HISTORY

BRITISH PERIOD

The history of Berar since 1853 was marked by no important political events beside the change made under the Treaty of 1861. Its smooth course was scarcely ruffled even by the struggle of 1857. After the Mutiny the province was reconstituted into East Berar with headquarters at Amravati and West Berar with headquarters at Akola and including the present Akola district except the tahsil of Murtizapur, the Buldhana district and the Pusad taluka of Yeotmal district. In 1858 Tatya Tope got into the Satpuda hills, and tried to break across southward so that he might stir up the Deccan; but he was confronted at all outlets, and never got away into the Berar valley. It was in 1858 that Amravati and Akola districts were created and Wun district which later became Yeotmal was formed in 1864. In the same year the tahsils of Malkapur, Chikhli and Mehkar were separated from the West Berar District and formed into an independent charge styled the South-West Berar District, a clumsy designation which was changed in the following year to the Mehkar District. In 1867 Buldhana was selected as the headquarters of the district, to which it thenceforth gave its name. In 1868 Bashim district was formed while Achalpur and Mehkar which had been at one time districts were abolished. An agent of the Resident at Hyderabad was posted at Amravati for the better administration of Berar.

The management of these districts by the Nizam's officers had been worse than the contemporary administration of the adjoining Nagpur territory, which was during the long minority under British regency, and which continued to be well governed until it lapsed. Consequently, a stream of emigrants had flowed toward the Nagpur country across the Wardha from Berar. "And thus" (writes Sir R. Temple in 1867) [ Then Resident at Hyderabad.] "the condition" of Berar when the province was assigned to British management, "though weakly, and needing restorative measures, was not beyond" the hope of speedy recovery. And fortunately the means of restoration were at hand; for the soil was famed far and wide among the "peasantry for its fertility; and its repute always high, was further "enhanced by the fact of so much of it having remained fallow for the "years a circumstance which was supposed to ensure a rich return" to those who reclaimed the waste and raised the first crops on" "virgin culture. The neighbouring districts were full of families" who had emigrated thither from Berar. and who with the usual" attachment of the people to their original patrimony, were anxious,' to return on any suitable opportunity. Thus hundreds of families" and thousands of individuals immigrated back into Berar. Many villages in the Nagpur country lost many of their hands in this "way, and were sometimes put to serious straits. Some apprehension was even caused to the Nagpur officials. But of course the "natural course of things had its way, and Eastern Berar became" replenished. This was only one mode out of several, which it would "be tedious detail, whereby the cultivation of Berar was restored" and augmented.

"But there shortly supervened the consequences of the American war", which indeed stimulated many parts of India hut with (it the "metaphor is admissible) positively electrified Berar. Before this, "cotton had been one out of many staples It now became the prevailing, "absorbing, predominating product. Much of other sorts of" culture was displaced to make room for it. The people imported "quantities of food-grain from the Nagpur country, in order that they "might have the more land whereon to raise the remunerative cotton "crop. The staple, too, is one that requires much manual toil in weeding, "picking, ginning, packing, and the like. Hence there arose a "great and urgent demand for rural labour, which of course operated "to raise the standard of wages. A great exportation of cotton to "Bombay was soon established. The importation of foreign produce "was far from proportionate, consequently, much of the return for this "cotton consisted of cash and bullion. This circumstance making "money cheap, tended to raise the prices of all things. Another effect "was that the labouring and producing classes, especially the agriculturists, "were rapidly enriched."

"At the very same time, the construction of railway works" throughout the whole length of the province was at its full swing, "not only causing the employment of all labour, skilled and unskilled" that could be got on the spot, but also introducing a large foreign "element which settled temporarily at least in the province. Thus the value of labour, and the rates of prices generally, were still further enhanced.

"In other parts of India the operation of these or similar causes" has been perceptible, but in many parts it has been partial only; in "others its force may have been detracted from by other influences. "But in Berar it was universal, extending from one end of the province "to the other; and there was nothing whatever to counteract its force. "It is this sort of universality which constitutes, perhaps, the peculiarity" of the process in these districts.

"This state of things has rendered the people generally prosperous, progressive, and contented. Some classes do, unfortunately, suffer therefrom. This, though perhaps it may be mitigated cannot altogether be helped. Those who suffer will naturaily complain, that the accession to provincial prosperity has been vast and rapid is unquestionable. The most sanguine anticipations of the growth of the province in importance have been more than realized, and there is everything in favour of its further increase."

It may here be pointed out that throughout the last quarter of the nineteenth century there had been a persistent demand both from the Nizam's government and from section of the public for the restoration of Berar to the Nizam. Nothing, however, came out of it. Berar was also clamouring for the establishment of Local Self-Government. Taking a bold attitude the Warhad Samachor expressed the popular feeling that people feared to oppose the Government officers not from any hope of advancement but fear of being removed, if they opposed the wishes of officers who nominated them. An instance was cited when in the course of discussion and in the presence of the Commissioner, the resolution on female education was opposed by the officials even when it was carried by the non-official majority. Complaints were made by them that the non-official section of the Municipal Committees did as they liked regardless of public interest. It had been announced in 1881 by the Berar Government that a Municipal Committee would be established in each town having a population of 5,000 people and on which five members would be appointed by the Deputy Commissioner. This Committee would look to the cleanliness and other matters in the town. There were, however, serious complaints about the personnel of these committees.

In an editorial dated the 15th January 1883, the Warhad Samachar stated that "it was our duty to awaken all people of Berar to make a demand for Local Fund Committees being fully administered by peoples' representatives. Now the Deputy Commissioner spends local funds according to his own sweet will without caring for the public, therefore, people of various places should note that they should stand united behind the right to demand Local Self-Government. They should send their resolution to the Committee established at Akola in connection with the movement for the introduction of Local Self-Government. The people of Akola should organise a squad of propagandists and popularise the demand in various places and should take the initiative in organizing a provincial Conference to consider the matter." Apparently as a result of this agitation the Resident at Hyderabad called a Conference and decided finally that Berar should have elected representatives in its local bodies and the announcement was widely acclaimed.

The Municipal Act of 1883 was extended to Berar in 1887 and District Boards were established. Bashim District Board was the first body of this kind established on the 3rd December 1889. The Berar Government in its report of 1889 to 1890 referred to their work and "were glad to note that our municipalities with the new phase of elective franchise are progressing steadily and satisfactorily and are all in a financially sound state."

The education department was established in Berar in 1866-67, and the number of schools in 1879 was 712, out of which 233 were maintained by the public. There were eleven students getting College Education who had to go out of the province, and 334 girls in ten girl's schools. In a training school at Akola, there were four students. A teacher's association was also started in Berar, the first meeting of which was held in August 1883. The whole system of education was so rudimentary that it was fit only for a semi-civilised, backward people; not for a land of ripe and ancient civilization which had long ago given light and learning to the West. The new education was meant to make the people soft, docile and unenterprising.

There were however, separate schools for Europeans and Anglo-Indians in which the system of teaching was different and the syllabus was according to Cambridge University. It was brought home to the students in these schools that the Europeans were the rulers and the Indians the ruled.

