Indian History

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 ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a landmark cultural exposition titled “Lotus Light: Relics of the Awakened One” on January 3, 2026, at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex in New Delhi. Organised by the Ministry of Culture, the exposition will showcase the revered Sacred Piprahwa Relics along with associated antiquities, highlighting India’s deep civilisational ties with the teachings of Lord Buddha and its commitment to the preservation of its rich spiritual heritage. The relics on display include repatriated sacred artefacts of immense historical, archaeological and spiritual significance, revered by Buddhist communities worldwide. The exhibition marks a significant moment in India’s cultural and diplomatic engagement.  The Piprahwa relics of Lord Buddha were discovered by British civil engineer and landowner William Claxton Peppé in 1898 from Piprahwa, the ancient site of Kapilavastu in the Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The holy remains have returned to Ind...

  1561 - Death of Bairam Khan, the preceptor to Mughal emperor Akbar and Mughal military commander, on 31st January 1561 on his way to Mecca. Bairam Khan was relieved of his post and was ordered by Akbar to go to Mecca.   Bairam Khan was instrumental in establishing the Mughal rule after Humayun's exile from India during the reign of Sur rulers.    He was killed by an Afghan at Patan on his way to Mecca.  1600 - English company the East India Company was formed on December 31, 1600. The company was given a monopoly of all English trade to Asia by royal charter in that year.  

1887 -  Noted Indian freedom fighter, educationist,  lawyer,    author and statesman.  K. M. Munshi was born on  30 December 1887  in  Bharuch (Broach) , in present-day western Indian state of Gujarat.  Munshi  was a member of Indian National Congress , Swatantra Party and Vishva Hindu Parishad . he also served as a governor of Uttar Pradesh. Munshi also founded the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust,  in the year 1938.  In 1950  Munshi started  Van Mahotsav, a festival to promote tree plantation and environmental conservation in India. 1906 - The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca (now the capital of Bangladesh). It had led the movement for the creation of new Muslim state (Pakistan).  1943 - On 30th December 1943, Netaji Subhas hoisted the Tricolor flag for the first time in Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and renamed the Andaman Islands as Shaheed Dweep & Nicobar Islands a...

1844-   Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee or Umesh Chandra Banerjee , the first president of Indian National Congress in 1885 , is born on 29 December 1844 in Calcutta. He was also the first Indian to fight the election to British Parliament. 1930- Muhammad Iqbal 's presidential address in Allahabad on 29 December in the annual session of the All-India Muslim League in 1930 introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Allama Iqbal, was an Urdu poet and lawyer. Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on November 9, 1877, he was a nationalist during early years of career writing the famous nationalist song: Sare Jahan se Accha, Hindositan hamara, but later on he voiced the idea of a separate Muslim state in the north-west India in his presidential address to the annual session of the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. It was this idea which later fructified and culminated in the creation of a separate Muslim state of Pakistan ...

1659 - The Battle of Kolhapur took place on 28 December, 1659, near Kolhapur city, Maharashtra. It was fought between the Maratha forces under Shivaji, and the Adil Shahi forces led by Bijapur general Rustam-i-Zaman. 1885 - The Indian National Congress (INC) is founded by A.O. Hume in Mumbai. First session of INC was held in Mumbai from 28 –31 December in 1885. 1937 - Indian industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata was born on 28 December, 1937

1797 - The famous Urdu and Persian poet  Mirza Asadullah Khan popularly known as  Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra on 27 December 1797. Today is Ghalib's 228th birth anniversary.   Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, Mirza Ghalib was patronized by the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar (Zafar ascended the Mughal throne in 1837). Mirza Ghalib died in Delhi on February 15, 1869.  He was buried near the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya in Hazrat Nizamuddin locality in Delhi Ghalib was also well versed in Persian.  1911 - The national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana, was first publicly sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. 

