members. At the same time the Governor- Bengal. The other was the consequence of General received the title of Viceroy. The the wild gambling in shares of every descripEuropean troops of the Company, numbering tion that took place in Bombay during the about 24,000 officers and men were greatly years of prosperity for the Indian cotton inresenting the transfer-amalgamated with the

Royal service, and the Indian Navy was abo- The dustry caused by the American Civil War. "Share Mania," however, did no permalished. On November 1, 1858, the Viceroy nent harm to the trade of Bombay, but was, announced in Durbar at Allahabad that Queen on the other hand, largely responsible for the Victoria had assumed the Government of India, series of splendid buildings begun in that city and proclaimed a policy of justice and religious during the Governorship of Sir Bartle Frere. toleration. A principle already enunciated Sir John Lawrence retired in 1869, having in the Charter Act of 1833 was reinforced, and passed through every grade of the service, from all of every race or creed, were to be admitted an Assistant Magistracy to the Viceroyalty.

Second Afghan War.

The Amir, Sher All, was found to be intriguing with Russia and that fact, coupled with his repulse of a British mission led to the second Afghan War. The British forces advanced by three routes the Khyber, the Kurram, and the Bolan-and gained all the important vantage points of Eastern Afghanistan. Sher Ali fled and a treaty was made with his son Yakub Khan, which was promptly broken by the murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari, who had teen sent as English envoy to Kabul. Further operations were thus necessary, and Sir F. (now Lord) Roberts advanced on the capital and defeated the Afghans at Charasia. A rising of the tribes followed, in spite of Sir D. Stewart's victory at Ahmed Kheyl and his advance from Kabul to Kandahar. A pretender, Sirdar Ayub Khan, from Herat prevented the establishment of peace, defeated Gen. Burrows' brigade at Maiwand, and invested Kandahar.

War was averted, but the Penjdeh incident had called attention to a menace that was te be felt for nearly a generation more; it had also served to elicit from the Princes of Indis an unanimous offer of troops and money in case of need. That offer bore fruit under the next Viceroy, Lord Lansdowne, when the present system of Imperial Service Troops was orga nised. Under Lord Lansdowne's rule also the defences of the North-Western Frontier strengthened, on the advice of Sir Frederick (now Earl) Roberts, who was then Comman der-in-Chief in India. Another form of precautionary measure against the continued aggression of Russia was taken by raising the annual subsidy paid by the Indian Government to the Amir from eight to twelve lakhs.

were

On the North-Eastern Frontier there occurred (1891) in the small State of Manipur a revolution against the Raja that necessitated inquiry on the spot by Mr. Quinton the Chief

were

He was routed in turn by Sir F. Roberts who Commissioner of Assam. Mr. Quinton, the made a brilliant march from Kabul to Kanda- commander of his escort, and others, har After the British withdrawal fighting treacherously murdered in a conference and continued between Ayub Khan and Abdur the escort ignominiously retreated. This disRahman, but the latter was left undisputed grace to British arms led to several attacks on Amir of Afghanistan until his death in 1901. frontier outposts which were brilliantly de

In the meantime Lord Lytton had resigned feated. Manipur was occupied by British (1880) and Lord Ripon was appointed Viceroy troops and the government of the State was

by the new Liberal Government. Lord Ripon's administration is memorable for the freedom given to the Press by the repeal of the Vernacular Press Act, for his scheme of local selfgovernment which developed municipal institutions, and for the attempt to extend the jurisdiction of the criminal courts in the Districts over European British subjects, independently of the race or nationality of the presiding judge. This attempt, which created a feeling among Europeans in India of great hostility to the Viceroy, ended in a compromise in 1884. Other reforms were the re-establishment of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture, the appointment of an Education Commission with a view to the spread of popular Instruction on a broader basis, and the abolition by the Finance Minister (Sir Evelyn Baring, now Lord Cromer) of a number of cus- in 1894, was confronted at the outset with a toms duties. Lord Dufferin, who succeeded deficit of Rs. 21 crores, due to the fall in exLord Ripon in 1884, had to give his attention change. (In 1895 the rupee fell as low as

reorganised under a Political Agent. Lord Lansdowne's term of office was distinguished by several other events, such as the passing of the Parliamentary Act (Lord Cross's Act, 1892), which increased the size of the Legisla tive Councils as well as the number of nonofficials in them: legislation aimed at social and domestic reform among the Hindus: and the closing of the Indian Mints to the free coinage of silver (1893). In Burma great progress was made, under Sir Alexander Mackenzie, as Chief Commissioner: comparative order was established, and large schemes for the construction of railways, roads, and irrigation works were put in hand. (The Province was made a Lieutenant-Governorship in 1897).

