Cultural Achievements of the Pallavas

Civilization and Culture of the Pallavas

The Pallava rule formed a golden epoch in the cultural history of south India. The period under the Pallavas was marked by considerable literary activities and cultural revival. The Pallavas warmly patronized Sanskrit language and most of the literary records of the time were composed in that language. Due to the cultural renaissance and a great revival of the Sanskrit language a galaxy of scholars flourished during the Pallava era, which accentuated the literary and cultural development in Southern India. Tradition referred that Simhavishnu, the Pallava king invited the great poet Bharvi to adorn his court. Dandin, the master of Sanskrit prose probably lived in the court of Narasimhavarmana II. Under the royal patronage, Kanchi became the seat of Sanskrit language and literature. The core of learning and education, Kanchi became the point of attraction for the literary scholars. Dinanaga, Kalidasa, Bharvi, Varahamihir etc were the distinguished person with enormous talent in the Pallava country. Not only the Sanskrit literature, the Tamil literature also received a huge impetus during the Pallava period. “Maatavailasa Prahasana”, written by Mahendravarmana became very popular. The famous Tamil classic “Tamil Kural was composed during the period under the royal patronage. Madurai became a great center of the Tamil literature and culture. The Tamil grammar “Talakappiam” and Tamil versical compilation “Ettalogai” etc were composed during the period. These were of immense literary importance.

From the 6th century AD, due to the Sanskrit revival, long poetical composition replaced the earlier style of the short poetry. Poetry was written according to the taste of the sophisticated and aristocratic people of the society. The “Silappadigaram” is one of such work suited to the taste of the sophisticated, educated people of the Pallava era. One of the most important literary works of the time was “Ramayanam” by Kaban. This is known as the Tamil form and version of Ramayana, where the character of Ravana was painted with all the noble virtues in comparison to Rama. It is consistent with the Tamil tradition and Tamil ego against the Northern Ramayana by Valmiki. The Buddhist literary work “Manimekhala” and the Jaina poetical work “Shibaga sindamani” etc. also flourished during the period.

The devotional songs composed by Vaishnava Alavaras and the Saiva Nayanaras also shared a significant position in the cultural renaissance of the Pallava period. Appar, Sambandhar, Manikkabsagar, Sundar were some of the devotional Narayana poets who composed Tamil Stotras or hymns. Siva was the object of worship and love. Since the Pallava kings were great musicians themselves they were the great patrons of music. Several celebrated musical treatise were also composed under their patronage. During the time painting also received a great patronage from the Pallava kings. Specimen of the Pallava painting has been found in the Pudukottai State.

Civilization of the Pallava period was greatly influenced by the religious reform movement that swept over India during the eighth century. The wave of the reform movement was originated in the Pallava kingdom first. The Pallavas completed the Aryanisation of Southern India. The Jains who had entered south India earlier had set up educational centers at Madurai and Kanchi. They also made a massive use of Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil as the medium of their preaching. But in the competition with the growing popularity of the Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism lost its prominence in the long run.

Mahendravarmana lost interest in Jainism and became a staunch follower and patron of Saivism. Consequently Jainism began to fade out and continued in diminishing glory in centers like Pudukottai and in the hilly and forest regions.

Buddhism, which had earlier penetrated in the south, fought against invading Brahmanism in the monasteries and public debates. The Buddhist scholars debated finer points of theology with Brahmanical scholars and mostly lost the ground.

The civilization of the Pallava period was marked by the tremendous ascendancy of the Hinduism, which has been branded by the modern historians as the victory of the northern Aryanism. It is said that the influx of the mlechcha Sakas, Huns and the Kushanas in Northern India had polluted the significance of the Vedic rites and religion. In order to protect the purity of Vedic religion many Brahmins migrated to Southern India and preached the Vedic Religion. Henceforth the civilization of Deccan or southern India was mostly influenced by the Brahmanical Hinduism. Pallavas became the patrons of the orthodox Vedic preachers. The performance of the horse sacrifices by the Pallava rulers testified the ascendancy of the Vedic civilization. The success of Hinduism was mostly caused by the royal patronage to this religion. Sanskrit was the vehicle of the Brahmanical thought. Hence both the Brahmanical religion and Sanskrit literature made a great progress during the Pallava period. Several centers for the Brahmanical study sprang up. These study centers were closely connected with the temple premises and were known as Ghetikas. The study of the Brahmanical scriptures and literatures was the order of the day. The Pallava kings in order to promote the Brahmanical civilization made land grants or agraharas to the maintenance of the educational institutions. In the 8th century AD, another significant Hindu institution called Mathas or monasteries were in vogue. They were a combination of temple, rest houses, educational centers, debating and discoursing centers and the feeding Houses. The university of Kanchi became the spearhead of Aryan-Brahmanical influences of the South. Kanchi was regarded as one of the sacred cities of the Hindus. The Pallava king though mainly were the worshippers of Vishnu and Siva, they were tolerant towards other religious creeds. Although the religions like Buddhism and Jainism lost its former significance during the Pallava era, yet the civilization of the Pallava period was marked by the multiethnicity promoted by the Pallava kings.

