Foundation of the Home Rule Movement
- Two Home Rule Leagues were launched: Bal Gangadhar Tilak established the Indian Home Rule League in Belgaum in April 1916, and Annie Besant launched the Home Rule League at Madras in September 1916.
- Despite being separate, both leagues aimed to achieve self-rule for India by its people without any foreign interference under the British Commonwealth.
Tilak’s Indian Home Rule League
- The headquarters for Tilak’s Indian Home Rule League were in Poona (Pune). The extent of Tilak’s league influence was limited to specific regions, mainly Maharashtra (excluding Bombay), Karnataka, the Central Provinces, and Berar. The league had six branches.
- The Indian Home Rule League demanded self-rule (swarajya), the creation of linguistic states, and education to be given in vernacular languages.
Besant’s Home Rule League
- Besant’s Home Rule League was established in Madras and had influence over the entire country, including Bombay. It had close to two hundred branches across the country.
- B.W. Wadia and C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar were the main contributors to this league’s work.
Home Rule Movement : Objectives, Outcomes & Decline
The Home Rule Movement, inspired by and along similar lines to the Irish Home Rule Movement, was launched in 1916 by Indian nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak and British social reformer Annie Besant, demanding self-government for India within the British Empire. It was a very significant event in the history of India’s freedom struggle. The movement demanded that Indians be allowed to govern themselves without foreign intervention. The Movement quickly gained widespread support among the Indian people and even helped radicalize the Indian National Congress (INC) stance on self-government, given how it was dominated by moderate reformist thoughts before.
The Home Rule Movement was a stepping stone for many more Indian independence movements in the future and helped unite Indian people in their struggle for independence. Read below this article to learn about the overview of the Home Rule Movement in depth, including its background, members, objective, outcome, and significance.
Table of Content
- Background of the Home Rule Movement
- Foundation of the Home Rule Movement
- Members of the Home Rule Movement
- Major objectives of the Home Rule Movement
- Shaping up the Home Rule Movement
- Outcome of the Home Rule Movement
- Why did the Home Rule Movement decline?