DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE
HOME RULE MOVEMENT

SUBJECT
HISTORY

NAME OF THE FACULTY

VISWACHANDRA NATH MADHASU

M.KRISHNA KOUSIKI
2 ND SEMESTER, 2014065
SECTION A
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

ABSTRACT

2.

INTRODUCTION .

3.

HISTORY

4.

OBJECTIVES OF HOME RULE MOVEMENT...

5.

TILAKS HOME RULE LEAGUE .

6.

ANNIE BESANTS HOME RULE MOVEMENT..

10

7.

INFLUENCE OF GANDHI ON HOME RULE MOVEMENT IN INDIA..

8.

WAS HOME RULE LEAGUE A LIGHT IN THE DARK TUNNEL

9.

ACHIVEMENTS BY HOME RULE MOVEMENT 15

13

13

10. DECLINE OF HOME RULE MOVEMENT 16

11. CONCLUSION.. 16

12. BIBILOGRAPHY.

CERTIFICATE

18

TITLE OF SUBJECT: HISTORY

NAME OF FACULTY: VISWACHANDRA NATH. M

I KRISHNA KOUSIKI hereby declares that this project case study: HOME RULE
MOVEMENT. Submitted by me is an original work undertaken by me. I have duly
acknowledged all the sources from which the ideas and extracts have been taken. The project is
free from any plagiarism issue.

PLACE: Vishakhapatnam.

(Signature of the student)

Roll no: 2014065
Semester-2
Section-A

ABSTRACT

The Home Rule Movement was the Indian response to the First World War in a less charged but
a more effective way than the response of Indians living abroad which took the form of the
3

romantic Ghadr adventure. The Indian Home Rule Leagues were organised on the lines of the
Irish Home Rule Leagues and they represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive
politics. Annie Besant and Tilak were the pioneers of this new trend.
After returning from Mandalay, Tilak proposed that the congress should small and cohesive
working committee to carry out its daily functions, so that the Congress is transformed to a real
political party. But the good idea was not accepted. The meaning of war for a common man was
increased dacoity on his pocket by the government so; the common man was ready to join any
movement or protest against the Government. But India lacked a solid political front and
congress was just a deliberate functionary; not in a position of organizing mass protests.
In September 1915, Annie launched the Home Rule League, modeling demands for India on Irish
models. She clearly gave a signal of fighting for a change. For the first time, India saw a political
party that was to work all year round, unlike the Congress which croaked once a year. The result
was that she was able to mobilize the demonstrations and organize demonstrations, public
meetings and agitations.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Indian Home Rule League & Home Rule League
2. Was Home Rule League a light in the dark tunnel?
3. Objectives of the Home Rule League movement ?

HYPOTHESIS
Major topics will be discussed in detail in my main project. The type of project is
doctrinal type. By referring the books available in library regarding this topic

and other net sources. This project is avoided from any plagiarism issues. I
will also take the guidance of concern faculty.

SUBMITTED BY
M.KRISHNA KOUSIKI
2ND SEMESTER
2014065

INTRODUCTION
Though Indians gave support to the British in their own efforts some Indians were doubtful of
British keeping promises after war. Hence even when the war was in progress an agitation
demanding for self government was launched. At that time, a mass agitation could not be carried
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out under the leadership of Indian National Congress (I.N.C), which became very passive
organization without any political work among the people to its credit. Therefore, two home rule
leagues were started in 1915, 1916 outside the organizational frame-work of the I.N.C.
One league was started under the leadership of BALAGANGADHAR TILAK and the other
under the leadership of ANNIE BESANT. The two home rule leagues carried out intensive
propaganda all over the country in favour of the demand for the grant of home rule or self
government in India after the war. The leagues made rapid progress and the cry of home rule
resounded throughout the length and breadth of India.
HISTORY
Most Indians and Indian political leaders had been divided in their response to World War I and
the Indian soldiers fighting on behalf of the British Empire against Germany, the AustroHungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The latter's involvement irked India's Muslims, who
saw the Sultan as the Caliph of Islam. Many Indian revolutionaries opposed the war, while
moderates and liberals backed the war. The issue divided India's political classes and left the
increasing demand for self-government going nowhere. The Home1 Rule League grew out of
the Home Government Association, a pressure group formed in 1870 and led by Isaac Butt, a
Dublin barrister who had once been a leading Irish Tory before becoming a convert to Irish
nationalism. On 1821 November 1873, the loose association re-constituted itself as a full
political party, the Home Rule League, and in the 1874 general election, it won 59 seats. In that
period however it was not a political party in a cohesive sense but a loose alliance of home ruleleaning Irish politicians. Because of this the party rapidly became divided, between the less
committed members of Parliament, many of whom were from an Irish aristocratic or
gentry Church of Ireland background, some newly dedicated former Irish Liberal Party members,
such

