⚔️ Modern Indian History (Modern India)

📌 1. Advent of Europeans (5 min read)

Concept: In the 15th century, Europe needed a sea route to India for spices (the land route was under the control of the Ottoman Turks). The Portuguese came first, then the Dutch, English, Danish and French. In the end the English (East India Company) won.

Carnatic Wars (English vs French) — who won?

• 1st (1746-48): Ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
• 2nd (1749-54): Treaty of Pondicherry; Dupleix was recalled.
• 3rd (1756-63): Battle of Wandiwash (1760) — the English (Eyre Coote) defeated the French (Count de Lally) → Treaty of Paris (1763). End of French power in India.

📌 2. British Expansion (8 min read)

A. Bengal: Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764)

Concept: Plassey was won through a "conspiracy", but Buxar was a real military victory that defeated three powers together — that is why Buxar is considered more decisive.

B. Anglo-Mysore Wars (Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan)

C. Anglo-Maratha Wars

D. Anglo-Sikh Wars

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh signed the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with the English; after his death in 1839, Punjab became weak.
• 1st (1845-46): Treaty of Lahore (1846). GG: Hardinge I.
• 2nd (1848-49): Battles of Chillianwala and Gujrat → annexation of Punjab in 1849. GG: Dalhousie.

E. Three "policies" through which the British grabbed states

Awadh (1856): Annexed by Dalhousie not under the Doctrine of Lapse, but on the pretext of "misgovernance" (Nawab Wajid Ali Shah). This became a major political cause of the Revolt of 1857.

📌 3. Governor-Generals & Viceroys (10 min read)

Concept: From 1773 (Regulating Act) Governor-General of Bengal → from 1833 (Charter Act) Governor-General of India → from 1858 (GoI Act) the GG was also called Viceroy (representative of the Crown). In the exam, "what happened in which Viceroy's time" is asked the most.

📌 4. Important Acts 1773–1947 (8 min read)

Concept: Through these Acts, gradually (1) the British Parliament's control over the Company increased, (2) the Company's trade ended, (3) Indians got a little representation step by step, and finally (4) power was transferred. This background is also important for Polity.

📌 5. Economic Impact, Land Revenue, Press & Education (7 min read)

A. Three land revenue systems

B. Drain of Wealth

• Dadabhai Naoroji — book "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India". R.C. Dutt — "Economic History of India".
• The drain did not mean only sending raw materials — it included Home Charges (expenses of the Secretary of State, pensions, salaries of British officers), interest on debt, company profits — all of it, for which India got nothing in return.
• Great Hedge of India = a long hedge of thorns/bushes for collecting the tax on salt (Inland Customs Line).

C. Social-administrative steps (asked in PYQs)

• Orientalist vs Anglicist: Orientalists (William Jones, Colebrooke) — in favour of Sanskrit/Arabic education; Anglicists/Utilitarians (Macaulay's Minute, 1835) — English education. The Anglicists won (English Education Act 1835, Bentinck).
• Wood's Despatch (1854) — "Magna Carta of English education".
• Ilbert Bill (1883, Ripon) — so that Indian judges could hear cases against Europeans; the European community strongly opposed it → the bill had to be diluted. It exposed British racial arrogance.
• Criminal Tribes Act (1871) — declared whole communities "born criminals".
• Colin Mackenzie — born 1754; first Surveyor General of India in 1815; surveyed the ruins of Hampi (Vijayanagar) in 1800.

📌 6. Revolt of 1857 + Madhya Pradesh Special (10 min read)

A. Causes

• Political: Doctrine of Lapse (Jhansi, Nagpur, Satara), annexation of Awadh (1856, in the name of misgovernance), insult of the Mughal emperor.
• Economic: heavy land revenue, taluqdars' lands taken away, ruin of handicrafts.
• Military: General Service Enlistment Act (1856) — new sepoys would have to go abroad (across the sea) (against the religious beliefs of upper-caste Hindus); low pay, discrimination.
• Immediate cause: rumour of cow and pig fat in the cartridges of the Enfield rifle (Pattern 1853).

