Indian History

1842-  Retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul during the First Anglo-Afghan War begins from 6th January 1842.  The  First Anglo-Afghan War  (1838-42) was fought between the British East India Company (EIC) and, the Emirate of Afghanistan.  The war caused the greatest misfortune that ever befell the British army and dealt a severe blow to their prestige in India. The conflict came to such a pass that British were left with no choice but to evacuate Afghanistan. On 6 January 1842, the retreat of the British troops and camp-followers, 16,500 men in all, began from Kabul.  Of them only one, the British doctor Dr. Brydon, reached Jalalabad to tell the painful story of the destruction of the rest due to the attacks by the rebellious Afghans. Consequently the invincibility of the British Empire was shattered. 1885 - Death of Hindi poet, writer, and playwright Bharatendu Harishchandra (9 September 1850 – 6 January 1885) on 6th January, 1885...

Mausoleum of 6th Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s wife Dilras Banu Begum / image Credit   1592- The fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was born on January 5, 1592 , in Lahore. He ruled from 1628 to 1658). 1659 - The Battle of Khajwa ( Khajuha in the Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh) was fought on January 5, 1659, between the newly crowned Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (son of Shah Jahan) and his brother Shah Shuja who had declared himself Mughal Emperor in Bengal. In 1658 , Shah Jahan was made prisoner by his son Aurangzeb who came out victorious in the terrible war of succession that took place among the sons of Shah Jahan. The war for succession continued till 1661 and in between 1658 and 1661 all the remaining sons were killed or executed. 

1316 - Death of  second Khilji Sultan Alauddin Khilji on 4 January 1316.  Alauddin Khilji is buried in a tomb located within the Qutb Minar complex in Mehrauli in Delhi. 1931 - Death of Muhammad Ali Jauhar Khan (10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931), one of the founders of All-India Muslim League and a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement. Muhammad Ali Jauhar was poet and journalist. He had started an English newspaper called “The Comrade”.  1948 - Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, gained independence from Britain on 4 January 1948 after more than 60 years of colonial rule. 

1653 - By the Coonan Cross Oath (Koonan Kurishu Sathyam), the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage in both ecclesiastical and secular matters. Coonan Cross Oath (Koonan Kurishu Sathyam) refers to a public oath taken on 3 January by the Malabar Christian community in 1653 that they would not submit to the authority of the Jesuits and the Latin Catholic hierarchy.  1730 : Rani Velu Nachiyar (3rd Jan 1730 – 25th Dec 1796), first queen to fight against the British colonial power, was born in 1730 AD to the King Sellamuthu Sethupathy and to Rani Sakandhimuthal of Ramnad Kingdom. 1831 - Savitribai Phule, Indian poet, educator, activist, reformer and educationist was born on January 3, 1831 in Naigaon in a lowly Mali family in Maharashtra.  

1878 - Mannathu Padmanabhan, social reformer and freedom fighter from Kerala, was born on 2nd January 1878 in Perunna, Kottayam district of Kerala. He was the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS). He participated in the Vaikom (1924–25) and Guruvayoor (1931) temple-entry Satyagrahas and the anti-untouchability movements.  1954  – India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan. They were instituted on 2nd January.  The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were: C. Rajagopalachari (last Governor-General of India and founded the Swatantra Party),  Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Nobel laureate C. V. Raman. They were honoured in 1954. The first recipients of the Padma Vibhushan award were Satyendra Nath Bose, Nand Lal Bose, Zakir Husain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, and V. K. Krishna Menon, who were honoured in 1954. 

Delhi Durbar 1877 / Image Credit: Unknown Photographer 1662   - Birth of  Balaji Vishwanath  on  1 January 1662 .  Balaji Vishwanath was the first Peshwa of the Maratha kingdom. He is called the  Second Founder of the Maratha State.    1877  - The first Delhi Durbar, also known as the Imperial Durbar, was held on 1st January 1877.  Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India. 1894  – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist and mathematician, was born on 1st January.  1923 - The Swaraj Party or the Congress-Khilafat  Swaraj Party  was formed on 1st January 1923 by Chittaranjan Das (C R Das) and Motilal Nehru. Chittaranjan Das had defended Aurobindo Ghosh in the Alipur Bomb Conspiracy case. The Alipore Bomb case conspiracy, also known as the Manicktolla bomb conspiracy or Muraripukar conspiracy, was a criminal trial took place in 1908. C R Das had presided the annual session of the Indian National ...