as Sir

John

Gray MP,

and

other

more

radical

members

who

gathered

around Cavan MP Joseph Biggar and Meath MP Charles Stewart Parnell. This radical wing of
the party launched parliamentary filibusters to obstruct the passage of Parliamentary business, to
the embarrassment of Butt and frustration of successive British governments.
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Following Butt's death in 1879, William Shaw served as chairman (leader) for one parliamentary
session. In 1880, Parnell was elected chairman of the party, and in the 1880 general election, the
party increased its number of seats. In 1882, as part of a wholesale move from being an informal
alliance to a cohesive unified, political movement Parnell renamed it the Irish Parliamentary
Party to pursue Irish Home Rule2. The party under Parnell, himself a Protestant, became more
radical, middle class, and Catholic. It largely, though not completely, squeezed out other political
rivals, notably the Irish Liberal Party and the Irish Conservative Party.
Between 1916 and 1918, when the war was gradually approaching an end, prominent Indians
like Joseph Baptista,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, G. S. Khaparde, Sir S.
Subramania Iyer and the leader of the Theosophical Society, Annie Besant, decided to organize a
national alliance of leagues across India, specifically to demand Home Rule, or self-government
within the British Empire for all of India. Tilak founded the first League in the city
of Poona (now Pune),Maharashtra. With the League's national headquarters in Delhi, the main
cities of activity were Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
The move created considerable excitement at the time, and attracted many members of the Indian
National Congress and the All India Muslim League, who had been allied since the
1916 Lucknow Pact. The leaders of the League gave fiery speeches, and petitions with hundreds
of thousands of Indians as signatories were submitted to British authorities. Unification of
moderates and radicals as well as unity between Muslim League and Indian National Congress
was a remarkable achievement of Mrs Annie Besant. Later when government arrested Annie
Besant in 1917 the movement actually spread out and made its impact in interior villages of
India. The League spread political awareness in new areas like Sindh, Punjab, Gujarat, United
Provinces, Central provinces, Bihar, Orissa as well as Madras, which all sought an active
political movement.

OBJECTIVES OF HOME RULE MOVEMENT

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With the rise of extremism and revolutionary movements, the British government adopted twoedged policy. One that of pursuing the policies of repression and dividing the Indians
particularly, the Hindus and the Muslims and the other that of bringing about gradual reforms
which resulted in passing of the Act of 1909. The founding of the Muslim League in 1906 and
the insertion of the Communal Electorate system in the Act of 1909 discredited the Government
in the eyes of all Indians. Yet, there remained lull in Indian politics for some time the moderates
had reluctantly agreed to cooperate with the government. The outbreak of the First World War
gave a new impetus to the national movement.
When the First World War began the Indian National Congress supported the government in its
war efforts with the expectation that the British government would grant some reforms to the
Indians after the war. But the extremists considered this as a God sent opportunity and decided to
advance their own cause. This was the opportune time to force Britain to agree to the Indian
demand for extracting political concessions out of British difficulties.
They were greatly influenced by the emergence of the Irish Home Rule Movement under the
leadership of Issac Butt. B.G. Tilak who had returned to politics in 1914 after completing his
term of imprisonment tried to join hands with the congress on the issue of demanding "Home
Rule" for India. But when he failed to do that, he started the Home Rule League in 28th April
1916 with headquarters at Poona. Due to the British allergy to the word 'swaraj' Tilak decided to
use the term 'Home Rule' in place of swaraj as the goal of the movement.
The object of this Home3 Rule League was to "attain Home-Rule or self government within the
British Empire by all constitutional means and to educate and organise public opinion in the
country towards the attainment of the same. Mrs. Annie Besant, an Irish lady had come to India
as a member of the Theosophical Society, She later joined the congress. She had established a
Home Rule League in London in 1914 and finally founded a Home Rule League on 15
September 1916 with its headquarters at Adyar near Madras. Both the leagues cooperated with
each other and therefore divided among themselves their areas of activities. While Tilak's Home

3 http://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/1-august-1916-annie-besant-starts-the-home-rule-

league, 24/3/2015, 7:00pm.

