Compilation of

DAILY CLASS NOTES

Modern History

1
 INDEX
1. Introduction and Syllabus Discussion .................................................................................... (3 to 8)

2. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - I) - Who, When and Where.................................................. (9 to 13)

3. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - II) - From Trade to Territory ............................................ (14 to 19)

4. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - II) ................ ……. (20 to 25)

5. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - III)......................... (26 to 31)

6. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - IV) ......................... (32 to 37)

7. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - III) - Ruling in Countryside (Part - I) ............................... (38 to 42)

8. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - III) - Ruling in Countryside (Part II) and Class 8th (Chapter IV)-
The Tribals, the Dikus and the Vision of Golden Age (Part I) ........................................ (43 to 48)

9. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - IV)- The Tribals, the Dikus and the Vision of Golden Age (Part II)
................................................................................................................................................ (49 to 54)

10. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - V)- When People Rebel (1857 and After) (Part - I) ........ (55 to 61)

11. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - VI)- Civilising the Natives, Educating the Nation (Part - I)………
................................................................................................................................................ (62 to 66)

12. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - VI)- Civilising the Natives, Educating the Nation (Part II)……...
................................................................................................................................................ (67 to 71)

13. NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - VII)- Women, Caste and Reforms..................................... (72 to 77)

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 Lecture -01
Introduction and Syllabus
Discussion

3
 Introduction and Syllabus Discussion

Introduction to Modern India (1707-1947):

❖ The period between 1707 and 1947 is broadly divided into Modern India and India’s
Freedom Struggle.
❖ The period of Modern India is marked between 1707- 1858. The famous Mughal ruler,
Aurangzeb died in 1707. The Revolt of 1857 also marked a drastic change in India’s
attitude towards attaining freedom from the Foreign Raj.

❖ The period of India’s struggle for Independence is marked from 1858-1947.

Technically, the period starts from 1885 which marked the formation of Congress,
and finally on August 15th, 1947, India gained independence.
❖ The period between 1707-1947 can be further divided into two heads:

➢ Company period: It is marked from 1757 to 1858. The British East India Company
ruled India during this period.

➢ Crown period: It is marked from 1858 to 1947 and during this time frame, the
British Parliament took charge of Indian administration. Finally, in 1947, the Crown
rule ended in India.

What needs to be covered in History?

4
❖ Ancient India: This period starts with the Stone Age (5,00,000-1000 BC) followed by
the Indus Valley Civilisation (2600-1800 BC), the Rig Vedic Period (1500- 1000 BC),
the Later Vedic period (1000-500 BC), the rise of Mahajanapadas (600 BC), the
Mauryan period (300-200 BC), Post Mauryan period (200 BC-300 AD), the Gupta
Period (319-550 AD), and Post- the Gupta Period (550- 750 AD).
➢ The Stone Age is divided into three periods- The Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and
Neolithic Periods. Bhimbetka is the most important site of the Stone Age.
➢ Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC): It was situated in the Northwestern part of India.
The main cities of IVC are Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The first instance of
urbanization was seen in this civilization.

➢ Rig Vedic Period: Aryans came from outside and settled in some parts of
Northwestern India (Land of Seven Rivers). However, there was a shift from urban
to rural cultural practices. Animal husbandry was prominent.
➢ Later Vedic Period: From rural, semi-urban practices started. People had a settled
life meaning, agricultural practices had already started, unlike the Rig Vedic period.
➢ Mahajanapada period: 16 Mahajanapadas emerged. This marked the second phase
of urbanization.
➢ Mauryan Empire: It was the first empire of ancient India.
➢ Post-Mauryan Empire: The Northwestern part of India was attacked by Indo-
Greeks, Sakas, Kushanas, and Scythians. The Kushanas proved to be the most
successful. Along with the foreign states, indigenous states like Shungas, Kanvas,
and Satavahanas came to power.

➢ Gupta Empire: It was the second empire of ancient India. This period is also known
as the Golden Age of ancient India.

➢ Post-Gupta Period: It is said that under Harsha (Pushyabhuti Dynasty), ancient

India saw the rise of the third important empire. The dynasty was smaller as
compared to the Guptas.
❖ Medieval India: The period between 800-1200 BC is considered to be the Early
Medieval Period. From 1206 to 1526, the period was taken over by the Sultans of
Delhi thus, marking the beginning of the Delhi Sultanate. From 1526 till the death of
Aurangzeb in 1707, the period in between was called the Mughal period.

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➢ Early Medieval: Under this, we need to read about the Palas, Pratiharas,
Rashtrakutas, and the Cholas, the advent of Muslims (attack of Md. Bin Kasim,
attack of Ghazni and Gauri/Ghodi). Ghodi had a slave named Qutubuddin Aibak
who later founded the Delhi Sultanate.
➢ Delhi Sultanate: This period is divided into 5 different dynasties: The Slave Dynasty
(1206-1290 AD), the Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320 AD), the Tughluq Dynasty
(1320-1414 AD), the Syyed Dynasty (1414- 1451 AD), and the Lodi Dynasty
(1451-1526 AD). This period is marked by the rule of the famous Qutubbdin
Aibak, Alam Shah, Balban, Razia Sultan, Muiz ud din Qaiqabad, etc.

✓ Regional States: Apart from the Sultans, we also need to cover the famous
regional states of Vijayanagara, Bahamani, and Ahoms.
➢ Mughals:
✓ Great Mughals: Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb
are considered as the Great Mughals. The regional states which rose to power
during this period were the Marathas and the Sikhs.
✓ Weak Mughals: The successors of Aurangzeb were very weak. This period saw
rulers like Bahadur Shah I (1707-1712) and the last weak Mughal was
Bahaudur Shah II (1862). The entire period between Bahadur Shah I and II
was under the weak Mughals.

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❖ Modern India:

➢ Topics to be covered in the period between 1707- 1857:

✓ The Advent of Europeans: Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danish, and French
companies. Thereby, the Company Rule in Bengal started.

✓ The Downfall of the Mughals: After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire
started to disintegrate. The downfall continued and finally, the great Mughal
empire came to an end during the period of Md. Shah Rangeela.
✓ Rise of Regional States: Important regional states like Punjab, Bengal, Bihar,
Orissa, Awadh (Oudh), Marathas, Mysore, Hyderabad, Carnatic, Kerala,
Rajputs, etc rose to power.

✓ War section: Anglo-Carnatic War, Battle of Plassey, Battle of Buxar, Anglo,

Maratha War, Anglo- Sikh War, and the Anglo-Mysore War.

✓ Policies of the Company: Judicial, Civil, Military, Foreign, Social, Religious,

Economic, and Famine Policies framed by the British company. Ther policies
were mostly oppressive and expansionist in nature.
✓ Revolt of 1857

➢ From 1858-1947:

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 ✓ Change in Policies: Crown rule started

✓ Rise of Political Parties: Read about Banga Bhasha Prakashani Sabha

✓ Rise of Nationalism
✓ Formation of Congress: The foundation of Congress (1885) which undertook an
Andolan towards India’s independence. The movement (andolan) was divided
into four phases:

• Moderate Phase (1885-1905)

• Extremist Phase (1905- 1919)
• Gandhian Phase (1919-1929)

• Communist Phase (1929-1947)

❖ World History
❖ Art and Culture

❖ Post Independence

8
 Lecture -02
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter I)
- Who, When and Where

9
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter I) - Who, When and Where

❖ How Important are the Dates?

❖ Which Date to Study?

❖ How do we Periodize History in Terms of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Periods?

❖ Thoughts of James Mill
❖ What is Colonial Rule?

❖ Sources of Modern India

❖ Limitation of the Sources

How Important are the Dates?

❖ Dates are very important but only to certain incidents and events. We can find out the
exact dates of certain events in the case of:
➢ When did a particular Battle or War start?
➢ The year a prince was crowned or coronated
➢ The year the king got married
➢ The year the king had a child
➢ The year the king fought an important war to expand his empire
➢ The year the king died
➢ The year his successor ascended the throne
❖ However, it is difficult to find out exact dates of events like:
➢ When did the British rule officially start in India?
➢ When did the Nationalist Movement start after the Revolt of 1857?
➢ When did any change happen in the society and economy?

Change in History Writing:

❖ Earlier, political history was considered to be of great significance. The name of the
king, his political relations, the wars he fought, etc were given an enormous amount of
weightage.

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❖ But with time there has been a transition in the way of writing history, and historians
have started focusing on the social, economic, and cultural aspects of the very period
along with the condition of laymen under the rule of the monarch and the level of
participation and influence of common people in conflicts.

Which Date to Study?

❖ In this sub-topic, the author tries to bring our focus on how not all dates are very
important to be remembered rather the viewpoint of the historians is important, and
only those dates on which the writer wants to pay attention become important.
❖ It varies from one historian to the other. Any date can be important when historians
pick it for some sort of explanation.
➢ For example: very long ago, the history of the Governor General was very important
and the writers highlighted the main work of every governor General.
✓ Warren Hastings was the first governor General, Lord Mountbatten was the
last Governor General and in between multiple Governor Generals came and
went.

How do we Periodize?

❖ In 1817, James Mill, a Scottish economist and political philosopher published a massive
book having three volumes- “A History of British India” in which he classified history
into three parts- the period of Hindu history, Muslim history, and Christian history.
❖ Some historians gave another classification of Indian history which was inspired by the
West itself. It was- Ancient, Medieval, and Modern history.
❖ Other divisions in history: The modern period is a period in which the growth of the
following aspects was vividly observed:
➢ Science
➢ Democracy
➢ Reason
➢ Liberty
➢ Equality
❖ The medieval period was one in which the growth in the above aspects of the modern
period was not observed.

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Why do we Divide History into Different Periods?

❖ Trends are different in the periods of history. Some trends end in a period while some
trends continued through all three periods and some trends started in between say for
instance in the Medieval period and remained homogenous. We notice the elements of
continuity and discontinuity.

