India’s Independence
Did you know that India did not always have its independence? In 1619 the British took control of what we know today as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The British made India use English as their language and took away many Hindu customs. India tried to fight back in 1857, but the East India Company fell apart and the British maintained control.
Even though India was contolled by the British the economy continued to grow and prosper. Railroads were set up and trade increased. But one of the worse things the British did to India’s society was if something went wrong in India they blamed it on the Muslim population. This caused conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus within India.
In 1885 India formed an Indian National Congress which was a group to fight against the British. Even though the British ignored them the group received a lot of support from the Indian people and it reminded them to take pride in their country. In 1909 the Muslims won the right for separate elections. When Europe attacked Islamic countries, Muslims started to talk about breaking away from the British and forming a separate Muslim state.
Mahatma Gandhi, an important leader in India, didn’t like the way the British were treating the Hindus and Muslims of his country. He raised support to fight against the British by burning identity cards, and making salt which was illegal. When the British attacked the Indians who were making salt Ghandi told the people not to fight back. This made the British look bad. Over the years Ghandi continued to fight for India’s independence from the British in non-violent ways.
In 1945, after World War II, over 400 million people lived in India. There were 250 million Hindus, 90 million Muslims, 6 million Sikhs, and millions of Sectarians, Buddhist, and Christians. There were 23 main languages, 200 dialects, and 3000 castes. The British government could not control all the different ethnic groups. On August 14, 1947 the British gave power back to India.
Since the Muslims were in the minority they were afraid there say would not matter. The Muslims and the Hindus started fighting against each other. Ghandi went on a fast and was willing to die if the people would not stop fighting. Eventually they stopped and India became two separate countries, India and Pakistan. Most of the Muslim population moved to Pakistan and the Hindus moved to India. Now you know some amazing facts and incredible dates about India’s non-violent independence into two countries.
I knew that India was once controlled by the British. I did not know many of the important dates and events. I learned a lot of bad and good things that happened to India. My research really helped me find great information and helped me write my paper.
