Rise of Indian Nationalism

Rise of Indian nationalism:

courtsey : http://www.linkup.au.com

    Indians did not generally feel content about British rule in India. Indians lacked equal job opportunities.They were not allowed to advance to high positions in government service or to become officers in the army. In 1885, a number of Indian lawyers and professionals formed the Indian National Congress. Members of the organization belonged to various religions and came from all parts of India. Congress members debated political
and economic reforms, the future of India, and ways for Indians to achieve equal status with the British. 
    Some Muslims believed the Indian National Congress was a Hindu organization aiming for Hindu rule. In 1906, several Muslim leaders, encouraged by the British, formed the All-India Muslim League.
Members of the organization sought to give the Muslims a voice in political affairs. However, most Muslims continued to support the Indian National Congress. 
    In 1905, the British divided the state of Bengal into separate Hindu and Muslim sections. Indians protested this action with a boycott of British goods and a series of bombings and shootings. In an effort to stop the violence, the British introduced the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909. These reforms enlarged the viceroy's executive council to include an Indian. They also allowed Indians to elect representatives to the provincial legislative councils. In 1911, the British reunited Bengal. 
    When World War I broke out in 1914, Britain declared that India was also at war with Germany. Indian troops fought in many parts of the world. In return for support, the British promised more reforms
and agreed to let Indians have a greater role in political affairs. Nevertheless, protests against the British continued. 
    In March 1919, the British passed the Rowlatt Acts to try to control protests in India. The acts attempted to restrict the political liberties and rights of Indians, including the right to trial by jury. But demonstrations against the government increased in response to the
acts. On April 13, 1919, thousands of Indians assembled in an enclosed area in Amritsar. Troops entered the meeting place and blocked the entrance. The British commander then ordered the soldiers to open fire on the unarmed crowd. The shots killed about 400 people and wounded about 1,200. This event, called the Amritsar Massacre, proved to be a turning point. From then on, Indians demanded complete independence from British rule. The British promised more reforms, but at the same time, they tried to crush the independence movement. 
    The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were passed in late 1919 and went into full effect in 1921. The reforms increased the powers of the provincial legislative councils, where Indians were most active. The central legislative council was replaced by a legislature with most of its members elected. However, the viceroy and the governors still had the right to veto any bill. The Indians did not believe the reforms gave them enough power. 
    By 1920, Mohandas K. Gandhi had become a leader in the Indian independence movement and in the Indian National Congress, which had become the most important Indian political organization. Gandhi
persuaded the Congress to adopt his program of nonviolent disobedience, also known as nonviolent nonco-operation. Gandhi's program asked Indians to boycott British goods, to refuse to pay taxes, and to stop using British schools, courts, and government services. As a result, some Indians gave up well-paying jobs that required them to cooperate with the British. Gandhi changed the Indian National Congress from a small party of educated men to a mass party with millions of followers.

First World War

This is the presentation prepared by me on the topic 'First World War' for the class 10.

State Legislature

Here is the Powerpoint Presentation on the working of the state Legislature under the  Indian constitution. (click on the image below to download)

Indus Valley Civilisation

River valleys have always played an important role in the progress of the Human civilization. It was on the banks of river Nile and Euphrates, there developed the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia respectively. Similarly on the banks of river Indus there developed a civilization known as the Indus Valley Civilization. It is so far the oldest civilization of India. Though most of the sites related to it are now situated in Pakistan. It is also known as the Harappan Culture, a name given after the first site found – Harappa. The second most important site is that of Mohenjodaro (Mound of the Dead).
The basic difference between the Indus and the other civilizations is lack of written proof. While the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians left a lot of written material but we have very less documental proof regarding the Indus Culture. The little amount which we have have not been yet deciphered.
So we can say that the civilization belonged to the Pre – Historic period. The period about which we don’t have any record. It was before the age of written history or before the language developed.
It was in 1921 that Daya Ram Sahni discovered Harappa situated in the Montegomery district of Pakistan and in 1922 Dr. R.D. Banerjee discovered Mohenjodaro in the Larkana district of Pakistan.
Other places Include:
Pakistan – Bahawalpur, Balochistan (Sutkagendor)
India – Punjab (Ropar, Sanghol, Kotla Nihang Khan)
Rajasthan (Kalibangan)
Uttar Pradesh (Alamgirpur)
Chandigarh
Gujarat- Kathiawar (Lothal, Rangpur)
Harayana (Lothal, Rakhigari, Bhagwanpur)

