in the following March, the Indian National Army with the help of Japan crossed into India and advanced as far as [[Kohima]] in [[Nagaland]]. This advance on the mainland of the Indian subcontinent reached its farthest point on Indian territory, retreating from the [[Battle of Kohima]] in June and from [[Battle of Imphal|that of Imphal]] on 3 July 1944.

The region of Bengal in British India [[Bengal famine of 1943|suffered a devastating famine during 1940–1943]]. An estimated 2.1–3 million died from the famine, frequently characterised as "man-made",<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|1991|pp=97–98}}</ref> with most sources asserting that wartime [[Colonization|colonial]] policies exacerbated the crisis.<ref>{{harvtxt|Devereux|2000|p=6}}</ref>

=== Indian independence movement (1885–1947) ===
{{Main|Indian independence movement}}
{{See also|Indian independence activists|Pakistan Movement}}
{{Gallery|align=center
|width=140|File:1st INC1885.jpg|The first session of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1885.  [[A. O. Hume]], the founder, is shown in the middle (third row from the front). The Congress was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{citation|last=Marshall|first=P. J.|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire|url={{Google books|S2EXN8JTwAEC|page=PA179|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00254-7|page=179}} Quote: "The first modern nationalist movement to arise in the non-European empire, and one that became an inspiration for many others, was the Indian Congress."</ref>
|||File:Bhagat Singh's execution Lahore Tribune Front page.jpg|Front page of the ''Tribune'' (25 March 1931), reporting the execution of [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Shivaram Rajguru|Rajguru]] and [[Sukhdev Thapar|Sukhdev]] by the British for the murder of 21-year-old police officer J. P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh quickly became a folk hero of the Indian independence movement.
|File:Nehru gandhi.jpg|From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] (right), the Congress became the principal leader of the [[Indian independence movement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Information about the Indian National Congress|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/indian-national-congress|website=open.ac.uk|publisher=Arts & Humanities Research council|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> Gandhi is shown here with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], later the first prime minister of India.
}}

The numbers of British in India were small,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/CensusOfIndia1931/Census+of+India+1931#page/n437/mode/2up|title=Census Of India 1931|website=archive.org|year=1933}}</ref> yet they were able to rule 52% of the Indian subcontinent directly and exercise considerable leverage over the [[princely states]] that accounted for 48% of the area.<ref>{{cite book|author=Markovits, Claude|title=A history of modern India, 1480–1950|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C|year=2004|publisher=Anthem Press|pages=386–409|isbn=978-1-84331-004-4}}</ref>

One of the most important events of the 19th century was the rise of Indian nationalism,<ref name="Modern India, Bipin Chandra, p.76">''Modern India'', Bipin Chandra, p. 76</ref> leading Indians to seek first "self-rule" and later "complete independence". However, historians are divided over the causes of its rise. Probable reasons include a "clash of interests of the Indian people with British interests",<ref name="Modern India, Bipin Chandra, p.76" /> "racial discriminations",<ref>''India Awakening and Bengal'', N.S. Bose, 1976, p. 237</ref> and "the revelation of India's past".<ref>''British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance'', Part–II, Dr. R.C. Majumdar, p. 466</ref>

The first step toward Indian self-rule was the appointment of [[councillor]]s to advise the British [[viceroy]] in 1861 and the first Indian was appointed in 1909. Provincial Councils with Indian members were also set up. The councillors' participation was subsequently widened into legislative councils. The British built a large [[British Indian Army]], with the senior officers all British and many of the troops from small minority groups such as [[Gurkha]]s from Nepal and [[Sikhs]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/india-s-well-timed-diversification-of-army-helped-democracy-115032000283_1.html|newspaper=Business Standard|title='India's well-timed diversification of army helped democracy' &#124; Business Standard News|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> The civil service was increasingly filled with natives at the lower levels, with the British holding the more senior positions.<ref>Anil Chandra Banerjee, ''A Constitutional History of India 1600–1935'' (1978) pp. 171–173</ref>

[[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], an Indian nationalist leader, declared [[Swaraj]] (home rule) as the destiny of the nation. His popular sentence "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it"<ref>{{cite book|title=Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Struggle for Swaraj|author1=R, B.S.|author2=Bakshi, S.R.|date=1990|publisher=Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd|isbn=978-81-7041-262-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOjhv5g629UC|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> became the source of inspiration. Tilak was backed by rising public leaders like [[Bipin Chandra Pal]] and [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], who held the same point of view, notably they advocated the [[Swadeshi movement]] involving the boycott of imported items and the use of Indian-made goods;<ref name="Chandra2016p128" /> the triumvirate were popularly known as [[Lal Bal Pal]]. In 1907, the Congress was split into two factions: The radicals, led by Tilak, advocated civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire and the abandonment of all things British. The moderates, led by leaders like [[Dadabhai Naoroji]] and [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]], on the other hand, wanted reform within the framework of British rule.<ref name="Chandra2016p128">{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Bipan|author1-link=Bipan Chandra|last2=Mukherjee|first2=Mridula|author2-link=Mridula Mukherjee|last3=Mukherjee|first3=Aditya|last4=Mahajan|first4=Sucheta|last5=Panikkar|first5=K.N.|author5-link=K. N. Panikkar|year=2016|orig-year=First published 1987|title=India's Struggle for Independence|edition=Revised and updated|publisher=Penguin Books|page=128|isbn=978-0-14-010781-4}}</ref>

The [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|partition of Bengal in 1905]] further increased the [[revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]. The disenfranchisement lead some to take violent action.

