Indian History

  Original image  by  W.Taylo 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. With the fall of Napoleonic France in 1814, Russia had emerged as Britain’s potential rival by 1830s. India was the prized possession of the British Empire at that time. Russia has made its Asiatic ambitions clear. But to realize its ambition it would have to gain a diplomatic and military foothold in Afghanistan, an insignificant and impoverished tribal society in the early 19th century. Instead of entering into an alliance with Afghanistan’s ruler, Dost Mohammad, Britain chose to back Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, who had been living in exile in India for three decades. In 1837, Alexander Burnes, an envoy sent by  George Eden (Lord Auckland), the then Governor-Genera...

Faraizi Movement is a nineteenth century religious reform movement which advocated the observance of the original teachings of Islam. The term Faraizi is derived from 'farz' meaning obligatory duties enjoined by Allah.  Starting as a religious (communal) movement in Bengal, Faraizi Movement in course of time became a struggle against the landlords (who were mostly Hindus) who oppressed the common people and farmers and British colonists.  Founded by a puritan and zealot, Haji Shariatullah, the movement began with a call to the Muslims to perform their obligatory duties (Fard) enjoined by Allah with a view to purging the religion of the un-Islamic rites which he considered were contrary to the teachings of the Qu’ran. To give his Muslim followers a separate identity,  a particular dress was introduced. Shariatullah advocated different styles of beards for his followers. Haji Shariatullah was born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) in 1781.  After Haji Shariatullah’s deat...

Santhal Rebellion / Image Credit Santhal Rebellion ( Santhal Hul ) against the British colonialists or to be precise  British East India Company (BEIC) , landlords and Zamindars occurred a couple of years before India’s First War of Independence in 1857. The rebellion spread a considerable area that comprise the ‘Santhal Pargana’ or ‘Damin-i-Koh’ which includes present-day districts of Dumka, Godda, Sahibganj,  Deoghar, Pakur, and parts of Jamtara, in modern -day Jharkhand.  It was June 29, 1855, when two brothers Kanhu Murmu and Sidhu Murmu, belonging to the Santhal community, asked the Santhals to assemble in the valley of Burhyte, modern-day Barhait, in Jharkhand. On the next day more than thousands of Santhals assembled at the Bhognadih village in the Sahibganj district where a divine order was issued asking the Santhals to free themselves from the clutches of their oppressors and “take possessions of the country and set up a government of their own.”  Thus began...

Dalmadal Canon / Image credit The grandeur of Bishnupur in the Bankura district of West Bengal can be ascertained by the presence of many beautiful temples featuring intricate terracotta ornamentation. Built mostly of brick & at times, of laterite, these magnificent temples are the mute spectator to Bishnupur’s glorious past. Apart from the terracotta temples, Dalmadal Cannon is another highlight of Bishnupur.   This 3.8 m long wrought iron forge welded cannon has a barrel with a diameter of 28.5 cm. Built by expert artisan Jagannath Karmakar, this historical canon with Persian inscriptions is  located near Chinnamasta temple in Bishnupur and weighs 11,840 kg. Tradition has it that Dalmadal Cannon was used by the Malla kings of Bishnupur to repulse the ruthless  bargis  (Maratha troops) under  Maratha leader Bhaskar Pundit sent by Raghoji I Bhonsle of Nagpur in the 18th century.  The marauding bands of Maratha cavalry came to be called  ba...

Known as Khuda-e-Sukhan' (God of poetry), Mir Taqi Mir, also spelled Meer Taqi Meer, was born in Agra in 1723 and died in 1810 in Lucknow. He moved to Delhi at the age of 11 after his father's death. Known by his mononym ‘Mir’, Mir Taqi Mir was one of the greatest Urdu poets. When the prestige of the Mughal Empire began to wane and chaos began to reign supreme due to the constant invasions from the foreign powers including Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali, Mir moved to the court of Asaf-ud-Daula Nawab of Oudh in Lucknow in 1782, where he breathed his last on September 21, 1810 at the age of 87. His autobiography is Zikr-i-Mir, originally penned in Persian.

Q.1. The revolutionaries who were arrested in the Central Assembly Bombing Case were? A. Bhagat Singh & Chandrashekar Azad B. Bhagat Singh & Batukeshwar Dutt C. Bhagat Singh & Sachindranath Sanyal D. Jatindra Nath Das & Bhagat Singh Q.2. Rani Gaidinliu was the fearless freedom fighter from: A. Manipur  B. Tripura C. Mizoram D. Nagaland  Q.3. The treaty of Srirangapatnam was signed between Tipu Sultan and A. Robert Clive B. Cornwallis C. Dalhousie D. Warren Hastings Q.4. Who among the following was the first English President of the Indian National Congress? A. George Yule B. Alfred Webb C. Henry John Stedman Cotton D. William Wedderburn Q.5. Both the processes of transfer of power and the partition of India were hurried through in ____ days? A. 72 B. 94 C. 86 D. 92 Q.6. Albuquerque captured Goa from the ruler of A. Golconda B. Vijaynagar C. Ahmednagar D. Bijapur  Q.7. The two Home Rule Leagues in India were led by: A. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant. ...