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Rule League confined its operations to Maharastra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Berar,
Besant's League worked in the rest of the country.
Both Tilak and Besant toured all over the country and carried out the message of the Home Rule
among the masses. They tried to spread the message through newspapers, mass meetings and
distribution of leaflets. Tilak through young India and Besant through New India and common
weal tried to stir the popular sentiment. The movement attracted liberal Readers like Motilal
Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru who became its members. Thus, the Home Rule Movement
became a powerful movement during the course of the First World War. The movement aimed
that self-government be granted to India within the British dominions during the course of the
war. It was within constitutional limits.
So the home rule league was divided into two different leagues led by two different leaders. They
are
1. Indian home rule league
2. Home rule league
Indian Home Rule League and Home Rule League were not simultaneously launched by Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant. Indian Home Rule League 4 of Tilak was launched in April
1916, while the Home Rule League of Annie Besant came into existence in September that year.
As per a common informal understanding between the two leaders, the Indian Home Rule league
had to work in Maharastra and Central Provinces, while Home Rule League had to work in all
India except Maharastra and Central Provinces. Commonweal and New India were the papers of
Home Rule League, while those of the Indian Home Rule league were Kesari and Maratha.
TILAKS HOME RULE MOVEMENT5
4 http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/how-dr-annie-besant-was-responsible-for-

the-home-rule-movement-in-india/2583, 24/3/2015, 7:00pm.

5 http://www.winentrance.com/general_knowledge/history/home-rule-movement-india.html,

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On 16 June 1914, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was released after serving a prison sentence of six years,
most of which he had spent in Mandalay in Burma. He returned to India very different to the one
he had been banished from. Aurobindo Ghose, the firebrand of the Swadeshi days, had taken
sanyas in Pondicherry, and Lala Lajpat Rai was away in the United States of America. The
Indian National Congress had yet to recover from the combined effects of the split at Surat in
1907, the heavy government repression of the activists of the Swadeshi Movement, and the
disillusionment of the Moderates with the constitutional reforms of 1909. Tilak initially
concentrated all his attention on seeking readmission, for himself and other Extremists, into the
Indian National Congress. He was obviously convinced that the sanction of this body, that had
come to symbolize the Indian national movement, was a necessary pre-condition for the success
of any political action. To conciliate the Moderates and convince them of his bonafides, as well
as to stave off any possible government repression, he publicly declared: I may state once for all
that we are trying in India, as the Irish Home-rulers have been doing in Ireland, for a reform of
the system of administration and not for the overthrow of Government; aid I have no hesitation
in saying that the acts of violence which had been committed in the different Parts of India are
not only repugnant to me, but have, in my opinion, only unfortunately retarded to a great extent,
the pace of our political progress. He further assured the Government of his loyalty to the
Crown and urged all Indians to assist the British Government in its hour of crisis. Many of the
Moderate leaders of the Congress were also unhappy with the choice they had made in 1907 at
Surat, and also with the fact that the Congress had lapsed into almost total inactivity. They were,
therefore, quite sympathetic to Tilaks overtures. Further, they were under considerable pressure
from Mrs. Annie Besant, who had just joined the Indian National Congress and was keen to
arouse nationalist political activity, to admit the Extremists.
Tilak promoted the Home Rule campaign with a tour of Maharashtra and through his lectures
clarified and popularized the demand for Home Rule India was like a son who had grown up
and attained maturity it was right now that the trustee or the father should give him what was his
due. The people of India must get this affected. They have a right to do so. He also linked up the
question of Swaraj with the demand for the formation of linguistic states and education in the
vernacular. Form one separate state each for Marathi, Telugu and Kanarese provinces .The
principle that education should be given through the vernaculars is self- evident and clear. Do the
English educate their people through the French language? Do Germans do it through English or
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the Turks through French? At the Bombay Provincial Conference in 1915, he told V.B. Alur who
got up to support his condolence resolution on Gokhales death: Speak in Kannada to establish
the right of Kannada language. It is clear that the Lokamanya had no trace of regional or
linguistic Marathi chauvinism. His stand on the question of non-Brahmin representation and on
the issue of untouchability demonstrated that he was no casteist either. When the non-Brahmins
in Maharashtra sent a separate memorandum to the Government dissociating themselves from
the demands of the advanced classes, Tilak6. urged those who opposed this to be patient: If we
can prove to the non-Brahmins, by example, that we are wholly on their side in their demands
from the Government, I am sure that in times to come their agitation, now based on social
inequality, will merge into our struggle. To the non-Brahmins, he explained that the
real difference was not between Brahmin and non-Brahmin, but between the educated and the
non-educated. Brahmins were ahead of others in jobs because they were more educated, and
the Government, in spite of its sympathy for non-Brahmins and hostility towards Brahmins, was
forced to look to the needs of the administration and give jobs to Brahmins. At a conference for
the removal of untouchability, Tilak declared: If a God were to tolerate untouchability, I would
not recognize him as God at all. Nor can we discern in his speeches of this period any trace of
religious appeal; the demand for Home Rule was made on a wholly secular basis. The British
were aliens not because they belonged to another religion but because they did not act in the
Indian interest. He who does what is beneficial to the people of this country, be he a
Muhammedan or an Englishman, is not alien. Alienness has to do with interests. Alienness is
certainly not concerned with white or black skin or re1igion. Tilaks League furthered its
propaganda efforts by publishing six Marathi and two English pamphlets, of which 47,000
copies were sold. Pamphlets were brought out in Gujarati and Kannada as well. The League was
organized into six branches, one each in Central Maharashtra, Bombay city, Karnataka, and
Central Provinces, and two in Berar. As soon as the movement for Home Rule 7 began to gather
steam, the Government hit back, and it chose a particularly auspicious day for the blow.
6 http://www.winentrance.com/general_knowledge/history/home-rule-movement-india.html,

