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[[Image:Imperial-India-Blue-EnsignFaro de La Serena.svgjpg|thumb|350px258px|right|<center>The flagFaro of BritishThe IndiaCity]]
[[Image:La Serena-Coquimbo-02.jpg|thumb|258px|The city of La Serena with the port city of [[Coquimbo, Chile|Coquimbo]] in the background]]
[[Image:British_india.png|thumb|right|350px|<center>British India, circa 1860]]
[[Image:Plaza de Armas - La Serena.jpg|thumb|250px|Plaza de Armas]]
'''La Serena''' ("the serene one") is the second oldest city in [[Chile]]. The city, located 471 km north of [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], has a population of 147,815, according to the 2002 census. There are also 12,333 inhabitants of the immediately surrounding countryside. It is one of the fastest-growing areas of Chile, witnessing a population increase of 32.6% between [[1992]] and [[2002]].
The '''British Raj''' (''rāj'' in [[Hindi]] meaning "rule"; from [[Sanskrit]] ''rājya'') was the British rule between [[1858]] and [[1947]] of the [[Indian Subcontinent]], which included the present-day [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Burma]] (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial control of the United Kingdom as part of the [[British Empire]].
It was first founded by Spaniard Captain [[Juan Bohón]] in [[September 4]] [[1544]] on the orders of [[Pedro de Valdivia]] in order to provide a sea link between Santiago and [[Lima]]. In [[1549]] the town was totally destroyed by local Indians and re-founded the same year by Captain Francisco de Aguirre in a safer ___location. The town has retained its historic architecture and this, along with a selection of beaches (known as Avenida del Mar, "Sea Avenue"), has caused the city to become a significant tourist centre, attracting many foreigners (most of them Argentines from San Juan and Mendoza provinces) during January, and later Santiago residents fleeing February heat.
Since the independence of these countries, their pre-independent existence has been loosely referred to as '''British India''', although prior to Independence that term referred only to those portions of the subcontinent under direct rule by the British administration in [[New Delhi|Delhi]] and previously [[Calcutta]].
Its traditional architecture consists of a series of housing and public buildings, of late 19th-century vintage, built with wood from the [[USA|US]] state of [[Oregon]] brought to Chile as counterweight in sailing vessels coming to [[Coquimbo]], the nearby port, to load copper and other minerals for transport back to the US. This Oregon pine and the use of [[adobe]] create the genuine image of the city.
Much of the territory under British sway during this time was not directly ruled by the British, but were nominally independent [[Princely States]] which were directly under the rule of the [[Maharaja]]s, [[Raja]]s, [[Thakur]]s and [[Nawab]]s who entered into treaties as sovereigns with the British monarch as their feudal superior. This system was known as Subsidiary Alliance. [[Aden Colony|Aden]] was part of "British India" from [[1839]], as was [[Burma]] from 1886; both became separate crown colonies of the British Empire in [[1937]]. [[British Somaliland]] was governed as a part of India from 1884-1898, as was [[Singapore]] from 1819-1867.
There is also a number of remarkable and valuable small churches built of sedimentary stone quarried 5 km to the north of the [[Elqui River]], having a characteristic color and texture formed by myriad small shells. These churches are all roughly 350 years old and have undergone restoration to varying degrees, bringing them back to their original form. San Francisco, San Agustín, Santo Domingo are the names of a few of them.
The system, lasted from [[1858]], when the rule of the [[British East India Company]] was transferred to the Crown, and Queen Victoria upon whom the British Parliament conferred the graciously accepted title "Empress of India" in 1877, and in 1947, when pre-independence India was [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into two sovereign states, India and Pakistan due to enmity between Hindus and Muslims.
The Cathedral, built from the same stone, dates from the 19th century. It must be said that although it lacks the same historical value as the older churches, this is a stone building in a country prone to seismic activity, and has survived various earthquakes. Indeed, during centuries of existence, there is almost no visible damage. All of these churches, along with others of minor importance, provide a unique urban landscape, an image for the city, giving it the nickname "''The City of Churches''."
Although [[Sri Lanka]] (then Ceylon) is peripheral to the Indian subcontinent, it is not counted part of the Raj, as it was ruled as a [[Crown Colony]] directly from London, rather than by the [[Viceroy of India]] as a part of the '''Indian Empire.'''