more to external than internal affairs: one of his first acts was to hold a durbar at Rawalpindi for the reception of the Amir of Afghanistan which resulted in the strengthening of British relations with that ruler. In 1885 a third Burmese war became necessary owing to the truculent attitude of King Thibaw and his intrigues with foreign Powers. The expedition, under General Prendergast, occupied Mandalay without difficulty and King Thibaw was exiled to Ratnagiri, where he died on 16th December 1916. His dominions of Upper Burma were annexed to British India on the 1st of January, 1886.

Frontier Campaigns.

Lord Elgin, who succeeded Lord Lansdowne

18. 1d.) To meet this the old five per cent. import duties were reimposed on a number of commodities, but not on cotton goods: and within the year the duty was extended to piece-goods, but not to yarn. The reorganisation of the Army, which involved the abolition of the old system of Presidency Armies, had hardly been carried out when a number of risings occurred along the North-West Frontier. In 1895 the British Agent in Chitral-which had come under British influence two years previously when Sir H. M. Durand had demarcated the southern and eastern boundaries of Afghanistan-was besieged and had to be rescued by an expeditionary force. Two years later the Wazirs, Swatis, and Mohmands attacked the British positions in Malakand, and the Afridis closed the Khyber Pass. Peace over two million sterling, were hurried on was only established after a prolonged cam. because of a colision which occurred be-paign (the Tirah campaign) in which 40,000 tween Russian and Afghan troops at Penjdeh, troops were employed, and over 1,000 officers during the delimitation of the Afghan frontier and men had been lost. This was in itself a towards Central Asia, and which seemed likely heavy burden on the finances of India, which to lead to a declaration of war by Great Britain, was increased by the serious and widespread

The Russian Menace.

Of greater importance at the time were the measures taken to meet a possible, and as it then appeared a probable, attack on India by Russia. These preparations, which cost

amine of 1896-97 and by the appearance in India of bubonic plague. The methods taken to prevent the spread of that disease led, in Bombay, to rioting, and elsewhere to the appearance in the vernacular press of seditious articles which made it necessary to make more stringent the law dealing with such writings.

Lord Curzon's Viceroyalty..

With famine and plague Lord Curzon also, who succeeded Lord Elgin in 1899, had to deal. In 1901 the cycle of bad harvests came to an end; but plague increased, and in 1904 deaths from it were returned at over one million. Of the many problems to which Lord Curzon directed his attention, only a few can be mentioned here: some indeed claim that his greatest work in India was not to be found in any one department but was in fact the general gearing up of the administration which he achieved by his unceasing energy and personal

aristocratic families. In 1902 the British Government obtained from the Nizam a perpetual lease of the Assigned Districts of Berar in return for an annual payment of 25 lakhs. The accession of King Edward VII was proclaimed in a splendid Durbar on January 1, 1903. In 1904 Lord Curzon returned to England for a few months but was re-appoint. ed to a second term of office, Lord Ampthill, Governor of Madras, having acted as Viceroy during his absence. The chief act of this second term was the partition of Bengal and the creation of a new Province of Eastern Bengal and Assam-a reform, designed to remove the systematic neglect of the trans-Gangetic areas of Bengal, which evoked bitter and prolonged criticism. In 1905 Lord Curzon resigned, being unable to accept the proposals of Lord Kitchener for the re-adjustment of relations between the Army headquarters and the Mili

example of strenuous work. He had at once tary Department of the Government, and

being unable to obtain the support of the Home Government. Lord Curzon was succeeded by Lord Minto, the grandson of a former Governor-General. It was a stormy heritage to which Lord Minto succeeded, for the unrest which

to turn his attention to the North-West Frontier. The British garrisons beyond our boundary were gradually withdrawn and replaced by tribal levies, and British forces were concentrated in British territory behind them as a support. An attempt was made to check had long been noticed developed in one

direction into open sedition. The occasion of

the arms traffic and work on strategic railways was pushed forward. The fact that in seven the outburst in Bengal was the partition of

years he only spent a quarter of a million upon repressive measures and only found it necessary to institute ore blockade (against the Mabsud Waziris) is the justification of this policy of compromise between the Lawrence and Forward schools of thought. In 1901 the transIndus districts of the Punjab were separated from that Province, and together with the political charges of the Malakand, the Khyber, Kurram, Tochi, and Wana were formed into the new North-West Frontier Province, under a Chief Commissioner directly responsible to the Government of India. That year also witnessed the death of Abdur Rahman, the Amir of Afghanistan, and the establishment of an understanding with his successor Habiballah. In 1904 the attitude of the Dalai Lama of Tibet being pro-Russian and anti-British, it became necessary to send an expedition to Lhasa under Colonel (Sir Francis) Younghusband. The Dalai Lama abdicated and a treaty was concluded with his successor.