23/3/2015, 7:00PM.
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Government offered him their own present: a notice asking him to show cause why he should not
be bound over for good behavior for a period of one year and demanding securities of Rs.
60,000. For Tilak, this was the best gift he could have wanted for his birthday. The Lord is with
us, he said, Home Rule will now spread like wildfire. Repression was sure to fan the fire of
revolt. Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammed Au Jinnah. He lost the case
in the Magistrates Court but was exonerated by the High Court in November. The victory was
hailed all over the country. Gandhijis Young India summed up the popular feeling: Thus, a great
victory has been won for the cause of Home Rule which has, thus, been freed from the chains
that were sought to be put upon it. Tilak immediately pushed home the advantage by
proclaiming in his public speeches that Home Rule now had the sanction of the Government and
he and his colleagues intensified their propaganda campaign for Home Rule. By April 1917 Tilak
had enlisted 14,000 members.

ANNIE BESANTS HOME RULE MOVEMENT8

On 1 August 1916, Annie Besant launched the Home Rule League.
Annie Besant was a British theosophist, womens rights activist, writer and orator who supported
Indian and Irish home rule. Born in London on 1 October 1847, to a middle-class Irish family,
Annie Besant was extremely aware of her Irish heritage from young age and supported the cause
of Irish home rule throughout her life. In 1893, Besant became a part of the Theosophical Society
and went to India. While in India, a dispute between the American section of the society led to
them setting up an independent organization. Annie Besant along with Henry Steel Olcott led the
original society which is even today based in Chennai and is known as the Theosophical Society
Adyar. After the division of the society, Besant spent most of her time on the betterment of
society and even towards Indias freedom struggle.
Annie Besant went on to establish the All India Home Rule League, which was a political
organization which aimed at self-government, termed as Home Rule. The league wanted to
secure for India the statue of a dominion within the British Empire, such as countries like
Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Newfoundland then.
8 Indias Struggle for Independence/pdf, 10/3/15, 8:00pm.
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Besant league had an All India character, but was founded on Besants Theosophical contacts; it
was set up in 1916 and reached its zenith in 1917 with 27,000 members. The Home Rule League
organized discussions and lectures and set up reading rooms, also distributing pamphlets
educating people of what they sought to achieve through this movement. Members of the league
were powerful orators and petitions of thousands of Indians were submitted to the British
authorities.
The Home9 Rule League had 2600 members in Mumbai and held meetings attended by 10,000 to
12,000 people at the Shantaram Chawl area, comprising of government employees and industrial
workers. The league was also responsible for creating a political awareness in areas like Sindh,
Gujarat, United Provinces, Bihar an Orissa. In 1917, following the arrest of Annie Besant, the
movement gained strength and made its presence felt in Indias rural areas. By late 1917 Annie
Besant was highly influenced by Montagus promise of a responsible government and it wasnt
long before she became his loyal follower.
The popularity of the Home Rule League also began declining with the coming of the Satyagraha
Movement by Mahatma Gandhi. The Mahatmas mantra of non-violence and large scale civil
disobedience appealed to Indias common people, including his lifestyle, respect for Indian
culture and love for the common people of the country. Gandhi led Bihar, Kheda and Gujarat up
in a successful revolt against the government, which eventually raised him to the position of a
national hero. By 1920 the Home Rule League elected Gandhi as its President and within a year
from then it would merge into the Indian National Congress forming a united political front.