The British themselves adopted a "carrot and stick" approach in response to renewed nationalist demands. The means of achieving the proposed measure were later enshrined in the [[Government of India Act 1919]], which introduced the principle of a dual mode of administration, or diarchy, in which elected Indian legislators and appointed British officials shared power.<ref>Albert, Sir Courtenay Peregrine. ''The Government of India''. Clarendon Press, 1922. p. 125</ref> In 1919, Colonel [[Reginald Dyer]] ordered his troops to fire their weapons on peaceful protestors, including unarmed women and children, resulting in the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]; which led to the [[Non-cooperation movement (1909–22)|Non-cooperation Movement]] of 1920–1922. The massacre was a decisive episode towards the end of British rule in India.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bond|first=Brian|date=October 1963|title=Amritsar 1919|magazine=History Today|volume=13|issue=10|pages=666–676}}</ref>

From 1920 leaders such as [[Mahatma Gandhi]] began highly popular mass movements to campaign against the British Raj using largely peaceful methods. The Gandhi-led independence movement opposed the British rule using non-violent methods like [[Non-cooperation movement (1909–22)|non-co-operation]], [[Dandi March|civil disobedience]] and [[Swadeshi movement|economic resistance]]. However, [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|revolutionary activities]] against the British rule took place throughout the Indian subcontinent and some others adopted a militant approach like the [[Hindustan Republican Association]], that sought to overthrow British rule by armed struggle.

The [[All India Azad Muslim Conference]] gathered in Delhi in April 1940 to voice its support for an [[Opposition to the partition of India|independent and united India]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Qasmi|first1=Ali Usman|last2=Robb|first2=Megan Eaton|title=Muslims against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan|date=2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-62123-6|page=2|language=en}}</ref> Its members included several Islamic organisations in India, as well as 1,400 nationalist Muslim delegates.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Haq|first1=Mushir U.|title=Muslim politics in modern India, 1857–1947|date=1970|publisher=Meenakshi Prakashan|page=114|language=en|quote=This was also reflected in one of the resolutions of the Azad Muslim Conference, an organization which attempted to be representative of all the various nationalist Muslim parties and groups in India.}}</ref><ref name="Ahmed2016">{{cite web|last1=Ahmed|first1=Ishtiaq|title=The dissenters|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/the-dissenters/|work=[[The Friday Times]]|language=en|date=27 May 2016|quote=However, the book is a tribute to the role of one Muslim leader who steadfastly opposed the Partition of India: the Sindhi leader Allah Bakhsh Soomro. Allah Bakhsh belonged to a landed family. He founded the Sindh People's Party in 1934, which later came to be known as 'Ittehad' or 'Unity Party'. ... Allah Bakhsh was totally opposed to the Muslim League's demand for the creation of Pakistan through a division of India on a religious basis. Consequently, he established the Azad Muslim Conference. In its Delhi session held during April 27–30, 1940 some 1,400 delegates took part. They belonged mainly to the lower castes and working class. The famous scholar of Indian Islam, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, feels that the delegates represented a 'majority of India's Muslims'. Among those who attended the conference were representatives of many Islamic theologians and women also took part in the deliberations ... Shamsul Islam argues that the All-India Muslim League at times used intimidation and coercion to silence any opposition among Muslims to its demand for Partition. He calls such tactics of the Muslim League as a 'Reign of Terror'. He gives examples from all over India including the NWFP where the Khudai Khidmatgars remain opposed to the Partition of India.}}</ref><ref name="Ali2017">{{cite web|last1=Ali|first1=Afsar|title=Partition of India and Patriotism of Indian Muslims|url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/15756-partition-of-india-and-patriotism-of-indian-muslims|work=[[The Milli Gazette]]|language=en|date=17 July 2017}}</ref> The pro-separatist All-India Muslim League worked to try to silence those nationalist Muslims who stood against the partition of India, often using "intimidation and coercion".<ref name="Ahmed2016" /><ref name="Ali2017" /> The murder of the All India Azad Muslim Conference leader [[Allah Bakhsh Soomro]] also made it easier for the pro-separatist All-India Muslim League to demand the creation of a Pakistan.<ref name="Ali2017" />

==== After World War II (c. 1946–1947) ====
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|quote="A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance."
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|source    =&nbsp;— From, [[Tryst with destiny]], a speech given by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] to the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] on the eve of independence, 14 August 1947.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/series/greatspeeches|title=Great speeches of the 20th century|work=The Guardian|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>
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In January 1946, several mutinies broke out in the armed services, starting with that of RAF servicemen frustrated with their slow repatriation. The mutinies came to a head with [[Royal Indian Navy mutiny|mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy]] in [[Bombay]] in February 1946, followed by others in [[Calcutta]], [[Madras]], and [[Karachi]]. The mutinies were rapidly suppressed. In early 1946, new elections were called and [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] candidates won in eight of the eleven provinces.

Late in 1946, the Labour government decided to end British rule of India, and in early 1947 it announced its intention of transferring power no later than June 1948 and participating in the formation of an [[Interim Government of India|interim government]].

Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. Muslim League leader [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] proclaimed 16 August 1946 as [[Direct Action Day]], with the stated goal of highlighting, peacefully, the demand for a Muslim homeland in British India, which resulted in the outbreak of the cycle of violence that would be later called the "[[Direct Action Day|Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946]]". The communal violence spread to [[1946 Bihar riots|Bihar]], [[Noakhali riots|Noakhali]] in Bengal, [[Garhmukteshwar]] in the [[United Provinces (1937-1950)|United Provinces]], and on to [[Rawalpindi]] in March 1947 in which Sikhs and Hindus were [[1947 Rawalpindi massacres|attacked or driven out]] by Muslims.
[[File:Literacy India 1901 2011 Detail.png|right|thumb|[[Literacy in India]] grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.]]