Group 7 Vocab- Ancient India

Amritsar Massacre

tragedy in which several hundred Indians gathered at Jallianwala Bagh were injured or killed after British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open fire on the unarmed peasants

ashram

self-sufficient communities; examples include Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farm in South Africa and Sabarmati Ashram and Sevagram Ashram in India

Asiatic Registration Bill

proposed law that would require all Indians and Chinese in the Transvaal to be fingerprinted and carry identification papers; failure to do so could result in fines, imprisonment, and deportation

charkha

spinning wheel used by Indians to make their own cloth so as not to have to buy from the British

Civil Disobedience

concept of Gandhi’s revolution in which laws viewed as unfair would not be followed; essay by Henry David Thoreau

Franchise Amendment Bill

proposed law that would deprive South African Indians of the opportunity to vote

Indian National Congress

Indian political party that played a major role in the Indian independence movement

Indian Opinion

paper founded by Gandhi used to communicate with South African Indians

mahatma

great soul

Muslim League

an organization formed in 1906 and led by Mohamed Ali Jinnah created to protect the interests of India's Muslims, in particular to prevent Muslims from being dominated by the Hindu majority upon independence from Britain, which later proposed that India be divided into separate Muslim and Hindu nations

Partition Day

8/14/1947; creates Pakistan as a Muslim country and brings to a close British colonial rule

Rowlatt Act

law that imposed severe punishments upon those involved in political activity that opposed the government

Salt March

24-day, 240-mile walk from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a coastal city on the Arabian Sea, to protest the British tax on salt

Satyagraha

word meaning truth, love, and firmness; used by Gandhi to describe his nonviolent revolution

Swaraj

self-rule