A few of the major sectors are: El Centro ("downtown"), Peñuelas (actually a suburb between La Serena and its sister city [[Coquimbo]]), San Joaquín (neighborhood on a hill overlooking the ocean), La Florida, Las Compañías ("the companies"), Cerro Grande ("big hill"), La Antena and the new El Milagro ("the miracle") development.
==History==
On [[31 December]] [[1600]] [[Queen]] [[Elizabeth I]] of [[England]] granted a [[royal charter]] to the [[British East India Company]] to carry out trade with the East. Ships first arrived in India in [[1608]], docking at [[Surat]] in modern-day [[Gujarat]]. Four years later, British traders defeated the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] at the [[Battle of Swally]], gaining the favour of the [[Mughal]] emperor [[Jahangir]] in the process. In [[1615]], King [[James I of England|James I]] sent [[Thomas Roe|Sir Thomas Roe]] as his ambassador to Jahangir's court, and a commercial treaty was concluded in which the Mughals allowed the Company to build trading posts in India in return for goods from Europe. The Company traded in such commodities as [[cotton]], [[silk]], [[potassium nitrate|saltpetre]], [[indigo]], and [[tea]].
By the mid-[[1600s]], the Company had established trading posts or "factories" in major Indian cities, such as [[Bombay]], [[Calcutta]], and [[Madras]] in addition to their first factory at Surat (built in [[1612]]). In [[1670]] [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] granted the company the right to acquire territory, raise an army, mint its own money, and exercise legal jurisdiction in areas under its control.
By the last decade of the 17th century, the Company was arguably its own "nation" on the Indian subcontinent, possessing considerable military might and ruling [[three presidencies]].
The British first established a territorial foothold in the Indian subcontinent when Company-funded soldiers commanded by [[Robert Clive]] defeated the [[Bengal]]i [[Nawab]] [[Siraj Ud Daulah]] at the [[Battle of Plassey]] in [[1757]]. [[Bengal]] became a British [[protectorate]] directly under the rule of the East India Company. Bengal's wealth then flowed to the Company, which attempted to enforce a monopoly on Bengali trade (though smuggling was rife). Bengali farmers and craftsmen were obliged to render their labour for minimal remuneration while their collective tax burden increased greatly{{Fact|date=March 2007}}. Some believe that as a consequence, the [[Bengal famine of 1770|famine of 1769 to 1773]] cost the lives of 10 million Bengalis.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} A similar catastrophe occurred almost a century later, after Britain had extended its rule across the Indian subcontinent, when 40 million Indians perished from [[famine in India|famine]]. The Company, despite the increase in trade and the revenues coming in from other sources, found itself burdened with massive military expenditures, and its destruction seemed imminent.
===Building the Raj: British expansion across India===
[[Image:Britishindia1855.jpg|thumb|right|350px|<center>Map of British India, 1855]]
[[Lord North]]'s [[India Bill]], [[The Regulating Act]] of [[1773]], by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] granted [[Whitehall]], the British government administration, supervisory (regulatory) control over the work of the East India Company but did not take power for itself. This was the first step along the road to government control of India. It also established the post of [[Governor-General of India]], the first occupant of which was [[Warren Hastings]]. Further acts, such as the Charter Acts of [[British East India Company#Charter Act 1813|1813]] and [[British East India Company#Charter Act 1833|1833]], further defined the relationship of the Company and the British government.
[[Warren Hastings|Hastings]] remained in India until 1784 and was succeeded by [[Cornwallis]], who initiated the Permanent Settlement, whereby an agreement in perpetuity was reached with [[zamindars]] or landlords for the collection of revenue. For the next fifty years, the British were engaged in attempts to eliminate Indian rivals.
At the turn of the 19th century, Governor-General [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Lord Wellesley]] began expanding the Company's ___domain on a large scale, defeating [[Tippoo Sultan]] (also spelled Tipu Sultan), annexing [[Mysore]] in southern India, and removing all [[France|French]] influence from the subcontinent. In the mid-19th century, Governor-General [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] launched perhaps the Company's most ambitious expansion, defeating the [[Sikh]]s in the [[Anglo-Sikh Wars]] (and annexing [[Punjab region|Punjab]] with the exception of the Phulkian States) and subduing [[Burma]] in the [[Second Burmese War]]. He also justified the takeover of small princely states such as [[Satara]], [[Sambalpur]], [[Jhansi]], and [[Nagpur]] by way of the [[doctrine of lapse]], which permitted the Company to annex any princely state whose ruler had died without a male heir. The annexation of [[Oudh]] in [[1856]] proved to be the Company's final territorial acquisition, as the following year saw the boiling over of Indian grievances toward the so-called "Company Raj".