INFLUENCE OF GANDHI ON HOME RULE MOVEMENT IN INDIA10

During this period, Mahatma Gandhi gained significant response from the people with his nonviolent forms of protests and movements, particularly with Satyagraha and the civil disobedience
9 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/history/home-rule-league-movement-in-india/23245/,

10/3/15, 8:30pm.
10 http://www.auromusic.org/online%20books/towardsfreedom/towardsfreedom_kittu_7.htm,

15/3/2015, 4:00PM.
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movement. Gandhi's approach was well received by the common people and his admiration for
Indian culture made him well renowned all over the nation. This decreased the growth and pace
of the home rule movement and thus delayed its activities.
His protests for improvement of the farmers of Bihar, Kheda, Gujarat and Champaran, gained
him much recognition and propelled him to the position of a national hero. Gandhi's focus was
on the numerous rural people who were suffering more than the educated urban people. Most of
the national leaders, like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Annie Besant, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra
Pal, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, conflicted with Gandhi's vision, as they preferred discussions
and negotiations with the British administration.
Eventually, Gandhi single-handedly transformed India's political scenario along with the
alteration of views and activities of the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was elected
as the president of the All India Home Rule League and within the next year it combined with the
Indian National Congress to form a unified national political body.
WAS HOME RULE LEAGUE A LIGHT IN THE DARK TUNNEL11
We see that the period between1909 to 1915 was the lowest in the national movement, when the
British suppression led to a vacuum of ideology and leadership. The Congress became
directionless and mass movement lost the direction. Under these circumstances, it was the Home
Rule League which not only showed positive attitude towards masses but also prevented them
from being alienated from the mainstream. Home Rule League was able to combine and balance
all the three trends viz. moderates, extremists, and revolutionary terrorists. The two things must
be noted here:

Home Rule League dropped ideas of extremists mass movement but continued their idea

of passive resistance
Home Rule League dropped the idea of mendicancy of the moderates but continued their
concept of patriotism.

Its worth note that both Home Rule League and Home Rule League, at that time had
emphasized more on awareness through journals like commonweal, India, Maratha etc. They
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tried to restore the confidence of the Indians against British suppression, demanded greater
political representation and self government and maintained the principles of congress.
Therefore, Home Rule League helped to restore the movement which was derailed movement.
Tilak founded the first League in Poona. Mohammad Ali Jinnah headed up the Leagues Bombay
Branch. With its national headquarters in Delhi, the main cities of activity were Bombay,
Calcutta and Madras.

In June 1917, Annie was arrested under the Defense of India Act. To show her defiance,
she flew a red and green flag in the garden. Mass protests began and American President
Wilson intervened for her release.

