Indian Freedom Struggle
Date Event
1526 First Battle of Panipat between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi (Delhi Sultanate)
1556 Second Battle of Panipat (1556), between Hemu & Akbar (Hemchandra Vikramaditya (Sur
Empire) and the Mughals under Akbar)
1761 Third Battle of Panipat (1761), fought between the Maratha Empire and the Durrani Empire
under the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali
1757 Battle of Plassey - British East India Company gains control in Bengal.
1764 Battle of Buxar - East India Company and the Joint forces of Mir Qasim (administrator of Bengal),
Shuja-ud-Daulah (Nawab of Oudh) and Shah Alam II
1857 First War of Indian Independence (Sepoy Mutiny) - widespread uprising against British rule.
•On 29th March 1857, Mangal Pandey (a sepoy in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry Regiment) killed two
British officers, Hugeson and Baughi (at Barrackpore, Bengal).
•On May 10, 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny at Meerut started and spread throughout the country
Impact of Revolt
End of East India Company's rule.
India became a colony of the British Government (Queen Victoria) by the Government of India Act
1858.
Divide & Rule policy was initiated
1885 Formation of the Indian National Congress (INC) in Bombay.
• Formed by A.O. Hume in 1885 (during Lord Dufferin's rule).
• W.C. Banerjee - First President of INC.
• First Session of INC held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College (Bombay, 1885). Attended by
72delegates.
1905 Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon - leads to widespread protests.
1905 Swadeshi Movement: Anti-partition movement in Bengal.
Resolution passed to boycott British goods; bonfires of foreign goods.
1906 Formation of the All-India Muslim League in Dhaka.
Founded by Nawab Salimullah & President: Agha Khan and others who supported the partition of
Bengal ,opposed the Swadeshi Movement & Demanded Separate Electorate.
In December 1906 at Calcutta, INC under Dadabhai Naoroji adopted "Swaraj" (self- government) as its
goal
1907 Surat Split b/w Moderates & Extremist
• Moderate Leaders : Dadabhai Naoroji, Ferozeshah Mehta, G.K. Gokhale, M.M.
Malviya, Badruddin Tyabji, Tej Bahadur Sapru, W.C. Banerjee, Ras Bihari Ghosh, etc.
• Extremist Leaders : Lal, Bal, Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal)
&Aurobindo Ghosh
1909 Morley-Minto Reform
Introduced Separate Electorate for Muslims.
1911 • Delhi Durbar Held for King George V and Queen Mary.
• Capital of India shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
• Partition of Bengal was revoked
• National Anthem - Jana Gana Mana by Rabindranath Tagore
1913 Ghadar Party Founded by Lala Hardaya
1915 Mahatma Gandhi returns to India from South Africa.
• Birth: October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, Gujarat
• Death: January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse.
• Founded: Natal Indian Congress in Africa (1894).
• Pravasi Diwas: Returned to India on January 9, 1915
• Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth.
1916 Home Rule Movement
Two Home Rule Leagues were established:
1. Bal Gangadhar Tilak: All India Home Rule League
2. Annie Besant: Home Rule League Objective:
• Self-government for India within the British Empire.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Slogan: "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it."
Newspapers: Kesari (Written in marathi) & Maratha (Written in English).
• New India(Daily) and Commonweal by Annie Besant.
• In 1921, Indian Home Rule League changed its name to "Swarajya Sabha"
1916 Lucknow Pact - INC and Muslim League come together for joint demands.
1917 Champaran Satyagraha- First Civil Disobedience movement by Gandhiji
European planters force Cultivators to grow indigo on 3/20th of their holdings (Tinkathia
system)
Gandhiji Won
Tagore gave Gandhi Title: MAHATAMA
1918 Ahmedabad Mill Strike - "Plague Bonus"
Gandhiji- first hunger strike
1918 Kheda Satyagraha- First NCM
Vallabhbhai Patel became his followers and “SARDAR” Title by Gandhiji
1919 Rowlatt Act- arrest and imprison suspects without trial
known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act.
ommission, headed by Judge Sidney Rowlatt.
opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, dubbing it the "Black Act".
13 April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Baishakhi General Dyer opened fire on a crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, killing 379
people.
• Hunter Commission was appointed to investigate the massacre.
• Sardar Udham Singh assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in 1940 in retaliation. General
Dyer died in 1927.
• Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knight hood in protest.
1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
1920 Khilafat Movement
• Led by Ali Brothers, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
• Protested British mistreatment of Turkey after World War I, a major cause being the
Treaty of Sèvres.