Simon Commission (1927)

  • Indian Statutory Commission chaired by Simon to go into the question of further constitutional reform
  • All its seven members were Englishmen. Clement Attlee was one of the members.
  • Lord Birkinhead was the secretary of state at that time
  • At its Madras session in 1927 INC decided to boycott the commission “at every stage and in every form”
    • ML and Hindu Mahasabha supported Congress
  • Nehru Report, 1928
    • Dominion status
    • Contained Bill of Rights
    • No state religion
    • Federal form
    • Linguistically determined provinces
    • No separate electorates
    • All Party Convention, held at Calcutta in 1928, failed to pass the report
    • Muslim league rejected the proposals of the report
    • Jinnah drafted his fourteen points
    • Hindu Mahasabha and Sikh League also objected
  • Poorna Swaraj
    • Resolution passed at the Lahore session in 1929
    • On 31 December 1929, the tri-color was hoisted
    • On 26 January 1930, Independence Day was celebrated

 

Origin of the Aryans

 

 

The Aryans came to India in several waves. The earliest wave is represented by the Rig Vedic people who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 BC. They came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the Dravidians mentioned as Dasa or Dasyus in Rig Veda. The Rig Veda mentions the defeat of Sambara by Divodasa, who belonged to the Bharata clan. Possibly the Dasyus in the Rig Veda represent the original inhabitants of the country, and an Aryan chief who overpowered them was called Trasadvasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the Dasas, but strongly hostile to the Dasyus. The term Dasyuhatya, slaughter of the Dasyus, is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig Veda.

Some of the chief tribes of the period were Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu Puru, Kuru, Panchala, Bharata and Tritsu. Among the inter-tribal conflicts the most important was the ‘Battle of the Ten Kings.’

 

Important points to remember:

  • The group of Indo-Europeans who moved to Persia and India are known to Aryans
  • The Aryans are the original inhabitants of Central Asia.
  • They arrived in India around 1500 BC, though there is an ongoing debate.
  • The region where the Aryans settled in India was called Sapta Sindhu (also referred to as the Brahmavarta)
  • The Aryans established themselves in India by defeating the natives whom they called Dasas or Dasyus
  • The period when the Aryans first settled in India, is known as Early Vedic Period (1500 BC to 1000 BC)
  • The Aryans spread to Indo-Gangetic plains in the later Vedic Period and this region came to be known as Aryavarta (1000 BC to 600 BC)
  • The Aryans were the first people in India to know the use of iron and brought horses along with them.

 

consolidation and reorganization within the country

Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country

Its a new topic added to the syllabus but the question regarding the state reorganization have been asked in the past… few institutes are suggesting india after gandhi by ghua or India since independence by bipin chandra… i dont feel that we shud read such large books for the said topic rather den i am uploading two files go through them
 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_FR6Jkv0z2cOGFoWWdzcjdGRUE/edit?usp=sharing
and
 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_FR6Jkv0z2cbHNoSlVBcjYzZEk/edit?usp=sharing
and still who want big books the links are as follows
india after gandhi 
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_FR6Jkv0z2cZ0pKOUZJbVJqYVk/edit?usp=sharing

World War I and Indian Nationalism-

  • Increasing number of Indians from Punjab were emigrating to North America.
  • The British government thought that these emigrants would be affected by the idea of . Hence, they tried to restrict emigration.
  • Tarak Nath Das, an Indian student in Canada, started a paper called Free Hindustan.
  • The Hindi Association was setup in Portland in May 1913.
  • Under the Leadership of Lala Har Dayal, a weekly paper, The Ghadar was started and a headquarters called Yugantar Ashram was set up in San Fransisco.
  • On November 1, 1913, the first issue of Ghadar was published in Urdu and on December 9, the Gurumukhi edition.
  • In 1914, three events influenced the course of the Ghadar movement:
    • The arrest and escape of Har Dayal
    • The Komagata Maru incident
    • Outbreak of the first world war
  • Gharadites came to India and made several attempts to instill the Indian Population to revolt. However, this was of no avail.
  • The Ghadar movement was very secular in nature.
  • Ghadar militants were distinguished by their secular, egalitarian, democratic and non-chauvinistic internationalist outlook.
  • The major weakness of the Ghadar leaders was that they completely under-estimated the extent and amount of preparation at every level – organizational, ideological, strategic, tactical, financial – that was necessary before an attempt at an armed revolt could be organized.
  • It also failed to generate an effective and sustained leadership that was capable of integrating the various aspects of the movement.
  • Another weakness was its almost non-existent organizational structure.
  • Some important leaders: Baba Gurmukh Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Rahmat Ali Shah, Bhai Parmanand and Mohammad Barkatullah.
  • Inspired by the Ghadar Party, 700 soldiers at Singapore revolted under the leadership of Jamadar Chisti Khan and Subedar Dundey Khan. The rebellion was crushed.
  • Other revolutionaries: Jatin Mukharjee, Rash Bihari Bose, Raja Mahendra Pratab, Lala Hardayal, Abdul Rahim, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi, Champakaraman Pillai, Sardar Singh Rana and Madame Cama

