First Round TabeConference(1930)

Partition of India (1947)

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Indian
History

Fill in the Blanks

1. The All India Muslim League
was formed in 1906 at ..........
2. The Sufi Saint who founded
the Chishti order was .............
3. The title given by the British
Government to Mahatma
Gandhi which, he surrendered during the Non Cooperation Movement was
..........
4. The Buddhist sect Mahayana
formally came into existence
during the reign of ..........
5. In Jainism, perfect knowledge is referred to as ..........
6. A lot of details regarding the
village administration under
the Cholas is provided by the
inscriptions at ..........
7. Asokan inscriptions were
first deciphered by ..........
8. The first political organisation established in India in
1838 was known as ..........
9. The Ryotwari Settlement was
introduced by the British in
.........and ......... Presidencies.
10. The foundation of modern
educational system in India
was laid by ..........
11. The capital of the kingdom of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was
..........
12. The name of the poet
Kalidasa is mentioned in the
.........inscription of Chandragupta II.
13. The word Hindu as
reference to the people of
Hind (India) was first used
by ..........
14. According to the Mimamsa
system of philosophy,
liberation is possible by
means of ..........
15. The radical wing of the
Congress Party, with

16.

17.

18.
19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.
30.

Jawaharlal Nehru as one of

its main leaders, founded the
Independence for India
League in opposition to .........
The term Yavanapriya
mentioned in ancient
Sanskrit texts, denoted .........
The Sarabandi (no tax)
campaign of 1922 was led by
.........
Mughal painting reached its
zenith under .........
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was
elected to the Constituent
Assembly from ..........
The
Anarchical
and
Revolutionary Crime Act
(1919) was popularly known
as the .........
In Medieval India, Mansabdari
system was introduced mainly
for .........
The head of the military
department under the
reorganised central machinery of administration during
Akbars reign was .........
The tribal population in
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands belongs to the .........
The Medieval Indian writer
who refers to the discovery of
America is .........
The famous dialogue between
Nachiketa and Yama is
mentioned in .........
The first metal to be
extensively used by the
people in India was ..........
The utensils to the Indus
Valley people were mainly
made of .........
The most common animal
figure found at all the
Harappan sites is .........
The Rig Veda consists of
.........hymns.
.........veda is rendered
musically.
168

31. .........was the hero of a famous

drama Malavikagnimitra
written by Kalidasa.
32. The last Mauryan King was
.........
33. When Alexander invaded
India, Taxila was ruled by
.........
34. Buddha delivered his first
sermon at .........
35. The proceedings of the Third
Buddhist Council led to the
issue of .........Edict.
36. The most important Pallava
ruler was ...........
37. The capital of Kanishkas
empire was ..........
38. Porus was defeated by
Alexander at the Battle of
..........
39. ......... was the mother of
Vardhamana Mahavira.
40. The city of Pataliputra was
founded at the junction of the
Ganges and the .........
41. .........was the first Muslim
invader to enter India.
42. The best specimens of
Mauryan art are represented
by their .........
43. The word Veda has been
derived from the root word
Vid which means .........
44. Ashoka has been particularly
influenced by the Buddhist
monk .........
45. The Indus Valley Civilization can be said to belong to
the ......... age.
46. Gautama Buddha as a prince
was known as .........
47. The deep, transforming effect
that the Kalinga War had on
Ashoka has been described in
........ edicts.
48. ............. was the first metal to
be discovered and used as
tools by humans.

49. The Ajanta cave paintings

mostly belong to the period of
the .........
50. ........... was the founder of the
Sankhya
School
of
Philosophy.
51. The Harappan site that had a
dock is .........
52. The famous Indo-Greek King
to embrace Buddhism was
.........
53. The original teachings of
Mahavira are contained in
the .........
54. The term used to denote a
group of families in the vedic
society was .........
55. The great Hindu law giver
was .........
56. The fourth Buddhist Council
had
compiled
an
encyclopedia of Buddhist
philosophy, called .........
57. The Harappan Civilization
was discovered in the year
............
58. The Saka Era started from the
year .........
59. The achievements of
Samudragupta have been
chronicled in the .........
inscription.
60. The Chola ruler who had
subdued the Ganges and
obtained the title Gangai
Konda Cholan was ..............
61. The ancient medical treatise,
Charaka Samhita is attributed
to Charaka, who was a
contemporary of .........
62. The fresco paintings of Ajanta
Caves illustrate the art of the
...........
63. The last Nanda ruler of
Magadha who was overthrown by Chandragupta
Maurya with the help of
Chanakya was .........

64. In medieval India, the state

derived the highest income
from .........
65. Harihara and Bukka, the
founders of the Empire of
Vijayanagar, named their
dynasty as .........
66. The greatest ruler in the
history of Vijayanagar Empire
was .........
67. Hemu, whom Akbar defeated
in the Second Battle of
Panipat (1556), was the
minister of .........
68. The famous Mughal General
who conquered Assam,
Chittagong, etc., in the northeast was ...........
69. The Sikh Guru executed by
Aurangazeb after cruel
torture was .........
70. The Maratha dominion of
Shivaji was known as .........
71. The later Mughal King,
popularly known as Shah-iBekhabar was ..........
72. The Jat king of Bharatpur
who is known as the Plato of
the Jat tribe and the Jat
Ulysses was ----.
73. The capital of Tipu Sultan,
where he died while fighting
the fourth Anglo-Mysore war
in 1799, was .........
74. The capital of the Sikh
kingdom of Ranjit Singh was
.........
75. The largest standing army of
the Delhi Sultanate directly
paid by the State was created
by .........
76. The city of Ajmer was
founded by .........
77. In India, artillery was first
used by .........
78. The Upanishads were
translated into Persian by
.........

79. Jama Masjid at Delhi was built

by .........
80. .........built by Shah Jahan is
one of the unrivalled beauties
of the world.
81. The Peacock throne was built
by .........
82. The Adi Granth was
compiled by .........
83. Guru Arjun Dev transferred
the headquarters to .......
84. The Sikh Guru who fought in
the Mughal ranks during the
reign of Aurangazeb was
.........
85. Guru Govind Singh was the
son of .........
86. Jaziya was abolished by the
Mughal ruler ............
87. Babar was originally the ruler
of .........
88. Sher Shah was succeeded by
.........
89. The Charminar had been
constructed by .........
90. Token currency had been
introduced for the first time in
India by .........
91. The East India Company was
founded in India during the
reign of .........
92. The island of Bombay had
been given to the British Prince
Charles II as dowry by the -.........
93. Amir Khusraus name is
associated with the invention
of the .........
94. Fatehpur Sikri had been
founded by .........
95. The ruler of medieval India
credited with the construction
of the Grand Trunk Road is
.........
96. Chengiz Khan had invaded
India when the throne was
occupied by ............

97. The first Muslim ruler to

conquer Southern India was
.................
98. Gandhiji gave the title Deen
Bandhu to ..........
99. The Bardoli Satyagraha was
led by ...........
100. The Permanent Settlement
introduced by Lord
Cornwallis in Bengal is
known as .........
101. The main exponent of the
Theory of Drain of
Wealth was .........
102. The immediate fore-runner
of the Indian National
Congress was ...........
103. The first weekly paper
published by the INC (in
1889) was ..............
104. The immediate cause of
split in the INC at its Surat
session was .........
105. ........... is regarded as the
Mother of the Indian
Revolution.
106. The first truly revolutionary organisation in Bengal
was ..........
107. The first congress and
nationalist leader to face
repeated imprisonment
was .........
108. The actual name of
Dayanand Saraswati, the
founder of the Arya Samaj
was .........
109. The first elected Indian
President of the Legislative
Assembly was ............
110. The most famous woman
disciple of Vivekananda
was .........
111. Chandrasekhar Azad was
the ......... of the Hindustan
Socialist Republican Army.
112. A day of deliverance and
thanks giving, was
celebrated in 1939 by .........

113. The word Pakistan was

coined by .........
114. As per August Offer 1940
the Constitution of India
would be drawn by .........
115. According to the Regulating Act, directors were to
be elected for a period
of ..........
116. The term of office fixed by
Regulating Act for Governor General was .................
117. The Rohillas helped the
Afghan invaders in 1761 in
the Battle of .........
118. The Non Co-operation
Movement under Gandhi
was in full swing during the
Viceroyality of .........
119. In the interim government
formed in 1946, the Minister for Education was .........
120. The Shivaji Festival was
inaugurated in 1895 by
.........
121. The author of A Nation in
the Making was .........

Answers to Fill in the Blanks

1. Dhaka
2. Khwaja Moinuddin
3. Kaiser-e-Hind
4. Kanishka
5. Kaivalya
6. Uttaramerur
7. James Princep
8. Settlers Association
9. Madras, Bombay
10. Macaulays Minutes of 1835
11. Lahore
12. Hanumakonda
13. The Arabs
14. Karma
15. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact
16. Pepper
17. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
18. Jahangir
19. Bombay Presidency
20. Rowlatt Act
21. Making recruitment to the army
22. Mir Bakshi
23. Negroid race

The Rowlatt Act

The Rowlatt Act was a law passed by the British Raj in India in
March 1919, indefinitely extending emergency measures enacted
during the First World War in order to control public unrest and
root out conspiracy. Passed on the recommendations of the Rowlatt
commission, this act effectively authorized the government to
imprison, without trial, any person suspected of terrorism living in
the Raj. The Rowlatt Acts gave British imperial authorities power
to deal with revolutionary activities.
Mahatma Gandhi, among other Indian leaders, was extremely
critical of the Act and argued that not everyone should be punished
in response to isolated political crimes. The Act led to indignation
from Indian leaders and the public, which caused the government
to implement repressive measures. Gandhi and others found that
constitutional opposition to the measure was fruitless, so on April
6th, a hartal was organized where Indians would suspend all
business and fast as a sign of their hatred for the legislation.
The Rowlatt Act came into effect in March 1919. A protest was held
in Amritsar, which led to the Jallianwala bagh Massacre of 1919.

170

24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.

Abul Fazl
Kathopanishad
Copper
clay
unihorn bull
1028
Sama
Agnimitra
Brihadratha
Ambhi
Sarnath
Sarnath
Gondophernes
Peshawar
Hydaspes
Trisala
Sone
Mohammed - bin - Qasim
Pillars
Knowledge
Upagupta
Bronze
Siddhartha
Rock
Copper
Guptas
Kapila
Lothal
Menander
Purvas
Jana
Manu
Mahavibhasha Sutra
1921
78AD
Allahabad Pillar
Rajendra Chola I
Kanishka
Guptas
Dhanananda
Land Revenue

Krishnadevaraya
Krishnadevaraya was the most famous
king of Vijayanagara empire. He presided
over the empire at its zenith. He is regarded
as a hero of people of Kannada and Telugu
descent and considered to be one of the
great kings of India. Emperor
Krishnadevaraya also earned the titles
Andhra Bhoja and Kannada Rajya Rama
Ramana. Much of our information about
his reign comes from the accounts of
Portuguese travelers Domingos Paes and
Nuniz. He was assisted in the
administration by the very able prime
minister Timmarusu. It was Timmarusu,
who was responsible for the coronation of
Krishnadevaraya. Krishnadevaraya
revered Timmarusu as a father figure.
Krishnadevaraya was the son of Nagala
Devi and Tuluva Narasa Nayaka an army
commander under Saluva Narasimha
Deva Raya, who later took control of the
reign of the empire to prevent it from
disintegration. The kings coronation took place on the birthday of
Lord Krishna and his earliest inscription is from July 26th. 1509
C.E. He built a beautiful suburb near Vijayanagara called Nagalapura
in memory of his mother.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.

