Commission of Inquiry into the Communal Outbreak at Cawnpore (Keane Commission)

The oral evidence taken by the Commission between 17 April and 8 May 1931, along with the written statements submitted to the Commission. The evidence was not published.

The Commission of Inquiry into the communal riot which broke out in Cawnpore on 24 March 1931 was appointed by the Government of India on 13 April 1931, and consisted of M. Keane (President), G.O. Allen, I.C.S., Rai Bahadur Pandit Baldeo Ram Dave Sahib, Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Allahabad, and Nawabzada Muhammad Liaqat Ali Khan Sahib, Deputy President of the Legislative Council of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Its terms of reference stated that the Commission was to inquire into and report on the predisposing and the immediate causes of the communal outbreak at Cawnpore, and its course from day to day and how it was dealt with at each stage by the local authorities with findings on the adequacy of the measures taken. It met for the first time in Cawnpore on 15 April 1931. The Commission invited the co-operation of the Upper India Chamber of Commerce, the United Provinces Chamber of Commerce, the Municipal Board, the Unity Board, the Congress Committee, the Hindu Sabha, the Muslim Defence Association, the district authorities, the military authorities, and the members who represented Cawnpore in the local Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. The Commission was announced in Cawnpore by beat of drum through the city and by advertisements in local newspapers. Notices, printed in Hindustani, Urdu and English, were broadcast and posted in all public places. The notices announced the appointment of the Commission, its terms of reference, and gave the place and times of its sitting. It invited all those with knowledge of the events to come forward and give evidence before the Commission. The sittings of the Commission were open to the public and the inquiry began on 17 April in Circuit House, Cawnpore. The Commission closed on 8 May 1931 by which time it had examined 96 witnesses orally and received written statements from 30 others. Its report was signed on 22 May 1931.

Unrestricted

The Commission's Report can be found in the Parliamentary Papers at IOR/V/4/SESSION 1930-31 VOL 12. A printed copy of the evidence taken by the Commission can be found at IOR/V/26/262/13. Further papers on the 1931 Cawnpore riot can be found in the Public and Judicial Annual Files at IOR/L/PJ/7/75 and IOR/L/PJ/7/146.

East India (Cawnpore Riots), Report of the Commission of Inquiry and Resolution of the Government of the United Provinces (London: HMSO, 1931)