The Muslim League | ICSE Class 10 History & Civics Notes

This note covers the formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906, the factors that led to its formation and its early objectives, the Lucknow Pact of 1916, its signatories and its impact, and how the League leadership, the Congress and the British government responded to the League and the Pact.

What was the political background to the formation of the Muslim League?

By the early twentieth century, the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, had become the main platform of Indian political opinion, though its early leadership was dominated by English-educated Hindus from the professional classes.

Lord Curzon's Partition of Bengal in 1905 split the province into a Hindu-majority West Bengal and a new, Muslim-majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam with its capital at Dacca.

The partition provoked the Swadeshi movement among Bengali Hindus, who saw it as an attempt to weaken Bengali nationalism, but many Muslims of the new eastern province welcomed it, since it gave them better access to government jobs, education and local political influence.

Political consciousness among Muslims had also been growing since Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which trained an English-educated Muslim elite and encouraged loyalty to British rule rather than participation in Congress politics.

By 1906, sections of this Aligarh-educated elite felt that Muslims needed their own political organisation to represent their separate interests, rather than relying on the Congress.

Note: It is a common mistake to assume that the Muslim League, when it was founded in 1906, already demanded a separate country. In its early years the League asked only for safeguards for Muslims within a united India; the demand for a separate Muslim state came much later.

What factors led to the formation of the Muslim League?

Several factors came together to produce the All India Muslim League, founded on 30 December 1906 at Dacca.

A Muslim deputation led by the Aga Khan, known as the Simla Deputation of 1906, had already met the Viceroy, Lord Minto, to ask for separate representation for Muslims, arguing that Muslims as a minority community needed guaranteed seats of their own rather than competing with the Hindu majority in general elections.

This deputation is usually treated as the immediate forerunner of the League.

The main factors behind its formation were:

1. The Partition of Bengal of 1905, which gave Muslims of Eastern Bengal a new sense of political opportunity and encouraged a separate Muslim political identity.
2. The fear among upper-class, landed and professional Muslims that a Hindu-majority Congress would not adequately protect Muslim political and economic interests.
3. The encouragement of the British colonial government, which found it useful to cultivate a loyal Muslim organisation as a counterweight to the growing Congress-led nationalist movement, a policy often described as "divide and rule".
4. The spread of English education among Muslims through the Aligarh movement, which produced a class of leaders confident enough to organise their own political platform.

What were the early objectives of the Muslim League?

The League's early objectives, as usually stated, were to promote among Indian Muslims a feeling of loyalty to the British government, to protect and advance the political rights and interests of Muslims, and to prevent the growth of feelings of hostility between Muslims and other communities of India.

In 1913 the League added a further aim, the attainment of self-government suitable to India under the British Crown, which brought its goals closer to those of the Congress and prepared the way for the Lucknow Pact.

Unlike the Congress, the League asked specifically for separate electorates for Muslims, by which Muslim voters would elect their own representatives rather than voting together with other communities.

Definition: A separate electorate is an arrangement under which members of a particular community vote only for candidates of their own community, so that a minority community is guaranteed its own representatives in a legislature.

What was the Lucknow Pact of 1916, and who signed it?

By 1916, during the First World War, leaders of both the Congress and the Muslim League felt the need to present a united front to the British government in demanding constitutional reform and a greater share of self-government for Indians.

This led to the joint session of the Congress and the League held together at Lucknow in December 1916, where the two organisations reached an agreement known as the Lucknow Pact.

The negotiations were led on the Muslim League side chiefly by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and on the Congress side by leaders associated with the moderate and extremist wings who had themselves recently reunited, including Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

The Pact was signed on behalf of the two organisations by their leading figures at the joint session: Mohammad Ali Jinnah signed for the Muslim League, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak signed for the Congress, alongside the other leaders of the two bodies who endorsed the agreed scheme.

Under the terms of the Pact, the Congress, which had earlier opposed separate representation on religious lines, agreed to accept separate electorates for Muslims and agreed on a formula for the proportion of seats to be reserved for Muslims in the legislative councils of each province, giving Muslims weightage in provinces where they were a minority and a share smaller than their population in provinces where they were a majority, such as Bengal and Punjab.

In return, the Muslim League agreed to support the Congress demand for self-government, or home rule, for India, and the two organisations undertook to place a joint scheme of reforms before the British government.