Thoughts of James Mill:

❖ He opined that all Asian Societies were at a lower level of civilization when compared
to Europe.
❖ In India, religious intolerance, superstitious practices, and caste taboos dominated the
social life of people.
❖ He believed that British rule was necessary for India to make the Indian society and its
people civilized.
❖ He advocated that Britain should conquer all the territories of India to civilize the
natives.

What is Colonial Rule?

❖ Definition of Colony: When one country subjugates another country and makes
economic, social, political, and cultural changes to get benefits, the process is called
colonization.
➢ Britain subjugated India and made it her colony, extracted and drained the Indian
resources to feed its own needs.
➢ Britain controlled India’s economy and society, collected revenue from the Indians
to meet their native expenses, got Indian goods at low prices, and forced the Indian
farmers to produce crops of their need (commercial crops like tea, coffee, jute,
indigo) so that they could engage in export business.

Sources of Modern India: How do we know Modern History?

❖ Records: The records provided by the British government include important documents,
letters, various suggestions, or orders sent to the provincial government. These records
were preserved by the British government in record rooms and archives which were
built by the British government.

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❖ Surveys: The practice of surveying became very important under the colonial
administration.
➢ They believed that good knowledge of the country is required before ruling or for
effective ruling.
➢ Main surveys:
✓ Revenue surveys in villages
✓ Surveys related to soil quality, flora, and fauna, cropping patterns, etc.
✓ Census (every after 10 years)
✓ Knowledge about one’s occupation, religion, and caste.
✓ Botanical and zoological survey
❖ Other non-official sources: These are also important sources to understand the history
of Modern India which was surely not governmental but private. In this head, we can
put:
➢ Non-official documents
➢ Diaries
➢ Autobiographies
➢ Local books
➢ Works of poets and novelists
➢ Newspapers and magazines
❖ Limitations:
➢ Sources have limitations because the information was mostly one-sided. Thus, there
was a high chance of the information being biased towards the ruling section.

13
 Lecture -03
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter II) -
From Trade to Territory

14
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter II) - From Trade to Territory

❖ Decline of the Mughal Rule

❖ East India Company comes East

❖ East India Company begins trade in Bengal

❖ How did trade lead to battles?

Decline of the Mughal Rule:

❖ Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 after 48 years of his tenure somewhat brought an end to
the mighty Mughal rule because his successors were very weak and incapable of holding
back the largest territory (21 provinces: 1 in Kabul, 14 in North India and the 6 in
Deccan) conquered by their forefathers.
❖ In the meantime, the governor and zamindars started declaring their freedom and
established their regional states (Punjab, Rajputana, Marathas, Oudh, Carnatic,
Hyderabad, and Mysore).

❖ It was during this time the East India Company came to India for trade but later in
the second half of the 18th century, the company captured Bengal, thus emerging as
the state and becoming the main power center of India.

East India Company comes East:

❖ The East India Company came to
India in 1600 after receiving a
Charter (written permission) from
Queen Elizabeth I.
❖ Before the East India Company
received a Charter, the Portuguese,
and Dutch companies came to
trade in India. After the Dutch, the English came, and post that Danish and French
companies took part in the extensive spice, textile, and silk trading relations.

15
 ➢ Portuguese: Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498 and defeated King Zamorin
of Camorin. Before the British East India Company, the Portuguese along with
Dutch companies conducted trade.

✓ There was a matrimonial alliance between the English and Portuguese. The
Marriage Treaty, or Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, was a treaty of alliance that was
agreed between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Portugal and
concluded on 23 June 1661.
✓ The wedding took place with King Charles II and Catherine of Braganza. The
latter got the province of Bombay as her dowry.
➢ English: In 1599, the East India Company was formed in London. It was a private,
joint stock company that had the right to issue stocks too.
✓ Their only purpose initially was to trade with India. This company was founded
by the merchants of London so that they could conduct and establish trading
relations with the East.

✓ The charter gave a monopoly to the company to trade with India. No other
company other than the East India Company had the right to rule and thus
there was no competition.
✓ Hereby, no other mercantile companies had the right to trade with the East.
The Charter they got from the queen gave them the leverage to trade for 15
years constantly.

✓ The English East India Company maximized its profit by buying raw materials
at a cheaper rate and selling the finished goods at a higher rate.

✓ The first governor of the English East India Company, William Hawkins came
in 1608 and established his factory in Surat.

❖ All the five companies (Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danish, French) who came to trade
started getting monopolies in trade because each of them was interested in the same
kind of trade which included fine cotton, silk, and spices like pepper, cardamon,
cinnamon, and cloves. This led to a struggle between these companies.
➢ They competed with each other and also held the opinion that these competitions
could be brought to an end had there been a large-scale battle between the traders.
➢ Not only traders but these companies also set up wars against native rulers.

16
 ➢ The Anglo-French War was fought between the English East India Company and
the French trading companies.
➢ Whereas the Battles of Plassey, Buxar, Mysore, Marathas, and the Sikhs were fought
between these foreign traders and the native rulers to gain monopoly over their
trade. They even demanded relaxation on trade both overseas and inland.

European Companies that came to India:

❖ Dutch: The Dutch East India Company OR VOC, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie,
founded in 1602. It was the largest and most impressive of the early modern
European trading companies operating in Asia.
❖ English: Its formal name from 1600 to 1708 was Governor and Company of
Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, and from 1708 to 1873 it was
United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies.

❖ French: The French East India Company was formed in 1664 AD during the reign
of King Louis XIV to trade with India. In 1673 AD the Mughal Subedar of Bengal
allowed the French to set up a township at Chandernagore.

East India Company began to trade in Bengal:

❖ The company established a factory near River Hughli in 1651 to conduct trade.
Factories were not processing houses rather it was a warehouse where goods were
stored for exports.

➢ These factories which acted as the offices of companies also kept an army of their
own. These factories also gave residence to the merchants.

❖ Gradually, the factory began to expand because of an increase in the population residing
in the neighboring areas. In 1698, the East India Company bought three villages
(Sutanuti, Kolikata, Gobindapur ) from local landlord Sabarna Chowdhury. In 1699
East India Company started developing Calcutta as a Presidency city.

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Job Charnock (c1630-1692):

❖ He was the founder of Calcutta and one of the early dreamers of the British empire
in India. Job Charnock joined the East India Company as a junior merchant at the
company’s Kasimbazar factory in 1658.
❖ He was the chief of the company's Hughli settlement when the Anglo-Mughal War of
1686-90 started.

❖ Initially, the merchants of the company were called “Factors.” Farmans were the
written royal order given by Aurangzeb to conduct free trade.
➢ The company got duty-free trade, but not its merchants as they were also engaged

in private trade.

➢ So, the latter started misusing this free pass given to the company called “Dastaks.”

✓ This resulted in the loss of revenue for the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan.
So he objected to the system of free trade. This led to a fight between the company

and the Nawab of Bengal.

How did Trade lead to battles?

❖ Conflict began between the merchants of the company and the Nawab of Bengal. The
Nawab was the head of the state. The positions of Nawab, Sultan, Sardars, and Rajas

were the same, and they were the governors of their respective states.

❖ The initial Nawabs of Bengal were Murshid Quli Khan, Alivardi Khan, and Siraj-ud-
Daula.

❖ Causes of Conflict:

➢ The death of Aurangzeb resulted in his governors declaring freedom.

➢ The Nawab of Bengal started showing their power.

➢ They demanded tribute (money) from the company.

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➢ Nawab did not allow the company to mint money.

✓ All of these causes hampered the trade of the company, thus, leading to conflicts
between the company and the Nawabs. Finally, the minor conflicts led to the

Battle of Plassey in 1757, and the Nawab was defeated. After the death of

Siraj, his successors were the puppets of the company.

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 Lecture -04
NCERT Class 8th (Chapter II) -
From Trade to Territory
(Part - II)

20
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - II)

❖ The Battle of Plassey

❖ Company’s officials became Nawabs
❖ Company’s Rule Expanded

The Battle of Plassey:

❖ Background to the battle:
➢ After Alivardi Khan (succeeded Murshid Kuli Khan), Siraj-ud-Daula became the
Nawab of Bengal. He was an able Nawab so he could not bear the nuisance that
that company was creating.
✓ He was very disappointed with the continuation of the misuse of Dastaks and
issued an order for the company to stop any sort of fortification (inside of which
the company set their own rules and regulations and even hoisted their flag)
but the company was not paying any heed to Nawab’s order.
➢ This angered Siraj- ud- Daula who did not want to become a puppet in the hands
of the English merchants and traders. Therefore, he attacked the merchants of the
English East India Company at a factory located in Kasim Bazar with 30,000
soldiers and successfully captured it.

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 ➢ The following year, Siraj also attacked Calcutta with his troops which forced the
Englishmen to flee from Bengal initially.
➢ After fleeing, the Company merchants took shelter in Fhulta, Orissa
❖ Course of the Battle of Plassey:

➢ The English were waiting for the right opportunity to attack Siraj-ud-Daula and
establish their control over Bengal again. To achieve their goal, they asked for help
from Robert Clive who was working as a clerk in the East India Company at Madras
➢ As a military strategist, Robert Clive accompanied by his troops along with the
other army of the company first went to Fhulta and then attacked Bengal,
compelling Siraj-ud-Daula to fight a war at Plassey where he was brutally defeated
by the English.

➢ Mir Jafar who was the war commander in Siraj’s army betrayed and decieted Siraj
by joining hands with the English.

➢ Mir Jafar switched his party as he had the greed of becoming the Nawab of Bengal
and the company tried alluring him with the same.

➢ Importance of the Battle of Plassey:

✓ For the very first time, an Indian governor (Nawab) was defeated by the
Company.

✓ Siraj-ud-Daula was killed in the battle.

