Modern Indian History: From the Revolt of 1857 to Independence

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key events, movements, and laws in Modern Indian History from the 1857 Revolt to the formal independence of 1947.

Revolt of 1857

A significant rebellion against the British East India Company that began on May 10, 1857, with a mutiny of sepoys at Meerut and expanded into civilian rebellions in central and northern India.

Doctrine of Lapse

An annexation policy implemented by Lord Dalhousie where any princely state under British control was annexed if the ruler died without a natural male heir.

Subsidiary Alliance

A policy by Lord Wellesley where Indian rulers were to be protected by the Company in exchange for paying for subsidiary troops and relinquishing control over foreign affairs.

Religious Disabilities Act of 1856

A law that permitted a son to inherit his father's property despite a change of religion, which was seen as an interference in Hindu customs.

General Service Enlistment Act

A law passed in 1856 by Lord Canning's administration requiring all future recruits to the Bengal Army to serve wherever the government desired, including across the seas.

Mangal Pande

A young sepoy of the 34th Native Infantry who shot at his unit's sergeant major at Barrackpore in March 1857 and was later hanged.

Bahadur Shah Zafar

The last Mughal ruler who was proclaimed the 'Emperor of India' and emblem of political unity by the sepoys during the Revolt of 1857.

Nana Saheb

The adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II who led the 1857 revolt in Kanpur after the British discontinued his annual pension.

Act for the Good Government of India, 1858

Legislation that transferred the political and administrative control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown.

Secretary of State for India

A member of the British cabinet established by the 1858 Act who exercised the Crown's power over India, aided by the Council of India.

Kisan Sabha Movement

A peasant movement in the Awadh region of the United Provinces caused by high rents, summary evictions (bedakhali), and illegal levies.

Namdhari Movement

Also known as the Kuka movement, it was a Sikh socio-religious reform movement founded by Baba Ram Singh in 1857 to restore the purity of Sikhism.

Indian Civil Service Act, 1861

An act that reserved principal administrative positions for covenanted civil servants, with competitive exams initially held only in London.

Drain Theory

A concept proposed by Dadabhai Naoroji in his book 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' to explain the economic exploitation and siphoning of wealth from India to England.

Brahmo Samaj

An intellectual reform movement founded by Raja Rammohan Roy that opposed idolatry and the priesthood while emphasizing the oneness of all religions.

Arya Samaj

A monotheistic Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875 based on the authority of the Vedas.

Ramakrishna Mission

A humanitarian and religious organization established by Swami Vivekananda in 1897, named after his guru, to practice the doctrine of service.

Vernacular Press Act (1878)

Commonly known as the 'Gagging Act,' it was enacted by Lord Lytton to punish seditious writing and control publications in oriental languages.

Indian National Congress (INC)

India's first national political movement, founded in 1885 by A.O. Hume with 72 delegates attending the first session in Bombay.

Moderates

The early phase (1885-1905) leaders of the INC, such as Dadabhai Naoroji and G.K. Gokhale, who used constitutional methods like petitions, prayers, and protest.

Safety Valve Theory

Proposed by Lala Lajpat Rai, it suggested that A.O. Hume founded the Congress to provide a safe outlet for growing popular discontent against the British.

Partition of Bengal (1905)

The territorial reorganization by Lord Curzon that divided Bengal into predominantly Muslim eastern areas and predominantly Hindu western areas.

Swadeshi Movement

A self-sufficiency movement launched in 1905 to boycott British goods and encourage the use of Indian products in response to the partition of Bengal.

Extremists

A radical faction of nationalists (e.g., Lal, Bal, Pal) who advocated for 'Swaraj' through passive resistance, boycotts, and mass struggle.

Surat Split (1907)

The division of the Indian National Congress into two factions—Moderates and Extremists—during the 1907 session presided over by Rash Behari Ghosh.

Morley-Minto Reforms

The Indian Councils Act 1909 which increased the size of legislative councils and introduced separate electorates for Muslims.

Ghadar Party (1913)

A political revolutionary organization founded in the United States by migrated Indians, primarily Sikhs, to spark an armed revolution in India.

Home Rule League Movement

Led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant between 1916 and 1918, it aimed to achieve dominion status for India within the British Empire.

Lucknow Pact (1916)

A historic agreement between the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League to present joint constitutional demands for self-governance.

August Declaration (1917)

A statement by Edwin Montagu promising the gradual development of self-governing institutions and responsible government in India.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

Gandhi's first major civil disobedience movement in India, which challenged the tinkathia system of forced indigo cultivation in Bihar.

Rowlatt Act (1919)

Officially the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, it authorized the government to imprison suspects for up to two years without trial.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

A tragic event on April 13, 1919, in Amritsar, where General Dyer ordered troops to fire on a peaceful crowd, killing hundreds of people.

Khilafat Movement

A campaign led by the Ali brothers to protest against the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the removal of the Khalifa's spiritual authority.

Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922)

A mass political movement led by Gandhi to achieve Swaraj through the peaceful boycott of foreign cloth, law courts, and government schools.

Chauri Chaura Incident

A clash on February 5, 1922, where a mob set fire to a police station, killing 22 officers, leading Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)

A revolutionary organization founded in 1924 to organize an armed struggle against colonial rule, later renamed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

Kakori Robbery (1925)

A train robbery of British railway cash carried out by HRA members to fund their revolutionary activities.

Simon Commission

A group of seven British MPs sent to India in 1927 to study constitutional reforms, which was boycotted by Indians for being an 'all-white' commission.

Dandi March (1930)

A 24-day nonviolent trek led by Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram to the coast to defy the salt law, launching the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)

An agreement that halted the Civil Disobedience Movement and allowed Congress to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.

Government of India Act 1935

The longest act of the British Parliament which introduced provincial autonomy and proposed an All India Federation with discrete lists of powers.

Quit India Movement

A mass civil disobedience campaign launched in August 1942 with the slogan 'Do or Die' to demand an immediate end to British rule.

Azad Hind Fauj

The Indian National Army (INA), an armed force led by Subhash Chandra Bose which fought alongside the Japanese to liberate India during WWII.

Mountbatten Plan

The 'June 3 Plan' of 1947 which outlined the principles of partition and the transfer of power to India and Pakistan as separate dominions.

Independence Act 1947

The final legislation of the British Parliament that divided British India into the sovereign states of India and Pakistan effective from August 15, 1947.