Execution of young Indian revolutionary Anant Laxman Kanhere on 19th April in 1910 by the British colonial government for shooting Nashik district collector Arthur Mason Tippetts Jackson on 21 December 1909.
Today is the birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who was a leader of the depressed classes throughout his life. He worked for the moral and material progress of the 'untouchables'.
B. R. Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 in Mhow (now officially known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar) in Madhya Pradesh. He belonged to the 'untouchable' Mahar caste.
Ambedkar was a great scholar who studied economics at Columbia University and the London School of Economics.
In 1924 Ambedkar founded the Depressed Classes Institute (Bahishkrit Hitkarni Sabha) in Bombay. Three years later in 1927 he established the Samaj Samta Sangh to propagate the gospel of social equality between caste Hindus and worked for the uplift of the 'untouchables'.
In December 1927, he led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the rights of the 'untouchables' to draw water from public wells and tanks.
In 1928 he organized temple entry movement named Parvati temple satyagraha. He started Kalasam temple satyagraha during 1930 and 1935.
In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party for protecting the interest of the labour classes. That year he wrote seminal work Annihilation of Caste which strongly criticizes the caste system.
In 1942 he founded Scheduled Castes Federation to campaign for the rights of the Dalit community.
Ambedkar was one of the chief authors of the Indian Constitution which came into effect on January 26, 1950. He resigned from government in 1951. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism, and he died later that year.
The infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British colonial power under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on thousands of people who had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh public gardens in Amritsar to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence leaders of Amritsar, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. Passed in 1919, the Rowlatt Act was a repressive law passed by the British colonial government in India which gave the police sweeping powers to arrest and detain people without trial.
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.
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 bloodbath was endorsed by Michael O’Dwyer who had called it “correct action”. Michael O’Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919 when Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place.
On 13 March 1940, Udham Singh shot O’Dwyer at London's Caxton Hall where he was attending a meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society. O’Dwyer was killed instantly.
Ancient Times
Karnasuvarna (কর্ণসুবর্ণ), currently located in the present day Murshidabad district, was the capital of Gauda Kingdom, ruled by Sasank, a contemporary of Harshvardhan (Harsha) of Kanauj and his arch enemey. Sasank had killed Rajyavardhana, elder brother and predecessor of Harsha. Sasank ruled in the first half of the seventh century AD.
It was after the death of Sasank that the Gauda kingdom of Karnasuvarna became a part of the Assam's Kamarupa kingdom which was ruled by Bhaskaravarman.
Mughal Period
Named after Murshid Quli Khan, the Diwan of Bengal under Aurangzeb, Murshidabad came to the forefront of attention in 1704 when the former transferred his capital from Dacca to this place and renamed it Murshidabad. Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal and the founder of the Nasiri dynasty which ruled Bengal from 1717 until 1740.
Siraj ud Daula became the Nawab of Bengal after the death of his grandfather Alivardi Khan who died in 1756. He was the son of latter's youngest daughter. This was not liked by his near relations including his mother’s eldest sister, Ghasiti Begum, and his cousin Shaukat Jung who went all length to conspire against him. In addition Siraj ud Daula found in Mir Jafar, the Commander-in-Chief of the army, a formidable enemy.
Though inexperienced and lacking decision making power, Siraj-ud-Daulah became successful in overcoming these challenges by killing Shaukat Jung in October 1756. Ghasiti Begum was rendered powerless by the confiscation of her wealth. Mir Jafar was replaced by Mir Madan as the commander of the army.
Siraj ud Daula, the then Nawab of Bengal, resented to the interference by the East India Company in his province. He was also livid with the company’s abuse of the commercial privileges which was granted by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar under the firman of 1717.
With the worsening of the relations between the Bengal Nawab and the English, the latter hatched a conspiracy with Mir Jafar. The battle of Plassey was fought on 23 June 1757, resulting in the defeat of Siraj-ud-Daulah who fled from the battlefield. He was, however, captured and put to death by the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar who was now made the Nawab of Bengal.
1796 - First Elephant arrives in U.S. on April 13 in 1796
1919 - The infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British colonial power under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on thousands of people who had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh public gardens in Amritsar to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence leaders of Amritsar, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal.
1482 - Birth of Rana Sanga on 12 April in 1482. Ruler of Mewar from 1508 to 1528, Rana Sanga was the grandson of Rana Kumbha (1417–1468) and grandfather of Maharana Pratap.
1801 - Declaration of Ranjit Singh as the Maharaja of Punjab on 12 April in 1801. Born on November 13, 1780, in Gujranwala, which is now in modern-day Pakistan, Ranjit Singh is one of the most remarkable rulers in Indian history,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the only son of Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl, one of the several Sikh confederacies (misls) that existed in Punjab at the time. Often referred to as the "Lion of Punjab," Ranjit Singh ruled from 1801 to 1839.
1885- Birth of Indian archaeologist R. D. Banerji (Rakhal Das Banerji) on 12 April in 1885 in Murshidabad. Mohenjo-daro was discovered by R.D. Banerji, .
The Moenjodaro was discovered in 1922, while R.D. Banerji, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, was excavating a Buddhist stupa.
12 kilometres from Moenjodaro railway station, in Larkana district of Sindh in Pakistan, the Moenjodaro remains are situated on the western bank of the river Indus.
After the death of sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the disintegration of the Mughal Empire was rapid. Delhi, the seat of power of the Mughals, gave way to Bengal as the centre of political importance in India. It can be ascertained from the fact that the British win over Siraj ud Daula in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, which took place just 50 years after death of Aurangzeb, laid the foundation of the British Empire in India. During the period, Bengal was ruled by the Nawabs with their capital at Murshidabad. Though nominally governors or viceroys of the Mughals, the Nawabs were independent heads of state for all practical purposes.
Murshidabad
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.
One of the most written-about and photographed of the monuments in the world, the Hawa Mahal ( Palace of Winds) was built in 1799 by Sawai ...