✓ Mir Jafar was made the
Nawab of Bengal however,
he was just a puppet in the
hands of the company.
✓ Mir Kasim who ascended
the throne after Mir Jafar
was left bereft of his wealth
as the English drained an
enormous amount of wealth from Bengal during his reign.
✓ Upon reaching a stage when Mir Kasim was no longer in a position to supply
the Company with Bengal’s treasure, he was brutally defeated in the Battle of
Buxar (1764).

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❖ Diwani Rights:

➢ The main aim of the Company was to maximize their profits. They brought gold
bullion with them to purchase Indian commodities.

➢ After the Battle of Plassey, the British also captured 24 Parganas, a region in
Bengal. Along with that, in 1765, the Company got Diwani rights from the Mughal
emperor Shah Alam II. Diwani right means the right to collect revenue.

✓ The Mughal Empire which was seated in Delhi had multiple subahs (provinces)
within the Indian subcontinent.

✓ There were two sets of officials in charge of these subahs- Nazim and Diwan.
The Nazim looked into the maintenance of law and order in the subahs whereas
the Diwans collected revenue.

• Later on, these Nazims became the governors of Mughal estates or as we

know them, Nawabs. In the earlier stages, the Nawabs had Diwani rights.
➢ Importance of Diwani Rights:

✓ The company now controls the vast revenue collected from Bengal.

✓ The company started expanding its trading relations between Britain and India.

✓ Once the company started collecting revenue, there was no need to bring in
bullion to purchase Indian goods, rather, they used the amount collected as
Diwani (Indian revenue) to purchase goods from the country itself and export
those to England. This caused the draining of India’s wealth.

Company’s officials became Nawabs:

❖ Meaning of Nawab/Nabobs:

➢ The richest person in Bengal was called the Nawab. In a literal sense, the head of
Bengal who had a lot of wealth along with well-designated power and authority
was called the Nawab.

➢ After the Battle of Plassey, the Nawab of Bengal was forced to give money, land,
and gifts to the officials of the company.

➢ By extracting wealth through any means, the officials of the company started
behaving as Nawabs or Nabobs as they called themselves.

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❖ Corruption by Robert Clive:

➢ He was a clerk who proved his

ability in the South by fighting
efficiently in the Anglo-Myosre
War.

➢ He served as the governor of

Bengal two times, the first being
from 1758-1760 and the second
being from 1764-1767.
➢ In 1767, when Clive was made the governor of Bengal for the second time to put
a check on the corruption by other company officials, he turned out to be the
biggest corrupt and was charged with several cases.

➢ It was later estimated that he took away 401102 pounds from India. Several cases
were registered against him by the British government and finally with all the
pressure, he had to commit suicide in 1774.

Company’s Rule Expanded:

❖ After gaining victory over Bengal, the company started expanding its rule. Between
1757 to 1857, the Company won over most of the territories of India. Even though
the company did not use military power directly on any unknown territory to gain
control over territories it used
diplomatic strategies, political
methods, and economic ways
to annex states. The economic
strategies were followed with
the:
➢ Company’s appointment of
residents: Following the
Battle of Buxar (1764),
Indian states were assigned residents by the Company. Their role as commercial or
political agents was to represent and advance the Company's interests.

24
 ✓ Officials from the Company started meddling in the internal affairs of Indian
states through the residents and the information they collected was given to
the Company.
✓ These residents were also responsible for safeguarding the political and economic
interests of the company.
➢ Subsidiary Alliance: The Subsidiary Alliance was a contract that gave the British
East India Company and the Indian princely states power over the Indian
kingdoms.
✓ It also had a significant role in the British Empire's establishment in India.
✓ The British army was to be maintained by the native rulers at an amount of
10 times more than what they had to spend on their own army.
✓ In case, these native rulers were incapable of paying the amount, half of the
territories of the concerned state were captured by the Company, for example,
in the instances with Oudh and Hyderabad.

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 Lecture -05
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter II) -
From Trade to Territory
(Part - III)

26
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - III)

❖ Tipu Sultan- “The Tiger of Mysore:”

➢ Mysore Wars
❖ War with Marathas
❖ The Claim to Paramountcy (Supreme position)

Facts to Remember

Establishment of factories:
❖ The first factory was established in India at Surat between 1608 and 1611.
❖ A factory at Masulipatnam was established which became the first factory to be
established in the south.
❖ Another factory was established at Balasore in Orissa.
❖ The first English factory in Bengal was set up at Hughli in 1651.

Tipu Sultan- “The Tiger of Mysore:”

❖ The English East India Company annexed Bengal first. Following that, they annexed
the territories of Tipu Sultan (Mysore), Marathas, and also the region of Punjab.
❖ Main King/Sultans of Mysore:
➢ Hyder Ali (1761-1882) and his son Tipu Sultan (1782-1799) played a significant
role in letting Mysore attain a strong position in the South.
❖ Causes of Conflict between Mysore and the Company:
➢ Mysore became a powerful and progressive state which was unacceptable to the
company.
➢ They also controlled the trade of Malabar. The company had to purchase pepper
along with cardamon from Mysore. So they were not getting any direct profits.
➢ Tipu Sultan had put a check on the export of pepper, cardamon, and sandalwood
around 1785. This angered the English because these commodities were in great
demand in the European markets.

27
 ➢ To strengthen his position and gain a grip over his territories, Tipu Sultan initiated
to take help from the French to modernize his army.
❖ Anglo-Mysore Wars fought to check the power of Mysore rulers:
➢ First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69): This war was fought between Hyder Ali and
the Company officials.
➢ Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-82): This war was fought between Hyder Ali
along with his son, Tipu Sultan and the Company officials.
➢ Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92): This war was fought between Tipu Sultan
and the Company officials.
➢ Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799): It was in this war that Tipu Sultan died. After
this tragic incident, half of Mysore was annexed by the English, and some parts of
Mysore were given to the old Hindu king of Wodeyar, Krishna Raja Wodeyar III in
return for the subsidiary alliance signed by the latter.

Facts to Remember

Treaties signed after the Anglo-Mysore Wars:

❖ First Anglo-Mysore War: English concluded a treaty with Haidar on April 4, 1769,
known as the Treaty of Madras.
❖ Second Anglo-Mysore War: To oppose the British, Haidar Ali allied with the French,
Marathas, and the Nizam. After a futile conflict, both sides decided to negotiate for
the Treaty of Mangalore, which was signed in March 1774 and required them to
return the lands they had stolen from one another.
❖ Third Anglo-Mysore War: Lord Cornwallis took the leadership. The war was concluded
with the Treaty of Seringapatam, in 1792.

Battle of Talikota:

❖ The Battle of Talikota or Tellikota ( 1565) constituted a watershed battle fought

between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates (Bahamani Empire),

28
 resulting in a rout of Vijayanagara, ending the last great Hindu kingdom in South
India.
❖ The greatest Hindu empire of medieval, times lost its united identity for the coming
four centuries, through the creation of smaller states such as the Kingdom of Mysore,
Keladi Nayakas, and Nayakas of Chitradurga, the latter two eventually merging with
the Kingdom of Mysore.
❖ The Kingdom of Mysore (1399–1947 C.E.) was a kingdom of southern India founded
in 1399 by Yaduraya in the region of the modern city of Mysore.
❖ The kingdom, ruled by the Wodeyar family, served as a feudatory of the Vijayanagara
Empire until the empire's decline in 1565.

War with Marathas:

❖ Importance of Marathas:
➢ Even though the Marathas were very strong in the Deccan, the English were
interested in tumbling down the Maratha empire because the latter was in a
continuous fight among their confederates.
➢ The Marathas wanted to set up a Hindu empire after the downfall of the Mughals.
But their ambition was left unfulfilled as Ahmed Shah Abdali, an Afghan ruler came
and looted an enormous amount of treasures.
➢ The Marathas were defeated in the Third Battle of Panipat by Ahmed Shah Abdali
in 1761.
❖ Maratha Confederacy: The Maratha state was a confederacy of five chiefs under the
nominal leadership of the Peshwa (head of the confederacy) at Poona in western India.
These leaders also known as sardars or the chiefs became known as the Gaekwads of
Baroda, the Holkars of Indore and Malwa, the Scindias of Gwalior and Ujjain, the
Bhonsles of Nagpur and the Jadhavs of Vidarbha.
❖ Important Maratha leaders from the late 18th century:
➢ Nana Phadnis and Mahadji were the two most important Maratha leaders. The
former was responsible for preserving the Maratha Empire and making it into a
national republic. Mahadji Shinde took care of the northern military campaigns,
and he formed an excellent team with Nana.

29
❖ Maratha Wars: To gain control and capture the territories of the Maratha Confederacy,

the company fought three wars against the Marathas.

➢ First Anglo-Maratha War (1782): Even though the Treaty of Salbai was signed,

there was no result of the war.

➢ Second Anglo-Maratha War (1802-05): The position of the company was

strengthened gradually which allowed it to gain control and annex the territories

of Agra, Delhi, and Jhansi.

➢ Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817): The company officials were successful in

capturing the territories that were under the rule of the Marathas, thus bringing

an end to the Maratha rule. This war brought an end to the position of the Peshwa

and the last Peshwa was sent to Bittur near Kanpur. However, he was given a

pension.

Facts to Remember

❖ Treaties signed after the Anglo-Maratha Wars:

❖ Second Anglo-Maratha War: The Treaty of Bassein (1802) was signed after the war.
The Peshwa agreed to surrender the city of Surat.
❖ Third Anglo-Mysore War: The Treaty of Poona was concluded with Peshwa in June
1817. Treaty of Gwalior with Scindia, November 1817. Mandsaur and Holkar signed
the Treaty of Mandsaur in January 1818.

The Claim to Paramountcy (Supreme position):

❖ The Company officials were busy expanding their territories and under the governorship
of Lord Hastings (1813-23), the new policy of paramountcy was introduced. Under
this policy,
➢ The Company claimed its supremacy in India. The company's interest was given
more weightage than the Indian native kings.
➢ The company officials stated that the company had the power to annex any Indian
state. Secondly, they could also give threats to the rulers of the native Indian states
that their territory could be annexed.

