The Indian Independence movement
The first step toward Indian independence and western-style democracy was taken with the appointment of Indian councillors to advise the British viceroy,[48] and with the establishment of provincial Councils with Indian members the councillors' participation was subsequently widened in legislative councils.[49] From 1920 leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi began mass movements to campaign against the British Raj. Revolutionary activities against the British rule also took place throughout the Indian sub-continent, these movements succeeded in bringing Independence to the Indian sub-continent in 1947.
Independence and Partition
| Part of a series on the History of the Republic of India | |
Pre-Independence  | |
| British Raj (1858–1947) | |
| Indian independence movement (1857 - 1947) | |
| Partition of India (1947) | |
Post-Independence  | |
| Political integration of India (1947-49) | |
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 | |
| States Reorganisation Act (1956) | |
| Non-Aligned Movement (1956- ) | |
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 | |
| Green Revolution (1970s) | |
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | |
| Emergency (1975-77) | |
| Siachen conflict (1984) | |
| 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish | |
| 1990s in India | |
| Kargil War (1999) | |
| See also | |
| History of India | |
| History of South Asia | |
Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as they were to resist the Raj. In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence. The profound impact Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul, first suggested by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The British promised that they would leave India by 1947.
British Indian territories gained independence in 1947, after being partitioned into the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. Following the division of pre-partition Punjab and Bengal provinces, rioting broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in several parts of India, including Punjab, Bengal and Delhi, leaving some 500,000 dead.[50] Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan.[50]
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