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Freedom of Press

  • On 29th January 1780, the Hickey’s Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertizer was published. It was the first English newspaper to be printed in the Indian sub-continent.
  • The press was the chief instrument of forming a nationalist ideology
  • The resolutions and proceedings of the Congress were propagated through press. Trivia: nearly one third of the founding fathers of congress in 1885 were journalists.

 

  • Main news papers and editors

 

    • The Hindu and Swadesamitran: G Subramaniya Iyer
    • Kesari and Mahratta: BG Tilak
    • Bengalee: S N Banerjea
    • Amrita Bazar Patrika: Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh
    • Sudharak: GK Gokhale
    • Indian Mirror: N N Sen
    • Voice of India: Dadabhai Naoroji
    • Hindustani and Advocate: GP Varma
    • Tribune and Akhbar-i-Am in Punjab
    • Indu Prakash, Dnyan Prakahs, Kal and Gujarati in Bombay
    • Som Prakash, Banganivasi and Sadharani in Bengal

 

  • Newspaper was not confined to the literates. It would reach the villages and would be read by a reader to tens of others.
  • Reading and discussing newspaper became a form of political participation.
  • Nearly all the major political controversies of the day were conducted through the Press.
  • ‘Oppose, oppose, oppose’ was the motto of the Indian press.
  • The section 124A of the IPC was such as to punish a person who evoked feelings of disaffection to the government.
  • The Indian journalists remained outside 124A by adopting methods such as quoting the socialist and anti-imperialist newspapers of England or letters from radical British citizens
  • The increasing influence of the newspapers led the government to pass the Vernacular Press Act of 1978, directed only against Indian language newspapers.
    • It was passed very secretively
    • The act provided for the confiscation of the printing press, paper and other materials of a newspaper if the government believed that it was publishing seditious materials and had flouted an official warning.
    • Due to the agitations, it was repealed in 1881 by Lord Ripon.
  • SN Banerjee was the first Indian to go to jail in performance of his duty as a journalist.

 

B G Tilak

 

  • The man who is most frequently associated with the struggle for the Freedom of Press during the nationalist movement is Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
  • In 1881, along with G G Agarkar, he founded the newspapers Kesari and Mahratta.
  • In 1893, he started the practice of using the traditional religious Ganapati festival to propagate nationalist ideas through patriotic songs and speeches.
  • In 1896, he started the Shivaji festival to stimulate nationalism among young Maharashtrians.
  • He brought peasants and farmers into the national movement.
  • He organized a no-tax campaign in Maharashtra in 1896-97
  • Plague in Poona in 1897.
  • Popular resentment against the official plague measures resulted in the assassination of Rand, the Chairman of the Plague Committee in Poona, and Lt. Ayerst by the Chaphekar brothers on 27 June 1898.
  • Since 1894, anger had been rising against the government due to the tariff, currency and famine policy.
  • Tilak was arrested and sentenced to 18 month rigorous imprisonment in 1897. This led to country wide protests and Tilak was given the title of Lokmanya.
  • Tilak was again arrested and tried on 24 June 1908 on the charge of sedition under article 124A. He was sentenced to 6 years of transportation. This led to nationwide protests and closing down of markets for a week. Later, in 1922 Gandhi was tried on the same act and he said that he is proud to be associated with Tilak’s name.

 

 

Famous Personalities of Fredom Struggle of India

Keshab Chander Sen :-

? was an Indian Bengali Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought.He was born on 19th November 1838 in Kolkata. He was a descendant of the medieval Sena kings of Bengal.

? He was so influenced by the ideas of Brahmo Samaj that he joined the Calcutta Brahmo Samaj in 1857.

? At the age of 19, Keshab Chandra Sen started social work by establishing an evening school for adults.

? He used the medium of Press to spread social consciousness and development.

