TIMELINE OF INDIAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT
The Early Europeans The East India Company
1498 Vasco-da-gama arrives in India 1799 British defeat Tippu Sultan
1600 East India Company is formed 1805 Anglo-Maratha War
1748 Anglo-French War in India 1846 Anglo-Sikh War- Sikhs Defeated
1757 Battle of Plassey 1857 First Indian War of Independence
1857: First War of Independence: Establishment of the Indian Independence Movement
of 1857 which would last until the eventual Indian independence in 1947. This
conflict would be known as the First War of Indian Independence and lasted from
May 10, 1957, with the Indian Mutiny to the final battle at Gwalior on June 20, 1858.
The Indian Mutiny, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, ignited the first spark of the
revolution. It began in Meerut and later spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
After the outbreak of the mutiny in Meerut, the rebels quickly reached Delhi, where
Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor remained at helm from 1837 to 1857
was declared the Emperor of Hindustan. After the war of independence of 1857, he
was exiled to Rangoon in 1858 where he died in 1862.
Lakshmi Bai, rani of Jhansi and a leader of the Indian Mutiny Shortly after the
beginning of the mutiny in 1857, Lakshmi Bai Joins the uprising against the British;
she rapidly organized her troops and assumed charge of the rebels in
the Bundelkhand region. Under Gen. Hugh Rose, the East India Company’s forces had
begun their counteroffensive in Bundelkhand by January 1858.
1858: Following the end of the Indian rebellion in 1858, the Dutch East Indian Company
was disbanded and Queen Victoria of Britain decided to strengthen British rule over
India by proclaiming that India would be governed under the name of the British
Monarch. India, under the British General Governor, or Viceroy, would have all their
internal affairs, policies, and government under the British with the Viceroy speaking
for Queen Victoria who claimed the new title of Empress of India.
1885: In response to the rise of British power over India, an Indian mass movement,
organized by Indian reformists, was created and was known as the Indian National
Movement. This would lead to the formation of the Indian National Congress under
these reformists. The founders would hold the first session of the Indian National
Congress at Bombay on 28th December attended by 72 delegates. These founders
included Allan Octavian Hume. Badruddin Tyabji, W. C. Bonnerjee, Surendranath
Banerjea, Pherozeshah Mehta, Manomohun and Lalmohan Ghose, all of whom had
been educated in London. They would also work to publish an Indian magazine
called India.
, 1905: Partition of Bengal announced by Lord Curzon which led to a massive upsurge
amongthe people, and a call for swadeshi goods, leading to a boycott of British
manufactured goods
Lord Randolph Churchill becomes Secretary of State for India.
1906: Congress gives a call for swaraj (self-rule).
British India officially adopts Indian Standard Time.
Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha to characterize the Non-Violence
movement in South Africa.
Muslim league founded at Dacca by Agra Khan the Nawab of Dacca and Nawab
Mohsin-ul-Mulk.
1907 Congress split at Surat session into two part -Moderates and Extremists
Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Sigh deported to Mandalay following riots in the canal colony
of Punjab.
1908 Khudiram Bose was executed.
Tilak sentenced to six years imprisonment on charges of sedition.
1909 Morley-Minto Reforms or the Indian Council Act 1909 announced.
1911 Bengal Partition annulled, announcement that the capital of India to shift from
Calcutta to Delhi..
1912 Bomb thrown on Lord Hardinge in Chandini Chowk, Delhi by Rashbehari Bose and
Sachindra Sanyal.
1913 Ghadar party formed at San Francisco to organise a rebellion in India to overthrow the
British rule.
Silk Letter Movement (Reshmi Rumal Thereek) Originally, the Reshmi Rumal
Tehreek refers to a movement organised by the Deobandi leaders between 1913 to 1920,
aimed at freeing India from the British Rule by allying with Ottom Turkey, Imperial
Germany, and Afghanistan. The plot was uncovered by Punjab CID with the capture of
letters from Ubaidullah Sindhi, one of the Deobandi leaders then in Afghanistan,
to Mahmud al Hasan another leaders then in persia. The letters were written in silk
cloth, hence the name.
