Modern History

Increased the number of elected members in the Imperial Legislative Council and the provincial council However, most of the elected members were elected indirectly The reformed councils still enjoyed no real power, being merely advisory bodies. Introduced separate electorates under which all Muslims were grouped in separate constituencies from which Muslims alone could be elected. … Read more

Revolutionary young men did not try to generate a mass revolution. Instead they followed the strategy of assassinating unpopular officials 1904: VD Savarkar organized Abhinav Bharat Newspapers like The Sandhya and Yugaantar in Bengal and the Kal in Maharashtra advocated revolutionary ideology Kingsford Incident: In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw bomb at a … Read more

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 … Read more

Why did national movement arise? Indian nationalism rose to meet the challenges of foreign domination The British rule and its direct and indirect consequences provided the material and the moral and intellectual conditions for the development of a national movement in India. Clash of interest between the interests of the Indian people with British interests … Read more

The backbone of the rebellions, their mass base and striking power came from the rack-rented peasants, ruined artisans and demobilized soldiers CAUSES The major cause of the civil rebellions was the rapid changes the British introduced in the economy, administration and land revenue system. The revenues were enhanced by increasing taxes. Thousands of zamindars and … Read more

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 … Read more

Army Army fulfilled four important functions: Instrument to conquer Indian powers Defended the British Empire in India against foreign rivals Safe-guarded against internal revolt Chief instrument for extending and defending the British Empire in Asia and Africa. Bulk of the army consisted of Indians. In 1857, of the total strength of 311400, about 265900 were … Read more

Bahadur Shah 1 (1707-12) Muzam succeeded Aurungzeb after latter’s death in 1707 He acquired the title of Bahadur Shah. Though he was quite old (65) and his rule quite short there are many significant achievements he made He reversed the narrow minded and antagonistic policies of Aurungzeb Made agreements with Rajput states Granted sardeshmukhi to … Read more