India's Road To Independence

This volume represents a major new approach to understanding the Indian National Congress, covering the period from its creation in 1885 to its centenary in 1985. As one of the oldest political parties in the world and as a central institution in the Indian Republic, the Congress is a subject of major importance. The essays in the book assess its importance in the history of India and explain its changing role over time. Salient features of its history are analysed from its foundation and its early activities through to its career under the innovative leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In its struggle as a national movement against British Imperi-alism, the relationship of the Congress with the constituent elements of the Indian polity is defined. The politics and rhetoric of its leaders are related to the development of the Congress base of support in the countryside and city. The con-sequences are followed through into the politics of independent India. After it became the ruler of an independent India, the Congress has continued to maintain its predominance despite challenges and confrontations. The papers collected in this book were presented at a Congress Centenary Conference held at Sydney University in February 1985. Contributors are historians and political scientists based in Australia, India, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore. Each author has published extensively on modern India elsewhere and each is an authority in his field of specialisation. Cumulatively, the writers present an unparalleled insight into the phenomenon that is, and has been, the Indian National Congress. Dr Jim Masselos is Reader in History at the University of Sydney. He has written Towards Nationalism, Indian Nationa-lism: An History and edited Popular Art in Asia: The People as Patrons, and has published numerous articles in journals and collected volumes.