'Red Indians'

Often we read the term - Red Indians. There are many other terms such as Native Americans, Abhorignes,Indian Americans etc which are used in it's place.
The word Red Indian as we can see is made of two words. This is used for the people who are the original natives of America. they used to live here before the Europeon colonisation bagan.
They were called 'Red' because of their colour. It does not mean they were Red in colour, like the people who are called whites are not literally white in colour but fairer than others. Similarly thse natives were a little dark, light brown in colour. so they were called Red.
The word Indian is used because when Christopher Columbus landed on America he thought it to be India, so naturally he called it's inhabitants as indians. Since then the term is attached to them. Because of this many times the term Indian Americans is also used.

End Of the Despot

Hindustan Times
New Delhi, October 30, 2008
First Published: 00:52 IST(30/10/2008)
Last Updated: 00:54 IST(30/10/2008)


On November 10, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom would have completed 30 years in office. But South Asia’s longest-serving authoritarian leader, who it seemed had always been president of the Maldives, was voted out of office in the country’s first multi-party election.

Gayoom, 71, present at every South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit since Saarc was formed 23 years ago, will be missing when the regional body holds its 16th summit in the Maldives next year.

In his place, Mohammed “Anni” Nasheed, leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party, the new President, will be representing his country. The change has come after a long, drawn out struggle for democracy in a country where Gayoom and the Maldives were synonymous.

Nasheed won 54 per cent in comparison to 46 per cent for the longtime ruler in Tuesday’s runoff, election officials said. Nearly 87 per cent of the nation’s 209,000 registered voters had cast their ballots.

“I want a peaceful transition,” Nasheed, who was 11 years old when Gayoom took power in 1978, told reporters as results came in Wednesday. “I want my supporters to be calm.”

“This is a happier day than ever in the history of the Maldives. The Maldives will change, it will have a peaceful government,” said Nasheed, 41.

He said he had no plans to pursue criminal charges against Gayoom, whom he had accused of corruption, but instead will arrange a pension and security for him.

“A test of our democracy will be how we treat Maumoon. I don’t think we should be going for a witch-hunt and digging up the past,” Nasheed added.

“In the life of a democracy this is a great moment, a great example by Maldivians. I accepted the will of the people," Gayoom said after his defeat.

“My legacy is going to be introducing a modern, liberal form of democracy. That is the greatest legacy anyone can give.”

Gayoom, who “won” 96.4 per cent of the total vote in 1988 as his highest in six terms as president, polled 90.28 per cent as “lowest” in 2003.

With the Maldives embracing democracy, and Pakistan and Nepal holding credible elections, South Asia’s map suddenly looks less authoritarian. Only Bangladesh, where the military rules by proxy, and Myanmar, where the military rules directly, remain holdouts.

Gayoom missed shattering Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew’s 31-year, unbroken stint as prime minister from 1959 to 1990.

Vibrant Culture

Though Indian People are normally presented in a poor light by the west but in fact they are far better. It pains a lot when some so called educated elite of India themselves join the west and start attacking their own culture. We should know that in India we have the oldest continuing cultural tradition. No where in the world do we find anything parallel to it. Egyptians or Iraqis were not aware of the culture of their forefathers until the archaeologists arrived. Even the Greeks only had vague knowledge. On the other hand when Europeons came to India they found that the people here were fully aware of their past. Even a common Indian knew about the famous person living in their locality, thousand years before Christ. The mantras which the Brahmins chant are written even before that.