The birth of the Indian National Congress had a profound effect on the political situation in Berar as in other parts of the country. Though the policy of the British to divide and rule was paying them rich dividends, it was creating a turmoil in the minds of the people and the atmosphere was seething with discontent. The district of Akola had its own share in these happenings., An incident reported in the Warhad Samachar in its issue of 6th May 1877, reveals to what insane extent this attitude can go:

"A European was walking on the road in Nagpur and taking umbrage at a Kunbi, caught hold of him and commanded Ramdayal a municipal peon who was near at hand, to cut off his head. Ramdayal was aghast at the order of the Sahib and when the latter had left the spot, he let him off. Seeing this the Sahib returned and asked Ramdayal in anger why he had not carried out the order. Thereafter, the Sahib stabbed poor Ramdayal as a result of which he died. He was produced before a magistrate but was discharged on the plea of not being in his proper senses when he stabbed the peon."

This was not an isolated case of racial madness. The Warhad Samachar in its issue of the 3rd September 1876, published the following account of the inconsiderate behaviour of the head of the province.

"The Chief Commissioner, Mr. Morris, one day saw an innocent unlettered Indian going to fetch water from the well situated in the compound of his bungalow. Mr. Morris challenged him upon which the poor Indian apologised and said that he would not have dared had he known that the bungalow was occupied by a Bara Sahib. Not being satisfied, Mr Morris had him arrested and the man was produced before a magistrate who let him off. But Mr. Morris was not going to leave him at that; he ordered his retrial by another magistrate who fined him four rupees The Judicial Commissioner, Colonel Mackenzie, before whom the case went up in appeal, acquitted the man and passed strictures upon the magistrate who had found him guilty."

Now the point of this incident is that a responsible officer like the Chief Commissioner was so callous in his treatment of an Indian whose only offence was that he wanted to draw water from the well in his compound. The Warhad Samachar summed up its comments on this episode by saying that it was not safe to leave lakhs of people of the Nagpur province to the tender mercies of a Chief Commissioner like Morris.

The first meeting of the Congress was in the nature of a dedicatory session, attended only by seventy-two delegates. It would appear that no delegate from Madhya Pradesh was present because the invitations had been issued only to organised Associations and political bodies existing at that time, and Madhya Pradesh probably did not have any. For the Second Session at Calcutta invitations were received by some persons in Madhya Pradesh. B. K. Bose who had been invited could not attend as he had been appointed a Judge of the Small Causes Court at Nagpur, but his friends Bapurao Dada Kinkhede, Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis and Gopal Hari Bhide attended the Congress session. So did Abdul Aziz of Kamptee who made a fine speech in Urdu at the session.

The return of the delegates from Calcutta gave an impetus to the efforts of Krishna Rao Phatak who had been labouring to start a Sabha on the lines of the Sarvajanik Sabha of Pune. An organization known as the Loka-Sabha was established at Nagpur with Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis as President and Bapu-rao Dada Kinkhede as Secretray. In 1886, a similar Sabha was established at Amravati also with Deoras Vinayak Digambar of Akola, G. S. Khaparde, R. N. Mudholkar, M. V. Joshi and Kazi Badruddin of Malkapur among its members.

Another important organisation founded at this time was the Gorakshan Sabha which had considerable political influence though primarily its interest was to preserve the cattle wealth of the country. Forty nine such Sabhas were established in the Central Provinces and Berar which gradually assumed the form of All-India organizations. The younger generation of the Berars had to a great extent been educated in Pune and Bombay and they were largely attracted towards the Congress. The Indian National Congress elicited an official ill-will on the part of the British government and in Berar a warning from Government sources was sent to patels, patvaris and deshmukhs asking them to keep aloof from the Indian National Congress and its activities.

The first session of the Congress held in Nagpur was in 1891 and was attended by 480 delegates from Berar. This session gave a great stimulus to the National movement in the Central Provinces and Berar. Most of the English knowing persons-pleaders, land-holders and men of various professions attended the Session. Every one seemed to be inspired with the idea that he had come to Nagpur for the sake of the Nation and returned filled with the zeal to serve the nation's cause. It was at this time that Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak began to play an increasingly active part in the life of the country through his rousing articles in Kesari.

The last decade of the nineteenth century was almost continuously haunted by famines. The settlement rates of revenue carried out in 1891 were so high that the cultivator could hardly pay them. The famine first struck in 1892, which was followed by one in 1894 and by another in 1894-95 and again in 1895-96. The Warhad Samachar published stories of the sufferings of the people. While these series of famines devastated the Central Provinces and Berar, the western and northern parts of the country were visited by the pestilence of bubonic plague which took a heavy toll of life. But the plague had another, indirect and far reaching consequence on the politics of the country. The behaviour of the military which was called out to deal with the situation arising from the pestilence in the country aroused great indignation. It was at this time that Ryand and L.t. Ayerst were murdered by the Chafekar brothers. Tilak was tried and sentenced to 18 months rigorous imprisonment. It was under the shadow of this gloom that the thirteenth session of the Congress was held at Amravati in Berar. It condemned the reactionary policy of the Government. It thus appeared that a new note had begun to be heard in the country the strident, impatient, challenging voice of a nation grown restive under years of bureaucratic rule.

It was during the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon that Berar was permanently ceded to the British by the Nizam. It was announced from Fort William that Berar had been administered by British under the treaties of 1853 and 1860 for meeting the expenses of the Hyderabad contingent, and any balance of revenue was to be handed over to the Nizam; but that this arrangement had not worked satisfactorily. Therefore, these were being redrafted and that hence forth, while the British recognised the suzerainty of the Nizam, Nawab Mir Sir Mahbub Ali Khan, the latter leased Berar permanently to the British, who would pay him 25 lakhs of rupees every year, and that the British would have full rights of Government over Berar, and make such arrangements regarding the contingent as may be considered desirable. This agreement was signed on the 5th of November, 1902, by Lieut. Col. Sir David Barr on behalf of the Government of India, and by Maharaja Sir Kishen Prasad on behalf of the Nizam. Lord Curzon further proposed the addition of Berar to the Central Provinces, and this was proclaimed on 17th September 1903. Thus the province of the Central Provinces and Berar came into existence. In the Residency Order, dated the 30th September 1903, and under notification by the Government of India, dated the 11th September 1903, it was published that the administration of Berar had been made over to the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces, and that under orders of the India Council, the Governor General directed that all the power of the Resident of Hyderabad would be exercised by the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces, and wherever in any Law the name of the Resident appeared, the name of the Chief Commissioner would be substituted. There was some agitation, prominently by Muhammedans and a few jagirdars, against joining Berar to the Central Provinces, and a meeting was held in Amravati on 21st February 1903 in which the decision of the Government of India was opposed. A committee was also appointed which sent a representation to the Government of India.

It was at this time that Lord Curzon took the momentous decision of partitioning Bengal. This added to the tension and resentment in the country. There was a great political upsurge in India and the district of Akola had its own share in vehemently opposing the measure. In 1904 a meeting was held at the residence of Tilak in which the leaders of the Central Provinces decided to support Tilak in his fight against the government and popularise their stand through public lectures and the press. People's minds were now in ferment and their mood was sullen, suspicious and resentful.

