There were a number of medium term causes leading up to the partition and independence of India. The first of these was the Morley Minto reforms of 1909. It was established after the setting up of the Congress Party in 1885 and the Muslim League to defend Hindu interests. It made the government more Liberal in its approach and was named after the Viceroy, Lord Minto. It meant 27 members would be elected by Indians for the Viceroy’s council, giving 60 members in total. Indian people could also be elected for provincial councils, and separate representation was given to Muslims. Although this was considered a step in the right direction, it did not give substantial power to the Indians or any hint of Independence in the near future. In this way, the Indians were slightly angered as they were not being appeased as they had hoped; the British were standing firm. However it also pleased some Indians as they felt that they were being treated more equally, so in effect the Morley Minto reforms were of a neutral nature in regards to being a factor towards Independence. However it did set the trend for representing Muslims separately, which may have been the beginning of a rift between Hindus and Muslims.
World War 1 began shortly after the Morley Minto reforms and the Indians played a large role in British support; £100m was lent to the British in 1914, and 1,200,000 Indian soldiers were recruited into the army, most of which from the area of the Punjab, the last region to fall to British rule. British and Indian troops fighting side by side in a war may have strengthened relations, and even Gandhi believed that India’s contribution to the war would help achieve independence, but sadly little was given in return after the war; there was an impression that the British had merely exploited the Indians for their resources. In 1918 a flu epidemic killed 17m Indians which further burdened the country, and the British did little to intervene. This all pushed Indian for nationalism further and was the first main factor towards nationalism as they realised that the British were exploiting them. On top of this, Indian people started hearing of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points; a close ally of the British who was questioning the empire upon which they were living. This further led them to believe that they were being unfairly treated and independence was the only way out. Due to this reason, World War One was the first catalyst to move the nationalism machine substantially in the direction of independence.
It was during WW1 that the Lucknow pact was called; this had a mixed effect on partition and independence. It was the joining of the Hindu and Muslim forces to protest for dominion status, against the British. Although this was clearly a factor relating to independence, it also showed that under some circumstances Hindus and Muslims, usually hated rivals, and could work together under some circumstances. However, one may argue that this was not the case; by this point independence was so inevitable that two hated countries would even temporarily join together since they both had common interests, and that this was an exception to the general hatred between Muslims and Hindus.
The Khilafat movement of 1919 was the protest of Muslims against the imprisonment of the Sultan of Turkey by the British, deteriorating Muslim British relations. Muslims tried to cooperate with Hindu Congress but this fell apart after Arab Hindu conflicts later. This not only weakened Muslim Hindu relationships as it was the last time they were to work together, but also increased hatred against the British, which meant this small cause was a factor towards both partition and independence.
In 1919 the first Government of India Act was passed. It made a number of changes to the system in India, and although appeared to give the Indians much more power, served only as a cosmetic alteration in practise. A system of ‘dyarchy’ was introduced, whereby not only the British, but also the Indians ruled. While the British retained overall power, Indians were given change of education and local issues. While again considered a step in the right direction, it was almost insulting for the Indians as they expected dominion status after their war contributions, and instead all they were given were a couple of small concessions. It also made the British appear as more stubborn and unwilling to change, making the Indians feel that nationalism and pushing for independence themselves was the best way to gain dominion or independent status. Because of this, the 1919 Montford reforms were actually very important; they were the first major government reforms made that showed the British were not willing to give power of the country over easily.
The Rowlatt Acts were also an important political act; after many riots by angry nationalists, the British introduced the Rowlatt Acts in 1919. What this meant was any Indian could basically imprison people without a fair trial, in an attempt to destroy the nationalism movement. However this was greatly condemned from all sides but was still carried through, which made the Indians feel oppressed and angered. The acts came at the time when dominion status was expected so there was a huge let-down.
Perhaps the most important cause towards independence of all was the Amritsar massacre of April 13th, 1919. Amritsar is the holy Sikh city in the Punjab, one of the more volatile northern regions of India, which was incidentally the last region to fall to British rule after resistance from battle hardened residents. Sir Michael O’ Dwyer was in charge of the Punjab at the time. At this time many riots and protests were going on, and so martial law was imposed in Amritsar after 8pm. Group gatherings were not allowed to try and curb nationalistic uprisings, and any breaches in these rules would result in violence. It was General Dyer who issued these rules in a number of different languages on that day, attempting to bring some order to the “out of hand” Indians. However, many people did not hear these warnings since it coincided with the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi, so most people were in the Sikh temple, Harmadir Sahib or travelling to it. This meant that a huge crowd later gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh for religious speeches. Without warning Dyer took his men into the small, enclosed space and fired over a thousand rounds, killing and wounding over 1,500 people over the course of 10 minutes of firing. After this event Dyer was relieved of his duty, but given a sword in honour naming him “saviour of the Punjab”. Many British people also contributed towards a pension fund for him. For India however, this was the point at which, if it had not been inevitable before, freedom from British rule was wanted unanimously by almost all the country. Nationalism sprung up in all corners and was far stronger than before, as not only had the British shown their oppression, but they had also murdered hundreds of innocents of a religious day. Widespread violence and hatred against the British broke out, and the Michael O’ Dwyer was assassinated by Shaheed Udham Singh who said “he crushed my country so I crushed him” shortly before being hung. At this point there can be no doubt, that if Independence had not been inevitable before this, it was inevitable now.