? he started a fortnightly journal ‘Indian Mirror’

? Keshab Chandra Sen was associated with many revolutionary programs of social reform like liberation of women from the social bindings, education of women and the poor workers, eradication of social evils like untouchability and casteism, spread of vernacular and various charitable works for the oppressed people.

? He took the initiative to introduce legislation to curb polygamy and child marriage and promoted inter-caste marriage.

? he was given the title of ‘Acharya’ of the ‘Brahmo Samaj’ by Devendranath Tagore. But due to the differences in the beliefs and philosophies of Devendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen, Brahmo Samaj split into two.

? founded his own breakaway “Brahmo Samaj of India” in 1866

? he propagated the Navavidhan, the New Dispensation or the Religion of Harmony. He preached bhakti, which was inspired from both Chaitanya and Christ.

 


Theodore Beck:-
was a British educationalist working for the British Raj in India, who was invited by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to serve as the first principal of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at the age 24. in Aligarh, which would later evolve into the Aligarh Muslim University. He was also opposed to join the Congress.


Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

? An Afghan Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule in India.

? A lifelong pacifist, a devout Muslim,and a close friend of Mohandas Gandhi

? he was also known as Fakhri Afghan (“The Afghan pride”), Badshah Khan and Sarhaddi Gandhi (Urdu, Hindi lit.,
“Frontier Gandhi”)

? he decided social activism and reform would be more beneficial for Pashtuns. This ultimately led to the formation of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement (Servants of God). The movement’s success triggered a harsh crackdown

against him and his supporters and he was sent into exile.

? It was at this stage in the late 1920s that he formed an alliance with Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. This alliance was to last till the 1947 partition of India.

? Ghaffar Khan strongly opposed the Muslim League’s demand for the partition of India.
? In 1987 he became the first person without Indian citizenship to be awarded the Bharat Ratna


Sajjad Zaheer

? was a renowned Urdu writer, Marxist thinker

? Famously known as Bannay Mian, Zaheer was born in Lukhnow, the former state of Oudh

? He was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India and later in 1948, the Communist Party of Pakistan, along with Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

? A collection of short stories, Angaray, which had stories by Sajjad Zaheer

? and was immediately banned in India by the British Government in 1933, “for hurting the religious susceptibilities of a section of the community.” This gave rise to the All-India Progressive Writers’ Movement & Association of which both Sajjad Zaheer and Ahmed Ali were co-founders.

? The first official conference of the Association was held in Lucknow in 1936 which was presided over by Munshi Premchand.

? LITERARY CONTRIBUTION:-London Ki Ek Raat- a novel.,Roshnai, a collection of essays on progressive writing and the progressive writers movement., Zikre Hafiz, his research based book on Persian poet Hafez.,Pighla Nilam, his last book,a collection of his poetry.


WW HUNTER

? Scottish historian, statistician, a compiler and a member of theIndian Civil Service, who later became Vice President of Royal Asiatic Society

? In 1869 Lord Mayo, the then governor-general, asked Hunter to submit a scheme for a comprehensive Statistical Survey of India. And the The Imperial Gazetteer of India was published in 1881.

? In 1882 presided over the commission on Indian Education

? in 1886 he was elected vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta.


Achyut Patwardhan

? was an Indian independence activist and political leader and founder of the Socialist Party of India. He was also a philosopher who believed fundamental change in society begins with man himself,

? He studied Communist and Socialist literature, resigned his Professorship and plunged in 1932 into Gandhiji’s civil disobedience movement. He was imprisoned several times.
? In 1934 he and his associates in jail formed the Congress Socialistic Party with a view to working for socialistic objectives from within the Congress.

? He took a prominent part in the Quit India movement. he went underground, and ably directed the movement of a parallel government mainly in the Satara district.

? In 1947 they formed the Socialist Party of India, independently of the Congress. In 1950 Achyut retired from politics


LALA HAR DAYAL

? Indian revolutionary and scholar who was dedicated to the removal of British influence in India.

? On a Government of India scholarship to St. John’s College at Oxford, he became a supporter of the Indian revolutionary movement. In 1907 Har Dayal resigned his scholarship

? He returned to India in 1908 to further indigenous political institutions and to arouse his countrymen against British rule, butthe government thwarted his work, and he soon returned to Europe.

? In 1913 he formed the Ghadar rebellion (Gadar) Party to organize a against the British government of India.


Jiddu Krishnamurti

? was an Indian writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society

? He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social.

? He claimed allegiance to no nationality, caste, religion, or philosophy, and spent the most of his life traveling the world, speaking to large and small groups and individuals

? His supporters, working through non-profit foundations in India, Great Britain and the United States, oversee several independent schools based on his views on education.