Today is 126th birth anniversary of  Udham Singh , an Indian freedom fighter with association with Ghadar Party, a political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India.  Born as Sher Singh on December 26th, 1899 in Sunam Village in Sangrur district of the north-western Indian state of Punjab, Udham Singh is known for avenging the infamous Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar by murdering Michael O’Dwyer after 21 years. Michael O’Dwyer , who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919 when Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar, had ordered the firing on the innocent people who have gathered here to protest the arrest of Congress leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal under Rowlatt Act . In 1919 soldiers of the British Army in India had opened fire on the crowd in a walled public garden and killed over 1,000 of them. This became known variously as the Amritsar Massacre or the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The ...

1530 - Zahir-ud-din  Muhammad Babur Shah or Babur, as he is generally called, died on 26 th  December at the age of 47 in 1530 in Agra. Babur was the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India in 1526. The Mughal rule in India came to an end in 1857 when it last ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Burma by the British. 1704 -  Two sons of 10th Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh (9-year-old  Zorawar Singh  and 6-year-old F ateh Singh ) were bricked alive by the Mughals under their governor Wazir Khan in Sirhind in 1705 for refusing to convert to Islam.  The martyrdom of  Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh is commemorated at Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab.  1831 - Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, founder of Young Bengal Movement, passes away on 26 th  December 1831 at a young age of 22 in Calcutta.

1861- Leading nationalist and patriot Madan Mohan Malaviya was born on 25th December 1861 in Allahabad. He had founded Banaras Hindu University in 1916 and remained its vice-chancellor from 1919 to 1938. Madan Mohan Malaviya was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress four times, (1909, 1918, 1932, and 1933). He was also the founder of Hindu Mahasabha.  1876 - Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, was born on Dec 25, 1876 in Karachi. 

  On 24th December, 1524 , renowned Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died in Cochin (now Kochi), a major port in India. Pattabhi Sitaramayya , freedom fighter and president of Indian National Congress in 1948, was born in Andhra Pradesh on 24th December, 1880. He was defeated by Subhash Chandra Bose for the post of Congress President in Tripura Session of 1939. Mahatma Gandhi termed Sitaramayya’s defeat as ‘his own’. On 24th December, 1924, famous playback singer Mohammed Rafi was born. Periyar E.V.Ramasami , prominent social worker and freedom fighter, passes away on 24th December in 1973 at the age of 94. He started the Self-Respect Movement, one of the several social movements for the uplift of the society. Melakkath Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, dies on 24th December in 1987. A very popular politician, he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The crowd that gathered in his funeral was one of the largest in Independent India. He was posthumously awarded India’s ...

Born on 23 December 1845 in Khandaghosh village in the Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal in 1845, Rash Behari Ghose was an eminent lawyer, educationist, social worker and philanthropist. His was a brilliant academic career. He proved to be a very successful lawyer. Rash Behari Ghose was a leading leader of the moderate wing of the Indian National Congress. During the freedom struggle for India there were two divisions in the Indian National Congress (INC)- moderate and extremist. He is said to have called the extremists “irresponsible agitators” and “pestilential demagogues”. He was a believer in the British sense of justice.     Rash Behari Ghose was elected President of the Indian National Congress at the Surat session of 1907. It was at the Surat session when INC split into two sections: moderate and extremist. He was again elected president of the INC in its subsequent session in 1908.    Rash Behari Ghose breathed his last on February, 28, 1921....

  December 23 is the death anniversary of Swami Shraddhanand , a pioneer of Indian culture and nationalism. Swami Shraddhanand was a leading member of the famous reform movement Arya Samaj and tried his best to propagate the ideals and teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati , who founded the movement in 1875. A nationalist leader from Punjab, he strove hard to reform Hinduism of purging it all later degenerate features that had crept into it.  Born as Munshi Ram Vij on February 22, 1856 at Talwan village in Jalandhar district in Punjab province, Shraddhanand has left an indelible mark on India’s culture which will continue to inspire future generations. Shraddhanand was a courageous social reformer who opposed illiteracy, the prevailing caste system, untouchability, and advocated widow remarriage, national unity and integrity. On 4th April, 1919 , he delivered a speech on the Hindu Muslim unity from the pulpit of Jama Masjid in Delhi. To B R Ambedkar, Shraddhanand was ‘t...

