The Governor-General and viceroy played a significant role in the shaping history of the India. In this light, discuss significant events that took place during the Lord Chelmsford period in British India.
The Governor-General of India refers to the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the British Monarch. The British government created the office in 1773 with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William. The officer had direct control only over Fort William, but supervised other British East India Company officials in India. The British Crown granted complete authority over all of British India in 1833, and the official receiving the title Governor-General of India.
Lord Chelmsford served as Governor General and Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921
Important events during his tenure included
- Formation of Indian Home Rule Movement(1916)
- Lucknow Pact(1916)
- Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms(1919)
- Government of India Act 1919
- Rowlatt Act(1919)
- Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre(1919)
- Imperial Bank of India(now State Bank of India established in 1921)
Indian Home Rule Movement
- The Indian Home Rule movement was a movement in British Indiaon the lines of Irish Home Rule movement and other home rule
- The movement lasted around two years between 1916–1918 and is believed to have set the stage for the independence movementunder the leadership of Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak to the educated English speaking upper class Indians.
Lucknow Session and Lucknow Pact 1916
- Lucknow Session 1916 was presided by AmbicaCharan Majumdar. In this session, moderates and extremists came together for the first time since Surat split 1907 mainly due to efforts of Annie Besant.
- The Viceroy had asked Indians to suggest reforms in administration in the post-WW-I scenario. Till that time, Muslim League was not a significant political entity. In this session, both congress and Muslim league signed a pact in which few things were added without considering their consequences.
- These included a proposal to give one-third representation to Muslims in central government; separate electorates for communities; system of weightage for minority representation etc. At that time, the pact was called a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity and Jinnah was hailed {by Sarojini Nayudu} as Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity but later it resulted in dangerous form of communal politics.
NOTE: Briefly elaborate on all the events sticking to the word limit