{{section-stub}}
===First War of Indepedence===
{{main|Indian Rebellion of 1857}}
On [[10 May]] [[1857]] soldiers of the [[British Indian Army]] (known as "sepoys," from Urdu/Persian ''sipaahi'' or ''sepaahi'' = "soldier"), drawn from the native [[Hindu]] and [[Muslim]] population, mutinied in [[Meerut]], a cantonment eighty kilometres northeast of [[Delhi]]. The rebels marched to Delhi to offer their services to the [[Mughal]] emperor, and soon much of north and central [[India]] was plunged into a year-long insurrection against the British East India Company. Many native regiments and Indian kingdoms joined the revolt, while other Indian units and Indian kingdoms backed the British commanders and the [[HEIC]].
====Causes of the rebellion====
The uprising, which seriously threatened British rule in India, was undoubtedly the culmination of mounting Indian resentment toward British social and political policies over many decades. Until the rebellion, the British had succeeded in suppressing numerous riots and "tribal" wars or in accommodating them through concessions, but two factors — one a trend and the other a single event — triggered the violent explosion of wrath in 1857.
The trend was the policy of annexation pursued by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, based mainly on his "Doctrine of Lapse", which held that [[princely states]] would be merged into [[British East India Company|company]]-ruled territory in case a ruler died without direct heir. This denied the native rulers the right to adopt an heir in such an event; adoption had been pervasive practice in the Hindu states hitherto, sanctioned both by religion and by secular tradition. The states annexed under this doctrine included such major kingdoms as [[Satara]], [[Thanjavur]], Sambhal, Jhansi, Jetpur, Udaipur, and Baghat. Additionally, the [[British East India Company|company]] had annexed, without pretext, the rich kingdoms of [[Sind]] in [[1843]] and [[Oudh]] in [[1856]], the latter a wealthy princely state that generated huge revenue and represented a vestige of [[Mughal]] authority. This greed for land, especially in a group of small-town and middle-class British merchants, whose ''parvenu'' background was increasingly evident and galling to Indians of rank, had alienated a large section of the landed and ruling [[aristocracy]], who were quick to take up the cause of evicting the merchants once the revolt was kindled.
The spark that lit the fire was the result of a very convincing, though untrue, rumour about a British blunder in using new cartridges for the [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]] rifle that were greased with animal fat, rumoured to now be a combination of pig-fat and cow-fat. This was offensive to the religious beliefs of both Muslim and Hindu sepoys, who refused to use the cartridges and, under provocation, finally mutinied against their British officers.
====Course of the rebellion====
The rebellion soon engulfed much of North India, including [[Oudh]] and various areas that had lately passed from the control of [[Maratha]] princes to the company. The unprepared British were terrified, without replacements for the casualties. The rebellion inflicted havoc on Indians and the community suffered humiliation and triumph in battle as well, although the final outcome was victory for the British. Isolated mutinies also occurred at military posts in the centre of the subcontinent. The last major sepoy rebels surrendered on June 21, [[1858]], at [[Gwalior]] ([[Madhya Pradesh]]), one of the principal centres of the revolt. A final battle was fought at [[Sirwa Pass]] on [[May 21]] [[1859]], and the defeated rebels fled into [[Nepal]].
===Aftermath of the 1857 Rebellion and the formal initiation of the Raj===
The rebellion was a major turning point in the history of modern [[India]]. In May [[1858]], the British exiled Emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar II]] (r. 1837–57) to [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]] (now [[Yangon]], [[Myanmar]]), after executing most of his family, thus formally liquidating the [[Mughal Empire]]. Bahadur Shah Zafar, known as the Poet King, contributed some of [[Urdu]]'s most beautiful poetry{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, with the underlying theme of the freedom struggle{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. The Emperor was not allowed to return and died in solitary confinement in 1862. The Emperor's three sons, also involved in the War of Independence, were arrested and shot in [[Delhi]] by Major [[William Stephen Raikes Hodson]] of the British Indian Army.
Cultural and religious centres were closed down, properties and estates of those participating in the uprising were confiscated. At the same time, the British abolished the [[British East India Company]] and replaced it with direct rule under the British Crown. In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to "the Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India", [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] (upon whom the British Parliament conferred the graciously accepted title "[[Empress of India]]" in 1877) promised equal treatment under [[English law|British law]], but Indian mistrust of British rule had become a legacy of the [[1857]] rebellion.
