History

. Monolithic pillars and capitols made during this period are prime example of Mauryan art. The  important places where the pillars have been found are Basarah-Bakhira, Lauriya-Nandangarh,  Rampurva, Sankisa and Sarnath. These pillars were carved in two types of stone viz. the spotted  red and white sandstone from the region of Mathura and buff-coloured fine … Read more

When Napoleon named Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain and its colonies, which included Venezuela, Bolívar joined the resistance movement. The resistance group based in Caracas gained independence in 1810, and Bolívar traveled to Britain on a diplomatic mission. The fight for control of Caracas, Venezuela and most of South American continued on back home. Finally, … Read more

Japan was the only country to remain outside colonial clutches. Japanese military generals called  ‘shoguns’ ruled Japan for more than 200 years and emperor was mere figurehead. Japanese  society was almost feudal and it was largely disconnected from the wider world. Japan awakened to the modern development in middle  of 19th century only when its … Read more

Carbonari, a secret society was formed by people to liberate Italy from clutches of foreigners.  Rulers of Naples and Piedmont also encouraged liberal tendencies. But these efforts were curbed  by Metternich. French revolutions of 1830 and 1848 sparked feelings of liberation, but the smaller states  couldn’t coordinate and Austria again suppressed movements and movement was … Read more

. Napoleon’s fetish for power led him to zenith and then to his doom. He made some terrible  blunders like – Continental policy, invasion on Russia, attack on Spanish sovereignty and so on.  The very economic system he was supposed to boost was badly damaged by wars. His European Wars hit the already developing France … Read more

. Instead of being a radical abrupt change, the American Revolution was a culmination of evolutionary changes that resulted in an evolved way of life. With the social, political and economic spheres, the change occurred gradually and remained largely unnoticed. For example, in Political sphere, the 13 colonies already had a certain degree of independence, … Read more

. Of all the political parties that emerged immediately after independence the Socialist Party held the greatest promise. In Jayaprakash Narayan it had a leader next only to Jawaharlal Nehru in mass popularity. It had also several other brilliant leaders, for example, Acharya Narendra Dev, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Dr Rammanohar Lohia and S.M. Joshi. … Read more

Answer. In 1939 the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, declared India a party to war without consulting  Indian political leaders or the elected provincial representatives. This caused considerable resentment in  India and provoked the resignation en masse of elected Congress Party Provincial Governments in 1939  (which were elected in 1937), giving rise to the prospect of public … Read more

. Nehru died without naming a political heir and dissension and factionalism had become a part of Congress. Major contenders of PM post were Morarji Desai – a honest sound administrator, but unpopular for being self-righteous, inflexible and even right winger; and Lal Bahdur Shastri – a mild, tactful, likeable and personally incorruptible. The succession … Read more

Amidst all the confusion over war and Congress’ dilemma of joining the war, Muslim League passed a resolution in its 1940 session declaring that ‘Muslims are not a minority, but a separate nation’. This  gave rise to ‘Two nation Theory’. It called for the creation of ‘independent states’ for Muslims in British India. The constituent … Read more