The advent of European colonialism

The Portuguese arrived first (Vasco da Gama, 1498), establishing trading posts and a distinctive Cartaz (licensing) system to control Indian Ocean trade. The Dutch, French, and English East India Companies followed in the early 17th century. The English East India Company’s decisive shift from trader to territorial power came with victory at the Battle of Plassey (1757, against Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal) and was consolidated at the Battle of Buxar (1764), after which the Company acquired Diwani rights (revenue collection) over Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha (1765) — the effective starting point of direct colonial economic extraction.

British land revenue systems

Three major revenue systems are core to this unit. The Permanent Settlement (1793, Bengal, under Governor-General Cornwallis) fixed revenue demands permanently and created a zamindar landlord class. The Ryotwari system (introduced in Madras and Bombay presidencies, associated with Thomas Munro and Alexander Read) assessed revenue directly from individual cultivators (ryots) rather than through intermediaries. The Mahalwari system (North-Western Provinces and Punjab) assessed revenue village-by-village (mahal), with joint responsibility among landholders.

Colonial economic policies

Dadabhai Naoroji’s Drain of Wealth theory — the systematic transfer of India’s wealth to Britain through unrequited exports, Home Charges, and salaries paid to British officials — is the single most-tested economic concept in this unit. Related, frequently paired concepts include de-industrialisation (the decline of traditional Indian handicrafts, especially textiles, under colonial free-trade policy and competition from machine-made British goods) and the commercialisation of agriculture (a shift toward cash crops for export, increasing peasant vulnerability to famine and debt).

Constitutional acts, 1773–1919

A sequence of acts progressively reshaped colonial governance: the Regulating Act (1773, first parliamentary attempt to control Company rule); Pitt’s India Act (1784, established the Board of Control, dual government); the Charter Acts of 1813 and 1833 (ending the Company’s trade monopoly, and later its commercial functions entirely); the Government of India Act 1858 (transferred power directly to the British Crown after the 1857 revolt); the Indian Councils Act 1861 and 1909 (the 1909 act, or Morley-Minto Reforms, introduced separate electorates for Muslims); and the Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, introducing dyarchy — a division of provincial subjects into “transferred” and “reserved” categories).

Government of India Act 1935, and the path to independence

The Government of India Act 1935 proposed provincial autonomy and an All-India Federation (the federation itself never actually came into effect). World War II’s outbreak brought the Cripps Mission (1942, offering post-war dominion status, rejected by the Congress) and, later, the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946, proposing a three-tier federal structure, also ultimately not implemented). The Mountbatten Plan (June 1947) set out the actual partition framework, with the Radcliffe Line demarcating the India-Pakistan boundary, leading to the Indian Independence Act 1947.

The Revolt of 1857

Beginning with the sepoy mutiny at Meerut (May 1857, triggered by the cartridge controversy) and spreading rapidly across North India, the revolt drew in figures including Bahadur Shah Zafar (the nominal last Mughal emperor, proclaimed leader), Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Nana Sahib, and Tantia Tope. Its causes are conventionally analysed across political, economic, social/religious, and military dimensions (the immediate spark) — and its suppression directly led to the end of Company rule and the transfer of power to the Crown under the Government of India Act 1858.

Socio-religious reform movements

Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj (1828), campaigning against practices including Sati (formally abolished 1829). The Arya Samaj (Dayananda Saraswati, 1875) called for a return to Vedic principles. The Aligarh Movement (Sir Syed Ahmed Khan) promoted modern education among Muslims. Jyotirao Phule’s Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) worked against caste oppression in Maharashtra. These movements collectively form what historiography often terms the “Indian Renaissance” — though, as covered in this site’s own Historiography guide, that framing itself has been debated by different schools.

Rise of nationalism and the Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 (first session presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee, with A.O. Hume playing a key organising role). Early Congress politics is conventionally divided into the Moderate phase (Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, constitutional methods) and, after the 1907 Surat Split, the Extremist phase (Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai — the “Lal-Bal-Pal” trio, advocating more assertive methods including Swadeshi and boycott, especially following the 1905 Partition of Bengal).

Revolutionary movements, and the Gandhian era

Revolutionary activity (distinct from Congress-led mass politics) included groups associated with figures like Khudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh, and the Ghadar Party (formed among Indian expatriates, largely in North America). Gandhi’s return to India (1915) and his subsequent leadership defined the mass-movement phase: the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22, called off after the Chauri Chaura incident), the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930, launched with the Dandi Salt March), and the Quit India Movement (1942, the “Do or Die” call). Between these, individual episodes like the Champaran Satyagraha (1917, indigo cultivators) and Kheda Satyagraha (1918) were Gandhi’s first campaigns on Indian soil.

Peasant and tribal movements, communalism, and partition

Beyond Congress-led politics, this unit covers peasant movements (e.g. the Indigo Revolt, Bengal, 1859–60) and tribal uprisings (the Santhal Rebellion, 1855–56; the Munda Rebellion led by Birsa Munda, 1899–1900). Communalism’s growth — including the Muslim League’s founding (1906) and separate-electorate provisions — culminated in Partition (1947), following the failure of the Cabinet Mission Plan and the Mountbatten Plan’s timeline.

Quick-reference: act/event vs. significance