What was the impact of the Lucknow Pact?

The Lucknow Pact of 1916 is usually regarded as the high point of Hindu-Muslim political cooperation before Independence, because it was the first occasion on which the Congress and the League agreed on a common scheme of constitutional demands. Its immediate effects included:

1. It allowed Congress and League leaders to campaign together for self-government, strengthening the Home Rule League agitation that Tilak and Annie Besant had begun in 1916.
2. It encouraged the British government to respond, in August 1917, with a declaration promising progress towards "responsible government" for India, a promise that eventually led to the Government of India Act of 1919.
3. It established the principle, accepted by Congress for the first time, of separate electorates and weightage for Muslims, a principle that shaped constitutional arrangements for decades afterwards.
4. It created a short-lived spirit of Hindu-Muslim unity that found renewed, broader expression a few years later, when Mahatma Gandhi linked the Congress's own movement to the Muslim community's concern over the Khilafat issue after the First World War, leading to the joint Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement launched in January 1921.

Even so, the unity of 1916 did not last. Within a decade, differences over the exact share of representation reappeared, and attempts to renew the alliance in 1927, when Jinnah offered to give up separate electorates in exchange for guaranteed seats, broke down at the All Parties Conference of 1928.

How did different groups respond to the Muslim League and the Lucknow Pact?

The Muslim League's leadership

Leaders such as the Aga Khan and, later, Mohammad Ali Jinnah saw the League as the proper vehicle for safeguarding Muslim political interests.

Jinnah in particular worked to bring the League closer to the Congress in 1916, believing that cooperation, backed by firm guarantees such as separate electorates, could secure both Muslim rights and progress towards self-government for India as a whole.

The Indian National Congress

Congress leaders who had themselves just ended the Moderate-Extremist split agreed to the Lucknow Pact mainly because they needed a united Hindu-Muslim demand to press the British for reform during the war.

Accepting separate electorates was a significant concession for Congress, since many of its members had earlier argued that such arrangements would divide Indians along religious lines rather than unite them as one nation.

The British government

The colonial government under Viceroy Lord Minto had itself encouraged separate Muslim political organisation through its response to the Simla Deputation, and it continued, through measures such as the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, to build separate electorates into the constitutional structure.

A united Congress-League demand after 1916 therefore put pressure on the government, which answered with the August 1917 declaration and, eventually, the reforms of 1919.

Timeline: the Muslim League and Hindu-Muslim political relations, 1857 to 1920

This timeline sets the formation of the Muslim League and the Lucknow Pact within the wider sweep of Hindu-Muslim political relations between the Revolt of 1857 and the start of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. It brings together three related strands: the growth of a separate Muslim political identity after the Aligarh movement of 1875, the constitutional changes that led eventually to the Government of India Act of 1919, and the brief but important Congress-League cooperation of 1916. Reading the years in sequence shows how closely the Partition of Bengal of 1905, the Simla Deputation and the founding of the League in 1906 were followed, within a decade, by the Lucknow Pact of 1916 and the reforms that followed it.

The decade that followed, from 1920 onward, saw Congress-League cooperation weaken again, even though both organisations had worked together closely during the Lucknow Pact years of 1916 and 1917.

Going beyond the syllabus

These ideas extend the unit and are not needed for the questions on it.

How did the Muslim League's objectives differ from the Congress's?

Although the Congress of 1885 and the Muslim League of 1906 both sought political advance for Indians, they began with different priorities and different views of representation. The table below sets out their positions on these points up to 1916, when the Lucknow Pact brought the two organisations, for the first time, onto a common platform of demands.

The table shows that the biggest shift came from the Congress side: having opposed separate electorates since the nineteenth century, it accepted them in 1916 in exchange for the League's support for home rule. The League's own position, by contrast, remained close to what it had argued since the Simla Deputation of 1906.

What happened to Congress-League relations after 1916?

The cooperation of 1916 did not survive the 1920s. By 1927, Jinnah was willing to drop separate electorates if Muslims received guaranteed seats in the Central Assembly and representation proportional to population in Muslim-majority provinces such as Bengal and Punjab, but efforts to agree this at the All Parties Conference of 1928 collapsed when M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha opposed the compromise.