30
❖ Execution of Paramountcy:
➢ Kittor was a small state in Karnataka under the rule of Rani Channamma. She
revolted when her state
was to be annexed.
Unfortunately, she got
arrested and died in
prison around 1829. Her
revolt was continued by
her chowkidar, Rayanna,
but he too was hanged to
death.
➢ Fear from Russia: During
this period, Russia was becoming very powerful. The Company was fearful about
Russia’s attack on India taking a route via Afghanistan and Sindh. To overcome
their fear, the company brought Afghanistan under their control, followed by the
annexation of Sindh (1843) and Punjab. Between 1838-42, the company fought
against Afghanistan which was put under the indirect rule of the company.
➢ After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the company fought two Anglo-
Punjab Wars and finally Punjab was annexed in 1849.

31
 Lecture -06
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter II) -
From Trade to Territory
(Part - IV)

32
NCERT Class 8th (Chapter II) - From Trade to Territory (Part - IV)

❖ Doctrine of Lapse
❖ Setting up of New Administration

➢ Warren Hastings and his Judicial Reforms

➢ Functions of the Collector
➢ Regulating Act of 1773

➢ Translation Work
❖ Army of the Company
❖ Conclusion

Doctrine of Lapse:

❖ Role of Dalhousie: Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor General of India introduced
the contentious Doctrine of Lapse between 1845 to 1856. He was the last Governor
General of India before the outbreak of the Revolt of 1857. Post the revolt, the
Governor Generals were then called the Viceroys under the British Crown.
➢ Dalhousie had introduced this policy to annex Indian states. This was the last policy
of annexation to have been adopted by the Company officials.
❖ About the Doctrine: If any king of any state or a territory died without a natural and
legal heir, his territory was to be annexed by the Company under the preview of the
doctrine.
❖ Execution of the Policy: Through the doctrine, the Company annexed the following
states:
➢ In 1848, Satara located in Maharashtra was annexed.
➢ In 1850, Sambalpur in Orissa was annexed.
➢ In Madhya Pradesh the provinces of Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853), and Jhansi
(1854) were annexed simultaneously. During the period of annexation, Jhansi was
under the rule of Rani Laxmi Bai. Her original name was Manikarnika. After the

33
 death of Rao Gangadhar Rao, his widow wife Manikarnika took over the throne.
They had an adopted son named Damodar Rao.
➢ Annexation of Awadh (1856): Even though Awadh had a legal natural heir, the
region was still annexed. The soldiers of the province of Awadh had helped the
British in their struggle to take charge of Indian territories.
✓ So, being a friend state, they conceived a notion that the Company would never
annex the state. But the officials played smart and annexed Awadh on the
grounds of misgovernance/mismanagement. Thereby, angered by the treachery,
the soldiers of Awadh took part in the Revolt of 1857.

Setting up of New Administration:

❖ Warren Hastings became the Governor-General in 1773-1785. He was responsible for

giving a proper shape to the system of company administration. Before Hastings, three
administrative units were present in India. These were called the Presidency. The three
presidencies were Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, which had their respective Governors.
❖ The head of the Presidency was known as the Governor. In 1773, the Governor of
Bengal was made the Governor General who had their council. Thus, Warren Hastings
became the first Governor General of India.
❖ Judicial Reforms: Hastings brought about several judicial, administrative, and military
reforms. His judicial reforms
were of prime importance.
➢ At the district level, he made
two courts: Diwani Adalat
which was under the charge
of the British European
collector, and the Faujdari
Adalat which was under the
Kazi and Mufti. They were
again under the supervision of the collector. These courts at the district level were
the general courts.

34
 ➢ At the Calcutta level, two
appeal courts were established
the Diwani Adalat was known
as the Sadar Diwani Court,
and the Faujdari was known as
the Sardar Nizamat Appellate
Court.
❖ Functions of the Collector:
➢ He had the highest authority in the district and was made to collect taxes and land
revenues.
➢ He was also responsible for maintaining law and order in the district with the help
of judges, darogah, and police officials.
❖ Regulating Act of 1773: This Act was passed by the British Parliament which led to
the establishment of the Supreme Court in Bengal (1774). It was the Crown Court
that provided information about India to the British king or the Parliament. The Act
was passed to control and put a check on the Company’s rule in India. This Act changed
the position of Governor of Bengal to “Governor-General of Bengal”. Warren Hastings
was made the first Governor General of Bengal.
❖ Translation Work During the Reign of Warren Hastings:
➢ Digest of Hindu Laws: With the help of 11 Brahmins, the Dharmasutras, Upanishads,
and other important religious books were translated in 1775. This translation of
Hindu religious texts came to be known as the Digest of Hindu Laws. N.B. Halhed
translated these texts into English.
➢ Code of Muslim Laws: A code was also prepared for the Muslims.

Terms to Remember:

❖ Qazi: Judge
❖ Mufti: One who interprets Muslim laws
❖ Impeachment: Impeachment is a proceeding instituted by a legislative body to address
serious misconduct by a public official.

35
 ➢ A case against the Governor General on grounds of inefficiency and
mismanagement was sent to the House of the Lords in Britain.
➢ The British Parliament like the Indian Parliament has two houses- the House of
the Lords and the House of the Common.

Army of the Company:

❖ Mughal Army: The Mughal Army had both cavalry and infantry with them. Cavalry
were the trained soldiers on horseback. The infantry were the ‘paidal’ soldiers or the
soldiers marching or fighting on foot.
➢ The Mughal army was trained in archery and how to use swords. The Mughals
believed that they did not require any professional army. Soldiers were given to the
Mughals with the help of the Zamindars.
➢ Peasants also had to take up arms in times of adversity.
❖ Company Army: With the coming of the army of the company, the paidal soldiers
came to be called sepoys.
➢ In place of swords, bows, and arrows, these soldiers were given training with
muskets which were heavy guns and matchlocks. The latter was an early type of
gun where the power was ignited with the help of a match.
➢ In the 19th century, the value of
European training and the
discipline of the English soldiers
came into the limelight, which
thereby helped them constitute a
secular army constituting Hindus,
Muslims, Jats, Sikhs, Marathas,
etc.

Conclusion:

❖ The nature of the East India Company was changed. They began as traders but later
with an increase in authority, they had territorial colonial power.

36
❖ With the opening up of new stream technology, the time to reach India was drastically
reduced, unlike the initial periods. Earlier it took around five to six months to reach
India but with technology, it took only two to three weeks to reach the Indian coasts.
❖ As a result of it, an increased percentage of the English population was coming to India.
Many families of the officials were shifting to India. This put immense pressure on
Indian resources.
❖ Before 1857, the Company gained authority over about 63% of Indian territories.
Around 78% of the total population of the Indian subcontinent was ruled by the British
company.

37
 Lecture -07
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter - III) -
Ruling in Countryside
(Part - I)

38
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - III) - Ruling in Countryside (Part - I)

❖ The Company becomes Diwan

❖ Revenue of the Company

❖ Need Felt to Improve Agriculture

❖ Problems Faced: By Company, By Zamindars, By Peasants
❖ A New System Devised

➢ Mahalwari System
➢ Munro System or the Ryotwari system

The Company becomes Diwan:

❖ Nazim and Diwan were sent to Mughal subahs. The former maintained law and order
of the province whereas Diwans were the officers who collected revenue.
➢ In the later period, the position of Nizam and Diwan was brought together and the
new official who held the position was called the Governor/Sultan/Nawab (in
different subahas). The company got the Diwani rights on August 12th, 1765 by
Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II.

➢ The Diwani right was given to the

Governor of Bengal, Robert Clive. This
transfer of rights was completed within
a tent instead of a court without any
celebration.

➢ Diwani meant the right to collect taxes

and the company got Diwani over Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
➢ Merits of Diwani to the Company:

✓ The Company could meet the growing expenditure in India. The earlier procedure
when the Company brought bullion from England to purchase Indian goods was
replaced

39
 ✓ Now, with Diwani rights, they collected revenue from Indian villages and
purchased Indian goods with the same amount. Thus, this was the beginning of
the ‘Drain of Wealth’.

Revenue of the Company:

❖ The company tried to extract maximum
profit by collecting revenue. With the
amount collected, they purchased cotton
and silk which were exported to Great
Britain. After 1765, the company
completely stopped the import of gold
and silver.

❖ The economy of Bengal was under dire pressure. As a result of this, people started
migrating from Bengal to other regions of the country because they were forced to sell
their products at a lower rate to the company.
❖ The traders from Bengal and the adjoining region, from where the right to collect
Diwani was given, faced several problems:
➢ Peasants were unable to pay the rent.

➢ The class of Artisans declined in their profession because only those products were
manufactured which were in demand in the western markets. These products too
were purchased at a very low rate.
➢ Agriculture was gradually collapsing and was on the verge of ruin.
➢ Finally in 1770, a famine hit Bengal which took away the lives of 10 million at a
go. 1/3rd of the population of Bengal was wiped out completely.

Need Felt to Improve Agriculture:

❖ With the continuous extraction of revenue, Bengal came down to a dire state. There
was no source of income and along with that, the famine was taking a toll on their
lives. In such a situation several land revenue settlements were introduced.

❖ Permanent Settlement:
➢ It was started in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis.

40
 ➢ Under this, the land was given to the zamindars, and they were tasked with the
responsibility of collecting revenues from the peasants and the tenants. Then the
collected amount was to be given back to the company officials.

➢ The company also made it clear that it was the responsibility of the zamindar to
look into the fertility of the land.

➢ The amount of revenue to be collected was fixed at a very high which could not be
changed.

