Introduction

• On 23 June 1757 the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daulah was defeated by

the East India Company at the Battle of Plassey.
• The battle was orchestrated by Robert Clive, commander-inchief of the
East India Company, who managed to get the clandestine support from
Mir Jafar, the uncle of Siraj-ud-daulah and the chief of the Nawab’s
army.
• Clive was helped by the Jagat Seths (moneylenders from Bengal) who
were aggrieved by Siraj-ud-daulah’s policy.
• Between 1757 and 1760, the company received ₹ 22.5 million from Mir
Jafar, who became the new Nawab of Bengal.
 Introduction

• The same money was later invested to propel the industrial revolution
in Britain, which rapidly mechanised the British textile industry.
• On the other hand, India was led to the path of de-industrialisation and
forced to create a market for the products manufactured in Britain.
• The plunder of India by the East India Company continued for another
190 years.
• In this lesson the story of resistance and a varied range of response
against the British rule in the Indian subcontinent from the early and
mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century are outlined.
 • While the urban elite of India was
busy responding to the western ideas
and rationality by engaging in various
socio-religious reform movements, a
Peasant and far more aggressive response to the
Tribal British rule emerged in rural India.
Resistance • The traditional elite and peasantry
along with the tribals revolted. They
were not necessarily seeking the
removal of British but rather the
restoration of the pre-colonial order.
Peasant and Tribal Resistance
There were nearly a hundred peasant uprisings during British rule.
They can be classified into the following categories:

a. Restorative rebellions – Agitation of this type relates to attempts

to restore old order and old social relations.

b. Religious Movements – Such agitations were led by religious

leaders who fought for the liberation of the local populace by
restructuring society on certain religious principles.
Peasant and Tribal Resistance
c. Social Banditry – The leaders of such
movements were considered criminal by the
British and the traditional elite but were looked
upon by their people as heroes or champions of
their cause.
d. Mass Insurrection – Usually leaderless and
spontaneous uprising.
 The East India Company
restructured the Mughal revenue
system across India in such a
Changes in manner that it increased the
the financial burden on the peasants.