Gopi Krishna

? was a yogi, mystic, teacher, social reformer, and writer

? His autobiography is known under the title Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man.,in it he has put this amazing aspect of our nature in a logical, consistent and scientific light, and presented us with a new understanding of the goal of evolution, both as individuals and as a species.

? he himself has started to search the life of geniuses and enlightented persons in history for clues of kundalini awakening. He proposed an organisation to be erected to conduct scientific research on the matter. The research should, according to him, consist of research on biological processes in the body, psychological and sociological
research of living persons. According to Mr. Krishna the lives of historical persons should also be investigated.


Sir Muhammad Iqbal or Allama Iqbal
? was a philosopher,poet and politician in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement.

? He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages

? his best known Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz.

? Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All India Muslim League,in one of his most famous speeches, Iqbal pushed for the creation of a Muslim state in Northwest India.

? Pakistan Government had recognised him as its “national poet”


Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu

? was an Indian politician and Freedom Fighter , prominent Telugu barrister and the first Chief Minister of the Indian province Andhra state. He was also known as Andhra Kesari

?  He was elected the general secretary of the Congress Party in December 1921 at the Ahmedabad session


Maulana Mohammad  Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali

? were Indian Muslim leaders, activists, scholars, journalists and poets, and was among the leading figures of the Khilafat Movement

? Maulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar had spent four years in prison for advocating resistance to the British and support for the caliphate.

? publish the Urdu weekly Hamdard and the English weekly Comrade.

? form the All India Khilafat Committee. The organization was based in Lucknow,

? In 1920 an alliance was made between Khilafat leaders and the Indian National Congress, to work and fight together for the causes of Khilafat and Swaraj.

? Many Hindu religious and political leaders identified the Khilafat cause as Islamic fundamentalism based on a pan-Islamic agenda. And many Muslim leaders viewed the Indian National Congress as becoming increasingly dominated by Hindu fundamentalists and thus the Ali brothers began distancing themselves from Gandhi
and the Congress.


Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve

? popularly known as Maharishi Karve, was a social reformer in India in the field of women’s welfare.

? Mr Karve decided to continue the work of promoting women’s education in India. The Government of India awarded Dhondo Keshav Karve its highest civilian award, Bh?rat Ratna,

? founded Widhaw?-Wiw?hottejak Mandali, which, besides encouraging marriages of widows, also helped the needy children of widows.

? established a Hindu Widows’ Home Association


Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna

? was as Indian revolutionary, the founding president of the Ghadar Party, and a leading member of the party involved in the Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915.

? Tried at the Lahore Conspiracy trial, Sohan Singh served sixteen years of a life sentence for his part in the conspiracy before he was released in 1930.

? He later worked closely with the Indian labour movement, devoting considerable time to the Kisan Sabha and
the Communist Party of India.


Alluri Sita Rama Raju

? was an Indian revolutionary involved in the independence movement.

? Raju led the ill-fated “Rampa Rebellion” of 1922–24, during which a band of tribal leaders and other sympathizers fought against the British Raj. He was referred to as “Manyam Veerudu” (“Hero of the Jungles”) by the local people.


Baba Ram Chandra or Shridhar Balwant Jodhpurkar

? was an Indian trade unionist ,who organised the farmers of Oudh, India into forming a united front to fight against the abuses of landlords in the 1920s and 1930s ,and formed the Oudh Kisan Sabha

? He was also an influential figure in the history of Fiji, and owed his inspiration to take up the cause of the down-trodden to his 12 years as an indentured labourer in Fiji and to his efforts to end the indenture system. He was a Brahmin, of Maharashtrian origin. He left for Fiji as an indentured labourer in 1904


Sir Thomas Roe

? diplomat and author who advanced England’s mercantile interest in Asia and was prominent in negotiations during the Thirty Years’ War.

? Roe began his diplomatic career in India as ambassador to the court of the Mogul emperor J?h?ng?r.

? As ambassador to Constantinople (1621–28), Roe obtained increased privileges for the English merchants trading in the Ottoman Empire.

? He negotiated a treaty with Algiers, then subject to Ottoman rule, resulting in the release of several hundred Englishmen captured by the Barbary pirates


Romesh Chunder Dutt

? was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, writer, and translator of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

? As an ics officier Dutt was especially troubled by the lack of assured tenants’ rights or rights of transfer for those who tilled the land. He considered the land taxes to be ruinous, a block to savings, and the source of famines.

? .He was president of the Indian National Congress in 1899.

? Dutt served as the first president of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad

? Dutt traced a decline in standards of living to the nineteenth-century deindustrialization of the subcontinent and
the narrowing of sources of wealth

? Wrote economic history of india under british rule


Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi

? was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the north-central part of India.