➢ All the crops were divided into 11 sections. From this, the revenue collected from
10 crops was kept by the company, and the remaining revenue from one crop
was kept with the zamindar.
➢ The company took up this action to fix its income without taking up real
responsibilities of improving the quality of the land. Thus, Zamindars had no choice
but to accept the conditions of the company.
➢ Even though the revenue of the company increased, their income remained
permanent. This is when they resort to the Mahalwari and Ryotwari settlements.

Problems Faced:
❖ By Company:
➢ Zamindars were not investing their money in the land because they were unable
to save money as the rent charged from them was very high.
❖ By Zamindars:
➢ Their zamindaris were sold if they failed to pay the rent. Finally, in the 19th
century, the zamindars were able to save money but still, they did not invest in
land as the price of other commodities increased in the market.

❖ By Peasants:
➢ The zamindars started to put atrocious pressure on the peasants as they started to
collect an increased amount of rent more than the fixed amount.

A New System Devised:

❖ Mahalwari System: At the beginning of the 19th century, the company officials started
thinking about bringing a change in the permanent settlement because the only aim of
the company was to increase its income.

41
 ➢ The company officials already
got into an agreement with the
Zamindars that there would be
no increase in the rent charged
to them anytime in the future.
➢ The Mahalwari System was
introduced by Holt Mackenzie in
1822.
✓ This system was first introduced in UP and was a land revenue settlement.
Mahal stands for villages. Through his settlement, agreements were made with
the entire villages instead of the zamindars. But, it was not permanent and the
agreement could be revised from time to time.
❖ Munro System or the Ryotwari System:
➢ It was introduced by Thomas Munro in 1820. It was a land revenue settlement
that was introduced in South India called the Ryotwari system in which agreements
were made with the Ryots, independent peasants, and not zamindars because the
latter were not available in the south.
➢ The Ryots exercised a dominating position as they had large acres of land available
to them. Munro thought that the British were the paternal father-like figures to
protect the rights of the peasants.

Role of Thomas Read:

❖ After Thomas Munro became governor in 1820, he implemented the Ryotwari

system, which he and Captain Alexander Reed had designed in the late 1700s.

❖ Conclusion:
➢ None of the land revenue settlements proved to be useful nor did any of those
increase the fertility of land.

➢ This led to famines which made the lives of peasants extremely difficult and
atrocious.

42
 Lecture -08
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter - III) -
Ruling in Countryside (Part - II)
and Class 8th (Chapter - IV)- The
Tribals, the Dikus and the Vision of
Golden Age (Part - I)

43
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - III) - Ruling in Countryside (Part - II)
and Class 8th (Chapter - IV)- The Tribals, the Dikus and the Vision of
Golden Age (Part - I)
dd

❖ Crops for Europe

➢ How was Indigo cultivated?
➢ Problems Faced by Planters with Indigo Cultivation
➢ Increased Demand for Indian Indigo in Europe
➢ Britain Turns to India
➢ The Blue Rebellion and After
❖ The Tribals, the Dikus, and the Vision of the Golden Age:
➢ The Life of Tribals in India and their Activities

Crops for Europe:

❖ The English Company emphasized the Indian peasants to cultivate cash crops along
with food grains on Indian soil so that
those could be exported to meet the
demands of the European markets.
They insisted on cultivating food
grains to generate revenue and cash
crops for exports as there was a huge
demand for them in Europe.
➢ Cash Crops: Jute and Indigo were
cultivated in Bengal, Tea in Assam, Sugarcane in UP, Cotton in Punjab and
Maharashtra, and Indigo in Bengal and Bihar.
➢ Food Crops Grown: Wheat was cultivated in Punjab and Rice in South India.

44
How was Indigo cultivated?

❖ There were two ways of cultivating Indigo- Nij and Ryots.

➢ In the Nij cultivation method, the European planters purchased the land over which
Indigo was cultivated directly. These Europeans also cultivated it on rented land
bought from some other zamindars.
➢ Ryots were independent peasants who required money. So, the British planters
started supplying them with monetary resources. But soon, conflict gained ground.

Problems Faced by Planters with Indigo Cultivation:

❖ Problems with the Nij Cultivation System:

➢ Indigo could only be cultivated on fertile land but fertile land was used to cultivate
rice.
➢ Indigo had a strong potential to damage the fertility of the soil. Therefore, the
landowners were not ready to let Nij cultivators cultivate indigo on their land. This
led to the beginning of conflict between Indian landowners and European planters.
➢ The cultivators needed laborers but a majority of them were already engaged in
paddy cultivation.
➢ These cultivators also had to maintain ploughs and bullocks but their maintenance
turned out to be very expensive.
❖ Problems with the Ryot Cultivation System:
➢ When the British planters started giving
money to ryots, they tabled a few
conditions on the ryots. This included
the ryots having to cultivate Indigo in
25% of their land and sell it to the
British in return for which monetary
resources would be given to them. In the
rest of the land, rice was cultivated.
➢ However, it was later found that the amount paid for cultivating indigo was
comparatively less than that of what was paid to them for rice cultivation. Thus,
indigo cultivation did not turn out to be profitable for them.

45
 ➢ But because they had already taken the amount from the European planters, the
ryots had to continue with the process. Also, the roots of indigo went so deep that
it absorbed all the minerals of the soil, leaving it infertile.
➢ Under this system, the planters later forced the ryots to sign a contract and gave
them loans to grow indigo.

Increased Demand for Indian Indigo in Europe:

❖ Indigo was a crop that could be grown only in tropical regions. The dye produced from
the plants was in great demand in Italy, Germany, and Britain because industrialization
had already taken place and their clothes began to be dyed.
❖ Woad: It was a plant grown in the temperate regions of the world (European
countries) but the color produced from these plants was not as bright as that produced
from indigo, though it was used for dyeing. However, industrialists preferred indigo
more than woad as the latter gave a pale, dull color whereas the former gave a rich,
shining blue colour to the clothes.

Britain Turns to India:

❖ The demand for Indian indigo was increasing gradually in the European markets. Many
Englishmen and their families started sailing to India in pursuit of establishing their
indigo cultivation business.
❖ Around 1788, 30% of indigo was imported to Britain but as the population of
Englishmen increased in India, this figure went up to 95% by 1810.

The Blue Rebellion and After:

❖ Around March 1859, many ryots refused to cultivate indigo in their lands. People
became so agitated that they came out of their homes with spears, bows and arrows,
and swords to restrict the European planters.
❖ Gomasthas who were the agents or representatives of the planters, appointed by the
Company, who determined the prices of the goods and were responsible for looking
into the cultivators were brutally attacked by the ryots.
❖ The ryots decided not to pay the stipulated rent as well as warned the Gomasthas that
they would stop cultivating indigo.

46
❖ The educated section of Bengal supported this rebellion. Their support referred to the
literary works published during that time.
❖ Finally, Ashley Eden the Lt. Governor of Bengal issued a notice and said that ryots
would not be forced to cultivate indigo but they had to ensure that the previous
agreement signed was fulfilled.

Literary Works on Indigo Rebellion:

❖ The 1860 play Nildarpan (“Mirror of the Indigo”), by Dina Bandhu Mitra, did much
to draw attention in India and Europe to the plight of the indigo growers.
❖ It was translated into English, reportedly by Bengali poet and dramatist Michael
Madhusudan Datta.

The Tribals, the Dikus, and the Vision of the Golden Age:

The Life of Tribals in India and their Activities:

❖ Introduction to Birsa Munda:

➢ Birsa Munda was born in a small village hailing from the Chota Nagpur plateau
region. He belonged to the Munda tribe of Chotanagpur. In 1895, he was noticed
to be roaming in the villages of Chotanagpur.
❖ Qualities of Birsa Munda:
➢ He considered himself to be the God as it
is said that he had miraculous power with
which he would treat deadly diseases and
also multiply grains cultivated to be
enough for the entire population. He also
protected his people from Dikkus who
were foreigners and the Englishmen.
❖ Problem of Tribals:
➢ They were not happy with the changes taking place in their surroundings (forests).

47
 ➢ The Englishmen started extending their legitimacy over the forested areas.
➢ They even imposed taxes and unnecessary laws were implemented on these lands.
➢ The tribals who were entirely dependent on forest resources for their survival
started facing problems when they were not allowed to utilize those resources. Thus,
their means of livelihood were put under threat.

Questions to Ponder Upon:

Q1. How did the British enslave the tribal groups?

Q2. What was happening to the tribals under the British rule?

Q3. How were the lives of tribals changed under the British?

Q4. Who was Birsa Munda?

48
 Lecture - 09
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter - IV)-
The Tribals, the Dikus and the
Vision of Golden Age (Part - II)

49
NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - IV)- The Tribals, the Dikus and the Vision
of Golden Age (Part - II)

❖ How did the Tribal Groups Live?

❖ How did the Colonial Rule Affect the Tribal groups?
➢ What happened to the Tribal Chiefs?

➢ What happened to the Shifting Cultivators?

➢ What was Done by the Britishers?
➢ Result of the Efforts Undertaken

❖ Forest Laws and their Impact

How did the Tribal Groups Live?

❖ By the 19th century, the tribals were engaged in multiple activities.

➢ Some Tribals were Jhum Cultivators: Jhum cultivation was done on a small piece

of land in the forested regions where these tribal groups cut trees and burnt their

remains (logs).

✓ The ash formed out of burning

the trees which were rich in

potash was spread equitably in

the empty land.

✓ Potash increased the fertility of

the land. The seeds were then

scattered on the field but not sown. So, very few grew into crops. Thereby

leading to less production.

✓ After harvesting the crop, the land was left fallow (a field left uncultivated) by

these tribal groups. This was done so that the field could revive its fertility.

50
➢ Some Tribals were Hunters and

Food Gatherers: A few tribals

collected food resources from the

forests along with hunting

animals. For example, the Khond

tribe of Orissa did the same.

✓ They also engaged in trading

forest products with the locals residing outside of the forested regions.