Sangama
Krishnadeva Raya
Muhammad Shah Abdali
Mir Jumla
Tegh Bahadur
Swaraj
Bahadur Shah
Suraj Mal
Srirangapattanam
Lahore
Alauddin Khilji
Ajayaraja
Babur
Prince Dara Shikoh
Shah Jahan
Taj Mahal
Shah Jahan
Guru Arjun Dev

83. Amritsar
84. Tegh Bahadur
85. Tegh Bahadur
86. Akbar
87. Kabul
88. Islam Shah
89. Quli Qutb Shah
90. Mohammed bin Tughlaq
91. Akbar
92. Portuguese
93. Sitar
94. Akbar
95. Sher Shah Suri
96. Iltumish
97. Alauddin Khilji
98. C.F. Andrews
99. Vallabhbhai Patel
100. Zamindari System

101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.

Dadabhai Naoroji
Indian National Conference
India
The election of the
President of INC
Madam Bhikaji Cama
Abhinav Bharat
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Mula Shankar
V.J. Patel
Sister Nivedita
Commander-in-Chief
Muslim League
Rahmat Ali
Indians
4 years
5 years
Panipat
Lord Reading
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
S.N. Banerjee

One Word Questions

1. Who was the governor
general when the 1857 revolt
broke out?
2. Who was the Mughal ruler
who prohibited tobacco
smoking even though the
attempt was unsuccessful?
3. Who constructed the
monument Kila-Kuhna
Mosque at Delhi?
4. Who built the statue of
Gomateswara at Sravanabelgola?
5. In the Gandhara sculptures,
the preaching mudra which is
associated with the Buddhas
first sermon at Sarnath?
6. Who was the first Indian ruler
to organize Haj pilgrimage at
the expense of the state?

7. Where did Mahatma Gandhi

start the Civil Disobedience
Movement?
8. Who had suggested the
winding up of the Indian
National Congress after India
attained independence?
9. Name the organisation which
first mooted the idea of a
Constituent Assembly to
frame a Constitution for
India.
10. What is Nastaliq?
11. Name the text of ancient India
which allows divorce to a
wife deserted by her husband.
12. What is Rupaka?
13. The Congress is tottering to
its fall and one of my
ambitions while in India, is
to assist it to a peaceful
demise. Who made this
statement?
14. The king was freed from his
people and they from their
king. On whose death did
Badaumi comment this?
15. What was the first venture of
Gandhi in the All India
Politics?
16. What does the term Aryan
denote?
17. Who was the first writer to use
Urdu as the medium of
poetic expression?
18. What was the most short lived
of all of Britains constitutional experiments in India?
19. Name the Governor - General
who followed a spiritual
forward policy towards
Afghanistan?
20. Which Indian nationalist
leader looked upon a war
between Germany and
Britain as a God sent oppor-

172

tunity which would enable

Indians to exploit the
situation to their advantage?
21. Name the Congress leader
who was totally in favour of
Cabinet Mission Plan.
22. Who was dismissed by the
British from the Indian Civil
Service?
23. While delivering his
presidential address, which
congress President had
advocated the introduction of
Roman script for Hindi?
24. Who was the first to introduce
the practice of military
governership ?
25. What was the brain-child of
Lord Mountbatten for the
fragmentation of India?
26. In this instance we could not
play off the Mohammedans
against the Hindus. To
which event did this remark
of Aitchison relate?
Answers to One word questions
1. Lord Canning
2. Aurangazeb
3. Sher Shah
4. Chamundaraya
5. Dharmachakra
6. Feroz Shah Tughlak
7. Sabarmati
8. M.K. Gandhi
9. Swaraj Party
10. It is a cess levied by the
Mughal rulers.
11. Arthashastra
12. It was a silver coin issued by
the Guptas
13. Lord Curzon
14. Muhammad-bin-Tughlak
15. Non Co-operation Movement
16. A superior race

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

Amir Khusru
Indian Councils Act of 1909
Lord Lytton
Subhash Chandra Bose
Jawaharlal Nehru
Surendranath Banerjee
Jawaharlal Nehru
The Greeks
The Balkan Plan
Revolt of 1857

Short Essays &

Short Notes
1. What are the major features of
Indus Valley Civilization ?
OR
Bring out the salient features
of urban culture of Indus
Valley Civilization?
2. Why is Gupta period called
the `Golden age in Indian
History?
3. Write notes on the following:
(a) Megasthenese, (b) Fa-Hien,
(c) Huien-Tsang, (d) I-Tsing,
(e) Al-Masudi, (f) Al-Baruni,
(g) Maroco polo (h) Ibn-Batuta.
4. What do you know about
Nalanda University?
5. Akbar
6. Shivaji and his reforms
7. Theosophical Society
8. The 19th century Indian
renaissance was both an
acceptance and rejection of
western values. Do you agree?
9. Narrate the salient features of
Government of India Act of
1935.
10. Partition of Bengal
11 Analyse the role of Gandhiji
in politics
12. Permanent Settlement

13. Home Rule Movement.

14 What are Vedas and How
many vedas are there?
15 Atharva Veda
16 Upanishads
17 Puranas
18 Valmiki
19 Vyasa Maharshi
20 Selukus Nikator
21 Indica
22 Persian invasion
23 Battle of Jhelum
24 Arya Satyas
25 Tripitakas
26 The Jatakas
27 Ethnological Museum
28 Numismatics
29 The Great Bath
30. Bana Bhattas Harshacharita
31. Amaravati
32 Rudradamana
33. Arthasastra
34. Arab conquest of Sindh
35. Battle of Tarain
36. Qutub Minar
37. Al-Beruni
38. Chenghiz Khan
39. Balban (1266-86)
40. Amir Khusrau
41. Timurs invasion
42. Battle of Talikotta
43. The Epics
44. The Nandas
45. Alexander, the Great
46. Mauryan Dynasty
47. Kanishka
48. The Guptas
49. The Vardhana Dynasty
50. What is Sangam Literature?
51. Write about the four ashramas and their aim:

52. What are the important

features of the Gandhara
school of art?
53. Which are the Four Varnas of
the Vedic Society?
54. Jainism and its main
teachings
55. Buddhism and its main
teachings
56. Ashoka (273-232 B.C.)
57. Ashoka's Dharma.
58. Chandragupta II (380-414
A.D.)
59. Mention two achievements of
Raja Rammohan Roy in Social
field.
60. The Sufi Movement
61. Bhakti Movement
62. Qutub-ud-din Aibak
63. Tughlaq Dynasty
64. Khilji Dynasty
65. Lodi Dynasty
66. The Cholas
67. Vijayanagar Empire
68. Mughal Rulers in India
69. Subsidiary Alliance System of
Wellesley
70. Indian Councils Act 1861
71. Chauri-Chaura Incident
72 What are the main causes
which led to the Civil Disobedience movement of 1930?
73 Quit India Movement
74. The Mountbatten Plan of
1947
75. Brahmo Samaj
76. Prarthana Samaj
77. Arya Samaj
78. Write notes on the Rock-cut
Kailash Temple at Ellora and
the Cave Shrine of Elephanta.
79. What were the basic
weaknesses of the National
Movement during 18851905?

80. First Round Table Conference

(1930)
81. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931
82. Second Round Table
Conference (1931)
83. Third
Round
Table
Conference (1932)
84. What were the chief aims of
British Administration of
India?
85. What were the two
drawbacks of the Regulating
Act?
86. What were the two merits of
the Permanent Settlement?
87. What was the Ryotwari
System?
88. What was the Mahalwari
System?
89. What do you understand by
the Industrial Revolution and
its impact in India?
90. What were the main
provisions of the Pitts India
Act?
91. Which were the three pillars
of British administration in
India?
92. What was Tantya Topes
contribution to the freedom of
India?
93. What was the point of
controversy on the Ilbert Bill?
94. Give the names of two
revolutionaries who threw a
bomb in the Central
Assembly.
95. The Dandi March.
96. Why did the people boycott
the Simon Commission?
97. Give two suggestions made
in the Nehru Report.
98. What were the two chief
recommendations of the
Cabinet Mission?

99. Policy of Divide & Rule

100. Rowlatt Act of 1919
101. The Jallianwala Bagh
Tragedy
102. The Khilafat Movement
103. Non Co-operation Movement
104. Renewal
of
Civil
Disobedience Movement in
1932 or Poona Pact
105. Cripps Mission
106. Give any two proposals of
the Cripps Mission.
107. Why were Cripps proposals
rejected by the Congress?
108. The English East India
Company
109. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857
110. Minto-Morley Reforms or
the Indian Council Act,
1909
111. Government of India Act,
1919
112. Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)
and the Doctrine of Lapse
Answers to short notes and
Essays
1. Indus valley civilization, one
of the greatest civilizations in
the world flourished on the
banks of river Indus.
Mohenjadaro and Harappa,
the primary centres of this
civilization are now in
Pakistan.
The
other
important sites of this
civilization are Lothal
(Gujarat), Hastinapur (U.P),
Ropar (Punjab), Kalibengan
(Rajasthan) and Rangpur
(Gujarat). The period of this
civilization is between 30001500 B.C. It is believed that
Dravidians were the settlers
and Sumerian civilization