? She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and a symbol of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company in the subcontinent.after she was forcibly retired by the British due to a controversial law of “Doctrine of Lapse”

? Hugh Rose ,the army commander ,commented that the Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai is “personable, clever and beautiful” and she is “the most dangerous of all Indian leaders ”


Lala Har Dayal
? was a Indian nationalist revolutionary who founded the Ghadar Party in America.

? The movement began with a group of immigrants known as the Hindustani Workers of the Pacific Coast.

? In a letter toThe Indian Sociologist he started , published in 1907, to explore anarchist ideas, In April 1914, he was arrested by the United States government for spreading anarchist literature and fled to Berlin, Germany.


 

 

Spread of Modern Education

1781: Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasah for the study and teaching of Muslim law and related subjects

1791: Jonathan Duncan started a Sanskrit College at Varanasi for the study of Hindu law and philosophy.

1813: Charter of 1813 directed the Company to spend Rs. 1 lakh for promoting modern sciences in the country. This sum was however made available only in 1823.

1835: Macaulay’s minute.

English was made the medium of instruction in schools. Education of masses was however neglected. British advocated the ‘downward filtration theory’ for education. As per this theory, since the allocated funds could educate only a handful of Indians, it was decided to spend them in educating a few persons from the upper and middle classes who were expected to assume the task of educating the masses and spreading modern ideas among them.

1844: Compulsion for applicants for government employment to possess knowledge of English. This made the English medium schools more popular.

1854: Wood’s Dispatch asked the government of India to assume responsibility for the education of the masses. It thus repudiated the ‘downward filtration theory’. As a result, Departments of Education were instituted in all provinces and universities were setup in 1857 at Madras, Calcutta and Bombay.

The main reason why British adopted some measures towards education in India was because:

  1. They needed educated people to man their system of administration. It was not possible to get enough Englishmen to man all the posts.
  2. Another important motive was the belief that educated Indians would help expand the market for British manufactures in India.
  3.  Lastly, it was expected to reconcile the people of India to British rule.

Major drawbacks of the English education system:

  1. Neglect of mass education. Mass literacy in India was hardly better in 1921 than in 1821. High fees in schools and colleges led to the education becoming a monopoly of the rich.
  2. Almost total neglect of the education of girls. As late as 1921 only 2 percent Indian women could read and write.
  3. Neglect of scientific and technical education.
  4. The government was never willing to spend more than a scanty sum on education.

Development of Education

 

  • Charter act of 1813
    • Sanctioned 1 lakh rupees annually for promoting education and modern sciences
    • Not made available till 1823
  • Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy
  • Lord Macaulay’s minute (1835)
  • Wood’s Despatch (1854)
    • Rejected the downward filtration theory
    • Asked the government of India to assume the responsibility of education of the masses
    • English as medium for higher studies and vernaculars at school level
  • 1857: University of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras
  • Hunter Commission (1882-83)
    • State care required for promotion and spread of primary and secondary education
    • Transfer control of primary education to district and municipal boards
  • Raleigh Commission, 1902
  • Universities Act 1904
  • Saddler Education Commission (1917-19)
    • School course should cover 12 years
    • Less rigidity in framing university regulations
  • Hartog Committee (1929)
    • No hasty expansion or compulsion of education
  • Wardha Scheme of basic education (1937)
    • Vocation based education

 

24.01.18 Sikkim(SikkimPSC) Current Affairs

NORTH-EASTERN STATES

 

  • Khandu inaugurates World War II Memorial Museum in Arunachal
  • Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the World War II Memorial Museum in the state’s Changlang district bordering Myanmar.

 

  • Built by the Union Culture Ministry, the Rs 2.25 crore museum in memory of those who laid down their lives in WWII is located adjacent to the historic Stilwell Road.

 

  • Khandu visited the war memorial where remnants of the war, personal belongings of the soldiers and others involved were preserved.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        Rachel Morrison 1st Oscar nominated female cinematographer

 

  • Rachel Morrison has become the first female cinematographer to receive an Oscar nomination in the 89-year-old history of the Awards. She has been nominated for her work in the film ‘Mudbound’. “The job of the cinematographer is to visualise emotion – things we as women are inherently good at,” said Rachel.

 

 

·        India inks $120 million loan agreement with World Bank to fund improved water supply in Uttarakhand

 

  • India signed $120 millionloan agreement with multilateral lending agency World Bank to help increase access to improved water supply services in in peri-urban areas in Uttarakhand.
  • The agreement was signed between Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand and World Bank Board.
  • The loan amount will be used for Uttarakhand Water Supply Program for Peri-Urban Areas to help the state to increase water supply coverage as well as ensure sustainable water supply service delivery in peri-urban areas.
  • The program will develop and implement service-oriented and efficient water supply for peri-urban areas, strengthen current monitoring and evaluation systems.
  • It will also provide dedicated incentives for preparation and adoption of of water supply ‘master-plans’ in peri-urban areas.

