Indian History

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.