Indian Nationalism & Nation-building

1. 1858-1947 Indian Nationalism &Nation-building

2. If a British Colonial Official were asked to provide evidence of the ways by which British Rule benefitted India, what would he say? If an Indian citizen were asked to give proof of the ways British Rule harmed India, what would he or she say? 1858-1947

3. If the Indian people want independence, what could possibly unite them in hopes of achieving that goal? • common desire to see British removed • cultural unity But was India really united culturally? -who are the Indians really? • Hindu Indians? ( =majority) • Muslim Indians? ( =minority) Roots of Indian Nationalism There were many different cultural groups in India & many Indian nationalist movements w/ various strategies to meet their goals.

4. an early Indian nationalist organization • established 1885 • led by European-educated Indians • after WWI, became interested in winning freedoms & independence for ALL Indians • early members: • Mahatma Gandhi • Jawaharlal Nehru • Muhammad Ali Jinnah The Indian National Congress • many Muslims left in 1906  formed “Muslim League” • different goals for independence

5. Two NATIONALIST Paths to INDEPENDENCE… The Muslim League • Goal: independent Indian nation for Muslims (Pakistan) • Key leaders: Jinnah • Strategy: • satisfy & support the British so they’ll eventually create a free Muslim nation from India Indian National Congress • Goal: independent nation for allIndians • Key leaders: Gandhi & Nehru • Strategy: • civil- disobedience • passive resistance

6. “We [Muslim Indians] want a separate state of our own. There we can live according to our own notions of life … We should be free … Is Britain going to stand with its bayonets and hand over authority to the Indian majority?” Muhammad Ali Jinnah

7. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi Image: Gandhi practicing civil disobedience by producing cotton cloth in his own home, thus breaking the British law forbidding Indians from producing their own.

8. 1930s-40s: Strategies for Independence Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience: • refused to comply with certain laws seen as unfair or unjust as a peaceful form of political protest • encouraged peaceful strikes, boycotts, marches fasting • example: • Salt March, 1930 Jinnah’s Muslim League: • built up fears amongst Muslims that Hindus would dominate them after independence • encouraged Muslim Indian support for British

9. Gandhi’s Salt March, 1930 • Part of Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaign to convince Britain to grant India its independence • Non-violently protested against the British salt monopoly in India • Gandhi led peaceful protestors on a 24 day, 240 mile march to the Indian Ocean to produce salt without paying the salt tax • Gandhi’s Salt March created global awareness of Britain’s mis-rule of India and brought large numbers of Indians to the pro-independence movement.

10. Gandhi & Nehru

11. After WWII, British Parliament agreed to independence. • negotiations with both nationalist movements • end result  partition [division] & independence of India, 1947: A Negotiated Independence: 1945-1947 BRITISH INDIA INDEPENDENT INDIA INDEPENDENT PAKISTAN • created where Muslim majority lived • Jinnah = 1st prime minister • Muslim League • Islamic republic became a dictatorship • created where Hindu majority lived • Nehru = 1st prime minister • Indian National Congress • world’s largest democracy

12. 12 million forced to migrate across new borders  refugee crisis • Hindu-Muslim violence intensified • conflict over Kashmir continues • nuclear arms race • terrorist attacks India & Pakistan: Results of Partition