My Science School

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885. It was the result of the effort of a number of educated Indians who were highly discontented with the exploitative nature of the British rule. In the beginning, its objective was to get a bigger share in government for enlightened Indians.

 Inspired by A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, seventy three delegates met in Bombay for the first time. The first president of the Indian National Congress, or INC, was W. C. Banerjee. As time passed, the nature of the INC changed, and it became very active in the movement for Indian independence.

 After independence, the Congress, which was till then a national movement, became a political party. 

   Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a great social reformer, and one of the architects of modern India. He was a staunch supporter of the theory of oneness of God, and he was totally against caste rigidity, polygamy, sati, and superstitions.

 In order to give practical shape to his ideals, and to take them to the people, he founded Brahmo Samaj. Raja Ram Mohan Roy had a profound influence in the fields of politics, public administration, and education as well as religion.

 He forced the British government to provide equality to the people of India in getting appointments in the administration, and in the army.

 He also made some serious efforts to free the print media from the control of the government, and to uphold freedom of thought. All these reforms helped the leaders of the national movement to march forward on the path to independence. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In 19th century, India witnessed a series of social and religious reforms that contributed to the rise of nationalism.

Continue reading "What were the reforms in India during the 19th century?"

 The colonization of what is now known as the Jharkhand region by the East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local tribes.

 In fact, the tribals frequently engaged the British in armed Struggle in order to take control of their lands. Birsa Munda was a tribal leader and folk hero belonging to the Munda tribe.

The 'Ulgulan'- meaning 'great tumult' was a revolt spearheaded by Birsa Munda, which created panic among the British.

Though the revolt initially started in the Munda, it soon spread to other areas. It was also the last organized armed tribal revolt in Jharkhand. Birsa Munda's forces fought long and hard. However, they were no match for the superior firepower of the British. The revolt was quelled, and Birsa was killed - a martyr to the cause of freedom. 

                     

 The Santhal Rebellion was one of the most serious challenges faced by the British in the first century of its rule.

 The Santhals were freedom-loving people who lived in what is now present day Jharkhand. However, the atrocities they had to put up with, both from the landlords, and the East India Company, led to an armed revolt by them.

 

Continue reading "What was the Santhal Rebellion?"

The founder of the Kuka Movement was believed to be Bhagat Jawahar Mal. It started as a religious movement with a view to reforming the Sikh religion.

The Kuka Movement sought to abolish the caste system in the Sikhism, and create a society based on equality. It advocated woman's freedom, and discouraged non-vegetarianism.

In time, the Kuka Movement turned into a political struggle against the British. Ram Singh Kuka, one of the famous leaders of the Kuka Movement, believed in the policy of non-cooperation with the British. He gave a call to his followers to boycott British goods, government schools, and government posts.

As the movement picked up momentum, the British reacted violently, crushed the movement, and killed many Kuka freedom fighters. Ram Singh, known to his followers as Satguru, gave a call to his followers for boycott of British goods. He was deported by the British to Burma, where he died in 1885.

 The Kuka Revolt is also known as the Namdhari Movement. 

After the failure of the First Round Table Conference, the British Government decided to try for a compromise with Gandhiji, who had been arrested and put in prison.

On 26th January 1931, Gandhiji was released from prison along with other Congress leaders. The Viceroy invited Gandhiji to Delhi for talks, and the result of these talks was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

 The pact was a political agreement that was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin, on 5th March 1931. According to this agreement, it was decided that the Civil Disobedience Movement would be discontinued, and that steps would be taken for the Congress to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.

 The pact was welcomed as a triumph for the Congress, but there were many who felt that the demands of the Indians had not been given due recognition. 

 

 The three Round Table Conferences of 1930-32 were a series of conferences that were organized to chalk out the future constitution of India in the light of suggestions given by the Indian leaders.

 The First Round Table Conference was held from 12th November 1930 to 19th January 1931. The Congress boycotted the conference as its demand for a discussion on ‘Purna Swaraj’ of India was rejected by the British Government.

 

Continue reading "What were the Round Table Conferences?"

The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny, also known as the Bombay Mutiny, took place in 1946. The mutiny was sparked by the arrogance of the British officers. It started as a strike by the Indian sailors to protest against the hardships regarding pay, food, and racial discrimination.

