Basic Facts about Indus Valley Civilization:

 Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization that thrived along the course
of Indus river in North-Western part of Indian subcontinent
 It is also referred to as Harappan Civilization owing to the fact that this
civilization was first discovered in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa situated
in the Punjab province Punjab of current day Pakistan.
 Time Duration of Indus Valley Civilization: As revealed by Radio-Carbon
this civilization thrived during 2500-1750 B.C.

Geographical Extent of Indus Valley Civilization:

 The Indus Valley Civilization covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan,

Gujarat, Rajasthan and the fringes of Western Uttar Pradesh
 It extended from Jammu in the North to mouth of River Narmada in the South
and from the Makran Coast of Baluchistan in the West to Meerut in the East
 It covered an area of 1299600 sq. Metre. This indicates that Indus Valley
Civilization was the most extensive among all other ancient civilizations

Important Cities and Sites of Indus Valley Civilization:

 So far archaeologists have come across more than 1000 sites belonging to this
civilization
 Out of these, only 6 can be regarded as cities: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Chanhu-
daro, Lothal, Kalibangan and Banwali
 Largest site of Indus Civilization is Mohenjo-daro
 Necessary Details related to important Indus Valley Civilization Sites have been
provided in following table:
Full List of Indus Valley Civilization Sites

Important Features of Indus Valley Civilization:

Harappan Civilization Town Planning

 Town planning was the hallmark of Harappan culture

 Harappan towns and cities were built as per grid pattern wherein roads and by
lanes bisected each other at right angles.
 Drainage system in Indus Civilization towns was very impressive.
 Burnt bricks were widely used for construction purpose.
 Major towns had two parts: (i) A fortified settlement/citadel on the upper side
possibly occupied by elite class people and (ii) the lower town, which had houses
occupied by common people

Agriculture

 The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November when the flood
water receded, and reaped the harvest in April before the advent of next flood
 They produced two types of wheat and barley
 They also produced rai, peas, sesamum and mustard
 Evidence of use of Rice has been found only from Lothal
 Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton. As cotton was first
produced in this area Greeks called it ‘sindon’ which is derived from Sindh

Domestication of Animals

 Oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep and pigs were domesticated. However, humped
bulls were favoured.
 Dogs were regarded as pets. Cats were also domesticated
 Asses and camels were used as beasts of burden
 Horses were not in regular use
 Harappan people were also familiar with Elephants and Rhinoceros

Trade and Commerce

 Trade and commerce was flourishing in Harappan age. Trade and Commercial
activities were carried on through sea as well as land routes
 Carts, chariots and animals were means of transports as far as land trade is
concerned. For sea trade, big boats were used.
 Harappan people had trade relations within India, as well as with countries
outside India.
 The Mesopotamian texts of the same period refer to trade relations with
‘Meluha’ which was the ancient name given to Indus region.
 With no clear evidence of currency/money being used the exchange must have
been through barter system

Art of Indus Valley Civilization:

 The Harappan Civilization belongs to the Bronze Age. Harappan people used
many tools and implements of stone, but they were very well acquainted with
the manufacture and use of bronze, which was made by mixing tin and copper.
 Bronze smiths manufactured not only images and utensils but also various tools
and weapons such as axes, saws, knifes and spears.
 Brick-laying was an important craft at that time.
 The Harappan people had the knowledge of boat-making, seal-making and
terracotta manufacturing.
 Harappans were experts in bead making.
 Jewellery of gold, silver and precious stones was also made.
 The potter’s wheel was in full use and the Harappans produced their own
characteristic pottery, which was made glossy and shining.

Seals of Indus Valley Civilization:

 Most commonly made of ‘steatite’ (soft stone), Seals were the greatest artistic
creation of Harappan people.
 The majority of the seals have an animal engraved on them with a short
inscription.
 ‘Unicorn’ is the animal most commonly represented on the seals.