It was during this time that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi become prominent as a leader of the movement known as Civil Disobedience Campaign for Swaraj (home rule). He was educated in Britain and returned to India by the age of 45. This began around 1919 as Gandhi became more influential in Congress and advocated ahisma, or non violence. Campaigns took place in the form of hartals, where there would be a nationwide strike of fasting, bringing the country to a halt as no communications or services were available. Although effective in theory in practise they would sometimes get out of hand and violent, such as in 1922. However in 1919 hartals were called on 30th March and 6th April to help overturn the Rowlatt acts and push for independence. These theories of Satyagraha not only prevented much bloodshed but also was more effective in gaining Independence. Mahatma Gandhi also encouraged Indians to become more autonomous and united, by spinning their own clothes. Gandhi used to spin many feet of cloth every week, and also campaigned for equal treatment of Harijans, or untouchables. One of Gandhi’s most well known actions was the Salt March to Dandi. Gandhi was angered that Indians had to buy salt off the British so set off over 300km to march to the sea to make his own. Although scoffed at by many, by April 1930 he had thousands joining his march until his numbers increased to around 5 million marching to the sea to make their own salt. This symbolic action was a great victory for Gandhi as Nehru said it “captured the nation’s hearts” and it seemed that after British violence this was the final cog setting the machine for independence moving. There can be no doubt that Gandhi not only brought many more into the nationalism cause, but also unified everyone in one direction, which was greatly beneficial for the movement. Gandhi was then imprisoned which caused further discord until 1931 when he was released after pressure; this shows not only how the British were beginning to give in, but also how important and influential Gandhi was. By this point independence was probably inevitable, and this cause was a further step in its direction.
The Round Table conferences began in November 1930 as it was clear that the Dyarchy system was not working and a new system was needed. However as most the representatives for India were in prison, the first conference fell apart, so a second was made in 1931 as Gandhi was released from prison. Agreements were made on salt laws but eventually the meeting broke down as both sides were stubborn and the British obstinate not to give more power. Finally round three took place in 1932 and this failed as well as the British made no changes but to introduce the Communal Award scheme, representing Harijans separately, which Gandhi believed was wrong as it separated them further. This was an important factor toward Indian independence as it showed that even when the British tried to co-operate no change was made and little progress was achieved. For this reason, the Round Table conferences further reinforces the fact that independence was inevitable.
There were a number of short term causes leading up to independence. While we have already established that independence became inevitable during the medium term causes, perhaps around 1920, nevertheless the short term causes were vital in continuing the drive towards swaraj. The first of these was World War 2 and the Quit India campaign. Although many Indians were enthusiastic fighting in World War 1 as they believed it would bring them independence, by World War 2 they realised that the British were exploiting them, so there were widespread protests against World War 2. The viceroy declared war for India which further showed them that they had little power in practise, and the repeat of a war meant that many felt that nothing had changed since the previous one. Gandhi and Nehru both refused to join in the war, and condemned it strongly. This brought up more conflict between Congress and British interests, but a different situation appeared with the Muslims, as Jinnah claimed in March 1940 that India had never been a united nation and demanded the creation of a separate Muslim state. He encouraged Muslims to fight in the war to gain support from the British so that a home state, so a Muslim state, Pakistan, was more viable. This was the first point at which partition become much more of a viable opportunity for the Muslims as they now had support from the British so could more easily partition the country. Independence become closer and closer, as more and more friction was created between the British and Indians.
In 1940 Congress left their seats in government as protest, and the Muslim League held a Thanksgiving Day, which further caused a rift between Hindus and Muslims. However more importantly were some of the events that happened during World War 2; many groups other than Congress became impatient for independence. Rahbehari Bose fled India after bombing the viceroy in 1915 and collaborated with the Japenese against the British. This could have been a very real threat to the British, apart from the fact that many Indian soldiers did not trust the Japanese and their motives and believed Bose may become a puppet leader for them. They disbanded in December 1942.
After Rahbehari Bose came Subhas Chandra Bose, who escaped being put into prison. He believed that the only way to get the British out of India was to use force, and hence fled to Germany and regrouped Rahbehari Bose’s INA, or Indian National Army. The INA persuaded Indian prisoners of war to join their army, usually by force and even at times by torture. 20,000 out of 60,000 prisoners joined the INA and took part in the Burma campaign with the Japanese, It was extremely worrying for the British who then found that they could not even be sure of where many of their loyalties lay. It was at this point where the British having control of India suddenly became more dangerous, and would have actually been beneficial to them to get rid of it and make it independent. For this reason the above factors are very important causes in gaining India as independence became not only valuable to one side but to the other as well.
