Pakistan History: The Raj Era (1858-1909)
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The Raj Era (1858-1909
The Sepoy Rebellion, or Indian Mutiny — the culmination of grow- ing resentment and anger toward the British and their policies — marked a turning point in the subcontinent's history In its aftermath the British Crown dissolved the EIC and assumed direct control over Indian territories. This ushered in the era referred to as the Raj. Under colonial rule the British attempted to introduce some forms of democratic institutions while simultaneously denying the people of the subcontinent any meaningful representation in the government. The Raj was also the period when seeds of an independent Pakistan were sown. Upper-class Muslims were living in economic and political isola- tion due to British perception of their support for the Sepoy Rebellion. Concurrently nationalist sentiment grew throughout the region and coalesced in 1885 in the foundation of a united independence move- ment led by the Indian National Congress. As the independence move- ment grew, so did divisions between Hindus and Muslims. A call for a separate Muslim state was heard, along with the rising demand for the subcontinent's independence from Britain, exemplified by the forma- tion of the Muslim League. In 1909 Muslims gained a greater voice with the Government of India Act, also known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, marking a crucial juncture in Pakistan's history.
The Sepoy Rebellion
British control over the subcontinent had grown incrementally. The patchwork of states and fiefdoms that comprised the subcontinent's political landscape enabled the British to pursue a divide-and-conquer strategy, pitting ruler against ruler and lord against his subjects. It also allowed the British to rely on Indian troops for the great majority of its military force in the region, a weapon that played an important role in establishing Britain's rule. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the sub-continent and its history of internal warfare minimized the potential for the indigenous population to unite against the British. But a confluence of events finally ignited anti-British sentiment across the subcontinent, leading to sufficient unity against the British and thus the outbreak of the Sepoy Rebellion in 1858.
Roots of Rebellion
Britain's Indian troops, called sepoys, were divided into three main armies, headquartered in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. The soldiers had been periodically restive since the beginning of the century. The Madras army had revolted in 1806 in Vellore, in what is now southern India, after changes in dress code that offended native religious sensibilities were instituted. Hats made of leather, a material forbidden to Hindus, who venerate cattle, were issued to the troops for headgear, while Muslims were required to shave their beards and trim their mustaches. The Bengal army, which had many high-caste Hindu troops, mutinied four times between 1843 and 1856 over a variety of grievances. During the 1840s, the British led troops from Bengal into newly annexed Sind and Punjab. But high-caste Hindu troops objected to crossing the Indus River, since this crossing traditionally resulted in a loss of caste. The sepoys also chaffed at the gradual loss of their overseas allowances, paid for serving across borders; the extra pay provided important financial support for their families while soldiers were away on duty. As more previously foreign territories were annexed, the sepoys increasingly served within their own borders, no matter how far from home their mission. And there were some theaters of operation — for example Burma, with its unpleasant jungles — where sepoys simply did not want to serve.
Numerous other causes for complaint existed. British officers often made a conscious effort to evince their own superiority, while humili- ating local soldiers. And the Crimean War (1853-56), which pitted France, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire against Russia, had decimated the ranks of seasoned British officers, leaving less experienced and capable commanders in their place. At the same time, the British army's requirement that new officers study the native languages were dropped, further distancing British officers from Indian troops.
In February 1856 Charles Canning, first earl Canning (r. 1856-62), replaced Lord Dalhousie as governor-general of India. The hard-line policies Lord Dalhousie had championed — "lapse" and "paramountcy" annexation, and economic exploitation — had helped sow the seeds of anger and discontent that drove the Sepoy Rebellion. That same year the British instituted a mandatory deployment policy that required troops to serve wherever ordered in the empire; it was aimed at troops refusing to serve in Burma. Other military policies perceived by sepoys as anti-Hindu were also announced.
"Biting the Bullet"
In January 1857 the British gave Indian troops cartridges for their newly issued Enfield rifles. Sepoys had been taught to bite the tips of the cartridges before loading to prepare them for firing. Muslims thought the grease on the cartridges tasted of forbidden pork fat, while, to the Hindus, the grease smelled of cattle, which were sacred to them. Soldiers at Dum Dum, near Calcutta, refused to use the cartridges. Soon the resistance spread. Though animal fat was indeed used as lubrication, the British denied the fact and attempted to force use of the bullets. The British command surrounded groups of sepoys with British artillery and ordered them to "bite the bullet." Soldiers who refused — and most did — were immediately separated, stripped of their insignia, and dismissed without pay. They had to walk home to their villages, in some cases hundreds of miles away.
The British finally allowed soldiers to supply their own grease and rescinded the order that cartridges had to be bitten. But unrest among troops across northern India simmered. Fires of mysterious origin broke out on army bases. Some units mutinied, others were disbanded by the British to preclude uprisings. Oudh was a scene of particular restiveness, the result of a British-mandated inspection of landholdings, viewed by the indigenous population as a veiled effort to expropriate native property. EIC Resident Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806- 57) was dispatched to Oudh as part of the inspection and established a residency at its capital, Lucknow, in March.