 

  • India Ranked 177 in Environmental Performance Index (EPI)

 

  • India has been ranked 177 among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – 2018. This index has been developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

 

  • Top 5 countries are Switzerland, France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden.

 

  • Top bottom countries are Nepal, India, Congo, Bangladesh, Burundi.

NATIONAL

 

·        India to Host 16th International Energy Forum Meet

 

  • The 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meetingwill be held in New Delhi in April 2018.
  • According to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, the meeting will be hosted by Government of India in New Delhi and co-hosted by the Government of China and South Korea.
  • Representatives from 92 countries will be participating in the conference, including 72 member countries of IEF and 20 guest countries.

 

·        Andhra Pradesh and Zurich Sign Sister State Agreement

 

  • The Andhra Pradesh Governmentand the Canton of Zurich signed a letter of intent, to promote mutual prosperity and development.
  • The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu and Government Counselor Minister Carmen Walker Spah for sister state relation.
  • This will bring the State of Andhra Pradesh and Canton of Zurich closer and ensure that a framework is created, which supports the exchange between both the parties.

 

  • Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palanichamy receives UNESCO Award.

 

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanichamy received UNESCO Award of Merit awarded to the iconic Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple in Tiruchirapalli. The award of merit was awarded by UNESCO Asia Pacific region for the reconstruction activities undertaken in temple without in least affecting its traditional splendour and Vedic rituals.

  • It is considered as one of the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples (Divyadesams). It is Vaishnava temple built in Tamil or Dravidian style of architecture. It is located on an islet formed by twin rivers: Coleroon and Cauvery. The temple complex is situated in sprawling ground of more than 156 acres. The temple and 1000 pillared hall were constructed in the Vijayanagar period (1336–1565) .

 

 

·        Water storage level of India’s 91 major reservoirs drops 2%

  • The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on January 11, 2018 was 80.484 BCM which is 50% of the total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This percentage was at 52 for the week ending January 4, 2018.

 

  • The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM, which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. Thirty seven of the 91 reservoirs have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

 

  • The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 58% and average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period was 54% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, the storage during the current year is less than that of the previous year and is also less than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

 

·        Monsoon rainfall down only 24mm in country since 1981

  • Over 50% of sub-divisions in India have witnessed a decreasing trend in monsoon rainfall from 1981 to 2016, but the country has seen a 24mm drop during the period, a fresh Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) report has found.

 

  • The study stated that the number of deficient monsoon years during this period have been more than excess monsoon years — with 20 excess and 27 deficient years.

 

Antiquity and stratification of the Vedic literature; Society, economy and religion during Early (Rig-Vedic) period.

Although the Rig Veda deals with devotional work of religious nature, yet it gives a vivid picture of the early Vedic civilization. The Vedic Civilization is best understood from the social life, political organisation, economic life and religious beliefs. The Kula or family was the basic unit of Rig-Vedic society. The Kula was headed by a Kulapa, who was usually the eldest member. Society was essentially patriarchal and birth of son was desired repeatedly. Status of women was equal to men in the early Rig-Vedic society. Both polygamy and polyandry were in vogue.

The Evolution of Varna System

Social strata used to exist in the Harappan civilization also. Similarly, there was a threefold division of society {priests, rulers and producers} in the Iranian society also. However, what happened in Indian sub-continent was unique and extraordinary. In the evolution of Kingship in the later Vedic era, the priests (Brahmans) and rulers (Khsatriyas) consolidated their respective position in the society. The producers split into two groups. The free peasants and traders formed the group Vaishya while the slaves, laborers, artisans degraded to fourth group Shudra. This was based on occupation initially but later got rigid on the basis of birth. Despite of a small population, the people got compartmentalized into these four groups as per Varnashrama Dharma.

Marriage and women

Despite of the patriarchal character of the family, the position of women was much better in the Rig Vedic period than in later times. They could attend assemblies and offer sacrifices along with their husbands. Five women have been mentioned as composers of hymns out of which Ghosha, Lopamudra and Apala are famous. Girls were normally married off after puberty (between the age of 16 and 17). Unmarried girls grew up in the home of their parents. Some unmarried woman like Visvavara and Apala offered sacrifices on their own. There are also evidences of widow remarriage in the Rig-Veda.

