Indian National Movement — The Long Road to Independence

→ Founded: December 28, 1885; Bombay (Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College)
→ Founder: A.O. Hume (retired British ICS officer) with W.C. Bonnerjee (first President), Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha, Surendranath Banerjee
→ First Session: 72 delegates from all provinces; presided by W.C. Bonnerjee
→ Views on Founding: Some see as 'safety valve' (British wanted controlled forum); others see as genuine nationalist organisation — both partially true; Hume himself was sympathetic to Indian aspirations
→ Dadabhai Naoroji: Three-time Congress President; coined the term 'Drain of Wealth/Theory'; elected to British Parliament (1892) — first Indian MP in Britain; wrote 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'

Methods: Petitions, resolutions, delegations, press campaigns, constitutional means; believed British would respond to reasoned argument; called "political mendicancy" (begging) by Extremists
Demands: Expansion of legislative councils; Indianisation of civil services; reduction of military expenditure; protection of Indian industries; separation of judicial and executive functions
Key Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, M.G. Ranade, Romesh Chandra Dutt

Achievements: Indian Councils Act 1892 — expanded non-official membership; Indian Councils Act 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms) — introduced separate electorate for Muslims (contributed to Hindu-Muslim divide); Press freedom campaigns; Gokhale founded Servants of India Society (1905)

Criticism of Moderates: Limited to educated middle class; didn't connect with masses; methods too slow; "too much faith in British sense of justice" — criticism by Extremists

→ Lord Curzon (Viceroy) partitioned Bengal in 1905 — ostensibly for administrative convenience; many believed it was to divide Hindus and Muslims (Bengali Hindus in West Bengal + Assam; Muslims + Orissa in East Bengal)
→ Reaction: Massive outrage across India; Congress passed Swadeshi movement resolution at Calcutta session (1906) under Dadabhai Naoroji
→ Methods used: Boycott of British goods, Swadeshi (use Indian goods), national education, passive resistance
→ Annulment: Partition annulled in 1911 (Delhi Durbar) due to nationalist pressure; capital also shifted from Calcutta to Delhi

Surat Split (1907): Congress split into Moderates (Gokhale faction) and Extremists (Tilak faction) at Surat session; Extremists expelled; reunited at Lucknow Pact (1916)

Lucknow Pact (1916): Congress (Tilak) + Muslim League (Jinnah) united demands; Tilak-Jinnah alliance; Congress accepted separate Muslim electorates in exchange for joint demand for self-government

Gandhi's Methods: Satyagraha (truth-force/soul-force); Ahimsa (non-violence); civil disobedience; hartals; non-cooperation; constructive programme (khadi, village industries); courting jail; mass mobilization across all sections of society including peasants and workers

Gandhi's Early Campaigns in India (before mass movements):
→ Champaran Satyagraha (1917): Bihar; against indigo planters forcing farmers to grow indigo; first successful satyagraha in India — Gandhi's entry into Indian politics
→ Kheda Satyagraha (1918): Gujarat; farmers demanded revenue suspension in drought year; success
→ Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918): Gandhi's first hunger strike; workers' wages dispute; success

Ran parallel to Gandhian movement — those who believed in armed revolution:
→ Bhagat Singh (1907–1931): Punjab; Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA); assassinated British officer John Saunders (1928) to avenge Lala Lajpat Rai's death; threw bombs in Central Legislative Assembly (1929) 'to make the deaf hear'; refused to apologize despite death sentence; hanged Mar 23, 1931 (Lahore) with Rajguru and Sukhdev; became greatest martyr — inspired millions
→ Chandrashekhar Azad: HSRA commander; 'Azad' (lived free, died free); shot himself dead at Alfred Park (1931) Allahabad rather than surrender
→ Subhas Chandra Bose (Netaji): INC president 1938–39 but resigned due to differences with Gandhi; formed Forward Bloc (1939); escaped India 1941; met Hitler; reached Singapore via Japan-occupied territory; formed Indian National Army (INA/Azad Hind Fauj) from Indian POWs; launched 'Delhi Chalo' campaign (1944); INA campaign failed; Bose died in mysterious air crash (Aug 18, 1945) — circumstances still debated
→ Anushilan Samiti, Jugantar: Bengal; early 20th century; bomb-making; Alipore Bomb Case (Aurobindo Ghosh involved; acquitted)

Peasant and tribal uprisings formed a critical undercurrent of the freedom struggle. These movements were driven by exploitation at the hands of zamindars, planters, moneylenders, and the colonial state — often erupting independently of the mainstream nationalist movement.

The post-World War II period (1945–46) saw a rapid collapse of British authority in India. INA trials, naval mutiny, and political failures made it clear that Britain could no longer hold India by force or by loyalty of Indian armed forces.

→ INC Founded: 1885, A.O. Hume; first President W.C. Bonnerjee
→ Drain Theory: Dadabhai Naoroji — wealth draining from India to Britain
→ Partition of Bengal: 1905 (Lord Curzon); annulled 1911
→ Surat Split: 1907 — Moderate vs Extremist split
→ Jallianwala Bagh: April 13, 1919; General Dyer; 379+ killed (officially); triggered Non-Cooperation
→ Chauri Chaura: Feb 1922 — Gandhi called off Non-Cooperation
→ Dandi March: March 12–April 6, 1930; Gandhi; 240 miles; Civil Disobedience trigger
→ Quit India August 8, 1942: Gandhi's 'Do or Die' speech; all leaders arrested Aug 9
→ INA / Azad Hind Fauj: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose; formed from Indian POWs
→ Bhagat Singh hanged: March 23, 1931 (Lahore);
→ Indian Independence: August 15, 1947; first PM Jawaharlal Nehru; Gandhi was in Calcutta (not Delhi) during independence celebrations — working for communal harmony