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Jan 1, 1497
Vasco de Gama Sails For India
They wanted to open up a trading route with India. He began exploring the east African coast. The Portuguese sailors filled their ships with a lot of spices and was worth 60 times the cost of the voyage. -
Establishment of the British East India Company
East India Company troops were led by Robert Clive and had a victory over Indian forces who were allies with the French. East India Company was the leading power in India until 1858. -
Decline of the Mughal Empire
Aurangzeb had drained the empire of its resources and over 2 million people died because of famine. The power of the local lords grew after the power of the central state weakened. -
Industrial Revolution in Britain
Britainn had an expanding economy to support industrialization. England had a large population and had a widespread amount of natural resources which led to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. -
British Overcome French and Take Control of India
The East India Company, who were led by Robert Clive, won a decisive victory over Indian forces allied with the French at the Battle of Plassey. The East India Company was the leading power from that point until 1858. -
Sepoy Rebellion
The rebellion started with the sepoys gossiping about the new rifles that they were greased with beef fat or pork fat. The British handled this crisis badly so then the sepoys rebelled. Historians have called this the Sepoy Mutiny. -
British Colonized India
As a result of the mutiny, the British government took direct command of India. They promised to respect all treaties the East India Company had made with them. The states that were already free would also remain independant because the British promised them. But, Britain had won more and more control over those states. -
Creation of the Indian National Congress
The INC was created because they were first concentrating on specific concerns for Indians. But, then they started calling for self-government. The nationalists were then inflamed by the partition of Bengal. -
Creation of the Muslim League
The Muslim League was created to protect Muslim interests. They felt that the Hindu Congress Party mainly looked out for Hindu interests. The leader of the league was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He insisted that all Muslims resign from the Congress party. -
Mohandas Gandhi's Leadership of the INC
Gandhi emerged as the leader of the independance movement. Gandhi had a deep religious approach to political activity. He wanted to eliminate discrimination and injustice. -
Rowlatt Acts
The Rowlatt Acts were laws that allowed the government to jail protesters without trial for as long as two years. -
Amritsar Massacre
The Amritsar Massacre started off with the protest of the Rowlatt Act. The Muslims and Hindus went to Amritsar at a festival and then a British Commander believed that that they were defying the banning of public meetings, so he ordered the troops to fire at the crowd without warning. This was called the Amritsar Massacre. -
Gandhi's Travels Stressing Nonviolent Resistance
Gandhi wanted the Indian National Congress to follow a policy of noncooperation with the British government. The Congress Party then made civil disobedience, which was the public refusal to obey an unjust law, and nonviolence to achieve independence. -
The Salt March
According to British laws, Indians could only buy salt from the government and had to pay a sales tax on the salt. Gandhi and his followers walked 240 miles to the seacoast. When they got there, they began to make their own salt by collecting seawater and letting it evaporate. This was known as the Salt March. -
Government of India Act
The Government of India Act provided local self-government and limited democratic elections, but not total independence. It also fueled the tension between the Hindus and the Muslims. Muslims had fears that the Hindus would control India if they had won inddependence. -
WWII- Riots Between Hindus and Muslims
Britain faced enormous war debts and they began thinking about all the expenses of maintaining colonies and they decided it was time to hand over power. This was when the riots between the Muslims and Hindus began. They both wanted power. -
Partition
Partition was the division of India into separate Hindu and Muslim nations. British officials became convinced that this was the only resolution to a safe and secure region. -
Indian/Pakistan Independence
The British House of Commons gave independence to India and Pakistan. -
Gandhi's Death
Before Gandhi's death, he was planning on going to Delhi to plead for fair treatment of Muslim refugees. A Hindu extremist shot Gandhi because he thought he was too protective of Muslims.