In 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as president of the Muslim League, again stressed separate electorates as a safeguard for Muslim minority interests, a speech later seen as providing intellectual grounding for the demand for a separate Muslim homeland that emerged in subsequent years. In December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress had already gone the other way on a different question, adopting "Purna Swaraj", or complete independence, as its goal at the Lahore session.

These disagreements over representation continued into the Civil Disobedience years: Dr B. R. Ambedkar clashed with Gandhi at the second Round Table Conference in 1931 by demanding separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, and the dispute ended in the Poona Pact of September 1932, which gave the Depressed Classes reserved seats to be voted in by the general electorate rather than a separate one. These later events lie outside the Lucknow Pact itself, but they show how fragile the unity of 1916 proved to be.

Glossary

• Muslim League: political organisation of Indian Muslims founded at Dacca on 30 December 1906.
• Separate electorate: an arrangement by which a community votes only for candidates of its own community.
• Lucknow Pact: the December 1916 agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League on joint constitutional demands and seat-sharing.
• Aligarh Movement: the educational reform movement among Muslims begun by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan from 1875.
• Simla Deputation: the 1906 Muslim delegation to Viceroy Minto asking for separate representation.
• Partition of Bengal: Lord Curzon's 1905 division of Bengal into two provinces.
• Home Rule: self-government for India within the British Empire, demanded by the Home Rule League from 1916.
• Weightage: giving a minority community a share of seats greater than its proportion of the population.
• Minority province: a province in which a particular community, here Muslims, formed less than half the population.
• Proportional representation: allotting seats in line with a community's share of the population, as sought for Bengal and Punjab.
• Khilafat: the spiritual authority of the Ottoman Sultan, an issue that briefly reunited Congress and Muslim opinion after 1919.
• Divide and rule: a colonial policy of encouraging divisions between communities to weaken united opposition.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: The Muslim League demanded a separate country from the moment it was founded. Correct: In 1906 and in 1916 the League sought safeguards within a united India, not partition.
• Misconception: The Lucknow Pact was signed by the Congress alone. Correct: It was a joint agreement of the Congress and the Muslim League, signed by Jinnah for the League and by Tilak for the Congress.
• Misconception: Congress always supported separate electorates. Correct: Congress had opposed separate electorates earlier and accepted them only as part of the 1916 compromise.
• Misconception: The Partition of Bengal benefited all Muslims and hurt all Hindus. Correct: Many Muslims in the new eastern province welcomed it, while the Swadeshi agitation against it was led mainly by Bengali Hindus, but opinion on both sides was not uniform.
• Misconception: The Muslim League and the Khilafat Committee were the same body. Correct: The Khilafat Committee, formed in Bombay in March 1919, was a separate organisation formed to defend the Ottoman Khalifa's powers.
• Misconception: Hindu-Muslim unity ended immediately after 1916. Correct: Cooperation continued and even intensified during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements of 1919-1922 before breaking down later in the decade.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Choose the correct option: The All India Muslim League was founded in (a) 1885 (b) 1905 (c) 1906 (d) 1916. [1 mark]

1. (c) 1906. The League was founded at Dacca on 30 December 1906, a year after the Partition of Bengal of 1905 and in the same year as the Simla Deputation.

Q2. Assertion (A): The Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims in 1916. Reason (R): The Muslim League agreed to support the Congress demand for self-government. Choose the correct option: (a) (A) is true and (R) is false. (b) (A) is false and (R) is true. (c) Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). (d) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A). [1 mark]

1. (c) Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). The Congress gave up its earlier opposition to separate electorates as its part of the bargain, and the League's support for home rule was what it received in return under the Lucknow Pact.

Q3. Identify the option that shows the correct chronology of these events: 1. Partition of Bengal 2. Founding of the Muslim League 3. Lucknow Pact 4. Simla Deputation. (a) 1-4-2-3 (b) 4-1-2-3 (c) 1-2-4-3 (d) 2-1-4-3 [1 mark]

1. (a) 1-4-2-3. The Partition of Bengal came in 1905, the Simla Deputation in 1906, the founding of the League at Dacca on 30 December 1906, and the Lucknow Pact in December 1916.

