The revolt of 1857 is known in Indian history as the first great and direct challenge to the British rule on a vast scale. Though the greased cartridge lit the fire of the revolt, yet it was clearly a product of the accumulated grievances of the Indian masses. Mangal pandey was the first to unfurl the banner of the revolt at Barrackpore on 29^th March, 1857. It soon spread to the other parts of the country. The revolt shook the very foundation of the British Empire in India and became a perennial source of great inspiration to the succeeding generations in India.

Causes of the revolt of 1857:

1. Political causes:

1. The cliam of the adopted son of the ruler of Jhansi was not accepted as the true heir to the throne and the state of Jhansi was annexed by the British Empire.

2. Awadh was annexed on the charges of misgovernance, notwithstanding the fact that the Nawab had throughout been loyal to the British.

3. The Mughal Empire, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, was told that his successors would lose the imperial title and would no more called Princes.

2. Social causes:

1. The social reforms introduced by the British in India added fuel to the fire of discontent amongst the masses.

2. The abolition of Sati ban on female infanticide and caste discrimination.

3. The nationwide discontent led to the great upheaval in 1857.

4. Conversions to Christianity.

5. Promotion of western education.

6. Taxes on lands of temples and mosques.

3. Economic causes:

1. Land-revenue system that brought losses to both landlords and peasants.

2. Policies had ruined the Indian handcrafts.

3. Unemployment among soldiers and artisans of dislodged native leaders.

4. Military causes:

1. Lower pay and lack of promotional avenues for sepoys.

2. Withdrawal of war allowance.

3. Regulations that hurt religious sentiments.

5. Immediate cause:

1. Introduction of the Enfield rifle, having cartridges allegedly greased with the fat of cows and pigs

Main centres:

Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Gwalior, Bareilly and Arrah.

Leaders: Nana Sahib (Kanpur), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow ), Kunwar Singh (Arrah) and Rani Lakshmibai proclaimed loyalty to the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II, but Bahadur Shah was captured and exiled to Rangoon.

Causes of failure:

1. Better communication systems, better generals and superior military techniques of the British.

2. Lack of central leadership and coordination among sepoys.

3. Nonparticipation of many regions due to precautions taken by British.

4. Help received by the British and Sindhia, the Nizam and some other native rulers.

5. Aloofness of western-educated Indians.

Results: The Queen’s proclamation announced the end of company’s rule in India: the British crown began to rule India directly through the secretary of state; the governor-general, a representative of the company became the representative of the crown and was hence, called the Viceroy: the policy of divide and rule was followed to prevent the Indians from uniting; the army was reorganized so as to keep it well under British control.

SOCIO RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS :

BRAHMO SAMAJ

The Brahmo Samaj, formed in 1830, prohibited all forms of idolatry and sacrifice, believed in the Upanishads, and forbade its members from criticizing other religious practices. It critically drew upon the ideals of religious- especially of Hinduism and Christianity- looking at their negative and positive dimensions.

His greatest achievement in the field of religious reform was the setting up of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 and the Brahmo Samaj was the first important organization of religious reforms. It forbade idol-worship and discarded meaningless rites and rituals. The Samaj also forbade its members from attacking any religion.

The greatest achievement in the field of social reform was the abolition of sati in 1829. He had seen how the wife of his elder brother was forced to commit sati. His campaign against sati aroused the opposition of the orthodox Hindus who bitterly attacked him. Ram Mohan Roy realized that the practice of sati was due to extremely low position of Hindu women. He advocated the abolition of polygamy, and wanted women to be educated and given the right to inherit property. The influence of Brahmo Samaj spread and branches of the Samaj were opened in different parts of the country. The two most prominent leader of the Brahmo Samaj were Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen. To spread the message of Brahmo Samaj Keshab Chandra Sen travelled throughout Madras and Bombay presidencies and, later, the northern India.

In 1866, there was a split in the Brahmo Samaj when Keshab Chandra Sen and his group held views which were more radical than those of the original Brahmo Samajists. They proclaimed freedom from the bondage of caste and customs, and from the authority of scriptures. They advocated and performed inter-caste marriages and widow remarriages, opposed the custom of purdah and condemned caste divisions. They attacked caste rigidity, started taking their food with the people of the so-called lower castes and other religions, opposed restrictions about food and drink, devoted their life to the spread of education and condemned the old Hindu opposition to sea voyages. This movement influenced similar movements of reforms in the other parts of the country. While this group rose in prominence, the influence of the other group, which showed little interest in social reforms, declined.

