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Period: to
Indian Independence
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Sepoy Mutiny
On may the 9th, Indian soldiers, called sepoys, were given cartridges greased with beef and pork fat, which are things that neither hindus nor muslims eat due to religious reasons. The majority of the sepoys, 85 out of the 90, rejected the use of these cartrdges and they were imprisioned for such action. The imae shows may the 10th, when they rebelled and marched to New Delhi to seize the city; they were joined by Indian soldiers with base there, and spread the rebellion to other parts of India. -
Britain Assumes Total Power Over India
As a result of the Sepoy Mutiny, Britain’s government acquired full control of India. Supposedly, all treaties between both parties would remain the same and already free states of India would maintain their independence. India would be governed by having a cabinet minister in London in charge of managing guidelines, and a British governor-general in India whose job was to carry out the government’s orders. After 1877, this official held the title of viceroy. -
Hindu Indian National Congress
This congress, otherwise known as the Congress Party, was formed by indians who practiced hinduism to start actions to end foreign rule. -
South Africa
Gandhi heads to South Africa to work as a lawyer and represent Indians who feel their rights have been violated. He was traveling on the first class of a train, and when asked to move to the back because of his colored skin, he refused, so he was thrown out of the train. He spent 21 years living there before going backto live in India. -
Burning of Registration Passes
Gandhi's first peaceful protests engaged in disobeying a British law that forced all Indian citizens to registrate and carry passes with them at all times. He encouraged the burning of the registration cards, which led to his imprisonment. The picture showcases an Indian government pass. -
Muslim League
This party was formed by indian muslims and worked along with the Hindu Indian National Congress to achieve home rule of India. The flag of the organization is shown in the picture. -
Indian Soldiers Return From WWI
Indian soldiers enlisted in the British army with the promise of Britain passing laws that would eventually lead to its freedom, however, when they returned from the war, nothing had changed. Indians were outraged, and as a result of this, a group of radical nationalists engaged in acts of violence. -
Rowlatt Acts
As a result of the acts of violence by radical nationalists, the british government passed laws which allowed for the imprisonment of protestants for up to two years. -
The Amritsar Massacre
Indians and Muslims united to fast and pray in an enclosed square, however, they were unaware that the Rowlatt Acts prohibited public meetings. Colonel Reginald Dryer, leader of the soldiers at the event, commanded for them to shoot at the mob. Indians, unable to leave, were shooted at for 10 minutes straight by the British army, wounding 1,200 people and murdering 400 people. The image shows the British soldiers firing at the crowd, which had women and children in it. -
Gandhi’s Noncooperation
Gandhi, along with the Congress Party, launched a campaign for civil disobedience (refusing to follow an unjust law) as a response to the British Government not penalizing leaders of the Amritsar massacre. -
Clothing Issues
India used to be forced by British authorities to grow Indigo for clothes dyes, but soon after that they started making their own and left Indians with infertile lands which produced a decline in economy. Gandhi engaged his followers into burning all of the foreign clothing they possessed, and encouraged them to weave their own instead as shown in the picture. -
Declaration of Independence
Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party issued the Declaration of Independence of India. -
Salt March
Indians, followed by Gandhi, opposed the Salt Act, which stated that Indians weren’t allowed to buy salt from no other than the British, which was highly taxed. They marched to the seacoast, about 240 miles away, and made their own salt by letting sea water evaporate. They then went on to try to shut down a British saltwork, but were unsuccessful and attacked aggressively by policemen. The picture shows Gadhi leading a froup of Indian followers who joined him in his noncooperational movement. -
Government of India Act
Gandhi’s peaceful protests of civil disobedience started to pay off, as Britain gave the Indians local-self-government of their land and limited democratic elections; not complete independence though. -
Hunger Strike
Gandhi used fasting as a way of protest several times during his life, but the longest one occurred on a two-year term imprisonment. Pictures of him were scattered through British press, which gained him sympathy and support for his beliefs. -
India and Pakistan
Hostilities began to grow between hindus and muslims as independence was slowly getting to India, and their different views for their country began to be evident. Muslims proposed partition of India into two separate states, a mostly hindu India, and a mostly muslim Pakistan. The British House of Commons finally passed a law which established two different countries as proposed by the Muslim League. The picture shows the division of India into different states. -
India’s Independence
The British parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, which declared both Pakistan’s and India’s independence, on August 14th and 15th respectively. -
India’s Leader
Jawaharlal Nehru, shown in the picture, was elected to be India’s first prime-minister, he was Gandhi’s right hand ever since he started his noncooperational, peaceful protests. -
The Death of the Great Soul
Mohandas Gandhi, most commonly known as Mahatma (Great Soul) Gandhi, went to Dehli to try to achieve equal treatment for muslims in India. Gandhi was about to begin prayer when a hindu extremist, Nathuram Godse, shot him in the chest three times. Mahatma Gandhi was murdered at 78 years old.