Rebellion Begins
At Meerut, in north central India, 85 soldiers had been incarcerated earlier for refusing to bite the bullet. On May 10, 1857, while the British officers were in church, the sepoys revolted, freeing their imprisoned comrades. After killing several officers they marched to Delhi, 30 miles (48 km) south, where they were met by other Indian troops who joined the insurrection. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II (r. 1838-58), was then 82 years old, and his authority was limited by the British and largely confined to Delhi, but he was the one figure behind whom both Muslim and Hindu could unite. The rebellious troops asked Bahadur Shah II to lead a campaign for restoration of Mughal rule, and he agreed. With most of the European forces off fighting the Crimean and Persian wars (the latter fought with Persia over Afghanistan in 1856-57), their ranks between Bengal and Meerut were thinned, and the British began disarming native troops. Lucknow, Agra (in north central India), Lahore, Peshawar, and Mardan (in what is now the NWFP) were among the places were the sepoys were relieved of their weapons.
On May 13, 3,600 Indian troops were disarmed in Lahore and put under the guard of 400 Europeans, augmented by Sikh troops. The Sikhs had suffered defeats in the two Sikh wars at the hands of British- led Indian troops, so they had little sympathy or fondness for either the Indian troops or the Mughal emperor the troops supported. Meanwhile, British interception of sepoy mail revealed that troops were communi- cating with followers of Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, the late revolutionary Islamist, in Swat and Sithana (in north central India), and that the Sithana revolutionaries in turn were in communication with mutineers in Bengal. In response the British sent the Bengal Native Infantry across the subcontinent to the edge of the tribal area, where they would have more difficulty inciting or drawing support from locals. Still, the revolt expanded and by late May had spread as far as Bombay. The Corps of Guides, made up of Indian troops loyal to the British, was dispatched to meet and reinforce the British forces in the Delhi area. A few weeks later some Indian soldiers at Mardan and Nowshera (in today's NWFP) refused orders. Both forces were disarmed, an action some British offi- cers strongly opposed, feeling the loyalty of all the troops had been unfairly maligned by the actions of a few. Some of these British officers gave up their own swords and spurs in protest. Two of the deserting Mardan sepoys were captured in the Hazara District in the frontier region a few weeks later. On June 13, they were blown from the mouths of cannons as an example before a large assembly.
Most of the Mardan troops were eventually executed. The north area now seemed secure. Sir John Lawrence (1811-79), chief commissioner of Punjab and brother of Sir Henry Lawrence, considered asking Dost Mohammed Khan, ruler of Afghanistan (r. 1818-39, 1843-63), to take control of Peshawar, which would have freed the Europeans to go to Delhi. But the senior officers felt the British would lose face by request- ing such help. Lord Canning agreed, sending an urgent message on the new telegraph line that instructed the British commander to hold Peshawar at all costs. The British, meanwhile, had taken to keeping pistols by their sides at mealtime and in church.
Rebellion Spreads
In Lucknow, which was the center of the rebellion, the Europeans had been besieged since early June, as they were in Kanpur, on the Ganges in north central India. On July 16 some 400 European residents of Kanpur, promised safe passage downriver, were instead shot and hacked to death in a spasm of violence. British troops recaptured the city the following day.
In July 1857 mutinies broke out in Sialkot and Jhelum in Punjab and in other cities. On July 30, a violent dust storm swept Lahore, where the 26th Native Infantry had been under detention for three months. During the storm the British commander was killed, and the incarcer- ated troops were liberated. Most fled, and the few who remained were killed by the British, as were those who surrendered the following day. Some 500 sepoys were executed within two days. Others were sent to Lahore and executed by cannon fire. Sir John Lawrence and Robert Montgomery (1809-87), lieutenant-governor of Punjab, commended the executions. Still the revolt spread. A British attempt to retake Lucknow was unsuccessful, and the revolt continued through the fall.
The rebels' most able military leader was Lakshmibai (ca. 1828-58), the queen, or rani, of Jhansi, a Maratha state in North India. Sir Hugh Rose (1801-85), British army field marshal, considered her the most dangerous of all rebel leaders due to her bravery, cleverness, and perse- verance. She died in battle against Sir Hugh's forces at Gwalior in north central India, ending her threat.
The decisive battle of the insurrection was waged at Kanpur, scene of the massacre of British citizens the previous December. The British, led by Commander-in-Chief Colin Campbell (1792-1863), defeated Tantia Topi (1814-59), commander of the rebel forces. Following the victory, the British razed villages in retribution for the slaughter.
The End of the Revolt
Fighting continued into 1858, but the rebellion failed, and with it the last hope to drive out the foreign interlopers from the subcontinent. On July 8, 1858, Lord Canning proclaimed peace. The subcontinent was left in chaos. Several factors contributed to the revolt's failure. There was no central command. The spontaneous eruption of hatred and anger, powerful though it was, had no organization or coordinated way to channel its energy. The insurrectionists failed to mount any form of guerrilla warfare. What leaders they had were dethroned princes eager for return to old feudal ways, rather than enlightened figures with a progressive vision. Moreover, the Westernized, educated classes supported the British. And unity was elusive, with some rebels seek- ing restoration of Mughal power, while others wanted a return of the Marathas' authority.
The British took swift steps to punish those they held responsible and to reassert the rule of law. Tantia Topi was captured and hanged in April 1859. Emperor Bahadur Shah II was tried and exiled to Burma. His sons had already been killed by the British.
