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MAINS 2014
GS1
10 marks

In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of British colonial aspirations in India?

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7 min
150 words
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What the examiner wants

Show how the 1946 Royal Indian Navy mutiny convinced Britain that it could no longer hold India.

ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Event: began 18 February 1946 on HMIS Talwar in Bombay over food, racial discrimination and INA trials; spread to Karachi, Calcutta, Madras; flags of Congress, League and Communists flown together≈30 words
  2. 2Why decisive: loyalty of armed forces, the base of colonial rule, could no longer be assumed; support strikes in RIAF and army units; public hartals in Bombay≈30 words
  3. 3British response: Attlee government sent the Cabinet Mission (announced February 1946, arrived March 1946)≈30 words
  4. 4Nuance: Congress and League leaders (Patel, Jinnah) persuaded surrender; transfer of power had many causes (WWII exhaustion, INA trials, economic weakness)≈30 words

Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.

Answer plan

Context 1945-46Mutiny eventsImpact on armed forces' loyalty and British willLink to Cabinet MissionNuanced conclusion

Where marks usually go

  • Narrating the mutiny without explaining why it was the 'last nail'
  • Ignoring other factors like INA trials and post-war British weakness

Draw this

  • Timeline: INA trials (Nov 1945) → RIN mutiny (Feb 1946) → Cabinet Mission (Mar 1946) → Mountbatten Plan (June 1947)

Value addition

  • DataAround 20,000 ratings on about 78 ships and 20 shore establishments took part.Accounts of the 1946 mutiny
  • ExampleSumit Sarkar notes the mutiny showed rare communal unity at the grassroots even as leaders sought a negotiated settlement.Sumit Sarkar, Modern India

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