1.
Sansad Bhavan
–
The Sansad Bhawan is the house of the Parliament of India, located in New Delhi. Originally called the House of Parliament, it was designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912-1913 and construction began in 1921. The opening ceremony of the Parliament House, then called the Central Legislative Assembly, was performed on 18 January 1927 by Lord Irwin, the third session of Central Legislative Assembly was held in this house on 19 January 1927. The Parliament Museum, opened in 2006, stands next to the Parliament House, the shape is circular, which is based on the Ashoka Chakra. Separate halls were constructed for the sessions of the Chamber of Princes, the State Council, Members of parliament The building is surrounded by large gardens and the perimeter is fenced off by sandstone railings modeled after the Great Stupa of Sanchi. The Central Hall of the Parliament is designed to be circular in shape, the dome is 91.50 ft. in diameter and is believed that it is one of the most magnificent domes in the world. At present, the Central Hall is used for holding Joint Sittings of the two Houses, when the Houses are in session, the Central Hall is used by Members for informal discussions among themselves. Central Hall is also used for occasions when the Members of Parliament are addressed by distinguished Heads of States of other countries. The Hall is also equipped with Simultaneous Interpretation System, a new Parliament building may replace the existing complex. The new building is being considered on account of the stability concerns regarding the current complex, a committee to suggest alternatives to the current building has been set up by the ex-Speaker, Meira Kumar. The present building, an 85-year-old structure suffers from inadequacy of space to house members, the building also needs to be protected because of its heritage tag. On 13 December 2001, the building of the Parliament was attacked by five Lashkar-e-Toiba, in addition to all the attackers, six military personnel and one civilian were killed. Chausath Yogini Temple, Morena The Parliament Estate, Parliament of India webpage Media related to Parliament House at Wikimedia Commons
Sansad Bhavan
–
Sansad Bhavan, seen from
Rajpath
Sansad Bhavan
–
Rear Admiral Lord Mountbatten addressing the
Chamber of Princes as
Viceroy in 1947
Sansad Bhavan
–
U.S. President
Barack Obama giving a speech to both houses in a Joint Session of the Parliament in the central hall (November 2010)
2.
New Delhi
–
New Delhi is the capital of India and one of Delhi citys 11 districts. The National Capital Region is a larger entity comprising the entire National Capital Territory along with adjoining districts. The foundation stone of the city was laid by George V and it was designed by British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. The new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931, by Viceroy, New Delhi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister of India Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Calcutta was the capital of India during the British Raj until December 1911, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi. The Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India. The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary at the site of Delhi Durbar of 1911 at Kingsway Camp on 15 December 1911, during their imperial visit. Large parts of New Delhi were planned by Edwin Lutyens, who first visited Delhi in 1912, the contract was given to Sobha Singh. The original plan called for its construction in Tughlaqabad, inside the Tughlaqabad fort, construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931. The city that was later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated in ceremonies beginning on 10 February 1931 by Lord Irwin, Lutyens designed the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britains imperial aspirations. Soon Lutyens started considering other places, however, it was rejected by the Viceroy when the cost of acquiring the necessary properties was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a north-south axis linking the Viceroys House at one end with Paharganj at the other. During the projects early years, many believed it was a gate from Earth to Heaven itself. Eventually, owing to space constraints and the presence of a number of heritage sites in the North side. A site atop the Raisina Hill, formerly Raisina Village, a Meo village, was chosen for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, then known as the Viceroys House. The reason for this choice was that the hill lay directly opposite the Dinapanah citadel, which was considered the site of Indraprastha
New Delhi
–
Clockwise from top left:
Secretariat Building,
Connaught Place,
Jantar Mantar,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
India Gate
New Delhi
–
Lord Curzon and
Lady Curzon arriving at the Delhi Durbar, 1903.
New Delhi
–
The Delhi Durbar of 1911, with King George V and Queen Mary seated upon the dais.
New Delhi
–
The 1931 series celebrated the inauguration of New Delhi as the seat of government. The one
rupee stamp shows
George V with the "Secretariat Building" and Dominion Columns.
3.
Lower house
–
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position below the house, in many legislatures worldwide. A legislature composed of one house is described as unicameral. In comparison with the house, lower houses frequently display certain characteristics, Powers In a parliamentary system, Much more power. Able to override the upper house in some ways, can vote a motion of no confidence against the government. In a presidential system, Somewhat less power, as the house alone gives advice. Given the sole power to impeach the executive Status Always elected directly, while the house may be elected directly, indirectly. Its members may be elected with a different voting system to the upper house, most populated administrative divisions are better represented than in the upper house, representation is usually proportional to population. Elected all at once, not by staggered terms, in a parliamentary system, can be dissolved by the executive. Has total or original control over budget and monetary laws, lower age of candidacy than the upper house. Many lower houses are named in the manner, House/Chamber of Representatives/the People/Commons/Deputies
Lower house
–
Inside the Australian House of Representatives
Lower house
–
Dáil Éireann, Republic of Ireland
4.
Imperial Legislative Council
–
The Imperial Legislative Council was a legislature for British India from 1861 to 1947. It succeeded the Council of the Governor-General of India, and was succeeded by the Constituent Assembly of India, during the rule of the East India Company, the council of the Governor-General of India had both executive and legislative responsibilities. The council had four members of the Council elected by the Court of Directors, the first three members were permitted to participate on all occasions, but the fourth member was only allowed to sit and vote when legislation was being debated. In 1858, the British Crown took over the administration from the East India Company, instead, the one member who had a vote only on legislative questions came to be appointed by the Sovereign, and the other three members by the Secretary of State for India. The Regulating Act of 1773 limited the influence of the Governor-General of India and established the Council of Four, pitts India Act of 1784 reduced the membership to three, and also established the India Board. The Indian Councils Act 1861 made several changes to the Councils composition, the council was now called the Governor-Generals Legislative Council or the Imperial Legislative Council. Three members were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for India, the Governor-General was empowered to appoint an additional six to twelve members. The five individuals appointed by the Indian Secretary or Sovereign headed the executive departments, there were 45 Indians nominated as additional non-official members from 1862 to 1892. Out of these 25 were zamindars and 7 were rulers of princely states, the others were lawyers, magistrates, journalists and merchants. The participation of the Indian members in the meetings was negligible. The members were allowed to ask questions in the Council but not allowed to ask supplementaries or discuss the answer and they were however empowered to discuss the annual financial statement under certain restrictions but could not vote on it. Ananda Charlu, Madras Rahimtulla M. B. E Nominated Ratodero Larrkanao Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur, Madras Nawab Fateh Ali Khan Kazilbash, Punjab R. G. For the first time, Indians were admitted to membership, and there were six Muslim representatives, K. R. Subba Rao Pantulu, C. The Governor-General nonetheless retained significant power over legislation and he could authorise the expenditure of money without the Legislatures consent for ecclesiastical, political defence purposes, and for any purpose during emergencies. He was permitted to veto, or even stop debate on, if he recommended the passage of a bill, but only one chamber co-operated, he could declare the bill passed over the objections of the other chamber. The Legislature had no authority over foreign affairs and defence, Council of India Council of State Viceroys Executive Council Central Legislative Assembly Interim Government of India History of Assembly at Legislative Assembly of Delhi website
Imperial Legislative Council
–
Imperial Legislative Council
5.
Legislature
–
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
Legislature
–
The
Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's national legislature, meets in the
Legislative Palace in 2010.
6.
British India
–
Provinces of India, earlier Presidencies of British India and still earlier, Presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in the subcontinent. Collectively, they were called British India, in one form or other they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods. During 1612–1757, the East India Company set up factories in several locations, mostly in coastal India and its rivals were the merchant trading companies of Holland and France. By the mid-18th century, three Presidency towns, Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta had grown in size, during the period of Company rule in India, 1757–1858, the Company gradually acquired sovereignty over large parts of India, now called Presidencies. However, it increasingly came under British government oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown. At the same time it gradually lost its mercantile privileges, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Companys remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. In the new British Raj, sovereignty extended to a few new regions, increasingly, however, unwieldy presidencies were broken up into Provinces. In 1608, the English East India Company established a settlement at Surat, and it was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast, and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal. Company rule in Bengal, however, ended with the Government of India Act 1858 following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 and these rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for British suzerainty. British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population, in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of the area, in addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter also including East Bengal, present-day Bangladesh. The term British India also applied to Burma for a time period, starting in 1824, a small part of Burma. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma commenced being administered as a separate British colony, British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka, which was a British Crown colony, or the Maldive Islands, which were a British protectorate. It also included the Colony of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula, the original seat of government was at Allahabad, then at Agra from 1834 to 1868. Bombay Presidency, East India Companys headquarters moved from Surat to Bombay in 1687, the East India Company, which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639, meanwhile, in eastern India, after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal, the Company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly, by the mid-18th century the three principal trading settlements, now called the Madras Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency were each administered by a Governor. After Robert Clives victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in 1772, the Company also obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal and thereby full sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency
British India
–
Imperial entities of India
British India
–
A
mezzotint engraving of Fort William,
Calcutta, the capital of the
Bengal Presidency in British India 1735
British India
–
India in 1700 showing the
Mughal Empire and the European trading settlements.