174

Jewellry of Indus Valley Civilization

also flourished during this

period.
The striking feature of Indus
Valley Civilization was its
urban culture. The cities of
Harappa and Mohenjadaro
were built with a definite plan.
Houses were built with burnt
bricks. There existed multistoreyed buildings also. Each
house had its own well and
bathroom. Town planning in
both Mohenjadaro and
Harappa was excellent.
Roads were straight and they
met together at particular
junctions. The roads were
built with burnt bricks and
mortar. Great granaries were
the another major feature of
both Mohenjadaro and
Harappa. The granaries were
built in circular platforms.
Food materials were supplied
to the people from these
granaries during calamities.
Bullock cart was their chief
vehicle. The drainage system
of Mohenjadaro was very
impressive. Houses had good
drainage system. The street
drains were equipped with
manholes. The remains of
streets and drains have also
been found in Benawali in
Haryana.
Agriculture was the main job
of the people of Indus Valley.
They mainly cultivated

wheat, barley, peas, sesame

and mustard. In Lothal
region, they cultivated rice
also. They domesticated
animals like oxen, buffalloes,
goats, sheep, pigs, cats, dogs
etc. They had also knowledge
on wild animals like
elephant, tiger, crocodile etc.
According to the scholars,
Harappan culture belongs to
the Bronze Age. The people of
Harappa used many tools
and implements of stone.
They had knowledge on all
metals except iron. Smiths
made bronze by mixing tin
with copper. Harappan
people also used potters
wheel and their pottery was
unique, which was made
glossy and shining.
It has been proved that Indus
civilization had trade
relations within India and
outside India. The port city
Lothal is a typical example for
trade affairs. The Harappans
had commercial links with
parts of Rajasthan and also
with Afghanisthan and Iran.
They had set up a trading
colony in northern Afghanistan which evidently
facilitated trade with central
Asia. They also had trade
with those in the land of Tigris
and the Euphretis.
In the case of religion, Indus

people mainly worshipped

Matrudevata (Mother Goddess) and Pashupati (Lord
Shiva). Along with this they
also practised Stone worship,
Tree worship and Serpent
worship.
Remains showed that Indus
people had their own script,
which was used both from left
to right and from right to left.
Their script primarily was
pictographic in nature and till
now nobody has deciphered it.
The urban people of Indus
region used their own weight
and measures for trade and
other transactions. Numerous
articles used for weights have
been found. In weighing mostly
16 or its multiples were used;
for instance 16, 64, 160 etc.
This great civilization
declined due to two reasons continuous floods in river
Indus and the Aryan
invasion.
2. The period of the Guptas is
considered as the Golden Age
of Ancient India. It is
compared with the Periclean
Age of Ancient Greece.
Hinduism and Sanskrit
literature received new
impetus during this period.
The country attained political
unification to a large extent
and was also safe from
foreign invasions.

from bronze age

from Gupta Period

There was all sided

development in the fields of
literature, science and art. The
establishment of Hindu
colonies in South East Asia
started. Foreign travellers like
Fahien testified the material
prosperity of the people. All
these factors prove the
glorious age of the Guptas.
Most of the Gupta rulers
patronised Hinduism and
this resulted in the upliftment
of vedic tradition and of
Sanskrit language. The
present shape of Hinduism
was also carved out during
this period. The system of
sacrifices and ritualism
developed and idols were
made for various Gods and
Goddesses like Siva, Vishnu,
Vinayaka, Parvati, Saraswati
and Lakshmi.
Sanskrit literature also
flourished during this time.
The Navaratnas of Sanskrit
literature are believed to have
lived in the court of Chandra
Gupta-II. Among Navaratnas, Kalidasa was supreme
and Abhijnana Shakuntala
his masterpiece. Literary
giants
like
Sudraka,

Vishakhadatta, Vishnu
Sharma, Dandin, Harisena
also lived during this time.
Smritis and Puranas were
updated during the time.
There was remarkable
progress in the fields of
astronomy, astrology, mathematics and medicine. Aryabhatta
and Varahamihira were the
prominent astronomers of the
time. Famous mathematician
Brahma Gupta also lived
during this period. We can see
tremendous progress in the
fields like art and architecture. Rulers renovated so
many temples from its
degeneration.
Cave paintings also received
high impetus during this time.
Ajanta caves and Bagh caves
are the typical examples of
Gupta paintings. A lot of gold
coins were also issued of by
the rulers. Thus in all ways
the Gupta period was
categorically a glorious one or
golden one.
3. (a) Megasthenese (302-298
B.C.): An ambassador of
Seleucus Nicator, who visited
the court of Chandragupta
Maurya. He wrote an interesting
book Indica in which he gave a
vivid account of Chandra-gupta
Mauryas reign.
(b) Fa-Hien (405-411 A.D.):
He came to India during the
reign of Chandragupta II,
Vikramaditya. The object of
his visit was to see the holy
places of Buddhism and to
collect Buddhist books and
relics. He was the first Chinese
pilgrim to visit India.
(c) Huien-Tsang (also spelt
Yuan Chwang) (630- 645
A.D.): He visited India during
the reign of Harsha
Vardhana.

(d) I-Tsing (671-695 A.D.): A

Chinese traveller, he visited
India in connection with
Buddhism. His work
Biographies of Eminent
Monks', provides us useful
information about the social,
religious and cultural life of
the people of this country.
(e) Al-Masudi (957 A.D.): An
Arab traveller, who has given
an extensive account of India
in his work Murujul Zahab.
(f) Al-Beruni (1024-1030
A.D.): His real name was Abu
Rehan Mahmud and he came
to India along with Mahmud
of Ghazni during one of his
Indian raids. He travelled all
over India and wrote a book
Tarikh-ul-Hind. The book
dealt with the social, religious
and political conditions in
India.
(g) Marco Polo (1292-1294): A
Venetian traveller, he visited
South India in 1294 A.D. His
work The Book of Sir Marco
Polo gives an invaluable
account of the economic
history of India.
(h) Ibn Batuta (1333-1347
A.D.): A Moorish traveller, he
visited India during the reign
of Muhammad- bin-Tughlaq.
His book Rehla (the
Travelogue) throws a lot of
light on the reign of
Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq
and the geographical, economic and social conditions in
India.
4. Located near Rajgriha in
Bihar, Nalanda University is
believed to have been
established as a Buddhist
monastry by Kumaragupta I
(A.D. 414-445). Covering an
area of 1.6 km x 0.8 km, this
six storeyed building housed

176

1,510 professors and 10,000

students. Gaining admission
to this well organised
university was a tough task.
Once admitted the students
got free education and free
boarding and lodging
facilities. Kings and wealthy
citizens gave cash grants to
run the university.
The
university
used
classroom
discussion
method for teaching. Logic,
philosophy,
grammar,
literature,
astronomy,
Buddhism and Hinduism
were taught here. The
Nalanda University was
destroyed at the end of the
12th century by Muhammad
Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, a
general of Mohammad Ghori.
5. Akbar was born in Amarkot
in 1542 A.D. His original
name was Jalaluddin
Muhammad Akbar. He was
only 13 when he came to the
throne and his tutor Bairam
Khan was appointed regent.
Akbar won the Second Battle
of Panipat. He used diplomacy and power to subdue the
Rajputs. He fought against
the Rajputs from 1572 to 1597
but was unable to conquer
Mewar throughout his life.
He also conquered Bengal,
Kashmir, Sind and Gujarat.
For 40 years, he made
conquests in quick succession. He decided to end the
regency of his powerful
minister Bairam Khan in
1560. He made friends with
the Rajputs by establishing
matrimonial relations with
important Rajput families.
He gave a 1ot of responsible
posts to Rajputs. In 1581, he
promulgated the Din-i-Il1ahi.

By introducing this religion,

his aim was to propound a
new re1igion approved by
Hindus and accepted by
Muslims. He was illiterate but
wise. He was a lover of art.
The buildings at Agra,
Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi give
an idea of the architecture of
those times. Tansen, one of the
most lovable musicians of all
times was his court poet.
Akbar was a skillful
administrator. He dispensed
impartial justice to all. He set
up the Mansabdari system.
He abolished Jaziya in 1564.
He believed that a ruler was
guardian of his subjects and
had to look after the welfare
of his subjects irrespective of
their sect of creed. He believed
in the policy of Sulh-i-Kul
(peace to all).
Due to his policy of tolerance,
unification of larger areas and
able administration Akbar is
considered as the first
National King of India.
6. The most powerful of the
Maratha chiefs was Shivaji.
His father, Shahji, had served
in the Bijapur army. But
Shivaji seeing the weakness
of Bijapur, asserted his
independence. Aurangazeb
appointed Jai Singh of Amber
to deal with Shivaji. In 1665,
Purandar Fort in the heart of
Shivajis territory was
besieged by Jai Singh and a
treaty between the two was
signed. Shivaji visited
Aurangazebs court in Agra
in 1666, where he was made
a prisoner but escaped. He
declared himself the
independent ruler of the
Maratha Kingdom and was
crowned Chhatrapati in 1764

and was determined to

harass the Mughals. In the
following years, until his
death in 1680, he succeeded
in building a strong Maratha
state. Shivaji succeeded
mainly because Mughals
control over Deccan had
weakened. Secondly, the
Marathas had worked out a
revenue system by which they
obtained a large revenue and
could maintain strong
armies.
7. The society was founded in
the U.S. by Madame H.P.
Blavatsky and Colonel H.S.
Olcott, who later came to India
and founded the headquarters at Adyar in Madras in
1882. The Theosophical
movement grew in India as a
result of the leadership given
to it by Mrs. Annie Besant
who had come to India in
1893. As religious revivalists,
the Theosophists were not
very successful. But as a
movement led by westerners who glorified Indian
religious and philosophical
tradition, it helped Indians
to recover their self - confidence.
8. The second half of the 19th
century was marked by a
strong wave of reforming
activities in religion and
society. These activities are
collectively coined as Indian
Renaissance. After a long gap,
Indian religion and society
saw rays of hope in Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda Saraswathi, Keshab
Chandra Sen, Devendranath
Tagore, Swami Vivekananda,
Iswar Chandra Vidya Sagar
and many others.

The impact of western culture

and consciousness of defeat
by a foreign power gave birth
to a new awakening.
Thoughtful and intelligent,
Indians began to look into the
strengths and weaknesses of
their society and for ways and
means to strengthen the
society by removing the
weakness. While a large
number of Indians refused to
come with terms to the west
and still put their faith in
traditional Indian ideas and
institutions, others gradually
came to accept the elements
of modern western thought
that had to be imbibed for the
regeneration of their society.
They were impressed in
particular by modern science
and the doctorines of reason
and humanism. They
imbibed the western ideas
and institutions and used
them in the favour of Indian
society. They also appreciated
the Indian values of the past.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy had
great admiration for the
scriptures of christianity. He
published the percepts of
Jesus. He tried to separate the
moral and philosophical
message of the New
Testament from its miracle
stories. He wanted the moral
message of Christ to be
incorporated into Hinduism.
On the other hand,
Dayananda Saraswati did
not give importance to
western values. He firmly
believed that even the latest
inventions could be traced
back to the Vedas. Although
he fought for the social justice
and believed in education, his
glorification of the Vedas and
founding of the cow protection

association and the Shuddhi

movement antagonised the
muslims.
Vivekananda criticised
Indians for having lost touch
with the rest of the world. He
said motion is the sign of life.
He condemned caste system
and the current Hindu
emphasis on rituals and
superstition, and urged the
people to imbibe the spirit of
liberty, equality and free
thinking; the ideas that came
from the west. Keshab
Chandra Sens Adi Brahma
Samaj primarily emphasised
a casteless community. This
reaction was more in
consonance with egalitarism
of the humanitarian movement in England during the
19th century.
Annie Besants Theosophical
Society advocated the revival
and strengthening of the
ancient religions like
Hinduism, Zoroastrianism
and Buddhism. This suggests
that even westerners never
forced Indians to follow the
west. But it is a fact that we
owed very much to the west
in the fields like education,
language, science and
material well-being.
9. The Government of India Act
of 1935 had several features,
which were later adopted by
the Constituent Assembly
with slight modifications,
while some others were
completely excluded. One of
the important features was
establishment of an All India
Federation.
The Federation was to be
based on a union of provinces
of British India and Princely
states. There was to be a
bicameral federal legislature

in which the states were given

the disproportionate representation. Representatives of the
princely states were not to be
elected by people, but
appointed by the rulers.
Resultant voting right was
given only to 14 percent
people of the country. The
central legislature was not
given any real powers and
Defence and Foreign affairs
remained outside its control.
Governer General retained
special control over many
subjects. The GovernorGeneral and the Governors
were to be appointed by the
British Government. Provincial autonomy was announced for the states. The
powers of state assemblies
were increased and they
could control all the
departments in the province.
But even in the states, the
Governors enjoyed special
powers and could strike
down any Act of the state
legislature.
Individual
judgment and direction
granted to the Governor General and the Governors
denied any real power to the
people and the Act could not
satisfy the aspirations of the
nationalist leaders.
All political parties including
Indian National Congress
criticised the Act severely for
its rigidity, lack of anything
new to offer and failure to
provide dominion status.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
said that The Government of
India Act of 1935 is a machine
with strong brakes and no
engine.
10. The partition of Bengal was
the watershed in the history
of Indian national movement

