History Write short note

The moderates and extremists differed on the following grounds.

• The Extremist’s wing of thinkers insisted that independence should be the natural priority. An independent nation could provide the right set-up for social reformation on the other hand the moderates thought that without social reformation independence was incomplete. They did not mind appealing to the British Government to help in the task of social reforms.
• Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was at the helm of those who insisted on the priority of social reforms. He emphasized reforming oneself. Lokmanya Tilak, leader of the extremists wanted that the home being taken over by others should be recovered first, then only we can reform it.
• Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale were the leaders of the moderates. They felt that the British Government will not disappoint them if they could, convince the government about their grievances with necessary proofs Lokmanya Tilak on the other hand felt that the British Government will not yield to applications requests and speeches.
• The differences between Moderates and Extremists reached their climax in the Surat session of the Indian National Congress in 1907.
• The Moderates wanted to avoid the resolutions of ‘Swadeshi and Boycott’ while the extremists wanted to stop these attempts of the moderates.
• This increased the tension during the session. Reconciliation became impossible ultimately the Indian National Congress (INC) split into two groups.

In 1942, in some parts of India, people were successful in uprooting British Governance. In Midnapur District (Bengal), Balia(U.P), and Bhagalpur, Purnia (Bihar) near Azamgarh the British officers were forced to leave their offices people took charge of the governance at these places. Krantisinha Nana Patil a revolutionist established Pratisarkar (Parallel government) in the Satara district of Maharashtra. He established ‘People’s Government’.

The armed revolution was one of the forms of Indian movements against the British. The main objective of the armed revolutionaries was to weaken the government administration to dispel the fear of the government in people’s minds and thus to uproot the British rule in India.

The Surat session in 1907 witnessed the split of the moderates and the extremists because the moderates wanted to avoid the resolution of ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’. The Extremists wanted to stop these attempts of the moderates. This increased the tension during the session. Reconciliation became impossible ultimately the Indian National Congress split into two groups.

The freedom struggle of 1857 was the result of mounting pressures because of:

• Increasing discontent of Indian soldiers in the British army.
• Political social religious and economic reasons.
• Lord Dalhousie’s ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ on the civil front.
• Introduction of new land revenue systems like ‘Kayamdhara or Zamindari’ (permanent settlement) ‘Ryotwari’ and ‘Mahalwari’.
• Religious conversions of the British and British policies with regard to Indian customs and traditions contributed to the increasing discontent among the Indian people.

The following were the effects of the revolt of 1857:

• Provincial and communal loyalties were gradually replaced by a feeling of being united as a nation and national loyalty.
• It dawned on the Indian people that they cannot win in armed combat with the British and a need was felt to find more innovative methods to counter the British rule.
• Becoming aware of the united Indian people during the 1857 revolt, the British adopted a policy of ‘Divide and Rule.

Queen Victoria of England issued a charter known as the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’ on 1st November 1858. The following were the main provisions of the charter:

• Lord Canning was appointed as the first viceroy and Governor-General of India.
• The Indian princes were assured that their territories would not be annexed and they were given the right to adopt sons. Thus, the Doctrine of Lapse was withdrawn.
• The Indian princes were further assured that all the treaties which they had entered into with the East India Company would be honoured by the Crown.
• She further declared that all Indians were her subjects and no one would be discriminated on the basis of race, creed, caste and birthplace, employment on the basis of qualification and skills, no interference in religious matters, fulfillment of the agreements with the rulers of the princely states, etc.

This policy was adopted by Lord Dalhousie.

• According to this policy, an adopted son (Dattak) was not allowed to succeed a deceased ruler of a princely state unless there was a pre-approval to such succession by the British Government.
• By implementing this policy, Lord Dalhousie annexed the states of Satara, Sambalpur, Jaitpur, Udaipur, Jhansi, and Nagpur.
• This policy created a lot of discontent among the rulers of princely states who were subjected to this policy.
• Annexation of the princely states put the soldiers in the army out of jobs.
• Along with annexing the states the British Government also seized inherited landholdings which had made a large number of Indians unhappy.

The freedom struggle of 1857 took place for the following reasons:

• The increasing discontent in the army was not just due to mounting pressures but also due to political, social, religious, and economic reasons.
• The treatment given to Indian soldiers and the restrictions imposed on them was the root cause of their discontent.
• The soldiers felt hurt because of many reasons such as cuts in their allowances, being compelled to cross the sea, frequent humiliation during the daily parade, partiality ruling large in matters of transfers, being left out during promotions, etc.