Many existing economic and revenue policies remained virtually unchanged in the post-1857 period, but several administrative modifications were introduced, beginning with the creation in [[London]] of a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|cabinet]] post, the [[Secretary of State for India]]. The [[Governor-General of India|governor-general]] (called ''[[viceroy]]'' when acting as representative to the nominally sovereign "[[princely states]]" or "[[native states]]"), headquartered in [[Calcutta]], ran the administration in India, assisted by executive and legislative councils. Beneath the governor-general were the governors of [[Provinces of India]], who held power over the division and district officials, who formed the lower rungs of the [[Indian Civil Service]]. For decades the Indian Civil Service was the exclusive preserve of the British-born, as were the superior ranks in such other professions as law and medicine. This continued until the 1880s when a small but steadily growing number of native-born Indians, educated in British schools on the Subcontinent or in Britain, were able to assume such positions. However, a proposal by Viceroy Ripon and Courtenay Ilbert in 1883 that Indian members of the Civil Service have full rights to preside over trials involving white defendants in criminal cases sparked an ugly racist backlash (see below re "White Mutiny"). Thus an attempt to further include Indians in the system and give them a greater stake in the Raj, ironically, instead exposed the racial gap that already existed, sparking even greater Indian nationalism and reaction against British rule.
[[Image:Madras_Prov_South_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>Map of the [[Madras Presidency]], 1909]]
The [[Viceroy of India]] announced in 1858 that the government would honour former treaties with princely states and renounced the "[[Doctrine of Lapse]]", whereby the East India Company had annexed territories of rulers who died without male heirs. About 40 percent of Indian territory and 20–25 percent of the population remained under the control of 562 princes notable for their religious ([[Islam]]ic, [[Hindu]], [[Sikh]] and other) and ethnic diversity. Their propensity for pomp and ceremony became proverbial, while their domains, varying in size and wealth, lagged behind socio-political transformations that took place elsewhere in British-controlled India. A more thorough re-organisation was effected in the constitution of army and government finances. Shocked by the extent of solidarity among Indian soldiers during the rebellion, the government separated the army into the three presidencies. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 restored legislative powers to the [[presidencies|Presidency]](elite provinces), which had been given exclusively to the governor-general by the Charter Act of 1833.
British attitudes toward Indians shifted from relative openness to insularity and [[xenophobia]], even against those with comparable background and achievement as well as loyalty. British families and their servants lived in cantonments at a distance from Indian settlements. Private clubs where the British gathered for social interaction became symbols of exclusivity and snobbery that refused to disappear decades after the British had left India. In [[1883]] the government of India attempted to remove race barriers in criminal jurisdictions by introducing a bill empowering Indian judges to adjudicate offences committed by [[Europe]]ans. Public protests and editorials in the British press, however, forced the viceroy [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon|George Robinson, First Marquess of Ripon]], (who served from [[1880]] to [[1884]]), to capitulate and modify the bill drastically. The [[Bengal]]i "Hindu intelligentsia" learned a valuable political lesson from this "white mutiny": the effectiveness of well-orchestrated agitation through demonstrations in the streets and publicity in the media when seeking redress for real and imagined grievances.
Post-1857 India also experienced a period of unprecedented calamity when the region was swept by a series of frequent and devastating [[famine]]s, among the most catastrophic on record. Approximately 25 major famines spread through states such as [[Tamil Nadu]] in South India, [[Bihar]] in the north, and [[Bengal]] in the east in the latter half of the 19th century, killing 30–40 million Indians. Contemporary observers of the famines such as [[Romesh Dutt]] as well as present-day scholars such as [[Amartya Sen]] attributed the famines both to uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies, which since 1857 had led to the seizure and conversion of local farmland to foreign-owned plantations, restrictions on internal trade, inflationary measures that increased the price of food, and substantial exports of staple crops from India to the United Kingdom (Dutt, 1900 and 1902; Srivastava, 1968; Sen, 1982; Bhatia, 1985). Some British citizens such as [[William Digby]] agitated for policy reforms and better famine relief, but Lord Lytton, son of the poet [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]] and the governing British viceroy in India, opposed such changes in the belief that they would stimulate shirking by Indian workers. The famines continued until independence in [[1947]], with the [[Bengal famine of 1943|Bengal Famine]] of 1943–44 — among the most devastating — killing 3–4 million Indians during [[World War II]]. Famine relief methods were inefficient as they often involved making undernourished people do heavy labor on public works. However, there were some famines (ex. 1874 and 1907) in which English officials actually acted effectively and intelligently.