178

which started a chain of

events which culminated in
the independence of the
country. Lord Curzon issued
an order dividing the
province of Bengal into two
parts on the ground of
administration but the
Nationalists saw the act of
partition as a challenge to
Indian Nationalism. This was
infact done to separate the
Muslims and the Hindus.
They rightly described this act
as `divide and rule policy of
British regime.
Within Bengal, different
sections of the populationzamindars, merchants,
lawyers, students, the urban
poor and even women-rose up
in spontaneous opposition to
the partition of their province.
Rabindranath Tagore composed the National Song ` Amar
Sonar Bangla. Demonstrations, public meetings and
resolutions were some
activities to protest Curzons
decision. Swadeshi and
Boycott were the next step.
Indigenous industries and
enterprises were encouraged
and foreign goods were
boycotted everywhere in
Bengal. Tilak gave a cry
`Swaraj is our birthright and
well have it.
The cry of Swadeshi and
Swaraj was soon taken up by
other provinces of India.
Partition of Bengal gave the
national leaders a challenge
and opportunity to lead a
popular struggle against the
Raj and to unite the entire
country in one bond of
common sympathy.
A new militant leadership
emerged under Tilak, Bipin
Chandra Pal and Aurobindo

Ghosh gave a national

outlook to the movement.
Ultimately, government had
to quash the decision of
partition in 1911. This
incident
boosted the
nationalists to protest against
their rulers in coming years.
11 Gandhiji, Father of our
Nation, the super hero of
millennium registered his
name in modern history with
his simple life and noble
deeds. As a man from soil, he
shook the foundation of the
mighty empire of Britian with
his atomless weapons like
truth and non-violence.
Bapu for everyone, came to the
forefront of freedom struggle
during the first World War.
Before his arrival the political
platform in India has been
prepared for him, by the
moderate leaders of Indian
National Congress. Gandhiji
experimented philosophy of
Ahimsa and Satyagraha in
South Africa and was well
acquainted
with
the
harshness and brutality of
white people there itself.
In India, he launched his
mission with Champaran
Satyagraha (1917). After its
victory, he took the leadership
of Ahmedabad Mill Strike
(1918) and Kheda Satyagraha
(1918). Both were victorious.
These incidents highlighted
his ability and soon he
became the leader of masses.
His satyagraha against
Rowlatt Act and the rejection
of Kaiser-i-Hind title after the
Jalianwalla Bagh Tragedy
once again limelighted his
name in media and among
masses.
The historic turn in Gandhijis
life was the operation of Non-

co-operation Movement.
Inspired by his call,
thousands of people left their
working places and joined
the national struggle. Along
with this mass struggle, he
conducted another crusade
against all social evils like
untouchability, prohibition
etc. He was forced to suspend
the Non Co-operation
Movement due to ChauriChaura incident (1922). He
felt that incident was a
violation of his Ahimsa
principle.
After a short gap, Gandhiji
again came into the arena of
freedom struggle during
1930s by launching Civil
Disobedience Movement. He
led this mass movement with
utmost vigour and broke the
salt laws. But in 1931, he
withdraw Civil Disobedience
Movement when the Gandhi
- Irwin Pact was signed. He
participated in the Second
Round Table Conference,
which was held at London.
Conference was a mock show
and he returned to Bombay
with empty hands.
After the debacle in 1930s he
vociferously questioned the
right of Britain in India
during 1940s. His emphatic
call during the Quit India
Movement, Do or Die
created percussions all over
India. Jinnas demand for a
separate nation for Muslims
was a great blow for
Gandhiji. He ruthlessly
opposed any kind of division
of India. But the Calcutta
Massacre of 1946 changed
his mind and ultimately but
reluctantly he gave green
signal for the separation of
India.

The Mahatma who practised

what he preached thus
played a fine role during
freedom struggle and became
a model as a sincere servant
of a Nation. The universe
always will remember his
doings at every moment
because he is the real son of
the soil. As Emerson rightly
said, ``Generations to come
may scarce believe that such
a one as this ever in flesh and
blood walked upon this
earth.
12. The Permanent Settlement
was introduced in Bengal and
Bihar in 1793 by Lord
Cornwallis. According to this,
the traditional Zamindars or
revenue collectors were made
landlords and they were
asked to surrender 10/11 of the
rent derived from the
peasantry while keeping
only 1/11 th for themselves.
This payment was fixed and
permanent. The state demand
could not be increased and
payment should be made on
the due date. Failure to pay
resulted in sale of the land to
the highest bidder.
13. Home Rule Movement (19151916):- Annie Besant, the Irish
lady, started the Home Rule
movement in India in
September 1916. The
movement spread rapidly
and branches of the Home
Rule League were established
all over India. Bal Gangadhar
Tilak whole heartedly
supported this movement. He
joined forces with Dr. Annie
Besant and persuaded the
Muslim League to support
this programme

14 The word veda means

knowledge. They embodies
the ancient wisdom of India.
There are four vedas namely
Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur
Veda and Atharva Veda.
They are the oldest literary
work of India.
15 The Atharva Veda Samhita
contains 760 hymns divided
into 20 books. It mostly deals
with charms, magic and
spells by which one could
overcome demons and
enemies, win over friends and
gain worldly benefits. It is a
source of occult practices.
16 The word Upanishad means
`sitting near. It relates to the
disciple sitting down at the
feet of his teacher and
learning the secrets of the
Universe. The Upanishads
consist of philosophical
discussions between the
teacher and the disciple.
There are 108 Upanishads
which were probably written
between 800 and 500 B.C. The
Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka,
Mundaka,
Kena
and
Taithiriya Upanishads are
prominent among them.
17 The Puranas give a clear
picture of the Aryans. They
are 18 in number. They
contain gables, discipline,
religious rites, etc. Vishnu
Purana, Bhagavatha Purana
are two of the important
puranas.
18 He is considered as Adi-Kavi
or the first among the Sanskrit
poets. Originally a hunter in
forests, he was very much
moved by the sorrow of a bird
at the death of her mate. His
sympathies for the crying bird
turned him into a great poet.
On the suggestion of sage
Narada, he wrote Ramayana,

19

20

21

22.

the immortal epic. It is a story

of conflict between Rama and
Ravana, who represent the
Aryan and Non-Aryan
civilizations. It consists of
seven chapters containing
24,000 couplets.
Vyasa Maharshi was the
author of Mahabharata, an
epic of 18 volumes consisting
of 1,00,000 couplets. The
Mahabharata war was fought
between Pandavas and
Kauravas probably in 1000
B.C. Vyasa was also the
author of 18 Puranas and the
Bhagavad Gita.
After the death of Alexander,
his commander, Selukus
Nikator became the ruler of
his masters kingdom in the
East. He occupied Bactria and
tried to reoccupy the Punjab.
He was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya in 305 B.C. He
ceded Kabul, Khandahar,
Herat and Baluchistan to
Chandragupta and sent
Megasthenese as ambassador
to the Mauryan Court.
Megasthenese was the Greek
Ambassador in the court of
Chandragupta Maurya. He
recorded his experiences in
his book ``Indica. It provides
valuable information about
the Mauryan history.
Unfortunately, the original
book is not available at all.
Some extracts taken from
Indica were quoted by the
Greek authors. Only such
quotations are used by the
historians while writing
Mauryan history. Megasthenese gave elaborate
description of the royal palace
and the city of Pataliputra.
Persian invasion took place
in 516 B.C. during the regime
of Darius I of Persia. He sent
180

23.

24

25

26

a naval expedition under

Scylax to explore the river
Indus. Scylax occupied Sindh
and a portion of the Punjab.
The Indian territory formed
20th Satrapy of the Persian
empire and it remained under
Persian rule till the advent of
Alexanders invasion.
It was fought between
Alexander and Porus in 326
B.C. on the banks of the river
Jhelum. Alexander stealthily
moved 16 miles northwards,
crossed the river at night and
made a surprise attack on
Porus. Alexander won the
battle but moved by the valour
of Porus, Alexander set him
free and so withdrew himself
from conquering the Gangetic
plain. On his return journey
he died at Babylon.
The four noble truths taught
by Lord Buddha are known
as Arya Satyas. The first truth
is the existence of sorrow. The
second one is that desire is the
cause of sorrow. The third
truth is that sorrow can be
ended by eliminating desires.
The fourth one is that desires
can be conquered by
following the eight-fold path.
Tripitakas are the Buddhist
sacred books. They are the
Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta
Pitaka and the Abhidamma
Pitaka. Upali and Ananda
wrote these texts in Pali
language, the language of the
mass. They contain the
teachings of the Buddha and
the rules to be followed by the
Buddhist monks.
The Jatakas are the stories
about Lord Buddha. They
describe his previous births
before he was born at
Kapilavastu in the Sakya
family and his later `Avatars.