Despite the banner of All India Home Rule League, there were two leagues one by Tilak that
worked in Bombay Presidency, Carnatic, Central provinces and Berar. The Annie Besants league
worked for rest of India. At the climax of its activities in 1917, the combined membership of
both the leagues was around 40,000. The All India Home league ended in 1920, when it elected
Mahatma Gandhi as its President, when within a year it merged into the Indian National
Congress.
ACHIVEMENTS BY HOME RULE MOVEMENT12
The tremendous achievement of the Home Rule Movement and its legacy was that it created a
generation of ardent nationalists who formed the backbone of the national movement in the
coming years when, under the leadership of the Mahatma, it entered its truly mass phase. The
Home Rule Leagues also created organizational links between town and country which were to
prove invaluable in later years. And further, by popularizing the idea of Home Rule or selfgovernment, and making it a common place thing, it generated a widespread pronationalist
atmosphere in the country. The movement shifted the emphasis from the educated elite to the
masses and permanently deflected the movement from the course mapped by the Moderates. It
created an organizational link between the town and the country, which was to prove crucial in
later years when the movement entered its mass phase in a true sense. It created a generation of
ardent nationalists. It prepared the masses for politics of the Gandhian style. The August 1917
declaration of Montagu and the Montford reforms were influenced by the Home Rule agitation.
12 www.mapsofindia.com, 10/3/2015, 10:00AM.
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Tilaks and Besants efforts in the Moderate-Extremist reunion at Lucknow (1916) revived the
Congress as an effective instrument of Indian nationalism. It lent a new dimension and a sense of
urgency to the national movement. The movement marks the beginning for attainment of Swaraj.
It discredited moderates of INC and created condition for readmission of Neo-Nationalists in
1916. Montague Declaration of 1917-Greatest political achievement. It organized congress13
party when it was decaying. It popularized concept of home rule. It created organizational links
between town and country. It revived the old lost confidence of the Indians and created a
generation of ardent nationalists. Declaration of Montagu and the Montford Reforms were
influenced by the Home Rule League agitation. For the first time, widely disseminated the idea
of Swaraj via the journals, something which was followed even by Gandhi. The most important
contribution of the movement was that it kept alive Indian nationalism during the course of the
First World War. It infused the Congress with new strength and vigour.
DECLINE OF HOME RULE MOVEMENT
There was a lack of effective organisation. Communal riots were witnessed during 1917-18. The
Moderates who had joined the Congress after Besants arrest were pacified by talk of reforms
(contained in Montagus statement of August 1917 which held self- government as the long-term
goal of the British rule in India) and Besants release. Talk of passive resistance by the
Extremists kept the Moderates off from activity from September 1918 onwards. MontaguChelmsford reforms which became known in July 1918 further divided the nationalist ranks.
Tilak had to go abroad (September 1918) in connection with a case while Annie Besant
vacillated over her response to the reforms and the techniques of passive resistance. With Besant
unable to give a positive lead and Tilak away in England, the movement was left leaderless. The
popularity of the Home Rule League also began declining with the coming of the Satyagraha
Movement by Mahatma Gandhi. After Montague declaration in 1917, Besant had dropped her
league but not Tilak.

CONCLUSION

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By the end of the First World War, in 1918, the new generation of nationalists aroused to political
awareness and impatient with the pace of change, were looking for a means of expressing
themselves through effective political action. The leaders of the Home Rule League, who
themselves were responsible for bringing them to this point, were unable to show the way
forward. The stage was thus set for the entry of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a man who had
already made a name for himself with his leadership of the struggle of Indians in South Africa
and by leading the struggles of Indian peasants and workers in Champaran, Ahmedabad and
Kheda. And in March 1919, when he gave a call for a Satyagraha to protest against the
obnoxious Rowlatt Act, he was the rallying point for almost all those who had been awakened
to politics by the Home Rule Movement. Annie Besant and Tilak gave inspiring lead to Home
Rule Movement. As the Home Rule League became very popular and grew in its strength, the
government was alarmed. Naturally, they decided to curb the tendency of the students to identify
themselves with political movements and take part in its activities, the government of Madras
passed orders to prevent them from entering into politics. The Home Rule League raised the
slogan of Swadeshi, National education and home rule of India. The movement gathered
momentum with lightening speed. The Government had no patience with the agitators,
particularly when it was involved in war on the fields of Europe. The Bombay Government
imposed restriction on the movement and activities of Tilak. Action was also taken by the
Madras Government against Annie Besant.

BIBILOGRAPHY

Ireland and the Home Rule Movement, Michael F. J. McDonnell.

Sidelights on the Home Rule Movement, Robert Anderson.

Irish Home Rule, 1867-1921, Alan O'Day.

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Lokmanya Tilak A Biography, A.K. Bhagwat & G.P. Pradhan.

Lokmanya Tilak: Symbol of Swaraj, Sorab Ghaswalla

The Myth of the Lokmanya: Tilak and Mass Politics in Maharashtra, Richard I. Cashman.

Sidelights on the Home Rule Movement, Robert Anderson.

India's Struggle for Independence, Bipan Chandra.

India's freedom struggle, Nandalal Chatterji.

Midnapore, the Forerunner of India's Freedom Struggle, Gouripada

Chatterji.

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