Born in 1883 at Patti (now in Tarn Taran district) in Punjab, Sohan Lal Pathak was a revolutionary who was hanged at the Mandalay Jail in Burma on 10 February 1916 for organizing an uprising against the British.  In 1901, Sohan Lal Pathak got married to Laksmi Devi who died after giving birth to their son who also died with a week of his birth.   Sohan Lal Pathak came in contact with Lala Lajpat Rai under whom he became the editor of an Urdu journal, Bande Mataram. Bande Mataram was being run by Lala Lajpat Rai in Lahore.  Sohan Lal Pathak went to the USA in 1913 to join the Ghadar Party in California. He was the first revolutionary of the Ghadar Party who went to gallows outside India.

Muhammad Iqbal was an Urdu poet and lawyer. Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on November 9, 1877, he was a great 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 on August 14, 1947. Naturally enough, he is acclaimed as the father of the idea of Pakistan.  Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Allama Iqbal, died in Lahore in 1938.

                                             Kunwar Singh: 1857 Rebellion Hero / Image source A Rajput zamindar, Kunwar Singh is known as a brave leader who unfurled the banner of rebellion against the British in Bihar. At the time of Revolt of 1857, he was eighty years old. However, old age did not deter him from fighting the British with utmost valour.   Popularly known as Veer Kunwar Singh, he was born at Jagdishpur village (then in the erstwhile Shahabad district) in Bhojpur district in Bihar in 1777. Chivalry, undaunted courage and able generalship had earned him the sobriquet of “Lion of Bihar”.  He challenged the British authority and established his own government. He marched to Kalpi in Bundelkhand with a view to give helping hand to Nana Saheb, leader of the revolt in Kanpur. Known for his perfection in guerrilla warfare, he em...

Dinabandhu Mitra is known for his novel Nil Darpan (The Mirror of Indigo) which describes the oppression of the indigo cultivators at the hands of indigo planters, leading to the Indigo Revolt in Bengal in  1859.   Indigo Revolt has been described as "the first Revolution in Bengal after the advent of the English."   Since Dinabandhu Mitra was in government service, he published Nil Darpan in the name of anonymous.

Affectionately called “the Grandfather of Indian Nationalism” Rajnarayan Basu was founder of the Society for Promotion of National feeling (Jatiyo Gaurab Sampadani Sabha),

                                                       Baul Minstrel / Image source The Bauls are mystic minstrels or bards who reside mainly in West Bengal, north-eastern India and in Bangladesh. The sect originated in Bengal in the 17th century and its philosophy of humanism attracts people of all religions, sects, caste and creed for its ethos of inclusion. It was popularised by Lalon Shah whose moving songs of religious tolerance have been inspiring poets, writers and thinkers of every period including Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and American poet Allen Ginsberg. Usually travelling from place to place the Bauls earn their living from singing to the accompaniment of single-stringed ektaras. Shah Abdul Karim , Bhaba Pagla and Purna Das Baul are famous Baul singers. 

                                                     Raja Ram Mohan Roy/Wikipedia Commons Born in 1772 at Radhanagar (in the Hooghly district of West Bengal), Raja Ram Mohan was known for his advocacy of social reform and has been rightly called the father of Indian Renaissance. In 1815, he founded Atmiya Shabha in Calcutta to propagate monotheism and reforms in the Hindu society. In 1828, he founded a sect named Brahmo Sabha which was later renamed Brahmo Samaj in 1882. He launched in 1821 a Bengali weekly newspaper Sambad Kaumudi or “The Moon of the Intelligence” through which he started a campaign for the abolition of Sati .   Among his Persian literary works, Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheists) published in 1803 and  Manazarutul Adyan, a discussion on various religi...

An English missionary and social reformer, Charles Andrews Freer (also known as C. F. Andrews) had a fascination for everything Indian. Born in 1871 in England, He taught at St. Stephens College in Delhi. A close confidante of Mahatma Gandhi, he maintained close association with Gopal Krishna Gokhle, Rabindranath Tagore, and other Indian freedom fighters. He spent time with Gandhi at the Phoenix ashram in South Africa and worked hard to improve the lot of Indians living in African countries, West Indies, Fiji, etc. A veteran trade union activist, Charles Freer Andrews was president of the Trade Union Congress two times (1925 and 1927). He also actively participated in the movements for the eradication of untouchability. Andrews took active participation in the famous Vaikom Satyagraha in 1925. Vaikom Satyagraha was a movement in Travancore in Kerala against removal of deep-rooted malaise of untouchability in Hindu society. Working closely with Dr.B R Ambedkar he formulated the Dali...

The Revolt of 1857, also known as First War of Indian Independence , shook the very foundation of the British Empire in India. Some of the famous quotes related to the Revolt:  “The crisis came at first as a mere military mutiny, it speedily changed its character and became a national insurrection.” – G. B. Malleson   “It is mutiny or is it a national revolt?” – Benjamin Disraeli , British Conservative leader and Prime Minister.  "What began as a fight for religion ended as a war for independence for there is not the slightest doubt that rebels wanted to get rid of the alien government and restore the old order of which the king of Delhi was the rightful representative.” – S.N.Sen   “On the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that so-called First National War of Independence is neither First, nor National, nor a war of independence.” - R.C. Majumadar .  “It is in fact an anachronism to describe the mutiny as the first essay towards modern independen...