🃏 Constitutional history (1773–1950)

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When: Regulating Act? — 1773 — A new Supreme Court was set up at Calcutta, with a court of appeal, the Sadar Nizamat Adalat. Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General, held office from 1773 to 1785.

When: Subsidiary Alliance? — 1798 — A system devised by Lord Wellesley: states that joined accepted British protection on British terms.

When: Policy of paramountcy? — 1813–1823 — Under Lord Hastings (Governor-General 1813–1823) the Company claimed its authority was paramount, or supreme.

When: Doctrine of Lapse? — 1848–1856 — Lord Dalhousie (Governor-General 1848–1856) annexed states whose rulers died without a male heir: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853) and Jhansi (1854). Awadh was taken over in 1856.

When: Wood’s Despatch? — 1854 — An educational despatch sent by the Company’s Court of Directors, issued by Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control.

When: Act of 1858: rule by the Crown? — 1858 — The British Parliament transferred the Company’s powers to the Crown. A Secretary of State for India, advised by the India Council, became responsible for India, and the Governor-General was given the title of Viceroy.

When: Indian Councils Act, 1861? — 1861 — Provincial legislative councils followed: Bengal’s was set up on 18 January 1862, with the Lieutenant-Governor and nominated members — at most 12.

When: Arms Act and Vernacular Press Act? — 1878 — The Arms Act barred Indians from possessing arms; the Vernacular Press Act sought to silence critics of the government.

When: Ilbert Bill controversy? — 1883 — The bill sought to let Indian judges try British or European persons; the furore over it deepened the wish for an all-India organisation.

When: Indian National Congress founded? — December 1885 — 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay.

When: Indian Councils Act, 1892? — 1892 — In Bengal the council grew to at most 20 members, seven of them elected; members could now ask questions and discuss the annual financial statement.

When: Partition of Bengal? — 1905 — Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal, then the biggest province of British India, citing administrative convenience.

When: The Congress splits? — 1907 — Moderates and radicals parted ways over the use of boycott; they reunited in December 1915.

When: Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto)? — 1909 — Separate electorates: some council seats were reserved for Muslims elected by Muslim voters. Bengal’s council grew to 50, with a non-official majority.

When: Lucknow Pact? — 1916 — The Congress and the Muslim League agreed to work together for representative government.

When: Rowlatt Act? — 1919 — Recommended by a committee under Sir Sidney Rowlatt, it continued wartime curbs on the press and detention without trial. Gandhiji’s Rowlatt Satyagraha was the first all-India struggle against British rule.

When: Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford)? — 1919 — The provincial executive became partly responsible to the legislature. The central legislature had two chambers: a Council of State of 60 and a Legislative Assembly of 145.

When: Nagpur session: Non-Cooperation adopted? — December 1920 — After Gandhiji won leaders over at the Calcutta session (September 1920), the Nagpur session adopted the Non-Cooperation programme.

When: Simon Commission? — 1927–1928 — Sent to decide India’s political future without a single Indian member; it was met with ‘Go back Simon’ when it arrived in 1928.

When: Irwin’s offer of dominion status? — October 1929 — Viceroy Irwin announced a vague offer of ‘dominion status’ in an unspecified future and a Round Table Conference.

When: Lahore session: Purna Swaraj? — December 1929 — Under its president Jawaharlal Nehru the Congress adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence); 26 January 1930 was observed as Independence Day.

When: First Round Table Conference? — November 1930 — Held in London without Gandhiji; the Congress boycotted it.

When: Gandhi-Irwin Pact? — 5 March 1931 — Gandhiji agreed to attend a Round Table Conference and the government agreed to release political prisoners.

When: Second Round Table Conference? — December 1931 — Gandhiji represented the Congress in London; the talks were inconclusive.

When: Poona Pact? — September 1932 — After Gandhiji’s fast against separate electorates for dalits, the pact gave the Depressed Classes reserved seats in the legislative councils, voted for by the general electorate.

When: Government of India Act, 1935? — 1935 — It prescribed provincial autonomy: the provincial executive became almost entirely responsible to the legislature. The vote stayed limited to 10–15 per cent of adults, and the planned federation never came into operation.

When: Provincial elections? — 1937 — Held under the 1935 Act; the Congress came to power in eight of the eleven provinces.

When: Congress ministries resign? — 1939 — After talks with Viceroy Linlithgow on India’s part in the Second World War broke down.

When: Cripps Mission? — 1942 — Sir Stafford Cripps came to forge a compromise; talks broke down when the Congress asked for an Indian Defence Member.

When: Quit India? — August 1942 — Gandhiji’s third major movement, launched after the Cripps Mission failed.

When: Cabinet Mission plan? — 16 May 1946 — It failed to get the Congress and the League to agree on a federal system, but the Constituent Assembly was elected roughly along its lines — indirectly, by the provincial assemblies set up under the 1935 Act.

When: Constituent Assembly meets? — 9 December 1946 — The Assembly began its sessions; its drafts were debated clause by clause until November 1949.

When: Objectives Resolution? — 13 December 1946 — Moved by Jawaharlal Nehru, it set out the ideals of the Constitution: India an independent, sovereign republic.

When: Plan of 3 June: freedom with Partition? — 3 June 1947 — Lord Mountbatten, Viceroy from February 1947, announced that British India would be freed but also divided. Members from areas that went to Pakistan left the Constituent Assembly, which shrank to 299.

When: Independence? — 15 August 1947 — India became free — and was divided.

When: Constitution adopted? — 26 November 1949 — The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution; 284 members signed it on 24 January 1950.

When: Constitution comes into force? — 26 January 1950 — India becomes a republic under its own Constitution.

Warren Hastings — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — The first Governor-General; reforms in justice, with two courts in each district. (1773–1785)

Lord Wellesley — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — Devised the Subsidiary Alliance. (1798)

Lord Hastings — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — Began the policy of paramountcy. (1813–1823)

Lord William Bentinck — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — “Reforming” policies: Western education, ideas and institutions. (late 1820s)

Henry Hardinge — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — Tried to modernise the army’s equipment.

Lord Dalhousie — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — The Doctrine of Lapse; Awadh annexed in 1856. (1848–1856)

Lord Canning — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — Urged leniency towards the rebels in 1857 and was mocked for it in the British press. (1857)

Lord Curzon — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — Partitioned Bengal. (1905)

Lord Irwin — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — Offered ‘dominion status’ (1929); signed a pact with Gandhiji (1931). (1929, 1931)

Lord Willingdon — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — The new Viceroy after the Second Round Table Conference; deeply unsympathetic to Gandhiji. (after 1931)

Lord Linlithgow — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — Talks with him on India’s part in the Second World War broke down. (1939)

Lord Wavell — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — Brought the Congress and the League together for talks. (until February 1947)

Lord Mountbatten — what is NCERT’s main point about this viceroy? — Announced that British India would be freed but divided. (from February 1947)

C. Rajagopalachari — what is NCERT’s main point about this governor-general? — Free India’s first Indian Governor-General. (after 1947)