that province. The causes of the flood of seditious writings and speeches, of the many attempts at assassination, and of the boycott of British goods are less easily definable. The mainspring of the unrest was "a deep-rooted antagonism to all the principles upon which Western society, especially in a democratic country like England, has been built up."

Outside Bengal attempts to quell the disaffection by the ordinary law were fairly successful. But scarcely any province was free from disorder of some kind and, though recourse was had to the deportation of persons without reason assigned under an Act of 1818, special Acts had to be passed to meet the situation, viz:an Explosives Act, a Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, and a Criminal Law Amendment Act which provides for a magisterial inquiry in private and a trial before three judges of the High Court without a jury. Concurrently with these legislative measures steps were taken to extend representative institutions. In 1907 a Hindu and a Mahomedan were appointed to the Secretary of State's Council, and in 1909 a Hindu was appointed for the first time to the Viceroy's Council. The Indian Councils Act of 1909 carried this policy farther by reconstituting the legislative councils and conferring upon them wider powers of discussion. The executive councils of Madras and Bombay were enlarged by the addition of an Indian member. As regards foreign policy, Lord Minto's Viceroyalty was distinguished by the conclusion (1907) between Great Britain and Russia of an agreement on questions likely to disturb the friendly relations of the two countries in

In his first year of office Lord Curzon passed the Act which, in accordance with the recommendations of the Fowler Commission, practically fixed the value of the rupee at 18. 4d., and in 1900 a Gold Reserve fund was created. The educational reforms that marked this Viceroyalty are dealt with elsewhere: chief among them was the Act of 1904 reorganising the governing bodies of Indian Universities. Under the head of agrarian reform must be mentioned the Punjab Land Alienation Act, designed to free the cultivators of the soil from the clutches of money-lenders, and the institution of Agricultural banks. The efficiency of the Army was increased (Lord Kitchener Asia generally, and in Persia, Afghanistan and was Commander-in-Chief) by the re-armament Tibet in particular. Two expeditions had to of the Indian Army, the strengthening of the be undertaken on the North-West frontier, artillery, and the reorganisation of the trans- against the Zakka Khels and the Mohmands;

port service. In his relations with the Feudatory Chiefs, Lord Curzon emphasized their position as partners in administration, and he founded the Imperial Cadet Corps to give a military education to the sons of ruling and

and ships of the East Indies Squadron were frequently engaged off Maskat and in the Persian Gulf in operations designed to check the traffic in arms through Persia and Mekran te the frontier of India.

Visit of the King and Queen.
Sir Charles (Lord) Hardinge was appointed to
succeed Lord Minto in 1910. His first year in
India was marked by the visit to India of the

King Emperor and the Queen, who arrived at
Bombay on December 2, 1911. From there
they proceeded to Delhi where, in the most
magnificent durbar ever held in India, the coro-
nation was proclaimed and various boons, in-
cluding an annual grant of 50 lakhs for popular
education, were announced. At the same cere-
mony His Majesty announced the transfer of the
capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi: the
reunion of the two Bengals under a Governor-
in-Council: the formation of a new Lieutenant-
Governorship for Behar, Chota Nagpur and
Orissa and the restoration of Assam to the
charge of a Chief Commissioner.

renewal of political discussion and agitation which had to a great extent been in abeyana during the early years of the war.

deaths

to the

In August, 1913, the demolition of a lavatory attached to a mosque in Cawnpore was made the occasion of an agitation among Indian Mahome-perty and by train wrecking and tearing u

dans and a riot in Cawnpore led to heavy loss of life. Of those present at the rict, 106 were put on trial but subsequently released by the Viceroy before the case reached the Sessions, and His Excellency was able to settle the mosque difficulty by a compromise that was acceptable to the local and other Mahomedans.

Still more serious trouble occurred in September, 1914, when a riot at Budge-Budge among a number of Sikh emigrants returned from Canada gave a foretaste of the revolutionary plans entertained by those men. The sequel, revealed in two conspiracy trials at Lahore, showed that the "Ghadr" conspiracy was widespread and had been consistently encouraged by Germany.