British India
–
The presidency town of Madras in a 1908 map. Madras was established as
Fort St. George in 1640.
7.
Government of India Act 1919
–
The Government of India Act,1919 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India, the Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, and the Viceroy, Frederic Thesiger. The Act covered ten years, from 1919 to 1929 and this Act represented the end of benevolent despotism and began genesis of responsible government in India. The Act received royal assent on December 23,1919, the Act of 1833 opened the door for Indians to public office and employment. The Act of 1858 transferred the administration from the Company to the Crown, the Act of 1861 sowed the seed of representative institutions, and the seed was quickened into life by the Act of 1909. The Act which has now become law entrusts the elected representative of the people with a share in the Government. The Act provided a form of government for the major provinces. In each such province, control of areas of government. The transferred list included agriculture, supervision of government, health. At the same time, all areas of government remained under the control of the Viceroy. The reserved list included defence, foreign affairs, and communications, the Imperial Legislative Council was enlarged and reformed. It became a legislature for all India. The lower house was the Legislative Assembly of 144 members, of which 104 were elected and 40 were nominated, the upper house was the Rajya Sabha, consisting of 34 elected and 26 nominated members, with a tenure of five years. Salient features of the Act were as follows, This Act had a separate Preamble which declared that Objective of the British Government is the introduction of responsible Government in India. Diarchy was introduced as Provincial Level, Diarchy means a dual set of governments one is accountable another is not accountable. The provincial subjects were divided into two groups, One was reserved and another was transferred, the reserved subjects were kept with the Governor and transferred subjects were kept with the Indian Ministers. This division of subjects was basically what they meant by introducing the Diarchy, the Government of India Act of 1919, made a provision for classification of the central and provincial subjects. The Act kept the Income Tax as source of revenue to the Central Government, however, for Bengal and Bombay for which, to meet their objections, a provision to assign them 25% of the Income tax was made
Government of India Act 1919
8.
Indian Independence Act 1947
–
The Indian Independence Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received the royal assent on 18 July 1947, however, due to viceroy Lord Mountbattens need to be in New Delhi for the transfer of power, Pakistan celebrated its formation a day ahead on 14 August 1947 to enable him to attend both events. This plan was the last plan for independence and this was also known as the Mountbatten Plan. The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, Two new dominion states, Two new dominions were to emerge from the Indian Union, Pakistan and India. Appointed Date,15 August 1947 was declared as the date for the partition. Territories, Pakistan, East Bengal, West Punjab, Sind, the fate of North West Frontier Province was subject to the result of referendum. The fate of District Sylhet, in the province of Assam, was to be decided in a referendum. Constitution for the New Dominions, until the time of framing of new constitution, the new dominions and the provinces thereof were to be governed by the Government of India Act 1935. The Governors General of the new dominions, For each of the new dominion a new Governor-General was to be appointed by the Crown, powers of Governor General, The Governor General was empowered to bring this Act in force. Power to introduce any change was until 31 March 1948, after that it was open to the constituent assembly to modify or adopt the same Act, Governor-General had full powers to give assent to any law. Legislation for the new dominions, The existing legislative setup was allowed to continue as Constitution making body as well as a legislature, the legislature of each dominion was given full powers to make laws for that dominion, including laws having extraterritorial operation. No Act of Parliament of UK passed after the date would be extended to the territories of new dominions. No law and provision of any law made by the legislature of the new dominions shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England. The Governor-General of each dominion had full powers to give assent in His Majesty’s name to any law of the legislature. Consequences of setting up of the new dominions, His Majesty’s Government lost all the responsibility to the new dominions The suzerainty of His Majesty’s Government over the Indian States lapsed, all the treaties or agreements in force at the passing of the Act lapsed. The title of Emperor of India was dropped from the titles of British Crown, Armed Forces, Sections 11,12, &13 dealt with the future of Indian Armed Forces. A Partition Committee was formed on 7 June 1947, with two representatives from each side and the viceroy in the chair, to decide about the division thereof. As soon as the process of partition was to start it was to be replaced by a Partition Council with a similar structure
Indian Independence Act 1947
9.
Constituent Assembly of India
–
An idea for a Constituent Assembly of India was proposed in 1934 by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the Communist movement in India and an advocate of radical democracy. It became a demand of the Indian National Congress in 1935. On 8 August 1940, a statement was made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow about the expansion of the Governor-Generals Executive Council and this offer, known as the August Offer, included giving full weight to minority opinions and allowing Indians to draft their own constitution. Under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, elections were held for the first time for the Constituent Assembly, the Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, and it was implemented under the Cabinet Mission Plan on 16 May 1946. The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the assemblies by a single. The elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946, Congress won 208 seats, and the Muslim League 73. After this election, the Muslim League refused to cooperate with the Congress, hindu-Muslim riots began, and the Muslim League demanded a separate constituent assembly for Muslims in India. The Indian Independence Act was passed on 18 July 1947 and, although it was declared that India would become independent in June 1948. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946, reassembling on 14 August 1947 as a sovereign body, as a result of the partition, under the Mountbatten plan a separate constituent assembly was established in Pakistan on 3 June 1947. The representatives of the areas incorporated into Pakistan ceased to be members of the Constituent Assembly of India, New elections were held for the West Punjab and East Bengal, the membership of the Constituent Assembly was 299 after the reorganization, and it met on 31 December 1947. The Constituent Assembly, consisting of elected representatives, was established to draft a constitution for India. It existed for almost three years, the first parliament of India after independence in 1947, the Assembly was not elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage, and Muslims and Sikhs received special representation as minorities. The Muslim League boycotted the Assembly after failing to prevent its creation, the Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946, and its last session was held on 24 January 1950. During this period the Assembly held eleven sessions, sitting for a total of 166 days and this is certainly a great task. We, are sitting here and there in despair in many places, the atmosphere is surcharged with these quarrels and feuds which are called communal disturbances, and unfortunately we sometimes cannot avoid them. But at present the greatest and most important question in India is how to solve the problem of the poor, wherever we turn, we are confronted with this problem. If we cannot solve this problem soon, all our paper constitutions will become useless and purposeless, keeping this aspect in view, who could suggest to us to postpone and wait. The Constituent Assembly was established while India was under British rule, Provincial assembly elections were held early in 1946
Constituent Assembly of India
Constituent Assembly of India
–
Seal of the Constituent Assembly.
Constituent Assembly of India
–
A reproduction of a historical telegram from the Constituent Assembly, which included a message of goodwill from the US government to the assembly.
10.
Bicameral
–
A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. As of 2015, somewhat less than half of the national legislatures are bicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected using different methods, which vary from country to country and this can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. However, in many Westminster system parliaments, the house to which the executive is responsible can overrule the other house, some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house only able to overrule the other under certain circumstances. For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners as was the case in the Kingdom of England. Others, such as France under the Ancien Régime had a legislature known as the Estates General, which consisted of separate chambers for the clergymen, the nobility. The Founding Fathers of the United States also favoured a bicameral legislature, the idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser. Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that, this type of dominion is almost always connected with opulence, the Senate was created to be a stabilising force, elected not by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what Madison saw as the fickleness. He noted further that the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with system and with more wisdom. Madisons argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, discretion, the Senate was chosen by state legislators, and senators had to possess a significant amount of property in order to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for the position. In fact, it was not until the year 1913 that the 17th Amendment was passed, as part of the Great Compromise, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate would have states represented equally, and the House would have them represented by population. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British three-tier model, nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers—providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation—has survived. An example of controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate or the election of the Senate of France. The relationship between the two chambers varies, in cases, they have equal power, while in others. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments, the latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. In the United States both houses of the U. S and this is due to their original location in the two-story building that was to house them. In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, Senators in Canada are not elected by the people but are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister
Bicameral
–
The bicameral
legislature of the United States is housed in the
Capitol, a building with two wings. The north wing (left) houses the
Senate, while the south wing (right) houses the
House of Representatives.
11.
Parliament
–
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative, elected body of government. Generally a modern parliament has three functions, representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government, historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. The term is derived from Anglo-Norman parlement, from the verb parler talk, the meaning evolved over time, originally any discussion, conversation, or negotiation, through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by the monarch. By 1400, it had come to mean in Britain specifically the British supreme legislature, various parliaments are claimed to be the oldest in the world, under varying definitions. The Sicilian Parliament, whose first assembly was convened in 1097, the Icelandic Althing, year 930, but only including the main chiefs. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, however, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies. Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy, the Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, the Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy. Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura is analogous to the parliament, however, others highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system. England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist, under the Anglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, the first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the Witan, along with the folkmoots, is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament. As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new king, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who rented great estates directly from the king, along with ecclesiastics. William brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy and this is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and the Privy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament, only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court. Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I, like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments, in 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm
Parliament
–
The chamber of the
House of Commons of the
British Parliament in the
City of Westminster,
London.