The Sepoy Mutiny was especially disastrous for British India's Muslim community. The British assigned them the brunt of the blame for the uprising, and subsequently limited opportunities for advance- ment to Muslims that Hindus of the subcontinent enjoyed, widening the chasm between the two societies. A decade after the rebellion, British Orientalist William Wilson Hunter (1840-1900) stated:
There is no use shutting our ears to the fact that the Indian Muhammedans arraign us on a list of charges as serious as have ever been brought against a government . . .They accuse us of having closed every honourable walk of life to the professors of their creed. They accuse us of having introduced a system of education which leaves their whole community unprovided for, and which landed it in contempt and beggary.They accuse us of having brought misery into thousands of families by abolishing their law officers, who gave the sanction of religion to marriage, and who from time immemorial have been the depositories and administrators of the Domestic Law of Islam. They accuse us of imperiling their soul by denying them the means of per- forming the duties of their faith. Above all, they charge us with deliberate malversation of their religious foundations, and with misappropriation on the largest scale of their education funds (Hunter 969, 145).
Government of India Act of 1858
In the aftermath of the uprising the British reexamined their policies toward their colonies. The insurrection was blamed on misrule by the EIC, and the British government was now determined to take charge of the EIC's management and operations. The British parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1858, creating the position of secretary of state for India to whom the governor-general of India would report. Previously, the governor-general was under indirect British government control, which made it easier for EIC directors and agents to ignore the government's wishes. Henceforth, the governor general, while retaining this title, was also now known as viceroy, and considered a representa- tive of the British monarch. The act also created councils to draft and pass laws with the viceroy's approval. The governor-general's coun- cil was composed of an executive council, which proposed laws for British-held areas, and a legislative council, which enacted them. These councils were mirrored at the provincial level and were to include Indians appointed by the viceroy's office.
The act vested the British monarch with ultimate authority over the subcontinent's states and Parliament with responsibility for dictating their policies. But the viceroys exercised a high degree of independence in establishing the tone of their administrations. They would retain their role as the titular heads of the subcontinent until its independence in 1947.
Lord Canning
Charles John Canning, first earl Canning, who had become governor- general in 1856, retained his post and became the first viceroy (r. 1858- 62). The military was among the first institutions he reformed in the wake of the strife. Lord Canning disbanded the Bengal Army, number- ing more than 100,000 soldiers (a lakh in the traditional Indian num- bering system), most from what is now Uttar Pradesh in north central India, and many of them Muslim. Loyal Sikhs, Rajputs, and Gurkhas (an ethnic group from Nepal and North India) were enlisted in their place. The percentage of British personnel in the army was increased, and the proportion of high-caste Hindus decreased. Only British troops manned artillery. Though all officers were British, a viceroy's commis- sion for native recruits introduced three ranks: jemadar, subedar, and subedar major. These junior officer ranks gave prestige to locals and enabled a better chain of command from officers to troops.
Lord Canning promoted a policy labeled conciliation, aimed at fos- tering good relations with leading princes and feudal aristocrats. By restoring their feudal authority he hoped these proxy powers, by their local connection and history, would keep their subjects in check. Even rulers of tribes participating in the revolt were restored to power. Lord Canning also reversed Dalhousie's efforts to appropriate feudal prin- cipalities. The Right of Adoption was restored, allowing feudal rulers without natural heirs to adopt one in order to preserve their kingdoms after death.
The conciliatory policy of feudal appeasement the British pursued in the aftermath of the revolt did not extend to Punjab. The British viewed
Punjab's feudal rulers, most of them Hindu, as obstacles to social progress, contributing little, taking more than their share in taxes, and short-changing the British on their due. The British wanted to levy taxes directly on peasants and eliminate the feudal landlords altogether. As a result, they gave preference to small landlords in determining the outcome of land ownership disputes, and rather than improving relations with the land barons in Punjab, the British curtailed their power. Peasants working the land, primarily Muslims, sold their crops to merchants, who, like the feudal lords, were mostly Hindu. Freed of the rulers' heavy hand, the economy expanded. By the 1870s Hindu merchants and other businessmen were developing into a middle class in Punjab. Mostly composed of members of lower castes, this emerging class sought Western education as a way to better themselves, a path eschewed by Muslims. Muslims, already blamed for the revolt, found themselves even further estranged from the mainstream of the subcon- tinent by a growing education gap.
Large numbers of insurrectionists were under detainment at the con- clusion of the revolt. In 1858 the British reopened the penal colony at Port Blair, in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, to house some of them. To appease the upper classes, the Indian Councils Act, passed in 1861, added more members to legislative councils in the provinces. Indians nominated for membership by the British were from the upper classes, chosen for their loyalty to the Crown. In reality the legislative councils had no authority over the executive council, which deter- mined policy. But it furthered the cause of reconciliation, demonstrat- ing Britain's desire to make at least cosmetic changes to its rule of the subcontinent. Also in 1861 the Indian Penal Code proposed by Thomas Babbington Macaulay (1800-59), based on the laws of England, was enacted, establishing high courts in major towns.
Lord Canning convened two durbars, or ceremonial gatherings, where loyal princes' rank and titles were affirmed, as was Britain's pledge not to annex their territories. At his second durbar Lord Canning read out Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858. Considered the first constitutional reform of the British government's control of India, the proclamation expressed a desire to better the lives of all on the subcontinent. It promised that the civil service would be open to all. However, in practice, high-level administrators selected in England served to exclude well-educated Indians from senior positions.
Lord Elgin
In 1862 James Bruce, eighth earl of Elgin, became the second viceroy (r. 1862-63). The British policy of alliances with the aristocracy had not completely pacified the population. Muslims chaffing at their treat- ment in the wake of the Sepoy Rebellion revolted in Punjab and in the frontier areas. The insurrection was an offshoot of the movement founded by followers of Islamic reformer Shah Waliullah, primarily his son and spiritual heir Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi, and Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi. Though Sayyid Barelwi and many of the leaders had been killed at the Battle of Balakat in 1831, the movement lived on, inspiring a new generation of Islamic holy warriors willing to battle the British. The unrest in the frontier lasted from 1858 to 1863, requiring four British expeditions — a total of 27,000 troops — to finally suppress the uprising.