B. Course of events

• 29 March 1857 — Barrackpore: Mangal Pandey (34th Bengal Native Infantry) attacked an officer; hanged on 8 April 1857.
• The revolt began from Meerut on 10 May 1857 → on 11 May the sepoys reached Delhi and declared Bahadur Shah Zafar their leader.
• The name "First War of Independence" for the revolt was given by V.D. Savarkar (book of 1909).

Attitude of the princely states: Most rulers (Sikh chiefs, rulers of Rajputana, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Scindia of Gwalior) stayed with the British. Bahadur Shah Zafar was only a nominal leader — the sepoys often acted on their own. His proclamation appealed for unity of both Hindus and Muslims. Zafar was exiled to Rangoon (died 1862).

Results: Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1 Nov 1858, Allahabad); GoI Act 1858 — Company rule ended; Doctrine of Lapse withdrawn; the proportion of Europeans in the army was increased (Peel Commission). The proportion of Indians in the British army was reduced after the revolt — not before.

C. 1857 in Madhya Pradesh (MP Special)

• In MP, the revolt began from Neemuch Cantonment on 3 June 1857. After this, a revolt broke out at Gwalior's Morar cantonment on 14 June 1857; on 1 July 1857, soldiers of Holkar's army (Saadat Khan) attacked the Indore Residency.
• Rani Laxmibai: After Jhansi, she captured Gwalior with Tatya Tope. Died a martyr fighting Hugh Rose's army at Kotah-ki-Sarai (Gwalior) on 18 June 1858. Samadhi: Phool Bagh, Gwalior.
• Rani Avantibai Lodhi: Rani of Ramgarh (present-day Dindori). Defeated Deputy Commissioner Waddington at Kheri (near Mandla); later, when surrounded, she sacrificed her life with her own sword on 20 March 1858.
• Tatya Tope (real name Ramchandra Pandurang): guerrilla warfare in the forests of MP-Rajasthan. Captured due to the betrayal of Raja Man Singh of Narwar; hanged at Shivpuri on 18 April 1859.
• Raja Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah (Gond rulers, Garha-Mandla, Jabalpur): on the charge of writing poems against the British/planning a revolt, they were tied to the mouth of a cannon and blown up on 18 September 1857.
• Bhima Nayak (Barwani, Nimar): Bhil leader; Battle of Ambapani (11 April 1858). Later captured and sent to the Andamans (Port Blair), where he died on 29 Dec 1876.
• Tantya Bhil (Tantya Mama) — "Robin Hood of Nimar/India" (struggle after 1857, from 1878-89): the Jabalpur Sessions Court sentenced him on 19 Oct 1889; hanged in Jabalpur jail on 4 December 1889. Patalpani railway station near Indore was renamed "Tantya Mama railway station".

📌 7. Socio-Religious Reform Movements (6 min read)

Concept: In the 19th century, under the influence of Western education and reason, movements arose against the evils of Indian society — sati, child marriage, untouchability, purdah. Some were "reformist" (Brahmo), some "revivalist" — "Go back to the Vedas" (Arya Samaj).

📌 8. Congress, Partition of Bengal, Muslim League, Home Rule (INC to Home Rule 1885–1918) (8 min read)

A. Founding of the INC

• 28 December 1885, Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay; 72 delegates. Founder A.O. Hume (retired ICS); first president W.C. Bonnerjee. Viceroy: Dufferin.
• "Safety Valve theory" — it was said that Hume formed the Congress so that the people's anger could be let out in a "safe" way (leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai made this charge).
• 1886 Calcutta — Dadabhai Naoroji; 1887 Madras — Badruddin Tyabji (first Muslim president); 1917 Calcutta — Annie Besant (first woman president); 1925 Kanpur — Sarojini Naidu (first Indian woman president).

B. Moderates vs Extremists

• Tilak: "Swaraj is my birthright"; newspapers Kesari (Marathi) and Maratha (English); Ganesh Utsav (1893), Shivaji Utsav (1895).
• Surat Split (1907) — the Congress split into Moderates and Extremists (president Rash Behari Ghosh). It reunited at Lucknow (1916).