Parliament
–
The
Federal Assembly of
Switzerland.
Parliament
–
Session Hall of
Parliament of Finland.
Parliament
–
The
Israeli Knesset chamber.
12.
Indian Christians
–
Christianity is Indias third-largest religion according to the census of 2011, with approximately 27.8 million followers, constituting 2.3 percent of Indias population. Old legends say that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle, Christians are found all across India and in all walks of life, with major populations in parts of South India, the Konkan Coast, and Northeast India. Indian Christians have contributed significantly to and are represented in various spheres of national life. They include former and current chief ministers, governors and chief election commissioners, Indian Christians have the highest ratio of women to men among the various religious communities in India. Christianity in India has different denominations, the state of Kerala is home to the Saint Thomas Christian community, an ancient body of Christians, who are now divided into several different churches and traditions. They are Eastern Syrian Saint Thomas Christian churches, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Christian Church runs thousands of educational institutions and hospitals which have contributed significantly to the development of the nation. Roman Catholicism was first introduced to India by Portuguese, Italian, most Christian schools, hospitals, primary care centres originated through the Roman Catholic missions brought by the trade of these countries. Evangelical Protestantism was later spread to India by the efforts of British, American, German, even though Christians are a significant minority, they form a major religious group in three states of India - Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland. Other states with historic Christian population like Goa and Kerala, there the number, still Christianity is widespread across India and is present in all states. Two ancient testimonies exist about the mission of Saint Bartholomew in India and these are of Eusebius of Caesarea and of Saint Jerome. Both these refer to this tradition while speaking of the visit of Pantaenus to India in the 2nd century. Many of these Jews presumably spoke Aramaic like St. Thomas, also a Jew by birth and this is a plausible reference to the earliest Indian churches which are known to have used the Syriac New Testament. Pantaenus evidence thus indicates that Syriac-speaking Christians had already evangelised parts of India by the late 2nd century. An early 3rd-century Syriac work known as the Acts of Thomas connects the tradition of the apostle Thomas Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south, the year of his arrival is widely disputed due to lack of credible records. The apostles ministry resulted in many conversions throughout this northern kingdom, including the king. The Acts of Thomas identifies his second mission in India with a kingdom ruled by King Mahadwa and he reputedly preached to all classes of people and had about seventeen thousand converts, including members of the four principal castes. According to legend, St. Thomas attained martyrdom at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai and is buried on the site of San Thome Cathedral and it is now declared an international St. Thomas pilgrim center. The colony of Syrian Christians established at Kodungallur may be the first Christian community in South India for which there is a written record
Indian Christians
–
A
Peutinger Table 's depiction of
Muziris near the tip of India where
St. Thomas is believed to have landed in 52 A.D.
Indian Christians
–
Nasranis or Syrian Christians of Kerala in ancient days (from an old painting). Photo published in the Cochin Government Royal War Efforts Souvenir in 1938
Indian Christians
–
Marth Mariam Syrian Catholic Church (Syro-Malabar Rite) at
Arakuzha, Kerala is an ancient
Nasrani church established in 999
13.
Anglo-Indian
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The term Anglo-Indians can refer to at least two groups of people, those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent. The latter sense is now historical, but confusions can arise. People fitting the definition are more usually known as British Asian or British Indian. This article focuses primarily on the definition, a distinct minority community of mixed Eurasian ancestry. During the centuries that Britain was in India, the born to British men. These Anglo-Indians formed a small but significant portion of the population during the British Raj, the Anglo-Indian population dwindled from roughly 500,000 at the time of independence in 1947 to fewer than 150,000 by 2010. Many have adapted to local communities and emigrated to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the first use of Anglo-Indian was to describe all British people living in India. People of mixed British and Indian descent were referred to as Eurasians, terminology has changed, and the latter group are now called Anglo-Indians, the term that will be used throughout this article. By the mid-19th century, there were around 40,000 British soldiers and this was followed up by another pamphlet, entitled An Appeal on behalf of Indo-Britons. Prominent Eurasians in Calcutta formed the East Indian Committee with a view to send a petition to the British Parliament for the redress of their grievances, john William Ricketts, a pioneer in the Eurasian cause, volunteered to proceed to England. In April 1834, in obedience to an Act of Parliament passed in August 1833, intermarriage declined after the events of the Rebellion of 1857, after which several anti-miscegenation laws were implemented. As a result, Eurasians were neglected by both the British and Indian populations in India, over generations, Anglo-Indians intermarried with other Anglo-Indians to form a community that developed a culture of its own. Their cuisine, dress, speech, and religion all served to segregate them from the native population. A number of factors fostered a sense of community among Anglo-Indians. Their English language school system, their Anglo-centric culture, and their Christian beliefs in particular helped bind them together and they formed social clubs and associations to run functions, including regular dances on occasions such as Christmas and Easter. Indeed, their Christmas balls, held in most major cities, the Anglo-Indian community also had a role as go-betweens in the introduction of Western musical styles, harmonies and instruments in post-Independence India. During the colonial era, genres including ragtime and jazz were played by bands for the elites. During the independence movement, many Anglo-Indians identified with British rule and their position at independence was difficult
Anglo-Indian
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Anna Leonowens
Anglo-Indian
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Nasser Hussain
14.
Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
Muslim
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Afghan Muslims praying inside
Gardens of Babur in
Kabul,
Afghanistan.
Muslim
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Famous
Muslim converts from various fields.
15.
Sikh
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A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion which originated during the 15th century in the Punjab region of Northwestern Indian subcontinent. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit words शिष्य or शिक्ष, Sikh properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has seldom sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties, many countries, such as the United Kingdom, therefore recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. Male Sikhs have Singh, and female Sikhs have Kaur as their middle or last name, initiated male and female Sikhs must cover their hair with a turban. The greater Punjab region is the homeland of the Sikhs. Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, was born to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on 30 March 1699. Gobind Singh initiated five people from a variety of backgrounds, known as the Panj Piare to form the Khalsa. During the period of Mughal rule in India several Sikh gurus were killed by the Mughals for opposing their persecution of minority communities including Sikhs. Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule, after defeating the Afghan, Mughal and Maratha invaders, the Misls were formed, under Sultan-ul-Quam Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism, encompassing Kashmir, Ladakh, hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North West Frontier, expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms, after the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the latter recognized the martial qualities of the Sikhs and Punjabis in general and started recruiting from that area. During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British and this resulted in heavy recruiting from Punjab to the colonial army for the next 90 years of the British Raj. The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army, the British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India including Punjab. This included formation in 1873 and 1879 of the First and Second Singh Sabha respectively, the Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice. The later part of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement or the Gurdwara Reform Movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, the months leading up to the partition of India in 1947 were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims. This caused the migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab
Sikh
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Sikh
Sikh
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Gurdwara
Nankana Sahib
Sikh
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Golden Temple
Sikh
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A
Sikh Empire warrior's battle helmet
16.
Ajmer-Merwara
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Ajmer-Merwara, also known as Ajmir Province and as Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, is a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25,1818 and it was under the Bengal Presidency until 1936 when it became part of the North-Western Provinces comissionat el 1842. Finally on 1 April 1871 it became a province as Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri. It became a part of independent India on 15 August 1947 when the British left India, the province consisted of the districts of Ajmer and Merwar, which were physically separated from the rest of British India forming an enclave amidst the many princely states of Rajputana. Unlike these states, which were ruled by nobles who acknowledged British suzerainty. In 1842 the two districts were under a commissioner, then they were separated in 1856 and were administered by the East India Company. Finally, after 1858, by a commissioner who was subordinate to the Governor-General of Indias agent for the Rajputana Agency. The area of the province was 2,710 square miles, the Aravalli Range is the distinguishing feature of the district. The range of hills which runs between Ajmer and Nasirabad marks the watershed of the continent of India. The province is on the border of what may be called the arid zone and it is only when the monsoon is in considerable force that Merwara gets a plentiful supply from it. The north-eastern monsoon sweeps up the valley of the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal and waters the northern part of Rajasthan, the rainfall of the district depends on the varying strength of these two monsoons. The agriculturist of Ajmer-Merwara could never rely upon two good harvests in succession, in ancient times, the Mair Gurjars were the dominant inhabitants. They were defeated by the Chauhan Kings Rao Anoop and Rao Anhal, whose descendents the Rawat-Thakurs and these castes continue to have influence on the politics of the region. Before the arrival of the British, Rajputs, Jats, the Kathats, Cheetas and Rawat Rajputs were land-holders, as well as cultivators. Part of the Ajmer region, the territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia of Gwalior State as part of a treaty dated June 25,1818. Then in May 1823 the Merwara part was ceded to Britain by Udaipur State, thereafter Ajmer-Merwara was administered directly by the British East India Company. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857, in 1858 the powers of the Company were transferred to the British Crown and his administration of Ajmer-Merwara was controlled by a chief commissioner who was subordinate to the British agent for the Rajputana Agency. Trevelyan 26 Jul 1837 – Feb 1842 J. D. A, malcolm 1852 –1853 George St. Patrick Lawrence 5 Mar 1853 – Feb 1857 Henry Montgomery Lawrence 15 Mar 1857 – Apr 1864 George St. W. P
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Rajputana Agency and Ajmer-Merwara province, 1909
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17.
