Year Event

1857 The revolt of 1857. Indian Mutiny or First War of Independence widespread but it was an unsuccessful revolt against British rule.

1864 Establishment of Scientific Society by Syed Ahmed. Ahmed founded the Translation Society at Aligarh. It published Urdu translations of English books and an English-Urdu journal for spreading humanistic ideas on social reforms.

1875 Establishment of Indian League. The Indian League was started by Sisir Kumar Ghosh with the objective of instilling the sense of nationalism among the masses.

1878 Vernacular Press Act. The Vernacular act was passed by Lord Lytton to prevent press of Indian languages from expressing criticism against the British rule.

1883-84 Ilbert Bill. The objective of the bill proposed by Lord Ripon was to give power to Indian session judges and district magistrates to try European offenders in criminal cases. The Ilbert Bill was passed in 1984.

1885 Establishment of Indian National Congress. On 28 December 1885, INC was founded at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay (now Mumbai) in the presence of 72 delegates.

1905 Partition of Bengal – Announced on 19th July 1905 by Lord Curzon, the partition of Bengal tool place on 16th October 1905 separating largely Muslim eastern areas from Hindu western areas.

1906 All- India Muslim League founded. On 30th December 1906, All India Muslim League was founded whose strong advocacy for the establishment of a separate Muslim-majority nation/state led to India’s partition and creation of Pakistan.

1907 Split of INC. INC was divided into two groups mainly by extremists and moderates at the Surat Session of the Congress. The partition of Bengal became the rise of activism in INC.

1908 Execution of Khudiram Bose. A Bengali-Indian revolutionary, Khudiram Bose was hanged to death on 11 August 1908 at a young age of 18 years, 7 months for conducting activities against the British rule.

1909 Minto-Morley Reforms. In 1906, Lord Morley the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs announced that his government wanted to introduce new reforms for India to give them more powers in legislative affairs.

1910 Indian Press Act. The Press Act was created to reduce influence of radical Indian nationalism through English and other Indian vernacular languages. It had provision to impose heavy penalties in case of any breach.

1911 Cancellation of Partition of Bengal. On 12th December 1911, Lord Hardings announced cancellation of partition of Bengal due to Hindu agitation as also for economic reasons.

1916 Home Rule League. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant established Home Rule League aimed to establish a government by Councils whose members were elected by the Indians.

1916 Lucknow Pact. The Lucknow Pact was an agreement between INC and Muslim League in Lucknow during December 1916, the Most important purpose being to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity and generate anti-British feeling.

1917 Champaran Satyagraha. The Champaran Satyagraha was a farmer’s revolt that took place in Champaran, Bihar. India’s first Civil Disobedience movement was farmer’s protest against growing indigo.

1918 Establishment of Madras Labor Union. Madras Labour Union was formed on April 27, 1918 by the workers of the then Buckingham and at Perambur, Chennai.

1919 Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms. The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were introduced by the British colonial government to gradually create self-governing institutions in India.

1919 Rowlatt Act Passed. During the First World War, on 16 February 1919, the Rowlatt Act was passed by the British government to control public unrest and root out any possible conspiracy.

1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when General Reginald Dyer ordered British Indian Army to open file during a peaceful public gathering blocking the outer gate.

1920-22 Non-Cooperation Movement. It was an important phase of Indian independence from British rule. Its aim was to resist British rule in India through non-violent means or “satyagraha”.

1922 Chauri Chaura incident. Chauri Chaura incident occurred in Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur on 4 Feb leading to death of three civilians, killing of 22 policemen and thereby immediate end of Non-Cooperation Movement by Gandhi due to violence.

1923 Establishment of Swaraj Party. The Swaraj Party was formed on 9 January 1923 by members of INC and other Indian politicians who were opposed to suspension of all civil resistance by Mahatma Gandhi on 5 February 1922.

1925 Kakori Conspiracy. The Kakori Conspiracy was a train robbery that took place in Kakori on 9 August 1925 to get money for supporting revolutionary activities against the British rule. Thakur Roshan Singh, Ram Prasad Bismil, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqullah Khan were given death sentence in the case.

