Changes

Before 1800, land rights and economic relations between rural Indians had been based on social relations of caste and dependence. By introducing a land tax system founded on modern concepts of property and contract, then by encouraging the development of commercial agriculture, the British unleashed a process of economic and social change in the countryside, consolidating the domination of large landlords and peasant elites. However, the increase in population, the growing rarity of land, and the stagnation of agricultural methods exposed the colony to the risk of catastrophic famines right into the early 20th century, despite favorable agricultural prices.  

Before 1800, land rights and economic relations between rural Indians had been based on social relations of caste and dependence. By introducing a land tax system founded on modern concepts of property and contract, then by encouraging the development of commercial agriculture, the British unleashed a process of economic and social change in the countryside, consolidating the domination of large landlords and peasant elites. However, the increase in population, the growing rarity of land, and the stagnation of agricultural methods exposed the colony to the risk of catastrophic famines right into the early 20th century, despite favorable agricultural prices.  

==Expelling the British==

==Expelling the British==

The Amritsar massacre of 1919 sounded the death knell of the British colonial adventure. Agrarian resistance and revolt were chronic during the colonial period, and began taking a modern turn in the 1920s when peasants, led by Gandhi, began manifesting their discontent in the context of political demands made by the nationalist intelligentsia, progressively transforming the emancipation movement into an unstoppable mass movement. At the same time the British lost interest in India, seeing it more as a burden than a glory.<Ref> [[Winton Churchill]] in the 1930s argued that the Empire should tighten its hold on India, but found little support..</ref>

The roots of the Indian nationalist movement date back to the 1870s, leading to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The decolonization movement began in 1919. The year 1919 was one of serious incidents, notably the Amritsar massacre, which marked a point of no return in the history of British India. From that moment onward, the colonial government had to face a nationalist opposition capable of coordinating mass agitation. The noncooperation movement of 1920-22 and the civil disobedience of 1930-34 demonstrated the growing scope of anti-British mobilization in India. In an attempt to stabilize the situation, London granted a more liberal constitution in 1935, which notably reinforced provincial autonomy. But the Congress Party took advantage of this move to form governments in eight provinces, thereby consolidating its political foothold.  

Beginning in 1920, Indian leader [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]] transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party used both parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation to agitate for independence. During this period, however, millions of Indians served with honor and distinction in the British armed forces, including service in both World Wars and countless other overseas actions in service of the Empire.  

The Amritsar massacre of 1919 sounded the death knell of the British colonial adventure. Agrarian resistance and revolt were chronic during the colonial period, and began taking a modern turn in the 1920s when peasants, led by [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]], began manifesting their discontent in the context of political demands made by the nationalist intelligentsia, progressively transforming the emancipation movement into an unstoppable mass movement. At the same time the British lost interest in India, seeing it more as a burden than a glory.<Ref> [[Winston Churchill]] in the 1930s argued that the Empire should tighten its hold on India, but found little support..</ref>

 

Beginning in 1920, Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party used both parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation to agitate for independence.  

 

 

The history of the Hindu family in India was shaped by Hindu. The reference model is the "Hindu joint family," which primarily represents a ritual and patrimonial unit centered on the values of sacrifice and debt. In practice this domestic organization is found most often among wealthier farming castes and within merchant communities, whereas the lower classes tend to live in conjugal-type families of husband-wife-and-children. Since the 19th century, the family has been the object of numerous legal reforms. Since the 1990s rapid economic growth and the attention focused on the rising status of women, together with high demographic growth rates, placed the institution of the family at the center of tensions, straining India's social fabric.

During the First World War (1914-18) millions of Indians had served with honor and distinction in the British armed forces. During the Second World War (1939-45)  there was far less volunteering. Although Britain used India as a base for its war in Burma, it was a minor front. Gandhi and Nehru led a programme of passive resistance, meaning refusal to help the British war effort. In response the British withdrew commercial shipping, diverting it to the war effort.  Major famines swept India during the war, killing millions. Neither the British government nor the Congress shadow government moved to alleviate the famine.

 

With Indians increasingly united in their quest for independence, a war-weary Britain led by Labour Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]] began in earnest to plan for the end of its suzerainty in India. On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth, with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] as Prime Minister. Strategic colonial considerations, as well as political tensions between Hindus and Muslims, led the British to partition British India into two separate states: India, with a Hindu majority; and [[Pakistan]], which consisted of two "wings," East and West Pakistan--currently Bangladesh and Pakistan--with Muslim majorities. Absent the British army, there was risk of major violent confrontations between Moslems and Hindus. When the British left in 1947 massive communal violence erupted that killed millions of people, created tens of millions of refugees and left permanent hatreds and fears.

===Congress rules===

===Congress rules===

After independence, the Indian National Congress, the party of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, ruled India under the leadership first of Nehru and then his daughter ([[Indira Gandhi]]) and grandson ([[Rajiv Gandhi]]), with the exception of brief periods in the 1970s and 1980s, during a short period in 1996, and the period from 1998-2004, when a coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party governed.  

After independence, the Indian National Congress, the party of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, ruled India under the leadership first of Nehru and then his daughter ([[Indira Gandhi]]) and grandson ([[Rajiv Gandhi]]), with the exception of brief periods in the 1970s and 1980s, during a short period in 1996, and the period from 1998-2004, when a coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party governed.