1914: Britain drags India into World War I. Sixty thousand Indians lose their lives in the First
World War
1915: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa; he sets up ashram
in Ahmedabad the same year,
1916: Home Rule League is founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in April
1916 Home Rule League is founded by Annie Besant in September
The Early Europeans The East India Company
1498 Vasco-da-gama arrives in India 1799 British defeat Tippu Sultan
1600 East India Company is formed 1805 Anglo-Maratha War
1748 Anglo-French War in India 1846 Anglo-Sikh War- Sikhs Defeated
1757 Battle of Plassey 1857 First Indian War of Independence
1857: First War of Independence: Establishment of the Indian Independence Movement
of 1857 which would last until the eventual Indian independence in 1947. This
conflict would be known as the First War of Indian Independence and lasted from
May 10, 1957, with the Indian Mutiny to the final battle at Gwalior on June 20, 1858.
The Indian Mutiny, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, ignited the first spark of the
revolution. It began in Meerut and later spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
After the outbreak of the mutiny in Meerut, the rebels quickly reached Delhi, where
Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor remained at helm from 1837 to 1857
was declared the Emperor of Hindustan. After the war of independence of 1857, he
was exiled to Rangoon in 1858 where he died in 1862.
Lakshmi Bai, rani of Jhansi and a leader of the Indian Mutiny Shortly after the
beginning of the mutiny in 1857, Lakshmi Bai Joins the uprising against the British;
she rapidly organized her troops and assumed charge of the rebels in
the Bundelkhand region. Under Gen. Hugh Rose, the East India Company’s forces had
begun their counteroffensive in Bundelkhand by January 1858.
1858: Following the end of the Indian rebellion in 1858, the Dutch East Indian Company
was disbanded and Queen Victoria of Britain decided to strengthen British rule over
India by proclaiming that India would be governed under the name of the British
Monarch. India, under the British General Governor, or Viceroy, would have all their
internal affairs, policies, and government under the British with the Viceroy speaking
for Queen Victoria who claimed the new title of Empress of India.
1885: In response to the rise of British power over India, an Indian mass movement,
organized by Indian reformists, was created and was known as the Indian National
Movement. This would lead to the formation of the Indian National Congress under
these reformists. The founders would hold the first session of the Indian National
Congress at Bombay on 28th December attended by 72 delegates. These founders
included Allan Octavian Hume. Badruddin Tyabji, W. C. Bonnerjee, Surendranath
Banerjea, Pherozeshah Mehta, Manomohun and Lalmohan Ghose, all of whom had
been educated in London. They would also work to publish an Indian magazine
called India.
, 1905: Partition of Bengal announced by Lord Curzon which led to a massive upsurge
amongthe people, and a call for swadeshi goods, leading to a boycott of British
manufactured goods
Lord Randolph Churchill becomes Secretary of State for India.
1906: Congress gives a call for swaraj (self-rule).
British India officially adopts Indian Standard Time.
Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha to characterize the Non-Violence
movement in South Africa.
Muslim league founded at Dacca by Agra Khan the Nawab of Dacca and Nawab
Mohsin-ul-Mulk.
1907 Congress split at Surat session into two part -Moderates and Extremists
Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Sigh deported to Mandalay following riots in the canal colony
of Punjab.
1908 Khudiram Bose was executed.
Tilak sentenced to six years imprisonment on charges of sedition.
1909 Morley-Minto Reforms or the Indian Council Act 1909 announced.
1911 Bengal Partition annulled, announcement that the capital of India to shift from
Calcutta to Delhi..
1912 Bomb thrown on Lord Hardinge in Chandini Chowk, Delhi by Rashbehari Bose and
Sachindra Sanyal.
1913 Ghadar party formed at San Francisco to organise a rebellion in India to overthrow the
British rule.
Silk Letter Movement (Reshmi Rumal Thereek) Originally, the Reshmi Rumal
Tehreek refers to a movement organised by the Deobandi leaders between 1913 to 1920,
aimed at freeing India from the British Rule by allying with Ottom Turkey, Imperial
Germany, and Afghanistan. The plot was uncovered by Punjab CID with the capture of
letters from Ubaidullah Sindhi, one of the Deobandi leaders then in Afghanistan,
to Mahmud al Hasan another leaders then in persia. The letters were written in silk
cloth, hence the name.
1914: Britain drags India into World War I. Sixty thousand Indians lose their lives in the First
World War
1915: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa; he sets up ashram
in Ahmedabad the same year,
1916: Home Rule League is founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in April
1916 Home Rule League is founded by Annie Besant in September
