Story of Freedom Struggle

10150 Words41 Pages
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide range of areas like political organizations, philosophies and movements which had the common aim to ending the company rule. India as a country had remained divided politically, but culturally India has always remained united. But nationalism in the modern sense developed in India only during the British rule in the later half of the 19th century “According to Bipan Chandra, "It was during the freedom movement that Indian people acquired the necessary collective consciousness and identity. The growth of Indian nationalism was the cumulative effect of the operation of a number of factors and elements over a long period of time. Factors like political and administrative unification, development of means of communication, western education, socio-religious reform movements, the rise of Indian press and certain internal and external events led to the rise of national consciousness culminating in the birth of the Indian National Congress in 1885 which became main instrument during freedom fight. The struggle for freedom can be broadly divided into four phases each contributing towards the sharpening of the divide between the rulers and the ruled. The first phase began when the British won the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and Robert Clive, the representative of the East India Company, became the Governor of Bengal. From then onwards, the British succeeded in consolidating their presence in India. This was the first phase, in which the British Governor-Generals and the Indian leaders both collaborated and clashed. Special significance is attached to the role played by the likes of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in bringing about social reforms in the Indian society sometimes with the help of the British, at times forcing them to act. The British presence began to creep across the subcontinent and finally the first revolt
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