history prelims

Definition Communalism is the belief that because a group of people follow a particular religion they have, as a result, common secular, that is, social, political and economic interests. Second stage: Secular interests of followers of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the followers of another religion Third stage: The interests … Read more

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

Moderates were successful to some extent. Moderates failed in many aspects. Why? They could not acquire any roots among common people. They believed that they could persuade the rulers to change their policies. However, their achievement in this regard was meager. They could not keep pace with the events. They failed to meet the demands … Read more

Reasons for the growth of militant nationalism (this is different from revolutionary terrorism)   Disillusionment of the nationalists with moderate policies The moderates thought that the British could be reformed from within Politically conscious Indians were convinced that the purpose of the British rule was to exploit India economically The nationalists realized that Indian industries … 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

Contribution of early nationalists Early nationalists believed that a direct struggle for the political emancipation of the country was not yet on the agenda of history. On agenda was: Creation of public interest in political questions and the organization of public opinion Popular demands had to be formulated on a country-wide basis National unity had … 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

Many dispossessed peasants took to robbery and dacoity. Indigo Revolt of 1859-60 By the end of 1860 indigo cultivation was virtually wiped out from the districts of Bengal A major reason for the success of the Indigo revolt was the tremendous initiative, cooperation, organization and discipline of the ryots. Another was the complete unity among … 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