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"The Glory of England is dropping from us. There is no Englishman who should not blush for shame to know that in many places our women cannot venture outside their houses without fear of insult."-Lieutenant-Governor of East Bengal, Sir Bampfylde Fuller.

While in hindsight there's a tendency to portray India's role in WW1 as a noble endeavor (especially in comparison to its role in WW2), things at the time were a bit less clear.

In February 1915 the 5th Light Infantry, an Indian regiment at Singapore, mutinied and ran rampant through the city for several days. As the 5th Light Infantry was all-Muslim, it should come as no surprise that Pan-Islamic preachers had helped stir the troops up. The 130th Baluchis also rose in the winter of 1914-1915, sparked by fears of being forced to fight Muslims.

Meanwhile, the Gahdr (revolt) Party was a terrorist movement composed mainly of Sikhs which hoped to spark a series of mutinies in the Punjab, and while the extent of its spread is unclear, it was active enough to be viewed as a serious threat by the Viceroy and to engage in a campaign of terrorism.

Now, noteworthy was a recognition on the part of Britain during the war that Indian sacrifices would require concessions and self-rule. The Montague reform proposals, published in 1918, were the rule. They envisioned lower provincial assemblies and a higher legislative assembly to advise the Viceroy. This was not, to put it mildly, what India wanted. Meanwhile Britons in India saw this as "a kind of bolshevism."

Take this together with economic hardship, as tax burdens on the average peasant rose sharply, while famine broke out in the United Provinces in 1918.

Toss in mutinies by returning troops; the Amritsar massacre, etc. and it's no surprise the place seemed on the verge of falling part. Gandhi's civil disobedience movement began careening out of control in 1922, as administration was paralyzed in rural districts and riots broke out across the country.

I don't think that Britain in OTL came that close to losing control. But in a world where Britain lost the Great War? Could the mutinies have spiralled out of control?
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