Q.1.  The Sungas were succeeded by  (A) Mauryas   (B) Kanvas  (C) Satavahanas  (D) Kushanas Q.2. The author of Buddhacharita was  (A) Nagarjuna  (B) Asvagosha  (C) Vasumitra  (D) Nagasena  Q.3. Pattini Cult in Tamil Nadu was introduced by  (A) Pandyan Neduncheliyan  (B) Cheran Senguttuvan  (C) Elango Adigal  (D) Mudathirumaran  The greatest of the early Chera kings was Pirakotiya Senguttuvan, also known as Red Chera, who was a contemporary of the poet Paranar, one of the most famous and long-lived poets of the Sangam Period. Paranar credits Senaguttuvan with a number of conquests. He also made a campaign to North India to get a Himalayan stone to make an idol of Goddess Kannagi (the Goddess of Chastity). According to early Tamil epic Silappadikaram, the ruler was the founder of the famous Pattini cult related to the worship of the Goddess of Chastity, which after became common in South India and Sri Lanka. Q...

1942 – During the World War II Japanese air forces bombed Calcutta on the night of December 20, 1942. Bombs were dropped all over the city. Dalhousie Square  (B.B.D. Bagh), Mangoe lane and Hatibagan were some of the areas that were directly affected by the attack.

1927 - Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil , Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan , were executed by the British colonial power for participation in the Kakori conspiracy carried out on August 9th, 1925. Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan were hanged in Gorakhpur, Allahabad and Faizabad- all in the current state of Uttar Pradesh.  1961 - Goa, Daman and Diu were liberated from Portuguese rule and incorporated into India on 19th December in 1961. 

1887 - Birth of Bhikhari Thaku r on December 18, 1887 . Bhikhari Thakur (1887-1971) was one of the greatest writers in Bhojpuri and most popular folk writer of Bihar. Called the 'Shakespeare of Bhojpuri, Bhikhari Thakur was a playwright, actor, folk singer and a social reformer.  ‘Bidesiya’ was his most famous play .   He was born on December 18, 1887 in a barber family in Kutubpur (Diyara) village of Saran district.

Rajendra Lahiri 1927 - Revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri was hanged to death on 17th December 1927 in Gonda District Jail, now in Uttar Pradesh. After a long trial he was found guilty of taking part in the Kakori conspiracy carried out on August 9th, 1925. On this day a train carrying government money was passing Kakori near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Lahiri pulled the chain resulting in the stopping of the train. The money was looted, but an Indian passenger named Ahmad Ali got killed by mistake. Rajendra Lahiri, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqullah Khan were sentenced to death. Rajendra Lahiri was hanged two days before the other three. Rajendra Lahiri was an active member of the Hindustan Republican Association.  Lahiri was also prosecuted for his role in the Dakshineswar bombing.  On December 17, 1927 , Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru  shot dead JP Saunders, assistant superintendent of police, in Lahore. They mistook Saunders for their i...

Celebrated annually on 16 December, Vijay Diwas or Victory Day commemorates India’s decisive victory over Pakistan Armed Forces in Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. The day marks the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers to the forces of the Indian Army n December 16, 1971, paving the way for the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation. The emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign country in 1971 is an important event in the world history. At the time of Indian independence in 1947 Bangladesh was a part of newly created nation of Pakistan. Since then, (it is still the case) Pakistan had been carrying their hate India campaign since its creation. It was nor ready (is still not ready) to understand that the future of India and Pakistan depends on peace and cooperation between these two countries. Before its independence in 1971 Bangladesh was described as Eastern Pakistan. Due to the high handedness of the West Pakistan (present Pakistan) over the people of Eastern Pakistan, the situat...