Education

In the early Rig-Vedic era, entire instruction was given orally. Art of writing does not seem to have developed yet. In the well-known Gayatri mantra there is a prayer to Savitri for the stimulation of the intellect. There were women teachers. Many of them possessed the highest spiritual knowledge. Maitreyi and Gargi were gifted scholars. Rishis who composed hymns founded their own schools separately to teach their pupils and every person among the vis was entitled to learn Vedic mantras. In the later-Vedic phase, with the development of Varnashrama, education began with an investiture ceremony (upanayan). Since Upanayan was confined to three upper Varnas, the sudras were not entitled to education. Sometimes girls were also encouraged. When teacher was satisfied with the student, last sermon called snatakopadesa (kind of convocation) was delivered.

 

 

Institution of Gotra

Gotra or cowpen was a mechanism for widening social ties a new relationship was established between hitherto unrelated people. It is possible that animals were herded in common and such a place was known as gotra and from this it acquired the character of an exogamous institution.

Amusements and entertainments

Music, both vocal and instrumental, was well known. Vedic Aryans played on the Vina and flute Vana to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Few claim that Dhrupad of Indian classical music originated in Vedic Era. Dancing was common. The chariot race was a favourite sport and source of entertainment. Chariot race was a symbolic source of political authority of the king. The fascination of gambling and the ruin caused by its addiction find mention in the Rig-Veda.

House holding

The Griha sutra prescribes a code of conduct, which gives a fairly good idea of the manners and etiquette of the later-Vedic age. A guest (atithi) was welcomed at all times and special guests, like the guru, the king, and the father-in-law, etc. were given special treatment. Respect for the elders self-restraint, moral purity, abstinence of all kinds and faithfulness were some of the virtues. Cleanliness was a passion. Daily bath, washing of the feet and hands every now and then, and purifying the atmosphere with Vedic  mantras were a part of ritual when ritualism  acquired special  significance in the later-Vedic age. It became one of the many sources of the development of hierarchy and the supremacy for the Brahmanas.

Eating Habits

The main cereal produced by the early Rig-Vedic people was Yava or barley. Wheat (Godhuma) appears in later Vedic texts only. Yava was also a generic term for various kinds of cereals. ilk, Milk products and cattle meat belonged to their food habits. Alcoholic / Non-alcoholic drinks were known and common. Soma and Sura are two popular liquors. Sura may be a kind of beer or wine.

Dress code

Two pieces of cloth were normally worn- the upper garment was called uttariya and the lower one was known as antariya. The dress for the male and the female did not differ much.

Health and hygiene

Everyone aspired for and everyone was blessed to live for a hundred years. Epilepsy was common and it affected the children as well. Superstitions and magical charms were employed to cure the diseases. Miraculous cures are ascribed to the twin-gods, the Ashvins, who are the great healers of diseases and experts in the surgical art. They were divine physicians who restored eyesight and cured the blind, sick and maimed.

 

Rig Vedic Economy

Rig Vedic economy was primarily pastoral. They domesticated Pashu (which included cattle, horse and even human beings), as opposed to Mriga, i.e. wild animals. Cattle was synonymous with wealth and a wealthy person was called Gomat. Cattle was so important that the terms of battle  were derived  from Gau itself, such as Gavisti, Gosu, Gavyat, Gavyu. Godhuli was a measure of time. Gopa and Gopati were epithets given to the king. Duhitri was the term used for daughter because she used to milk the cow. One of the four categories of gods was known as Gojata, i.e. cowborn. When the Vedic people encountered buffalo, they called it Gauri and Gavala or cow-haired. The cattle obtained in raids were divided among the families. Cattle formed an important item of donation and it may also have formed a part of bali, the tribute given to the raja by the clan or Vis members. The cattle in general and cow in particular was the main medium of exchange during the Rig Vedic period. The economy was based upon agriculture. The people were well acquainted with the sowing, harvesting, threshing and various agro seasons. The people were pastoral, Cow was revered but the cows, and bulls were sacrificed too. The gifts to the priests were in terms of number of Cows and women slaves but NOT in measurements of lands.

Crafts and Metallurgy

All kinds of crafts were practiced. There were potters, Chariot makers, carpenters, and weaver and leather workers. The metal work was known  as follows: Copper was known as “Ayas” Gold was known as Hiranya Iron was also known as was known as Shyama or Krishna Ayas.

Religion

There were no places of worship like temples. There are no indications in the Rig-Veda of any “temples reared by mortal hands” and consecrated as places of worship. On the contrary, every householder, every patriarch of his family, lighted the sacrificial fire in his own home and poured libations of the Soma juice and prayed to the gods for happiness to his family, for abundant crops and wealth and cattle, for immunity from sickness, and for victory over the black aborigines. Natural phenomena were conceived as the expression of some spiritual different appearances of various gods.