Rowlatt Act

E12766

The Rowlatt Act was a 1919 British colonial law in India that extended wartime emergency measures into peacetime, allowing detention without trial and severe restrictions on civil liberties, and it became a major catalyst for nationwide protests and unrest.

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Observed surface forms (3)


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf British colonial law
repressive legislation
allowed detention without trial
in-camera trials by special tribunals
restrictions on freedom of assembly
restrictions on freedom of the press
trial without jury
warrantless arrests in certain cases
appliesToJurisdiction India
basedOn recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee
causeOf Rowlatt Satyagraha
civil disobedience campaigns
nationwide protests in India in 1919
strikes and hartals in Indian cities
widespread unrest in Punjab
characterizedBy emergency-style powers in peacetime
country British India
describedAs Black Act by Indian nationalists
enactedBy Imperial Legislative Council of India
fieldOfWork criminal law
state security law
follows Rowlatt Act self-linksurface differs
surface form: Defence of India Act 1915
hasConsequence erosion of Indian trust in British rule
radicalization of sections of Indian nationalist movement
strengthening of non-cooperation sentiment
hasEffect curtailment of civil liberties in India
strengthening of executive powers over suspects
undermining of judicial safeguards
hasPart Rowlatt Committee report implementation
historicalPeriod Indian independence movement
inspired Gandhi’s call for nationwide hartal in 1919
introducedBy British colonial government in India
legalForm Act of the Imperial Legislative Council
legalizes extension of wartime emergency powers into peacetime
legalStatus in force in British India in 1919
mainSubject civil liberties
internal security
political repression
namedAfter Sidney Rowlatt
opposedBy Indian National Congress
Indian political leaders across communities
Mahatma Gandhi
surface form: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
partOf British colonial policy in India
publicationDate 1919
reasonForAbolition strong political opposition and unpopularity
significantEvent Rowlatt Satyagraha
mass protests of April 1919
startTime 1919
temporalCoverage post-World War I period

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Rowlatt Act follows Rowlatt Act self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Defence of India Act 1915
Rowlatt Satyagraha hasCause Rowlatt Act
Sidney Rowlatt knownFor Rowlatt Act
this entity surface form: Rowlatt Committee
Sidney Rowlatt knownFor Rowlatt Act
Sidney Rowlatt notableWork Rowlatt Act
this entity surface form: Report of the Rowlatt Committee
Rowlatt Satyagraha opposed Rowlatt Act