27 Ethnology is a study of the

races of mankind. Dr V A
Smith describes India as an
Ethnological
Museum.
According to Sir Herbert
Rusley, Indians belong to
seven different races. They are
: Indo -Aryan, Dravidian,
Mongolian, Aryo-Dravidian,
Mongolo -Dravidian, Scythio
- Dravidian and Turko Iranian. The foreigners who
invaded India also merged
with the native population.
28 It is the study of coins. The
gold and silver coins of
ancient times throw light on
the contemporary history. In
the asbsence of historical
evidences, the coins form the
source of information for
writing a particular history.
For instance, the ship-marked
coins of the Satavahanas
speak of their foreign trade.
29 The excavations made at
Mohenjodaro in the Larkana
District of Sindh revealed that
there existed a well-built city
during
Indus
Valley
Civilization. The town had
drainage facilities also. The
Great Bath was a swimming
pool unearthed at Mohenjodaro. It was an open
quadrangle surrounded by
varandhas (steps) and
flanked by rooms on all sides.
The bath used to get water
from the nearby wells. Its
measurements are 30 x 23 x 8
feet. It indicates the advanced
state of civilization attained
by the Indus people even at
that time. It also had some
religious significance.
30. Bana Bhatta was a court-poet of
Harsha Vardhana. His book
Harshacharita is a source of
information on a study of
Harsha and his times. It

described the ancestors of

Harsha who were the rulers
of Thaneswar. It gives a vivid
description of Harshas
military expeditions, and
depicts the social, religious
and political conditions in
North India during those times.
Bana Bhatta excessively praised
the achievements of Harsha in
his book.
31. Amaravati in Guntur district,
was an important seat of
Buddhism in South India. The
great Stupa at Amaravati was
probably built by Asoka. It has
a height of 100 feet and a
circumference of 435 feet at
the base. The life of Lord
Buddha
was
carved
beautifully around the stupa.
The sculpture of Amaravati
had unique place in the
Buddhist scriptures. Mahadeva a missionary sent by
Asoka, made Amaravati his
centre of activity in South
India. The Amaravati Stupa
and its architecture belongs to
200 to 100 B.C.
32 Rudradamana was the
famous Saka king of Ujjain.
The Junagad Rock inscription gives information about
his administration. He
belongs to the period 130-150
A.D. His empire extended
from the Lower Indus Valley
to the Western Vindhyas. He
claimed that he defeated a
Satavahana king twice and
gave his daughter in marriage
to him. He spent his personal
money for the reconstruction of
the Sudarshana lake in
Saurashtra which was originally built by the Mauryans.
33. Kautilya, the Prime Minister
of Chandra Gupta Maurya
was the author of Arthasastra. It is a treatise on

Politics, Economics and Statecraft. It was rendered into

English by Shyama Sastri in
1909. It was the chief source
of information for a study of
Mauryan administration.
Kautilya (real name Vishnu
Gupta) was also known as
Chanakya.
34. In the early years of 8th
century A.D., the Caliph of
Baghdad asked his Persian
Governor, Hajaj to invade
Sindh and destroy the
infidels. The pretext given for
the invasion was that the
pirates of Sindh plundered
certain Arab ships carrying
some valuables from Ceylon
to Baghdad. Muhammed - bin
- Kasim, a commander of
Persian Governor, invaded
Sindh, by land route and
defeated Dahir, the Hindu
King in the Battle of Rowar in
712 A.D. He occupied Alor
the capital of Sindh. He
further continued his
expedition and plundered the
city of Multan. The Arab
conquest was limited to
Sindh only. They could not
penetrate into other parts of
India. Mohammed Bin
Quasims dream to establish
a Muslim rule in India did not
come true, as Quasim was
murdered at his early age. But
the dream was realised by
Mohammed Ghori. In 1175,
Ghori brought Sind under his
control. In 1186, Punjab came
under his rule. But in 1191,
Prithiviraj Chauhan defeated
him in the First Battle of
Tarain. However, his victory
at Kanauj in 1194, paved the
way for establishment of
Muslim rule in India.
35. The First Battle of Tarain was
fought between Muhammed

36.

37.

38.

39.

Ghori and Prithviraj in 1191.

Prithviraj, the king of Delhi
and Ajmer won the battle and
drove away the invader
triumphantly. But in 1192, in
the Second Battle of Tarain
Prithviraj was defeated and
taken as a prisoner.
Muhammed Ghori occupied
Delhi and appointed Qutbud-din Aibak as viceroy of the
conquered territories. Aibak
founded the Slave dynasty on
the throne of Delhi. The
Second Battle of Tarain was a
turning point in the Indian
History. It paved the path for
Muslim rule in India.
Qutub Minar is a huge pillar
in Delhi built during the times
of Qutub - ud - din Aibak and
Iltumish. Aibak started its
construction in memory of
Qwaja Qutub - ud - din, a
religious preceptor of
Baghdad. The construction
was completed by Iltumish.
The pillar represents the
Islamic architecture of middle
ages.
Al-Beruni was a famous Arab
historian. He was a scholar
in Sanskrit and Arabic. His
work Tarikh - ul - Hind gives
information about the
conditions in India at the time
of Mahmud of Ghaznis
invasion.
Chenghiz Khan was a
Mongol invader. His original
name was Temujin. He over
ran China and Central Asia.
He destroyed the Khwarazm
Empire. Under Chenghiz
Khan, the Mongols reached
upto the river Indus in 1220.
Balban was the greatest of the
Slave kings. Iltumish
purchased him as slave and
made him one of the forty
Turkish nobles. He served as

the Chief huntsman under

Sultana Raziyya. After the
death of Nasiruddin, Balban
occupied the throne and
established a stable administration. He ruthlessly
suppressed the power of the
forty Turkish nobles. He
introduced persian customs
in his court. He organised a
very efficient spy system and
received exact information of
the developments in the
Kingdom. He suppressed
rebellions in Bengal and
brought it under his control.
He successfully defended the
Kingdom against the
invasions of Mongols.
40. Amir Khusrau was the first
poet of Urdu Literature. He
was in the Court of Alauddin
Khilji and described his
conquests in the book Tarikh
- i - Alai. For his sweet poetry
he was known as Parrot of
India. He wrote another book
in which the love story of
Khizr Khan and Deyal Devi
was depicted. He lived till the
time of Ghiyasuddin Tughlak
and wrote Tughlake-nama, a
history of Ghiasuddin. He
was also a musician.
41. Timur
belonged
to
Samarkhand. After conquering Persia, Iraq and
Afghanistan, he invaded
India in 1398. Nasiruddin
Muhammed Shah was the
ruler of Delhi at that time.
Timur reached Delhi with
10,000 cavalry and 40,000
infantry. At the out skirts of
Delhi he routed the army of
Nasiruddin and captured the
city. He plundered and
destroyed the city of Delhi
and massacred the people in
thousands. On his return
journey he demolished
temples, and killed Hindus in
182

Meerut, Haridwar, Kangra

and Jammu. As a result of
Timurs invasion, Tughlaqs
dynasty came to an end at
Delhi. The provincial
governors declared independence in Gujarat, Malwa
and Jaunpur. Timur appointed Khizr Khan as viceroy of
Punjab and left for Kabul.
42. The Battle of Talikotta in 1565
led to the down fall of the
Vijayanagar empire. It was
fought between Aliya
Ramaraya of Vijayanagar on
one side and Hussain Nizam
Shah of Ahmadnagar on the
other side. The Sultans of
Golkanda, Bidar and Bijapur
also joined hands with the
Sultan of Ahmadnagar. The
war took place near the
villages of Rakshas and
Thangadi in the Raichur
Doab. Aliya Ramaraya was
killed in the battle field. The
armies of Vijayanagar were
completely rooted and
massacred. The enemies
entered the city and
plundered it for full six
months. The seat of
Vijayanagar kingdom was
shifted to Penugonda where
Tirumalaraya founded the
Aravidu dynasty.
43. The available epics are the
Ramayana
and
the
Mahabharatha. The former
was written by Valmiki and
the latter by Ved Vyas.
Bhagavad Gita is a part of
Mahabharatha. The Gita is
full of teachings to Arjuna by
Lord Krishna. The Ramayana
was written much earlier
than the Mahabharatha.
44. When Alexander invaded
India, the Nandas ruled over
Magadha which comprised
of modern Patna and Gaya

districts in Bihar. The

Nandas ruled for 100 years
and there were 9 kings,
according to Puranas. Hieun
Tsang mentions about the last
king of the Nandas. The
Nanda rule came to an end
with the invasion of Chandra
Gupta, the founder of Maurya
dynasty.
45. Alexander was the son of a
great King of Macedonia, King
Philip II. Inspired by the
teachings of Aristotle who
was his teacher, Alexander
wanted to bring India under
his control so that he could
become the Emperor of the
whole world. He came to India
in 326 BC and defeated Porus.
As his army rebelled he was
forced to give up further
invasion and decided to return.
On his way back he died at
Babylon at the age of 33.
46. After defeating Nandas,
Chandragupta Maurya established his kindgom with
Pataliputra as his capital. He
defeated Selucus Nikator
who was the representative of
Alexander. Then Nikator sent
Magasthanese as his ambassador to Mauryan Court.
Indica of Megasthanese is a
valuable source of Mauryan
history. Kautilya, the author
of Arthasastra was Chandraguptas minister. Chandragupta was succeeded by his
son Bindusara who was the
father of Ashoka. Asoka ruled
between 273 B.C and 236 B.C.
The only war he waged was
that of Kalinga. The sufferings
of the people due to that war
changed his whole life. He
became a Buddhist and
propagated the ideals of
Buddhism. Mauryan dynasty

came to an end because of

certain policies of Ashoka
against Brahminical religion,
weak successors of Ashoka
and invasion of Sungas.
Pushyamitra Sunga the
Commander-in-Chief of the
Mauryas, established the
Sunga dynasty.
47. Though many petty dynasties
rose and fell in the period after
the Mauryas, the Kushana
dynasty has made indelible
history on the Indian soil.
Though many theories have
been forwarded about the
origin of the Kushanas, it can
be well said that they came
from Central Asia. Of the
Kushana Kings, Kanishkas
reign is well-known. The
beginning of Saka era on
which the Indian calendar is
based coincides with
enthronement of Kanishka in
78 A.D. Gandhara Art, the
fusion of Indo-Greek arts,
flourished during the period
of Kushanas. The two
branches of Buddhism
emerged under the reign of
Kanishka.
48. The Age of Guptas is known
as `Golden Age in the history
of India for the reasons of
revival of Hinduism, Art,
Literature etc. Kalidasa, the
author of Sakuntala,
Raghuvamsam, Meghdoot;
Aryabhatta, the great
mathematician and the
astronomer, Amarasimha
lived during this age. Fahien
visited the court of Chandra
Gupta II and stayed in India
between 399 and 417 A.D.
Though the period of Gupta
dynasty is not definitely
known, we can well say that
Chandra Gupta I and
Samudra Gupta were well

known great kings. Because

of his valiant conquests,
Samudra Gupta is known as
Indian Napoleon. Harisena
was the poet laureate of
Samudra Gupta.
49. After the Guptas, the well
known Hindu dynasty in the
North was Vardhana
dynasty of which Harsha
Vardhana was a famous king.
Harsha was a great scholar.
Hieun Tsang visited India in
the 7th century A.D. during
Harshas period. Hieun
Tsangs accounts are valuable
source of information on
Harshas period. Nalanda
University flourished and two
conferences on Buddhism
were held under Harsha-one
at Kanauj under the religious
leadership of Hieun Tsang. He
was defeated ultimately by
Pulikesin-II of Chalukya
dynasty. Bana Bhatta, the
court poet of Harsha
Vardhana wrote Harsha
Charita. Harsha wrote
Ratanavali. Thus Harsha was
not only a warrior but a
scholar and a good
administrator also. The
Vardhana dynasty was the
last Hindu dynasty in the
North.
50. Ancient Tamilian poets had
produced literature which is
popularly referred as Sangam
Literature. It earned this name
because much of this
literature was written in three
sangams or assemblies of
Tamil poets which had been
held between the 1st century
AD to 6th century AD. We can
learn a lot about South India
from these works including
detailed accounts of great
kings, commercial activities,
administration and social,