✓ With time, these hunters and food gatherers got themselves into jobs outside of

the forests to bring about more income and have a better means of livelihood.

Thus, they were surely not completely secluded from the rest of India.

✓ But the Baiga tribe of Central India considered themselves to be the ‘Son of

Forest,’ and to do jobs was considered by them below their dignity.

✓ Gradually, money lenders and traders started extending monetary support

(along with interests) to these poor tribals for them to purchase products that

were not available in the forests, and in return for the support, these tribals

had to provide labor services as per the needs of the moneylenders. Thus,

somehow these tribals were trapped in their treachery.

➢ Some of the Tribals Herded Animals: Some tribal groups kept animals. They roamed

from one region to another in search of grass to feed their cattle.

✓ Some of the most significant tribes tribes included the Van Gujjar of Punjab,

Labadhis of Andhra Pradesh, Bakarwal of Kashmir, and the Gaddis of Kullu.

➢ Some Tribal Groups Took Settled Agriculture: By the end of the 19th century, some

tribes started engaging in settled agricultural processes.

✓ The English declared the right to collect revenue from these agriculturalists as

they were settled.

51
 ✓ The land on which they did their agriculture was also declared to be their own

property (property of the tribes) by the English.

✓ These tribes even used ploughs to cultivate their land. For example, Gond and

Santhals were settled agriculturalists and they were considered to be the most

civilized among all the other tribal groups.

How did the Colonial Rule Affect the Tribal Chiefs?

❖ Before the Coming of the Britishers:

➢ Before the arrival of the Britishers, the

tribal chiefs enjoyed the main role in

their respective groups.

➢ They had the right to make and

implement laws being the head of the

tribe and the owner of the land. They even had administrative rights over their

land.

❖ After the Arrival of the Britishers:

➢ The position and power of the chief deteriorated. He no longer had the right to

make and implement laws even though he was still the head of the tribe.

➢ The right to ownership of the land was scrapped from them and forest areas were

then considered to be the property of the State. The administrative rights that they

exercised over their land were snatched away.

How did the Colonial Rule Affect the Shifting Cultivators?

❖ What was the Concern of the British?

➢ The English were not very happy with the shifting way of cultivation because the

tribes had to relocate from region to region.

➢ This continuous movement made it difficult for the English to control them and

have a regular source of income.

52
 ➢ They also wanted to put the shifting cultivators under a regular means of revenue.

So efforts were made to settle them.

❖ What was Done by the Britishers?

➢ The land area was measured and then given to each of the tribals. Thus, the tribals

became the owners of the land and their rights were defined by the Britishers.

➢ Some were made the tenants and some were made the landlords. So, the tenants

would work in the field of the landlords and the latter would be responsible for

paying revenue to the English.

❖ Result of the Efforts Undertaken:

➢ Even after undertaking efforts, the British failed to settle the Jhum cultivators.

➢ It became difficult for the tribal peasants to cultivate or use ploughs in the dry

lands. So they failed to produce a good harvest.

➢ Eventually, when the tenants didn't have revenue to give to the landlords, it was

surely not possible for the latter to give the stipulated revenue to the English.

➢ The tribes wanted to follow the traditional means of agriculture which was not

acceptable to the British. All of this confusion led to the tribes revolting against the

Englishmen.

Forest Laws and their Impact:

❖ Implementation of Forest Laws: The British government started making laws to control

the tribals. The provisions included:

➢ All land of the forest was declared to be the property of the State or the land of

the government. Hence, the tribals were not allowed to collect forest products. In

case of collection, criminal charges were imposed on those tribals.

➢ Some forested regions were declared to be reserved forests. In this particular region,

no forest resources could be collected by the tribes. They could not herd or hunt

their cattle or even cultivate their land contrary to British activities of collecting

timber to lay railway slippers.

53
❖ Reaction Against Laws: The tribals revolted as a result of the forest laws.

➢ In 1855, the Santhal rebellion broke out. The insurrection, sometimes referred to

as the Hul revolt, began with the assistance of well-known commanders including

Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav, as well as their sisters, Phulo and Jhano.

➢ In 1906, Sangram Sangma revolted in Asaam.

➢ In 1910, another revolt broke out in Bastar.

➢ In 1930, there was Satyagraha in Central India.

➢ In 1931-32, the Kols Revolt broke out.

➢ In 1940, the Worli Revolt broke out in Maharashtra.

❖ The Problem with Trade: During the 19th century, traders and money lenders started

visiting forests:

➢ To buy forest products

➢ To provide loans to tribal people

➢ To ask them for wages

54
 Lecture - 10
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter V)-
When People Rebel (1857 and
After) (Part - I)

55
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter V)- When People Rebel (1857 and After)
(Part - I)

❖ British Policies Leading to the 1857 Revolt

❖ Progress of the 1857 Revolt
❖ How did the Company Fight Back?

British Policies Leading to the 1857 Revolt:

❖ Resentment Among Groups: The policies (judicial, land, revenue, police, and military)
of the Company were made to benefit the British government. However, these policies
adversely impacted the Indian society creating issues for the zamindars, nawabs,
peasants, women, kings, queens, sepoys or soldiers, and tribals. The resentment in these
groups of people came out in the form of revolt. Among many minor revolts, the revolt
of 1857 turned out to be historic.
❖ Nawab Lost their Power:
➢ Role of Residents: Residents were placed in the courts of the kings. They were
responsible for regulating the policies covering both the foreign and the internal
policies of the Indian kings. Slowly and steadily, these residents also spread their
grip over the state's revenue sources along with the state’s territory (through the
policy of a subsidiary alliance).
➢ Entry of Rani Laxmi Bai: Rani Laxmi Bai was originally from Kalpi and got married
to Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi. After the death of her husband, she became the Rani
of Jhansi. Because the couple did not bear any child, their idea to adopt a child
and continue the lineage was not supported by the British. This sowed the seeds of
aggression and resentment against the British.
➢ About Nana Saheb: He was the adopted child of Peshwa Baji Rao II. Nana wanted
to continue the pension his father used to get but was denied the right. The British
also refused to identify him as the Peshwa for being adopted.

56
 ➢ Annexation of Awadh: Awadh was the last state to have been annexed. The British
signed the subsidiary alliance with the Nawab of Awadh in 1801. By 1856, the
British annexed the state on the grounds of misgovernance and mismanagement.
➢ Role of Lord Dalhousie: In 1849, Dalhousie announced that after the death of
Bahadur Shah Zafar (Mughal emperor), his family would not be allowed to stay in
the Red Fort. This hurt the sentiments of the natives.
➢ Role of Lord Canning: He denied Bahadur Shah Zafar who was the last Mughal
emperor and two of his sons denied the right to their fort and the throne.
❖ Disappointment among the Peasants and the Sepoys:
➢ Unhappiness among Zamindars and Peasants: The zamindars and peasants were
unhappy and dissatisfied because they were forced to pay high rates of tax and
secondly, they were deprived of their lands.
➢ Discontent amongst Soldiers: Both the peasants and soldiers came from a rural
background and mostly from the same family. The latter became victims of large-
scale discrimination.
✓ The British deliberately discriminated against them and gave higher positions
to the English officials engaged in the army.
✓ The English were also hurting their religious sentiments. Both the Hindu and
Islamic scriptures talk about losing one’s religious identity upon crossing the
ocean. The Indian soldiers were
made to cross oceans to fight
against enemies of the English.
✓ Two laws were passed: One in
1824 and the second in 1856
which made it compulsory for
the soldiers to serve the English
across the ocean.
❖ Response to the Reforms: The British government introduced reforms to make the life
of people in India comfortable or improve the condition of people. Indians thought that

57
 the English were posing a threat to their religion as well as their society. They conducted
the following reforms:
➢ End of Sati
➢ Supported widow remarriage
➢ Supported the introduction of the English language
➢ Supported the Christian missionaries to spread Christianity in India. In 1850, a
law was made for the same which made religious conversion easy and provided
inheritance rights to the ancestral property.
✓ Because of these provisions, many Indians felt that the British government was
interfering in religious lives, society, social customs, and matters related to
traditions.

Progress of the Revolt:

❖ Mutiny became a Popular Rebellion (1857): According to some historians, the Revolt
of 1857 was considered to be the biggest armed rebellion that had happened in any
of the colonies of the British.
➢ Event on 8th April 1857: Mangal Pandey was a soldier in the Indian army.
However, he refused to use the new rifles and cartridges introduced by the British.
In the heat of agitation, he killed his senior at Barrackpore in Bengal.
➢ 9th May 1857: A few soldiers in Meerut refused to use the new cartridges because
a rumor was spread that these cartridges were greased with the fats of pigs and
cows. This hurt the religious sentiments of the soldiers as these cartridges were to
be bitten off with one’s mouth. Because they refused to adhere to the vices, 85
soldiers were sent to 10 years of imprisonment.
➢ 10th May 1857: A few other soldiers marched to the jail, attacked, and released
their fellow soldiers. This is where they declare war on the firangees. Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was declared the leader. They also staged an attack
on the Red Fort of Delhi and successfully killed many Englishmen. They even seized
arms and ammunition.

58
 ✓ Role of Bahadur Shah Zafar: He gave a call for all the kings and nawabs to
come together and form a group or a confederacy of state to fight against their
common enemy.
❖ Spreading of the rebellion:
➢ Lucknow: After Nawab Wazid Ali Shah of Lucknow (ex-Nawab), Birjis Qadar the
former’s son declared his Nawanship. He also declared Bahadur Shah his leader.
Qadir’s mother, Begum Hazrat Mahal also fought against the Britishers.
➢ Kanpur: Here, Nana Saheb conducted the rebellion by declaring himself the Peshwa.
He also stated that he was the governor of Kanpur under the Mughal emperor
Bahadur Shah. Tantia Tope was Nana’s military general.
➢ Jhansi: Laxmi Bai conducted the revolt in Kalpi or Jhansi. With Tantiya Tope, she
conducted the rebellion against the British.
➢ Ramgarh, MP: Rani Awantibai Lodhi was from Ramgarh, MP. As her territory was
annexed, she revolted with 4000 soldiers.
➢ Faizabad: Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah undertook the responsibility for the revolt from
this region. He declared that British rule would soon be ended in India.
➢ Bareilly: Bhakt Khan who also fought in Delhi against the Brtishers, took up a
valiant revolt in the Bareilly.
➢ Bihar: Kunwar Singh who was the zamindar from the Ara district of Bihar started
the rebellion against the British.