Out of the anti-partition agitation was born the cult of Swadeshi and boycott [The Warhad Samachar of 20th August 1894 editorially called upon the people to oppose the influence of Manchester on Indian administration and said that if we had any spirit of nationalism we should resolve firmly to use only swadeshi. This would be a fitting reply to the anti-Indian policy of Government. Meetings were held in many places and people took an oath to use swadeshi. Reports of such gatherings appeared in Warhad Samachar of 9th March 1896.]. No wonder the 1905 session of the Congress met at Banaras in a grim and indignant mood. The leaders from the Central Provinces such as Dadasaheb Khaparde, Dr. Munje, Mudholkar and Chitnavis made their mark in this session, the former two representing the extremist group of Tilak and the latter two representing the moderate school. The viceroyalty of Lord Curzon ended in 1906 and this marked the beginning of India's aggressive political awakening. [The contemporary issue of Warhad Samachar dated 28th August 1905, said: "We are thankful to Lord Curzon whose administration full of zuloom has awakened in Indians the spirit of self-respect. It has transformed our life. Congress has started the Swadeshi movement. People in their thousands are gathering round the Congress and have consistently begun to boycott English goods, particularly cloth. It is really inspiring to see how throughout the nook and corner of India there is unprecedented enthusiasm among the people for Swadeshi. Swadeshi has become the cementing force uniting all India into one".] The 1906 session of the Congress was held in Calcutta which declared svaraj as its immediate goal. The session was dominated by the extremists headed by Lal, Bal and Pal. It was at this time that terrorist movement began to assume serious proportions.

An extremist organisation called Rashtriya Mandal was established at Nagpur which utilised Shivaji and Ganesh celebrations for propagating the idea of National Education and Swadeshi. The next session of the Congress was to be held at Nagpur and the extremist group including Khaparde and Munje toured the province to marshal their forces in preparation for this session. They visited Wardha in early May and on 12th they went to Seoni where they heard of the arrest of Lala Laj-patrai. At all the places they visited, they addressed largely attended public meetings and established branches of the Nationalist wing of the Congress.

The Government's repressive measures were in full swing during this time and among its early victims was the news paper 'Harikishore' of Yeotmal. The editors of this paper had invited Tilak from Amravati to Yeotmal and had presented him with an address. It is interesting to note that the title of "Lokamanya" was used for the first time on this occasion. The 'Harikishore' had published three articles on the arrest of Lajpatrai and it was on the ground of these articles that the paper was prosecuted. On 12th November Shri Prithvigir Hargir, the owner of the paper was sentenced to two years rigourous imprisonment and a fine of a thousand rupees.

The meeting of the reception committee convened on the 22nd September 1907 at the Town Hall in Nagpur to elect Lokamanya Tilak as president of the session could not be held due to the tense and excited atmosphere and the venue of the session had to be changed to Surat. This precipitated a breach between the moderate and the extremist sections of the Congress. The spasmodic and hesitating attempts made by the British government to grant political reforms to India were too late and too meagre. Agitation, repression and violence followed in their wake. Bureaucracy was in alarm. Even a minor episode caused ferocious reaction on the part of the Government. In the midst of this fury of repression, many parts of the country including the Central Provinces and Berar were afflicted by famine in 1907-08. In the meanwhile the slow moving process of constitutional reforms was working itself in the British Parliament. The Morley-Minto reforms were introduced in 1909. They did little, however, to assuage public opinion. There was keen and widespread disappointment as Lord Minto made it clear in his address to the Imperial Legislative Assembly in 1909 that the Provincial Councils and the Central Assembly were not intended to transfer any power to Indians. The consequent wave of discontent resulted in the imprisonment of many political leaders. Ironically enough the first fruit of the new reforms was the Press Act of 1910 which effectively suppressed a number of Nationalist papers.

The year 1911 was significant because determined efforts were made by some Hindu and Muslim leaders to bring about unity between the two communities. The communal spirit had taken deep roots in the minds of the people due to the subtle and calculated attempts of the British Government to divide the Muslims from the large body of the Indian public and drive a wedge between them. It may here be pointed out that as early as July 1879, a correspondent writing to the Warhad Mitra refers to a statement which appeared in Pramod Sindhu of the 23rd June to the effect that one Sakharam Dattatreya, Tahsildar, had retired from service, and that it was rumoured that one Safdar Ali, a police sub-inspector, would be appointed to the vacant post. He says that if this report were true, the question arises if there were no better qualified candidates for the post. Commenting this subject the Warhad Mitra editorially says, "There are six head clerks and six deputy clerks in the office of the Deputy Commissioners of the six districts, and several clerks of the Small Cause Courts in the province, and many naib-tahsildars. Some of them are acquainted with two or three languages, and have passed the lower and higher standard examinations. Some have passed the pleader's examination, and some have been serving in the Revenue Department for the last fifteen years. The paper then concludes by posing the question, "Why is it that only Musalmans are appointed tahsildars these days?" The Editor does not pause for an answer. (Warhad Mitra, 8th July 1879). The Muslims numbered 2 lakhs in the provincial population of 88 lakhs in 1891 and even after Berar was joined to the province the population of Muslims did not exceed 4 percent. The Muslims were neither appreciably influenced by the national movement nor did they join the Congress. As a matter of fact the Chief Commissioner of Nagpur Mr. Crad-dock exhorted the Muslims to keep away from the Congress. He followed a communal policy in every department of administration. The Muslim League was established under the protective wings of Lord Minto. Though the session of the Muslim League held in Delhi in 1909 decided to establish the league in Central Provinces the unity conference which was held before the next session of the League in Nagpur in 1910 by a resolution defined its object as the attainment of self government under the British Empire. Like other parts of the country the Central Provinces were also caught up in the maelstrom of communalism and public life was often punctuated by communal riots. The Congress subsequently adopted and endorsed its complete accord with the resolution of the unity conference and declared that the political future of the country depended on the harmonious working and co-operation of the various communities in the country. The year 1913 saw the beginning of a new era in Central Provinces with the formation of the Central Provinces Legislative Council on 8th November of that year. In August 1914 war broke out in Europe and the reaction in India was one of unanimous and enthusiastic support to the cause of allies. Little did the Indians expect at that time that the reward for so lively effort would be so little. The first meeting of the Legislative Council was held on 17th August 1914. The Chief Commissioner, Sir Benjamin Robertson, exhorted the members to enter upon their responsibilities with seriousness and courage and expressed the hope of fullest co-operation from the province in the war efforts. But the passing of the Defence of India Act in 1915 shattered all these hopes. Under these circumstances Home Rule League was established in 1916 which aimed at the attainment of Svarajya by all constitutional measures. The leaders for the Central Provinces headed by Khaparde wholeheartedly supported the Home Rule League. A provincial association was formed in 1916 with members representing every district of the province. Meanwhile Muslim opinion in India was also becoming suspicious of Britain. An attempt at rapprochement between the Hindus and the Muslims was made. The 1916 Lucknow Sessions of the Congress and the Muslim League forged unity between the Congress and League resulting in the conclusion of the famous Lucknow Pact. The Congress and the Muslim League thus presented a united front to the British Government. In the meanwhile the Provincial Association was held in 1916 at Amravati which asked for (1) the establishment of Municipal Committees in all towns with a population of 5000 and above with 3/4 of the members being elected, (2) the administration of the district councils through the representatives of the people and (3) establishment of the Gram Panchayats all over the province. The Government was, however, in a belligerent mood and refused to listen to reason.