ARYA SAMAJ

Emergence and growth of Arya Samaj :

In 1877, Swami Dayanand travelled to Delhi to attend the durbar held in the honor of the queen Victoria. Here he met with Hindu leaders from the Punjab, who invited him to visit that provinces. Swami Dayanand reached Lahore on April 19, 1877. He stayed in the Punjab until july 11, 1878. Yet in these few months swami Dayanand either directly or indirectly established the Arya Samaj in eleven different cities.

Changing the lives of widows:

Rammohan roy was particularly moved by the problems widows faced in their lives. He began a campaign against the practice of sati.

Rammohan roy was well versed in Sanskrit, Persians and several other Indian and European languages. He tried to show through his writings that the practice of widow burning had no sanction in ancient texts. By early nineteenth century, many British officials had also begun to criticize Indian traditions and customs. Therefore, they were more than willing to listen to Rammohan who was reputed to be a learned man. In 1829, sati was banned.

The strategy adopted by Rammohan was used by later reformers as well. Whenever they wished to challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts that supported their point of view. They then suggested that the practice as it existed at present was against early tradition.

For instance, one of the most famous reformers, Ishwerchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry. His suggestion was adopted by British officials, and a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage. Those who were against the remarriage of widows opposed Vidyasagar and even boycotted him.

By the second half of the nineteenth century, the movement in favour of widow remarriage spread to other parts of the country. In the Telugu-Speaking areas of the madras presidency, Veersalingam Pantulu formed an association for widow remarriage. Around the same time young intellectuals and reformers in Bombay pledged themselves to working for the same cause. In the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported widow remarriage. Yet, the number of widows who actually remarried remained low. Those who married were not easily accepted in society and conservative groups continued to oppose the new law.

RAMAKRISHNA MISSION

Introduction: Swami Vivekanand’s original name was Narendranath. He founded Rama Krishna mission in 1897 to reform the society in many ways. He emphasized on social service and respect for women, while he severely opposed untouchability. His Anglo-irish disciple, sister Nivedita, was a social reformer. She worked hard for the upliftment of the status of women in India. She opened a school for girls in banbazar and laid emphasis on social work. She fought for the empowerment of women of all caste, creed and background.

Ramakrishna mission: swami Vivekananda spread the message of religious tolerance. He held the society responsible for the welfare of the downstrodden. After mastering Indian and western philosophies he attacked superstitions, narrow-mindedness and weakness in all forms. Swami Vivekananda was a disciple of the great sage Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He established the Ramakrihna Mission to spread Ramakrishna’s teachings and to reform society through education and social service. The mission set up schools and hospitals and provided relief during families and epidemics.

The mission carries on missionary and philanthropic work through the combined efforts of monastic and householder disciples. The mission, whose headquarters are near, Kolkata(India),is closely affiliated with the Ramakrishna Math. The Ramakrishna mission emphasizes service to others as karma yoga, concept found in Hinduism which was a strong motive in vivekanandara’s teaching. It engages in humanitarian activities around the world. Vivekananda saw the same truth underlying all religions and believed strongly in the equality of all.

Technically, the Ramakrishna Math is a monastic order, and the Ramakrishna Mission is the part of the organization that carries on activities such as disaster relief, operation of schools and charitable hospitals and other work. However, because the humanitarian activities of the movement are more well-known than the monastic order, and because the monks of the order perform a great deal of the humanitarian work, ”Ramakrishna Mission” is popularly used to refer to both institutions.

Vivekananda frankly started, ”it is we who are responsible for all our misery and all our degradation”. He urged his countrymen t work for their own salvation. So he took upon himself the task of awakening his countrymen and reminding them of their weaknesses. He inspired them “to struggle for the poor and bread their hungry mouths, enlightment to the people at large”.

Vivekananda in 1893 participated in the all world religions conference (parliament of religions) at Chicago in the U.S.A. His address there made a deep impression on the people of other countries and thus, helped to raise the prestige of Indian culture in the eyes of the world.

