Towards Independence and Partition — Quick Revision

A one-page sheet for the final phase of the freedom struggle. Learn the British proposals side by side — that is how Prelims tests them.

Timeline at a Glance

Date	Event
Aug 1935	Government of India Act receives royal assent
Early 1937	Provincial elections; provincial autonomy from April 1937
3 Sept 1939	India declared at war by Viceroy Linlithgow
Oct–Nov 1939	Congress ministries resign
22 Dec 1939	League’s “Day of Deliverance”
Mar 1940	Lahore (Pakistan) Resolution
8 Aug 1940	August Offer
Oct 1940	Individual Satyagraha (Vinoba Bhave first)
Mar–Apr 1942	Cripps Mission
8 Aug 1942	Quit India Resolution, Gowalia Tank, Bombay
21 Oct 1943	Azad Hind government proclaimed, Singapore
1944	C. Rajagopalachari formula; Gandhi–Jinnah talks
June–July 1945	Wavell Plan, Simla Conference
Nov 1945	INA trials begin at the Red Fort
Feb 1946	Royal Indian Navy revolt, Bombay
Mar–June 1946	Cabinet Mission (plan of 16 May)
16 Aug 1946	Direct Action Day
2 Sept 1946	Interim Government sworn in
9 Dec 1946	Constituent Assembly first meets
20 Feb 1947	Attlee’s statement — British to leave by June 1948
3 June 1947	Mountbatten Plan
18 July 1947	Indian Independence Act receives royal assent
15 Aug 1947	Independence
17 Aug 1947	Radcliffe award published

Proposal	Status offered	Constitution-maker	Pakistan / minorities
August Offer (1940)	Dominion status as objective	Indian body after the war	Minorities’ consent needed for any constitution
Cripps (1942)	Dominion status after the war, right to secede	Elected by provincial assemblies + princes’ nominees	Provinces may opt out
Wavell Plan (1945)	Interim: all-Indian Executive Council (except Viceroy, C-in-C)	—	Parity of caste Hindus and Muslims
Cabinet Mission (1946)	Independence	389 members via provincial assemblies + states	Pakistan rejected; groups A, B, C
Mountbatten Plan (1947)	Two dominions	Separate Constituent Assemblies	Partition of Punjab and Bengal

Person	Association
Aruna Asaf Ali	Hoisted flag at Gowalia Tank, 9 Aug 1942
Usha Mehta	Underground Congress Radio
Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia	Underground leadership
Chittu Pandey	Parallel government at Ballia
Matangini Hazra	Killed leading a procession at Tamluk
Kanaklata Barua	Killed while carrying the flag in Assam
Mohan Singh	First INA (1942)
Rash Behari Bose	Indian Independence League
Lakshmi Swaminathan	Rani of Jhansi Regiment
Shah Nawaz Khan, P.K. Sehgal, G.S. Dhillon	Accused in the first INA trial
Bhulabhai Desai	Led the INA defence

High-yield facts

1935 Act: provincial autonomy implemented; federation and central dyarchy never.
Cripps let provinces opt out; the Cabinet Mission rejected Pakistan.
Cabinet Mission: Constituent Assembly of 389 (296 from British India, 93 from princely states).
Parallel governments of 1942: Ballia, Tamluk, Satara.
C. Rajagopalachari — the only Indian Governor-General of the Dominion of India (1948–50).

Provincial dyarchy came in 1919; the 1935 Act ended it in the provinces.
The Lahore Resolution (1940) of the League is different from the Lahore session (1929) of the Congress.
The Radcliffe award was announced after independence (17 August 1947).
The first INA was Mohan Singh’s (1942), not Subhas Bose’s.