Colonial Assam
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Colonial Assam refers to the period of History of Assam between the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo and Independence of India when Assam was under the British colonial rule. The political institutions and social relations that were established or severed during this period continue to have an effect on contemporary events. The legislature and political alignments that evolved by the end of the British rule continued in the post Independence period, the region that came to be known as undivided Goalpara district came under British rule after the transfer of the Deewani from the Mughal Emperor on August 12,1765. The Burmese occupiers retreated from the Ahom capital of Rangpur in January 1825, in the war against the Burmese the Ahoms did not help the British. In 1828, the Kachari kingdom was annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse after the king Govinda Chandra was killed, in 1832, the Khasi king surrendered and the British increased their influence over the Jaintia ruler. In 1833, upper Assam became a British protectorate under the ruler of the Ahom kingdom, Purandhar Singha. With the annexation of the Maran/Matak territory in the east in 1839, Assam was included as a part of the Bengal Presidency. The annexation of upper Assam is attributed to the manufacture of tea in 1837. Under the Wasteland Rules of 1838, it nearly impossible for natives to start plantations. After the liberalization of the rules in 1854, there was a land rush, from 1859 central Indian labour was imported for the tea plantations. This labour, based on a contract, led to a virtual slavery of this labour group. The conditions in which they were transported to Assam were so horrific that about 10% never survived the journey, the colonial government already had monopoly over the opium trade. There were immediate protests and revolts against the British occupation, in 1828, two years after the Treaty of Yandabo, Gomdhar Konwar rose in revolt against the British, but he was easily suppressed. In 1830 Dhananjoy Burhagohain, Piyali Phukan and Jiuram Medhi rose in revolt, in the Indian rebellion of 1857, the people of Assam offered resistance in the form of non-cooperation, and Maniram Dewan and Piyali Baruah were executed for their roles. In 1861 peasants of Nagaon gathered at Phulaguri for a raiz mel to protest against taxes on betel-nut, Lt. Singer, a British officer got into a fracas with the peasants and was killed, after which the protests were violently suppressed. Assamese, which had replaced by Bengali as the official language in 1837, was reinstated alongside Bengali. The people of Sylhet, Goalpara, Kamrup and the Hills protested the inclusion in Assam, in 1889, oil was discovered at Digboi giving rise to an oil industry. In this period Nagaon witnessed starvation deaths, and there was a decrease in the indigenous population, colonialism was well entrenched, and the tea, oil and coal-mining industries were putting increasing pressure on the agricultural sector which was lagging behind
Colonial Assam
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James Rennell 's 1776 map shows the eastern boundary of the British controlled regions before 1824
Colonial Assam
18.
Bengal Presidency
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The Bengal Presidency was once the largest colonial subdivision of British India, with its seat in Calcutta, the capital of British-held territories in South Asia until 1911. At its territorial peak in the 19th century, the presidency extended from the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in the west to Burma, Singapore, the Governor of Bengal was concurrently the Viceroy of India for many years. Most of the territories were eventually incorporated into other British Indian provinces. In 1905, Bengal proper was partitioned, with Eastern Bengal and Assam headquartered in Dacca, British India was reorganised in 1912 and the presidency was reunited into a single Bengali-speaking province. The Bengal Presidency was established in 1765, following the defeat of the last independent Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, Bengal was the economic, cultural and educational hub of the British Raj. It was the centre of the late 19th and early 20th century Bengali Renaissance, the Partition of British India resulted in Bengals division on religious grounds, between West Bengal and East Bengal. Under Warren Hastings the consolidation of British imperial rule over Bengal was solidified, while the formation of a regularised system of legislation was brought in under John Shore. Acting through Lord Cornwallis, then Governor-General, he ascertained and defined the rights of the landholders over the soil. In 1793 Lord Cornwallis declared their rights perpetual, and gave over the land of Bengal to the previous quasi-proprietors or zamindars and this piece of legislation is known as the Permanent Settlement of the Land Revenue. It was designed to introduce ideas of property rights to India, the former aim misunderstood the nature of landholding in India, and the latter was an abject failure. The Cornwallis Code, while defining the rights of the proprietors, failed to give recognition to the rights of the under-tenants. Furthermore, the Permanent Settlement took no account of inflation, meaning that the value of the revenue to Government declined year by year, whilst the heavy burden on the peasantry grew no less. This was compounded in the early 19th century by compulsory schemes for the cultivation of Opium and Indigo, the former by the state, peasants were forced to grow a certain area of these crops, which were then purchased at below market rates for export. This added greatly to rural poverty, so unsuccessful was the Permanent Settlement that it was not introduced in the North-Western Provinces after 1831, in Punjab after its conquest in 1849, or in Oudh which was annexed in 1856. These regions were part of the Bengal Presidency, but remained administratively distinct. Officially Punjab, Agra and Allahabad had Lieutenant-Governors subject to the authority of the Governor of Bengal in Calcutta, the only all-Presidency institutions which remained were the Bengal Army and the Civil Service. The partition of the province of Bengal, which was decided upon by Lord Curzon, was carried into execution in October 1905. The princely states of Sikkim and the states of Odisha and Chhota Nagpur were not part of Bengal
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The Bengal Presidency at its greatest extent in 1858
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Bengal Presidency
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Silver rupee of the Bengal Presidency, in the name of the Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II, minted at Banaras in AH 1198 (= 1784-85 CE). The ability to mint local style coins was an important factor in allowing the East India Company to succeed in its commercial venture.
Bengal Presidency
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1909 Map of the British Indian Empire, showing British India in two shades of pink and the princely states in yellow.
19.
Bihar and Orissa Province
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Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and a part of Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were part of the Bengal Presidency, on 1 April 1912 both Bihar and Orissa division were separated from the Bengal Presidency as Bihar and Orissa Province. On 1 April 1936 Bihar and Orissa became separate provinces, in 1756 Bihar was part of Bengal Subah of Mughal Empire while Orissa was a different Subah. The Treaty marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of British rule in India, based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company Diwani rights, or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. Here Behar means present Bangladesh & West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand. Orissa means district of Midnapore & East Singhbhum or the land between Subarnarekha river to Damodar River, the other part of medieval Orissa kingdom was divided between Nizam of Hyderabad & Maratha kingdom. Bihar and Orissa was separated from Bengal on 1 April 1912, a number of princely states, including the Orissa Tributary States, were under the authority of the provincial governor. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms enacted through the Government of India Act 1919 expanded the Bihar & Orissa Legislative Council from 43 to 103 members, the Legislative Council now consisted of 2 ex-officio Executive Councillors,25 nominated members and 76 elected members. The reforms also introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, on 1 April 1936, the province was divided into Bihar Province and Orissa Province, and the Odia speaking princely states placed under the authority of the Eastern States Agency. From 1912 to 1920, the province had a lieutenant governor heading the provincial government and this post was upgraded to governor in 1920, when Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha was appointed to fill it
Bihar and Orissa Province
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Bihar and Orissa in a 1907 map of British India before the creation of the province.
Bihar and Orissa Province
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20.
Bombay Presidency
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The Bombay Presidency, also known as Bombay and Sind from 1843 to 1936 and the Bombay Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India. The English East India Company transferred its Western India headquarters from Surat, its first colony in that region, the Presidency was brought under British Parliament control along with other parts of British India through Pitts India Act. Aden was annexed in 1839, while Sind was annexed by the Company in 1843 after defeating the Talpur dynasty in the Battle of Hyderabad and it was made a part of the Bombay Presidency. The districts and provinces of the presidency were directly under British rule, while the administration of the native or princely states was in the hands of local rulers. The presidency, however, managed the defence of princely states, the Bombay Presidency along with the Bengal Presidency and Madras Presidency were the three major centres of British power. In 1661 Bombay was ceded to the Kingdom of England as part of the dowry of the infanta Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II, as English trade in Bombay increased, Surat began its relative decline. In 1687, Bombay was made the headquarters of all the East India Companys possessions in India, however, in 1753 the governor of Bombay became subordinate to that of Calcutta. During the 18th century, the Hindu Maratha Empire expanded rapidly, claiming Konkan, in western Gujarat, including Kathiawar and Kutch, the loosening of Mughal control allowed numerous local rulers to create virtually independent states. The British annexed Surat in 1800, British territory was enlarged in the Second Anglo-Maratha War which ended in 1803. The East India Company received the districts of Bharuch, Kaira, etc. in 1803 the Bombay Presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour, Surat and Bankot, but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805, in 1858, under the terms of Queens Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British crown. Henry Bartle Frere was the first Governor appointed by the Crown, under Sir Bartle Frere agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the Share Mania, which ended in a commercial crisis, but the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governors Executive Council, in 1932, Aden was separated from Bombay and made a separate province, and Sindh became a separate province on 1 April 1936. The Government of India Act 1935 made the Bombay Presidency into a regular province and it enlarged the elected provincial legislature and expanded provincial autonomy vis a vis the central government. In the 1937 elections, the Indian National Congress won the elections in Bombay, the Cooper ministry did not last long and a Congress ministry under B. G. Kher was sworn in. Council of Ministers in Khers Cabinet, In 1939, all of the Congress ministries in British Indian provinces resigned and Bombay was placed under the Governors rule. After the end of World War II, the Indian National Congress re-entered politics, the Bombay Presidency became the Bombay State when India was granted independence on 15 August 1947 and Kher continued as the Chief Minister of the state, serving until 1952
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The Bombay Presidency in 1909, northern portion
Bombay Presidency
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Bombay Presidency
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Imperial entities of India
Bombay Presidency
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Bombay Presidency in 1909, southern portion
21.
