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Divide and Rule

The document discusses the formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906 and Britain's "divide and rule" strategy in India. It states that Britain began dividing Muslims and Hindus in the late 19th century in order to weaken opposition to British rule. In 1905, the partition of Bengal along religious lines was announced to give opportunities to Muslims and weaken Hindus. While the partition was rescinded in 1911, Britain continued its strategy of divide and rule, which led to the formation of the Muslim League in 1906 with the stated goal of promoting loyalty to Britain. The League initially consisted of wealthy Muslim landlords and supported British policies like the partition of Bengal.

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kiran shahzadi
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303 views2 pages

Divide and Rule

The document discusses the formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906 and Britain's "divide and rule" strategy in India. It states that Britain began dividing Muslims and Hindus in the late 19th century in order to weaken opposition to British rule. In 1905, the partition of Bengal along religious lines was announced to give opportunities to Muslims and weaken Hindus. While the partition was rescinded in 1911, Britain continued its strategy of divide and rule, which led to the formation of the Muslim League in 1906 with the stated goal of promoting loyalty to Britain. The League initially consisted of wealthy Muslim landlords and supported British policies like the partition of Bengal.

Uploaded by

kiran shahzadi
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Formation of All India

Muslim League
• Critical View
The main instruments of British rule in India were the army and
the civil service. The Indian army was vital for both internal and
external reasons.

At the time of the mutiny the British army in India was made up of
34,000 Europeans and 257,000 Indians. Following the mutiny, the
proportion of Europeans was increased Attempts were made to
prevent the communal unity seen in 1857.

The tactic of dividing Muslims from Hindus began at the end of


the 19th century but crystallised further at the start of the 20th
century

In 1905 the British announced the partition of the province of


Bengal, justifying it on administrative grounds. Home secretary to
the government of India, H Risley, summed up his view:

Bengal united is a power; Bengal divided will pull in several


different ways...one of our main objects is to split up and thereby
weaken a solid body of opponents to our rule...A separate
administration, a separate high court and a separate university at
Dacca would give extra opportunities to the Muslim middle class
to emerge from their backward state and weaken the economic
base of the Hindu middle classes. The Hindu zamindari patrons to
the Congress would find the Muslim peasantry ranged against
them, secure in the support of the Dacca Secretariat. It would
divide the nationalist ranks once and for all.18
Britain was forced to rescind the partition of the province in 1911
to an avalanche of enthusiasm and rising national consciousness.
But it did not abandon its overall strategy of divide and rule. One
of the fruits of its manoeuvring was the formation of the Muslim
League in 1906. Its objectives included: 'to promote loyalty to the
British government, to protect and advance the political rights and
interests of Mussalmans of India and respectfully represent their
needs and aspirations to government'.19 The League began
declaring that the partition of Bengal was beneficial to Muslims, it
condemned agitation such as boycotts and it stressed the
contribution it could play in 'the defence of the empire'.20

The League was initially made up of the wealthy Muslim


landlords, mainly from the United Provinces in north India. Its
local bodies were headed by wealthy landlords or conservative
Muslim intellectuals.

The British extended the scope and nature of elections in 1909,


under the combined pressure of the movement from below and
their recognition of the need to win the cooperation of a larger
layer of Indians. At the same time they introduced one of the
League's most central demands: separate electorates for Muslims
and Hindus at the provincial level. It turned 'Muslim' and 'Hindu'
into political categories in a way they had not been before.
Income and educational qualifications for Muslim voters were
considerably lower than for other groups. And as the franchise
was slowly extended, politicians were encouraged to see
themselves as the representative of a particular group and to
court support on that basis.

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