ALIGARH MOVEMENT

From the early twentieth century, muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women. They founded a primary school for girls at Aligarh. Another remarkable woman, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for muslim girls in patna and Calcutta. She was a fearless critic of conservative ideas, arguing that religious leaders of every faith accorded an inferior place to women.

Later, the movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to educate the Muslim of entire south asia, is referred to as the ‘Aligarh Movement’ in the Indian history, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, now Aligarh Muslim University in 1875.

With a view to transforming the political, social, educational and religious ideas of the Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Indian Patriotic Association with the support of some hindu and muslim leaders. He openly advocated hindu-muslim unity. He said that they were of one nation as their mother country was India. He said, “remember that the words hindu and muslim are only meant for religious distinction: otherwise all persons who reside in this country belong to one and the same nation”.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan emphasized on the study od science. It was with his efforts that the first translation society was set up in 1864, which was later named as the scientific society. This scientific society is known for translating English books on scientific studies and other subjects in urdu. This movement is known for popularizing modern education among Indian Muslims. Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-1893) founded the Mohammadan Literary society of Calcutta in 1863 for the spread of modern education among the muslims in Bengal. He also worked hard towards unifying Hindus and Muslims.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan did many works for the upliftment of the Muslim community, some of them are as under:

(i), Established a Persian Madarsa in Moradabad on November 5, 1859.

(ii),Established a scientific society at ghazipur on January 9, 1864 and in april 1864 shifted it permanently in Aligarh.

(iii) Established Victoria School at Ghazipur in March1864.

(iv) Laid the foundation stone of Madrasat-ulUloom on May 24, 1875. (v) Raised it to the status of College on January 8, 1877.

(vi) Established All-India Muslim Educational Conference in December 1886.

(vii) Wrote a number of books on history, politics,religion, science. Law and on Urdu language and literature. Asar-us-Sanadid (Archaeological History of the Ruins of Delhi), Asbab-i-Baghavat-i-Hind (The causes of the Indian Revolt), Khutbat-i-Ahmadiya (Lecturers on Islam) are some important books written by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

The founder of the Aligarh Movement, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan expressed his views on different aspects of education. He held the view that education is necessary for man and without education a man cannot be called a complete man. He also expressed his views on the aims of education and said "The purpose of education has always been to enable a man to develop his intellectual powers to the full so that he may grasp the significance of any situation that arises".

SOCIAL REFORMS:

JYOTHIBA PHULE

Jyothiba Phule was born in Pune in 1827. He was an introvert since his childhood. During his school days he became conversant with human rights and duties.

One of the most vocal amongst the “low-caste” leaders was Jyothiba Phule, Born in 1827, he studied in schools set up by Christian missionaries. On growing up he developed his own ideas about the injustices of caste society. He set out attack the Brahamans claim that they were superior to others, since they were Aryans. Phule argued that Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent, and defeated and subjugated the true children of the country - those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans. As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at defeated population as inferior, as low-caste people. According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power: in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes.

Phule claimed that before Aryan rule there existed a golden age when warrior-peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fair ways. He proposed that Shudras (untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination. The Satyashodhak Samaj, an association Phule founded, propagated caste equality.

In 1873, Phule wrote the book Gulamgiri (slavery). In this book, he criticized various forms of social inequality that existed in Indian society and praised the white Americans who devoted their lives to end the slavery of blacks in the USA. He dedicated his book to those Americans. In the same year he established the Satyashodhak Samaj to win equal rights for all. He made its members swear loyalty to the British Empire, even though he was against many of the British policies. He did not support Indians struggle against British rule because it was being led mainly by high-caste Hindus who had no sympathy for the low-castes and poor. He felt the success of struggle would only benefit the Brahamans and the other High-castes, and rob the low castes of the benefits that Britishrule had brought them. Phule also held the Brahamans responsible for promoting social evils against women especially the widows. The aim of the Satyashodhak Samaj was to free the society from the clutches of castism brought by Brahmins and to liberate the oppressed the lower caste people.

SHRI NARAYANA GURU

Shri Narayana Guru was born into the low Ezhava caste of Travancore. He mastered Sanskrit, which only the upper castes were permitted to learn. He started a reform movement to improve the conditions of the Ezhavaa and other low castes. He established the Shri Narayana Dharma Paripalan (SNDP) for the untouchables. He advocated one caste, one god and one religion for all.

