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| Question | Answer |
| When and where was the first meeting of the Indian National Congress? | 1885 in Bombay |
| Who attended the first meeting of the Indian National Congress? | The majority were high-caste Hindus who were lawyers and spoke English. However not all delegates were Indian. |
| What did the first meeting of the Indian National Congress want? | They wanted Indians to be allowed to join the ICS, opportunities for Indians to serve on various government councils, and more of India's wealth to be spent on internal improvements and less on the military. |
| Was Congress a Hindu majority or a Muslim majority? | It was dominated by Hindus, and only two Muslims attended the first meeting. This figure rose to 83 by the third annual meeting but the Hindus continued to dominate. |
| Who was Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1886-1915)? | He was a moderate, a reformer and a member of Congress from 1889. |
| What did Gokhale believe? | He believed that Indians needed to reform their social and religious ideas and resolve their own internal conflicts before they could begin to consider anything as radical as political independence. |
| Who was Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)? | He was an Indian nationalist, a social reformer and the first popular leader of an Indian independence movement. He was a Hindu. |
| How did Tilak's views change? | When Congress split into two factions,Tilak led the extremists and criticised Gandhi's strategy of non-violent, civil disobedience as a way of gaining independence for India. His views became more moderate as he got older so that although he wanted independence for India, he wanted this independence to be exercised withing the British Empire (dominion status). |
| When were the Morley-Minto reforms? | 1909 |
| Who was 'Morley' and who was 'Minto'? | Lord John Morley, Secretary of State for India (based in Britain). Lord Minto, Viceroy (based in India). |
| What was the Simla deputation? | It consisted of about 70 Muslim leaders who presented a plan for separate electorates to the Viceroy, Lord Minto, at Simla in 1906. |
| What reforms did Morley and Minto propose? | Sixty Indian representatives were to be elected to serve on the Viceroy's Executive Council (although officials remained in the majority), the provincial councils were to be enlarged to create non-official majorities, and separate electorates were provided for Muslims and Hindus. |
| When did the Morley Minto reforms become official? | In the 1909 Indian Councils Act. |
| What was the significance of the Morley-Minto reforms? | From 1909 onwards, Indians were involved in policy making both in India and in Britain. |
| What was the 'extremists' reaction to the Morley-Minto reforms? | They did not feel the reforms had gone far enough and continued to fight for full Indian self-government with acts of terrorism. |
| What was Congress' and the Hindus reaction to the reforms? | They disliked the designation of electorates which were designed to achieve a balance of minority interests. |
| What was the Muslim reaction to the reforms? | Despite initially complaining, they were satisfied as there were now council seats reserve specifically for Muslims. |
| When was the All-India Muslim League founded? | 1906 |
| Was the outbreak of war supported by India? | All-sections of Indian society declared loyalty and support including the princely states, Congress and the All-India Muslim League. |
| Why did religion prove to be a problem for the Indian army during WW1? | It became a problem when Turkey entered the war because in the eyes of Muslims, the British Empire was now at war with a Muslim power. |
| How did the Muslims react when Turkey entered the war? | Some Muslims deserted their units, but the majority still believed the war to be lawful. There were at least 3 mutinies of Muslim troops, usually when they thought they were going to be sent to fight against Turks. |
| What was the Indian attitude to fighting in the war? | Going to war was an ancestral tradition of obligation to whomesoever was their emperor. Most Indians stated that they were fighting for the King George V and the British Empire - few claimed to be fighting for India. |
| How did the war help those who campaigned for greater involvement of Indians in India's affairs? | Indian soldiers fought alongside British soliders which increased the self-esteem of the Indians and strengthened the arguments of Indian politicians that Indians should be given a greater say in Indian affairs. |
| What, from WW1, did the Indians begin to apply to their own situation in India? | The Allies frequently referred to the war as one being fought to defend the rights of nations and they also spoke of the importance of democracy and self-determination (the freedom for countries to determine their own affairs). |
| How were ordinary people in India affected by the war? | Increased taxation on Indian people occured to fund the war effort. |
| In what ways did prices rise during WWI? | Prices of food grains rose by 93%, of Indian goods by 60% and imported goods by 190%. |
| Why did prices rise? | They rose due to the disruption to normal trading patterns, exchange rate problems and the demands of the military. |
| How did the war benefit the Indian economy? | Indian manufacturing industries, particularly cotton, iron and steel, sugar, engineering and chemicals, expanded in order to replace goods normally imported. |
