Indian History

The area that constitutes the present day state of Maharashtra was the scene of the flourishing of many dynasties. After coming into the control of the Mauryan Empire, Satavahana kingdom held its sway over the territory. Junnar , thirty miles north of Pune, was the capital of the Satavahanas at one point of time. During the Satavahana period, Maharashtra became a great centre of culture and learning. The official language of Satavahana was Maharashtri , which later developed into Marathi. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satkarni , who took pride in calling himself the destroyer of the Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parthians). He is credited to have started the Shalivahana era, a new calendar, still used by the Maharashtrians. Sri Yajna Satkarni was the last great king of the Satavahana kingdom. According to some Puranas, 19 kings of this dynasty ruled for 300 years, while according to others, 30 kings ruled for 465 years. The d

Various dynasties held their sway over the territory that constitutes the present day state of Madhya Pradesh. Many places in the state find mention in the ancient scriptures such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Khajuraho The city of Ujjain, earlier known as Avanti, made its mark as a major center of power and learning in the sixth century BC. The whole area came under the control of the Maurya Empire (321 to 185 BCE). After the downfall of the Mauryan Empire, the territory was ruled by various dynasties including the Satavahana and the Sakas. The Gupta dynasty which ruled over the state is considered to be golden period of the Indian history. The medieval period witnessed the emergence of several dynasties including the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chandelas of Bundelkhand. The world heritage site of Khajuraho temples were built by the Chandelas of Bundelkhand. The territory came under the control of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. The present day Madhya Pradesh

One of the few Portuguese colonies, Dadra and Nagar Haveli is currently a Union Territory in western India. The territory came under the rule of the Portuguese dominion in India in 1779 and remained under their control till 1954. India’s independence in 1947 instilled a sense of patriotism and confidence in the residents of Dadra and Nagar Haveli who were now filled with the desire of throwing of the yoke of foreign rule. As a result, a movement was started under the aegis of the United Front of Goans (UFG) and the National Movement Liberation Organisation (NMLO) resulting in the independence of Dadra and Nagar Haveli from the Portuguese rule. The movement was ably supported by the Azad Gomantak Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh . Dadra and Nagar Haveli, thus, became a free nation. The residents of the territory sought help from the Government of India. From 1954 to 1961 Dadra and Nagar Haveli was administered by a body called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Lord Mountbatten, a member of the British Royal family, assumed office as Viceroy on March 24, 1947 and was the last Viceroy of India. His administration in India witnessed the creation of the independent states of India and Pakistan, Mountbatten , after meeting various warring groups, came to the conclusion that only solution to the constitutional impasse was partition of the country and he won over the congress leaders to that viewpoint. On June 3, 1947 ( June 3rd Plan ) the plan to partition India was announced. On July 4, 1947, the Indian independence act was introduced in the House of Commons by British Prime Minister Clement Attlee . Two boundary commissions were set up- one for the partition of Bengal and other for the partition of Punjab. Sir Cyril Radcliffe was appointed the chairman of both commissions. On August 7 Jinnah left India for Karachi and the constituent assembly of Pakistan elected him as its president. The constituent assembly of the Indian union met in Delhi on

A famous 11th-century Kashmiri poet, Bilhana ‘s claim to fame is his love poem, Caurapancasika (Fifty Stanzas of the Thief’). In a class of its own, Caurapancasika describes the secret love of a bold housebreaker and a princess and is full of intense emotion. Born in Kashmir, Bilhana left his native place to seek employment in the court of Later Chalukyas. Bilhana is known for composing a eulogy of the great Western Chalukyan ruler Vikramaditya VI titled Vikramankadevacharita (“Deeds of Vikramaditya). It is stated in Vikramankadevacharita that  Vikramaditya VI was asked by Shiva to replace his elder brother who was the reigning Chalukya monarch.

The efforts of rulers of the Delhi Sultanate to assert their rule over the conquered territories became unsuccessful. As a result several provincial dynasties came into being and wielded substantial sovereign power and contributed to the growth of art, architecture and literature.  One such dynasty was the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur , north of Varanasi in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur was founded by Malik Sarwar , a eunuch belonging to Sultan Firuz Tughluq. Malik Sarwar’s astonishingly fast rise to power can be attributed to the chaos that ruled supreme after the death of Firuz in 1388. He was made wazir of the Delhi sultanate by Firuz’s younger son, Muhammad Shah (1390-93) who conferred on him the title of Sultanush-Sharq (Ruler of the Eastern Kingdom).  Malik Sarwar’s rise continued and in 1394 was appointed governor of Jaunpur, where he successfully repulsed the uprisings by the Hindu chiefs of Bihar and Avadh. The chiefs of Darbhanga, Muzaf

One of the pioneers of social reforms in British India, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-1895) was born at Tembhu in Satara district of Maharashtra. He was one of the founders of the D eccan Education Society in 1884, with Lokmanya Tilak , Vishnushastri Chipalunkar and Madhavrao Namjoshi being the other members. Agarkar was also one of the founder members of the Fergusson College in Pune in 1885. In 1891 he became the Principal of the Fergusson College in 1892 and held that office till his unexpected death in 1895. Agarkar was the first editor of Marathi weekly the Kesari and English weekly the Mahratta started by Lokmanya Tilak. Following his differences with Tilak, he started his own weekly the Sudharak In 1888. Gopal Krishna Gokhale used to contribute to this weekly. Throughout his life, Agarkar fought to raise the age of marriage for boys and girls.