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Indian History:
India is knows as a young nation but a very old civilization. There are many facets of Indian History – ancient, medieval and modern.
The ancient Indian history is known for pre-vedic days going as back as 4000 years. There have also epic ages popular by the name of Mahabharata and Ramayana age going as back as 1000 BC and 500 BC respectively.
The Indian or Indus civilization is said to have flourished with the advent of Aryans after their original settlements in the Punjab region.
By around 500 B.C., the civilization was well structured thus who endorse the western concept that before the advent of the British in the sub-continent, there was no India, is only keeping themselves as prisoners of ignorance.
One school of history scholars say that Indian history actually relates to a large the adventures of Alexander the Great and is famous Indus valley campaign in 326 B.C. North of India''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s political map was transformed by the emergence of Magadha in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain. In 322 B.C., Magadha, under the rule of Chandragupta Maurya, established the toehold and the Maurya dynasty came into being.
Similarly in south, the Vijaynagar empire was established in 1336 AD. The kingdom expanded up to Madurai in the modern Tamil Nadu and Goa in the west and exerted greater control over the eastern and southwest coast.
The Cholas were also popular rulers in the south.
In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D, Gupta Dynasty emerged as a popular ruling class and unifying the north of India. The period also saw tremendous growth and development and thus the period is also known as the Golden Age of the Guptas.
While the Hindu and Buddhist culture established their strongholds, Islam and Muslim culture also spread across the subcontinent quite rapidly, especially under the Slave and Mughal Dynasties.
The Islamic period in India also had a woman leader in a much unprecedented manner under the illustrious Razia Sultana. The seat of power was in Delhi.
The Mughal Dynasty was founded by Babbar and his successors were Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Auranggzeb.
Modern History:
The modern Indian History is better known for British colonial raj and the struggle for Independence under the illustrious Mahatma Gandhi.
The first British outpost was set up in 1619 AD at Surat on the northwestern coast in Gujarat. Gradually, the East India Company made foray with their base in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and had their units stationed at Madras (now Chennai) and Bombay (now Mumbai).
The British expanded their influence slowly and soon a colonial rule was established putting the rights of Indians as the second fiddle.
Thus by 1857, the Indian struggle for freedom began. It also got popularized as Sepoy Mutiny.
But there cannot be denying that by destroying in India the foundations of the old order of society and the influence of English education and language. Britain or Briton rulers themselves were the tools of major transformations. In the words of Karl Marx only, Britain has been the ‘unconscious tool of history’ in the development of India which in time bound was bound to throw off the English rule altogether.
An ordinary sepoy named Mangal Pandey is credited for rekindling the light of struggle for liberation of the countrymen. The seed was sown on March 29, 1857 at Barrackpor in West Bengal.
Mahatma Gandhi:
But the face of the Indian freedom struggle changed with the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi. From 1920, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to oust the colonial masters. Gandhi’s chief trump card was non-cooperation movement based primarily on the teachings of Lord Gautama Buddha.
In the words of noted writer Nirad C Chaudhari, Gandhi’s face had an impression of an ‘extra-ordinary’ innocence and benignity with two soft beams streaming out of his eyes.
It was Gandhi’s South African experience that made Gandhi the kind of political leader and social reformer that he became after his return to India in 1914.
There are several aspects of Indian life and values those have their origin in Gandhiji’s philosophy and teachings. Historians also call him country’s great revolutionary. In fact, for those who question this would often ask how could a man with his spinning wheel and the goat milk diet could be called a revolutionary.
The answer is that a revolutionary in true sense of the term did not have to carry bombs and guns but must have the ability to move millions. And none can deny how much Gandhi could influence and move the mass Indians.
It’s never possible to evaluate how much India and the world owe to Mahatma Gandhi. He startled this world with non-violent warfare and people in India took to it with a thrill of pride.
In 1919-20, a new chapter started in India’s history. Gandhi could achieve the near impossible. The Hindus and the Muslims hitherto kept separated by Divide and Rule policy of the British raj decided to bury hatchet.
In another milestone, starting off from his Sevagram Ashram towards the end of September 1938, Gandhi was a month-long tour to North West Frontier Province. It was in fulfillment of a promise he had given to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who also later came to be knows as Frontier Gandhi.
Gandhi’s end on January 30, 1948.
Little after 5 pm, Gandhi begins his last walk to the prayer ground. A man in European clothes touched Gandhi’s feet and opened fire from a very close range. With the words Har Ram, the old man on his ground, his hands folded in meekness.
Another key feature of Indian history during the days of freedom struggle was Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. It took place on April 13, 1919 at Amritsar.
The army soldiers under the command of Brigadier Reginald Dyer ordered opening of fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted about 10 minutes and left over 1000 killed and 2000 wounded. So much was the assault that many men and women trying to flee step into a well at the garden only to drown themselves.
Jallianwalla Bagh massacre was truly a turning point. Dyer did not lose India but the brutality of the attack disclosed a moral bankruptsy in the rulers.
Author Trevor Fishlok wrote once that India was the grandest of Britain’s imperial passions, but the ten minutes firing sounded a knell. It’s said Dyer never slept well after Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and this remained the story till he died in 1927.
Among other Indians known for their role in freedom struggle would be Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak and not forgetting Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
Independence:
India became independent on August 15, 1947, with a membership in the Commonwealth. Jawaharlal Nehru became first Prime Minister.
The rivalry between Hindus and Muslims and Jinnah’s questionable role led to the division of Indian sub-continent and Pakistan was created.
Nehru was Indian Prime Minister until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri and in 1966 Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi took over the reins of power and the Congress party has able to rule the roost for considerable period.
P V Narasimha Rao has been only Congress Prime Minister after shastri to be from outside Gandhi family. In 2004, the responsibility, however, passed onto Manmohan Singh but the power continued in the hands of Indira’s Italian daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi.
In between there have been other prime ministers like Atal Behari Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004 and the likes of Morarji Desai, Chandrashekhar, V P Singh, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral for short durations.
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