1872 - Famous Hindu nationalist leader Dr Balakrishna Shivram Moonje, popularly known as B. S. Moonje, was born on 12 December in 1872. The place of his birth is Bilaspur in the present day in Chhattisgarh.  Moonje was the All India President of the Hindu Mahasabha. He attended the Round Table Conferences in London in 1930 and 1931 as a representative of Hindu Mahasabha much to the chagrin of the Indian National Congress.  Moonje died on 3 March 1948, aged 75.

1946 - Rajendra Prasad   was elected as the President of Constituent Assembly on  11 December 1946 .  Constituent Assembly had drafted the Indian constitution . 

The Battles of Tarain (1191, 1192) were two military engagements between Ghurid ruler Muhammad Ghori and Chauhan King Prithviraj Chauhan at Tarain in the  present-day Haryana state of India.  Battles of Tarain (1191-92) were fought between Prithviraj Chauhan and Shihabuddin, popularly known as Muhammad Ghori.  Prithviraj, known as Rai Pithaura to the Muslim historians, was the greatest ruler of the Chauhan dynasty, whose kings also came to be known as Chahamanas of Sakambhari. Also known as Muizuddin Muhammad bin Sam, Muhammad Ghori was a Turkish invader who made his first Indian expedition in 1175 AD. After subjugating some of the Indian rulers, this governor of Ghazni met Prithviraj, the powerful Rajput ruler of Delhi and Ajmer, at Tarain near Thanesar in present-day Haryana in 1191 AD. According to the Persian historian Ferishta, Prithviraj, with an army of 200,00 horses and 3, 000 elephants, inflicted a terrible defeat on Muhammad Ghori whose army was completely overp...

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) has added Deepavali, India’s spectacular festival of lights, to its 'Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.'  Deepavali, also known as Diwali, is the most widely celebrated Hindu festival in India.  The decision was taken during the twentieth session of the of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, chaired by Vishal V Sharma, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of India to UNESCO. The session of the panel is underway from December 8 to 13 at the Red Fort in Delhi. This is the first time that India is hosting a session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). India currently has 15 elements inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and these include the Kumbh Mela (2017), Durga Puja of Kolkata, Garba dance of Gujarat ...

Q.1. Which Indian President participated in the Irish Freedom  Struggle? (A) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (B) V. V. Giri  (C) S. Radhakrishnan (D) Gulzarilal Nanda Q.2. Which of these battles involved the British? (A) Wandiwash (B) Plaseey  (C) Battle of Chinsurah (D) All the Above  Q.3. Which book was written by Bhavabhuti? (A) Malati Madhava (B) Mṛcchakatika  (C) Mahabhasya (D) Janakiharana  Answer:  1. B. V.V. Giri, India’s president from 1969 to 1974, studied in Dublin, Ireland, where he became involved in the movement to free Ireland from British rule. 2. D 3. A Malati and Madhava; The Deeds of the Great Hero (Mahavircharita); and “The Later Deeds of Rama” (Uttararamcharita) and Mahaviracharita were written by Bhavabhuti

1799 -  Death of Hyder Ali, the  de facto ruler of Mysore. He died on December 7, 1782 during the course of Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84).

