Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple (My Notes)

 *** IN DRAFT ***

Shattered Lands – Sam Dalrymple

---

Chapter 1: The Great Uprising (1928–29)

Setting the Imperial Periphery

• [[Aden]] as the westernmost frontier of the [[Indian Empire]]

  • Where the [[Red Sea]] opens into the [[Indian Ocean]]

  • Largest city in the Arabian Peninsula

  • Administered as part of the [[Bombay Presidency]]

The Simon Commission Arrives

• [[Simon Commission]] reaches Aden on [[29 January 1928]]

• Arab grievances voiced:

  • Positioned low in the racial hierarchy of empire

  • [[Bank of India]] favoured Europeans and mainland Indians over Arabs

• Aden would later become the capital of [[South Yemen]]

India Reacts

• Arrival in [[Bombay Harbour]] met with mass protests

  • Slogans: “Simon, go back”

• Among the commissioners:

  • [[Clement Attlee]]

    • Nervous, unsure under press scrutiny

    • Previous India experience limited to a wartime hospital stay in Bombay

    • Unbeknown at the time, future grantor of Indian independence

Nationalist Boycott and Jinnah

• Commission struggled to meet Indian leaders

  • Met only [[Motilal Nehru]] (described as Britain’s most inveterate foe)

• In [[Delhi]] (Connaught Circus)

  • Met [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] — organiser of the boycott

  • Described by The New York Times as “one of the best-dressed men in the British Empire”

  • Lifestyle markers: whiskey, pork, chain-smoking

  • Early ambition: Shakespearean actor

• At the First [[Round Table Conference]] in [[London]]

  • Jinnah extracted a promise from the British Prime Minister

  • No form of partition would be carried out without first understanding the will of the people

  • This amounted to a commitment against arbitrary partition of India

• As per [[Sarojini Naidu]]

  • Jinnah as ambassador of Hindu–Muslim unity

Burma Enters the Story

• Commission reached [[Rangoon]] on [[29 January 1929]]

  • India’s easternmost province

• Rangoon described as second only to [[New York]] as an immigration port

• [[Burma]]:

  • Largest and richest province

  • Politically sidelined — the “Cinderella province”

Mahatma Ottama and Burma

• [[Mahatma Ottama]]

  • INC member, Gandhian non-violence advocate

  • Known as “Mahatma Ottama”

  • Believed Burma was integral to India

• British attitudes:

  • Burma not seen as truly Indian

  • No rail links from Bengal or Assam

  • Even Attlee expressed racial stereotypes about Burmans

Gandhi and Burma

• Anti-Separation League boycotted the Commission

• Gandhi arrived later:

  • Initially admired

  • Alienated Burmese opinion by supporting separation

  • Faced protests; left Burma, deferring decision to Burmese themselves

Breakdown of Unity

• All-party conference opposing Simon Report

  • [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] pressed ahead despite Jinnah’s absence

• Nehru Report:

  • Abolished separate electorates

  • Backed by Gandhi

• Jinnah’s plea:

  • Secular India with adequate Muslim representation (⅓ seats)

  • Rejected and ridiculed

• Emotional rupture:

  • Jinnah left early

  • Told friend [[Jamshed]]: “This is the parting of the ways”

Crisis of 1929

• [[Great Depression]]:

  • Rice prices fell 40%

  • Burmese farmers defaulted on loans

  • [[Chettiar]] moneylenders seized land

• 1930 Rangoon earthquake + arrest of Gandhi

  • Violence erupted

  • First major pogrom in Rangoon

Simon Report Conclusions

• Rejected Indian independence

• Proposed:

  • Provincial autonomy under a British Viceroy

  • Separate electorates

  • Round Table Conferences

• On Burma:

  • Declared not India

  • Inclusion termed a “historical accident”

---

Chapter 2: The First Partitions of India (1931–37)

1. A New Capital, a New Phase

• [[New Delhi]] becomes the capital of India

• Timeline anchor: [[February 1931]]

• Political focus shifts toward the second [[Round Table Conference]]

2. Constitutional Negotiation and Its Limits

• [[Gandhi]] released from jail

  • Condition: suspension of the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]]

• [[Gandhi–Irwin Pact]]

  • Gandhi negotiated with [[Lord Irwin]] as an equal

  • First time an Indian was treated as such by the Raj

3. Failed Bridges: Gandhi and Muslim Leadership

• Meetings with Muslim leaders:

  • [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]

  • [[Aga Khan]]

  • Others seeking renewed Hindu–Muslim cooperation

• Outcome:

  • Gandhi rejected any “paternal” responsibility toward Muslims

  • Offered cooperation, not protection

  • Alienated potential allies at a critical moment

4. India Seen from Its Edges

• Gandhi’s journey from [[Rangoon]] to [[Aden]]

  • Met with mass admiration

• Beneath the welcome:

  • Arab resentment toward Indians

  • Complaints of second-class status within the imperial hierarchy

5. Burma: The First Territorial Unravelling

• [[Mahatma Ottama]]

  • Authored The Case Against the Separation of Burma from India

  • Advocated Burma’s place within India

• British position (via the [[Simon Report]]):

  • Separation already decided

• Decision timeline:

  • [[12 January 1932]]: separation approved

  • [[1 April 1937]]: separation enacted

6. Resistance—and Its Failure

• In [[Burma]]:

  • Anti-separation nationalists won a landslide assembly election

• Ottama’s strategy:

  • Alliance with the [[Hindu Mahasabha]]

  • Became president — the first [[Buddhist]] to do so

• Collapse of the coalition:

  • Hindu audiences unwilling to follow a Buddhist monk

  • Heckled off stage in [[Rawalpindi]]

  • Failed to align with Burmese nationalism on return

7. Aden and Arabia Outside the Raj

• [[Aden]] and neighbouring protectorates removed from [[Bombay Presidency]] control

• British strategic thinking:

  • Prevent Indians from dominating the [[Persian Gulf]] after independence

• Indian reaction:

  • Protests in [[Bombay]] asserting Aden as integral to India

8. The Paradox of “Undivided India”

• For the first time, India imagined as a single territorial unit:

  • [[Khyber Pass]] & [[Balochistan]] → [[Assam]] & [[Naga Hills]]

  • [[Kashmir]] → [[Kanyakumari]]

• This vision aligned with the imagined [[Bharat]] of Hindu nationalism

• Core irony:

  • “Undivided India” was created only by dividing the [[Indian Empire]]

  • Burma, Aden, and Arabia removed to forge a compact nation-state

Chapter Close: Separation and Succession

• [[1 April 1937]]:

  • [[Burma]] formally separated from [[India]]

• Ideological shift:

  • [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]] succeeded [[Mahatma Ottama]] as leader of the [[Hindu Mahasabha]]

  • Marked the eclipse of plural anti-separation politics by assertive Hindu nationalism