70 years ago, on August 15th 1947, as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the tricolour on top of the Red Fort in Delhi, it brought to an end India’s struggle for freedom from the British.
It all started in the year 1600, with the arrival of the British East India Company. They started out as a trading company, but soon, they were exercising political and military power. By 1757, they had most of the country under their control. The people of India resented the unfair rule of the foreign company, and their resentment just grew and grew.
Indians made up 87% of the British troops in India, and were always treated inferior to the British. Apart from that, there was a rumour that the cartridges for the new Enfield rifles were greased with cow and pig fat. To open the packaging, soldiers would have to bite it off. Both Hindus and Muslims refused to use them. In March 1857, a man revolted against the British. The man’s name was Mangal Pandey. Although he was hanged in the following month, he had started a rebellion. On May 10th 1857, the Indian soldiers and common civilians of Meerut joined hands to protest against the ill-treatment of the British. The Revolt of 1857 was the first organised rebellion, and as many people call it, the First War of Independence.
During the course of time, there were many wars of independence, big and small, the most prominent being the Battle of Jhansi led by Rani Laxmi Bai and Tantia Tope, Battle of Kanpur led by nana Sahib, Battle of Arrah in Bihar led by Kunwar Singh, and the war at Lucknow led by Hazrat Begum.
The British Government never treated the Indians fairly. They were always looked down upon by the British. They were given harsh punishments for even the smallest of crimes, whereas the British civilians were let go very easily for crimes like murder. Everywhere, Indians were deprived. This led to the rise of several revolutionary groups all over India. Several iconic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpatrai, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many more tried to attain frredom through peaceful means. On the other hand, leaders like Mastarda Surya Sen, Chandrasekhar Azad, and Bhagat Singh had taken the violent approach.
In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi started the Salt March, and in 1942, the Quit India Movement. Everything which was foreign was burned. Purna Swaraj (complete freedom) was demanded. In reaction to this, the British imprisoned hordes of Congress leaders and civilians, along with Gandhiji.
Subhash Chandra Bose formed a new party known as the All India Forward Block party. He also formed a new army called the Indian national Army, in hopes to attain freedom from the British.
Later, due to the work of Subhash Chandra Bose, the British felt threatened that they would lose their power in the world. Plus, due to the two successive world wars, the British Empire was drained to an extent where they felt they could no longer manage India. In February 1947, the British prime minister Clement Atlee announced that independence would be granted to India.
So it was, at midnight on August 15th, 1947, thus ending the freedom struggle.
Wishing all of you Indians out there a Happy Independence day!!!
Jai Hind
Thoughts From a Tale spinner 
You have mentioned two points that are very true but often overlooked in attributing the credit of independence in our history text books. One was British were really frightened by Bose and the second was that they were drained by WW2 and couldn’t handle it anymore.
God post.
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