Gradually, by the second half of the nineteenth century people from within the Non-Brahaman castes began organizing movements against caste discrimination, and demanded social equality and justice. The Satnami movement in Central India was founded by Ghasidas who worked among the leatherworkers and organized a movement to improve their social status. In eastern Bengal, Haridas Thakurs Matua sect worked among Chandala cultivators. Haridas questioned Brahmanical texts that supported the caste system. Shri Narayana Guru, proclaimed the ideas of unity for his people. He argued against treating people unequally on the basis of caste differences. According to him, all humankind belonged to the same caste. One of his famous statements was :”oru jati, oru matam, oru daivam manushyanu” (one caste, one religion, one god for humankind). All these sects were founded by leaders who came from Non-brahaman castes and worked amongst them. They tried to change those habits and practices dominant castes. They tried to create a sense of self-esteem among the subordinate castes.

• Chattampi Swami introduced Guru to Thycattu Ayyaavi, a Hatha Yogi and other philosophies had deep impact on him.

• From an early age, Guru was drawn towards asceticism. He lived as a hermit in a forest at Maruthwamala for 8 years.

• In 1888, he built a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at Aruvipurram which was against the caste-based restrictions of the time. When questioned by Brahamins on this deed, Guru replied that the Shiva he had consecrated was not a Brahmin.

• In one of the temple he consecrated at Kalavancode, he kept mirrors instead of idols. This symbolized his message that the divine was within each individual.

• He travelled all over Kerala and the Madras State visiting people and spreading his message of unity and “one god”. He believed that the ultimate goal of all religions was the same and it was pointless for people to fight over caste and religion.

• He also lent his support to the Vaikkom Satyagraha which was aimed to temple entry in Travancore for the lower castes. Mahatma Gandhi met Guru during this time.

• Shri Narayana Guru breathed his last on 20 September 1928. This day is observed as Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi in Kerala and is a public holiday there. His birth anniversary is also celebrated as Sree Narayana Jayanti.

E.V. RAMASWAMY NAICKER (PERIYAR)

E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, or Periyar, as he was called, came from a middle class family interestingly, he had been an ascetic in his early life and had studied Sanskrit scriptures carefully. Later he became a member of the congress, only to leave it in disgust when he found that at a feast organized by nationalists, seating arrangements followed caste distinctions – that is, the lower castes were made to sit at a distance from the upper castes. convinced that untouchables had to fight for their dignity. Periyar founded the Self Respect Movement. He argued that untouchables were the true upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture that all religions authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God-given. Untouchables had to free themselves, therefore, from all religions in order to achieve social equality. Periyar was an outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures, especially the Codes of Manu, the Ramayana. He said that these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahamans over lower castes and the domination of men over women.

In the 1920s, Periyar launched the Self Respect Movement against all social and religious practices that increased inequalities in society, its programme included organizing marriages without Brahaman priests. Periyar joined the struggle against British rule, but left it when he was convinced that the high-caste colleagues. He strongly condemned the movement’s neglect of the interests of the non-Brahmans. The justice party supported Periya’s efforts to secure reservation for non-Brahmans in government jobs Periyar later joined the party and renamed it the Dravida Kazhagam.

THE INTENTIONS OF THE SELF-RESPECT MOVEMENT

• The program intentions to do away with the social structure as a society where one class of people claim to be superior to others and some people claim to be the birthplace higher than others.

• It is intended to work to obtain equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their community will strive to secure equal status for women along with men in life and according to the law.

• Everyone should be given the same opportunity for growth and development. Friendship and fellow feeling should be natural among all people.

• It intentions to completely eradicate untouched and to build a united society based on brotherhood.

• To establish and maintain a home for orphans and widows and to run educational institutions.

• To prevent people from building new temples, mutts, chlorite or Vedic School. People should drop the title of caste in their name. Public funds should be used for educational purposes and to create jobs for the unemployed.

B.R. AMBEDKAR

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born into the Mahar caste, whose members were considered untouchable. He received formal education and even went abroad for higher studies. To spread education among the lower castes. Ambedkar helped establish the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, or Depressed Classes Welfare Association, in the 1920s. He believed that education would help the lower castes to improve their economic conditions and express their grievances.