Sir John Lawrence
After the reign of Lord Elgin, a pair of provisional viceroys were appointed in succession before Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence (r. 1864-69) was named viceroy. He had been the chief commissioner in Punjab following the 1857 revolt. Lawrence continued to improve the infrastructure sys- tem initiated by Lord Dalhousie in the 1850s, including large construc- tion projects to expand the railway and irrigation systems. Concern for public health led him to upgrade sanitation systems and water supplies. The Punjab and Oudh Tenancy Act was passed in 1868, which gave ten- ants ownership of lands they had lived on and cultivated for a requisite period of time. Yet with the many changes the British had wrought in the agricultural system, the subcontinent had still not recovered its ability to feed all its people. In 1866-67 a famine occurred in Orissa, the first in a series of famines over the next few decades. Sir Lawrence proposed supplying grain to those affected, but his council rejected the proposal on the grounds it would interfere with the laws of supply and demand. Moreover, council members felt it would be demeaning to offer charity to the population. Thus nothing was done, and almost one-quarter of Orissa's population starved. When a famine later occurred in Rajputana, Lawrence ignored his council's opinion and mounted a relief effort, which was credited with saving many lives.
Afghanistan still cast a large shadow over the area that is now Pakistan, even as British interest in this area grew. In 1863 Dost Mohammad Khan (b. 1793) had died, and Sher Ali Khan (1825-79), one of his sons, emerged as the ruler after defeating his brother; how- ever, his brothers continued trying to wrest leadership from him. Sher Ali asked Lawrence for help in securing the throne, but as the British had a policy of noninterference in the succession battle, he declined. Sher Ali was ousted in 1866, but regained control of Afghanistan in 1868, which he held to his death in 1879. Throughout the reign his hold on the throne was tenuous, and the memory of Britain's lack of support remained with him.
Lord Mayo
Sir John Lawrence was succeeded by Richard Southwell Bourke, sixth earl of Mayo (r. 1869-72). A major policy change he initiated transferred more control over finances to regional authorities, shift- ing decisionmaking to the provinces. At the regional level, budgetary needs could be more accurately gauged and spending more carefully monitored. Lord Mayo also initiated large public work programs for the construction of roads, railways, canals, and sanitation projects. The rails were becoming a key part of the subcontinent's landscape, draw- ing together the disparate regions. By 1870 rails connected Multan with Calcutta and Bombay. Railways played a key part in territorial dominance as well, allowing for the quick movement of military assets over large distances. When Russia, which was conquering territories to the north, built a rail link to the Oxus River, on Afghanistan's border, Britain responded by building a rail link to its frontier on the border SIR SAYYID AHMAD KHAN
Regarded as one of the fathers of Pakistan, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98) was one of the first to push for Muslim education and representation. After the Sepoy Rebellion he wrote forcefully on its causes, blaming British inability to understand Indian thinking for the violence. A visit to England convinced him the only path toward prog- ress for Muslims in India lay in Western education. He believed accom- modation with the British was in Muslims' best interests. Many Muslims were reluctant to have their sons educated at schools without Islamic teaching, and the subsequent lack of education kept many from pursuing career paths that provided opportunity for advancement. Ahmad Khan believed Western education was compatible with Islamic teachings. He was the driv- ing force behind the cre- ation of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (M.A.O.) College (later renamed Aligarh Muslim University), founded in 1875 in Aligarh in northern India. Khan made Arabic language and Islamic studies compulsory courses at M.A.O. The university fomented the thinking and shaped the minds of future leaders who would father an independent Pakistan. with Afghanistan. This further opened what is now Pakistan to British incursion and domination. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Karachi became Europe's closest Asian port, and sea trade increased in volume and importance.
In 1869, his first year in office, Lord Mayo traveled to Ambala in North India to meet with Sher Ali Khan, with whom relations had been strained since Britain's failure to help Sher secure the throne in Afghanistan. The earl also improved relations between Indian princes and the government. However, his efforts to impose an income tax, instituted in 1869, drew widespread opposition, and the tax was ulti- mately unsuccessful in generating projected revenues. He established the Department of Agriculture to boost agricultural production. And during his tenure Chiefs' Colleges, created to offer Western education to the sons of princes and chiefs, were founded in Lahore, Rajkot (in the present-day state of Gujarat in western India), and Ajmer (in modern- day Rajasthan state in northwest India). Lord Mayo also helped lay the groundwork for the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (M.A.O.) College, founded in Aligarh in 1875, shortly after his time as viceroy came to a premature end. The college, later renamed Aligarh Muslim University, was founded by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98), a leading Muslim reformer who believed that access to Western education was essential for Muslim progress in British India.
Lord Mayo also initiated prison administration reforms during his tenure. Paradoxically, he was stabbed and killed by a Pashtun pris- oner — a Muslim — at the prison colony in the Andaman Islands in 1872. The British incorrectly believed Muslims were bound by religion to resist British rule, and incidents such as this assassination reinforced this view.