economic and religious life in

ancient South India. It is
believed that the sangams
were held in Madurai.
Examples of Sangam literature include Tiruvalluvars
classic Thirukkural and the
two Tamil epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai.
These particularly depict life
in ancient Tamil land in
detail.
51. The Aryan culture divided a
mans life into four stages,
each of which was called an
Ashram. The Brahmacharya
Ashram ranged from
childhood to 25 years of age
when a man was engaged in
receiving education. Then he
married and entered the
Grihasthya Ashram, which
continued to the age of 50. In
the Vanaprastha Ashram, he
himself retired from active life
but guided the life of his
grown-up children. The stage
continued up to the age of 75.
Finally, in Sanyas Ashram, a
man retired from society and
went to the hills, forests or
hermitages in order to attain
salvation.
52. First, the life-size statues of
Buddha made by the
Gandhara artists are in the
likeness of the Greek Gods.
This was because the
techniques used and forms
applied were Greek in nature,
while the subjects were all of
Indian origin. These statues
are in stone, cement, clay and
terracotta. Secondly, this art
is realistic in which much
attention was paid to minute
details like folds and turns of
the dress. Rich ornamentation and refinement can be
seen in these art works. The
Buddha statues made by the

Mathura artists are in a purely

Indian style while those made
by the Gandhara artists show
a strong Greek influence.
53. The Brahmana, the Kshatriya,
the Vaishya and the Sudras
are the four varnas of the
vedic society. The Brahmanas
were the priests assigned to
perform religious rituals and
to educate young people. The
Kshatriyas were the ruling
and warrior class who were
brave and learned in
administration. The Vaishya
was a class consisting of
agriculturists, industrialists
and traders. The Sudras were
servants, labourers and
slaves who worked for the
other three classes.
54. Vardhamana Mahavira, the
24th and last Tirthankara
(saint with divine power),
was the founder of Jainism
who first preached it in the
6th century B.C. Born to a
Kshatriya chieftain at
Kundagrama, near Vaishali,
he left his family at the age of
30 and set out in search of true
knowledge. At 42, he acquired
the highest knowledge,
kevalyanana, and began to be
known as Mahavira. He
spent the rest of his life
preaching Jainism. The main
teachings of Jainism are :
Ahimsa or non-violence;
hard penance and selfsacrifice; no faith in the
existence of God; worship of
the
24
Tirthankaras;
attainment of moksha or
salvation as the main aim of
life; belief in the next life,
transmigration of soul and the
theory of karma; no faith in
religious rites and rituals;
and equality of human
beings. The religious texts of
184

the Jains are known as

Angas.
55. Buddhism was founded by
Lord Buddha, a Sakya prince
and the son of the ruler of
Kapilavastu. He was born in
567 B.C. in the Lumbini, near
Kapilavastu. He left his family
in search of enlightenment in
537 B.C. In 531 B.C., he
attained
the
higher
knowledge at Gaya. He was
36 then. The main teachings
of Buddha are: all misery is
caused by desire, and may be
put to an end by destroying
desire; Nirvana, or freedom
from the cycle of birth and
rebirth, may be attained by
following the eight- fold path
of right belief, right thought,
right speech, right action,
right living, right effort, right
recollection and right
meditation; ahimsa or the
path of non-violence; no faith
in sacrifices and rituals; faith
in the equality of men and not
in the caste system; belief in
karma and transmigration of
soul; and emphasis on
morality. The most important
Buddhist scriptures are the
Tripitakas or the three
baskets - the Vinayakapitaka,
the Suttapitaka and the
Abhidhammapitaka. The
religious texts of the
Buddhists are known as the
Jatakas. A few centuries after
Buddhas death, Buddhism
was divided into two sects:
Hinayana and Mahayana.
56. The son of Bindusara, ranks
as one of the greatest rulers,
not only in the annals of
Indian history but also in that
of the world. He endeavoured
to do all he could for the good

of his people and, therefore,

his reign is considered to be
one of the most glorious
periods in the history of India.
By his conquests, he furthered
the borders of the empire
which he had inherited from
his father and grandfather, so
that it became the biggest
empire in ancient India.
However, after the Kalinga
war, in which countless
people were killed, before he
emerged the victor, he was so
deeply affected by the sight of
bloodshed and suffering that
he underwent a change of
heart and completely gave up
the policy of conquests. He
embraced Buddhism and
thereafter gave up all sorts of
violence. He then turned his
full attention towards
the good of the people and
gave them an efficient
administration ensuring
peace and prosperity. Many
schools were opened and the
arts also flourished under his
patronage. He also worked
tirelessly for the propagation
of Buddhism in India and
abroad.
57. Ashokass greatness lies in
the fact that he was perhaps
the first king to conceive some
sort of a world religionDharma-comprising the good
principles of all religions. Its
main principles were respect
of elders, good treatment of the
younger people, ahimsa,
truthfulness,
charity,
religious toleration and a
simple and virtuous life.
58. Chandragupta-II or Chandragupta Vikramaditya, the son
of Samudragupta, was a
powerful ruler of Gupta

dynasty. He, was a great

conqueror and added to the
vast empire he had inherited
from his father and
grandfather. His greatest
military achievement was
when
he
destroyed
completely the power of the
Sakas and drove them out of
Malwa,
Gujarat
and
Saurashtra, thus wiping
away the last trace of foreign
rule in India. His empire, thus,
touched the Arabian Sea. He,
too, was a patron of art and
literature and because of this,
he is often identified with the
renowned Vikramaditya
of Ujjain, who patronaged
the famous Nine Gems
(Navratnas).
59. Raja Rammohan Roy played
an important role in the
abolition of the evil custom of
Sati. It was because of his
efforts that it was legally
banned by William Bentick in
1829. The abolition of Sati
brought forth the problem of
widows, so he stressed upon
the remarriage of widows.
60. Sufi mystic orders arose in the
10th century. They laid great
emphasis on love and
devotion as the bond between
God and the individual soul.
Around this time, the sufis
were organised into 12 orders
or silsilahs and these were
broadly divided into two: Bashara (those who followed
the Islamic law) and Be-shara
(those who were not bound by
Islamic law). The two orders
which acquired importance
in India were the Chisti and
Surhawardi silsilahs.
61. Bhakti Movement was a
continuation of the earlier
devotional cult. The Bhakti

teachers taught that the

relationship between man
and god was based on love,
and worshipping god with
devotion was better than
merely performing any
numbers of religious
ceremonies. Bhakti teachers
stressed the need for tolerance
among man and religions.
They also objected to the
division of society into castes
and the low status given to
women. They encouraged the
women to join in gatherings.
The most
significant
contribution of this movement during this period came
from Kabir and Nanak.
62. Qutub Ud din Aibak was a
slave purchased by Ghori.
After the Second Battle of
Tarain in 1192, he was
appointed Governor of Lahore
by Ghori. After the death of
Ghori, with the support of the
people of Lahore, he
proclaimed himself as King.
His period was between
1206-10. The famous Qutub
Minar was built by him
though he could not complete
it before his death. It was
completed by Iltumish in 1232.
63. It lasted for about 100 years.
The founder of this dynasty
was Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
Mohammed Bin Tughlaq is
well-known
for
his
personality. He was the king
who introduced brass and
copper coin system and who
changed his capital from
Delhi to Daulatabad and
back to Delhi. Though his
ideas were fantastic, they
could not be implemented as
they lacked practical
imagination. He has been
dubbed as eccentric and ill
starred idealist by Ibn Batuta,

an African traveller. The

worst part of it was that he
changed not only his capital
but the entire populace. As a
historian said, he could have
better been a Professor than a
King. He was known as the
wisest fool.
64. Khilji dynasty was founded
by Malik Firoz in 1290 and
assumed the title Jalaluddin
Khilji (1290-96). Alauddin
Khilji, the nephew of
Jalaluddin Khilji killed him
after his victory on Devagri in
1296. He was the most
famous ruler of the Khilji
Dynasty. Alauddin Khilji is
well known for his
administration and military
system. Akbars mansabdari
system was contemplated
and introduced by Alauddin
Khilji.
65. This was the last Muslim
dynasty which ruled Delhi.
Ibrahim Lodi ruled Delhi
while Mohammed Lodi was
in Gujarat. Including the rule
of their predecessors, the Lodi
rule lasted for about 75 years
between 1415 and 1526.
Because of fraternal fractions
and rivalries Daulat Lodi
invited Babar to fight with his
brother Ibrahim Lodi. It
resulted in the First Battle of
Panipat which paved the
way for the Mughal rule in
India.
66. They ruled the very fertile
delta of Cauvery basin which
lie in the modern Trichy and
Tanjore districts of Tamil
Nadu. Though their rule
lasted for about 200 years the
rule of Raja Raja, the great and
his son, Rajendra Chola are
marked for their administration and conquests. Raja

Raja ruled between 985 AD

and 1014 AD. He built the
Brihadeswara temple at
Tanjore. His was a rule of
democracy. He was a staunch
Hindu. But he practised
religious tolerance not
known in those days. Raja
Raja was succeeded by his
son Rajendra who ruled
between 1012 A.D. and 1044
A.D. During his time, foreign
trade flourished.
67. Vijayanagar Empire was
established by Harihara and
Bukka on the banks of
Tunghabadra in Andhra.
Krishnadevaraya was a
famous king who ruled
between 1509 A.D. and 1530
A.D. He brought under his
control, the modern Raichur,
Bijapur, Gulbarga etc., in
Karnataka and Kondappalli
and Kondaveedu in Orissa.
His period witnessed peace
and prosperity. Krishnadevaraya, himself, was a
scholar. His court was
adorned by Ashtadiggajas of
whom Tenaliraman was well
- known for his witticism.
Because of the weak
successors and of the rise of
Bahmini Kingdom, Vijayanagar Empire vanished.
68. Babur: Babur who was driven
out of his own country, was
invited by Mohammed Lodi
in India. After his failure
thrice
to
get
back
Samarkhand, he locked
himself in the First Battle of
Panipat in 1526 with Ibrahim
Lodi. It led to the
establishment of Mughal rule
in India. Babur ruled for
4 years. Hence he could not
consolidate his gains, when
he was succeeded by a weak
son Humayun. Babur

