The British Raj: 1858 to 1947

It’s 1857. Until now, the British have been using a private company called the East India Company to manage trade and governance in India. But an uprising of Indian soldiers and civilians suddenly threatens the Company’s power. The British government decides to take control. On August 2, 1858, British Parliament passes the Government of India Act, transferring British power over India from the East India Company to the British Crown.

This new period of direct British control in India will be known as the British Raj, borrowing the Hindi word for “rule.” India is important for the British. It has many valuable goods, like tea, spices, and jewels. India also has a large population that can provide soldiers to fight for the British in wars. By the 1880s, many Indians are frustrated. They clearly see that the British are just using India for its resources.

Even with an English education, Indians aren’t allowed to work for the civil service or the government. The British also restrict Indian industry and levy high taxes. Why can’t Indians have any say in how India is governed? Those who want India to become more independent form the Indian National Congress in 1885. They call for the end of discriminatory laws, but the British government isn’t interested.

The Congress keeps meeting. Many of its members want an independent India, and adopt more nationalist ideas. One of the movement’s leading figures is a lawyer named Mohandas Gandhi - better known as Mahatma Gandhi. He is a civil rights activist who fought against discrimination in South Africa. In 1915, he returns to India hoping to convince the British to leave.

Gandhi begins organising large nonviolent protests across the country. Meanwhile, more than a million Indian soldiers go overseas to serve the British Empire in World War I. Indian nationalists feel that, in exchange for helping the British win the war, Indians should get more say in running their country. Instead, the British pass laws allowing the police to arrest anyone they suspect of having revolutionary ideas. The Indian public is not happy!

In 1919, unarmed civilians gather in the city of Amritsar in protest. British forces fire on the group. Around 400 people are killed and over 1000 are injured. In India and even in Britain, people are horrified. The violence marks a turning point in the Indian independence movement.

During the 1920s and 1930s, British attitudes towards India begin changing. Gandhi's protests and the work of activist Jawaharlal Nehru, who becomes president of the Indian National Congress in 1928, have made people more open to ideas of Indian independence. Slowly, the British relax some rules. They allow more Indians to vote and get jobs in the government. In 1935, the British Parliament passes a new Government of India Act, dividing the country into different self-ruling territories.

But this is still not true independence. Nationalist protests continue through the 1930s and World War II. After the war, the British are in debt, and facing pressure to break up their empire. Britain can no longer prevent the Indian National Congress from taking power. In 1947, the British withdraw from India, but hope that Indians will keep fighting in the British army.

No, that will not happen. British India quickly splits into two independent countries - India and Pakistan - after fighting breaks out between the two largest religious groups. India is mostly Hindu, and Pakistan is mostly Muslim. And neither has any plans to keep fighting for the British! The Raj is over, and India is finally its own independent nation.