| How did the increase in prices affect Indian society? | In some areas, groups of local government officials went on strike and some provincial governments feared that local suppport for the Raj was crumbling. Food riots, ppetty violence and looting occured regularly. |
| What were the political effects of WWI on Congress? | As early as 1915, Congress was speaking openly about self-government and about the changes in attitude that the war was bringing. |
| What and when was the Lucknow Pact? | The Lucknow Pact of 1916, was an agreement between Congress and the Muslim League wherby it was agreed that Muslims would have a fixed proportion of seats in an Indian parliament and extra seats where they were in a minority. |
| When were the Home Rule Leagues founded and how many were there? | 1916. There were two; one was founded by Tilak and operated mainly in western India whilst the other was founded by Annie Besant and spread throughout the rest of India. |
| What was the aim of the Home Rule Leagues? | Their aim was to stimulate public opinion and organise public pressure for Home Rule in India. |
| How did the Home Rule Leagues spread their message? | Through newspapers, rallies, vernacular pamphlets, preachers and songs in order to reach the masses who had been disinterested in the work of Congress, the Muslim League and the Imperial Legislative Council. |
| When and what was the Montagu Declaration? | 1917. It was a declaration formulated by Montagu, Secretary of State and Viceroy Lord Chelmsford that stated that the British would increase the number of Indians within the government in India so that the Indians could eventually govern themselves but within the context of the British Empire. |
| When did the Montagu-Chelmsford Report become law? | In the Government of India Act in December 1919. |
| What were the three significant features of the Government of India Act? | Self-government in the future, changes to the composition of councils and the electorate and division of governmental resposabilities. |
| What did the Montagu-Chelmsford Report and Government of India Act propose regarding the Viceroy? | That the Viceroy was to be advised by a council of six civilians, three of whom had to be Indians. He could also enforce his own laws and choose his own officials. |
| What did the Montagu-Chelmsford Report and Government of India Act propose regarding the provincial and central legislative councils? | That they were to be enlarged. The provincial council was also to be given control over Indian education, agriculture, health, local self-government and public works. |
| What did the Montagu-Chelmsford Report and Government of India Act propose regarding the British? | That they were to retain control of military matters, foreign affairs, currency, communications and criminal law. |
| Who could now vote as a result of the Government of India Act 1919? | About 10% of the adult male population, all former soldiers and some provincial legislatures gave the vote to women. |
| To whom did the Government of India Act give 'reserved' seats in all provincial legislatures? | Different religious groups and special interest groups like landowners and university graduates. |
| What is dyarchy? | Government by two independent authorities e.g. after the Government of India Act 1919, power in the provinces was divided between the Indians and the British. |
| What was the negative reaction from the Indians after the Government of India Act 1919? | The ICS felt its strength and influence were slipping away. The Indian National Congress rejected the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and boycotted the first elections held under the act. Also, those Indians hoping for Home Rule were bitterly disappointed leading to an increase in unrest and violence, particularly in the Punjab. |
| How did many Indians feel towards the 1919 Act? | Many Indians welcomed it even though it didn't offer immediate self-government. |
| What was the negative British reaction to the 1919 Act? | In the House of Commons, India became a contentious issue. Right-wing view was that the government was losing its nerve and would soon lose India. Left-wing view was that the reforms hadn't gone far enough. |
| How did Montagu feel about the Act? | He welcomed it as a further step towards Indian self-government. |
| Why did both British and Indian people hate the idea of 'reserved seats' with specific electorates? | They considered them divisive and anti-democratic. |
| Why was the situation in India unstable after the war? | There was a recession after the war, and layoffs and unemployment as the demand for war materials, particularly textiles, collapsed. Failed monsoon led to crop failure and regional famine. |
| When and why were the Rowlatt Acts introduced? | 1919, in response to the unrest, disturbances and riots in India as a result of the situation after WWI. |
| What did the Rowlatt Acts propose? | The isolation of Bengal, Bombay and Punjab as centres of revolutionary activity. Also for old wartime controls to be imposed there: imprisonment without trial, trial by judges sitting without a jury, and censorship and house arrest of suspects. |
| What effect did the Rowlatt Acts have in India? | They alienated a wide range of public opinion as they suggested that not only was the British government prepared to use force to crush Indian opposition but also that they had no intention of relaxing their grip on India. |
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