Q4. With reference to the formation of the Muslim League, answer the following: (i) In which year was it founded? (ii) Mention any two factors that led to its formation. [3 marks]

1. The All India Muslim League was founded in 1906, at Dacca on 30 December.
2. The Partition of Bengal of 1905 created a Muslim-majority province and gave Muslims of the region a new sense of political opportunity.
3. Upper-class and professional Muslims feared that a Hindu-majority Congress would not protect their interests, and the British government encouraged a separate loyal Muslim organisation to counter the Congress-led nationalist movement.

Q5. With reference to the Lucknow Pact of 1916, answer the following: (i) Name the signatories of the Pact. (ii) Mention any two of its terms. [3 marks]

1. The Pact was signed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah for the Muslim League and by Bal Gangadhar Tilak for the Congress.
2. The Congress agreed to accept separate electorates for Muslims.
3. The two organisations agreed on a formula for the proportion of seats reserved for Muslims in the legislative councils of each province, with weightage where Muslims were a minority.

Q6. With reference to the Lucknow Pact of 1916, answer the following: (i) State any two terms of the Pact regarding representation. (ii) Explain any two effects of the Pact on Indian politics. [4 marks]

1. The Congress, which had earlier opposed religion-based representation, agreed to accept separate electorates for Muslims.
2. Muslims were given weightage, a share of seats above their population, in provinces where they were a minority, and a share smaller than their population in Muslim-majority provinces such as Bengal and Punjab.
3. It marked the first occasion on which the Congress and the League agreed on a common scheme of constitutional demands, allowing them to campaign together for self-government.
4. It established the principle, accepted by Congress for the first time, of separate electorates and weightage for Muslims, a principle that shaped constitutional arrangements for decades afterwards.

Q7. The Lucknow Pact of 1916 is often described as a high point of Hindu-Muslim cooperation. With reference to the Pact, answer the following: (i) Mention any two factors that brought the Congress and the League together in 1916. (ii) Analyse any three effects of the Pact. [5 marks]

1. During the First World War, leaders of both organisations felt the need to present a united front in demanding constitutional reform and a greater share of self-government.
2. The Congress had recently reunited its moderate and extremist wings, and leaders such as Tilak were ready to work with the League.
3. It allowed Congress and League leaders to campaign together for self-government, strengthening the Home Rule League agitation begun by Tilak and Annie Besant in 1916.
4. It encouraged the British government's August 1917 declaration promising progress towards responsible government, which led to the Government of India Act of 1919.
5. The unity it created was short-lived: differences over representation reappeared within a decade, and renewed talks broke down at the All Parties Conference of 1928.

Key takeaways

• The All India Muslim League was founded at Dacca on 30 December 1906, following the Simla Deputation's demand for separate Muslim representation.
• The League's early objectives were loyalty to the British government, protection of Muslim political rights, and preventing hostility between communities.
• The Partition of Bengal of 1905 and the spread of Aligarh education were important factors behind the League's formation.
• The Congress and the Muslim League signed the Lucknow Pact at their joint session in December 1916.
• Mohammad Ali Jinnah signed the Pact for the Muslim League, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak signed it for the Congress.
• Congress accepted separate electorates and a formula for Muslim representation for the first time under the Pact.
• The Pact strengthened the Home Rule agitation and helped prompt the British government's August 1917 declaration.
• Hindu-Muslim cooperation born of the Pact continued into the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements but weakened again by the late 1920s.

Test yourself

When and where was the All India Muslim League founded?

It was founded on 30 December 1906, at Dacca in Eastern Bengal.

What was the Simla Deputation of 1906?

A delegation of Muslim leaders, led by the Aga Khan, that met Viceroy Minto to demand separate representation for Muslims, a forerunner of the League.

Name one early objective of the Muslim League.

To protect and advance the political rights and interests of Indian Muslims.

In which year and at which city was the Lucknow Pact signed?

It was signed in December 1916, at Lucknow, during the joint session of the Congress and the Muslim League.

What did the Congress concede under the Lucknow Pact?

It accepted separate electorates for Muslims and a formula giving Muslims a defined share of seats in provincial legislative councils.

What did the Muslim League agree to in return?

It agreed to support the Congress demand for self-government, or home rule, for India.

Name the signatory of the Lucknow Pact for each side.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah signed for the Muslim League, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak signed for the Congress.

What did the British government promise in August 1917, partly in response to the Pact?

It promised gradual progress towards responsible, self-governing institutions for India.