Indian National Movement Test - 3

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a senior leader of Indian National Congress and a prominent figure in the Indian Freedom Struggle, who later became India's first Deputy Prime Minister and first Home Minister. Sardar Patel's contribution in integrating 565 princely states into a newly independent India is unforgettable.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, nicknamed as Fakhr-e-Afghān, was a Pashtun independence activist who worked to end the rule of the British Raj in India. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition; he was a lifelong pacifist and devout Muslim. He was also known as Bacha Khan.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, informally called Rajaji or C. R., was an Indian politician, independence activist, lawyer, writer, historian and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India, as India soon became a Republic in 1950.

Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian freedom fighter. He played a pivotal role in the Indian independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate.

Dadabhai Naoroji was known as the Grand Old Man of India. He was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader.

Warren Hastings was an English statesman and the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and thereby the first Governor General of India during 1773-1785.

Lord Cornwallis enjoyed the confidence of the British Government and was knighted in 1786. In the same year, he was appointed as the Governor-General of India and the Commander-in-Chief of India. Lord Cornwallis enacted various significant reforms within the East India Company and its territories.

Richard Colley Wellesley was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator. He first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805.
James Andrew Ramsay, also known as Lord Dalhousie, served as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. During his tenure, the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1849) was fought in which the Sikhs were again defeated and Lord Dalhousie annexed the whole of Punjab to the British administration.

The British Government arrested Sri Aurobindo, a prominent Nationalist Leader at the time, Barindra Ghose, and many young revolutionaries.

They were charged with ''Conspiracy'' or ''waging war against the King'' - the equivalent of high treason and punishable with death by hanging.

The Muslim League first demanded partition of India in 1940, after a league conference in Lahore, where Jinnah, in his speech, addressed the people and indicated that Hindus and Muslims belonged to two different religious philosophies. In Lahore, the Muslim League formally recommitted itself to creating an independent Muslim state, which would include Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan, the Northwest Frontier Province, and Bengal, and which would be "wholly autonomous and sovereign".

The resolution guaranteed protection for non-Muslim religions.

The accession of Lord Dalhousie inaugurated a new chapter in the history of British India. He functioned as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. He is regarded as one of the greatest Governor-Generals of India. He introduced a new system of internal communication in India. He was the father of Indian Railways.

He envisaged a network of railways connecting the main places with the ports and providing both for strategically needs and commercial development. The first railway line connecting Bombay with Thane was laid down in 1853.

It covered a distance of twenty-six miles. In 1852, Dalhousie introduced the Electric Telegraph System in India. The first telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra was opened in 1854, covering a distance of 800 miles.

Before Lord Dalhousie, military boards were in charge of the construction of Public Works. Hence, civilian works were completely neglected by the military board. A separate Public Works Department was established by Lord Dalhousie.