186

wrote his autobiography

Babur Nama.
Humayun : Fraternal fractions criss - crossed with a
weak character of his own,
Humayun could not stand for
a long time, when he was
driven out of the country by a
native Sher Shah Suri.
Humayun tumbled through
his life and tumbled out of it.
After trials and tribulations
and wanderings for many
years, he could stage a come
back with some of his wellwishers. In the mean time
Akbar was born at Amarkot
in 1542.
Sher Shah Suri: Sher Shah
Suri, worth his name of tiger,
could easily defeat the forces
of Humayun at many
engagements. Though his
rule lasted for only six years
between 1539 and 1545, Sher
Shah could pay much
attention on the revenue
administration and organise
the army on scientific lines.
During his time the Grand
Trunk Road between
Peshawar and Calcutta was
built. Now it runs from
Calcutta to Amritsar. As he
was succeeded by weak
rulers the Suri interrugnum
could linger on only for a few
years.
Akbar : He came to power at
the age of 12. Though he was
illiterate, his vision of
religious tolerance, revenue
administration and military
hierarchy had far reaching
consequences. He preached
Hindu Muslim unity. He
married Rajput ladies. He
founded a religion; `Din - Ilahi. Though the religion had
a few followers and died soon
after the death of Akbar, we

have to take into account the

broad view Akbar had in the
sixteenth century.
Jehangir : Akbar was
succeeded by his son,
Jehangir. Though no
remarkable achievements
were made by Jehangir, the
royal affairs handled and the
royalty dominated by a harem
around his wife Noorjehan
are worth mentioning.
Jehangir used to consume 24
pegs of wine. Religious
intolerance started surfacing
and bankruptcy permeated.
Shah Jahan : More than his
conquests and administration, his love for Mumtaz, art
and architecture need
mentioning. Because of lavish
spending on art and
architecture, the Governments coffer started drying and
excessive doses of taxation
year after year was the only
remedy. Thus the people
groaned under heavy and
unbearable taxes. Taj Mahal,
built of white marbles in
memory of his wife Mumtaz,
was completed in 1653.
Aurangazeb: Alamgir was the
name adopted by Auran-gazeb
when he became the Padusha.
Aurangazeb is known as 'Zinda
Pir' or living saint because of his
simple life. He banned music
and dance. He ousted all the
artists from his court. He was
the last great Mughal
Emperor. His intolerance
towards the Hindus, civil
wars and weak successors
resulted in the downfall of
this empire. Finally the
dynasty ended with the death
of Bahadur Shah II in 1826 in
Myanmar.
69. Subidiary Alliance system was
used by wellesley to bring

Indian States within the orbit

of British political power. It
paved the way for stationing
of British troops in the
territories of native Princes.
The Princes have to pay for
the stationing of troops. In
return the troops will take care
of the defence of the territories.
First Indian ruler to join the
subsidiary Alliance was
Nizam of Hyderabad.
70. Indian Councils Act 1861
brought many administrative
changes. Non-official Indians
were taken in the Executive
Council, the Government
departments were decentralised and the portfolio
system was introduced. The
Act sought to bridge the gap
between the rulers and the
ruled.
71. When Gandhijis Civil
Disobedience Movement was
in progress, a strong mob in
Chauri-Chaura, a place in
Bihar killed some police
personnel by setting fire to the
police station. It was against
Gandhijis non-violent
policies. Hence he called off
the agitation.
72 The main causes of Civil
Disobedience movement of
1930 were:
a. No Indian was included
in the Simon Commision
which was to look into
the matter of responsible
self-government.
b. Nehru's Report, the
Indian National leader's
consti-tutional draft of
1928, drew an indifferent
response from the British.
c. In 1929, viceroy Irwin
announced that the
Round Table Conference
would be called to

discuss the Dominion

status of India and the
framing of a new
constitution for India.
However, he refused to
give any assurance. This
led the congress to
demand for poorna
Swaraj and subsequently
to start the Civil Disobedience movement.
73. In 1942, the Congress
demanded the immediate
ending of the British rule in
India. The failure of the
Cripps Mission was the major
reason for the beginning of
Quit India Movement.
Gandhiji along with many
others were arrested. Violence
spread throughout the country, several government
offices were destroyed and
damaged, telegraph wires
were cut and communication
paralyzed. The movement
was, however, crushed by the
government.
74. Mountbatten's plan was to
divide India but retain
maximum unity. The country
would be partitioned but so
would be Punjab and Bengal
and two separate independent Dominions of India
and Pakistan would emerge
with its own Governor
general. Mountbatten Plan
divided India into Indian
dominion and Pakistan
dominion. Thus Pakistan
came into being.
75. Rammohan Roy regarded as
modern Indias first great
leader and was the central
figure in the awakening
movements started in Bengal.
He sought inspiration from
the modern sciences of the
West as well as from the
ancient knowledge of India.

In 1809, he wrote in Persian

his famous work Gift to
Monotheism in which he
argued in favour of a
universal religion based on
the principle of one Supreme
God. In 1828, a new society
called Brahmo Samaj was
started which discarded idol
worship, caste divisions and
many other meaningless rites
and rituals. For this purpose,
he published the Bengali
translation of the Vedas and
the Upanishads and demonstrated to the people that
these texts preached only one
God and idol worship had no
place there. Later on, the
Samaj expanded throughout
the country.
76. Formed along the lines of the
Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana
Samaj of Bombay was
founded in 1867. An
educated middle class has
arisen there too and it sought
the reform of society and
religion. The real force behind
the Prarthana Samaj was
M.G. Ranade and R. Bhandarkar. It emphasised more
on social reforms.
77. The Arya Samaj, founded in
1875 by Swami Dayanand
Saraswathi, undertook the
task of reforming Hindu
religion in North India. He
believed that there was only
one God who was to be
worshipped not in the form
of images but as a spirit. The
member of the Arya samaj
were guided by Ten
Principles of which the first
one was studying the Vedas.
The rest were tenets of virtue
and morality. There was no
room for caste distinctions
and social inequality. The
Arya Samajists opposed child

marriage and encouraged

widow re-marriage. Dayananda Saraswatis emphasis on
the super-natural and
infallible character of the
Vedas seems to have risen
from his ardent desire to give
Hinduism a definite creed
and equip it with a militant
character. Similar in nature,
was his move for the
reconversion of those Hindus
who had been converted to
other religions like Islam and
Christianity. For this purpose,
a purificatory ceremony called
Shuddhi was prescribed.
78. The Rashtrakuta rulers were
great patrons of art and
literature. Krishna-I built the
famous rock-cut Kailash
Temple at Ellora in the later
half of the 8th century A.D. It
was constructed in the
Dravidian style of the
Chalukyas and elaborately
carved with fine sculptures.
Probably in the second half of
the eighth century, on an
island near the west coast
was built the cave shrine of
Elephanta. It was dedicated
to Shiva, whose image as
Mahesha (popularly known
as Trimurti) counts amongst
the most magnificent art
creations of India. The three
faces represent Shiva as
creator, preserver and
destroyer.
79. The early phase of the national
movement did an important
pioneering work in the fields
of nationalism, but it had some
basic weaknesses too.
Firstly, the national movement in its early phase had a
narrow social base. It did not
penetrate down to the masses.
It was a movement of the few
educated people. In fact the
188

Congress leaders in the early

phase wanted first of all to
unite the heterogenous
Indian society into a nation
and then start a mass
movement. This was wrong
approach towards the
masses. The masses were
assigned a passive role in the
early phase of the national
movement against the
colonial rule.
Secondly, the Congress
leaders in the early phase
believed in passing resolutions after resolution and
submitting petitions after
petitions. As the Government
turned a deaf ear to their
petitions, these leaders
became unpopular among
the masses. Many people
laughed at their futile efforts.
Their talking of loyalty to the
British rule was not liked by
the people. They felt that
these leaders were stooges of
the Government so they had
no sympathy for them and no
faith in their programmes and
policies. They wanted action
oriented programmes and not
mere speeches. As the
moderate leaders were not
prepared for the change they
could not attract the masses
towards them.
80. In order to tide over the Indian
situation
the
British
Government called a Round
Table Conference in London
where Congress was also
invited. The chief item on the
agenda was to discuss the
Simon Report. But the
Congress boycotted this
conference which failed to
achieve its objective as no vital
decision could be taken
without the Congress taking
part in it.

81. Non- participation by the

Congress in the Round Table
Conference worried the
British Government. But, after
some efforts made by it, an
agreement was reached in
March 1931 between
Mahatma Gandhi and the
then Viceroy Lord Irwin. This
agreement is popularly
known as the Gandhi-Irwin
Pact under which Gandhiji
suspended
his
Civil
Disobedience Movement and
agreed to attend the Second
Round Table Conference. On
the other side, the government released all those
arrested in connection with
the Movement.
82. As already stated, the
government released all the
political detenu that were
arrested for taking part in the
non-violent movement in
accordance with the GandhiIrwin Pact of 1931 and the
Congress also suspended the
Civil Disobedience Movement. Thereafter, Gandhiji
went to London to represent
India at the Round Table
Conference. But as the
government refused to accede
to the demand of a Dominion
Status for India, Gandhiji
came back to revive the Civil
Disobedience Movement.
83. When the policy of repression
was at its full swing after the
Second Round Table
Conference (1931), the British
Government in England
summoned the Third Round
Table Conference in 1932 to
draw a new constitution for
India. The Congress was not
invited to this conference.
84. Main aims of the British
administration of India were
as under:

(1) Effecting increase in

Companys profits.
(2) To make Indian
possessions of the Company
fruitful for Britain.
(3) To strengthen the British
hold on India.
85. The Regulating Act was
passed in 1773 to regulate the
Companys administration in
India. But it had many
drawbacks of which the most
notable were the following:
(1) The four members of the
G ov e r n o r - Ge n er a l s
Council had the right to
undo his decisions by a
majority vote which
created many problems
for Warren Hastings,
(2) Though a Supreme Court
was set up yet its
relations with the
Governor-General and
his Council was not
specified.
86. Lord Cornwallis introduced
the system of Permanent
Settlement which had many
merits:
(1) By conferring ownership
rights on the zamindars
the Company had
created a class of staunch
loyalists.
(2) Knowing that they were
permanent master of the
land, the zamindars took
interest in its improvement which in turn
resulted in an increased
production.
87. The English East Company
introduced many systems of
revenue settlement. One of
those was Ryotwari. Under
this system, the Government
did not act through any
intermediary or zamindar but
had direct contact with the

ryot or peasants. This system

was introduced in Madras
and Bombay. Neverthless the
rents in this system were so
high that the peasants were
forced to fall in to the clutches
of the money lenders.
88. Mahalwari was a system of
revenue settlement. Under
this system the Government
dealt with the representative
of a Mahal or village and
they paid rent collectively
on behalf of the whole village.
Whatever the mode of
collection, the rents were quite
high and the peasants were
hard pressed to pay them.
89. By the Industrial Revolution
we refer to the revolutionary
changes in the mode of
production and organisation
that were introduced in
Europe during the later half
of the 18th century. These
changes were so swift and so
effective that they are referred
to as revolution. It gave birth
to factory system which
replaced the old system of
cottage industry where in
manual labour was replaced
by machines and small
artisans by capitalist
enterprises. The two effects of
the Industrial Revolution in
India are: (1) Indian export fell
sharply as a result of the
Industrial Revolution in
Europe. (2) It also reduced
India to a colony that supplied
raw materials to the British
industries.
90. Pitts India Act was passed in
1784 with a view to remove
the shortcomings of the
Regulating Act. Its two chief
provisions were as under:
(1) The number of the
members of the GovernorGenerals Council was