Soon after the Congress Session of 1916 the Home Rule agitation led by Tilak and Mrs. Besant gathered momentum. Almost all the prominent leaders of the Central Provinces joined the movement. The student population was also caught up by the wave of national movement. A number of students all over the province were expelled from their schools for joining in the demonstrations and public meetings. It was against this background that the new Secretary of State for India Mr. Montague took office in July 1917. He made a conciliatory statement in the House of Commons lying down the fundamental objective of the British policy as the increasing association of Indians in every branch of administration and the development of self-governing institutions. He expressed his desire to personally visit India and consult the Indian leaders on the scheme of reforms. However, the British Parliament was in no mood to respond to these sentiments, due to its preoccupation with the problems of war. The bureaucracy in India was far too unimaginative and wooden to understand the significance of the popular agitation. The situation would not have worsened if the Government had not appointed a committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Rowlatt to enquire into criminal conspiracies and the spread of revolutionary associations in India and to advise what legislation should be undertaken to deal with them. This provoked and exasperated the people. It was also a warning that more weapons were being acquired for the chastisement of the so called sedition mongers.

The Calcutta Congress of 1917 condemned this new development. Tilak undertook an extensive tour of the Central Provinces and covered a number of places in Nagpur and Berar divisions. In the meanwhile tension between the Government and political leaders in India mounted. In 1918 it was proposed to send a deputation to England composed of Pal, Kelkar and Khaparde but under the orders of the war council in England they were not permitted to sail. This caused resentment which found expression in the sixth provincial conference held in March 1918. At the same time in the mounting wave of discontent Montague was touring the provinces of India. He met Dadasaheb Khaparde, Mudholkar, Chitnavis, Moropant Joshi and other leaders from the Central Provinces. By now the district political conferences had become a regular feature and helped to spread political awakening in rural areas. They hastened the transformation of the political struggle from a middle class movement to a mass movement. Due to the. worsening of the war situation, the viceroy called a war meeting in Delhi. In Nagpur an impressive Durbar was held attended by several loyalists. But the voice of the people was heard elsewhere at a number of tahsil meetings where resolutions demanding Svarajya and national education were passed. The repressive policy of the government, however continued and many leaders were prosecuted and jailed under the Defence of Inciia Act. In this atmosphere of repression and awakening the Montague-Chelmsford report was presented to the British Parliament. The report evoked a sharp criticism from the leaders of the Central Provinces in the provincial conference though a few of them viewed it with favour. The Congress as also the Muslim League voiced their dissatisfaction. When these developments were taking place in regard to constitutional reforms, the report of the Rowlatt Committee was also published which found nothing new and recommended special trials without jury for political cases. The promises, half-hearted though they were, embodied in the Montague-Chelmsford Report were nullified by the unmistakable repressive measures suggested by the Rowlatt Committee. The war ended in 1918. It brought in its wake the epidemic of influenza followed by the failure of harvest resulting in heavy casualties. In the midst of this situation the Rowlatt Bill was brought before the Imperial Legislative Council. Protest meetings were held in every town of the Central Provinces as elsewhere in India. The bill was vehemently opposed by all the political leaders including those of the Central Provinces. Inspite of such an unprecedented unanimity of disapproval, the Rowlatt Bill became an Act. It is worth noting that the expeditious manner in which this legislation was rushed through was in striking contrast to the leisurely, almost deliberately obstructive manner in which the reforms bill was handled. It was in December 1919, about twenty months after Montague had submitted his report, that the recommendations contained in the report were embodied in the form of an Act. The interval between the passage of Rowlatt Act and the Montford reforms saw repression in almost all parts of India. It was at this time that a new ligure arrived on the political horizon of India that was to guide the destiny of India till the dawn of Independence in 1947. The new figure was that of Gandhiji.

Gandhiji had struck a new note by imploring the viceroy not to give his assent to the Rowlatt bill and had declared that if the bill became law he would start satyagraha. The proposal for satyagraha found widespread support in the Central Provinces and was observed with remarkable success as in other parts of the country. There was trouble in many parts of the country. Then came the horror of Jallianvala Bagh on 13th April 1919 where the notorious General Dyer by ordering indiscriminate firing brought about a massacre of a number of innocent men, women and children. The tragedy shocked the people of Central Provinces immensely and evoked strong criticism from political leaders. The satyagraha was suspended by Gandhiji. The government of India at this inopportune time decided to celebrate the victory gained by the allies in the great world war. This was grossly callous and the celebrations in the Central Provinces were far from popular.

The period under review had, however a bright streak on the otherwise dark horizon of Indian politics. It saw for the first time an unprecedented unity among the Hindus and Muslims. The national struggle was strengthened by the Khilafat movement. The Ali brothers who were in the forefront of the movement and Gandhiji became for the time being at least the country's most conspicuous leaders. Meanwhile the Montford reforms were put through. The Central Provinces were allotted 5 seats in the Indian Legislative Assembly and two in the Council of State. Moropant Joshi and other moderates were among the few who pleaded for the acceptance of the reforms. But theirs was a lonely voice. Everywhere strong opposition was seen to the acceptance of Reforms. District conferences were held in the first half of 1920 and the message for struggle travelled from district to district. At this time India suffered a tragic loss in the death of Lokamanya Tilak. Meetings were held in every part of the country and a countrywide hartal was observed. However, the appointed task had to be performed and in the special session of the Congress held in Calcutta in September 1920, the Congress outlined the programme of non-cooperation and adoption of Svadeshi. Opposition to the resolution of the Congress from the Central Provinces came from Khaparde who pointed out that the resolution sought to divert the energies of the Congress towards attaining soul force and moral excellence, thus losing sight of immediate political objects. Opposition also came from members of the Imperial Legislative Council. In this atmosphere the Congress session was held at Nagpur. The session unanimously adopted the resolution on non-cooperation and established finally the unquestioned leadership of Gandhiji in the freedom struggle. The session was eventful as it displayed a rosy picture of Hindu-Muslim unity.

