Modern Indian history, freedom struggle and post independence Flashcards
contribution of BR Ambedkar in economic policy making?
- RBI was conceptualised from the Hilton Young Commission’s recommendation, which considered Ambedkar’s guidelines laid out in The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution.
- As a labour member in Viceroy’s Executive Council from 1942 to 1946, he evolved numerous policies in the water, power and labour welfare sectors. As a labour member, he advocated for “fair condition of life of labour” instead of securing “fair condition of work” and laid out the basic structure of the government’s labour policy. He championed the causes of reduction of working hours to 48 hours per week, lifting the ban on the employment of women for underground work in coal mines, introducing the provisions of overtime, paid leave and minimum wage.
- His farsightedness helped in establishing the Central Water Commission in the form of the Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission (CWINC), Central Technical Power Board and integrated water resources management through the establishment of the river valley authority, which actively considered projects like the Damodar River Valley Project, the Sone River Valley Project the Mahanadi (Hirakud Project), the Kosi and others on the Chambal. The Inter-State Water Dispute Act, 1956, and the River Board Act, 1956 emanate from his vision.
- During the Bombay Assembly’s Poona session in 1937, he introduced a Bill to abolish the Khoti system of land tenure in Konkan.
- His essay titled ‘Small Holdings in India and their Remedies’ (1918) proposed industrialisation as the answer to India’s agricultural problem and is still relevant to contemporary debates.
- As a member of the Bombay Assembly, Ambedkar opposed the introduction of the Industrial Disputes Bill, 1937, as it removed workers’ right to strike.
- Ambedkar outrightly opposed the communist labour movements, their extraterritorial loyalties and their Marxian approach of controlling all means of production.
‘Panchteerth’ is related to?
Government to develop five places as Panchteerth in honour of B R Ambedkar.
Janam Bhumi (Mhow), Shiksha Bhumi (London), Chaitya Bhumi (Mumbai), Diksha Bhumi (Nagpur), Mahaparinirvan Bhumi (Delhi)
- T/F: Maharaja DuleepSingh was the last ruler of Sikh empire. 2. T/F: He was on of Maharaja Ranjit SIngh. 3. T/F: He signed traety of Lahore with British in 1849 4. T/F: In 1853, he converted to Christianity and settled in UK
- T 2. T 3. T 4. T
What are ‘Sindh’, ‘Sultan’ and ‘Sahib’?
The three steam locomotives that pulling India’s first train frm Bori Bunder to Thane on 16th April 1853
savitribai Phule?
- Born in Naigaon in Maharashtra on January 3, 1831, Phule is widely regarded as one of India’s first generation modern feminists for her significant contributions in ensuring equal education opportunities under the British raj.
- She became the first female teacher in India in 1848 and opened a school for girls along with her husband, social reformer Jyotirao Phule.
- The two also worked against discrimination based on caste-based identity, something vehemently opposed by the orthodox sections of society in Pune.
- She went on to establish a shelter for widows in 1854 which she further built on in 1864 to also accommodate destitute women and child brides cast aside by their families.
- Phule also played a pivotal role in directing the work of the Satyashodhak Samaj, formed by her husband with the objective to achieve equal rights for the marginalised lower castes.
- Savitribai opened a clinic in 1897 for victims of the bubonic plague that spread across Maharashtra just before the turn of the century.
- She also set up “Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha”.
- In her honour, University of Pune was renamed Savitribai Phule University in 2014.
Indian history Congress?
- Founded in 1935, the Indian History Congress (IHC) is the largest association of professional historians in South Asia.
- The BISM organised an All India Congress in 1935 to celebrate its silver jubilee in Pune. As an outcome, the Indian History Congress (IHC) was thus born with about 50 delegates.
- The Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandala (BISM) was founded by Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade in 1910 in Pune with the support of K C Mehendale.
Rodda Arms Heist?
carried out in Kolkata in Aug 1914
Members of the Jugantar faction of the Bengali revolutionary organisation Anushilan Samiti intercepted a shipment of Mauser Pistols and ammunition belonging to Messrs Rodda & co., a Calcutta gun dealer
The heist was a sensational incident, being described by The Statesman as the “Greatest daylight robbery”
In the following years, the pistols and ammunitions were linked to almost all the incidences of nationalist struggles in Bengal, including Bagha Jatin during his last stand at the banks of Budhabalanga River.
Relationship between India’s independence movement and Korea’s struggle for freedom from Japanese rule?
Some historians believe that India’s Satyagraha movement of 1919, waged for the repeal of the draconian Rowlatt Act was inspired by March First Movement of Korea. howeevr, some disagree
- when Gandhi first planned the Satyagraha movement, he had no information about Korean independence activists planning the March First movement for their own freedom.
- But the example of the March First movement was used by Gandhi and other leaders of the Indian national movement to encourage youth to participate in the Non-cooperation movement that commenced in 1921 and the other subsequent nationalist movements
- newspapers and other publications printed post 1919, generated awareness and curiosity of a shared plight and a desire for freedom from brutal occupation. at least 54 editorials were published in Dong-A-Ilbo and Choson Ilbo (anti-imperilaist newspapers of Korea) between 1920-1930 that report on the Indian subcontinent’s fight against British colonial rule. these reports indicate how despite the absence of official diplomatic relations, the Korean peninsula was aware of and getting regular information about the Indian freedom movement, particularly Mahatma Gandhi.