C. Partition of Bengal & Swadeshi

• Viceroy Curzon announced it in July 1905; it came into effect on 16 October 1905 — that day was observed as a day of mourning, and Raksha Bandhan was celebrated at Tagore's initiative; the song "Amar Sonar Bangla".
• Swadeshi Movement — 7 August 1905, boycott resolution at Calcutta Town Hall.
• The partition was annulled in 1911 (Delhi Durbar, Hardinge II); capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

D. Muslim League, Lucknow Pact, Home Rule

• Shimla Deputation (1 Oct 1906) — Muslim representatives led by the Aga Khan met Minto. Muslim League — 30 Dec 1906, Dhaka (initiative of Nawab Salimullah; Aga Khan the first president).
• Lucknow Pact (1916) — agreement between the Congress and the League; the Congress accepted separate electorates.
• Home Rule League (1916): Tilak — April 1916, Belgaum (Maharashtra, Karnataka, CP, Berar); Annie Besant — Sept 1916, Madras (rest of India).

📌 9. Revolutionary Movement, Ghadar & INA (Revolutionaries) (7 min read)

Ghadar movement — concept

During the First World War, the plan was to overthrow British rule through an armed revolt with Germany's help. The plan for a country-wide revolt in 1915 failed (information leaked, arrests were made — Lahore Conspiracy Case). So "it succeeded in 1915" is wrong.

INA (Azad Hind Fauj)

• First formed by Mohan Singh (1942) with Japan's help; Rash Behari Bose took charge of the Indian Independence League.
• Subhas Chandra Bose got command of the INA in 1943 (July, Singapore). 21 Oct 1943 — Provisional Government of Azad Hind. Slogans: "Delhi Chalo", "Give me blood, and I will give you freedom", "Jai Hind".
• INA trials — Red Fort, Nov 1945 (Sahgal, Dhillon, Shah Nawaz). Feb 1946 — Royal Indian Navy (RIN) mutiny, Bombay.

📌 10. Gandhian Era and Major National Movements (Gandhian Era 1915–1942) (12 min read)

1. Gandhiji's Return to India and Early Satyagrahas (1915-1919)

• Gandhiji returned to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915 (Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated on this day). Political guru: Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
• Champaran (1917, Bihar): the first satyagraha in India — against the tinkathia system imposed on indigo farmers.
• Ahmedabad Mill Workers' Strike (1918): Gandhiji's first hunger strike in India (demand for a 35% wage increase).
• Kheda (1918, Gujarat): remission of land revenue after crop failure — the first non-cooperation; Vallabhbhai Patel joined.
• Rowlatt Act (1919) ("no vakil, no daleel, no appeal") → Jallianwala Bagh (13 April 1919, Amritsar): General Dyer ordered firing on an unarmed crowd gathered to protest against the arrest of Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal. Rabindranath Tagore returned his "Knighthood". The Hunter Committee inquired into it.

2. Gandhiji's 3 Big Mass Movements

• 1. Non-Cooperation Movement (Non-Cooperation, 1920-22): together with the Khilafat movement (Ali brothers). Boycott of government schools, courts, titles and foreign cloth. Resolution at the Calcutta special session (Sept 1920), confirmed at Nagpur (Dec 1920).
  ⚠️ Chauri Chaura incident (4 Feb 1922, Gorakhpur, UP): a mob set fire to a police station and 22 policemen died → Gandhiji withdrew the movement on 12 Feb 1922 (Bardoli).
• 2. Civil Disobedience Movement (Civil Disobedience, 1930-34):
  • Dandi March: from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 with 78 companions; broke the salt law at Dandi (Navsari, Gujarat) on 6 April 1930.
  • ⚠️ Madhya Pradesh connection: Jungle Satyagraha (1930) — Ganjan Singh Korku in Betul, Durga Shankar Mehta in Seoni. Charan Paduka massacre (14 Jan 1931, Chhatarpur) — firing on a peaceful meeting on the bank of the Urmil river on the orders of British Political Agent Fisher — the "Jallianwala Bagh of Madhya Pradesh / Bundelkhand".
• 3. Quit India Movement (Quit India, 1942):
  • Resolution on 8 August 1942 at Bombay's Gowalia Tank Maidan; slogan "Do or Die".
  • On the morning of 9 August, Operation Zero Hour — all the top leaders arrested (Gandhiji at the Aga Khan Palace, Pune).
  • As the leaders were in jail, the movement ran underground: Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali; Usha Mehta — Congress Radio. Parallel governments were formed in many places — Ballia (Chittu Pandey), Tamluk (Jatiya Sarkar), Satara (Prati Sarkar). Gandhiji's "Do or Die" call did not give a clear order to set up parallel governments.