• Mohammad Ali started the English weekly "The Comrade" and the Urdu daily
"Hamdard"
1920 Non-Cooperation Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi.
1922 Chauri Chaura Incident - clashed with police, resulting in the burning of 29 policemen
This led to the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement – Gandhiji Ethics
1923 Swaraj Party: CR Dass & Motilal Nehru
1924-25 Vaikom Satyagraha Movement in Travancore (Kottayam), Kerala, aimed at securing entry for
all Hindus into public roads around the Vaikom Temple, which were restricted based on
caste
9th August 1925 Kakori Train Robbery
• Carried out by members of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) .
• Main Leaders Involved: Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan , Chandrashekhar Azad,
Rajendra Lahiri, Roshan Singh. Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and
RoshanSingh were sentenced to death.
1927 Simon Commission arrives in India - faces protests due to lack of Indian members.
• Protests included the slogan "Simon Go Back".
• Government responded with brutal repression and police attacks.
• Lala Lajpat Rai ("Punjab Kesari") was severely beaten in a lathi charge in Lahore,
leading to his death in 1928.
1928 Nehru Report proposes a dominion status constitution for India.
• Lord Birkenhead challenged Congress to draft a Constitution for India.
• All Parties Conference convened after this challenge to draft a proposed constitution (Nehru
Committee draft).
• Key Points of Nehru Report: Dominion status for India. Joint electorates with reserved seats
for minorities. Linguistic provinces. Protection of fundamental rights. India to be a federation
with a bicameral legislature
1929 Lahore Session of the INC - Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) declared as the goal.
Event: Unfurling of the newly adopted Tricolour Flag on the banks of the Ravi River
Significance: 26th January 1930 fixed as the first Independence Day.
1930 Dandi March and the Civil Disobedience Movement led by Gandhi.
• Route : From Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad to Dandi on 6th April 1930.
• Action: Mahatma Gandhi picked up a handful of salt, breaking the law, marking the
beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Khudai Khitmatgar : Leader: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
• C. Rajagopalachari: Action: Organized a salt march on the East Coast
• Sarojini Naidu : Achievement: Became the first woman to be arrested during the Salt Marc
12th November First Round Table Conference :
1930 • Purpose: To discuss Simon Commission and Indian constitutional reforms.
• Participants: Attended by the MuslimLeague, Hindu Mahasabha, and Liberal parties;
boycotted by the INC.
1931 Gandhi-Irwin Pact:
• Agreement to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Released political prisoners
• Allowed villages to produce salt for local consumption.
Bhagat Singh was Hanged
1931 Second Round Table Conference held in London.
Gandhi's Role: Represented INC and travelled to London to meet with British Prime Minister Ramsay
MacDonald.
1932 Communal Award: Announcement: Made by Ramsay MacDonald
• Recognition: Declared Depressed Classes as minorities with entitlement to separate
electorates
• Gandhiji's Protest : Action: Started a fast unto death in Yeravda Jail (Poona) against the
Communal Award.
1932 Poona Pact - separate electorates between Gandhi and Ambedkar.
• Outcome: Abandoned separate electorates for Depressed Classes
• All-India Anti-Untouchability League : Establishment by Mahatma Gandhi, Later named:
"Harijan Sevak Sangh", Publication: Started the weekly "Harijan" in 1933
1932 Third Round Table Conference held in London; limited Indian participation.
1942 Cripps Mission
• Purpose: British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to negotiate terms with Indian
leaders
• Proposed Dominion status after WWII
• Gandhi's Description: Described Cripps' proposals as "a post-dated cheque,"
• Nehru added "on a crashing bank"
1942 Quit India Movement launched by Gandhi demanding British withdrawal from India •
Slogan: "Do or Die"
Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj)
• INA Formed by Mohan Singh.
• Subhas Chandra Bose took charge of the INA, gave slogans like "Chalo Dilli" and "Jai Hind."
• Organizations: Bose also formed the All-India Forward Bloc and the Rani of Jhansi
Regiment
1945-46 General Elections in UK
Labour Party won in Britain; Clement Attlee became PM, and Sir Pethick Lawrence was
appointed Secretary of State for India.
1946 Cabinet Mission Plan proposes a united but federated India- P.M. Atlee
Members: Included Lord Pethick Lawrence (Head), Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander
The Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) proposed:
1. Union of India: A federal Union rejecting the demand for Pakistan, with provinces grouped
into three categories (Hindu-majority and mixed regions).
2. Constituent Assembly: A 389-member body to frame the Constitution, with seat allocation
based on population among various communities.