The Nagpur session also passed other resolutions which were destined to have far-reaching influence on the country in the years to come. It was at Nagpur that the Congress adopted the linguistic principle for the realignment of the provinces. Accordingly a provincial Congress committee was formed and the Central Provinces were grouped under three committees, the Berar, the Hindi C. P. which later came to be called Mahakosal provincial committee and the Marathi C. P. which became later the Nagpur provincial committee. This resulted in diffusing the political activity which was till now centred in Nagpur only, in the whole of the Central Provinces. The two new centres viz., Jabalpur and Amravati became the radiating nuclei from where the movement spread out into the districts. Soon after the session Mahatma Gandhi toured the province explaining to the people the decisions taken by the congress. People were quick to respond. The District Councils insisted on hoisting the national flag on their buildings defying Government orders. In Berar the national movement had taken firm roots long before it spread to other parts of the province. It now progressed under the leadership of B. G. Khaparde, Dr. Moonje, M. S. Aney and Veer Wamanrao Joshi. There was, however, a divergence of opinion in regard to the non-cooperation movement in Berar. Veer Wamanrao Joshi and his followers, however, whole-heartedly supported it. In 1921 Lord Reading succeeded Chelmsford as Viceroy. In the same year the Prince of Wales decided to visit India. His arrival was greeted with hartal and protest meetings in the Central Provinces as elsewhere in India. The year 1922 dawned and Gandhiji was ready with the programme of mass civil disobedience which cause he had fervently propagated after the Ahmedabad session of 1921. But Gandhiji had to suspend the movement which was to start at Bardoli due to the tragic happenings at Chauri Chura where a few constables were killed by a mob. This led to the arrest of Gandhiji on 10th March 1922. In the meanwhile the Central Provinces Legislative council decorously debated various topics under the indulgent eye of bureaucracy. Though some of the resolutions sponsored by the peoples representatives could get through, they at least served the purpose of voicing public grievances. With political agitation outside being ruthlessly suppressed the legislatures now provided as possible alternatives of action. Some even thought of using them in obstructing the machinery of government. This mood was reflected in the thinking of Dr. Munje. In Berar too the enthusiasm for the programme of civil disobedience was waning. In fact Berar had not at any time wholly accepted the programme of non-cooperation and this was the reason as to why the leadership in Berar during the days oi non-cooperation had passed into the hands of Veer Wamanrao Joshi. It was, therefore, natural that the views of the Berar Congress Committee also were now veering round to Dr. Munje's. This mood was reflected in other parts of the country as well and with the beginning of 1923 an able and powerful group led by C. R. Das and Pandit Motilal Nehru set about forming the Svarajist Party to carry the fight into the legislatures. By this time the reforms had been in operation for well over two years. But a number of events besides the use of Viceroy's special powers had lifted the veil of pretext and make believe about the reforms. A further fightening of control by the bureaucracy seemed imminent. The memorandum presented by the C. P. and Berar association of the services to the Lee Commission was an example of unabashed piece of effrontery in cursing the reforms, the Indian Press and politicians and in a mionr key Government of India and the India Office. In spite of these wranglings the All India Congress Committee which met at Bombay on 25th May 1923 decided to contest the forthcoming general elections. However, at this time staunch protagonists of non-cooperation were active in the Central Provinces especially at Nagpur and they made an issue of the national flag on Municipalities and District Councils. Volunteers poured from every district including the district of Akola. Satyagraha and defiance of the government ban prohibiting the hoisting of the national flag became a daily, deliberate ritual. There was no frivolity or bravado about it. The affair now no longer remained a provincial one but assumed country wide importance and 18th June 1923 was observed as a flag day in Nagpur. Volunteers from distant parts of the country joined in the procession taken out on that occasion. Such determined movement could not be ignored by the legislative council which passed a resolution demanding the repeal of the order of the Deputy Commissioner of Nagpur which the satyagrahis were defying. The Delhi session of the Congress held on 18th September 1923 recorded the success of the Nagpur struggle.

Meanwhile the life of the first legislature formed under the reforms came to an end with the monsoon sitting of 1923. The new elections were held in 1923 and Svarajists secured a clear majority in the Central Provinces. In the Central Assembly they formed a compact group of 45 in a house of 140. Among them were Abhyankar, Dr. Gour and Mishra from the Central Provinces. The Swarajists under the leadership of Dr. Munje refused to accept office in the Central Provinces and brought a vote of no-confidence against the Government which had been formed by the nomination of ministers by the Governor. The motion was passed. The jubilant Swarajists then successfully voted out the money bills and blocked the working of the Government. Similar scenes were witnessed in the central legislature, and they brought out succinctly the opposition of the people's representatives to any half-hearted measures on the part of the government.

In the Central Provinces the matters took a dramatic turn with the Budget having been thrown out. The Governor in this situation certified the expenditure on reserved subjects and restored that on transferred subjects to the amount required for meeting the committed expenditure. Thus there was a shortfall in the latter. Government used this as a stick to beat the Svarajists with in the public eye and to malign the party. A circular was issued by the Chief Secretary to all officers in the districts asking them to bring home to the electorate the effect of the destructive policy followed by the Svarajist party in the Legislative council. Obviously the aim of the Government was to rally round itself the landholding and aristocratic classes to fight the nationalists. Amidst this constitutional crisis when the diarchic system of government failed to work, communal riots flared up in many parts of the country including the Central Provinces. With the virtual extinction of the Khilafat movement and with the repudiation of the Caliph by Turkey, the cause of Hindu Muslim unity in India lost as if its very foundation. The British were not slow to take advantage of the situation. What they feared most as a danger to their rule was communal unity in India. It was a situation that irresistibly brought Gandhiji to action. On 18th September 1924 he started a 21 day fast in the house of Mohammad Ali at Delhi. This had a desired effect at least temporarily. Subsequently a conference of all party leaders at Delhi adopted a long resolution on communal toleration. On 21st November 1924 another All Parties Conference was held in Bombay which appointed a committee to report on Svaraj including a communal settlement. The committee met on 1st March 1925 but adjourned sine die without coming to any conclusion. This was perhaps expected as a result of the challenging communal situation that had developed over a period of time. The Hindu Mahasabha, and the Muslim League presided over by Jinnah, represented the extremists elements in the Hindu and Muslim communities, respectively. It was now that the term of the legislature elected in 1923 was coming to an end. New elections were to take place in November 1926. This gave a splendid opportunity to extremist elements in the country to fan the fire of communalism. The period before the elections and after, therefore saw the orgy of communal terror let loose in various parts of the country. The degree of estrangement between the two communities can be gauged from the virulent anti-Hindu tirade coming from a moderate body like the Khilafat conference in May 1926. In the atmosphere of this mounting tension came the news of the murder of Svami Shraddhanand by one Abdul Rashid. The murder to some extent chastened the extremists in both the communities and attempts were made to bring them to a common basis of understanding. An appeal to this effect was issued by the Congress president Shrinivas Iyenger. The appeal did not achieve any substantial results. The announcement of the appointment of a statutory commission on reforms consisting wholly of Englishmen, however, brought forth nation-wide protests. This gave a promise of a renewed effort by all parties to work unitedly for the cause of the nation.

