History

Jainism grew in India many thousands of years ago. As with Hinduism, some Jains believe that the origins are millions of years ago, although obviously it is impossible to verify the exact origins. The more realistic assessment is that the religion dates back to the second or third millennium BCE, and there are archaeological remnants … Read more

The 1971 India-Pakistan and the Shimla Agreement of July 2, 1972 are some of the most important events of the 20th century history of the Indian subcontinent.The 1971 war culminated in the capture of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners and a unilateral declaration of a cease fire by India after our ground forces had made minor incursions … Read more

K Gokhale was instrumental Indian in bringing about Morley-Minto Reforms, which marked the beginning of constitutional reforms in India. He was an advocate of liberalism, reason free of passion and the importance of education in enriching minds. Gokhale’s idea of free and compulsory education was proposed through his Elementary Education Bill in 1910, and this … Read more

    Extremists aimed at nothing short of swaraj as it existed in the United Kingdom and its self-governing colonies. Tilak said, “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”. Moderates aimed at administrative and constitutional reforms. Extremists wanted to end the British rule. Moderates wanted more Indians in the administration and not … Read more

Most important change was the evolution of caste system. Various sub castes evolved in addition to the traditional four-castes. The Brahmanas and Kshatriyas emerged as the two leading castes out of the general mass of population, known as vaisyas. The vaisyas were superior to the sudras but their position was steadily deteriorating. The Aitaraya Brahmana … Read more

The government had taken the adamant position that no constitutional advance could be made till the Congress came to an agreement with the Muslim leaders. It issued ordinance after ordinance taking away the freedom of speech and that of the press and the right to organise associations. Towards the end of 1940, the Congress once … Read more

Impoverishment of peasantry was one of the outcome of British policies. The agrarian and the industrial sector was hit hard by the Britishers rules and regulation. These were framed to serve the ultimate interest of British rules. The colonial economic policies and commercialisation of agriculture were major reasons for destruction of self sufficient village system. … Read more

Originally a revolutionary league working for the overthrow of the Chinese monarchy, the Nationalists became a political party in the first year of the Chinese republic (1912). The party participated in the first Chinese parliament, which was soon dissolved by a coup d’état (1913). This defeat moved its leader, Sun Yat-sen, to organize it more … Read more

. The reforms had many drawbacks: Franchise was very limited. The electorate was extended to some one-and-a-half million for the central legislature, while the population of India was around 260 million, as per one estimate. At the centre, the legislature had no control over the viceroy and his executive council. Division of subjects was not … Read more