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Empire, Politics and the Creation of the 1935 India Act PDF

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Empire, Politics and the Creation of the 1935 India Act Last Act of the Raj Andrew Muldoon EmpirE, politics and thE crEation of thE 1935 india act For my parents and for Cristina and Aidan Empire, politics and the creation of the 1935 india act last act of the raj andrEw muldoon Metropolitan State College of Denver, USA © andrew muldoon 2009 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. andrew muldoon has asserted his right under the copyright, designs and patents act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. published by ashgate publishing limited ashgate publishing company wey court East suite 420 union road 101 cherry street farnham Burlington surrey, Gu9 7pt Vt 05401-4405 England usa www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data muldoon, andrew. Empire, politics and the creation of the 1935 india act : last act of the raj. 1. india—politics and government—1919–1947. 2. india—relations—Great Britain. 3. Great Britain—relations—india. 4. india. Government of india act, 1935. 5. imperialism—history—20th century. i. title 954’.0358-dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data muldoon, andrew. Empire, politics, and the creation of the 1935 india act : last act of the raj / andrew muldoon. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6705-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. India—Politics and government— 1919–1947. 2. india—relations—Great Britain. 3. Great Britain—relations—india. 4. india. Government of india act, 1935. 5. nationalism—india—history—20th century. 6. colonial administrators—india—history—20th century. 7. Great Britain—colonies—administration— History—20th century. 8. Conservative Party (Great Britain)—History—20th century. 9. Imperialism—History—20th century. 10. India—Colonial influence. I. Title. ds480.45.m836 2009 954.03’58—dc22 2009017746 isBn 978-0-7546-6705-6 (hbk) isBn 978-0-7546-9643-8 (ebk.V) contents Acknowledgements vii introduction 1 1 india interpreted and imagined: culture, intelligence and Policy-making in the Late-Colonial State 7 2 “the heart mesmerizes the head”: lord irwin and the nationalists, 1926–1931 39 3 the problem of “reliable information”: British-indian contacts in 1931 and 1932 87 4 watching Gandhi: predicting indian political Behavior, 1933–1935 123 5 preventing an “unholy row”: indian reform, commercial policy and lancashire, 1933–1935 153 6 “the men who Know”: authority, policy and the future of the Empire in the conservative party 187 7 provinces, princes and predictions: the fate of the 1935 india act 233 conclusion 255 Bibliography 261 Index 271 This page has been left blank intentionally Acknowledgements I owe great thanks to so many people for their advice, encouragement and support as I worked on this book. i have been fortunate throughout my research to have had the assistance of the capable librarians, archivists and staff at the following: the university of Birmingham library; the Bodleian library; cambridge university library; the cambridge centre for south asian studies; the churchill archives centre at Churchill College, Cambridge; the House of Lords Record Office; the Liverpool Central Library; Lambeth Palace Library; the Lancashire Record Office; the Oriental and India Office Library at the British Library; the Ransome Center at the University of Texas and Trinity College Library, Cambridge. My thanks also to the librarians and the government documents and inter-library loan staff at: auraria library at metropolitan state college of denver and lamont and widener libraries at harvard university. the nineteenth Earl of derby graciously allowed me access to the papers of the seventeenth Earl. I have benefited tremendously from the example and counsel of historians at Washington University and elsewhere, including Peter Clarke, Richard Fox, Steven Hause, Derek Hirst, James Muldoon, Timothy Parsons, Susan Pedersen and mrinalini sinha. for their assistance, companionship and good humor in my various stops over the last decade, i am very grateful to many. at washington University: Derek Blakeley, Elisabeth Davis, Vanessa Hildebrand, Padraic Kennedy, Sean McWilliams and Mick Rutz. In London: Monica Rico and Michelle Tusan. at the history and literature program at harvard: steve Biel, marcia dambry, Joe Gerber and Ann Mikkelsen. In Denver: Jim Drake, Dolph Grundman, Steve leonard, patricia richard and Brian weiser. others include: anne foster, durba Ghosh, david ortiz and robert travers. washington university provided the initial funding for this research, and my thanks go to the History Department chair, Richard Walter, and also to the Graduate school of arts and sciences. the american historical association kindly awarded me a Bernadotte Schmitt grant for further work. Steve Leonard, my current chair in Denver, somehow found the resources for my final research trips. i am very grateful to all. I am also grateful to Ashgate Publishing for their interest in this book, and to history editor Emily Yates in particular for her encouragement and advice throughout the process of bringing this work to publication. I cannot thank Richard Davis enough. In his encouragement, his wit and his unfailing concern for his students, he has set an example as a graduate advisor and scholar that I can aspire to, but know I cannot match. viii Empire, Politics and the Creation of the 1935 India Act my parents, robert and Barbara muldoon, have provided more love, wisdom and support than I can ever repay. This book is for them. This book is also for my wife and my son with love. From Hammonasset Beach to denver, cristina sloan muldoon has made me happier than i ever thought I could be. Aidan Muldoon thinks this book needs more hippos. I speak the truth. I believe in truth, pure truth. I have no use for those people who say to the indians. “this is a wonderful constitution to lead you to the desired goal, etc.” and then say to others, “this is all right, we have got it all safely tied up. do not be anxious, the indians will not be able to do anything.” I hate that kind of thing. (Winston Churchill, Interview with Mira Slade, 11 November 1934) i do not believe that politicians in india are very different from politicians here. (Samuel Hoare, House of Commons, 27 March 1933) Your nationalism must not be divorced from rationalism … Emotion is good … but conviction is better. (T.B. Sapru, Convocation address, Patna University, 30 November 1935) the congress stands for complete independence and the typical representative indian is the man behind the plough. (Jawaharlal Nehru, Speech at Lucknow, 28 July 1931)

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The 1935 Government of India Act was arguably the most significant turning point in the history of the British administration in India. The intent of the Act, a proposal for an Indian federation, was the continuation of British control of India, and the deflection of the challenge to the Raj posed b
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