Anglicist and Orientilist

Earlier the britishers in India regarded education as the personal matter of the Indians and they never interferred. But as the time passed they needed some educated men so that they can serve them by doing some kind of clerical jobs. But they realised that indigeneous education system was not competent enough to produce such men. By the charter Act of 1813 it was decided that every year 1 Lakh rupees would be spent on the propogation of education on India. 
At this there arose a controversy. The officials of the East India company were divided over the issue of propogation of which education - Oriental or Anglicised.
Either Indigeneous education was to be promoted or the Modern English Education. A General Comittee of Public Instruction was made to look into the matter.
Within the committee the two groups, the Orientalist was led by H.T. Princep and the Anglicist by Lord Macauly.
The aim of the British as stated in the famous minute of Lord Macaulay in 1835 was to produce a class of men Indian in blood and colour but british in oppinion, moral, taste and intellect. In other words they wanted to create 'Brown Englishmen' to fill the lower cadres in the Company's administration. So decision was taken in favour of the Anglicists. 

'Grave neglect: The Begum of Awadh'

This is an article from the magazine : Himal Southasian (July 2008)

Grave neglect: The Begum of Awadh
By: Surabhi Pudasaini

In the Bag Bazaar area of Kathmandu, flanked by a rundown shopping mall on one side and what goes for a phone booth on the other, is a small area enclosed by neat piles of bricks. Inside, on a slightly elevated plane, stands a lonely tree surrounded by flowerpots, used plastic cups and advertisements for phone cards. It is an unremarkable space, and bears no indication of being the tomb of an extraordinary freedom fighter, Begum Hazrat Mahal.
Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh, which spanned large parts of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. She continued to live in Lucknow after the kingdom’s annexation by the British in 1856, and her husband’s subsequent exile to Calcutta. When the revolutionaries captured Lucknow during the first War of Independence, in 1857, Hazrat Mahal promptly rose to the occasion, crowning her 12-year old son Birjis Qadr king, and leading the revolutionary government as a regent-queen.
As the ruler of Awadh, Hazrat Mahal proved herself as a courageous leader and a fine strategist. She travelled great distances, rallying her people to oppose the British, and convincing Indian soldiers in the colonial army to join the rebellion. Lucknow was able to repel the British troops for six months, continuing to fight long after most other revolutionary strongholds had fallen. After the British recaptured the capital, the begum fled to a nearby fort, where she continued to incite rebellion. Even when defeat became a certainty, she refused all offers of clemency and wealth from the British, choosing instead to undertake a hazardous journey through dense forests to the safe haven of Nepal.
There is little reliable information about the more than two decades that Hazrat Mahal spent in Kathmandu. Having been granted asylum by the then-prime minister, Jung Bahadur Rana, by all accounts in exchange for her jewellery and treasures, she is said to have arrived in the valley sometime in 1858, with a small band of faithful supporters. Some narratives state that the Rana rulers gave her a palace in which to live, and also provided a military commission for her son. There is also speculation that Hazrat Mahal continued to play a role in politics from across the frontier.
There is a notable blank in historical records about Hazrat Mahal’s stay in Nepal. She died in Kathmandu in 1879 (some records put it at 1874), and was buried in the courtyard of the ‘Hindustani Masjid’, the mosque she is said to have built for her followers. Decades later, this structure was torn down and a new mosque, now known as the Jama Masjid, was built in its place. Today, the humble mound of bricks that is said to mark Hazrat Mahal’s resting place falls outside the grounds of the mosque. This tomb is certainly inadequate as a marker for the rebel Begum of Awadh, so far away from home in Kathmandu.

Text of Guru Granth Sahib

Guru Granth Sahib contains the composition of all the sikh gurus starting from the first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The first composition in Guru Granth Sahib is 'Japuji Sahib' writtent by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is regarded as the composition which contains the jist of the entire Granth Sahib. The compilation of Granth Sahib was was started by the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev Ji. He started collected the hymns of all the earlier Gurus and compiled all of them into one big volume ie. Guru Granth Sahib. Later on the successive Gurus wrote their hymns and in the end tenth Guru of the sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh ji  added all of them in the Granth Sahib.
Besides the compositions of the sikh gurus it contains the compositions of various saints of the time. Only those compositions were added that were according to the sikh way of thought. 
Guru Granth Sahib ji includes 31 Ragas. Various 'Banis' or compositions are written in various ragas. For further information visit the following link:

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Index_of_Guru_Granth_Sahib