reduced to three so that he

could have his way by
winning support of even one
member.
(2) Trade was separated, from
administration. While the
Company was allowed the
monopoly of trade, a Board of
Control of six members was
established to guide and
control the administration of
British India. In this way the
authority of the British
Government was imposed on
the Companys administration.
91. The British Empire in India
stood on the following three
pillars namely:
(1) Civil Service (2) Army and
(3) Police. Civil service was
essential for the maintenance
of British rule in India and as
foreign rulers they needed
army and police to keep the
people under control.
92. Tantya Tope was the loyal
servant of Nana Sahib who
fought for his martyrdom. He
was a patriot to the core and
brave like a lion. He was adept
in the art of guerrilla warfare.
He defeated General
Windham though he himself
was defeated at the hands of
General Campbell. But even
in defeat he remained
dauntless. He also allied with
the Rani of Jhansi and fought
against the English at
Gwalior on June 18, 1858. In
this battle the Rani of Jhansi
herself met her death and
Tantya Tope escaped. He
was, however, caught and
hanged to death. It was the
sad end of a noble and brave
patriot.
93. Of all the British GovernorGenerals and Viceroys there

was none except Lord Ripon

(1880-84) who cared for the
interests of the Indian people.
He introduced the Ilbert Bill
so that the Indian judges
could be authorised to hear
the cases involving the
Europeans. The previous
Criminal Procedure Code of
1873 had a clause that no
Magistrate or sessions Judge
could try a European British
subject unless he was himself
a European by birth. The bill
was so vehemently opposed
by the Europeans that it had
to be withdrawn. It, however,
proved that the British Indian
governments claim of
equality before law was a
mere eyewash.
94. The two young revolutionaries who threw a bomb in
the Central Assembly on
April 8, 1929 were Bhagat
Singh and B.K. Dutt. Though
Bhagat Singh and his friends
were hanged to death yet their
sacrifice gave fresh momentum to the national struggle.
95. Gandhiji launched his Civil
Disobedience Movement with
his famous Dandi March on
March 12, 1930. He started
the march from Sabarmati
Ashram in Gujarat towards
Dandi. He was accompanied
by 79 followers. He reached
Dandi on April 5, 1930 and
there he broke the Salt Laws.
In this way the Dandi March
became a symbol of Civil
Disobedience movement.
96. The Indian people boycotted
the Simon Commission as all
its members were English
and there was no Indian to
represent the Indian people.
It was during a protest march
against the Simon Comm190

ission that Lala Lajpat Rai

suffered lathi blows that
proved fatal.
97. Nehru report was put forward
by the Swarajist leader Motilal
Nehru and the following are the
two suggestions of the Nehru
Report:
(1) India should immediately
be granted Swaraj.
(2) The executive should be
responsible not to the
Viceroy but to the legislature.
98. The Cabinet Mission came to
India in 1946. The following
were its two chief recommendations:
(1) There should be a
federation of both the
British Indian Provinces
and the Indian States.
(2) A scheme for framing the
Constitution of India was
also suggested and it was
proposed to form a
Constituent Assembly for
this purpose.
99. After the uprising of 1857 the
British were hostile to the
Muslims, but the rise of
nationalism forced the British
to change their ideas and
policy towards the Muslims.
They were now too weak and
backward to revolt so the
British followed the policy of
Divide and Rule. They
became the champions of the
Muslims and sowed the seeds
of disunity between the two
communities. They painted
Muslims rulers as tyrants
who terrorised Hindus, and
on the other hand, painted the
Hindu rulers as cruel to their
subjects. In 1905, they
partitioned Bengal and made
a new Muslim majority
province to win their support.
They
supported
the

foundation of Muslim League

in 1906 to create a wedge
between the Hindus and the
Muslims. In 1909, the Minto Morley Reforms introduced
the principle of separate
electorates in the legislature.
100. The Indians had rendered
meritorious service during
the First World War. They
expected Home Rule when
the war ended in 1918. The
British passed
the
Montague - Chelmsford
Reforms in 1919 which did
not satisfy the Indians.
There was widespread
agitation against these
reforms. In order to crush
these agitations the
government passed the
Rowlatt Act in 1919. It gave
the government power to
arrest and to detain
suspected persons without
warrant and imprison them
without a trial. This led to
widespread
agitation
throughout the country.
Mahatma Gandhi came to
the forefront and took the
lead of the freedom
movement in his hands.
Meetings were held all over
the country against this
Black Act and an All India
hartal was observed on 6th
April, 1919.
101. As a protest against the
Rowlatt Act a meeting was
held at Jallianwala Bagh on
April 13, 1919. It was a
peaceful meeting. General
Dyer, to teach the people a
lesson,
arrived
at
Jallianwala Bagh with his
troops who were ordered to
open fire on the gathering
without a warning. There
was only one narrow lane
to escape which was

blocked by the troops. The

massacre left 1000 dead and
more than two thousand
wounded. This shattered
the faith of Gandhiji in the
Government and he vowed
not to co-operate with the
British again. Under his
inspiration, the Congress at
the Nagpur session in 1920
passed a resolution to
launch the Non Cooperation Movement.
102. At the end of the First World
War, Turkey was a defeated
nation. The British and their
allies inflicted punishment
and humiliation on it. They
divided the country among
themselves and abolished
the office of the Caliph. This
aroused the anger of the
Muslims in India. They
started a powerful agitation
known as the Khilafat
Movement, under the
leadership of the Ali
Brothers (Mohammed Ali
and Shaukat Ali) in 1920.
Gandhiji supported this
movement and this brought
the Hindus and Muslims
together against the British.
On June 9,1920 they adopted a resolution to launch a
non-violent, non co-operation movement and requested Gandhiji to lead it.
103. The Amritsar Tragedy was
a turning point in Indian
History. The people were not
intimidated
by
the
Governments policy and
they jumped into the
freedom struggle with great
vigour and courage. There
was an upsurge of unity
between the Hindus and
Muslims as never seen
before. Gandhiji became the

sworn enemy of the British

Rule in India. He vowed not
to co-operate with the
British. He declared that cooperation in any shape or
form with the satanic
Government is sinful, and
under his leadership the
Congress passed a resolution in 1920 of launching a
Non Co-operation Movement against the Government. Thus the people lost
faith in the British rule and
took to the extremist path of
violent struggle to get rid
of it.
104. Gandhiji came back to India
after attending Second
Round Table Conference
and renewed the Civil
Disobedience Movement in
1932. Gandhiji and other
leaders of the Congress were
again arrested and put into
prison without trial. Over a
lakh of satyagrahis were
arrested and their property
was confiscated. The police
committed great atrocities
on the freedom fighters. To
pursue the policy of Divide
and Rule the British Government gave a Communal
Award in 1932, which gave
separate electorates to
Hindus and Harijans.
Gandhiji observed a fast
unto death in the Poona jail
and to save him, a Poona
Pact was signed. According
to the Poona pact, the idea
of separate electroate for
Depressed classes was
abandoned but seats
reserved for them in the
provisional legislatures
were increased from 71 to
147, and in the central
legislature to 81 percent of
the total.

105. Sir Stafford Cripps, a Cabinet

Minister in the British
Government came to India in
March 1942. The Cripps
Mission came to India to solve
the political deadlock in
India. The Second World War
was in full swing and the
Japanese had over run the far
East, including the Philippines, Indo-china, Indonesia, Burma and Malaya. They
were right on Indias
doorstep. To win the cooperation of the Indian
leaders the Cripps mission
came to India.
106.(1) Dominion status will be
granted to India immediately after the war.
(2) The provinces will be free
to refuse accession to the
Indian Union and
formulate their own
constitution which could
have the same status,
powers and functions as
the Union of India. The
Indian states will be
similarly free to adhere to
the new constitution or not.
107. The Congress opposed them
because they did not grant
complete independence to
India in the immediate
present or in the future. It
recognised the principle of
the partition of the country
by proposing the principle
of non-accession of the
provinces, and lastly, it
ignored the interests of the
people of Indian states.
Their representatives were
to be selected by the rulers.
108. In 1600, the Queen Elizabeth
granted a charter to certain
traders of England for
exclusive rights of trading
in India. The death of
Aurangzeb in 1707 brought

disintegration of the Mughal

rule. Taking undue advantages, the company obtained
the Diwani rights from the
Mughal Emperor Shah
Alam for Bihar, Bengal and
Orissa. The Company
became a political power in
1765, since then, the history
of British sovereignty over
India begins.
109. The causes of the Sepoy
Mutiny were many but the
principle behind them was
the hatred of the Indian
people against the British
rule. The Indian native
rulers were annoyed
because if they had no male
issue to succeed the father,
the territory should have
been merged with the British
Indian territory (Doctrine of
Lapse). Another reason was
the disparity of salary and
behaviour between the
British and the Indian
sepoys. Another cause was
the introduction of a new
cartridge supposed to be
greased with the fat of cow
or pig for the use in rifle,
which had to be cut with
teeth. Protesting against this
introduction an Indian
Sepoy named Mangal
Pandey had to give away his
life at the firing squad. The
revolt spread throughout all
the cantonments of India
starting at Meerut on 9th
May, 1857. Within a year the
revolt was suppressed by the
might of the British arms.
Rani of Jhansi, Tantiya
Tope and Nana Sahib were
the valliant fighters of the
revolt. The failure of the
revolt brought India to be a
object of slavery of the British
rule. The Companys power
192

was taken by the British

Crown.
110. Minto - Morley reforms was
the most short lived of all the
Britains constitutional
experiments in India. The
main provisions of this act
were to increase the size of
the Council of GovernorGeneral and provincial
councils. This act recognized the separate electorates of Mohammedans
and Indians were allowed
for appointment to the
Executive Councils.
111. Under this Act the
provincial legislatures came
to be constituted with no
official majority, but the
official majority was
retained at the centre. At
provincial level Dyarchy
was introduced.
112. According to the Doctorine
of Lapse, if the ruler of a
protected state died without
a natural heir, his state
could not pass to an
adopted heir, as had been
the custom, Unless the
adoption
had
been
approved earlier by the
British, the state was to be
attached to the British
domains. Satara (1848),
Nagpur (1854) and many
other states were annexed
with the help of this
doctrine. Dalhousie also
refused to recognise the titles
of many ex-rulers or pay
pension, as in the cases of
the Nawabs of Carnatic and
of Surat, the Raja of Tanjore
and Nana Saheb Peshwa.
Dalhousie accused Nawab
Wajid Ali Shah of
misgoverning his state,
Awadh, and annexed it in
1856.