Lord Northbrook
Two provisional viceroys succeeded Lord Mayo before Thomas George Baring, second baron Northbrook (r. 1872-76) was appointed viceroy. In the 1870s Baluchistan remained restive, with tribes throughout the area staging border raids on Punjab and Sind. During the previous decade, as part of their efforts to work with local rulers in the wake of the revolt of 1857, the British had encouraged the new khan of Kalat, Khodada Khan (r. 1857-63, 1864-93), then a teenager, to consider himself an absolute monarch. The British created a standing army for the young khan and with their blessing he had spent the intervening years in a failed attempt to establish his dominance over the tribes of Baluchistan. With Khodada Khan unable to control them, the British had then dispatched their agent Sir Robert Groves Sandeman (1835- 92) to negotiate with tribal leaders, paying the tribes to act as border guards. These payoffs reduced, but did not eliminate, raids, which con- tinued to vex border villages. The British had finally ceded the respon- sibility, again, to Khodada Khan, treating him as the ruler of the tribal lands and providing money to pay tribal leaders to cease their attacks. In a further effort to promote law and order, the frontier and other tribal areas in the region had been brought under jurisdiction of the Frontier Crimes Regulations in 1871. The laws it codified were different from those in force in the rest of the subcontinent; they included the stipula- tion that internal disputes would be settled by jirgas, or tribal councils of elders, while ceding British administrators ultimate authority over all matters. In 1876 Sandeman received a concession from Khodada Kahn to establish a frontier trading post at Quetta, a location that would give the British another access point to Afghanistan and control of the Bolan Pass. The khan also gave the British permission to post a resident in Kabul. Lord Northbrook unsuccessfully objected to the posting, assert- ing it would subject England to the risk of another war in Afghanistan, a conflict he believed would be both costly and unnecessary.
Lord Northbrook staunchly supported the development of busi- ness and commerce in the subcontinent. He abolished the unpopular income tax imposed under Lord Mayo and also sought to protect India's nascent textile industry. The British were intent on wringing as much revenue as possible from India. Under the banner of free trade, British manufacturers, who had the benefit of industrial produc- tion, flooded India with cheap imports. Lord Northbrook felt British goods brought into the colony should have a higher import duty to protect Indian manufacturers and in 1875 made his views known to Parliament. However, a conservative government had been elected in England during his tenure, and instead of raising Indian import duties on British textiles, Parliament reduced the duties to make them more competitive with locally produced goods. His policy differences with the government too profound to bridge, Lord Northbrook resigned in protest in 1876.
Lord Lytton
Lord Northbrook was replaced by Robert Bulwer-Lytton, second baron Lytton (r. 1876-80), who set about undoing the reforms Northbrook instituted. Lord Lytton tried to restore the authority of the feudal princes who had been most disaffected by the previous viceroy's reforms. His primary goal, however, was to regain British control over India and avoid the possibility of losing the colony entirely. In 1877 Lord Lytton convened a great durbar at Delhi to impress local aristocrats. The guests were required to pledge an oath of loyalty in return for the award of honors and multigun salutes. During the gathering Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India.
In response to a famine that began in 1876 and that had by 1877 claimed the lives of tens of thousands, Lord Lytton established the Famine Commission, which recommended building roads and railways for shipment of grain to famine-plagued areas and instituting updated irrigation methods. Though the subcontinent would experience sub- sequent famines in 1896 and 1899, the adoption of the commission's recommendations was credited with minimizing the severity of these later crises.
Meanwhile, discontent was growing in British-ruled areas. More opportunities in the civil service and other reforms had been promised to Indians in the Charter of 1833, the Queen's Proclamation of 1858, and other laws. But Lytton sought to renege on these pledges in an effort to maintain Britain's hold on power. The British made a cosmetic attempt to placate locals by creating a separate statutory civil service, as opposed to the covenanted civil service, in 1879. It included one-sixth of the minor posts from the covenanted civil service. Appointments were made based on education and social position. This essentially closed the ranks to all but loyal members of the aristocracy. So rather than quell protests, the new civil service further inflamed educated Indians.
Discriminatory taxes and import and export duties angered the busi- ness class, and the British felt they needed to take steps to forestall unrest. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 reduced freedom of expres- sion in newspapers printed in non-English languages, effectively sti- fling reporting of news that put British actions in a negative light. The same year the Arms Act forbade Indians from carrying arms without a license. Both laws aroused further resentment and anger throughout the subcontinent.
Throughout the viceroyships of Lawrence, Mayo, and Northbrook, the area of present-day Pakistan had received less attention than other regions of the subcontinent. That changed under Lord Lytton, who sup- ported the "forward policy," a strategy of containing Russia's expansion toward Afghanistan; the policy's most notable proponent was British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli (r. 1868, 1874-80). The treaties struck by Sir Sandeman in 1876 with Khodadad Khan gave the British a foothold for their military by permitting their annexation of Quetta and its surrounding territory. By this time the khan viewed the British as the ultimate arbiters of his disputes, as stipulated by treaty.
