Modern India ( Indian History )

Coming of the Europeans

•	Vasco-da-Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498 and he belonged to Portugal. So Portugal was the first European country to start trade with India.
•	The East India Company (EIC) of England came to India in 1602.
•	The first officer of the EIC, Captain Hawkins came to India in 1608 in the court of Jahangir, the then ruler of India.
•	The EIC established its first factory at Surat in 1613.
•	The first English Ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, came to India in 1615 in the court of Jahangir.

Important Battles of Modern India

i) Battle of Plassey (1757)
Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal was defeated by the East India Co., under the leadership of Lord Clive, the first governor of Bengal. It is also known as the Black Hole Episode of the Indian history.

ii) Battle of Wandiwash (1760)
It was the decisive battle fought between the English and the French. The French rule in India came to an end.

iii) Battle of Buxar (1764)
The joint army of Mir Quasim, former Nawab of Bengal Suja-ud-Daulah, Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam II was defeated by the English army under the leadership of Captain Hector Munro.

The Regulating Act (1773)
In1773, the British Parliament initiated a series of administrative and economic reforms in India. The post of Governor General for Bengal was created. Warren Hastings became the first Governor General of Bengal. The Governor General and his council had all the legislative powers. Supreme Court was established at Calcutta and Sir Elijah Impey became the First Chief Justice of India.

Governor Generals (1774 - 1858)

1. Warren Hastings (1774 - 1785)
Warren Hastings was the first Governor General of Bengal. The foundation of the British Empire was laid down by Lord Clive (first Governor of Bengal) and Warren Hastings consolidated it.

2. Lord Cornwallis (1786 - 1793)
Lord Cornwallis is known as the father of Indian Civil Services. He introduced the system of the Permanent Settlement, also called the Zamindari System, in 1793 in Bengal. It was an agreement between East India Company and the Bengali landlords (zamindars) for effective agricultural methods and productivity in the empire.

3. Lord Wellesley (1797 - 1805)
Lord Wellesely adopted the policy of Subsidiary Alliance. He established the Fort William College at Calcutta.

4. Lord William Bentinck (1828 - 1835)
He was the first Governer General of India. He was a famous social reformer. He abolished the Sati system in 1829. He introduced engineering education in India.

5. Lord Dalhousie (1845 - 1856)
Lord Dalhousie laid the foundation of railways in India. The first railway line was laid between Bombay and Thane and began operating in 1853. He also started the first telegram line in India between Agra and Calcutta. He introduced the Widow Remarriage Act, opened post offices throughout India, established the Public Works Department, and introduced The Doctrine of Lapse.

Viceroys of India

1. Lord Canning (1858 - 1862)
Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India. He abolished The Doctrine of Lapse and also established three major Indian universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.

2. Lord Litton (1876 - 1880)
Lord Litton introduced The Vernacular Press Act, to curb the freedom of Indian Press.

3. Lord Rippon (1880 - 1884)
Lord Rippon was known as the father of Local Self Government. He started census for the first time in India in 1881.He abolished The Vernacular Press Act and introduced Illbert Bill.

4. Lord Curzon (1899 - 1904)
Lord Curzon was responsible for the partition of Bengal into East and West Bengal in 1905. He passed Indian University Act in 1904 and also passed The Indian Monuments Act.

5. Lord Minto (1905 -1910)
During his tenure there was great unrest in India because of the the Indian Council Act or the Minto Morley reforms passed in 1909.

6. Lord Hardinge (1910 - 1916)
During his tenure a Durbar was held at Delhi in 1911 to greet the King of England, George V. Bengal was unified and Delhi was made the capital in place of Calcutta in 1911. Gate-way of India was constructed to greet him.

7. Lord Chelmsford (1916 - 1921)
Under Lord Chelmsford, The Government of India Act of 1919, popularly know as Montague-Chelmsford reform was passed. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13th April 1919. Rowlatt Act, also called the Black Bill, was passed in 1919. The Non - Cooperation movement started in the year 1920.

8. Lord Reading (1921 - 1925)
The visit of the Duke of Connaught and the Prince of Wales to India was boycotted under Lord Reading. Mahatma Gandhi called off Non-cooperation Movement in 1922 due to Chauri-Chaura event.

9. Lord Irwin (1926 - 1931)
During Lord Irwin’s reign, the Simon commission visited India in 1928. Civil Disobedience movement was started in India by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi - Irwin pact was signed in 1931. The First Round Table Conference was held in London. Indian National Congress boycotted it.

10. Lord Willingdon (1931 - 1936)
Under Lord Willingdon, the second and third round table conferences were held at London. The Poona pact was signed between Dr. B R Ambedker and Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar participated in all thre round conference.