3. MP's Jhanda Satyagraha (Flag Satyagraha, 1923)

Jabalpur, March 1923 — an attempt to hoist the tricolour on the Town Hall; leaders Pt. Sunderlal (sentenced to 6 months), Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (first woman satyagrahi), Makhanlal Chaturvedi. Later it spread to Nagpur.

4. Main events of the 1920s-30s

5. The business class and the Congress — concept

Industrialists like G.D. Birla, Jamnalal Bajaj and Purshottamdas Thakurdas were close to Gandhiji and gave donations to the Congress, but they were not staunch supporters of mass movements from the very beginning — they feared business losses if a movement went on for long, and they were also wary of the socialist thinking of Nehru and Bose. Their main aim was an industrialised India free from British competition. The Bombay Plan (1944) was prepared by leading industrialists (J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla etc.) — it too accepted state planning and government participation.

📌 11. Towards Independence (Cripps Mission → Independence 1947) (6 min read)

📌 12. Constituent Assembly & Making of the Constitution (5 min read)

• Demand for a Constituent Assembly: the idea was given by M.N. Roy (1934); the Congress formally demanded it in 1935.
• Formation: Cabinet Mission Plan 1946; total 389 seats (British India 296 + princely states 93). After partition, 299.
• First meeting — 9 Dec 1946; temporary president Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha (the oldest member).
• Permanent president — Dr. Rajendra Prasad (11 Dec 1946); vice-president H.C. Mukherjee; constitutional adviser B.N. Rau.
• Objectives Resolution — Nehru, 13 Dec 1946; adopted 22 Jan 1947 (it later became the Preamble).
• Drafting Committee — 29 Aug 1947, chairman Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (7 members).
• National flag adopted — 22 July 1947.
• Constitution adopted — 26 Nov 1949 (Constitution Day); came into force — 26 Jan 1950 (in memory of the Purna Swaraj day of Lahore 1929). Time taken: 2 years 11 months 18 days.
• 24 Jan 1950 — last meeting: national anthem/national song adopted, Rajendra Prasad elected the first President.

📌 13. Integration of Princely States & Formation of MP (Integration & Formation of MP) (5 min read)

• At the time of independence there were more than 500 (about 565) princely states. States Department (July 1947) — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel minister, V.P. Menon secretary. Tool: Instrument of Accession (defence, foreign affairs, communications to the Centre).
• Three difficult states: Junagadh — plebiscite (Feb 1948) → India; Hyderabad — Operation Polo (Sept 1948); Kashmir — Raja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 Oct 1947.
• MP link — Bhopal state: Nawab Hamidullah Khan signed the merger agreement on 30 April 1949; on 1 June 1949 Bhopal came under the Centre (Chief Commissioner's province, later a Part-C state).
• Reorganisation: Andhra (1953, after Potti Sriramulu's fast); States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali, members K.M. Panikkar, H.N. Kunzru) → States Reorganisation Act 1956.
• Madhya Pradesh — 1 Nov 1956: formed by joining Madhya Bharat + Vindhya Pradesh + Bhopal + Mahakoshal (the Hindi part of the old Madhya Pradesh). Capital Bhopal; first CM Pt. Ravishankar Shukla; first Governor Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya. 1 Nov 2000 — Chhattisgarh separated.