British rule in Burma
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The annexed territories were designated the minor province, British Burma, of British India in 1862. After the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, Upper Burma was annexed, and the following year and this arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma began to be administered separately by the Burma Office under the Secretary of State for India and Burma. British rule was disrupted during the Japanese occupation of much of the country during the Second World War, Burma achieved independence from British rule on 4 January 1948. They were administered separately by the British with a Burma Frontier Service, the Frontier Areas were inhabited by ethnic minorities such as the Chin, the Shan, the Kachin and the Karenni. By 1931 Burma had 8 divisions, split into a number of districts, in Danuphyu, south of Ava, the Burmese general Maha Bandula was killed and his armies routed. The 1826 Treaty of Yandabo formally ended the First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest, fifteen thousand European and Indian soldiers died, together with an unknown number of Burmese army and civilian casualties. The campaign cost the British five million sterling to 13 million pounds sterling that led to a severe economic crisis in British India in 1833. After 25 years of peace, the British and Burmese fighting started afresh, King Mindon tried to readjust to the thrust of imperialism. He enacted administrative reforms and made Burma more receptive to foreign interests, but the British effected the Third Anglo-Burmese War, which lasted less than two weeks during November 1885. British troops entered Mandalay on 28 November 1885 and Burma was attached to the British Empire on 1 January 1886, Burmese armed resistance continued sporadically for several years, and the British commander had to coerce the High Court of Justice to continue to function. The British decided to all of Upper Burma as a colony. The new colony of Upper Burma was attached to the Burma Province on 26 February 1886, Rangoon, having been the capital of British Lower Burma, became the capital of the province. It was also one of the first Southeast Asian countries to receive Buddhism, before the British conquest and colonisation, the ruling Konbaung Dynasty practised a tightly centralised form of government. The king was the executive, with the final say on all matters. The country had two codes of law, the Rajathat and Dammathat, and the Hluttaw, the centre of government, was divided into three branches—fiscal, executive, and judicial. In theory the king was in charge of all of the Hluttaw but none of his orders got put into place until the Hluttaw approved them, thus checking his power. Further dividing the country, provinces were ruled by governors who were all appointed by the Hluttaw, conflict began between Myanmar and the British when the Konbaung Dynasty decided to expand into Arakan in the state of Assam, close to the British possessions in India. This close contact led to the first Anglo-Burmese War, which the British won with the aid of the Siamese, Myanmar was forced to cede Assam and other northern provinces
British rule in Burma
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Photograph of the arrival of British forces in Mandalay on 28 November 1885 at the end of the
Third Anglo-Burmese War. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912)
British rule in Burma
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Flag since 1937
British rule in Burma
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Imperial entities of India
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District Courts and Public Offices, Strand Road, Rangoon, 1868. Photographer J. Jackson.
22.
Central Provinces and Berar
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The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1936 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, the Central Provinces was formed in 1861 by the merger of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories and Nagpur Province. As its name suggests, the province was situated in the center of the Indian peninsula and it comprised large portions of the broad belt of hill and plateau which interposes between the plains of the Ganges and the Deccan plateau. In 1835 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were included in the newly formed North-Western Provinces, in 1842, in consequence of an uprising, they were again placed under the jurisdiction of an agent to the governor-general. They were restored to the North-Western Province in 1853, in 1818, the Maratha Bhonsle Maharajas of Nagpur submitted to British sovereignty. In 1853, on the death of Raghoji III without heirs, the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were joined with the Nagpur province to constitute the new Central Provinces in 1861. On 1 October 1903 Berar was placed under the administration of the commissioner of the Central Provinces, in 1935 the Government of India Act was passed by the British Parliament. This act provided for the election of an assembly, with an electorate made up of men with a minimum of financial resources, and excluding women. Supervisory powers over the enclaved and attached Princely States were reserved to the Governor, elections were held in 1937, and the Indian National Congress took a majority of the seats but declined to form the government. A minority provisional government was formed under E. Raghavendra Rao, the Congress reversed its decision and resolved to accept office in July 1937. Therefore, the Governor invited N. B, khare to form the government in August 1937. Khare resigned in 1938, and Ravi Shankar Shukla next became Premier, another round of elections were held in 1946, yielding another Congress majority, and Shukla again became Premier. India became independent on 15 August and the Central Provinces & Berar became a province of the Dominion of India, the princely states, which were under the Central Provinces before 1936, were merged into the province, and organized into new districts. When the Constitution of India went into effect in 1950, the Central Provinces & Berar was reorganized with territorial changes as the state of Madhya Pradesh, after Indian Independence in 1947, the Central Provinces and Berar became part of India as Madhya Pradesh. On 1 November 1956, Madhya Bharat, together with the states of Vindhya Pradesh, in 1956, under pressure from Marathi Irredentists, the Berar and Nagpur divisions were transferred to Bombay state. In 1960, the Bombay State was partitioned into Maharashtra & Gujarat, in 2000, the eastern portion of Madhya Pradesh was split off to become the new state of Chhattisgarh. The 1941 Census of India counted 16,813,584 persons in the province, the Central provinces and Berar was made up of 22 districts, grouped into five divisions, Jubbulpore Division, which included Jubbulpore, Saugor, Damoh, Seoni and Mandla districts. Nerbudda Division, which included Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, Nimar, Betul, Nagpur Division, which included Nagpur, Bhandara, Chanda, Wardha and Balaghat districts
Central Provinces and Berar
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Central Provinces and Berar in 1909, showing the districts, divisions, and princely states under the authority of the province, as well as the 1905 changes to the eastern boundary
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23.
Madras Presidency
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The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India. The city of Madras was the capital of the Presidency and Ootacamund or Ooty. The island of Ceylon was a part of Madras Presidency from 1793 to 1798 when it was created a Crown colony, the agency was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before once more reverting to its previous status in 1655. In 1684, it was re-elevated to a Presidency and Elihu Yale was appointed as president, in 1785, under the provisions of Pitts India Act, Madras became one of three provinces established by the East India Company. Thereafter, the head of the area was styled Governor rather than President and became subordinate to the Governor-General in Calcutta, a title that would persist until 1947. Judicial, legislative and executive powers rested with the Governor who was assisted by a Council whose constitution was modified by reforms enacted in 1861,1909,1919 and 1935, regular elections were conducted in Madras up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Following the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919, Madras was the first province of British India to implement a system of dyarchy, in the early decades of the 20th century, many significant contributors to the Indian independence movement came from Madras. With the advent of Indian independence on 15 August 1947, the Presidency became the Madras Province. Madras was later admitted as Madras State, a state of the Indian Union at the inauguration of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950, the discovery of dolmens from this portion of the subcontinent shows inhabitation as early as the Stone Age. The first prominent rulers of the part of the future Presidency were the Tamil pandya dynasty. Following the decline of the pandyas of Tamil Nadu and the Cholas in Tamil Nadu, the country recovered under the subsequent Pallava dynasty and its civilisation attained a peak under the later where the telugu period when telugu kings started accquiring vast places in Tamil Nadu. Following the conquest of Madurai by Malik Kafur in 1311, there was a brief lull when both culture and civilisation began to deteriorate, the Tamil and Telugu territories recovered under the Vijayanagar Empire, founded in 1336. Following the empires demise, the country was split amongst numerous sultans, polygars, between 1685 and 1947, a number of kings ruled the areas that became part of the Madras Presidency. On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a group of English merchants a charter to establish a company which became known as the East India Company. The first of these were built at Surat on the west coast, Masulipatam is thus the oldest English trading post on Indias east coast, dating back to 1611. In 1625, another factory was established at Armagon, a few miles to the south, the English authorities decided to relocate these factories farther south, due to a shortage of cotton cloth, the main trade item of the east coast at the time. The problem was compounded when the Sultan of Golconda started harassing the local officers, an agency was created to govern the new settlement, and the factor Andrew Cogan of Masulipatnam was appointed as its first Agent. All the agencies along Indias east coast were subordinated to the East India Company presidency of Bantam in Java, by 1641, Fort St George became the Companys headquarters on the Coromandel Coast
Madras Presidency
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The Madras Presidency in 1913
Madras Presidency
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Flag
Madras Presidency
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Imperial entities of India
Madras Presidency
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Stringer Lawrence who established the Madras Army with
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, the
Nawab of Carnatic
24.
