Indian National Movement and Constitutional Development
What the domain covers
This domain covers the Indian national movement and constitutional development. Code 128 tests phases of nationalism, mass movements, colonial constitutional acts and the making of the Constitution.
Core rules and concepts
- Indian National Congress founded in 1885; Moderates sought reform through petitions; Extremists after 1905 demanded swaraj and used boycott.
- Partition of Bengal in 1905 triggered Swadeshi and Boycott; it was annulled in 1911.
- Constitutional acts: Regulating Act 1773; Charter Acts; Indian Councils Acts 1861, 1892 and 1909, or Morley-Minto; Government of India Acts 1919, or Montagu-Chelmsford, and 1935.
- 1919 Act: dyarchy in provinces, bicameral centre, communal electorates extended. 1935 Act: provincial autonomy, federal plan and separate electorates.
- Gandhian mass movements: Non-Cooperation and Khilafat (1920-22), Civil Disobedience and Dandi March (1930), Quit India (1942).
- Political milestones: Lahore Congress and Purna Swaraj (1929); Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931); Cripps Mission (1942); Cabinet Mission (1946); Constituent Assembly.
Worked example
A question asks where dyarchy operated under the 1919 Act. Reasoning: dyarchy divided provincial subjects into transferred and reserved; elected ministers handled transferred subjects, the governor kept reserved ones. The centre had a bicameral legislature but not dyarchy. Conclusion: dyarchy was a provincial experiment, and the 1935 Act replaced it with provincial autonomy.
Traps
Do not place dyarchy at the centre in 1919. Do not treat the 1935 Act as independence; it created provincial autonomy and a federal framework that was never fully implemented. Do not say the Congress alone drove the movement; workers, peasants, women and regional parties mattered.