Native industries in India were also decimated in the aftermath of the 1857 rebellion, particularly during the three decades from [[1870]] to [[1900]] (with the notable exception of the [[jute]] industry, which benefited from the global industrial revolution), as the [[mercantilism|mercantilist]] policies of the Raj flooded India with imports while minimising native production and exports. [[Economic historian]]s estimate that India commanded roughly 25% of world GDP by 1800, but perhaps a tenth of that by the 20th century, due in large part to the severe and rapid decline in the Subcontinent's native industries (Maddison, Bairoch, Frank).
===Beginnings of self-government===
The first steps were taken toward self-government in British India in the late [[19th century]] with the appointment of Indian counsellors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils with the [[Indian Councils Act of 1892]]. [[Municipal Corporation]]s and [[District Boards]] were created for local administration; they included elected Indian members.
[[Image:Bombay_Prov_north_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>Map of the Northern [[Bombay Presidency]], 1909]]
The [[Government of India Act of 1909]] — also known as the Morley-Minto Reforms ([[John Morley]] was the secretary of state for India, and [[Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|Gilbert Elliot]], fourth earl of Minto, was viceroy) — gave Indians limited roles in the central and provincial legislatures, known as legislative councils. Indians had previously been appointed to legislative councils, but after the reforms some were elected to them. At the centre, the majority of council members continued to be government-appointed officials, and the viceroy was in no way responsible to the legislature. At the provincial level, the elected members, together with unofficial appointees, outnumbered the appointed officials, but responsibility of the governor to the legislature was not contemplated. Morley made it clear in introducing the legislation to the [[British Parliament]] that parliamentary self-government was not the goal of the British government.
The Morley-Minto Reforms were a milestone. Step by step, the elective principle was introduced for membership in Indian legislative councils. The "electorate" was limited, however, to a small group of upper-class Indians. These elected members increasingly became an "opposition" to the "official government". Communal electorates were later extended to other communities and made a political factor of the Indian tendency toward group identification through religion. The practice created certain vital questions for all concerned. The intentions of the British were questioned. How humanitarian was their concern for the minorities? Were separate electorates a manifestation of "[[divide and rule]]"?
For Muslims it was important both to gain a place in all-India politics and to retain their Muslim identity, objectives that required varying responses according to circumstances, as the example of [[Muhammed Ali Jinnah]] illustrates. Jinnah, who was born in 1876, studied law in England and began his career as an enthusiastic liberal in Congress on returning to India. In 1913 he joined the [[Muslim League]], which had been shocked by the 1911 annulment of the partition of Bengal into cooperating with Congress to make demands on the British. Jinnah continued his membership in Congress until 1919. During this dual membership period, he was described by a leading Congress spokesperson, Mrs. [[Sarojini Naidu]], as the "ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity".
===After World War I===
India's important contributions to the efforts of the [[British Empire]] in [[World War I]] stimulated further demands by Indians and further response from the British. The [[Congress Party]] and the [[Muslim League]] met in joint session in December 1916. Under the leadership of [[Jinnah]] and Pandit [[Motilal Nehru]] (father of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]), unity was preached and a proposal for constitutional reform was made that included the concept of separate electorates. The resulting (see[http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A032&Pg=2]) Congress-Muslim League Pact (often referred to as the Lucknow Pact) was a sincere effort to compromise. Congress accepted the separate electorates demanded by the Muslim League, and the Muslim League joined with Congress in demanding self-government. The pact was expected to lead to permanent and constitutional united action.
In August [[1917]] the British government formally announced a policy of "increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire." Constitutional reforms were embodied in the [[Government of India Act 1919]], also known as the [[Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms]] ([[Edwin Samuel Montagu]] was the United Kingdom's [[Secretary of State for India]]; the [[Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford of Chelmsford|Viscount Chelmsford]] was viceroy). These reforms represented the maximum concessions the British were prepared to make at that time. The franchise was extended, and increased authority was given to central and provincial legislative councils, but the viceroy remained responsible only to London.