Indus Valley Civilization Religion:

 The chief male deity was the Pashupati Mahadeva (proto-shiva), represented in
the seals as sitting in yogic posture on a low throne, and having three faces and
two horns. He is surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino and buffalo),
each facing a different direction and two deer appear at his feet.
 Chief female deity was the Mother Goddess, who has been depicted in various
forms.
 There is sufficient evidence for the prevalence of phallic worship i.e. lingam
worship. Numerous stone symbols of female sex organs (yoni worship), besides
those of phallus have been discovered.
 Worship of fire is proved by the discovery of fire altars at Lothal, Kalibangan
and Harappa.
 Indus people also worshipped Gods in the form of trees (peepal etc.) and
animals (unicorn etc.)
 Further they believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets as protection
against them.

Harappan Script

 Harappan script is regarded as pictographic since its signs represent birds, fish
and a variety of human forms.
 The script was boustrophedon, written from right to left in one line and then
from left to right in the next line.
 The number of signs of the Harappan script is known to be between 400 and
600.
 The language of Harappan people is unknown as its script has not been
deciphered till date.

Decline of Indus Valley Civilization:

 Scholars have put forward number of theories to explain the decline and the
final collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization. Some of these theories highlight
the natural causes whereas others mention human causes for the decline.

Cause of Decline of Indus Civilization Historian

Aryan Invasion Wheeler, Gordon, Childe

Ecological Disturbance Fairservice

Change in Indus River’s Course Dales, M.S. Vatsa

Low Rainfall Stein

Floods Macay, S. R. Rao

Drying of Ghaggar River D. P Agrawal and Sood

Earthquake Raikes and Dales

Important Facts about Indian National Congress Presidents:

 Founder of Indian National Congress: Allan Octavian Hume, Year 1885

 First President of Indian National Congress: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee,
Year 1885
 First Woman President of Indian National Congress: Annie Besant, Year
1917
 First Indian Woman President of Indian National Congress: Sarojini
Naidu, Year 1925
 First Englishmen to become President of Indian National
Congress: George Yule, Year 1888
 President of Indian National Congress during Quit India
Movement: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Year 1940
 President of Indian National Congress at the time of
Independence: Aacharya J. B Kripalani

