Overview

• Covers Muslim political maneuvering between League formation (1906) and the eve of WWII (1939) — a period of alliance, disillusionment, and eventual demand for a separate identity within the constitutional framework.

Key Phases & Events

1. Constitutional Gains (1909-1919)

• Morley-Minto Reforms (1909) — separate electorates for Muslims formally granted; enlarged legislative councils.
• Lucknow Pact (1916) — Congress-League agreement; Congress accepts separate electorates and weightage for Muslims in minority provinces; Jinnah hailed as "Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity."
• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919) — dyarchy introduced in provinces; disappointed Indian political classes generally.

2. Khilafat & Non-Cooperation (1919-1924)

• Rowlatt Act (1919) & Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 Apr 1919) — radicalize Indian politics.
• Khilafat Movement (1919-1924) led by Ali Brothers (Shaukat & Muhammad Ali) — protest against dismemberment of Ottoman Caliphate after WWI.
• Congress (Gandhi) joins Khilafat cause → Hindu-Muslim cooperation peaks temporarily via Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Movement collapses after Chauri Chaura incident (1922) (Gandhi calls off Non-Cooperation) and abolition of Caliphate by Ataturk (1924) — leaves Muslims politically disillusioned with Congress-led unity politics.

3. Growing Communal Distrust (1924-1930)

• Communal riots increase through the 1920s.
• Simon Commission (1927) — all-British composition, boycotted by both Congress and (largely) the League.
• Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929) — response to Nehru Report (1928) which had proposed joint electorates, rejected by Muslims; Jinnah demands federal system, provincial autonomy, 1/3 Muslim representation at Centre, separate electorates retained.
• Allama Iqbal's Allahabad Address (1930) — first explicit vision of a separate Muslim state in NW India (Punjab, NWFP, Sindh, Balochistan).

4. Round Table Conferences & Government of India Act (1930-1935)

• Three Round Table Conferences (1930, 1931, 1932) in London — fail to produce Hindu-Muslim consensus; Congress boycotts first, joins later via Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• Communal Award (1932) — separate electorates extended to depressed classes too; accepted by Muslims, opposed by Gandhi (leads to Poona Pact 1932 for depressed classes' joint electorate with reserved seats).