Indian Freedom Fighting Movement

Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, at the age of 21 in jail.

East India Company Sepoys (Indian infantrymen) in red coats outside Tipu Sultan's former summer palace inBangalore, 1804.

Gandhi on the Salt March.

          The Indian Freedom Fighting Movement is a long nationalist movement of non-violence for the independence of India from the British colonial rule, that was ultimately achieved in 1947. The movement also came for the partition of Indian’s territory along religious lines to form of a separate independent country Pakistan that also included the present day Bangladesh till 1971.

Gandhi in 1918, at the time of the Kheda and Champaran satyagrahas.

Blowing from Guns in British India (1884) by Vasily Vereshchagin.

Forced disarmament of cavalry of Berhampore.

          Many years ago, the English traders had come to India for trade. British East India Company established in about 1600 took administrative powers as well until an armed uprising (1857-59), an unsuccessful Indian soldiers’ revolt against English activities. For the nationalists the uprising was the first revolution while the English people called it the sepoy mutiny. The revolution was suppressed immediately but its effects continued to last till the independence was declared. Following this event, British government took over the total governance.

          The Indian National Congress was founded by Indian elites in 1885 with an aim to have democratic reforms under the British rule. Under its nationalist movement, the party called for the Swarajya (self-government)’in 1905. In 1906, the Muslim League was founded by elite Muslims to fight for their cause. The India Councils Act in 1909 came to enforce a level of self- government in India. However, the nationalists continued their movement believing that the reforms ‘intended to defuse the nationalist sentiment’. In 1919, about 400 unarmed civilians of the peaceful protest of Satyagraha were brutally killed in Amritsar by the British authority.

Gandhi at Dandi, April 5, 1930.

          Following the Amritsar Massacre, Mahatma Gandhi staged a non-cooperation movement in 1920. The participants of  the movement were to give up governmental posts and functions, stop sending their children to schools and deny accepting any honor, award or title. But Gandhi abruptly stopped the movement when some protestors set fire on a police post killing inspector and 25 soldiers. By 1929, the Indian National ress had been determined for total independence of India. 1930, it started a civil disobedience movement. Gandhi led  of India. In 1930, it started a civil disobedience movement. Gandhi led a famous Dandi March, with 78 of his followers, to make  salt to protest the laws on goods such as salt. Gradually, the movement spread up throughout the country.

Indigo dye factory in Bengal. Bengal was the world's largest producer of natural indigo in the 19th century.

Subhas Chandra Bose

The Government of India Act agreed in 1935 established autonomous legislative bodies in the provinces. By the end of 9, marry Congress ministers resigned as a protest against the Germany in World War II without consulting them. In 1942, they went for the ‘Quit India’ movement demanding the English to leave India as their stay seemed to invite Japanese attacks. Thousands of protestors along with Gandhi were imprisoned and the Congress party was banned. In 1944, Gandhi was released but he could not establish mutual agreement with Muhammad Ali  Jinnah, fearful of Hindu dominations. In June 1945, Jawaharlal Nehru led an intern government which also included representatives of Jinnah’s legue later.

First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28-31, December, 1885.

          Following the end of World War II there were general elections in Britain. The Labour Party got landslide victory I its leader Clement Richard Attlee was appointed prime minister Shortly after, the government had the Indian Independence Act passed. Lord Louis Mountbatteri was sent to a as the last viceroy to complete the process. The Muslim League was very firm in its' demand for separate state. One day before the Indian Independence Act came into effect on August) 15,1947, Pakistan came into being as a spilt. On November 26,1949, the Indian Constituent Assembly introduced a republican constitution. The assembly restructured later as provisional parliament elected Rajendra Prasad as the first President and as the first Prime Minister of the Republic.

Capture of Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons by William Hodson at Humayun's tomb on 20 September 1857.

Secundra Bagh after the slaughter of 2,000 Rebels by the 93rd Highlanders and 4th Punjab Regiment. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato, 1858.