Indian National Congress Sessions

Year Presidents Venue

1885 W C Bonnerjee Bombay

1886 Dadabhai Naoroji Calcutta

1887 Badruddin Tayabji Madras

1888 George Yule Allahabad

1889 Sir William Wedderburn Bombay

1890 Pherozshah Mehta Calcutta

1891 P Ananda Charlu Nagpur

1892 W C Bonnerjee Allahabad

1893 Dadabhai Naoroji Lahore

1894 Alfred Webb Madras

1895 S N Banerjee Poona

1896 Rahimtulla M Sayani Calcutta

1897 C Sankaran Nair Amravati

1898 Ananda Mohan Bose Madras

1899 R C Dutt Lucknow

1900 N G Chandavarkar Lahore

1901 D E Wacha Calcutta

1902 Hasan Imam Bombay

1902 S N Banerjee Ahmedabad

1903 Lal Mohan Ghose Madras

1904 Sir Henry Cotton Bombay

1905 G K Gokhale Benaras

1906 Dadabhai Naoroji Calcutta

1907 Dr. Rash behari Ghosh Surat

1908 Dr. Rash behari Ghosh Madras

1909 Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Lahore

1910 Sir William Wedderburn Allahabad

1911 Pandit B N Dhar Calcutta

1912 R N Modholkar Bankipore

1913 Nawab Syed Mohammad Bahadur Karachi

1914 Bhupendranath Basu Madras

1915 Sir Satyendra Prasad Sinha Bombay

1916 Ambika Charan Majumdar Lucknow

1917 Mrs. Annie Besant Calcutta

1918 Hasan Imam Bombay (Special Session)

1918 Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Delhi

1919 Motilal Nehru Amritsar

1920 Lala Lajpat Rai Calcutta

1920 C Vijayraghavachariar Nagpur (Annual)

C R Das (in Prison), Hakim Ajmal Khan

1921 Ahmedabad
(Acting)

1922 C R Das Gaya

1923 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Delhi

1923 Maulana Mahammad Ali Golconda (Annual)

1924 Mahatma Gandhi Belgaum

1925 Mrs. Sarojini Naidu Cawnpore

1926 S Srinivasa Iyengar Guwahati

1927 Dr M A Ansari Madras

1928 Pandit Motilal Nehru Calcutta

1929 Jawaharlala Nehru Lahore

1930 No Session

1931 Vallabhbhai Patel Karachi

1932 R Amritlal Delhi

1933 Nellie Sen Gupta Calcutta

Bombay (Continues again

1934 Rajendra Prasad
for 1935

1936 Jawaharlala Nehru Lucknow

1937 Jawaharlala Nehru Faizpur

1938 S C Bose Haripura

1939 S C Bose Tripuri

1940 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Ramgarh

1941 –
No Sessions
45

1946 Acharya J B Kripalani Meerut

1948 B Pattabhi Sitaramayya Jaipur

Meaning of Swadeshi:

 The wordswadeshi is derived from Sanskrit and is a conjunction of two Sanskrit

words ‘Swa’ means ‘self or own’ and ‘desh’ means country
 Soswadesh means ‘own country’
 Swadeshi, the adjectival form, means ‘of one’s own country’

What is Swadeshi Movement in context of Indian National Movement?

 The Swadeshi Movement had its origin in the anti-partition movement which
was started to oppose the British decision to Partition Bengal
 Swadeshi Movement was primarily a mass resolution to use only Indian made
goods rather than British made goods
 This strategy was meant to hurt the British on economic front, and thereby
force them to concede to popular demand i.e. annulment of Partition of Bengal
 An important aspect of the Swadeshi Movement was the emphasis placed on
‘Self-Reliance’ or ‘Atmasakti’
 Swadeshi Movement was interlinked to/complimented by a parallel ‘Boycott
Movement’, wherein British Goods, Services like schools and courts as well as
English speech were boycotted
 Swadeshi movement was also known as Vande Mataram Movement in deltaic
Andhra Pradesh
Why & When did Swadeshi Movement Start?

 In December 1903, the proposal of Bengal partition became publicly known.

The reaction of nationalist leaders in Bengal against this proposal was moderate
in nature. They resorted to petitions, memoranda, speeches, public meetings and
press campaigns to express their opinion against partition.
 However British Govt. did not pay heed and decision to partition Bengal was
announced on 19th July 1905.
 Thus it was obvious that moderate techniques were not working and a different
kind of strategy offering more active resistance to British authority was required.
 The formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement was made on 7th August
1905 in a meeting held at the Calcutta Town Hall.
 The Indian National Congress took up the Swadeshi Call and the Banaras
Session in 1905, presided by Gopal Krishna Gokhale supported the Swadeshi
and Boycott Movement for Bengal.

How was the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement executed?

 Boycott and public burning of foreign cloth, picketing of shops selling foreign
goods, became common in all parts of Bengal as well as in many important
towns and cities throughout the country.
 A prominent part in Swadeshi Movement was played by students of Bengal.
They not only practised and propagated Swadeshi, but also took a lead in
organising picketing of shops selling foreign cloth.
 Women refused to wear foreign bangles and use foreign utensils, washer men
refused to wash foreign clothes and even priests declined offerings which
contained foreign sugar.
 People using, buying and selling foreign goods were subjected to social boycott.
 Numerous public meetings and processions were organised in cities as well as
villages to promote the use of Swadeshi goods and boycott foreign goods.
 Corps of volunteers (or ‘samitis’ as they were called) were another major form of
mass mobilisation widely used during Swadeshi Movement.
 Traditional popular festivals, folk theatre forms and ‘melas’ (fairs) were
creatively used as means of reaching out to masses.
 As ‘self-reliance’ was an important aspect of Swadeshi movement, serious
attempts were made to become ‘self-reliant’ in various fields especially in
education and business enterprises catering to day to day needs.
 ‘Charkha’ (spinning wheel) came to typify the popular concern for country’s
economic self sufficiency.