Revenue
System There was no widespread system
of private ownership of the land in
pre–British India.
Subletting of Land
• The practice of letting out and subletting of
land complicated the agrarian relations.
• The zamindar often sublet land to many
subordinate lords who in return collected a
fixed amount of revenue from the peasant.
• This increased the tax burden on the peasants.
(a) Peasant Uprising
 ➢Peasant revolts began to erupt in the
early 19th century and continued till
the very end of British rule in India.
➢Farazi movement was launched by Haji
Farazi Shariatullah in 1818. After the death of
Shariatullah in 1839, the rebellion was
Movement led by his son Dudu Mian who called
upon the peasants not to pay tax.
➢It gained popularity on a simple
doctrine that land and all wealth
should be equally enjoyed by the
common folk.
Farazi Movement
• Dudu Mian laid emphasis on the
egalitarian nature of religion and
declared that “Land belongs to God”,
and collecting rent or levying taxes on it
was therefore against divine law.
• Large numbers of peasants were
mobilised through a network of village
organisations.
• After the death of Dudu Mian in 1862,
the was revived in the 1870s by Noah
Mian.
Wahhabi Rebellion in Barasat
• The Wahhabi rebellion was an anti
imperial and anti-landlord movement.
• It originated in and around 1827, in
the Barasat region of Bengal.
• It was led by an Islamic preacher Titu
Mir who was deeply influenced by the
Wahhabi teachings.
• He became an influential figure
among the predominately Muslim
peasantry oppressed under the
coercive zamindari system.
(b) Tribal Uprising
 • Under colonial rule, for the first time in
Indian history, government claimed a
direct proprietary right over forests.
• The British rule and its encouragement of
commercialisation of forest led to the
disintegration of the traditional tribal
(b) Tribal system.
Uprising • It encouraged the incursion of tribal areas
by the non-tribal people such as
moneylenders, traders, land-grabbers, and
contractors.
• This led to the widespread loss of adivasi
land and their displacement from their
traditional habitats.
 •Tribal resistance was
therefore, a response
against those who either
(b) Tribal introduced changes in the
Uprising peaceful tribal life or took
undue advantage of the
innocence of the tribal
people
 • One major tribal revolt, the Kol uprising of 1831-32, took
place in Chota Nagpur and Singbhum region of present
day Jharkhand and Odisha, under the leadership of Bindrai
and Singhrai.
• The Raja of Chhota Nagpur had leased out to
moneylenders the job of revenue collection.
• The usury and forcible eviction of tribals from their land
(i) Kol Revolt led to the resentment of Kols.
• The initial protest and resistance kols was in the form of
plunder, arson and attacks on the properties of outsiders.
• This was followed by the killing of moneylenders and
merchants.
• The tribal leaders adopted varied methods to spread their
message such as the beating of drums accompanied by a
warning to all outsiders to leave.
• The British suppressed the rebellion with great violence.
 (ii) Santhal Hool
(Insurrection)
• Santhals, scattered in various parts of eastern India,
when forced to move out of their homeland during
the process of creation of zamins under Permanent
Settlement, cleared the forest area around the
Rajmahal Hills.
• They were oppressed by the local police and the
European officers engaged in the railway
construction.
• Pushed out of their familiar habitat, the Santhals
were forced to rely on the moneylenders for their
subsistence.
• Soon they were trapped in a vicious circle of debt
and extortion.
• Besides this, Santhals also felt neglected under the
corrupt British administration and their inability to
render justice to their legitimate grievances.
 Outbreak
• Around 1854 activities of social
banditry led by a person named
Bir Singh was reported from
different places.
• These were directed against
mahajans and traders.
• In 1855, two Santhal brothers
Sidhu and Kanu proclaimed that
they had received a divine
message from the God, asking
them to lead the rebellion
 • By July 1855 the rebellion has taken the form of
open insurrection against the mahajans, the
zamindars and the British officials.
• They marched with bows, poisoned arrows, axes
and swords taking over the Rajmahal and
Bhagalpur by proclaiming that the Company rule
Outbreak was about to end.
• In response villages were raided and properties
destroyed by the British. In 1855 an act was
passed to regulate the territories occupied by the
Santhals.
• The Act formed the territory into a separate
division called Santhal Pargana division.
 • One of the prominent tribal rebellions of this
period occurred in Ranchi, known as Ulugulan
rebellion (Great Tumult).
• The Munda people were familiar with the co-
operative or collective farming known as
Khuntkatti (joint holding) land system.
• It was totally eroded by the introduction of
private ownership of land and the intrusion of
(c) Munda merchants and moneylenders.
Rebellion • The Munda people were also forcefully recruited
as indentured labourers to work on plantations.
• In the 1890s tribal chiefs offered resistance
against the alienation of tribal people from their
land and imposition of bethbegari or forced
labour.
 • The movement received an impetus when
Birsa Munda declared himself as the
messenger of God.
• Birsa claimed that he had a prophecy and
promised supernatural solutions to the
problem of Munda people and the
(c) Munda establishment of Birsaite Raj.
• The Munda leaders utilised the cult of Birsa
Rebellion Munda to recruit more people to their cause.
• A series of night meetings were held and a
revolt was planned.
• On the Christmas day of 1889, they resorted
to violence. Buildings were burnt down and
arrows were shot at Christian missionaries
and Munda Christian converts.
 • Soon police stations and government officials
were attacked. Similar attacks were carried out
over the next few months.
• Finally the resistance was crushed and Birsa
Munda was arrested in February 1900 who later
(c) Munda died in jail.
Rebellion • Birsa Munda became a folk hero who is to this
day celebrated in many folk songs.
• The Munda rebellion prompted the British to
formulate a policy on Tribal land.
• The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (1908) restricted
the entry of nontribal people into the tribal land.
The Great Rebellion of 1857
INTRODUCTION

• In 1857, British rule witnessed the biggest challenge to its existence. Initially,
it began as a mutiny of Bengal presidency sepoys but later expanded to the
other parts of India involving a large number of civilians, especially peasants.
• The events of 1857–58 are significant for the following reasons:
1. This was the first major revolt of armed forces accompanied by civilian
rebellion.
2. The revolt witnessed unprecedented violence, perpetrated by both sides.
3. The revolt ended the role of the East India Company and the governance of
the Indian subcontinent was taken over by the British Crown.
 (a) Causes