1927 Establishment of the Simon Commission. The Simon Commission was formed to review the working of Government of India Act 1919 as also to suggest administrative and constitutional reforms.

1928 (1) Assassination of Saunders by Bhagat Singh. In December 1928, Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shot a British police officer, John Saunders, mistaking Saunders, for James Scott, the British police superintendent, whom they had intended to kill. (2)Nehru Report. The Motilal Nehru Report was created when Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State of India asked the Indian leaders to draft a constitution for the country.

1928 Simon Commission arrived in India. In November 1927 the British government appointed a commission to report on India’s constitutional progress for introducing constitutional reforms. The Simon Commission was boycotted by Indians as it had no Indian members.

1929 Bombing in Central Legislative Assembly. On 8 April, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs at the Central Legislative Assembly at Delhi after the British Government passed Defence of India Act to give more power to police.

1929 Purna Swaraj Declaration (Lahore Session). The INC on 19 December 1929, passed the historic ‘Purna Swaraj’ – (total independence) resolution at Lahore session.

1930 Civil Disobedience Movement. The movement started with Dandi Marc, also known as Namak Satyagrah or Salt Satyagrah commenced by Mahatma Gandhi, which lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930.

1930 Chittagong armory raid. The Chittagong armoury raid, an attempt at raiding the armoury of police and auxiliary forces, took place on 18 April 1930. The raid was led by freedom fighter Surya Sen.

1930-31 1st Round Table Conference. Due to inadequacy of Simon Report, the Labour Government, which came to power in 1929 under Ramsay MacDonald, decided to hold a series of Round Table Conferences in London. The first Round Table Conference was held from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931.

1931 (1) Gandhi- Irwin Pact (5th March 1931). The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was an agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin before 2nd Round Table Conference which included discontinuation of Salt March, participation by INC in the 2nd Round Table Conference among others. (2) Karachi Session of INC – Karachi session held from March 26-31 was presided by Sardar Patel. The congress adopted a resolution, known as Karachi Resolution, on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy. (3) 2nd Round Table Conference. The Second Round Conference, held on 7 September 1931 was attended by Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Sir Mirza Ismail Diwan of Mysore, Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Syed Ali Imam and S K Dutta.

1932 (1) Poona Act. The Poona Act was signed by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and some other Dalit leaders at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune to break Mahatma Gandhi’s fast unto death. The act gave reserved seats to depressed classes in provincial and central legislative council. (2) 3rd Round Table Conference was assembled on November 17, 1932.

1935 Government of India Act 1935. The Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ended the system of dyarchy and provided for establishment of a Federation of India to be made up of provinces of British India and some or all of the Princely states. The federation, however, never came into being due to lack of required number of princely states.

1939 All India Forward Bloc. A left-wing nationalist political party led by Subhas Chandra Bose, which emerged due to differences between INC.

1940 August offer by Lord Linlithgow. On 8 August 1940, the Viceroy of India Lord Linlithgow, made “August Offer”, a fresh proposal promising the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indians.

1942 Quit India Movement. Also known as the August Movement, was launched by Mahatma Gandhi during World War II at the Bombay session of All-India Congress Committee on 8 August 1942 demanding an end to British Rule in India.

1942 (1) Cripps Mission. The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt by the British government to get Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. (2) Establishment of Indian Independence League. Founded in 1942 at Tokyo, Japan by Rash Bihari Bos, to organize Indians living outside India to seek removal of British rule over India. The League later gave way to formation of Azad Hind Fauj.

1945 Shimla Conference. When World war 2 ended, Lord Wavell decided to hold a political conference where he invited Muslim League and Congress representatives to announce Wavell Plan to break the constitutional deadlock in India. The deadlock was because Congress wanted a united India whereas Muslim League wanted partition.

1946 Cabinet Mission. The Cabinet Mission came to India to discuss transfer of power to the Indian leadership. The mission was formulated at the initiative of Clement Attlee, and had Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A. V. Alexander.

1947 Mountbatten Plan/ Indian Independence Act 1947. Passed on 3 June 1947, the Indian Independence Act 1947 partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The plan was passed by the British parliament on July 5, 1947.