Lord Chelmsford as Viceroy. Lord Hardinge, whose great services had been rewarded with the Knighthood of the Garter, left India in 1916 and was succeeded by Lord Chelmsford, whose tenure of office was destined to be one of the most eventful in the modern history of India. The part played by India in the war was developed in every possible way. Not only was the Indian Army increased but the resources of the country were developed with the help of the Munitions Board and India assumed responsibility for 100 millions of the war debt. The share of India in the Imperial burden of the war was emphasised in another and very significant way by her representation in the Imperial War Cabinet in London by His Highness the Maharaja of Bikaner and Sir S. P. (Lord) Sinha. On the Frontier, where there had been numerous though comparatively slight disturbances in 1914-15, a punitive expe dition had to be undertaken against the Mahsuds

Early in 1919 prolonged strikes in Bombar and elsewhere showed that India, though com paratively little affected by the economic r sults of the war, was confronted by industris and economic problems which were none the less grave. The gravity of those problems was creased by the ravages of influenza which supposed to have caused 6,000,000 during the winter months of 1917-18. Distarbances broke out in April as a sequel passive resistance movement against the Rowla Act (the Satyagraha Movement) which pro duced a situation to which there has been ne parallel since the Mutiny. It is sufficient here to state that in Ahmedabad. Viramgar Delhi, Lat ore, Amritsar, Gujranwalla and other. places the crowd, by attacking life and pro railway lines and telegraph wires, provoked a situation which could only be met by the pro clamation of martial law and the enforcemer: of military measures for the protection of law abiding subjects and for the suppression of Exaggerated reports of those riots and of the effect of the Rowlatt Act may be presumed to have had some influence on the Amir of Afgha nistan when he declared war and invaded British territory. Amir Habibullah Khan, whe had been loyal to his treaty obligations through out the war, was murdered in February and. after a brief occupation of the throne by bis brother Nasrulla Khan, his son Amanulla bad been declared Amir. A sequel to this war was the renewal of trouble along a great part of the North Western frontier where the tribesmen. who had at first appeared to be impressed b the British successes, took the offensive against our advance posts especially in southern Wazi ristan. The operations which necessarily followed and the severity of the fighting were or i a scale never previously reached in frontier war. and made the campaign of unusual length

disorder.

The Government of India Bill, embodying Mr. Montagu's proposals for the popularisation of the. system of Government, was passed in December

The next year, 1920, more than any which preceded it, was distinguished by political agita tion. The cause of this was in part the indigna tion created by the facts disclosed in the report of the Hunter Commission on the outbreaks of 1919 in the Punjab and elsewhere, and the stimulus given to the Khilafat agitation by the terms of the Peace treaty with Turkey.

Lord Reading's Viceroyalty.

The fruits of agitation were reaped in plenty in 1921, the first year of Lord Reading's term of off.ce. Murderous outbreaks at Malegaon. Dharwar and elsewhere were followed by a rebellion of the Moplahs in Malabar which as sumed the most serious proportions and necessitated prolonged military operations.

In 1917 Mr. Montagu, who had succeeded Mr. Chamberlain as Secretary of State, carried out the latter's intention of visiting India. The result of the visit was shown in the following year when a report was issued containing what is known as the joint scheme of reform evolved by the Secretary of State and the Viceroy. Shortly after this report there was issued a report by the Special Committee of Inquiry, over which Mr. Justice Rowlatt presided, into seditious crime in India. That poned and H. R. H. the Duke of Connaught

It had been arranged that H. R. H. the Prince of Wales should visit India at the end of 1920 and should open the new Councils in 1921, but, for reasons of health, that visit had to be post

report and the legislation which followed in consequence of it, together with the announce ment of the proposed reform scheme, led to a

came to India early in 1921 in order to open the new Councils. The Prince's visit took place in 1921-22 and was essentially non-political,

1

The enthusiasm with which the Prince was reeted during his tour was very marked. Sut simultaneously with the loyal display riots roke out in more than one of the cities which e visited. But after the imprisonment of some of the leading agitators in the early part of 1922 he country enjoyed comparative quiet, except n the Punjab where the Akali movement mong he Sikhs, which bad started as a puritan religious movement, developed into a political movement attended by constant and widespread disorder. The enhanced position of India in the Empire and the position of India as a nation entering actively into the work of the League of Nations, were emphasised during the vear by the tour of the Dominions undertaken by the Hon. S. Sastri.

The Salt Tax.

