Modern India: Colonial Rule and National Movement
Modern India tests the European arrival, British territorial expansion, colonial land revenue, the 1857 revolt, social reform, the national movement and constitutional change up to 1947. Dates and “firsts” matter, but the paper also asks why events happened and how institutions worked.
Expansion and revenue
- Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764) gave the Company political power; Diwani of Bengal came in 1765.
- Permanent Settlement (1793, Cornwallis) fixed revenue with zamindars; Ryotwari (Munro) dealt with cultivators; Mahalwari (Holt Mackenzie) used village/mahal units.
- 1857 began at Meerut in May; Bahadur Shah II was proclaimed leader; the Government of India Act 1858 ended Company rule.
National movement
- INC founded 1885 (Bombay, W.C. Bonnerjee); Bengal partition 1905 triggered Swadeshi.
- Gandhi’s early campaigns: Champaran (1917), Kheda and Ahmedabad (1918); Non-Cooperation (1920–22), Civil Disobedience (1930, Dandi), Quit India (1942).
- Acts: 1909 introduced separate electorates; 1919 introduced dyarchy; 1935 gave provincial autonomy.
Worked example
Question: “Which movement first turned the Congress into a mass non-cooperation campaign?” Reasoning: Swadeshi (1905–08) was widespread but regionally centred; the 1920 Nagpur session approved non-cooperation with schools, courts and councils, combining Khilafat and Punjab grievances. Answer: Non-Cooperation Movement.
Traps
Do not merge the 1857 revolt with the 1858 Act; do not claim the 1919 Act gave full independence; distinguish the 1930 Dandi march from the 1942 Quit India resolution; and check whether a question asks for a cause or an immediate trigger.