Punjab Province (British India)
–
Punjab, also spelled Panjab, was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 1849 and it comprised five administrative divisions — Delhi, Jullunder, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi — and a number of princely states. The partition of India led to the province being divided into East Punjab and West Punjab, belonging to the newly created Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan respectively. The name of the region is a compound of two Persian words Panj and āb and was introduced to the region by the Turko-Persian conquerors of India, Punjab literally means Five Waters referring to the rivers, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas. All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Chenab being the largest, moreover, the province as constituted under British rule also included a large tract outside these boundaries. Along the northern border, Himalayan ranges divided it from Kashmir, on the west it was separated from the North-West Frontier Province by the Indus, until it reached the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District, which was divided from Baluchistan by the Sulaiman Range. To the south lay Sindh and Rajputana, while on the east the rivers Jumna, following the victory, the East India Company annexed Punjab on 2 April 1849 and it was made part of the British Raj, at that time administered by the EIC. Lord Dalhousie constituted the Board of Administration by inducting into it the most experienced and seasoned British officers, the members include Sir Henry Lawrence, who had previously worked as British Resident at the Lahore Durbar. Henceforth the Punjab would provide Sikh and Punjabi sepoy regiments to the EICs armies in India and these soldiers would later help the British to put down the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Delhi was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to Punjab in 1859, the British colonial government took this action partly to punish the city for the important role that the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, and the city as a whole played in the 1857 Rebellion. Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner, was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor on 1 January 1859, the territory under the Lieutenant consisted of 29 Districts, grouped under 5 Divisions, and 43 Princely States. Each District was under a Deputy-Commissioner, who reported to the Commissioner of the Division, each District was subdivided into between three and seven tehsils, each under a tahsildar, assisted by a naib tahsildar. In 1866, the Judicial Commissioner was replaced by a Chief Court, the direct administrative functions of the Government were carried out through the Lieutinent-Governor through the Secretariat, comprising a Chief Secretary, a Secretary and two Under-Secretaries. They were usually members of the Indian Civil Service, by the late 19th century, however, the Indian nationalist movement took hold in the province. One of the most significant events associated with the movement was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, British colonel Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire on a group of some 10,000 unarmed Indians who had convened to protest new anti-subversion regulations. In 1901 the frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province, the first Punjab Legislative Council under the 1919 Act was constituted in 1921, comprising 93 members, seventy per cent to be elected and rest to be nominated. Some of the Indian ministers under the scheme were Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Khan Bahadur Chaudhry Sir Shahab-ud-Din. The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy to Punjab replacing the system of dyarchy and it provided for the constitution of Punjab Legislative Assembly of 175 members presided by a Speaker and an executive government responsible to the Assembly
Punjab Province (British India)
Punjab Province (British India)
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Flag
Punjab Province (British India)
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Map of British Punjab 1909
Punjab Province (British India)
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The Punjab in 1880
25.
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
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It corresponded approximately to the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. From 1856 to 1902, the region existed as two provinces, North-Western Provinces and Oudh. Allahabad became its capital in 1902 and continued until 1920, lucknow was not made the capital until after 1921. In 1765, the forces of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor met the British at the Battle of Buxar. At the same time the British received the province of Benares from Awadh, subsequently no great change took place until the arrival of Lord Wellesley who acquired a very large accession of territory in two instalments. In 1801 he obtained from the Nawab of Oudh the cession of Rohilkhand, the lower Doab, in 1815 the Kumaon Division was acquired after the Gurkha War, and a further portion of Bundelkhand from the Maratha Peshwa in 1817. These new acquisitions, known as the ceded and conquered provinces, in 1833 an act of Parliament was passed to constitute a new presidency, with its capital at Agra. But this scheme was never carried out, and in 1835 another statute authorised the appointment of a lieutenant-governor for the North-Western Provinces. Awadh remained under its nawab, who was permitted to assume the title of king in 1819, Awadh was annexed in 1856 and constituted a separate chief commissionership. Then followed the Revolt of 1857, when all signs of British rule were for a time swept away throughout the part of the two provinces. The lieutenant-governor died when shut up in the fort at Agra, in 1935, the official name of the province was shortened to the United Provinces. In 2000 part of the state was detached to form the new state of Uttaranchal, the Jumna river formed part of the western boundary, the Ganges part of the southern, and the Gandak part of the eastern, other boundaries are artificial. According to the District surveys the areas of the two Provinces are, in miles, Agra,83,198, Oudh,23,966. Including some river-beds which form District boundaries and are excluded from the District details, the area of the two Native States in the Provinces is 5,079 square miles more. A Presidency of Agra was first formed in 1834, up to date the area then separated had been included in the Presidency of Bengal. The United Provinces included four distinct tracts of country namely, portions of the Himalayas, the tracts, the great Gangetic plain. The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh included 9 divisions with 48 districts, rampur State Tehri-Garhwal State List of Governors of the United Provinces List of Governors of the United Provinces of British India Chisholm, Hugh, ed. United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
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Map of the United Provinces, 1909
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
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United Provinces, 1909
26.
Government of India Act 1935
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The Government of India Act,1935 was originally passed in August 1935, and is said to be the longest Act of Parliament ever enacted by that time. Because of its length, the Act was retroactively split by the Government of India Act,1935 into two separate Acts, The Government of India Act,1935, having 321 sections and 10 schedules. The Government of Burma Act,1935, having 159 sections and 6 schedules, references in literature on Indian political and constitutional history are usually to the shortened Government of India Act,1935, rather than to the text of the Act as originally enacted. The parts of the Act intended to establish the Federation of India never came into operation, the remaining parts of the Act came into force in 1937, when the first elections under the act were also held. Indians had increasingly been demanding a role in the government of their country since the late 19th century. That Act introduced a system of government known as provincial diarchy. The intention had been that a review of Indias constitutional arrangements, however, division between Congress and Muslim representatives proved to be a major factor in preventing agreement as to much of the important detail of how federation would work in practice. Against this practice, the new Conservative-dominated National Government in London decided to go ahead with drafting its own proposals, a joint parliamentary select committee, chaired by Lord Linlithgow, reviewed the white paper proposals at great length. On the basis of this paper, the Government of India Bill was framed. At the committee stage and later, to appease the diehards, the safeguards were strengthened, the bill duly passed into law in August 1935. The diarchy system included a list of subjects reserved by the British Government, the British had complete control over the reserved subjects and could exert special powers into the transferred subjects. The Reserved subjects were, Taxation, Revenue, Foreign Relations/Policies, Justice department, Police, Power Resources, the Transferred Subjects included, Forest Department, Local Government, Education, Public Health and Social Welfare. Indian demands were by now centering on British India achieving constitutional parity with the existing Dominions which would have meant complete autonomy within the British Commonwealth. A different approach was considered by some, though, as the draft constitution in the Nehru Report included such a bill of rights. In 1947, relatively few amendments in the Act made it the functioning interim constitutions of India and he must have tact, courage, and ability and be endowed with an infinite capacity for hard work. “We have put into this Bill many safeguards, ” said Sir Robert Horne… “but all of those safeguards revolve about an individual. He is the linch-pin of the whole system…, if the Viceroy fails, nothing can save the system you have set up. ”However, doing so without good reason would totally sink their credibility with groups in India whose support the act was aimed at securing. Some contrasting views, “In the federal government… the semblance of government is presented. ”Lord Lothian, in a talk lasting forty-five minutes, came straight out with his view on the Bill
Government of India Act 1935
27.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
Delhi
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From top clockwise:
Lotus temple,
Humayun's Tomb,
Connaught Place,
Akshardham temple and
India Gate.
Delhi
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The ancient
Yogmaya Temple, claimed to be one of the five temples of the Mahabharata era in Delhi.
Delhi
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The
iron pillar of Delhi, is said to have been fashioned at the time of
Chandragupta Vikramaditya (375–413) of the
Gupta Empire.
28.