1. Annexation Policy of British India

• In the 1840s and 1850s, more territories were annexed through two major policies:
The Doctrine of Paramountcy.
• British claimed themselves as paramount, exercising supreme authority.
• New territories were annexed on the grounds that the native rulers were inept.
The Doctrine of Lapse.
If a native ruler did not have male heir to the throne, the territory was to ‘lapse’ into British
India upon the death of the ruler.
Satara, Sambalpur, parts of the Punjab, Jhansi and Nagpur were annexed by the British
through the Doctrine of Lapse.
2. Insensitivity to Indian Cultural Sentiments

• In 1806 the sepoys at Vellore mutinied against the

new dress code, which prohibited Indians from
wearing religious marks on their foreheads and
having whiskers on their chin, while proposing to
replace their turbans with a round hat.
• It was feared that the dress code was part of their
effort to convert soldiers to Christianity.
2. Insensitivity to Indian Cultural Sentiments

• Similarly, in 1824, the sepoys at Barrackpur near Calcutta

refused to go to Burma by sea, since crossing the sea meant the
loss of their caste.
• The sepoys were also upset with discrimination in salary and
promotion.
• Indian sepoys were paid much less than their European
counterparts.
• They felt humiliated and racially abused by their seniors.
(b) The Revolt
The precursor to the revolt was the circulation of rumors about the
cartridges of the new Enfield rifle.

There was strong suspicion that the new cartridges had been
greased with cow and pig fat.

The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading (pork is forbidden

to the Muslims and the cow is sacred to a large section of Hindus).
(b) The Revolt
On 29 March a sepoy named Mangal Pandey assaulted his European officer.

His fellow soldiers refused to arrest him when ordered to do so.

Mangal Pandey along with others were court-martialled and hanged.

This only fuelled the anger and in the following days there were increasing
incidents of disobedience.
Burning and arson were reported from the army cantonments in Ambala,
Lucknow, and Meerut.
Bahadur Shah Proclaimed as Emperor of
Hindustan
• On 11 May 1857 a band of
sepoys from Meerut marched to
the Red Fort in Delhi.
• The sepoys were followed by an
equally exuberant crowd who
gathered to ask the Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah II to
become their leader.
Bahadur Shah Proclaimed as Emperor of
Hindustan
• After much hesitation he accepted the offer and was
proclaimed as the Shahenshah-eHindustan (the Emperor of
Hindustan).
• Soon the rebels captured the north-western province and
Awadh.
• As the news of the fall of Delhi reached the Ganges valley,
cantonment after cantonment mutinied till, by the beginning
of June, British rule in North India, except in Punjab and
Bengal, had disappeared.
 • The mutiny was equally supported by an aggrieved
rural society of north India.
• Sepoys working in the British army were in fact
peasants in uniform.
• They were equally affected by the restructuring of
the revenue administration.
Civil
• The sepoy revolt and the subsequent civil rebellion
Rebellion in various parts of India had a deep-rooted
connection with rural mass.
• The first civil rebellion broke out in parts of the
North-Western provinces and Oudh.
• These were the two regions from which the sepoys
were predominately recruited.
 • A large number of Zamindars and Taluqdars were
also attracted to the rebellions as they had lost
their various privileges under the British
government.
• The talukdar–peasant collective was a common
effort to recover what they had lost. Similarly,
Civil artisans and handicrafts persons were equally
Rebellion affected by the dethroning of rulers of many Indian
states, who were a major source of patronage.
• The dumping of British manufactures had ruined
the Indian handicrafts and thrown thousands of
weavers out of employment.
• Collective anger against the British took the form
of a people’s revolt
Prominent Fighters against the British

• The mutiny provided a platform to aggrieved kings, nawabs,

queens, and zamindars to express the anti-British anger.
Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the last Peshwa Baji Rao II,
provided leadership in the Kanpur region.
• He had been denied pension by the Company.
• Similarly, Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow and Khan
Bahadur in Bareilly took the command of their respective
territories, which were once ruled either by them or by
their ancestors.
Prominent Fighters against the British