When these events were taking place the Government of India was following a policy of repression. This was marked by the issue of the notorious Bengal ordinance. But when total unity was necessary a schism was appearing in the rank of the svarajists especially in the Marathi districts of Central Provinces and Bombay. On 8th October 1925 Shri Tambe decided to accept the membership of the Executive Council of the Central Provinces and this was followed by a resolution of the Executive Committee of the Berar svaraj party which declared that the time had come to adopt a policy of responsive cooperation. It was in the meeting of the All-India Svarajist Executive held at Nagpur that the breach was complete. Motilal Nehru remarked that "Maharashtra was a diseased limb of the Svaraj party and he was quite prepared to amputate it." He took a hurricane tour of Berar vehemently criticising the stand of the responsivists. The Congress session at Cawnpore in 1925 carried by a large majority the resolution proposing a course of action within the legislature sponsored by Motilal Nehru. The responsivists of Berar declared their opposition to this resolution and when the Legislative Council of the Central Provinces met on 4th March 1926 they expressed it by remaining in the council when the entire Svarajist opposition walked out. [Earlier, the Responsivists of Berar had declared themselves opposed to the Cawnpore Congress Resolution. At a conference held at Akola on the 14th February with M. R. Jayakar as President they had formed a new party to be called the Responsive Co-operation party. Among the Secretaries of the Party were B. G. Khaparde and Dr. M. R. Cholkar. Thus when the Legislative Council met there was a cleavage in the ranks of the Opposition.] In the face of this stiff opposition the Government suspended dyarchy in the Central Provinces. The 1926 elections were now approaching. The Svarajists as also the responsivists started marshalling their forces for the ensuing elections. Another important group which fought the elections in Berar was the Non-Brahmin party which contested 7 out of seventeen Berar seats. The Svarajists lost considerably in the elections, the responsivists in Berar having succeeded in winning a number of seats. Berar also returned Shri Aney to the Central Assembly. The next session of the Congress held at Gauhati saw a stiffening of the Congress attitude towards the acceptance of office and set the tone of policy of the Congress members in the legislatures for the next three years. These years, therefore, saw the unusual spectacle of the stream of the national movement being fed and strengthened by the incidents inside the legislature rather than the events in the wider public life.

In the Central Provinces Legislative Council the Congress found itself in a minority with independent Congress party members entering into coalition with responsivists, Non-Brahmins and independents. This coalition of 33 members thus formed the Nationalist party. Though the budget was passed in-spite of a stiff opposition it was predicted that the Nationalists coalition would not survive long due to the loose bonds that held it together. It was in the midst of this situation occurred the appointment of an all-white Reforms Commission, as stated earlier, headed by Sir John Simon. This step displayed a great ignorance of the Indian sentiment by the Government. The result was a spontaneous denouncement of the commission from all parts of the country.

All parties joined hands in protesting against the commission, the Congress spearheading the opposition. It was decided to boycott the commission. The Congress went a step ahead and in its Madras Session declared that the goal of the Indian people was complete national Independence. The Simon Commission landed at Bombay on 3rd February 1928. The day was observed all over the country as a day of mourning. In the Central Provinces legislative council a motion expressing no confidence in the Commission was carried by a majority. The positive response of India to the British Government was, however, contained in the Nehru Report which was the result of the All-parties conference held in Delhi and Bombay. The report laid down Dominion Status as the basis of the constitution of India and recommended the abolition of separate electorates. Jinnah who first supported the report later became its staunchest opponent after his trip to England in 1928. Rabid communalism was raising its ugly head again. In the momentous session of the Congress held at Lahore in 1929 with Jawaharlal Nehru as President, the entire political mood of the country seemed to have changed. Gandhiji declared that Svaraj would mean complete Independence. This was the call for the struggle to come. The promise of the Government given a few days before the Session to call a Round Table Conference of the leaders of all political parties after the Simon Commission had submitted its report came very late indeed. The tremendous effect of this call for the struggle which was to be launched against the Government in the form of civil disobedience could be visualised when in far away villages of the Central Provinces, not to speak of the more accessible parts of the Province, groups of men, women and children gathered in an open place in the early hours of the morning, hoisted the tricolour flag, sang the national song and listened to the message of independence. From now on events began to move rapidly towards the predestined struggle. In obedience to the resolution of the Lahore Congress, members of Central Assembly and Provincial Legislatures resigned their seats. The spread of the movement in the Central Provinces and Berar was preceded by a great awakening. It gave a fillip to the youth movement. Youths and students organizations were established and especially the Berar Students Conference and Berar Hanuman Vyayam Mandal played a conspicuous role in the freedom movement. The salt Jaw was broken at Dahihanda in Berar as in all parts of the province and a War Council was formed in Berar with Wamanrao Joshi as president and Brijlal Biyani as Secretary. Batches of Satyagrahis defied the salt law and a decision was taken to defy the forest law and sedition law as well. The Government became alarmed at this turn of events and decided to swoop down upon the leaders. Abhyankar and Wamanrao Joshi were arrested. With these leaders behind the bars, it fell to Bapuji Aney to inaugurate the forest Satyagraha on 10th July 1930. With a party of volunteers he cut grass from the reserved forests at Pusad and was arrested. At the same time other leaders of Berar viz., Brijlal Biyani, Gole, Patwardhan and Soman were arrested. The Satyagraha now spread in all parts of the State. The Adivasis too participated in thousands in the Satyagraha. The Government used all the repressive measures at its command to put down the popular upsurge. It also issued the press ordinance demanding securities from a number of nationalist papers.

Till now Government had refrained from arresting Mahatma Gandhi. He was now arrested at Dandi. This was followed by the arrests of Abbas Tayabji and Sarojini Naidu. Repression also continued unabated. Picketing was made an offence and all Congress Committees were declared unlawful. The Simon Report had been published. All eyes were now turned towards the Round Table Conference. The Central Provinces had only one representative on it viz., S. D. Tambe. The Round Table Conference met on 12th November 1930 but in the absence of the Congress, the voice of India was nowhere to be heard. The proceedings of the Round Table Conference were affected by sectarianism. The Labour Government also lost interest in the Round Table Conference facing as it was an insecure position in the home politics. Ramsey Macdonald, the P. M., therefore hurriedly concluded the Round Table Conference on 19th January 1931 promising that steps would be taken to enlist the cooperation of those sections of public opinion which had held aloof from the conference. This meant that the door was kept open for negotiations with the Congress. The statement of the Prime Minister was followed by the unconditional release of Gandhiji and other political leaders. Gandhiji agreed to hold talks with Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, of which the famous Gandhi-Irwin or the, Delhi Pact was the result. The main outcome of the Pact was the participation of the Congress in the next Round Table Conference. The signing of the pact was shortly followed by the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru against insistent public demand for the commutation of their death sentences and the unwillingness shown by the new Viceroy, Lord Willingdon to implement the terms of the Delhi Pact. Disaffection spread everywhere in the country and found its echoes in Berar as well when the official tendency to balk the pact became clearly visible. Gandhiji reluctantly attended the Round Table Conference in London. Because of the high ideals and self-effacing patriotism of Gandhiji and the cynical self interests of many others from India, the conference was doomed to fail. The constitution it evolved was a sheer mockery. Gandhiji returned to India more frustrated than disappointed. Government had resolved to carry out a policy of repression. Instructions were issued to the provincial Governments to supply evidence to prove that the Congress was not abiding by the terms of the pact. The Governor of Central Provinces, Sir Butler accused the Congress of fomenting a war mentality. The alleged attitude of the Congress was taken as a pretext for repressive measures. The situation was further aggravated by the bad harvest in Nagpur and Berar. There was great discontent among the agriculturists. Inspite of the attitude of the Government the Congress decided to extend its hand of co-operation. If it was refused it was resolved to call upon the nation to resume civil disobedience. The Government took this as a threat. There was a wave of arrests and among the leaders arrested from Berar were Wamanrao Joshi and Brijlal Biyani. The Congress reacted sharply and established war councils in place of District Congress Committees. However, the protest meetings held by people all over were dispersed by severe lathi charges. A notable factor in the popular and spontaneous upsurge that had taken place in the Central Provinces was the increasing number of women volunteers participating in the Satyagraha, which continued unabated.