Early in 1923 a great deal of criticism was excited by Lord Reading's certification of the doubling of the salt tax, under the powers conferred by the Reformed constitution, in opposition to the clearly expressed will of the Legislative Assembly. Objection was taken to this step, not so much because an increase in the Salt Tax had always been looked upon as a measure to which resort should be made only in grave emergencies, as because the finan cial powers of the elected chambers, much em phasised in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. were thus shown to be capable of restriction.

Break up of non-co-operation. Two cause combined during the year to weaken the position of the extremists. The first was the split in the Congress, the second the rise of communal feeling between Hindus and Mahomedans, The Congress split was brought about by Mr. C. R. Das, who, realising no doub: that Mr. Gandhi had failed and it was unlikely that any other man would have zreater success by a rigid adherence to his me thods, declared in favour of standing for the Councils.

voluntarily abdicated. Somewhat ludicrously the Akalis turned him into a martyr, and the movement became sufficiently formidable for both the Akali Dal and the Shrines Committee to be declared illegal associations. Many arrests were made; but, owing to the lack of unity in the extremist camp, an attempt of the Congress to secure all India support for the Akalis had a meagra result.

During the year there were an unusual number of frontier outrages. Several officers were shot, and worldwide attention was attracted by the kidnapping of Molly Ellis, after the murder of her mother, and by her heroic rescue by Mrs. Starr. Coupled with the slow rate of progress of the operations in Waziristan, these continued incidents provoked some comment.

There was also a sensational revival of the pre-war anarchical societies in Bengal, but the range of their achievements was small.

Mr. Gandhi's Release.

Mr. Gandhi's premature release from Yerowda jail in consequence of an operation for appendicitis temporarily revived the drooping hopes of the extremists, but any idea that he would organize another huge anti-Government movement was rapidly shattered. The breach between him and Mr. Das steadily widened and the belief of Hindu politicians in Mr. Gandhi's common sense diminished though their esteem for his character remained as high as ever. Moreover the feeling between Hindus and Mahomedans which had suddenly appeared the previous year darkened the whole face of the country. With the abolition of the Khilafat by Mustapha Kemal in March the raison d'etre of the famous pact between Mr. Gandhi and the Alis was destroyed and animosity no longer felt the restraint of political expediency. The Hindu conversion and organization movements of Shuddhi and Sangathan were opposed by exactly parallel Mahomedan movements, Tabligh and Tanzim; rumours were frequent that some mysterious All-India Mahomadan clique was planning aggressive action against Hindus; and excitement was brought to fever

The other cause was the disappearance of the surface unity between Hindus and Mahomedans which Mr. Gandhi. helped by strong feeling among Mahomedans on the Turkish heat by the riots in the Frontier Province, question, had temporarily contrived. The the Punjab, the United Provinces, Delhi. Calsplit was foliowed by the formation of cutta, the Central Provinces and Hyderabad wo pan-Hindu movements: the Shuddhi which broke out during the autumn season of

movement, announced by Swami Shradhanand, which aimed at the re-conversion to Hinduism of the Malkhana Rajputs and other low class occupants of the fringe of Islam, and the Sangathan movement of which Pandit Malaviya

religious festivals. In September Mr. Gandhi decided on a 21 days' fast, which he successfully accomplished, partly as an expiation for his share in the bad feeling, and partly to draw the attention of the country to the urgency of the

was the sponsor and which aimed at teaching problem. Simultaneously a conference of re

Hindus physical exercises and sword play, so that they might be the better able to protect themselves. These two movements greatly irritated the Mahomedans, and during the year there were between fifteen and twenty serious Hindu-Mahomedan riots, occurring in all parts

of India.

Violent Movements.

presentatives of all communities, including the Metropolitan and other English visitors was called at Delhi to decide what steps could be taken to bring about a better state of affairs. The conference passed some excellent resolutions, but on the very day when Mr. Gandhi's fast ended riots again broke out, and what gave the matter a grave aspect was that the date of the riots had been predicted and it was commonly said that they had been carefully planned for that very day.

Reforms Imperilled.

In the Punjab the Akali movement showed an increasing tendency to forget the teachings of Mr. Gandhi. The Babar Akalis murdered several of their co-religionists whose political views they did not approve, and the Akali Dal The year saw the final collapse of non-cobecame a more definitely military organisa- operation. Though Mr. Gandhi and a dwindtion, acting directly under the orders of the ling band of followers clung to khaddar and the Shrines Committee. After a career of mis triple boycott, lawyers returned to their government and intrigue against the neigh- practices, schoolboys and students finally desbouring state of Patiala, the Maharaja of Nabha paired of national education, and the best