 It began on board the ships as well as the shore establishments at Bombay harbour on 18th February 1946. From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the revolt spread, and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta.

 It ultimately involved 66 ships, shore establishments, and 10,000 sailors. The mutineers hoisted three flags tied together on the ships which they had captured -one of Congress, one of Muslim League, and the third, the red flag of the Communist Party of India.

 The mutiny was ended by the intervention of Sardar Patel. 

 

Soon after India won her hard earned independence, the celebrations were cut short by the tragedy of communal riots that followed the partition of India.

The actual transfer of power to India and Pakistan proved to be bloody and bitter. Hindus living for generations in what was to become Pakistan had to flee their homes overnight.

At the same time, millions of Muslims abandoned their homes to cross the border into Pakistan. In the chaotic days and months following the independence of India and Pakistan, violence multiplied as religious sentiment intensified, and there was little in the way of police or military to maintain law and order.

 

Continue reading "What was the tragedy that shadowed the joy of independence? "

In the year 1950, the Republic of India was born, the year that India took its rightful place among the sovereign nations of the world. India, under Gandhiji had struggled through decades of passive resistance, before Britain finally accepted Indian independence.

On August 15th 1947, what should have been one united nation became two separate, independent nations of India and Pakistan.

After independence was won in 1947, India's Parliament wrote a constitution that changed India's status as a dominion of the British Empire to a fully independent republic, a federated nation, and a union of states.

 This constitution became the law on 26th January 1950, which is celebrated as India's Republic Day. The new nation faced many challenges. These included the integration of the former princely states into the Indian union, and dealing with movements for greater autonomy in some states. Yet, it could hold up its head with pride as having emerged as the world's largest democracy- and one that has inspired others to seek freedom through a non-violent revolution. 

Writers and poets played an important role in India's independence movement for them breathed life into the concepts and visions of freedom. The Movement, just like the French revolution, witnessed a lot of literary works that motivate the Indians to fight till the end.

 Both known and unknown poets kept the spirit of freedom alive even during the bleakest hours of the struggle with their immortal words.

Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad lqbal, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Subramania Bharati, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Sri Aurobindo, and Gandhiji himself are just some of the names that come instantly to the mind. These writings were not only in English but in the regional languages as well.

 As the freedom movement strengthened and attracted more sections of the people, it was the poets, writers and journalists who cemented the people's resolve never to give up till freedom was won. 

 The colonial period in India set off an explosion of poetry, both in English and the regional languages. The poems were revolutionary, and brimming with nationalism.

 In the North, the poetry of Ajit Singh, Nandal Noorpoori, and others inspired mass movements and revolutionary activities.

From Bengal, two immortal songs- Vande mataram by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana- are just some of the works that stir our hearts and souls to this very day.

In the South, Subramania Bharati's first collection of poems was titled ‘Songs of Freedom’ and his words consolidated the spirit of devotion and patriotism, struggle and sacrifice. The poetry of Wajid Ali Shah in Lucknow and Ghalib and Bahadur Shah Zafar in Delhi, along with many others, all lyrically ushered in the dawn of freedom.

Rabindranath Tagore was a scholar, freedom fighter, writer and painter, but above all, he was a patriot. He wrote poems, songs, and stories about different aspects of India's culture and society.

Tagore had a profound influence on Bengali literature and music and he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his collection of poems titled ‘Gitanjali’. He wrote both in Bengali and English, and his works proved to be path breaking and revolutionary.

 The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre filled him with such anguish that he returned the knighthood that the British Government had bestowed upon him. Two of his poems have become the national anthems of two countries- India and Bangladesh-while many others are so charged with emotion and patriotism, that they inspire millions to this very day. 

 Subramania Bharati is considered to be one of the greatest Tamil poets. Most of his works were on religious, political, and social themes.

 The Partition of Bengal on 28th September 1905 brought Bharati, like many others, more actively in the public and political life through movements of boycott and Swadeshi.

 He attended the Congress session at Benares in 1905, with Gokhale as President, and also the next session at Calcutta, with Dadabhai as President. He became a champion of women's rights and welfare and wrote ‘Nations are made of homes. And so long as you do not have justice and equality fully practiced at home; you cannot expect to see them practiced in your public life’.

 Bharati believed in equal freedom for all without distinction of caste, class, and creed, as is evident in his poetry. In fact, for Bharati, poetry was life, and his life was poetry.