Mogul Empire in 1526. Portugal, which captured Goa in 1510, was the first European nation to gain a foothold in India, but the British, French, and Dutch were soon vying with the Portuguese for Indian trade. With the weakening of the Mogul Empire in the 18th century, the struggle was renewed-this time between France and Britain, with the British East India Company emerging dominant. In 1857, after the bloody Indian Mutiny against the British, the East India Company was abolished and control of India was transferred directly to the British crown. Discontent with British rule became intense during the early 20th century, and the Indian National Congress (founded 1885), led by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, mounted a movement for independence. The British instituted a program of gradual power-sharing, but Congress leaders, frustrated by the slow pace, organized the Quit India movement during World War II. The desire of the Congress to maintain a united front against Britain was frustrated, however, by the Muslim League, which demanded the partition of India into separate Hindu and Muslim states. During World War I Indian troops served the British loyally, but nationalist agitation increased afterward. The British Parliament passed a reform act in 1919, providing for provincial councils of Indians with some powers of supervision over agriculture, education, and public health. Far from satisfied, the extreme nationalists, led by Mohandas K. Gandhi, gained control of the Congress. Gandhi preached resistance to the British by "noncooperation" Hundreds of thousands joined his civil disobedience campaigns. The Congress party quickly gained a mass following. Rioting broke out when Parliament placed no Indians on the Simon Commission appointed in 1927 to investigate the government of India. The British imprisoned Gandhi and his associates. In 1929 Jawaharlal Nehru was elected president of the Congress. Like Gandhi, Nehru was passionately de...
