Indian History & Freedom Struggle

The Indus Valley Civilisation (c. 2500 BCE) was a Bronze Age, urban civilisation discovered in 1921 at Harappa by Daya Ram Sahni. Key sites: Harappa & Mohenjodaro (now in Pakistan), Lothal (dockyard, Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Dholavira & Rangpur (Gujarat). Famous finds: Great Bath (Mohenjodaro), bronze 'Dancing Girl', and the Pashupati seal. People worshipped Mother Goddess and Pashupati. Memory aid 'LoKaDho-RaH' lists Indian sites Lothal-Kalibangan-Dholavira-Rangpur-Harappa. The script is undeciphered and pictographic. Town planning was advanced with grid-pattern roads, drainage and burnt-brick houses. The civilisation was urban; no temples or definite weapons of war have been found. Trade was conducted with Mesopotamia.

Mauryan Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE with help from Chanakya (Kautilya), author of 'Arthashastra'. Ashoka the Great (grandson) fought the Kalinga War (261 BCE), embraced Buddhism, and spread it via rock and pillar edicts in Brahmi/Prakrit. The Sarnath Lion Capital is India's national emblem. The Gupta Age (c. 320-550 CE) is called India's 'Golden Age'; founded by Sri Gupta, peaked under Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya). Aryabhata (zero, decimals), Kalidasa (Shakuntala), and Varahamihira flourished. Memory tip: 'Maurya = Mighty Ashoka; Gupta = Golden Science'. Samudragupta is called the 'Napoleon of India' by historian V. A. Smith.

Buddhism: founded by Gautama Buddha (born 563 BCE at Lumbini, Nepal); attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, died (Mahaparinirvana) at Kushinagar. Jainism: 24th Tirthankara Mahavira (born Kundagrama); first Tirthankara was Rishabhanatha. Both rejected the caste system and Vedic rituals. Delhi Sultanate dynasties order: 'Slave-Khilji-Tughlaq-Sayyid-Lodi' (memory: 'Slave Khilji Took Sayyid's Land'). Qutub-ud-din Aibak (Slave dynasty) began the Qutub Minar, completed by Iltutmish. Razia Sultan was the first and only woman ruler of Delhi. The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur after the First Battle of Panipat (1526).

The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur after defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat (1526). Succession order: 'BHAJSA' = Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb. Akbar (1556-1605) won the Second Battle of Panipat (1556) against Hemu and built religious harmony via 'Din-i-Ilahi' and abolishing 'jizya' tax. The Battle of Haldighati (1576) was fought between Akbar's general Man Singh and Maharana Pratap. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal (Agra) for Mumtaz Mahal and the Red Fort & Jama Masjid (Delhi). Aurangzeb was the last powerful emperor; after him the empire declined.

Chhatrapati Shivaji (1630-1680) founded the Maratha Empire and was crowned at Raigad fort in 1674. He developed guerrilla warfare ('Ganimi Kava'), a strong navy, and the 'Ashtapradhan' (council of eight ministers). His clash with Aurangzeb's general Shaista Khan and the killing of Afzal Khan are famous. After Shivaji, the Peshwas (prime ministers) became the real power; Baji Rao I expanded Maratha rule greatly. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali, where the Marathas were defeated, weakening their power and indirectly aiding British expansion.

All three Battles of Panipat were fought near Panipat (Haryana) and each changed Indian history. First Panipat (1526): Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi - founded Mughal Empire. Second Panipat (1556): Akbar's forces (Bairam Khan) defeated Hemu - secured Mughal rule. Third Panipat (1761): Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas - ended Maratha dominance in the north. Trick to remember years: 1526, 1556, 1761. Also note the Battle of Plassey (1757) and Battle of Buxar (1764) marked the start of British political control in India, distinct from the Panipat battles.

Vasco da Gama (Portuguese) reached Calicut in 1498, opening the sea route to India. European trading order: 'Portuguese-Dutch-British-Danish-French' (memory: 'Pretty Dolls Beat Down Foes'). The British East India Company was formed in 1600. The Battle of Plassey (1757) saw Robert Clive defeat Siraj-ud-Daulah (Nawab of Bengal) - it laid the foundation of British rule. The Battle of Buxar (1764) saw the British defeat the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II, confirming British control. After Buxar, the Company got 'Diwani' rights (revenue collection) of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in 1765.

Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal (1773). Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement (Zamindari) in 1793. Lord William Bentinck abolished Sati (1829) with Raja Ram Mohan Roy's help and banned thuggee. Lord Dalhousie introduced the 'Doctrine of Lapse' (annexing states without male heirs), started railways (1853, Bombay-Thane) and the telegraph. Lord Canning was the last Governor-General and first Viceroy after 1858. Memory aid: 'Cornwallis = Cash (revenue) settlement; Bentinck = Banned Sati; Dalhousie = Doctrine of Lapse'. The Regulating Act 1773 and Pitt's India Act 1784 increased British government control over the Company.

First European to reach India by sea: Vasco da Gama (1498, Calicut). First British factory: Surat (1613). British East India Company founded: 1600 (Charter by Queen Elizabeth I). Battle that founded British rule: Plassey (1757). After Buxar, real power shifted to the Company. Crown rule (British Raj) began in 1858 after the Revolt of 1857, when the Government of India Act 1858 transferred power from the Company to the British Crown. Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877. The capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911 (announced at the Delhi Durbar by King George V).

The Revolt of 1857 (First War of Independence) began at Meerut on 10 May 1857, sparked by the greased cartridge issue (Enfield rifle). Mangal Pandey (Barrackpore) fired the first shot. Key leaders: Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Tantia Tope, Nana Sahib (Kanpur), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow), Bahadur Shah Zafar (Delhi, symbolic leader). The revolt failed but ended Company rule - power passed to the British Crown via the Government of India Act 1858. The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 by A. O. Hume; its first president was W. C. Bonnerjee and the first session was held in Bombay. Memory aid: 'Hume formed Congress in 1885'.

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915. Major movements: Champaran Satyagraha (1917, first in India, indigo farmers), Kheda (1918), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22, called off after Chauri Chaura), Civil Disobedience/Dandi Salt March (1930, Gandhi marched ~385 km from Sabarmati to Dandi), and the Quit India Movement (1942, 'Do or Die'). The Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar (General Dyer). The Rowlatt Act (1919) allowed detention without trial. Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Indian National Army (INA) and gave the slogan 'Give me blood, I will give you freedom'. India became independent on 15 August 1947.

Match slogans to leaders for exams: 'Swaraj is my birthright' - Bal Gangadhar Tilak; 'Do or Die' - Mahatma Gandhi (Quit India); 'Give me blood, I will give you freedom' & 'Jai Hind' & 'Delhi Chalo' - Subhas Chandra Bose; 'Inquilab Zindabad' - popularised by Bhagat Singh; 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' - Lal Bahadur Shastri; 'Sare Jahan Se Achha' - Muhammad Iqbal; 'Vande Mataram' - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged on 23 March 1931. Father of the Nation: Mahatma Gandhi. The tricolour national flag was adopted on 22 July 1947.