Princely state
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A princely state, also called native state or Indian state, was a nominally sovereign monarchy under a local or regional ruler in a subsidiary alliance with a greater power. At the time of the British withdrawal,565 princely states were recognised in the Indian subcontinent, apart from thousands of zamindaris. Rulers of salute states entitled to a gun salute of eleven guns and above received from the British the style of Highness, while the Nizam of Hyderabad had the unique style of Exalted Highness. At the other end of the scale, the principality of Lawa covered an area of 49 km2, or smaller than Bermuda. Some two hundred of the states had an area of less than 25 km2. The era of the princely states effectively ended with Indian independence in 1947, by 1950, almost all of the principalities had acceded to either India or Pakistan – thirteen to Pakistan and the rest to India. During this time, the princely states were merged into unions, each of which was headed by a former ruling prince with the title of Rajpramukh. In 1956, the position of Rajpramukh was abolished and the federations dissolved, the Indian Government formally derecognised the princely families in 1971, followed by the Government of Pakistan in 1972. The widespread expansion of Islam during this time brought many principalities into tributary relations with Islamic sultanates, notably the Delhi Sultanate, in the south, however, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire remained dominant until the mid-17th century, among its tributaries was the future Mysore Kingdom. The Turco-Mongol Mughal Empire brought a majority of the existing Indian kingdoms and principalities under its suzerainty by the 17th century, beginning with its foundation in the early 16th century. The advent of Sikhism resulted in the creation of the Sikh Empire in the north by the early 18th century, at the same time, the Marathas carved out their own states to form the Maratha Empire. Through the 18th century, former Mughal governors formed their own independent states, India under the British Raj consisted of two types of territory, British India and the Native states or Princely states. In general the term British India had been used also to refer to the regions under the rule of the East India Company in India from 1774 to 1858, the term has also been used to refer to the British in India. More prestigious Hindu rulers often used the title Raja, Raje or a variant such as Rana, Rao, also in this class were several Thakurs or Thakores and a few particular titles, such as Sardar, Mankari, Deshmukh, Sar Desai, Raja Inamdar, Saranjamdar. The most prestigious Hindu rulers usually had the prefix maha in their titles, as in Maharaja, Maharana, Maharao, etc. The states of Travancore and Cochin had queens regnant styled Maharani, generally the female forms applied only to sisters, spouses and widows, there were also compound titles, such as rajadhiraj, Raj-i-rajgan, often relics from an elaborate system of hierarchical titles under the Mughal emperors. For example, the addition of the adjective Bahadur raised the status of the one level. Furthermore, most dynasties used a variety of titles, such as Varma in South India
Princely state
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Imperial entities of India
Princely state
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His Highness Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sena Khas Khel Shamsher Bahadur GCSI, GCIE, KIH (21-gun salute) – the Maratha Maharaja of Baroda
Princely state
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An 1895 group photograph of the eleven-year-old
Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, ruler of the
princely state of Mysore in
South India, with his brothers and sisters. In 1799, his grandfather, then aged five, had been granted dominion of Mysore by the British and forced into a
subsidiary alliance. The British later directly governed the state between 1831 and 1881.
Princely state
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The Govindgarh Palace of the Maharaja of
Rewa. The palace which was built as a hunting lodge later became famous for the first
white tigers that were found in the adjacent jungle and raised in the palace zoo.
29.
Chamber of Princes
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It survived until the end of the British Raj in 1947. The Chamber of Princes was established in 1920, by King-Emperor George Vs proclamation on 23 December 1919, the creation of the chamber followed the abandonment by the British of their long-established policy of isolating the Indian rulers from each other and also from the rest of the world. The Chamber first met on 8 February 1921 and initially consisted of 120 members, of those,108 from the more significant states were members in their own right, while the remaining twelve seats were for the representation of a further 127 states. That left 327 minor states, which were unrepresented, also, some of the more important rulers like the Maratha ruled states of Baroda State, Gwalior state and Holkar State declined to join it. The Chamber of Princes usually met only once a year, with the Viceroy of India presiding, the full Chamber elected from its princely ranks a permanent officer styled the Chancellor, who chaired the Standing Committee. The chamber convened at Sansad Bhavan, the hall is used as parliaments library today. Durbar List of Indian princely states Salute state S. M. Verma, Chamber of Princes, 1921-1947 at Google Books. ISBN 81-85135-44-4 Proceedings of the Meetings of the Chamber of Princes Held at New Delhi on 14 and 15 October 1943 at Google Books R. P. Bhargava, The Chamber of Princes ISBN 81-7211-005-7 Barbara N
Chamber of Princes
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Lord Mountbatten addressing the Chamber of Princes as Crown Representative in the 1940s
Chamber of Princes
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Chamber of Princes meeting in March 1941
Chamber of Princes
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Map of British-ruled India with the princely states coloured in yellow
30.
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
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He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1925 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. From 1941 to 1946, he served as British Ambassador in Washington, Halifax was born into a Yorkshire family, the fourth son of Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax. He and his siblings were all sickly, his three brothers died young, leaving him as heir to his fathers fortune and seat in the House of Lords. He was born with no left hand and a left arm. That, and his religiosity as a devout Anglo-Catholic like his father, in 2009, the familys roots were traced back to the Viking warrior, Magnus Irwinsson, who arrived in England in 1066 with the army of Harold Hardrada. Woods childhood was divided mainly between two houses in Yorkshire, Hickleton Hall, near Doncaster, and Garrowby and he was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, then became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. In 1910 he was elected Member of Parliament for Ripon, holding the seat until his elevation to the Lords in 1925. In 1918, he and George Ambrose Lloyd wrote The Great Opportunity and he held this position until 1924, when he was apparently equally undistinguished as Minister for Agriculture under Stanley Baldwin. Woods career had become bogged down. Wood was Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931, proposed in 1925 at the suggestion of King George V, created Baron Irwin, he arrived in Bombay on 1 April 1926, hoping to improve Anglo-Indian relations and calm interfaith tensions in the country. His rule was marked by a period of political turmoil. He had all the Congress leaders put behind bars and then opened negotiations with Gandhi, some criticism of Irwin may have been unfair, but he had made an error and the consequences were serious and unrest grew. Irwins attempts to mediate with Indian leaders were stymied by Londons refusal to make concessions, Gandhis detention, however, only made matters worse. The fortnight-long discussions resulted in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, after which the Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended, the agreement between Gandhi and Irwin was signed on 5 March 1931. The salient points were, The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference. The Government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb the Congress, the Government would withdraw all prosecutions relating to offences not involving violence. The Government would release all persons serving sentences of imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience movement and it was also agreed that Gandhi would join the Second Round Table Conference as the sole representative of the Congress. On 20 March 1931, Irwin paid tribute to Gandhis honesty, sincerity, a month following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Lord Irwins term ended and he left India
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
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The Earl of Halifax in 1947
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
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Lord Halifax with
Hermann Göring at
Schorfheide, Germany, 20 November 1937.
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
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Adolf Hitler greets British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain on the steps of the Berghof, 15 September 1938 during the crisis over Czechoslovakia.
Joachim von Ribbentrop stands on the right.
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
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Lord Halifax in the middle (behind a seated
Franklin D. Roosevelt) as a member of the
Pacific War Council.
31.
Governor-General of India
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The office was created 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, complete authority over all of British India was granted in 1833, and the official came to be known as the Governor-General of India. In 1858, the territories of the East India Company came under the control of the British government. The governor-general headed the government of India, which administered the provinces of British India, including the Punjab, Bengal, Bombay, Madras, the United Provinces. To reflect the role as the representative of the monarch to the feudal rulers of the princely states, from 1858 the term Viceroy. Until 1858, the governor-general was selected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company, after 1947, the sovereign continued to appoint the governor-general, but did so on the advice of the Indian government. Governors-General served at the pleasure of the sovereign, though the practice was to have them serve five-year terms, Governors-General could have their commission rescinded and if one were removed or left a provisional governor-general was sometimes appointed until a new holder of the office could be chosen. Provisional governors-general were often chosen from among the provincial governors, many parts of the Indian subcontinent were governed by the East India Company, which nominally acted as the agent of the Mughal Emperor. In 1773, motivated by corruption in the Company, the British government assumed control over the governance of India with the passage of the Regulating Act of 1773. A Governor-General and Supreme Council of Bengal were appointed to rule over the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, the first Governor-General and Council were named in the Act, their successors were to be elected by the East India Companys Court of Directors. The Act provided for a term for the Governor-General and Council. The Charter Act 1833 replaced the Governor-General and Council of Fort William with the Governor-General, the power to elect the Governor-General was retained by the Court of Directors, but the choice became subject to the Sovereigns approval. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the East India Companys territories in India were put under the control of the Sovereign. The Government of India Act 1858 vested the power to appoint the Governor-General in the Sovereign, the Governor-General, in turn, had the power to appoint all lieutenant governors in India, subject to the Sovereigns approval. India and Pakistan acquired independence in 1947, but Governors-General continued to be appointed over each nation until republican constitutions were written, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma remained Governor-General of India for some time after independence, but the two nations were otherwise headed by native Governors-General. India became a republic in 1950, Pakistan became an Islamic one in 1956. The Governor-General originally had power only over the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, the Regulating Act, however, granted them additional powers relating to foreign affairs and defence. The powers of the Governor-General in respect of foreign affairs were increased by the India Act 1784, while the Governor-General thus became the controller of foreign policy in India, he was not the explicit head of British India
Governor-General of India
–
C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
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Standard of the Governor-General
Governor-General of India
–
Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of
Fort William from 1773 to 1785.
Governor-General of India
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Lord Curzon in his robes as Viceroy of India, a post he held from 1899–1905.
32.