How did the Company fight back?

❖ The Company Fights Back: To retaliate, the Britishers got an increased army supply
from England. In the meanwhile, Delhi being the capital was recaptured by the British
in September 1857.
➢ Bahadur Shah was arrested and later sent to Rangoon along with his wife Zeenat
Mahal. He died while he was in jail in November 1862.
➢ In June 1858, Rani Laxmi Bai was killed. Rani Avanti Bai too was killed.
➢ The zamindars were given rewards in an attempt to get their support.
➢ Sepoys, small zamindars, tribals, and other kings and queens who revolted were
hanged to death.

59
❖ The Aftermath of the Revolt/ New Policies introduced after 1857: This marked the
end of the Company rule and the
beginning of Crown rule in India.
➢ A Secretary of State along
with a 15-member council
was established in the British
Parliament. In India, the
Governor General was given
the title of Viceroy, the British
crown's representative. The Secretary of State was called the Bharat Mantri.
➢ The Indian kings and chiefs were given the right to adopt and also rule their
territories provided they would become the subordinates of the Crown.
➢ There would not be any further annexation of Indian states.
➢ There was a substantial increase in the number of English soldiers being employed
in the Indian army as compared to Indian men.
✓ Many soldiers were recruited from Punjab, Gurkha, and South. The Britishers
deliberately scrapped off those soldiers who belonged from Bihar, Awadh,
Bengal, and some parts of South and Central India as they feared the outbreak
of another revolt like the one that happened in 1857.
➢ The Muslims were considered to be responsible for the revolt, so their land was
seized.
➢ The British government promised not to interfere in the religious and customary
practices of the Indians.
➢ Zamindars along with the landlords got back their tracts of land.

Queen’s Proclamation or the Government of India Act 1858:

❖ The new policies introduced after the Revolt of 1857 came under the Government
of India Act 1858. This was also known as the Queen’s Proclamation.

60
❖ The 1857 Rebellion startled British colonialism in South Asia. Thus, the British
Parliament resolved to wrest authority and management of India away from the
company.
❖ Other than the already stated policies, the Act also:
➢ India's first Secretary of State was Lord Stanley.
➢ Commander-in-Chief of the Army was appointed as an extraordinary member
of the Council.
➢ Lord Canning became the first Governor General cum Viceroy.
➢ The Act also eliminated the company's administrative privileges, Doctrine of
Lapse, and the Dual Government of Pitt's India Act, 1784.

61
 Lecture -11
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter - VI)-
Civilising the Natives, Educating
the Nation (Part - I)

62
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - VI)- Civilising the Natives, Educating the
Nation (Part - I)

❖ Development of Education

➢ How did the British see Education?

➢ Grave Error of the East

Development of Education:
❖ How did the British see Education? The English wanted to introduce a proper
curriculum-based education system in India in their attempt to civilize the Indians and
make Indians good subjects/citizens. However, both reasons were deceptive. These
Englishmen supported Orientalist learning or the ‘Old Education System’ in India
rather than European subjects and their learnings. Later, these Englishmen shifted and
focused on introducing English education in India.

➢ The Tradition of Orientalism: Here we will study the contribution of British officials
in supporting oriental learning.
✓ William Jones: He reached India in 1783 after he was appointed as the junior
judge of the Supreme Court in Calcutta. He was a very learned man with a
great personality.

• He was a law expert and also had a good grip over multiple languages
(linguist).

• Along with English, Latin, and French, while staying in India, Jones learned
both Sanskrit and Persian.

• He took a keen interest in gathering knowledge about Indian civilization and

its customs.

• He studied various subjects such as Philosophy, morality, law, science,

medicine, arithmetic, and politics.

63
 ✓ Henry Thomas Colebrooke: He was also an English official residing in Calcutta
who was a supporter of Orientalist learning. Like Jones, he took a keen interest
in studying Indian subjects. He was also busy translating Indian scriptures into
English.

✓ Na-Thaniel Halhed: Halhed was an orientalist and a grammarian who is

credited with being the first grammarian to write a Bangla grammar using
Bangla texts and letters for illustration.

• He too was based in Calcutta and took a keen interest in knowing Indian
subjects.

• Halhed made several important translations, including the Upanishad

(1787) based on Dara Shiko's Persian translation.

✓ Formation of the Asiatic Society: Henry Thomas Colebrooke, William Jones along
with Na-Thaniel Halhed established the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta.
• This society published a magazine titled ‘The Asiatic Researches’. The sole
purpose of the society was to translate Indian subjects into English.
✓ Setting up of Educational Centers: Many British officials promoted Orientalist
learning instead of European learning. The Orientalists were in favor of setting
up educational centers to promote Orientalist learning such as Persian and
Sanskrit.

• They wanted to take this approach because they wanted to win the hearts
of the Indians first and then try to civilize them.

• Gradually, learning centers were set up. One such centre was set up at
Calcutta in 1781 which was a Madrasa. It mainly focused on teaching
Islamic laws, Persian, and Arabic.

• In 1791, the Sanskrit College in Varanasi was set up.

➢ Grave Error of the East:

✓ How the Approach was Changed? In the beginning, the Britishers supported the
Orientalists but later on, their support base shifted to English as a subject of
focus. This shift was witnessed at the beginning of the 19th century with
Anglicist learning. Two famous personalities who advocated this learning was:

64
 • James Mill: He was one of the
main persons who supported
Anglicized learning in India
instead of oriental learning.

1. Firstly, according to him, the

British should not make any
efforts to please the Indians.

2. Secondly, the aim of education ought to be useful and practical at the

same time.
3. Thirdly, he believed that Indians should be made aware of the science
and technological developments of the West.
• Thomas Babington Macaulay: He considered India to be an uncivilized
nation.
1. According to him, “A single shelf of a good European library was worth
the whole Native literature of India and Arabia.”
2. He again demeaned Indians by stating that had they known the English
language, they would be able to read the finest literature to have been
ever produced in the world, i.e., English Literature.

3. He also stated that through the help of English, they would be able to
get an idea of how Europe was progressing in the field of science, and
philosophy and how multiple discoveries were being made.

4. Minutes of Macaulay: In 1835, the Education Act was passed on behalf

of Macalay’s Minutes. Decisions such as that European subjects would be
taught along with keeping English as the basic medium of learning were
to be adopted.

Additional Information:
❖ On February 2, 1835, British politician Thomas Babington Macaulay circulated
Minute on Education, a treatise that offered definitive reasons for why the East India
Company and the British government should spend money on the provision of English

65
 language education, as well as the promotion of European learning, especially the
sciences, in India.

❖ While The Minute acknowledged the historic role of Sanskrit and Arabic literature in
the Subcontinent, it also contended that they had limitations.

❖ A month after its circulation, the Minute became policy, when William Bentinck, the
then Governor-General of India, signed the resolution.

❖ Thus, Lord Willaim Bentinck's administration was marked by the introduction of

English education.

66
 Lecture -12
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter - VI)-
Civilising the Natives, Educating
the Nation (Part - II)

67
NCERT Class 8th (Chapter - VI)- Civilising the Natives, Educating the
Nation (Part - II)

❖ Wood’s Despatch

❖ Report of William Adams

❖ Description of Schools

❖ Views of Gandhi and Tagore on English Education

➢ Gandhi’s Views
➢ Tagore's Views

➢ Dissimilarities between Gandhi’s Views and Tagore’s Views in the Context of

Education

Questions to Ponder Upon:

Q1. Throw the light on Wood’s Despatch.

The answer will comprise:
❖ Part 1: Introduction: (30-40 words)
❖ Part 2: Basics of Wood’s Despatch
❖ Part 3: Main recommendation of Wood’s Despatch

Wood’s Despatch:
❖ In 1854, the Court of Directors sent a note regarding education to the Governor-
General. It was named after the President of the Board of Control, Charles Wood. It
was called Wood's Despatch.
❖ In this despatch the merits of Anglicist education were discussed, mainly from a
commercial point of view. In 1835, Macaulay launched Anglicist education and it was
continued by Wood’s Despatch.

68
❖ Charle’s Wood was the President of the Board of Control. Wood’s despatch was in the
form of a note in which the benefits of Anglicist learning had been highlighted.
❖ Main focus of Wood’s Despatch:
➢ English education (European subject and medium of instruction was English), which
was started in 1835, would be very beneficial in the context of commerce and trade
in India.
➢ With the introduction of Anglicist learning, the demand for British products would
be increased because Indians would be aware of British products with the help of
English.
➢ European learning would improve the moral character of Indians. Indians would
become more honest and truthful. As a result, the company got them in the form
of a trusted civil servant.

Impact of Wood’s Despatch on Indian Society:

❖ A primary outcome of the Act was to increase educational accessibility. As a result,

more people got an opportunity to obtain an education with schools and colleges
being set up all over India.
❖ The Act also contributed to the upliftment and empowerment of the Indian middle
class. It made jobs in the British administration more accessible by encouraging
English education.
➢ It led to the creation of a new social class that played a significant role in the
independence movements and social reform movements.

Additional Reading:
❖ After the formation of the East India Company, the General Court of Proprietors
(GCOP) was founded in 1599 for trade and administration consisting of 218
members.

