Date Event Details

1857 - May 10 India mutiny - Also Sepoys' mutiny or First War of

Independence, was caused by the
Sepoys' refusal to use the new rifles since
it had contained pig and cow fat and
described as ‘tainted’ which are against
their religion and using the rifle cartridge
would require them to make oral contact
with the fat.
- It began on May 10, in garrison town of
Meerut, 64 km northeast of Delhi
- It was described as widespread but
unsuccessful
- The increasing pace of westernisation was
a concern towards the Hindu community

1857 - 1914 Growth of railways and - Growth and spread after first war of
their impact independence

1861 The Indian Council Act - introduction of Indian non-official

of 1861 members: allow India to be part of the
legislative council which only has 3 Indian
representatives in the council.
- Decentralisation of the legislative power:
restoring legislative power to Bombay and
Madras presidency. This increase the
authority of these province
- Empowerment of the viceroy: viceroy have
authority to control the business in the
council.
- Legislative council expansion: the act
caused the creation of a new legislative
council in Bengal, North-Western Frontier
Province and Punjab.
- Emergency power: the act allowed viceroy
to enact the edict during the emergencies
without the legislative council approval.

1876 Royal Title Act 1876 - act that recognises that Queen Victoria is
the empress of india.
- This act is encouraged by prime minister
Benjamin Disraeli
- The title of the act is “ An Act to enable
Her most Gracious Majesty to make an
addition to the Royal Style. and Titles
appertaining to the imperial Crown of the
United Kingdom and its Dependencies”
12 April 1876 Royal Proclamation and - Consolidated early colonial laws to control
the and assimilate indigenous people into the
Government of India Act Euro-Canadian culture
- inter-generational trauma caused by
residential skls (christian skl) - for first
nations (large ethnic grouping)
- “Indian status” eligible for benefits, rights,
prograns offered by governments
- Exempt from paying income tax
earned on reserve + personal
property cannot be seized.
- !complex and doesnt apply
uniformly to every scenario!
- Department of indian affairs
controlled by indian agents in
canada
- 1999, first nations gained a little more
power, did not abolish the indian act

1876-78 famine - It began in 1876 after an intense drought

resulted in crop failure in the Deccan
Plateau. It affected south and
Southwestern India—the
British-administered presidencies of
Madras and Bombay, and the princely
states of Mysore and Hyderabad—for a
period of two years.
- caused the most deaths. Between six and
ten million people starved to death as a
consequence of drought, bad harvest, and
poor British food policies.

1880 - 1884 Ripon and Ilbert - A series of legal changes introduced to

reforms India in the 19th century
- The Marquess of Ripon, George
Robinson, served as the Viceroy for India
from 1880 - 1884
- His tenure was about administrative and
political reform aimed to improve
governance in India.
- The key aspects of the reform includes
- Local self government
- Press Act of 1882 which aimed to
 provide more freedom to the press
- Focuses on improving education in
India

- The Ilbert Bill was introduced during the

tenure of Viceroy Ripon.
- The Bill was aimed to improve the
jurisdiction of India
Key aspects of the bill includes
- Equality in jurisdictions
- The bill faced strong opposition
from the Europeans, so they
agreed on limiting the power of the
Indian judges. The Indians later
protested that it was a compromise
of equality.

1899 famine - The famine claimed 90-100 lakh lives (a

hundred thousand) 9 million ish
- Drought parched crops over an area of at
least 1,230,000 square kilometres
(474,906 square miles), impacting almost
60 million people. Food crops and
livestock died as the drought stretched
into a second year, and soon people
began to starve.

1885 - 1914 Indian National - 1 of 2 big parties in Independent

Congress movement
- Roots in indian rebellion 1857
- Began with moderate reforms under
British Raj
- The early 20th century started to boycott
British imports and promote Indian good =
wide support .
- 1920 - mahatma gandhi became party
leader and stop violence
- Ended up forming most of India's
governments after the independence

1917 Montagu Declaration - to proposed the increased participation of

1917 indians in the administration and the
development of self-governing institutions
in india
- Edwin montagu made a statement in front
of the British cabinet regarding the self
governance of india
- Montagu declaration paved the way to
introduce reform at the central as well as
 provincial levels of Indian government.

1919 India Act - British parliament increase participation of

https://byjus.com/free-ia indians in admin of country
s-prep/ncert-notes-gove - Provided first time establishment of public
rnment-of-india-act-191 service commission in india
9/ - Led to the simon commission 1927
- Created an office of the high
commissioner for india in london
- Dyarchy introduced, federal structure and
unitary bias
- First elections + sm women had the right
to vote
- Limitations
- Very limited, did not extend to the
common man
- Governor-general and governors
had power to undermine the
legislatures
- Seat allocation for central
legislature based on ‘importance’
of the province in Brits eyes

13 April 1919 Massacre of Amristsar - Jallianwala bagh massacre

- British troops commanded by General
Reginald Dyer opened fire on an
unarmed crowd of civilians without
warning
- Gathering was a peaceful protest against
the Rowlatt Act (allowed arrest and
detention of indians without trial)
- Casualties - 10 mins firing troops ran out
of ammunition, estimated 379 killed and
over 1000 injured. Many unaccounted
deaths
- British response defended general dyer
- India's turning point - continued into
the independence movement

1935 Government of India act - Act led to the separation of Burma from
British India
- Provided the Establishment of The
Reserve Bank of India
- Was one of the longest act the parliament
have ever enacted (Length wise)

1943-44 Bengal Famine - Resulting in 3 million deaths due to

malnutrition and diseases, the Bengal
famine did not coincide with any significant
shortfall in food production. The famine
 was a result of entitlement failure (when
his entitlement set does not contain
enough food to enable him to avoid
starvation in the absence of
non-entitlement transfers, such as
charity.)for example, may have an
entitlement consisting of exactly one
bundle: a tray of food and a ration of
clothes. But a cotton farmer, who grows
sack-loads of cotton each year, can keep
the cotton or sell it and buy various
combinations of other goods. All these
options constitute his particular
entitlement.
- In 1942 Churchill said “The famine was
their own fault for breeding like rabbits.”
His government also refused to send aid
to India, despite pleas from Indian leaders
and British officials on the ground.

1857-1914 Extent of British

investment

1945 Simla Conference - Conference about Wavell’s plan for Indian

self-governance
- The Muslims and the Indian Congress
were not coming into an agreement
- It was a failed conference because both
sides couldn't settle their differences
- Jinnah wanted the Muslim League to be
the sole representative of muslims in India