- by early 1922, Gandhi’s stature and awareness about the Indian nationalist leader had only grown in the Korean peninsula, and to such heights that Dong-A-Ilbo began referring to him as Mahatma Gandhi.
- At least more than a decade before the Korean peninsula learned of the Mahatma, Gandhi had been writing about Koreans rebelling against Japanese occupation. In the January 1910 edition of the ‘India Opinion’ magazine, published by Gandhi, the leader wrote about the assasination of Itō Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister, by Korean independence activist An Jung-geun, in retaliation for Itō’s role in the signing of the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 that allowed for Japan’s annexation of the Korea Peninsula. Gandhi cited the incident to highlight the evils of imperialism and its implications for the Indian subcontinent under British rule.
- one of the most prominent Korean nationalist leaders, Cho Man-sik, inspired by Gandhi’s campaign to boycott of foreign goods by relying on domestic production, proposed supporting Korean industrial production and pushed for economic self-reliance for Koreans. In July 1920, Cho formed the Society for the Promotion of Native Production based on Gandhi’s aims through the Swadeshi movement.
T/F: ICHR panel has sought removal of Moplah rebels as well as those involved in Punnapra-Vayalar uprising from the list of Dictionary of Martyrs
F
only removal of Moplah rebels
“Dictionary of Martyrs”?
The project for compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of uprising of 1857.
n this dictionary a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for emancipation of India.
Some notable inclusions: Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal)
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan?
Born in 1817, Sir syed Ahmed khan was a teacher, politician,social reformer etc.
was conferred title of Javad-ud-Daulah in 1842 by Bahadur Shah Zafar II
Formed the Muslim League, which later on metamorphosed into All India Muslim League
Penned “the Causes of Indian Mutiny”, a critique to British policies that led to the revolt
Visualised INdia as a “beautiful Bride, whose one eye was Hindu and the other Muslim”. But his views changed after the Hindi-Urdu controversies. Sir syed Ahmed khan has often been criticised as the father of Two nation theory which led to the formation of two seperate nations i.e. India and Pakistan.
Sir Syed’s concept of nation:
- Sir Syed’s concept of nation was inextricably woven with secular ideals.
- Sir Syed believed in a multiculturalism under which all cultural communities must be entitled to equal status under state.
Foundation of AMU:
established Madrasatul Uloom in 1875 which became Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877. AMU Bill was passed in 1920
Mount Manipur?
CG has rechristened Mount Harriet, a historical tourist spot in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, as ‘Mount Manipur’.
Manipur’s connection to Mount Harriet:
After the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, several Manipuris who had fought the British in the war, including Maharaja Kulachandra Dhwaja Singh, were exiled to the British penal colony in the Andaman Islands.
Since the cellular jail (Kalapani) was yet to be built, Kulachandra and the prisoners were kept on Mount Harriet, a hillock in what is now the Ferragunj tehsil of South Andaman district.
- Mount Harriet is the third highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and served as the summer headquarters of the Chief Commissioner during British Raj.
- It is believed to be named after British artist and photographer, Harriet Christina Tytler, who was the wife of Robert Christopher Tytler, a soldier who served in the British Indian Army.
Anglo Manipur War of 1891?
- Considered an epoch in the history of Manipur, the Anglo-Manipur War was fought between the kingdom of Manipur and the British over a month in 1891.
- The battle was triggered by a coup in the palace of Manipur, which had been marked by internal factionalism in the years leading up 1891.
- The British government took advantage of the “internal dissension” among the princes of the royal family.
Many say the war was described as a “blow to British prestige”. Despite their victory, it had led to the death of five important officers.
- In India, it was viewed as being part of the general uprising against British rule in the country, soon after the Revolt of 1857.
- The war led to Manipur officially becoming a princely state under the indirect rule of the British crown.
Sabarmati Ashram?
Mahatma Gandhi set up the ashram and lived there from 1917 to 1930.
- It was from his base here that Gandhi led the Dandi march also known as the Salt Satyagraha on 12 March 1930.
- Originally called the Satyagraha Ashram
Its role in freedom struggle:
- Experiments in living. farming, animal husbandry, cow breeding, Khadi and related constructive activities. For Gandhi freedom did not just mean no British rule, but freedom from social evils and freedom to live a satyagrahi lifestyle. He developed those in Sabarmati.
- Idea of Dignity in Labour: Intrinsic to the independence movement was upliftment of the masses. Campaigns for cleanliness became a part of the Gandhian idea of a new India and In Sabarmati Ashram both Gandhi Ji and Kasturbaji cleaned the Ashram themselves.
- Schools: While at the Ashram, Gandhi formed a school that focused on manual labour, agriculture, and literacy to advance his efforts for self-sufficiency. During the freedom struggle many Indian schools were opened as an alternate to British schools.
- Dandi March: From the Ashram, on 12 March 1930, Gandhi launched the famous Dandi march (with 78 companions) in protest of the British Salt Law.
- Home to leaders: Vinoba Bhave lived here as did Miraben.
T/F: Sabarmati Ashram was not the first Ashram established by Gandhiji in India after his return from South Africa?
T
on his return from South Africa, Gandhi’s first Ashram in India was established in the Kochrab area of Ahmedabad on 25 May 1915