3. Interim Government: A 14-member council formed on September 2, 1946, with Jawaharlal
Nehru as Vice President and the Viceroy as President.
16-Aug-1946 Direct Action Day /Great Calcutta Killing/ Black Day
• Occurrence: Marked by large-scale violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta
(Bengal)
• Outcome: Led to significant casualties and heightened tensions, with the Muslim
League advocating for Pakistan.
1947 (June 3) Mountbatten Plan:
Announced partition of India and Pakistan, effective from August 15, 1947.
1947 (August 15) • Indian Independence Act passed by the British Parliament.
• India gains independence; India and Pakistan partitioned as two separate nations.
• Nehru became PM, Mountbatten served as the first Governor-General.
• First Indian Governor-General: C. Rajagopalachari assumed office, replacing Mountbatten.
Governor Generals and Viceroys of India
Position/Period Name Key Events/Contributions
Governor of Bengal (1767- Robert First Governor of Bengal.
78) Clive
Governor General of Warren First Governor General of Bengal; post created after the
Bengal (1773-1833) Hastings Regulating Act of 1773.
Governor General of India William First Governor General of India; post created after the Charter
(1833-1858) Bentinck Act of 1833. Outlawed Sati and introduced English education
by Macaulay.
Viceroy of India (1858- Lord First Viceroy of India; post created after the Government of
1947) Canning India Act 1858 following the Revolt of 1857.
Warren Hastings (1774- First Governor General of Bengal.
1785)
Lord Cornwallis (1786- Introduced Permanent Settlement of Bengal.
1793) Introduced Civil Services
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805) Introduced Subsidiary Alliance (e.g., Hyderabad)
Est. Fort William Clg at Calcutta
Lord Dalhousie (1848- Introduced Doctrine of Lapse, Railways, and Telegraph in India.
1856) Called "Maker of Modern India."
He made Shimla Summer Capital
Lord Lytton (1876-1880) Organized Delhi Durbar (1877) by Queen Victoria. Passed
Vernacular Press Act (1878).
Lord Ripon (1880-1884) Introduced Local Self-Government (Father of Panchayati Raj),
Ilbert Bill controversy, and First Complete Census (1881).
Lord Dufferin (1884-1888) Formation of the Indian National Congress (1885).
Lord Curzon (1899-1905) Partition of Bengal (1905); triggered Swadeshi Movement.
Lord Irwin (1926-1931) First Round Table Conference, Simon Commission, Gandhi-
Irwin Pact, and Dandi March.
Lord Mountbatten (1947- Last Viceroy of India. Oversaw Indian Independence Act
1948) (1947).
C. Rajagopalachari (1948- First and last Indian Governor-General of free India.
1950)
Social & Cultural Uprisings in India
Organization/Movement Founder/Leader Key Features/Contributions
Brahmo Samaj Raja Ram Mohan Founded in Calcutta (1830). Abolition of Sati,
Roy Widow Remarriage Act, Vedanta College.
Known as "Father of Indian Renaissance."
After Raja Ram Mohan Roy's death,
Debendranath Tagore led the Samaj.
Arya Samaj Swami Dayanand Founded in Bombay (1875).
Saraswati Slogan: "Go back to Vedas" and "India for
Indians." Opposed untouchability, caste
discrimination, child marriage.
Supported widow remarriage.
Ramakrishna Mission Swami Founded in Belur-Calcutta (1897). Promoted
Vivekananda social service, spiritual development.
Published Prabuddha Bharata (English) &
Udbodhan (Bengali).
Attended the "Parliament of Religions" in
Chicago.
Prarthana Samaj Atmaram Founded in Bombay (1867). Aimed at promoting
Pandurang belief in "One God." Supported by M.G. Ranade.
Veda Samaj Sridharalu Naidu Known as the "Brahmo Samaj of South."
Young Bengal Movement Henry Louis Founded in 1820. Encouraged rational thinking
Vivian and reformist ideas among youth.
Indian National Social M.G. Ranade & Founded in Bombay. Focused on social reforms
Conference Raghunath Rao alongside political movements.
Theosophical Society Madam H.P. Founded in New York, later established in India.
Blavatsky & Col. Promoted spiritual knowledge and cultural
H.S. Olcott revival.
Servants of Indian Society Gopal Krishna Founded in Bombay (1905). Focused on social
Gokhale service and upliftment of the underprivileged.
Harijans Movement Mahatma Gandhi Initiated in 1931 to uplift the Dalits and promote
their integration into society.
Satya Shodhak Samaj Jyotirao Phule Advocated for the rights of lower castes and
women. Worked against social discrimination.