Q.1. Which of these places was once called Madras? (A) Chennai (B) Mumbai (C) Kolkata (D) Bengaluru Q.2. Which ancient city of Uttar Pradesh was called "Saketa" in early Buddhist and Jain texts? (A) Ayodhya (B) Shravasti (C) Sarnath (D) Sankassiya  Q.3. Which of these places was once called Wandiwash? (A) Warangal (B) Virudhunagar (C) Vandavasi  (D) Bhongir Q.4. Which of these places was once called Prayagjyotishpura? (A) Sravasti (B) Ayodhya (C) Guwahati (D) Ujjain Q.5. Which of these places was once called Gulbarga? (A) Vijayapura (B) Kulbargi (C) Hubballi (D) Hospet Q.6. Which of these places was once called Quilon? (A) Kollam (B) Jaysimhanadu  (C) Desinganadu (D) All of the above Q.7. Which of these places was once called Trichinopoly? (A) Tinnevelly (B) Tiruchirapalli (C) Tuticorin (D) None of the above  Q.8. Which of these places was once called Bombay? (A) Kolkata (B)  Bengaluru (C) Mumbai (D) Delhi Q. 9. Which of these places was once called Avantika? (A...

Located on the southern banks of the Bhagirathi in West Bengal, Murshidabad is a place that seems to exist suspended in time somewhere between the medieval and the modern. A great centre of trade in the Mughal era, Murshidabad is closely associated with events that ultimately changed the course of modern Indian history. Once the seat of government of the Nawabs of Bengal, this historical place is located on the southern banks of the Bhagirathi in West Bengal.  The Bengal Nawab Siraj-ud-daula was defeated by Robert Clive, the architect of the British power in India, in the Battle of Plassey (now Palashi) in Murshidabad in 1757, laying the foundation of the British Empire in India. Today known more for its silk, Murshidabad is a district town that seems to exist suspended in time somewhere between the medieval and the modern. Named after Murshid Quli Khan, the Diwan of Bengal under Aurangzeb, Murshidabad came to the forefront of attention in 1704 when he transferred his capit...

1956 - Death of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on 6th December in 1956. Ambedkar was one of the chief authors of the Indian Constitution which came into effect on January 26, 1950. He died in 1956. 1992 – The disputed structure of the Babri Masjid, mosque in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, was demolished by Hindu mob on 6th December in 1992. The mosque was built on the order of the first Mughal emperor Babur (reigned from 1526 - 1530) on the site the Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Lord Rama.    The disputed structure was a bone of contention between Muslims and Hindus for a long time.

1950 - Death of famous nationalist, poet, philosopher and spiritual yogi Aurobindo Ghosh on 5th December, 1950 at Pondicherry.  Aurobindo Ghosh was charged with “waging war against the King” in the famous Alipur Bomb Conspiracy case. The Alipore Bomb case trail, also known as the Manicktolla bomb conspiracy or Muraripukar conspiracy, was a criminal trial that took place in 1908.    

1661 - Murad Baksh, son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, was  executed on the 4th December, 1661 on the orders of Aurangzeb for murdering Ali Naqi who was Murad’s one time Divan. Murad has sided with his brother Aurangzeb in the deadly w ar of succession in which all the brothers were killed.  1829 - On 4th December in 1829 Sati practice was banned in all jurisdictions of British India by Governor-General Lord William Bentick under the Bengal Sati Regulation. Sati (written Suttee by older English writers) was the practice of self-immolation by a widow on her husband's funeral pyre.  Sati was never a widespread practice. It has been sporadically been referred to in history.  The first datable reference to sati is found in the Greek accounts of Alexander invasions and the first memorial, dated 510 AD to the custom is found at Eran near Sagar in the state of Madhya Pradesh. In medieval India, the practice became very common. The practice of sati was disapproved of by Ban...

The Battle of Amroha was fought between the armies of the Delhi Sultanate of India and the Mongols of Central Asia. The battle took place on 20 December in 1305 during the reign of Alauddin Khilji , second ruler of the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the second of the five dynasties, the combination of which went on to be called the Delhi Sultanate. Mongol invasion of Delhi Sultanate was a recurrent feature from 1221 to 1327.   Fought in what is now in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the Battle of Amroha resulted in the defeat of the Mongol forces who were led by Ali Beg who was trampled under the feet of the elephants on the order of Khilji Sultan. Other prisoners were put to death and their skulls were embedded into the walls of the fortress of Siri which was commissioned by Allaudin Khilji in Delhi.