Parliament of India
–
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. The Parliament is composed of the President of India and the houses and it is bicameral with two houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The President in his role as head of legislature has powers to summon. The president can exercise these powers only upon the advice of the Prime Minister and those elected or nominated to either house of Parliament are referred to as members of parliament. The Parliament meets at Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, the Sansad Bhavan is located in New Delhi. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who were responsible for planning, the construction of buildings took six years and the opening ceremony was performed on 18 January 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Irwin. The construction costs for the building were ₹8.3 million, the parliament is 560 feet in diameter and covers an area of 6 acres. The Central hall consists of the chambers of Lok sabha, Rajya Sabha, surrounding these three chambers is the four storied circular structure providing accommodations for members and houses Parliamentary committees, offices and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. A new Parliament building may replace the existing complex, the new building is being considered on account of the stability concerns regarding the current complex. A committee to suggest alternatives to the current building has been set up by the Ex, the present building, an 85-year-old structure suffers from inadequacy of space to house members and their staff and is thought to suffer from structural issues. The building also needs to be protected because of its heritage tag, the Indian Parliament consists of two houses called the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha with the President of India acting as their head. The President of India, the Head of state is a component of Parliament, the President of India is elected by the members of Parliament of India and the state legislatures and serves for a term of five years. Lok Sabha or the house has 545 members. It has a term of five years, Rajya Sabha or the upper house is a permanent body not subject to dissolution. One third of the members every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years and its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the states. The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members and it currently has a sanctioned strength of 245 members, of which 233 are elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President. The number of members from a state depends on its population, the minimum age for a person to become a member of Rajya Sabha is 30 years
Parliament of India
Parliament of India
–
Indian Parliament Bhāratīya Sansada भारतीय संसद
Parliament of India
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Parliament of India
Parliament of India
33.
George V of the United Kingdom
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
George V of the United Kingdom
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Coronation portrait by
Sir Luke Fildes, 1911
George V of the United Kingdom
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George as a young boy, 1870
George V of the United Kingdom
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George, 1893
George V of the United Kingdom
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York Cottage at
Sandringham House: George and his wife lived here from 1893 to 1926.
34.
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the British Army, where he served for some 40 years, seeing service in various parts of the British Empire. During this time he was created a royal duke, becoming the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. In 1911, he was appointed as Governor General of Canada and he occupied this post until being succeeded by the Duke of Devonshire in 1916. After the end of his tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and there, as well as in India, performed various royal duties. Though he retired from life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War. He was Queen Victorias last surviving son, Arthur was born at Buckingham Palace on 1 May 1850, the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The prince was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Bird Sumner, as with his older brothers, Arthur received his early education from private tutors. It was reported that he became the Queens favourite child, following his arrival at Halifax, Arthur toured the country for eight weeks and made a visit in January 1870 to Washington, D. C. where he met with President Ulysses S. Grant. Arthur made an impression on many in Canada, as he became the 51st chief on the council, his appointment broke the centuries-old tradition that there should only be 50 chiefs of the Six Nations. Arthur was promoted to the rank of colonel on 14 June 1871, substantive lieutenant-colonel in 1876, colonel on 29 May 1880 and. He gained military experience as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army from December 1886 to March 1890 and he went on to be General Officer Commanding Southern District, at Portsmouth, from September 1890 to 1893. The Prince had hoped to succeed his first cousin once-removed, the elderly Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-chief of the British Army, upon the latters forced retirement in 1895. But this desire was denied to Arthur, and instead he was given, between 1893 and 1898, command of the Aldershot District Command, the regiment had recently been converted to the infantry role from the 2nd Battalion, 5th British Columbia Regiment of Canadian Artillery. With the Princes agreement the unit was renamed 6th Regiment, Duke of Connaughts Own Rifles on 1 May 1900 and he was subsequently appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment, then known as The British Columbia Regiment, in 1923. He held that appointment until his death, on his mothers birthday in 1874, Arthur was created a royal peer, being titled as the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex. Through his childrens marriages, Arthur became the father-in-law of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, arthurs first two children predeceased him, Margaret while pregnant with his sixth grandchild. For many years, Arthur maintained a liaison with Leonie, Lady Leslie, sister of Jennie Churchill, alongside his military career, he continued to undertake royal duties beyond, or vaguely associated with, the army. On the return from a posting in India, he again and he also toured Canada in 1906
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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Prince Arthur in 1915
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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A painting of Queen Victoria with Prince Arthur by
Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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The Duke wearing the
Highland dress of an 18th-century
Scottish peer, c. 1875 – 1880
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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Prince Arthur wearing Masonic regalia.
35.
Indian general election, 1920
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General elections were held in British India in 1920 to elect members to the Imperial Legislative Council and the Provincial Councils. They were the first elections in the countrys history, for the upper chamber, the Council of State,24 of the 34 seats were contested, whilst five were reserved for Muslims, three for Whites, one for Sikhs and one for the United Provinces. The Parliament was opened by the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn on 9 February 1921, alongside the national elections there were also elections to 637 seats in Provincial Assemblies. Of these,440 were contested,188 had a candidate elected unopposed. Despite the calls by Mahatma Gandhi for a boycott of the elections, within the Provincial Assemblies 38 were reserved for White voters. Renouf Nominated from Provinces, B. C, saklatvala, Rahimtoola Currimbhoy, Vithaldas Thackersey, Manmohandas Ramji, S. C. Shahani Burma, F. McCarthy, Padamji Ginwala, Maung Maung Sin, J. C
Indian general election, 1920
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Republic of India
36.
Indian National Congress
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The Indian National Congress is one of two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress was founded in 1885 during the British Raj, its founders include Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, there have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru, and the most recent Manmohan Singh. The partys social liberal platform is considered to be on the centre-left of Indian politics. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of regional parties. As of March 2017, the party is in power in five states, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, in Bihar, it is a part of the ruling coalition. The Congress has previously directly ruled Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, in the 2014 general election, the Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543-member house. The party primarily endorses social liberalism—seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, the Congress was founded in 1885 by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, including Scotsman Allan Octavian Hume. It has been suggested that the idea was conceived in a meeting of 17 men after a Theosophical Convention held in Madras in December 1884. Hume took the initiative, and in March 1885 the first notice convening the first Indian National Union to meet in Poona the following December was issued. Its objective was to obtain a share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Poona, Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress, the first session was held from 28–31 December 1885, representing each province of India, the Partys delegates comprised 54 Hindus and 2 Muslims, the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds. It also included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mohammed Ali Jinnah—later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905. Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915, in 1923 following the deaths of policemen at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation. In protest, a number of leaders, Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, the Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress was split. Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, at the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj was declared as the partys goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as Purna Swaraj Diwas, Independence Day. The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, the British government allowed provincial elections in India in the winter of 1936–37 under the Government of India Act 1935
Indian National Congress
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A. O. Hume, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
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Indian National Congress भारतीय राष्ट्रीय काँग्रेस
Indian National Congress
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First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885
Indian National Congress
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Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s
37.
Motilal Nehru
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He was the founder patriarch of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Motilal Nehru was born on May 6,1861, the son of Gangadhar Nehru. The Nehru family had settled for several generations in Delhi. During Indias independence struggle of 1857, Gangadhar left Delhi with his family and moved to Agra, by some accounts, the Nehru family home in Delhi had been looted and burnt down during the Mutiny. In Agra, Gangadhar quickly arranged the weddings of his two daughters, Patrani and Maharani, into suitable Kashmiri Brahmin families and he died in February 1861 and his youngest child, Motilal, was born three months later. At this time, Motilals two older brothers, Bansidhar Nehru and Nandlal Nehru, were nineteen and sixteen years old respectively. Since the family had lost nearly all its assets in the upheaval of 1857, Jeorani turned to her brother, Amarnath Zutshi of Bazaar Sitaram in old Delhi, for support until her sons could begin earning. She did receive support from him, but all of Delhi had suffered hugely during the recent mutiny. Within a couple of years, Nandlal secured a job as a scribe in the court of a Raja of Khetri, thus, Motilal came to spend his childhood in Khetri, second largest thikana within the princely state of Jaipur, now in Rajasthan. His elder brother, Nandlal gained the favour of Raja Fateh Singh of Khetri, who was the age as him. In 1870, Fateh Singh died childless and was succeeded by a distant cousin, Nandlal left Khetri for Agra and found that his prior career at Khetri equipped him to advise litigants regarding their legal suits. Once he realised this, he exhibited his industry and resilience again by studying for and he then began practising law at the provincial High Court at Agra. Subsequently, the High Court shifted base to Allahabad, and the moved to that city. Thus began the association with Allahabad, which many people mistakenly believe is the city from where the Nehru family hails. Thanks to the success and generosity of Nandlal, the fatherless Motilal received an excellent. Indeed, the far-sighted Nandlal ensured that his brother became among the earliest Indians to receive a Western-style college education. Motilal passed the examination from Kanpur, and went on to attend Muir Central College at Allahabad. He later qualified as Bar at law from University of Cambridge, Motilal passed the lawyer examination in 1883 and began practising as a lawyer at Kanpur
Motilal Nehru
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Pandit Motilal Nehru