[[Image:Bombay_Prov_south_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>Map of the Southern [[Bombay Presidency]], 1909]]
The changes at the provincial level were significant, as the provincial legislative councils contained a considerable majority of elected members. In a system called "[[dyarchy]]", based on an approach developed by [[Lionel Curtis]], the nation-building departments of government — agriculture, education, public works, and the like — were placed under ministers who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the "steel frame" of British rule — finance, revenue, and home affairs — were retained by executive councillors who were often (but not always) British, and who were responsible to the governor. The act indirectly increased the number of elected Indian mebers in [[district boards]] and [[municipal corporations]], since the authority to regulate local government bodies was placed in the hands of the popularly elected ministers, whose constituients naturally wanted more democracy. Later, tariff protection was finally given to Indian industry.
The [[1919]] reforms did not satisfy political demands in India. The British repressed opposition and restrictions on the press and on movement were re-enacted. An apparently unwitting example of violation of rules against the gathering of people led to the [[Amritsar Massacre|massacre at Jalianwala Bagh]] in [[Amritsar]] in April [[1919]]. This tragedy galvanized such political leaders as [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] ([[1889]] – [[1964]]) and [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi]] ([[1869]] – [[1948]]) and the masses who followed them to press for further action.
The [[Allies]]' post-World War I peace settlement with [[Turkey]] provided an additional stimulus to the grievances of the Muslims, who feared that one goal of the Allies was to end the [[caliphate]] of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] sultan. After the end of the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman caliph had become the symbol of Islamic authority and unity to Indian [[Sunni Muslim]]s. A pan-Islamic movement, known as the [[Khilafat Movement]], spread in India. It was a mass repudiation of Muslim loyalty to British rule and thus legitimated Muslim participation in the Indian nationalist movement. The leaders of the Khilafat Movement used Islamic symbols to unite the diverse but assertive Muslim community on an all-India basis and bargain with both Congress leaders and the British for recognition of minority rights and political concessions.
Muslim leaders from the [[Darul Uloom Deoband|Deoband]] and [[Aligarh University|Aligarh]] movements joined Gandhi in mobilising the masses for the [[1920]] and [[1921]] demonstrations of civil disobedience and non-cooperation in response to the massacre at Amritsar. At the same time, Gandhi endorsed the Khilafat Movement, thereby placing many Hindus behind what had been solely a Muslim demand.
Despite impressive achievements, however, the Khilafat Movement failed. Turkey rejected the caliphate and became a secular state. Furthermore, the religious, mass-based aspects of the movement alienated such Western-oriented constitutional politicians as Jinnah, who resigned from Congress. Other Muslims also were uncomfortable with Gandhi's leadership. The British historian '''Sir Percival Spear''' wrote that ''"a mass appeal in his [[Gandhi]]'s hands could not be other than a Hindu one. He could transcend [[caste]] but not community. The [[Hindu]] devices he used went sour in the mouths of Muslims"''. In the final analysis, the movement failed to lay a lasting foundation of Indian unity and served only to aggravate Hindu-Muslim differences among masses that were being politicised. Indeed, as India moved closer to the self-government implied in the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, rivalry over what might be called the spoils of independence sharpened the differences between the communities.
===World War II and the end of the Raj===
[[Image:Hyderabad_state_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>Map of the [[Hyderabad State]], 1909]]
By 1942, Indians were divided over [[World War II]], as the British had unilaterally and without consultation entered India into the war. Some wanted to support the British during the [[Battle of Britain]], hoping for eventual independence through this support. Others were enraged by the British disregard for Indian intelligence and civil rights, and were unsympathetic to the travails of the British people, which they saw as rightful revenge for the enslavement of Indians. The British Indian army came to be the largest all-volunteer army in the history of the world {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, even during the war, in [[July]] [[1942]], the [[Indian National Congress]] had passed a resolution demanding complete independence from [[Britain]]. The draft proposed that if the British did not accede to the demands, massive [[civil disobedience]] would be launched. In [[August]] [[1942]] the '''Quit India Resolution''' was passed at the [[Bombay]] session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) marking the start of what was the [[Quit India Movement]]. The movement was to see massive, and initially peaceful demonstrations and denial of authority, undermining the British War effort. Large-scale protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent en masse and strikes were called. The movement also saw widespread acts of [[sabotage]], Indian under-ground organization carried out bomb attacks on allied supply convoys, government buildings were set on fire, electricity lines were disconnected and transport and communication lines were severed.
The movement soon became a leaderless act of defiance, with a number of acts that deviated from Gandhi's principle of non-violence. In large parts of the country, the local underground organizations took over the movement. However, by 1943, ''Quit India'' had petered out.
