Empire, Politics and the Creation of the 1935 India Act

289 Pages·2009·2.87 MB·English

by  Andrew Muldoon

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
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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)