11. Lord Linlithgow (1936 - 1943)
Under him elections were held for the first time in 11 Indian states in 1939. Congress ministries were formed in eight out of 11 provisions but subsequently resigned because India was being dragged into the Second World War.

12. Lord Wavell (1943 - 1947)
Under him the Cabinet Mission came to India from London. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9th December, 1946.

13. Lord Mountbatten (March 13, 1947 to 14 August 1947)
Under him an act for Indian independence was passed by British Parliament. He was the last British Governor General of independent India.

Presidents of Indian National Congress (Important Sessions)

Session No.	Year	Place	President
1	1885	Bombay	W. C. Bannerjee
3	1887	Madras	BadurddinTyabji
4	1888	Allahabad	George Yule
9	1893	Lahore	Dadabhai Naoroji
21	1905	Banaras	G. K. Gokhale
22	1906	Kolkata	Dadabhai Naoroji
23	1907	Surat	Dr. Rash Bihari Ghosh
33	1917	Kolkata	Mrs.Annie Besant
35	1918	Delhi (Annual Session)	M. M. Malyviya
36	1919	Amritsar	Lala Lajpat Rai
57	1939	Tripura	Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Important Socio-Religious Organisations

Year	Place	Name of the Organisation	Founder
1815	Calcutta	Atmiya Sabha	Ram Mohan Roy
1828	Calcutta	Brahmo Samaj	Ram Mohan Roy
1829	Calcutta	Dharma Sabha	Radhakanta Dev
1867	Bombay	Prarthna Samaj	Atmaram Pandurang
1875	Bombay	Arya Samaj	Swami Dayanand Saraswati
1875	New York (USA)	Theosophical Society	Madam H.P. Blavatsky and Col. H.S. Olcott
1878	Calcutta	Sadharan Brahmo Samaj	Anand Mohan Bose
1886	Pune (Poona)	Deccan Education Society	G.G. Agarkar
1887	Aligarh	Muhammadan Educational Conference	Syed Ahmad Khan
1887	Bombay	Indian National Conference	M.G. Ranade
1887	Lahore	Deva Samaj	Shivnarayan Agnihotri
1897	Belur	Ramakrishna Mission	Swami Vivekanand
1905	Bombay	Servents of Indian Society	Gopalakrishna Gokhale
1911	Bombay	Social Service League	N.M. Joshi
1914	Allahabad	Seva Samiti	H.N. Kunzru

Important Milestones of Modern India

Event	Year	Related Facts
First War of Independence	1857	Mangal Pandey was a prominent figure. He killed two British sepoys at Barrackpore.
Government of India Act	1858	Direct governance of British Crown over India.
Formation of Indian National Congress	1885	A. O. Hume was the founder. W.C. Banerjee was the first president of Indian National Congress.
Partition of Bengal	1905	Bengal was divided on the basis of religion.
Swadeshi Movement	1905	Indian National Congress adopted a resolution on 7th August 1905 to boycott all foreign goods.
Formation of Muslim League	1906	Founded by Aga Khan and Salimuddin at Dhaka.
Morley–Minto Reforms	1909	Under these reforms, a separate electorate was made for Muslims during the leadership of Lord Minto.
Home Rule Movement	1915-16	Annie Besant started the movement in September 1916.
Lucknow Pact	1916	Congress and Muslim League held their sessions at Lucknow, which strengthened the Hindu–Muslim unity.
Rowlatt Act	1919	It gave unstoppable powers to the government to arrest and imprison suspects, without even having a trial.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre	1919	Because of firing, under the orders of General O’ Dyer, many people were killed, while attending a public meeting at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.
Khilafat Movement	1920	This was an anti–British movement started by two brothers Shaukat and Muhammad Ali.
Non-Cooperation Movement	1920	Gandhiji pioneered the movement which included the boycott of foreign goods and refusing government work.
Simon Commission	1927	Simon Commission was dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reforms. Simon Commission was confronted by throngs of protesters in India. Lala Lajpat Rai died of his injuries due to Lathi charge in a procession against the Commission.
Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha)	1930	Gandhiji marched from his Sabarmati Ashram, which was basically a form of protest against the tax on salt imposed by the British Government.
Government of India Act	1935	Passed on the basis of the Simon Commission report, it envisaged the structure of the government under the direct governance of the ‘British Crown’.
Quit India Movement	1942	Mahatma Gandhi led this movement and asked the Britishers to leave India.
Cabinet Mission Plan	1946	This envisaged forming an interim government in India
Formation of the Constituent Assembly	1946	Without the Muslim league’s participation under the Assembly predisency of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the Constituent Assembly was formed.
Partition of India	1947	Indian Independence Act of 1947 was responsible for the partition of India.
Constitution Enforcement	1950	The Constitution came into force on 26th Jan, 1950.