• Another such significant leader was Rani Lakshmi Bai, who assumed
the leadership in Jhansi.
• In her case Dalhousie, the Governor General of Bengal had refused
her request to adopt a son as her successor after her husband died
and the kingdom was annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
• Rani Lakshmi Bai battled the mighty British Army until she was
defeated.
• Bahadur Shah Jafar, Kunwar Singh, Khan Bahadur, Rani Lakshmi Bai
and many others were rebels against their will, compelled by the
bravery of the sepoys who had defied the British authority
 • By the beginning of June
1857, the Delhi, Meerut,
Rohilkhand, Agra, Allahabad
(c) Suppression
and Banaras divisions of the
of Rebellion army had been restored to
British control and placed
under martial law.
 • There is hardly any evidence to prove
that the rebellion of 1857 was
organised and planned.
• It was spontaneous. However, soon
(d) Causes of after the siege of Delhi, there was an
attempt to seek the support of the
Failure neighboring states.
• Besides a few Indian states, there
was a general lack of enthusiasm
among the Indian princes to
participate in the rebellion.
 • The Indian princes and zamindars either
remained loyal or were fearful of British
power.
• Those involved in the rebellion were left
(d) Causes of with either little or no sources of arms and
ammunition.
Failure • The emerging English-educated middle class
too did not support the rebellion.
• One of the important reasons for the failure
of the rebellion was the absence of a central
authority.
 • There was no common agenda that united the
individuals and the aspirations of the Indian
princes and the various other feudal elements
fighting against the British.
• In the end, the rebellion was brutally suppressed
by the British army.
(d) Causes of • The rebel leaders were defeated due to the lack
of weapons, organisation, discipline, and
Failure betrayal by their aides.
• Delhi was captured by the British troops in late
1857.
• Bahadur Shah was captured and transported to
Burma.
 The British Parliament adopted the
Indian Government Act, in November
1858, and India was pronounced as
e) India one of the many crown colonies to be
Becomes a directly governed by the Parliament.

Crown
The responsibility was given to a
Colony member of the cabinet, designated as
the Secretary of State for India.
 • British rule and its policies underwent a major
overhaul after 1857.
• British followed a cautious approach to the issue of
social reform.
• Queen Victoria proclaimed to the Indian people
that the British would not interfere in traditional
Changes in the institutions and religious matters.
Administration • It was promised that Indians would be absorbed in
government services.
• Two significant changes were made to the
structure of the Indian army.
• The number of Indians was significantly reduced.
• Indians were restrained from holding important
ranks and position.
 • The British took control of the artillery and
shifted their recruiting effort to regions
and communities that remained loyal
during 1857.
• For instance, the British turned away from
Changes in the Rajputs, Brahmins and North Indian
Muslims and looked towards non-Hindu
Administration groups like the Gorkhas, Sikhs,and
Pathans.
• British also exploited the caste, religious,
linguistic and regional differences in the
Indian society through what came to be
known as “Divide and Rule” policy.
Peasant Revolts under
Crown
 (a) Indigo Revolt 1859-60
• Before synthetic dyes were created, natural indigo dye was highly valued
by cloth makers around the world.
• Many Europeans employed peasants to grow the indigo, which was
processed into dye at the planters factories.
• The dye was then exported to Europe.
• The peasants were forced to grow the crop.
• The British planter gave the cultivator a cash advance to help pay for the
rent of the land and other costs.
• This advance needed to be repaid with interest.
• The planters forced the peasant grow indigo, rather than food crops.
 (a) Indigo Revolt 1859-60
• At the end of the season, the planters paid the cultivators low
prices for their indigo.
• Moreover, the small amount the peasant earned was not
enough to pay back the cash advance with interest.
• So they fell into debt. However, the peasants again would be
forced to enter into another contract to grow indigo.
• The peasants were never able to clear their debts.
• Debts were often passed from father to son.
 (a) Indigo Revolt 1859-60
• The Indigo Revolt began in 1859.
• The rebellion began as a strike, as the peasants of a village in Bengal’s
Nadia district refused to grow any more indigo.
• The movement quickly spread to the other indigo-growing districts of
Bengal.
• The revolt then turned violent.
• The peasants, both Hindu and Muslim, participated in the revolt, and
women—armed with pots and pans—fought alongside the men.
• Indian journalists in Calcutta wrote articles about the brutality of the
planters.
(a) Indigo Revolt 1859-60