The Cripps mission was essentially Churchill sending Sir Stafford Cripps to India in 1942 to gain support of Congress for the war. He intended to grant India dominion status after the war, in hope that Congress may rejoin the viceroy’s council. Gandhi called this a “post dated cheque on a crashing bank” meaning ‘too little, too late’. There was also very little trust instilled in the Indians of the British after previous empty promises. Gandhi was turned down independence so the Cripps mission failed, leading on to Gandhi’s largest civil disobedience campaign, and known as ‘Quit India’. After Indians asserted that Britain was weak after the failure of the Cripps mission and the end of the war, Congress decided on 7th August 1942 that Britain should ‘Quiet India’ as “it is no longer justified in holding the nation back from endeavouring to assert its will against an imperialist and authoritarian government.” A huge non co operation campaign ensued, as there were also fears that siding with Japan may bring the Japanese in control of India. However the movement was put down swiftly by India without the British attempting to co operate, making the movement a failure. Violence broke out in the movement and over 60,000 were arrested after over three thousands injuries and one thousand deaths between August and November 1945. Gandhi lost control and also a lot of support he previously had. However this was still important for the gain of independence as it showed how firm and resilient all Indians were for independence, and the bloodshed and violence further showed the British that keeping hold of India was now becoming impossible. For this reason, I believe that this was the final ‘nail in the coffin’ for independence and after this point it was only a matter of how long the British could hold off the Indians till they were granted independence.
Other than key events and dates an important factor around this time was that it was no longer so beneficial for Britain to run India economically; much more resources and effort was needed to keep the country at bay, and they were less able to exploit India for its resources. Due to this it became more and more appealing for the British to offer independence for their own sake; to save time, resources and manpower. For this reason, after the war the inevitability of independence was further enforced.
On 26th March 1946 the Cabinet Commission came together to discuss the situation; primarily the situation of Pakistan which Jinnah had been pushing for. The two sides, Congress and the Muslim League were opposed as Congress wanted a united India while Jinnah wanted regions such as Punjab, Bengal and Assam for Pakistan. On the 16th May they proposed the Cripps plan, whereby India would stay united but protection would be given to Muslims. This was agreed with to begin with but fell apart later as Muslim Hindu tension spread as each side criticized each other. Jinnah said that the Hindus were so divided they could never unite with the Muslims, and withdrew his support on the 27th July in favour of direct action for Pakistan. He called for peaceful protest, which turned violent in only a few areas, and after this India drifted closer and closer to civil war. It is for this reason that Wavell produced Operation Breakdown in September 1946 and plans for partition began to come into action. The India Independence act was passed by the new viceroy, Mountbatten, and complete partition was also announced. However by March 1947 many Sikhs and Hindus were in Pakistan and many Muslims in the Punjab, and many massacres took place as fights raged between the Hindus and Muslims. Crossings over the border were not peaceful and over 1.5 million people died crossing the border. By 15th August 1947 the British officially ended rule in India and the declaration of Pakistan and India’s independence occurred. The British left by the beginning of June 1948 leaving India to rule itself and Nehru became the ruler of India while Jinnah took control of Pakistan. A Boundary Commission was set up to deal with boundaries, and the British drew boundaries through areas of mixed Hindus and Muslims in Punjab and Bengal. Many violent disputes broke out as the border line was drawn. Sikhs had their homeland split in two and were ignored during the partition. This was the final physical act of partition and independence, both of which had been inevitable for quite some time.
However even after these events there was still not peace in the region. India invaded and annexed Kashmir and hold onto it up till this day, and Pakistan lost the 1971 war as it broke out. Even after this there were strong tensions between Pakistan and India, although those with the British have subsided. However, India is among the top 30 most corrupt countries in the world today, and extremely recently it had been found that money given to those for the Gujarat Earthquake appeal by SEWA International have been funding nationalistic Hindu groups in India who have been attacking Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in India in an attempt to make India a completely Hindu state. Even in India today many human rights abuses go on as the country struggles to come to terms with its land being split in two.
In conclusion, while independence was inevitable over two decade before the actual declaration, perhaps beginning around the time of the 1919 Amritsar massacre, due to the hatred that the Indians then bore for the British, partition only became a possibility when Jinnah announced it 7 years earlier, and in fact partition could have been avoided if both sides, the Hindus and Muslims were less stubborn and hard line. It could be said that some sort of split between Hindus and Muslims was inevitable since the Mughal Empire; there has always been hatred between the two groups, going on for centuries. As mentioned before, neither sides had been accommodating to other ideas and it may have been for this reason the country was brutally split into two. For this reason I believe that although Partition itself was not inevitable up until a few years before, during WW2 when the Muslims gained the favour of the British, the prospect of some sort of split between Hindu and Muslim was inevitable from hundreds of years beforehand. Indian Independence however, was a much more viable prospect much earlier, as the British were not subtle in their exploitation of the Indians, and roles of individuals such as Gandhi brought the country united against the British.