However, at the time the war was at its bloodiest in Europe and Asia, the Indian revolutionary [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] [[Subhash Chandra Bose#.22The Great Escape.22|escaped from house arrest]] in Calcutta and ultimately made his way to Germany, and [[Subhash Chandra Bose#In Japan and South East Asia|then to Japanese south Asia]], to seek [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]] help to raise an army to fight the Raj. Bose formed what came to be known as the [[Azad Hind Government]] as the Provisional Free Indian Government in exile, and organized the '''[[Indian National Army]]''' with Indian [[POW]]s and Indian [[expatriates]] [[Southeast Asia]] with the help of the [[Japan]]ese. Its aim was to reach India as a fighting force that would inspire public resentment and revolts within the Indian soldiers to defeat the Raj. The INA fought hard in the forests of [[Assam]], [[Bengal]] and [[Burma]], laying siege to Imphal and Kohima with the Japanese 15th Army. It would ultimately fail, owing to disrupted logistics, poor arms and supplies from the Japanese, and lack of support and training[http://mondediplo.com/2005/05/13wwiiasia]. However, Bose's audacious actions and radical initiative energized a new generation of Indians.
[[Image:Baroda_state_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>Map of the [[Vadodara|Baroda State]], 1909]]
Many historians have argued that it was the INA and the mutinies it inspired among the British Indian Armed forces that was the true driving force for India's independence <ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060212/spectrum/main2.htm "RIN mutiny gave a jolt to the British"] by Dhanjaya Bhat, ''The Tribune'', February 12, 2006, retrieved July 17, 2006</ref><ref>Majumdar, R.C., Three Phases of India's Struggle for Freedom, Bombay, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1967, pp. 58-59.</ref> <ref>R.C. Majumdar.History of the Freedom Movement in India.ISBN 0-8364-2376-3.Reprint. Calcutta, Firma KLM, 1997,Vol. III.</ref>. The stories of the Azad Hind movement and its army that came to public attention during the [[Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon#The Red Fort trial|trials of soldiers of the INA]] in 1945, were seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings — not just in India, but across its empire — the British Government forbade the [[BBC]] to broadcast their story<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3684288.stm, last section: "Mutinies"</ref>. Newspapers reported at the time a summary execution of INA soldiers held at Red Fort<ref>"Many I.N.A. men already executed, Lucknow". ''The Hindustan Times'', November 2, 1945. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/Netaji/images/nov_2_45.gif URL Accessed 11-Aug-06.</ref>. During and after the trial, [[Bombay Mutiny|mutinies broke out]] in the [[British Indian Army]], most notably in the [[Royal Indian Navy]]; these found public support throughout [[India]], from [[Karachi]] to [[Bombay]] and from [[Vizag]] to [[Calcutta]].
These revolts, faced by the weakened post-war [[Raj]], coupled with the fact that the faith in the British Indian Armed forces had been lost, ultimately shaped the decision to end the Raj.<ref>''ibid.''</ref>
By early [[1946]], all political prisoners had been released. British openly adopted a political dialogue with the Indian National Congress for the eventual independence of India. On [[15 August]] [[1947]] the transfer of Power took place. At midnight on [[14 August]] [[1947]] Pakistan (including modern Bangladesh) was granted independence. India was granted independence the following day.
Most people would give these dates as the end of the British Raj. However, some people argue that it continued until [[1950]] in India when it adopted a [[Republicanism|republican]] constitution.
==Provinces==
{{main |Provinces of British India}}
At the time of independence, British India consisted of the following provinces:
* [[Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri]]
* [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
* [[Assam]]
* [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioners Province)|Baluchistan]]
* [[Bengal]]
* [[Bihar]]
* [[Bombay Province]] - [[Bombay]]
* [[Central Provinces and Berar]]
* [[Delhi Province]] - [[Delhi]]
* [[Madras Province]] - [[Madras]]
* [[North-West Frontier Province]]
* [[Panth-Piploda]]
* [[Orissa]]
* [[Punjab region|Punjab]]
* [[Sindh]]
* [[United Provinces (India)|United Provinces]] ([[Agra]] and [[Oudh]])
Eleven provinces (Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces, Madras, North-West Frontier, Orissa, Punjab, and Sindh) were headed by a governor. The remaining six (Ajmer Merwara, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Baluchistan, Coorg, Delhi, and Panth-Piploda) were governed by a chief commissioner.
There were also several hundred [[Indian Princely States|Princely States]], under British protection but ruled by native rulers. Among the most notable of these were [[Jaipur]],[[Gwalior]], [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]], [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]], and [[Jammu and Kashmir]].