The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878- 1880)
The ruler of Afghanistan, Sher Ali Kahn, continued his weak hold on power. Despite Lord Mayo's visit in 1869, the British still refused to support him militarily or financially, and Sher Ali resisted British efforts to post an envoy in Kabul. Russia, meanwhile, made overtures of assistance to Sher Ali, although he had also refused Russia's request to post an envoy. Concerned about his developing relationship with Russia, Lytton dispatched a British officer to meet with the Afghan ruler, but Sher Ali refused to grant the emissary an audience and threat- ened to turn back any British diplomatic mission. In response, Lytton declared war on Afghanistan. Three forces consisting of 35,000 troops and camp followers under the command of Major General Frederick Roberts (1832-1914), General Samuel Browne (1824-1901), and General Donald Martin Stewart (1824-1900) advanced on Afghanistan. Traversing what is now Pakistan, the British army made a show of force that implicitly demonstrated their control over the area. Sher Ali fled to Turkestan, from where he dispatched a letter agreeing to allow a British envoy in Kabul. Despite his acquiescence, the British occupied Kandahar and Jalalabad. On his way back to Afghanistan, Sher Ali died. The British struck a treaty with his son, Yaqub Khan (r. 1879), at Gandamak, a village in southeast Afghanistan, in 1879.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Gandamak, the British were allowed to place a British resident in Kabul and British agents in Herat and Kandahar. In return, Yaqub Khan received a subsidy of six lakhs (600,000) of rupees a year. Parts of Afghanistan and the whole of the Khyber Pass were ceded to Britain. Yaqub Khan also agreed to accept British counsel in conducting his foreign policy. But many Afghans wanted no British presence in their capital, and in 1879 mutinous troops stormed the house of the British Resident, Sir Pierre Louis Cavagnari (1841-79), and killed him and his staff. Lord Lytton dispatched an army under the command of generals Roberts and Stewart. Another of Sher Ali's sons, Ayub Khan (1857-1914), engaged the British army at the Battle of Maiwand in southern Afghanistan in July 1880. The largest battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, it ended in a British defeat, though the Afghan forces also lost many soldiers. Ayub Khan's remaining forces next laid siege to Kandahar, where a British resident was stationed. General Roberts hurried to relieve Kandahar, marching his forces more than 300 miles from Kabul. The British defeated the Afghans at the Battle of Kandahar in September 1880, the last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. During the conflict, without the draft animals the British appropriated for the campaign, agriculture in the Punjab region suffered, costing the government a fortune in lost revenue. Lord Lytton resigned.
Lord Ripon
Following the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Lord Lytton was succeeded by George Frederick Samuel Robinson, first marquis of Ripon (r. 1880- 84), a more enlightened viceroy. In the same year British Liberal Party leader William Gladstone (r. 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94) was beginning the second of his four terms as prime minister of Britain. He moderated the "forward policy," pursuing a less confrontational strategy toward Afghanistan. Instead of large settlements and forces, the British sought to counter Russian influence by the posting of small forces and extensions of existing fortifications. They agreed to recognize as emir of Afghanistan Abdur Rahman Khan (r. 1880-1901), a grandson of Dost Mohammad, who had long battled Sher Ali, Abdur Rahman's uncle, for the throne. The new emir brought stability to the region and retained good relations with the British throughout his reign, which lasted until 1901. He was succeeded by his son, Habibullah Khan (r. 1901-19).
The Second Anglo-Afghan War brought large areas of Baluchistan and the frontier into the British Empire. Yet British objectives in Baluchistan were fundamentally different from those in Sind and Punjab. In Baluchistan, the British were interested in the military and geopolitical value of the land; in the rest of the subcontinent, they sought primarily to extract income. But the local populations still bore significant costs from the British incursions. British development of cantonments, or military quarters, at Quetta and other areas required evicting many locals from their lands, creating an army of landless peas- ants. This action led to the suppression of local tribes and increased resentment of the British throughout the subcontinent, particularly among Muslims. Indians also had to endure tax increases, levied in order to pay for the war.
During his tenure as viceroy, Lord Ripon abolished the Vernacular Press Act established by his predecessor, posted Indians in high gov- ernment posts, broadened the powers of local governments, and made municipal offices elective positions, giving locals experience in democ- racy. Laws were passed to safeguard working conditions in factories. He encouraged education of the subcontinent's people, appointing the Hunter Education Commission, whose report of 1884, among other accomplishments, helped focus attention on the plight of Muslims in the subcontinent. The viceroy also attempted the radical step of allow- ing Indian judges to try Europeans under the Ilbert Bill, enacted by the Indian Legislative Council in 1884, but loud European opposition forced him to back down.
However, economic exploitation continued throughout Lord Ripon's tenure. In the years following the reduction of import duties on British textiles in 1876, economic manipulation of tariffs and trade became common. In 1879 all tariff duties for English goods were abolished, primarily to help the British fabric industry. In 1895, after the British placed an excise duty of 5 percent to raise revenue, Parliament imposed a similar excise duty on Indian cotton goods. Foreign exchange between the Indian rupee and the British pound was fixed in such a way as to stimulate imports of British goods into India and curtail exports from the subcontinent.
As Indian demands for autonomy and freedom began to grow, Muslims continued their political awakening. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan spoke out forcefully for separate representation for Muslims in self- governance institutions. He won recognition in 1882 for the principle of separate electorates for Muslims on Lord Ripon's municipal councils. In a speech before the Governor-General's Council in January of 1883, Ahmad Khan explained the need for separate representation: "So long as differences of race and creed, and the distinctions of caste form an important element in the socio-political life in India, and influence her inhabitants in matters connected to the administration and welfare of the country at large, the system of election, pure and simple, cannot be safely adopted. The larger community would totally override the interests of the smaller community, and the ignorant public would hold Government responsible for introducing measures which might make the differences of race and creed more violent than ever" (Symonds 1950, 30-31).
