Indian History

                                                                      Sheikh Mujibur Rehman  1972  - Following the defeat of Pakistani forces on  16 December 1971 , Bangladesh's independence leader  Bangabandhu   Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was released from jail in Rawalpindi in Pakistan on 22nd December 1971 and came to India via London on 10th January, 1972. December 16  is celebrated to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistani troops in the  Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971  and the emergence of an independent Bangladesh.  On this day Pakistani army surrendered to  Lt. General Jagjit Singh Aurora , the chief Commander of the Joint military command of India and Bangladesh.  The day is celebrated as  Victory Day or Bijoy Dibo...

1399 -  Amir Timur , the terrible Mongol military leader of Central Asia, overran Meerut on  9th January   massacring its inhabitants. Also known as  Tamerlane , Timur (April 8, 1336–February 18, 1405) was a ferocious conqueror who is known in history for razing cities to the ground and putting entire populations to the sword. It was during the reign of  Nasiruddin Mahmud  (1394-1413), the last of the Tughluq rulers, in the years 1398-99 that Tamerlane invaded India creating havoc in the forms of massacres and plunders. 1760  -  Battle of Barari  Ghat was fought on  9th January  in 1760 between Marathas and Afghan invaders who killed the Maratha chief  Dattaji Sindhia . The battle took place at the Barari Ghat of the Jumna (Yamuna) River, 10 miles (16 km) north of Delhi. 

1884 - Death of Keshab Chandra Sen , an Indian philosopher and social reformer, on 8th January, 1884. He was a member of the Brahmo Samaj, founded in 1828 by social reformer Ram Mohun Ray. The first schism in the Brahmo Samaj raised its head in 1866 when Debendranath Tagore, one of the founding members of the Brahmo movement, and Keshub Chandra Sen parted ways on the issue of integrating elements of Christianity, advocated by the latter. On November 11, 1866 the Brahmo community in Calcutta broke up, with Keshub Chandra Sen establishing his own breakaway " Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj" ( Brahmo Samaj of India ). The branch led by Debendranath Tagore came to be called as Adi Brahmo Samaj. Keshub Chandra Sen wrote articles for a journal named Indian Mirror which was started in 1861. In 1867, he helped Atmaram Pandurang establish the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay. Keshav Chandra Sen also established the Indian Reform Association. Keshub Chandra Sen : A Biography Born to a...

  1738   -    Peshwa Bajirao   and Nizam of Hyderabad signed a peace treaty on January 7, 1738 following the Maratha triumph at the Battle of Bhopal which was fought on 24 December 1737.  The Battle of Bhopal took place in Doraha near Bhopal between the Maratha Confederacy and the combined armies of the Mughal chiefs, Nizam-ul-Mulk(Asaf Jah I, first Nizam of Hyderabad), Rajput kingdoms and the Oudh State.

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.