==Notes==
<references/>
==References and further reading==
* Bairoch, Paul, ''Economics and World History'', [[University of Chicago Press]], 1995
* Bhatia, B. M., ''Famines in India: A study in Some Aspects of the Economic History of India with Special Reference to Food Problem'', Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1985
* Bowle, John, ''The Imperial Achievement'', [[Secker & Warburg]], London, 1974, ISBN-13: 978-0316104098
* Coates, Tim, (series editor), ''The Amritsar Massacre 1919 - General Dyer in the Punjab'' (Official Reports, including Dyer's Testimonies), Her Majesty's Stationary Office ([[HMSO]]) 1925, abridged edition, 2000, ISBN 0-11-702412-0
* Davis, Mike, ''[[Late Victorian Holocausts]]: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World'' 2001, ISBN 1-85984-739-0
* Dutt, Romesh C. ''Open Letters to Lord Curzon on Famines and Land Assessments in India'', first published 1900, 2005 edition by Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics Series, ISBN 1-4021-5115-2
* Dutt, Romesh C. ''The Economic History of India under early British Rule'', first published 1902, 2001 edition by [[Routledge]], ISBN 0-415-24493-5
* Forbes, Rosita, ''India of the Princes', London, 1939
* Forrest, G. W., [[CIE]], (editor), ''Selections from The State Papers of the Governors-General of India - Warren Hastings'' (2 vols), [[Blackwell's]], Oxford, 1910
* Frank, Andre Gunder, ''ReORIENT: Global Economy in the Asian Age'', University of California Press, 1998
* Grant, James, ''History of India'', [[Cassell]], London, n/d but c1870. Several volumes
* James, Lawrence, ''Raj - The Making and Unmaking of British India'', London, 1997, ISBN 0-316-64072-7
* Keay, John, ''The Honourable Company - A History of the English East India Company'', [[HarperCollins]], London, 1991, ISBN 0-00-217515-0
* Maddison, Angus, ''The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective'', University of British Columbia Press, 2005
* Moorhouse, Geoffrey, ''India Britannica'', Book Club Associates, UK, 1983
* Morris, Jan, with Simon Winchester, ''Stones of Empire - The Buildings of the Raj'', [[Oxford University Press]], 1st edition 1983 (paperback edition 1986, ISBN 0-19-282036-2
* [[Amartya Sen|Sen, Amartya]], ''Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlements and Deprivation'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1982
* Srivastava, H.C., ''The History of Indian Famines from 1858-1918'', Sri Ram Mehra and Co., Agra, 1968
* Voelcker, John Augustus, ''Report on the Improvement of Indian Agriculture'', Indian Government publication, [[Calcutta]], 2nd edition, 1897.
* Woodroffe, Sir John, ''Is India Civilized - Essays on Indian Culture'', Madras, 1919.
*{{loc}} - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/intoc.html India], [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pktoc.html Pakistan]
*[http://www.houseofdavid.ca/Ind_uni.htm#Bibliography Bibliography]
==See also==
* [[Colonial India]]
* [[Anglo-Indian]]
* [[Anglo-Burmese]]
* [[British Empire]]
* [[Imperialism in Asia]]
* [[India Office]]
* [[Governor-General of India]]
* [[Indian Civil Service]]
==External links==
*[http://www.userena.cl// University of La Serena]
*[http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/85488.html/ weather forecast]
*[http://www.visit-chile.org/norte/h21.phtml Chilean tourist site for La Serena]
*[http://www.intimahinatravel.cl travel agency]
{{coor title dm|29|54|S|71|15|W|region:CL_type:city}}
[[Category:Cities in Chile]]
* [http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/British/BrIndia.html British India Website]
[[Category:Communes of Chile]]
* [[:s:The New Student's Reference Work/India|The New Student's Reference Work/India]] (1914)
[[Category:Capitals of Chilean regions]]
[[Category:Settlements established in 1544]]
{{Territories of the British Empire}}
[[Category:Cities and towns in Coquimbo Region]]
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[[bg:Британска Индия]]
[[es:La Serena (Chile)]]
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[[defr:Britisch-IndienLa Serena]]
[[esit:RajLa BritánicoSerena]]
[[frnl:RajLa britanniqueSerena]]
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[[hi:ब्रिटिश राज]]
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[[nnfi:BritiskLa IndiaSerena]]
[[plsv:IndieLa BrytyjskieSerena]]
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