The newspapers were doing the great work of taking the message of the movement to the masses. The Government promptly suspended such newspapers. Among them was Matru-bhumi of Akola. The gagging of the newspapers led to the ingenious method of spreading the message of the movement through Congress bulletins. In this situation the Congress decided to hold its Session at Delhi which the Government forestalled by arresting Pandit Malaviya, the President-elect and subsequently all those who had assembled. This was followed by a Joint conference of Mahakosal, Nagpur and Berar Congress representatives at Nagpur on 29th May 1932. The same story of the arrest of the President-elect and other delegates as in Delhi was repeated here also. The movement received an accession of strength when the working classes decided to join it. The Government, however, was not satisfied with the mere arrest of political leaders. It meted out harsh treatment to them in jails. The Central Provinces Legislative Council debated an adjournment motion on this issue also. It was at this time that the communal award was made public by the British Prime Minister. It attempted to cut off the Harijan Community from its Hindu fold. On this, Mahatma Gandhi launched on 20th September 1932 his historic fast unto death. The leaders, however, made frantic efforts for a compromise. This resulted in the Poona Pact according to which separate electorates for the Harijans were done away with and the life of Gandhiji was saved. The fast stirred the nation into a social awakening. The emphasis at least for the time being shifted from political struggle and civil disobedience to social reform. During this period of civil disobedience, the central and the provincial councils had become mere tools in the hands of the bureaucracy. Certain measures such as the Ottawa Agreement, Criminal Law Amendment Bill of 1932 etc., passed by the central legislature had been harmful to the future of the country. When in this situation the Congress decided to hold its session in Calcutta, the political leaders began actively to think of new paths. The leaders who assembled at Calcutta including M. S. Aney were arrested. In the wake of these arrests came the White Paper containing the proposal for constitutional reforms. The White Paper contained obnoxious proposals such as safeguards and reservations. They were roundly condemned by the Congress. Gandhiji was now released from prison. He decided to call off the civil disobedience movement which was now a spent force. He now shifted his headquarters from Sabarmati to Sevagram in Wardha and resolved to launch the constructive movement of Harijan uplift. From Sevagram he commenced his ten months long Harijan tour and went to Nagpur in November 1933 and thence into Berar on 16th November and toured the whole of Central Provinces. In the meanwhile the leaders of the Congress were working out a plan for a positive course of action. The All India Congress Committee which met at Patna decided to suspend the civil disobedience movement and adopted a resolution favouring re-entry into the Councils by fighting the approaching elections with an animated vigour. In the elections to the Central Assembly the Congress nominees were swept to the polls everywhere. From Berar M. S. Aney was elected on the Nationalist Party ticket. At this time the Central Provinces lost one of its brave freedom fighters in the death of M. V. Abhyankar, in January 1935. The Government was now preparing the ground for the inauguration of the Government of India Act passed in July 1935. Elections under the new Act were to take place in 1936. Though the act was regarded as unsatisfactory and therefore condemned by every shade of public opinion the Congress decided to fight elections. The election, was a phenomenal success for the Congress. It captured 72 out of 112 seats in Central Provinces. Under the directive of the All India Congress an assurance was asked for from the Governor of the province by the leader of the party that the Council of Ministers would be consulted by the Governor and the latter would not use his discretionary powers. The Governor refused to give such an assurance. In such an eventuality the Congress decided not to accept office. This led to an unconstitutional action by the Governor in setting up a Council of Ministers consisting of Dr Raghavendra Rao and others who had no following. On 1st April 1937, the ministry took office. To save the ignominy of defeat for this puppet cabinet, the Governor did not summon the meeting of the Assembly. The elected members on the other hand met at Nagpur and elected a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker and condemned the previous ministry. This provoked an unprecedented constitutional crisis. Ultimately the Government of India gave in and declared that the Governor would at all times be concerned to carry his ministers with him On this background the puppet ministry resigned and the Congress which had accepted the clarification by the Government formed its first ministry on 14th July 1937 headed by Dr. Khare. The ministry carried out many useful reforms in social, educational and economic fields. It was, however, faced with an immediate crisis regarding the question of responsibility of the ministers Dr. Khare argued that the ministers could be responsible to the local members alone whereas the Congress insisted that the ministers were responsible to the Central Parliamentary Board of the party. Dr. Khare resigned on this issue and a new ministry was formed with Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla as the Chief minister. The assumption of power by the representatives of the people changed the entire tone of public administration. In the midst of the working of the popular ministries the Congress held its successive sessions in Haripura (1938), and Tripuri (1939) in the Central Provinces. Events followed in quick succession after the Tripuri Session. Soon after the Second World War began. The Congress whole-heartedly supported the cause of allies in their fight against Nazi Germany. It, however, reiterated its stand that the issue of war and peace for India must be decided by the Indian people. When the Congress Working Committee met at Wardha on 8th September 1939 it demanded the right of self-determination for the Indian people by framing their own constitution through a constituent assembly. The Government derided this outlook of the Congress and called it as ill-timed and calculated to cause embarrassment to England in its life and death struggle. The Viceroy invited the leaders of various political parties including the Congress for interviews. He spoke of the progressive attainment of Dominion Status. There was, however, an ominous note in his statement which said that "representatives of the minorities have urged most strongly on me the necessity of a clear assurance that full weight would be given to their views and interests in any modification that may be contemplated". This could at best be described as an attempt by the Government to drive a wedge between the Congress which represented the national feeling and the minorities, especially the Muslims who were showing restive signs under the leadership of Jinnah. The statement also displayed complete lack of vision and statesmanship on the part of the Government of India. The Congress could not accept such a situation and directed the Congress ministries to resign. Jinnah was playing a waiting game. He refused to attend the Wardha meeting. The Congress ministries resigned. The League Working Committee congratulated the Government for repudiating the claim of Congress to represent India and extended its whole-hearted cooperation in the prosecution of War. Again, infructuous interviews with political leaders by the Viceroy including Gandhiji and Jinnah followed. However, no common ground for cooperation was discerned. This, however, brought the Muslim League closer to the Government. The viceroy wooed the League which responded with protestations of injured innocence. The solicitude and eagerness on the part of the Government to placate the Muslim sentiment was a counter poise to the Congress. Before the ministry in the Central Provinces resigned, a debate on the resolution of War took place in which the Chief Minister compared the partisan attitude of the Government with Nazi techniques. The Muslim League true to its form, repeated its familiar allegations against the Congress. With the resignation of the ministry, the parliamentary form of Government came to an end in the province. Jinnah, loath to lose any opportunity to belittle the Congress gave a call to the Muslims to observe 22nd December 1939 as a Day of deliverance from the Congress rule. He did not want the Congress even to quit office in a blaze of approbation. The resignations by the ministries foreshadowed a storm ahead and the Working Committee which met at Wardha from 18th to 22nd December gave a call to the nation to prepare itself for the achievement of complete independence. It was at this