from the BRITISH RAJ to the PARTITION

Past and Present

Portuguese Trading Posts (1510-1961)

Mombaim 16th c. map

FRENCH INDIA (1759-1954)

• La Compagnie française des Indes orientales (French East India Company) was formed under the auspices of Cardinal Richelieu (1642) and reconstructed under Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1664) Between 1720 and 1741, the objectives of the French were purely commercial.

The Mughal Empire or Mogul Empire in former English usage(1526- 1857)

AGRA, The Red Fort, a place of powerThe Taj Mahal, a token of love

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE THE ENGLISH TO CONTROL INDIA?

East India Company

granted a charter by Elizabeth I in 1600

1858: after failed Indian mutiny

India came under direct British

rule

1877 : Queen Victoria Empress of India

How long did the journey from England to India take?

The SUEZ CANAL opened in November 1869

The English will do anything to preserve the ‘Jewel in the British Crown’: 1888 the canal was declared neutral zone under the protectionof the British army.

Gandhi’s birthplace

Born in the 2nd highest caste – his father was the diwan ( chief minister) of Porbandar State

Gandhi in South Africa 1893 – 1914:The beginning of his struggle against discrimination

Satyagraha ‘Truth Force’+ Non ViolenceWhich means did Gandhi use ?

1922, 1930,

1933, 1942

Hunger strikes

To protest against British industry destroying native Indian cloth industry: resort to using a spinning wheel and wearing a loincloth.

1915: One entire day of fasting and prayer = a general strike to scare the British !

241 miles on foot from March 12 to April 5th 1930 To protest against

an unfair tax

The result of Gandhi’s actions:a Conference in London 1931

• "It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious middle temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the east, striding half-naked up the steps of the vice-regal palace, while he is still organizing and conducting a defiant campaign of civil disobedience, to parley on equal terms with the representative of the king-emperor.“

Winston Churchill - 1930

• The following year, Gandhi met face to face with Churchill during the Indian round table conference –

"...I have an alternative that is unpleasant to you" he told Churchill and his clan of imperialists. " India demands complete liberty and freedom...the same liberty that Englishmen enjoy... and I want India to become a partner in the Empire. I want to partner with the English people ... not merely for mutual benefit, but so that the great weight that is crushing the world to atoms may be lifted from its shoulders".

Mahatma Gandhi ,1931

Great men of the new India

Contrary to Ali Jinah the Muslim leader, Gandhi wanted Hindus and Muslims to stay

united as one nation.

Pundit Nerhu,

the first Prime Minister of India

Independence Day15 August 1947

The last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten And Nerhu on the last day of British rule

The Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law with 24 spokes

Partition : a tale of 2 countries

The end of an empire : the beginning of a long feud with the Pakistani neighbour…1948,1965,1971

A nation split in two: it couldn’t be viable - after 2 wars 1971: creation of Bangladesh

The woes of partition

Pakistani army defeated creation of Bangladesh

Muslim refugees fleeing India

Hindu refugees fleeing Pakistan

Gandhi’was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30 January 1948

The funeral procession 6 February 1948 – New Delhi

Raj Ghat memorial , Dehlion the spot of his cremation

Some 60 years later…

Nuclear sites in Pakistan and India

Pakistani girl promoting peace

Wagah: changing of the guard at the border

Cricket matches

= the new battlefield