Lord Dufferin
Liberalization of policies that began under Lord Ripon continued under Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, the earl of Dufferin (r. 1884-88, later first marquis of Dufferin and Ava), his successor. The Bengal Tenancy Bill, proposed during Lord Ripon's viceroyalty passed in Bengal in 1885 under Lord Dufferin's stewardship. The law defined and improved the rights of farmers under their landlords. Working conditions and exploitation of the subcontinent's labor force had come to the attention of the British public, which had already grappled with similar homegrown abuses springing from its industrial revolution. In response, Parliament passed the Factor Act, which limited the number of hours employees could be required to work, and forbade children under age nine from employment in factories.
In 1886 Lord Dufferin appointed a commission to explore ways to expand public services. The viceroy also wrote A Report on the Condition of the Lower Classes Population in Bengal, called the Dufferin Report, published in 1888, which countered claims that the poor had benefited from British rule in the subcontinent. His wife founded a charity fund that built Lady Dufferin hospitals for women, staffed by female doc- tors, which took all patients regardless of ability to pay. Today, Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi is the largest women's hospital in Pakistan. However, as viceroy Lord Dufferin also sought to ease concerns of the British population of India, which viewed the reforms introduced by Lord Ripon with unease.
For most Indians, British reforms came too late and did not go far enough. In 1885 the Indian National Congress (INC) was founded, established by a new generation of Indians educated in Western-style educational institutions. Consumed by nationalist zeal, INC members met regularly and, though they had no legal authority, passed resolu- tions recommending actions and policies for the British-run govern- ment to follow. Several British helped in founding the Congress Party (as the INC is otherwise known), viewing the organization as a way to monitor the opposition, and as a relief valve for political discontent.
The INC began as a moderate political party, supported by the educated middle classes — lawyers, teachers, and journalists — as well as by some members of the business community and landed gentry. They sought increased British assistance in training and education, not independence. But as moderate voices within the INC were ignored by the British, more radical leaders gained power. Some Hindu extremists played on anti- Muslim prejudices, and their incendiary rhetoric went largely unchal- lenged. Muslims watched mute while shrill INC members who denounced British rule were received with cordial respect by the viceroy. Leaders of the Muslim community were reluctant to strike a militant stance, since the financial well-being of educated professionals and landlords was in the hands of the British. But with the establishment of educational institutions such as the M.A.O., a new generation of educated Muslims was com- ing of age, eager to pursue its own path. After 1884 Ahmad Khan began to support Muslim separatism, advising Muslims to boycott the Indian National Congress, and in 1886 he formed a rival institution to the INC, the Mohammedan Education Conference, a predecessor of the All India Muslim League that would form 20 years later. In 1887 a Muslim was named president of the INC; Ahmad Khan denounced the appointment. He felt the appointment would lead Muslims into what he saw as a false belief that they and the Hindu majority could work together and peace- fully coexist in one nation independent of the British. His opposition to the INC coincided with that of the British: As the INC as a whole adopted a more independent stance, British support evaporated. However, many Muslims continued to support the stance of the INC's less militant mem- bers and favored a nonconfrontational approach to their differences with the British. Following the fourth annual session of Congress, government officials were banned from joining the organization.
Lord Landsdowne and Lord Curzon
Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, fifth marquis of Lansdowne, succeeded Lord Dufferin as viceroy (r. 1888-94). His tenure and that of his later successor George Nathaniel Curzon, first marquis Curzon of Kedleston (r. 1899-1905), underscored the fact that liberalization accorded to the majority of the subcontinent was withheld in the fron- tier areas of what is today Pakistan. The Indian Councils Act, passed by Parliament in 1892, increased membership in the central and provincial legislative councils in the Punjab and Sind, but not in Baluchistan or the frontier area. These western provinces were deemed too untamed to permit such reforms.
Defining the Border
As kingdoms in the region grew and declined, their territories were often in flux. The border between Afghanistan and British India had never been fixed. That boundary was delineated by the Durand Line, created during Lord Lansdowne's time as viceroy. Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (1850-1924) was an officer in the corps when he requested permission from Abdur Rahman, the emir of Afghanistan, to determine a line of demarcation between Afghanistan and the British Empire. Abdur Rahman could not well refuse, as the British controlled trade routes in and out of Afghanistan and paid the emir subsidies. When completed in 1893, the Durand Line moved the border of the British territory from the foothills west to the crests of the highest peaks and ridges in the mountains dividing the territories. This brought several tribes, including the Afridis, the Mahsuds, the Wazirs, and the Swat, under nominal British rule if not control. The British launched several military campaigns to subdue the tribes and demonstrate their regional dominance. In 1895 an uprising broke out in Chitral and soon spread to the rest of the tribal area. During the campaign a force of allied tribesmen besieged 400 British troops in the Chitral Fort; they also succeeded in closing the Khyber Pass. It took British forces 48 days to come to their countrymen's rescue and relieve the siege.
In the early 1890s the chesslike maneuvering the British and Russians engaged in as each attempted to gain power and influence in the area became known as the Great Game. The Pamir Mountains, which extend from the Hindu Kush into Afghanistan, took center stage in their contest. The Great Game came to an end with the Pamir Boundary Agreement of March 1895, signed by Russia and Great Britain. It estab- lished the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow sliver of Afghanistan in the Pamir Mountains, as a buffer between Russia (now Tajikistan) and British-held India in what is today Pakistan. The corridor, about 300 miles (480 km) long and less than 10(16 km) miles wide in some places, borders China on the east. In 1896 the border between the British and Persian territory of Baluchistan was established.