critical time that Jinnah put forward his two-nations theory and demanded a separate State for the Muslims. Meanwhile the war situation was worsening for the Allies. The Congress again renewed its offer of wholehearted cooperation in the war efforts if only Britain would declare the grant of complete independence to India as its object and as an immediate step, consent to the formation of National Government at the centre. The viceroy came out with what later became known as the August offer which meant nothing more than the enlargement of the Executive Council so as to include a few more Indians. The August offer was unequivocally rejected by the Congress. In this situation satyagraha became inevitable. However, the mode of satyagraha was to be such as would not embarrass the Government. In other words the satyagraha was to be individual and not collective. The individual Satyagraha gradully gained momentum. From the Central Provinces the arrested leaders included Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla, D. P. Mishra, Gokhale, Seth Govinda Das, Brijlal Biyani and C. J. Bharucha. The stand of the Muslim league was not only not sympathetic but adamant and obstructive. In its meet at Madras in 1941 it reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms the demand for Pakistan. Not content with this Jinnah tried to disrupt Hindu society by suggesting the creation of Dravidistan. The British Government was still following its policy of placating the Muslims. This was amply revealed by the manner in which one of the Muslim League leaders, Siddique Ali Khan, of the Central Provinces charged under the Defence of India Act for instigating riots in Amravati was released at the instance of the Government of India. The war situation in the meanwhile grew worse with the entry of Japan. With the dire peril of war on the very doorsteps of the country the Government released all the political prisoners. The bombing on the eastern coast created a panic among the masses and there was a stream of refugees from Malaya and Burma into India. The Congress Working Committee met at Bardoli on 22nd December 1941 but did not evolve a clear cut line of action. In the midst of this came the Cripps offer in March 1942. The offer was vague in its contents and unsound in principle. It was rejected by the Congress as a post-dated cheque on a tottering bank. Jinnah also rejected the offer. The whole episode brought in its train frustration and an enervating feeling of despair. It convinced the leaders of the country that the interest of the country lay in the immediate and orderly withdrawal of the British from India. From this conviction was born the slogan "Quit India" which was soon to plunge the country into a great movement. The Congress Working Committee which met at Wardha on 14th July reiterated this stand and resolved in case of its non-acceptance to use all non-violent means for the vindication of the political rights and liberty of the people of the country. Anticipating satyagraha, the Government of the Central Provinces issued directives to all the Deputy Commissioners to mobilise resources to deal with the situation arising out of such an emergency. The Congress Working Committee was to meet in Bombay in August. The leaders from the Central Provinces left their headquarters for Bombay after exhorting the people to carry on the struggle. The "Quit India'' call came on the night of 8th August. All the top ranking leaders were arrested in the early hours of the morning. The masses were stunned at the news of the arrest of the leaders. An added provocation given by the Government to crush the movement was the force of repression. The leaders of Central Provinces decided to return to their own province but were arrested at Malkapur. The mass movement spread to the Central Provinces as in all other parts of the country. It took a violent turn as a result of indiscriminate police firing. The district of Akola had its own share in this great national uprising. The effect of the policy of repression followed by the Government was to drive the extremist leaders underground. The dawn of 1943 saw no abating of the nationwide unrest. In the meanwhile the tide of war was changing in favour of the Allies. But the leaders languished in jail. Months passed by. The place of Lord Linlithgow was taken by Lord Wavell in June 1943. The years dragged on. The war came to a close and the allies emerged victorious in both the Western and Eastern theatres of war. The days of frustration seemed to have ended. Efforts were afoot to solve the Indian tangle. In the midst of an expectant atmosphere Lord Wavell presented the famous Wavell plan in June 1945. The leaders of the Congress were released to facilitate their participation in the negotiations with the Viceroy. The plan envisaged representation to the main parties in the Viceroy's Council. Jinnah however proved to be the main stumbling block because even with the grant of parity to the Muslims in the Council with the Hindus he could not deny majority to the Congress backed by Hindus and other minority communities. A deadlock was thus created. The Viceroy announced that the elections to the Central and Provincial Councils would take place soon. This was followed by the announcement of a Parliamentary delegation to visit India in order to establish personal contacts between India and the British Parliament. The delegation subsequently visited India. Meanwhile in the elections, Congress won a resounding victory. In the Central Provinces it captured 94 out of 112 seats. It also gave a lie to the separatist propaganda of the Muslim League by claiming a majority in the N. W. F. P. and Assam claimed by the Muslims. In the Central Provinces Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla formed the ministry on 27th April 1946. On assumption of office it released all political prisoners. However, conditions in the province resources of which had all been drained by the 6 years of war were not very happy. In the midst of this came the Cabinet Mission composed of Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander for crucial talks with Indian leaders. There was good-will on both the sides. What emerged from the talks was a general agreement regarding the setting up of a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution of India and the formation of an interim Government having the support of the major political parties. But the Muslim League again proved a stumbling block with Jinnah claiming the right of the League to nominate Muslim candidates on the interim cabinet. The interim cabinet, therefore, could not come into being immediately and the League gave a call for direct action which was aimed at securing Pakistan by inflaming communal passions against the Hindus. The country witnessed an orgy of communal riots leading to senseless massacre of innocents. In the Central Provinces isolated cases of disturbances occurred. In the meanwhile Lord Wavell invited 12 leaders of his choice to form his cabinet including Nehru, Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Rajagopalachari. This was a spectacle galling to Jinnah who now sent the names of five of his nominees for inclusion in the cabinet declaring that it was with the ostensible purpose of getting "a foothold to light for our cherished gold of Pakistan." The entry of the League which had not withdrawn its call for direct action was not to the liking of the Congress. The League joined the cabinet now, but it refused to join the Constituent Assembly which created a very anomalous situation. The intention of the British Government to divide the country became clear. It was now that Lord Mountbatten was appointed to succeed Lord Wavell. At the same time the Labour Government declared its intention to transfer power to responsible Indian hands by a date not later than June 1948. The arrival of the new viceroy was greeted by a frenzy of communal riots in Punjab, N. W. F. P. and Assam sparked by the League mainly to discredit the Congress Governments there. The game of the League now became apparent and the nationalist leaders were forced to realise that freedom for the country could be gained by partitioning the country. Jawaharlal Nehru declared that if Muslim League wanted Pakistan they could have it. Northern India now witnessed an atmosphere of tense anxiety in the following period. Lord Mountbatten left for England for consultation on 18th May 1947 and on his return called a conference on 2nd June to which he invited J. Nehru, S. Patel, A. Kripalani, Jinnah, L. A. Khan, Abdur Rab Nishtar and Sardar Baldev Singh. A plan to partition India into two states viz., India and Pakistan was announced the next day. The actual transfer of power took place on the midnight of 14th- 15th August amidst wild scenes of jubilations. Similar scenes occurred in the Central Provinces where Mangaldas Pakwasa took oath as free India's first Governor of the Province of which the district of Akola formed an integral part.

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