Indian and Pakistani Independence

Britain began to lose control over India in the Uprising of 1857-1858. Members of the British Indian army refused to fight due to the presence of cow and pig fat in guns, and as a result, the British crown took power away from the British East India Company. (A) After the Sepoy Mutiny, which was a result of British expansionism and modernization, Queen Victoria became empress of India. (F) The cultural and political gap between the British and the Indians grew, and the British government forced Indian troops to fight in other nations. Slowly, Indians involved themselves more in government. The Government of India Act of 1919 led to an “increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.” (A)

In 1920, after World War I, India was no longer an essential trade market for Britain, and though Britain continued to hold power, it was less invested in Indian affairs. (E) During this time, Indian nationalism also began to grow. Because of less British investment, self-rule expanded, and Indians challenged British authority. New nationalist groups rose from Western education and ideas in the elite class. English speaking Indians who began to organize associations and public meetings formed the Indian National Congress. Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of Congress, focused on the interests of Hindus; as a result, Indian Muslims formed their own group called the All India Muslim League. (F)

During World War II, the Muslim League cooperated with Britain while Congress continued to stage protests. Muslims in the British Indian Army fought alongside Great Britain, which led to British favor and allowed for Muslim leverage in later discussion of independence. (A) On the contrary, as Gandhi continued with his Quit India Movement, the British crown outlawed Congress, and riots increased. (A) The 1945 rise of the British Labor Party led to a greater push for independence from both Hindi and Muslim leaders. Hindus wanted a  combined secular, democratic state, while the Muslims wanted a separate Muslim state. In 1946, as Britain began to withdraw from India, the Hindus did not include the Muslims in plans for the interim government, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first leader of Pakistan, called for a demonstration. Mass communal rioting broke out among Muslims and continued for a year. August 1947 brought the partition of British India into self- governed India and Pakistan. (A, C)