Lord Curzon, who became viceroy in 1899, took a different tack in dealing with the rebellious tribes. He saw the frontier Pashtun as a unique population, independent and strong willed, whose heritage fell far outside of social norms not only in Britain but even in this corner of the subcontinent. He recognized that raiding and plundering, the basis of their livelihood, had long been the only means of survival in the frontier. In 1900 Curzon established the area as the North- West Frontier Province, placing it under the direction of a seasoned chief commissioner.
Cultured and well traveled, Curzon instituted numerous reforms. He emphasized improvements in university education, overhauled the police department, bolstered farmers' rights, and pushed credit societ- ies and agricultural banks to give financial assistance to the poor. Under his direction thousands of miles of railway were built.
An Agrarian Revolution
In the last quarter of the 19th century agrarian reforms and improve- ments to the infrastructure introduced by the British showed some results. Before this time, much of the Indus Valley was dry and sparsely inhabited. A canal system the Mughals built to irrigate the area had fallen into disrepair. Changes in the course and flow of the Indus had added to depopulation. The British undertook large-scale projects to repair and expand the ancient canal system and engineered massive additional irrigation systems that made vast areas of formerly uninhab- ited lands in Punjab arable. An expanding railway system transported grain from Punjab for shipment to England. After 1879 Lahore and Karachi were linked by rail. By 1883 it was possible to travel from Karachi to the Khyber Pass by rail. During construction of the Lahore- Multan track, engineers discovered the lost city of Harappa. They used the ancient brick they found to build 100 miles (160 km) of the railway's embankment. Curzon recognized the region's archaeological importance. The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, passed during his tenure, made the government responsible for maintaining historic buildings and investigating archaeological sites. Taxila and cities of the long-lost Indus Valley Civilization were first excavated as a result of this act.
From the 1880s onward peasants settled on these newly fertile lands. This set in motion a new political dynamic in the region as agrarian landlords came to accumulate land and power. Peasants were limited to plots of 100 to 150 acres, with landlords receiving a percentage of crops in rent. Sometimes the rents were usurious, and tenant farmers often fell into debt, their plots seized by the landlords. Other peasants lost their lands to moneylenders. By the late 19th century some of these holdings became mini-feudal states and their owners strong support- ers of the British, whose policies served their interests. The situation was antagonizing many Muslims, who comprised a majority of sepoys in Punjab. To help address the problem of small farmers having their lands repossessed and stem the unrest it was stirring, Parliament passed the Punjab Land Alienation Act in 1900. The act defined tribes as either agricultural or nonagricultural and forbade nonagricultural tribes from acquiring the land of agricultural debtors.
Partition of Bengal
Despite the fact that it was the region first exposed to the British pres- ence — or because of it — Bengal, the northeast corner of the subconti- nent, lying east of the Ganges, remained backward and undeveloped. The eastern portion of Bengal was predominantly Muslim, the western portion Hindu. The religious dichotomy had complicated administra- tion of Bengal, as did the large population. To break the administrative bottleneck, in 1905 Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal into two parts:
West Bengal encompassed Bihar and Orissa, with Calcutta as its capi- tal, and East Bengal incorporated the province of Assam, with Dacca (modern-day Dhaka) as its capital. From the start, Hindus objected to the partition, feeling their land was being taken away. The protest was more widespread and sustained than anticipated by the British and increasingly included Hindu nationalist overtones as well as violence. The opposition to the partition also spawned the swadeshi movement, which advocated boycotting British goods, a form of protest that turned out to be surprisingly effective.
Toward Muslim Independence
As viceroy Lord Curzon enjoyed the customary control over the Indian Army's commander in chief (CIC). But in 1905 the secretary of state for India in England changed the policy, taking direct oversight of the CIC for himself. Lord Curzon resigned in protest. Gilbert John Elliot- Murray-Kynynmound, fourth earl of Minto, succeeded Lord Curzon as viceroy (r. 1905-10).
Political change, both peaceful and violent, was in the air. Muslim aspirations were being expressed in Muslim-majority areas, and the concept of self-government for Muslims began to take root. In 1906 the All India Muslim League was founded, a political party that would play a major role in the future of the subcontinent's Muslims. Formed in Dacca (now Dhaka) at the annual meeting of the Muhammadan Educational Conference, attended by 3,000 delegates, it was created in answer to concerns that Muslims would be oppressed by the Hindu majority if the British ever vacated the subcontinent. Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III (1877-1957), hereditary leader of a large Shia sect, was appointed first honorary president. The league's principles were spelled out in its Green Book, though its goals did not initially include a separate state for the subcontinent's Muslims. Instead of independence, the group's principles stressed the protection of Muslim liberties and rights, and encouragement of understanding between Muslims and other Indians. Indeed, its initial platform included the goal of promot- ing feelings of loyalty to the British government among Muslims, which caused some of the more militant voices in the community to shun membership.
Despite the appearance of liberalization, heavy-handed British poli- cies had fed rising tension and opposition throughout the subconti- nent. Attempts to placate the population by providing the appearance of increased local political power were failing. The British hoped to mollify the upper classes sufficiently to win their tacit support for con- tinued British rule. Viceroy Minto worked with the British secretary of state for Indian affairs, John Morley First Viscount Morley (1838- 1923), to develop a framework that would give Indians more direct control over their government while keeping the ultimate authority in the hands of the British. In 1906 Lord Morley announced the govern- ment's intent to cede greater legislative power to local rule. Parliament approved the changes as the Government of India Act of 1909, more commonly called the Minto-Morley Reforms. The reforms would be a landmark in the subcontinent's constitutional history and begin a new chapter in its march to independence.
