| |
| 1935, Aug. 2 |
| |
| The GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT passed by the British parliament. Burma and Aden were separated from India. British India was divided into 11 provinces, each under an appointed governor and an appointed executive council. Each province was to have an elected legislature (bicameral in six provinces and unicameral in five), with a ministry responsible to it. Representation was to be based on the communal award. The provincial governments were to enjoy wide autonomy, though the governors retained certain emergency powers. The ultimate objective was the establishment of an All-India Federation, to include the Indian states as well as the provinces of British India, but this arrangement was doomed by the fierce opposition of the congress and the states' refusal to join. A central legislature at Delhi consisted of an upper house (council of state) composed of 34 elected members and 26 appointed members, and a lower house (legislative assembly) of 105 members elected by the provincial assemblies and 40 appointed members. The governor-general retained control of defense, foreign affairs, etc. | 1 |
| |
| 1930s |
| |
| Talkies, and the technology of sound added to cinema, changed the nature of the Indian film industry dramatically. It also reinforced the movement, under way in other forms of cultural and political production, toward more regionally focused activities. Before sound, any movie could be shown with title cards in different regional languages. After sound, all cinema production became tied in to indigenous language centers (making the Tamil production companies among the most secure). Sound also enabled the continuities with folk and other drama traditions to be felt more directly; song and dance became a central part of all films. | 2 |
| |
| 1936–43 |
| |
| MARQUESS OF LINLITHGOW, viceroy and governor-general. | 3 |
| |
| 1937, Jan.–Feb |
| |
| Elections for the provincial assemblies. The All-India Congress (chiefly Hindu and demanding complete independence) was the only well-organized party and so won absolute majorities in six provinces and pluralities in three others. The objective of the party having been to force the abrogation of the new constitution and secure the convocation of an Indian constituent assembly, the leaders were now confronted with the problem of whether to make use of such power as had been gained in the elections. | 4 |
| |
| July |
| |
| After prolonged negotiations, the congress agreed to form ministries in six provinces (and in two more by 1938). | 5 |
| |
| |
