In this full biography of Gopal Krishna Gokhale reassesses the Indian political scene during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. In focusing on the career of the preeminent leader of his time, B. R. Nanda surveys the Indian Nationalist movement during the years 1885-1915 and especially the developments within the Indian National Congress.
The author's clear account of Indo-British relations spans the administrations of Lords Curzon, Minto, and Hardinge. Through vignettes of eminent Indian contemporaries, insights into attitudes of officials, and vividly described popular reactions to British policies, he captures the spirit of India's political life at the turn of the century.
B. R. Nanda interweaves his discussion of Gokhale's ideas and actions with analysis of major events of the day. He considers the ferment in Maharashtra, the social reform movement, the conflict between Moderates and Extremists in the Indian National Congress, the crisis in the Punjab in 1907, and many other important topics. His book gives rare glimpses of two great friends of India, A. O. Hume and William Wedderburn. Materials from Indian as well as British sources illuminate the pre-Gandhian phase of the conflict between British imperialism and Indian nationalism.
Originally published in 1977.
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Gokhale
The Indian Moderates and the British Raj
By B. R. NandaPRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1977 B. R. Nanda
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-03115-6Contents
Preface, vii,
Abbreviations, xii,
BOOK I: FORMATIVE YEARS, 1,
1 Early Life, 3,
2 Ferment in Maharashtra, 9,
3 Emergence of the Educated Elite, 14,
4 The Indian Jesuits, 26,
5 Apprenticed to Ranade, 39,
6 The Young Politician, 51,
7 Professor Gokhale, 60,
8 On the Congress Platform, 67,
9 The Great Split, 72,
10 The Rising Star, 88,
11 Eclipsed, 102,
12 The Clouds Lift, 118,
13 Triumph, 133,
BOOK II: SPOKESMAN FOR THE MODERATES, 143,
14 Gokhale Comes of Age, 145,
15 Wanted, a Leader, 154,
16 Servants of India, 169,
17 Clash with Curzon, 177,
18 Envoy Extraordinary, 187,
19 Congress President, 202,
20 Advocate for India, 212,
BOOK III: CONFRONTATIONS, WITHIN AND WITHOUT, 221,
21 Morley's Dilemma, 223,
22 The Extremist Challenge, 241,
23 The Widening Rift, 253,
24 Crisis in the Raj, 268,
25 Road to Surat, 279,
26 Reforms on the Anvil, 296,
27 Climax, 314,
28 Origins of Muslim Separatism, 320,
29 Gokhale and the Communal Problem, 337,
30 Separate Electorates, 344,
31 Anticlimax, 354,
32 A House Divided Against Itself, 361,
33 Détente, 372,
34 Leader of the Opposition, 378,
35 Educating the Masses, 386,
BOOK IV: THE LAST PHASE, 395,
36 Educating the British, 397,
37 Gandhi and Gokhale, 407,
38 Crisis in South Africa, 422,
39 The Last Battle, 435,
40 No Reunion, 451,
41 Last Days, 461,
42 'The Greatest Indian', 471,
43 The End of an Era, 480,
Bibliography, 495,
Index, 507,
CHAPTER 1
Early Life
It is now 10.30 p.m., and I am writing in a train after a long and exhausting day. I have presided for six hours at the budget meeting of the Legislative Council. The only speaker of the slightest merit whom we possess in Council is Mr Gokhale from Bombay. He is a very able and courageous person, a Mahratta Brahmin, a Congressman, as you remember, connected with Poona affairs. ... But he is not, I believe, disloyal; he represents a very important stratum in Native thought and opinion; he is highly cultivated and not unreasonable....
The date was 25 March 1903. Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, was travelling from Calcutta to Simla, and writing his periodic letter to Secretary of State, Lord George Hamilton. It was unusual for Curzon — who was conscious of his own exceptional intellectual gifts — to pay a compliment to anyone around him, and especially to a thirty-five year-old 'native' politician of the Indian National Congress, a political body which in his eyes was synonymous with sedition. During the next two years, as Gokhale assailed one official measure after another in the Imperial Legislative Council, Curzon's admiration for him turned to suspicion, irritation and indignation. Gokhale aroused ambivalent feelings not only in Curzon, but in his successors on the Viceregal throne and most British officials in India. They were attracted by his ability, but exasperated and repelled by his lack of amenability. They could not quite square his professions of loyalty with his aspirations for Indian self-government. They liked his simple, direct, guileless manner, but wondered whether it was a mask for some sinister design to undermine the Raj. They found it hard to accept that so much ability, integrity, acum