• The 1860 play Nil

Darpan (“Mirror of
the Indigo”) by Dina
Bandhu Mitra, did
much to draw
attention in India and
Europe to the plight
of the indigo growers.
 • Heavy taxation ruined agriculture. Famine
deaths increased. The first recorded
incident of rioting against the
moneylenders in the Deccan was in May
1875, in Supa a village near Poona.
(b) Deccan • Similar cases of riots were reported from
close to 30 villages in Poona and
Riots 1875 Ahmadnagar.
• The rioting was directed mostly at the
Gujarat moneylenders.
• Under British rule peasants were forced
to pay revenue directly to the
government.
 • Also, under a new law, moneylenders
were allowed to attach the
mortgaged land of the defaulters and
auction it off.
(b) Deccan • This resulted in a transfer of lands
from the cultivators to the non-
Riots 1875 cultivating classes.
• Trapped in the vicious cycle of debt
and unable to pay the outstanding
amount the peasant was forced to
abandon cultivation.
The Foundation of Indian National Congress
(1870 – 1885)
 The second half of the 19th century saw the
emergence of national political consciousness
among a new social class of English educated
Indians.

(a) Rise of The Indian intelligentsia played a critical role in

generating a national consciousness by exposing a

Nationalism large number of people to the idea of nation,

nationalism and various democratic aspirations.

The flourishing of print media both in the

vernacular and in English played a significant role
in circulating such ideas.
 Even though they were numerically small they had a
national character and capacity to establish contacts
on an all India scale.

(a) Rise of They were working as lawyers, journalists, government

employees, teachers or doctors.
Nationalism
They took the initiative to float political outfits, such as
Madras Native Association (1852) East India
Association (1866), Madras Mahajana Sabha (1884),
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870), The Bombay
Presidency Association (1885) and many others.
 • One of the most significant contributions of
early Indian nationalists was the formulation
of an economic critique of colonialism.
• Dadabhai Naoroji, Justice Ranade, and
Romesh Chandra Dutt, played a significant
(b) Economic role in making this criticism about colonial
Critique of economy.
Colonialism • They clearly understood that the prosperity
of the British lay in the economic and
political subjugation of India.
• They concluded that colonialism was the
main obstacle to the Indian’s economic
development.
 • The formation of the Indian National
Congress in 1885 was intended to
establish an all India organisation.
• It was the culmination of attempts by
groups of educated Indians politically
(c) Objectives active in three presidencies: Bombay,
and Methods Madras, and Calcutta. A.O. Hume lent his
services to facilitate the formation of the
Congress.
• Womash Chandra Banarjee was the first
President (1885) Indian National
Congress.
(c) Objectives and Methods

• The first session of the Indian National Congress was

held on 28 December 1885.
• The early objectives were to develop and consolidate
sentiments of national unity; but also professed loyalty
to Britain.
• The techniques included appeals, petitions and
delegations to Britain, all done within a constitutional
framework.
(c) Objectives and Methods
Some of the key demands were the following:
• creation of legislative councils at provincial and central level
• increasing the number of elected members in the legislative council
• separating judicial and executive functions
• reducing military expenditure
• reduction of Home Charges
• extension of trial by jury
• holding civil services exams in India as well as in England.
• police reforms
• reconsideration of forest laws
• promotion of Indian industries and an end to unfair tariffs and excise duties.
 • The methods of moderate leaders
failed to yield any substantive change
in the British attitude towards the
moderate demands of early Indian
(d) Militant nationalists.
Nationalism • They were criticised by a group of
leaders known as “extremists”.
• Instead of prayers and petitions, these
militants were more focused on self-
help.
 Partition of Bengal
• Partition of Bengal in 1905 was the
most unpopular of all. The
partition led to widespread
protests all across India, starting a
new phase of the Indian national
movement.
• The idea of partition was devised
to suppress the political activities
against the British rule in Bengal by
creating a Hindu-Muslim divide.
 It was openly stated that the objective of
partition was to curtail Bengali influence and
weaken the nationalist movement.