Dr. B.R.Ambedkar occupies a unique position among the social reformers of the 20^th century. He opposed unjust caste system and fought for the cause of under-privileged sections of the society.

Ambedkar organized non-violent campaigns to assert the rights of untouchables to enter the places of worship and to draw water from public wells and tanks. One of the most significant campaigns was held at Chowdar Tank in Mahad, Maharashtra. The participants burnt the Manu Smriti, the Hindu law book which they held largely responsible for the practice of untouchables.

Ambedkar favoured the reservation of government posts for the depressed classes. He encouraged lower-caste people to change their occupations and to acquire political power. He even advocated conversion to Buddhism which was based on the principles of equality, freedom and brotherhood. In later life, he himself converted to Buddhism. In 1942, Ambedkar founded the All India Schedule Castes Federation, which campaigned to improve the status of the depressed classes. Later on, while drafting India’s Constitution, Ambedkar played an important role in safeguarding the rights of the depressed classes.

Movement against Caste Discrimination:

• Ambedkar was against the caste-based discrimination in society and advocated the Dalits to organize and demand their rights.

• He promoted the education of Dalits and made representation to the government in various capacities in this regard. He was part of the Bombay Presidency Committee that worked with simon commission in 1925.

• He established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education and socio-economic improvements among Dalits. He started magazines like Mooknayak, Equality Janta and Bahishkrit Bharat.

• In 1927, he launched active agitation against untouchabilty. He organized and agitated for the rights of Dalits to enter temples and draw water from public water resources. He condemned Hindu scriptures that he thought propagated caste discrimination.

Poona Pact :

In 1932, the British announced separate electorates for the depressed classes. Gandhi opposed the concept of separate eclctorate for untouchables saying that it would divide the Hindu community. The Poona Pact was signed between Dr. Br. Ambedkar and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, representative of the Hindu Brahamins relinquishing reservation of seats for the untouchable classes in the Provisional legislatures, within the general electorate. These classes were later designated as Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes. According to this, the Scheduled Caste got reservation of 140 seats instead of 71 seats in the legislature.

Hindu Code Bill:

The Hindu code bill was brought into existence by Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s. It was revised by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in 1948 and was referred to a select committee under the chairmanship of law minister B.R.Ambedkar. The committee made a number of important changes to the bill, including making the laws applicable to even non-Hindus. According to this bill, portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving widows complete property rights. This had been previously been restricted. The bill basically put forth gender equality in laws of inheritance and marriage.

Contribution to the Constitution Text:

Ambedkar in his ideas for the Constitution of India concentrates on Civil liberty of individual citizens including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability, insisting on economic and social right for women, avoiding all forms of discrimination. He also won the Assembly’s support to introduce the system of reservation in civil services jobs, schools and colleges for people from backward classes

Treaty of Annexation in India :-

The Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947. By executing this document under the provisions of Indian Independence Act 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India.

Treaty of annexation and inclusion:-

In 1858, the policy of annexation was formally renounced, and British relations with the remaining princely states thereafter were based on subsidiary alliances, whereby the British exercised paramountcy over all princely states, with the British crown as ultimate suzerain, but at the same time respected and protected.

Communal trends :-

For many years now historians have preferred to turn their to long periods, as if, beneath the shifts and changes of political events they were trying to reveal the stable, almost indestructible system of checks and balances, the irreversible processes, the constant readjustments, the underlying tendencies that gather force, and are then suddenly reversed after centuries of continuity, the movements of accumulation and slow saturation, the great silent, motionless bases that traditional history has covered with a thick layer of events.

More than six decades have passed after the Indian subcontinent underwent the process of partition and gained the long-awaited independence in 1947. However, the sheer volume of historical writings produced about this event of partition by both professionals and scholastic writers proves that we have still not been able to disentangle ourselves from engagement with this event/process. The massive repercussion of the aftermath of partition left in individual lives as well as in the collective life of a section of people can be considered as a foundation of such a continuum of work about partition. The gamut of work created about partition is a resonance of individual experiences, collective experiences and developing an understanding of the event based on these experiences. But although the events of partition are placed under the rubric of history, it is mostly discussed and debated with a sense of liability, accountability and responsibility.