Prominent Personalities associated with Swadeshi Movement:

 Boycott of British goods was first suggested by Krishna Kumar Mitra in 1905
through his journal ‘Sanjivni’.
 Lokmanya Tilak took the Swadeshi Movement to different parts of India,
especially to Pune and Bombay.
 Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai spread the Swadeshi message in Punjab and other
parts of Northern India.
 Syed Haidar Raza led the Swadeshi Movement in Delhi.
 Chidambaram Pillai took the Swadeshi Movement to Madras presidency, which
was also galvanised by Bipin Chandra Pal’s extensive lecture tour.
 The ‘Swadeshi Bandhab Samiti’ set up by Ashwini Kumar Dutt, a school teacher
in Barisal, was the most active volunteer organisation spreading the Swadeshi
message in villages.
 Acharya P. C. Ray organised his famous Bengal Chemical Swadeshi Stores.
 Even the Great Rabindranath Tagore helped to open a Swadeshi Store.

Reaction of British Empire to Swadeshi Movement:

 In Bengal, the British crackdown came soon enough, particularly on the

students. Disciplinary actions were taken against the students with many of them
being fined, expelled, arrested, or beaten up by the police.
 Most repressive was the ‘Carlyle Circular’ which threatened withdrawal of grants
and scholarships including disaffiliation of such institutions which failed to
prevent students’ participation in politics.
 Among other measures of repression, shouting of ‘Vande Matram and holding
public meetings in certain areas was banned.
 Press was controlled through the Newspaper Act which enabled their seizure.
 Swadeshi workers were arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned.
 Police ‘lathi charge’ on mass gatherings was quite frequent.
 Most of the leaders were arrested or deported by 1908

Effects of Swadeshi Movement:

 Women, Students and the large section of urban and rural population of Bengal
and other parts of India became actively involved in politics for the first time.
 Although peasants were not actively involved in this movement, owing to
intensive Swadeshi propaganda, they were exposed to the nationalist ideas and
politics for the first time.
 Bengal National College, inspired by Tagore’s Shantiniketan was set up with
Aurobindo Ghosh as its Principal. Scores of National Schools sprung up all over
the country within a short period. In August 1906 National Council of
Education was established.
 This period saw a mushrooming of Swadeshi textile mills, soap and match
factories, tanneries, banks, insurance companies etc.
 Swadeshi Movement also brought a cultural revival and fostered the emergence
of nationalist art, literature, music and science.
 More importantly, conscience of people at large was awakened and they were
prepared to take bold political steps to challenge the British Supremacy in all
spheres.

Drawbacks of Swadeshi Movement:

 Except from few prominent Muslims like Abdul Rasul – the barrister, Liaquat
Hussain – the popular agitator and Guznavi – the businessman, Swadeshi
Movement was not able to garner support from middle and upper class
Muslims. This was mainly due to policy of communal divide practiced by British.
 All India Muslim League which was formed during Swadeshi Movement was the
direct outcome of these divisionary policies of British.
 In spite of being a popular movement, there was no active participation from
the peasantry. The movement was largely confined to upper and middle classes.
 Use of traditional festivals, customs and institutions for mobilising the masses
was misinterpreted and falsely portrayed by Govt. supporters as a measure to
promote religious communalism.
 The Swadeshi Movement did not create an efficient party structure or
organisation, which was necessary to sustain the movement.
 Moreover it also brought to front, the differences in methodologies of
Extremists and Moderates within the Indian National Congress (INC), which
eventually resulted in splitting of INC in 1907.

Conclusion

 Swadeshi Movement was the most successful of the pre-Gandhian movement. It

became a stepping stone of Nationalist movement, which led to the beginning
of organised political movement in India.
 Swadeshi Movement occupies a unique place in the history of Indian Freedom
Movement as all the trends and patterns of Indian political scene thereafter,
whether conservative or radical, owed their genesis to this movement.