69
❖ But in 1773, For trade, a separate Court of Directors (CoD) was formed consisting
of 24 members. But the administration continued with earlier GCOP.
❖ Pitt’s India Act of 1784 established a Board of Control (BoC) consisting of 6 members
for administration. Before the Revolt of 1857, there was a Governor-General in India
and GCOP, CoD, and BoC in Britain.
❖ After the Revolt of 1857, A Secretary of State along with a 15-member council was
established in the British Parliament. In India, the Governor General was given the
title of Viceroy, the British crown's representative.

Report of William Adams:

❖ He was a Christian missionary who came to Bengal and Bihar. He had to find out the
ongoing schools in Bengal and Bihar and their standards. In 1830, Adam evaluated
the Indian educational system and found that the local schools, called Pathshalas in
India, were not doing an outstanding job of providing the kids with a good education.
❖ Description of Schools as per the Report:
➢ There were fewer students in school, i.e., not more than 20. These schools were
very small. The method of education was very old. Teachers or schools were not
taking regular fees. Students did not have books or desks. There was no proper
school building. There were no blackboards and no chairs. There was no procedure
to take attendance.
➢ Classes were held under a tree, in a shop in a village, in a temple, in a mosque, or
the house of the teacher.
➢ Adam also wrote that students failed to join the school throughout the year, they
had to support their families in agriculture.

Additional Reading:
❖ Outcome of Adam’s Report:
➢ The company proceeded to restructure and diversify India's vernacular education
system.
➢ The teaching method was remodified and English education was promoted. The
company employed "pandits," who were responsible for charge of five schools. The
Pandit was also made to visit every pathshala to check its efficiency.

70
 ➢ The report states that novel and distinctive protocols were instituted. Children
are made to sit for an annual examination.
➢ Female education too was promoted.

Views of Gandhi and Tagore on English Education:

❖ Gandhi’s View:
➢ According to Gandhiji European
education/colonial education was
making Indian slaves. This education
is also infusing the feeling of
inferiority among Indians. Indians
started thinking that Europeans
were better than Indians. This education spoils Indian culture and feelings of
greatness.
➢ Gandhi said that this education is having poison, full of sins, and making Indian
slaves. Gandhiji was in favor of imparting Indian education which is full of self-
esteem and national pride.
➢ According to him, English education is making Indians cripple and Indians are
becoming strangers in their land. Gandhi said that this education is putting
emphasis on only reading and writing rather than transferring oral knowledge.
➢ Gandhiji said that the purpose of education should be uplifting the human brain
and development of the soul.
❖ Tagore's views on English Education:
➢ Tagore founded his organization named Shantiniketan in 1901 in Calcutta. When
Tagore was a young child he didn't like learning in modern school. According to
Tagore children should be left free so that they could learn by themselves. According
to Tagore, modern schools are killing the creativity of the child.
Dissimilarities between Gandhi’s and Tagore’s Views in the Context of Education:
❖ Both Gandhi and Tagore had the same views regarding colonial education but there
are some differences.
❖ Gandhi was a critic of the use of modern machines and technology in the West while
Tagore wanted to have a mixture of modern Western civilization and Indian civilization
and culture. In this way, Tagore emphasized art, music, and dance along with
technology.

71
 Lecture -13
NCERT Class 8 th (Chapter VII)-
Women, Caste and Reforms

72
 NCERT Class 8th (Chapter VII)- Women, Caste and Reforms

❖ Condition of Women 200 years Ago

❖ Condition of Lower Caste 200 years Ago

❖ Working Towards a Change

➢ Change in the Lives of Widows

➢ Girls Begin Going to Schools

➢ Contribution of Women in Improving the Conditions of Women

Condition of Women 200 years Ago:

❖ Problems Faced by Women: The position of women in society was equal to that of a
lower caste. They were not allowed to exercise any rights or express their opinions.
They were forcibly married off at an early stage (presently, the minimum age for a
woman to get married has been increased from 18 to 21). The marriage institution
was polygamous for both Hindus and Muslims.

➢ Sati (virtuous women) was practiced

on a large scale. The practice could
have been voluntary or even forcible.

➢ Mass education for women was

absent. People of earlier times
believed that had they educated their
daughters, they would get widowed
immediately upon getting married.

Condition of Lower Caste 200 years Ago:

❖ Caste-Based Discrimination: Indian society was divided into multiple castes. The caste
system is a European concept that was equated with the Varna system of ancient India.
Because of this conception, there is widespread discrimination.

73
 ➢ Upper Caste: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishyas, and Sudras were the four varnas of
the ancient Indian social system. The first too were considered to be of upper caste
(varna).
➢ Vaishyas: The Vaishyas were put down on the ladder of social order below the upper
castes and were engaged in trade and money-lending businesses.
➢ Sudras: At the bottom of the ladder lay the Sudras were mostly peasants and were
engaged in other petty jobs like working as a craftsman, weavers, porters, etc.
➢ Untouchables: Historical texts also give us references to the presence of
untouchability. The people belonging to the class were engaged in cleaning work
and were denied entering temples or drawing water from the wells.

✓ Because of the colonial way of history writing, our interpretation of Indian

history has been detracted.

✓ We have been made to believe that untouchability has been deliberate and
conscious practice since ancient times.

Questions to Ponder Upon:

Q1. Discuss the condition of women 200 years ago.

Q2. Discuss the condition of the lower caste 200 years ago OR Discuss the caste system
dating back to 200 years.

Q3. Discuss the efforts undertaken to improve the condition of widowed women.

Q4. Discuss the contributions of women for the upliftment of women/ to improve the
condition of women.

Working Towards a Change:

❖ Change in the Lives of Widows:

❖ This period saw the rise of multiple social reformers who fought meticulously to improve
the condition and status of women. Personalities like Ram Mohan Roy, Veerasolingam
Pantulu, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati, etc
❖ Efforts of Leaders:

74
➢ Raja Ram Mohan Roy: He was the
first man from Bengal to have
raised a voice for the deteriorating
conditions of women. He created
awareness against the practice of
sati (his sister-in-law was a
victim of this practice) and
supported Lord William Bentinck
in making it illegal. Finally, a law was passed in 1829 which delegitimized the
practice. After Bengal, the officials also banned Sati in Madras and Bombay in
1839. He proved from the religious texts that these scriptures never
supported/promoted the evil
practice of evil.

➢ Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: He

also proved after referring to
the religious books that widows
of ancient India were allowed to
remarry. Ishwar Chandra even
got his son married to a young
widow to support the cause. In
1856, the Widow Remarriage Act legitimized widows to remarry. Drafted on 25th
July 1856 by Lord Dalhousie, the act was passed by Lord Canning before the 1857
rebellion.

➢ Veeresalingam Pantulu: He hailed from the region of Madras and was known as the
‘Father of the Renaissance Movement’ in Telugu. He was an ardent supporter of
widow remarriage.

✓ He was greatly inspired by the views of Brahmo Samaj leaders such as Keshab
Chandra Sen, Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Raja Rammohan Roy.
They served as an inspiration to him.

✓ In Rajahmundry, he founded the first Brahmo Mandir in Andhra Pradesh.

75
❖ Dayanand Saraswati: Founder of the Arya Samaj which was a reform movement in
the Vedic Dharma, Dayanand too supported widow remarriage.

➢ He was the pioneer in advocating for Swaraj, or "India for Indians." Lokmanya Tilak
subsequently adopted this position.

➢ He strove to revive Vedic ideas while denouncing idolatry and ritualistic devotion.

➢ He translated the Vedas and wrote three books- Satyartha Prakash, Veda Bhasya
Bhumika, and Veda Bhashya.

❖ Girls Begin Going to Schools: To improve the condition of women, the factor of foremost
importance would be to educate that individual. Several schools were opened to impart
education. Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule, and the members of Arya Samaj opened schools
in Calcutta, Madras, and Punjab respectively.

➢ Education among Muslims:

✓ Awareness was being spread to voice the education of Muslim girls.

✓ Mumtaz Ali gave references from the Quran in which education for girls was
being stressed.

Additional Reading:
❖ Contribution of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule:

➢ The Society of Truth Seekers, or Satya Shodhak Samaj, was established in 1873
by Jyotiba Phule. It was a reformational society that supported political access
for the underprivileged and the expansion of education. Additionally, it
encouraged and uplifted women, Shudras, and Dalits in Maharashtra.

➢ Savitribai Phule encouraged Jyotirao in his fight for women's and girls' education
rights.

❖ Contribution of Women in Improving the Conditions of Women: From the early 20th
century, both Hindu and Muslim women came forward and threw light on the common
issues that were being faced by women of that period that were being neglected. The
main personalities were Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Tara Bai Shinde, and Pandita
Ramabai.

➢ Efforts Undertaken by Muslims:

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 ✓ The Begums of Bhopal played a very notable role in educating the women by
establishing a primary school for Muslim girls at Aligarh.

✓ Begum Rokeya Sakahawat opened a Primary school in Patna and Calcutta.

➢ Contribution of Pandita Ramabai:

✓ She was a Sanskrit scholar who believed that Hinduism was oppressive towards
women. She wrote a book in which she highlighted the plight of upper-caste
women. A home for the widows was set up in Pune to educate and give training
so that these women could be finally independent and earn their bread.

➢ Contributions of Tara Bai Shinde: She was working from Pune, Maharashtra, and
got home tutoring. She wrote a book named “Stree Purusha Tulna,” in which she
criticized the difference that society had created between men and women.

➢ Contributions of Muslim Women:

✓ Begums of Bhopal: They played a notable role in educating women. A primary
school was founded in Aligarh solely for Muslim girls. In addition, the Begums
offered scholarships to fund the education of other Bhopal women who were
inspired to seek higher study.

✓ Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain: She too opened another primary school in
Patna and Calcutta (Sakhawat Memorial Girls). In 1919, the Muslim Women
Training School was established in Calcutta due to her persistent petitions.

➢ Entry into Universities: After 1880, women started getting entry into universities.
They started becoming doctors, teachers, etc.



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