AHC: India is a British Dominion

What would need to happen for India to transform from territory ruled directly by the Crown (the British Raj) into a dominion similar to Canada, Australia or New Zealand?
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Requires a way too early POD. We have discussed these in multiple threads and it doesn't get any possible timeline that easily.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Could happen if India was left mostly empty. But even in an early timelines,suppose Indo-Aryans and Indo-Iranians establish their empires in Central Asia/Iran/Anatolia itself,they will conquer India anyways. Before Indo-Iranians and Indo-Aryans,India was left mostly empty with not so advanced natives after the IVC collapsed and all the people in that migrated to surrounding regions in all directions possibly. So ASB. Mods can move this to ASB ASAP.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
No World Wars.
Even in a World peaceful with no WWs,Britain will not probably agree to make India a dominion until the people are significantly well off and advanced. If British policies could achieve that in such speed,I would be surprised considering it has not yet been achieved. Note: HDI takes into account the whole population and not just few CEOs,Surgeons,Entrepreneurs and Engineers who form mostly the cream.
 
Even in a World peaceful with no WWs,Britain will not probably agree to make India a dominion until the people are significantly well off and advanced. If British policies could achieve that in such speed,I would be surprised considering it has not yet been achieved. Note: HDI takes into account the whole population and not just few CEOs,Surgeons,Entrepreneurs and Engineers who form mostly the cream.

India was the crown of the British Empire even without that. Without the WWs there is far less push for democratisation. Put a loyalist Anglophile elite in charge, don't give the rest a vote, and make it a dominion. You could probably get 50 years out of it.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
India was the crown of the British Empire even without that. Without the WWs there is far less push for democratisation. Put a loyalist Anglophile elite in charge, don't give the rest a vote, and make it a dominion. You could probably get 50 years out of it.
That would be interesting. The surprise is that the British educated liberal class was the one against the British at the time of independence. The conservatives and not so educated and very religious class either supported or didn't bother about British Empire being there. How else do you think a left wing party could rule a highly conservative nation for that many years sweeping elections together? Even English PhDs and experts would be amazed by the English spoken by them. Hear Nehru's speeches. So I doubt such a thing could work. Such elite may become power hungry within quite less time unless you use some kind of techniques of deep Hypnosis.
 
That would be interesting. The surprise is that the British educated liberal class was the one against the British at the time of independence. The conservatives and not so educated and very religious class either supported or didn't bother about British Empire being there. How else do you think a left wing party could rule a highly conservative nation for that many years sweeping elections together? Even English PhDs and experts would be amazed by the English spoken by them. Hear Nehru's speeches. So I doubt such a thing could work. Such elite may become power hungry within quite less time unless you use some kind of techniques of deep Hypnosis.

Congress was anti-British but the princely class sure wasn't.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Congress was anti-British but the princely class sure wasn't.
Princely class per se didn't mean they were learned and intellectual though the capacity was there. Nehru Ji wasn't religious nor a nationalist. He was moderately anti theist and an intellectual Socialist. He was a great visionary but some of his goals were too far fetched as some say. He was from Kashmiri Pandit community and was a very learned man. INC shared his vision at the beginning. They swept all over India immediately.
 
What would need to happen for India to transform from territory ruled directly by the Crown (the British Raj) into a dominion similar to Canada, Australia or New Zealand?

I think a (relatively) plausible thing would work something like this, but I should say that without wishing to claim too much maths that it would be incredibly unlikely to have occurred (<5% or even lower.)
  • Home rule is not killed with kindness in the bills of the late 1800s, but an earlier Easter Rising occurs and occurs before Fashoda that leaves some of Europe giving some support to the rebels (but mainly vocal due to the blockade that would occur though some might do blockade running)
  • This is put down, and Ireland is either made a dominion or integrated more properly (the later is beyond unlikely but I don't think impossible) in a peace deal made by Liberals and early socialists.
  • Conservative reaction that leads to unrest everywhere, but especially in the Raj in which some radicals take the lesson that a violent revolt will seem to get them dominionhood at worst and independence at best.
  • Britain uses the Princes to keep the lid on things, leading to more governance from Indian conservatives who are amenable to the Raj if it prevents those nasty anti-Prince radicals
  • This would not be viable long term, but would be enough to see a short term Partnership Raj a la Male Rising for a while
  • Radicals gather strength and strike during a July Crisis equivalent event in conjunction with some of the more ambitious princes and Britain has to focus attention on India to try to put down this revolt that would theoretically match and exceed the 1857 revolts.
  • Britain fights a war that deals the same kind of damage to the rest of Empire in trying to defeat this revolt that WW1 did that leads to wartime elections in which Liberals come to power and make a generous peace.
  • India becomes a dominion, with Pakistan and Burma, deliberately to somewhat neuter it over internal issues that keep it focused on itself
  • These internal issues slowly work themselves out in a manner that defangs most radicals and leaves the Dominion of India as being one where the monarchy there is more like Japan than the OTL situation of the monarchy in most realms/dominions
  • Most people who aren't radicals in India wants to bring about the eras of radical politics that caused so much violence, even accidentally and so the monarchy is kept in this very very symbolic role as part of this eventual tradition of stability

I give this weird series of events for the reasons I give as follows:
  • Ireland needs to be either a long-term dominion to show the success of this as not being a mere prelude to independence or to some extent show what could be
  • We need a conservative reaction to make the Liberals feel comfortable in taking radical steps when they get back in but also to ensure that India has a plight that makes British and wider Dominion Liberals sympathetic
  • Princes need to be shown to be unpopular and unworkable and the Raj along with that, hence a Partnership Raj that works for a time before failing as it likely would
  • We need to keep Britain out of WW1/equivalent to prevent too many people seeing India as being necessary as a Jewel in the same way it was in the post-WW1 depression etc
  • Keeping Britain neutral during WW1/equivalent to keep the revolt being powerful enough to make liberals think a generous peace is needed, but helps to ensure Indians don't get tonnes of supplies to actually "win".
  • An Indian Dominion would definitely have a much looser relationship with Britain and the Monarchy in order to keep the British Monarchy around.

Again I should stress, this is all nigh-impossible.
 
Princely class per se didn't mean they were learned and intellectual though the capacity was there. Nehru Ji wasn't religious nor a nationalist. He was moderately anti theist and an intellectual Socialist. He was a great visionary but some of his goals were too far fetched as some say. He was from Kashmiri Pandit community and was a very learned man. INC shared his vision at the beginning. They swept all over India immediately.

Yes, because there was a strong awakening towards national universal suffrage from the democratic push caused by the wars. "We fought for the empire therefore we deserve a voice in government". That could easily be delayed 50 years.
 
Top