(a) Hindu– By placing Bengal under two administrative

units Curzon reduced the Bengali - speaking
Muslim people to a linguistic minority in a divided
Bengal.
Divide
Curzon assured Muslims that in the new
province of East Bengal Muslims would
enjoy a unity, which they never enjoyed
since the days of the Mughals.
 Instead of dividing the
Bengali people along the
religious line partition united
(a) Hindu– them.
Muslim
The growth of regional
Divide language newspapers played
a role in building a sense of
proud Bengali identity.
 • With the failure to annul the partition moderate leaders
were forced to rethink their strategy and look for new
techniques of protest.
• The boycott of British goods was one such method.
• However, the agenda of Swadeshi Movement was still
(b) Anti- restricted to secure an annulment of partition and the
moderates were very much against utilising the
campaign to start a full-fledged passive resistance.
Partition • The militant nationalists, on the other hand, were in
favour of extending the movement beyond Bengal and to
Movement initiate a full-scale mass struggle.
• The day Bengal was officially partitioned – 16 Oct 1905 –
was declared as a day of mourning.
• Thousands of people took bath in the Ganga and
marched on the streets of Calcutta singing Bande
Mataram.
 (c) Boycott and Swadeshi Movement in Bengal
(1905–1911)
• Boycott and swadeshi were always
interlinked to each other and part of
the wider plan to make India self-
sufficient.
Four major trends can be discerned
during the Swadeshi Movement in
Bengal.
1. The Moderate Trend
2. Constructive Swadeshi
3. Militant Nationalism
4. Revolutionary terrorism
 The constructive programmes largely
stressed upon self-help. It focused
on building alternative institutions of
self-governance that would operate
Constructive free of British control.

Swadeshi Swadeshi shops sprang all over the

place selling textiles, handlooms,
soaps, earthenware, match and
leather goods.
 • From 1906 the Swadeshi Movement took
a turn. Under this new direction, the
swadeshi programme included four
points:
• 1.boycott of foreign goods,
Passive • 2.boycott of government schools and
colleges, courts, titles and government
Resistance services,
• 3.development of Swadeshi industries,
national schools,
• 4.recourse to armed struggle if British
repression went beyond the limits of
endurance.
 Militant Nationalism
• Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab, Bala Gangadhar
Tilak of Maharashtra and Bipin Chandra Pal
of Bengal were three prominent leaders
during the Swadeshi period and were
referred to as Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate.
• Punjab, Bengal, and Maharashtra emerged
as the hotbed of militant nationalism
during the Swadeshi Movement.
• In South India Tuticorin became the most
important location of Swadeshi activity
with the launch of a Swadeshi Steam
Navigation company by V.O.
Chidambaranar.
 One of the common goals of the
extremist leaders was to achieve
Swaraj or Self Rule.
Swaraj or
Political However, the leaders differed on
Independence the meaning of Swaraj.

For Tilak Swaraj was the attainment

of complete autonomy and total
freedom from foreign rule.
Home Rule Movement (1916–
1918)
Home Rule Movement (1916–1918)
• The Indian national movement was revived and also radicalised during the Home
Rule Movement (1916-1918), led by Lokamanya Tilak and Annie Besant.
• World War I and Indian’s participation in it was the background for the Home Rule
League.
• When Britain declared war against Germany in 1914, the moderate and liberal
leadership extended their support to the British cause.
• It was hoped that, in return, the British government would give self-government after
the war.
• Indian troops were sent to several theatres of World War.
• But the British administration remained non-committal to such goals.
• What was seen as a British betrayal to the Indian cause of self-government led to a
fresh call for a mass movement to pressurise the British government.
 To attain self-government within the British
Empire by using constitutional means.
(a) Objectives
of the Home To obtain the status of dominion, a political
position accorded later to Australia,
Rule Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Movement To use non-violent constitutional methods

to achieve their goals.
(b) Lucknow Pact (1916)
• The Home Rule Movement and the
subsequent reunion of moderate and the
militant nationalists opened the possibility
of fresh talks with the Muslims.
• Under the Lucknow Pact (1916), the
Congress and the Muslim League agreed
that there should be self-government in
India as soon as possible.
• In return, the Congress leadership
accepted the concept of separate
electorate for Muslims.
 (c) British Response
• As the demand for Swaraj was raised by Tilak and Annie Besant
that gained popularity, the British used the same old play to
isolate the leaders by repressing their activities.
• In 1919 the British government announced the Montagu-
Chelmsford reforms which promised gradual progress of India
towards self-government.
• This caused deep disappointment to Indian nationalists.
• In a further blow the government enacted what was called the
Rowlatt Act which provided for arbitrary arrest and strict
punishment.