BBAHM-604

Cultural Heritage of India

Unit-1

Indian History

Introduction

Culture generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic

structures that give such activity significance. In general, the term culture

denotes the whole product of an individual, group or society of intelligent

beings. It includes technology, art, science, as well as moral systems and the

characteristic behaviors and habits of the selected intelligent entities.

History of India

The history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which

flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 b.c.

to 1700 b.c. This Bronze Age civilization was followed by the Iron Age &

Vedic period, which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the

Mahajanapadas. In two of these, in the 6th century b.c., Mahavira and

Gautama Buddha were born. The subcontinent was united under the Maurya

Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries b.c. It subsequently became

fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the

next ten centuries. Its northern regions were united once again in the 4th

century, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the Gupta

Empire. This period was known as the "Golden Age of India."

During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, Southern India,

under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas, experienced

its own golden age, during which Hinduism and Buddhism spread to much

of south-east Asia. Islam arrived on the subcontinent early in the 8th century

with the conquest of Baluchistan and Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim.

Islamic invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries

brought most of northern India under the rule at first of the Delhi Sultanate

and later of the Mughals. Mughal rule, which ushered in a remarkable

flowering of art and architecture, came to cover most of the northern parts of

the subcontinent.

Nevertheless, several independent kingdoms, such as the Maratha Empire

and the Vijayanagara Empire, flourished contemporaneously, in Western and

Southern India respectively. Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the

next century, India was gradually annexed by the British East India

Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the First War of Indian

Independence, after which India was under the direct administration of the

British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of

infrastructure and economic decline. During the first half of the 20th century,

a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National

Congress, and later joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained

independence from Great Britain in 1947, after being partitioned into the

dominions of India and Pakistan. Pakistan's eastern wing became the nation

of Bangladesh in 1971.

Pre-Historic Era Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the

Narmada Valley in Central India indicate that India might have been

inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between

200,000 to 500,000 years ago. The Mesolithic period in the Indian

subcontinent covered a time span of around 25,000 years, starting around

30,000 years ago. Modern humans seem to have settled in the subcontinent

towards the end of the last Ice Age, or approximately 12,000 years ago. The

first confirmed permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the Rock

Shelters of Bhimbetka in modern Madhya Pradesh. Early Neolithic culture

in South Asia is represented by the Mehrgarh findings (7000 b.c. On wards)

in present day Baluchistan, Pakistan. Traces of a Neolithic culture have been

found submerged in the Gulf of Khambat. (radiocarbon dated to 7500 b.c.)

Late Neolithic cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley region between 6000

and 2000 b.c. and in southern India between 2800 and 1200 b.c.

The Bronze Age

The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 b.c. with the

beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus

river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and

produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.

Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilization which flourished

from about 2600 b.c. to 1900 b.c., and included urban centers such as

Harappa and Mohenjodaro (in Pakistan) and Dholavira, marked the

beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent. It was cantered on

the Indus river and its tributaries, and extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra

River valley, the Ganges,Yamuna , Doab, Gujarat, and northern

Afghanistan.

The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage

system and multi-storied houses. Among the settlements were the major

urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira,

Ganweriwala, Lothal, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi. It is thought by some that

geological disturbances and climate change, leading to a gradual

deforestation may ultimately have contributed to the civilization's downfall.

The decline of the Indus Valley Civilization also included a break down of

urban society in India and of the use of distinctively urban traits such as the

use of writing and seals.

Vedic Age

The Vedic culture is the Indo-Aryan culture associated with the Vedas, which

are some of the oldest extant texts, orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The

first 500 years (1500 – 1000 b.c.) of the Vedic Age correspondto Bronze Age

India and the next 500 years (1000 – 500 b.c.) to Iron Age India. Many

scholars postulate that in the early 2nd millennium b.c., IndoAryan tribes as

originating in Iran, Kurdistan or Anatolia migrated east into India, and west

into Europe, overunning the native northern Europeans and finally

assimilating with them while spreading their language and culture. Early

Vedic society consisted of largely pastoral groups with late Harappan

urbanization being abandoned for unknown reasons. After the Rigveda,

Aryan society became increasingly agricultural, and was socially organized

around the four Varnas. In addition to the principal texts of Hinduism (the

Vedas), the epics (the Ramayana and Mahabharata) are said to have their

ultimate origins during this period. Early Indo-Aryan presence probably

corresponds, in part, to the presence of Ochre Coloured Pottery in

archaeological findings. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black

and Red Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in Northwestern

India, around 1000 b.c. (roughly contemporaneous with the composition of

the Atharvaveda, the first Indian text to mention Iron, as śyāma ayas,

literally "black metal"). Painted Grey Ware cultures spanning much of

Northern India were prevalent from about 1100 to 600 b.c. This later period

also corresponds to a change in outlook towards the prevalent tribal system

of living leading to establishment of kingdoms called Mahajanapadas.

Establishment of Mahajanapadas The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most

powerful kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the fertile

Indo-Gangetic plains. They were, Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or

Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Machcha (or

Matsya), Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, Kamboja – stretched across

the Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to south pole. This

was the second major urbanisation in India after the Indus Valley

Civilization.

The speech of the educated mass at that time was Sanskrit, while the dialects

of the general population of northern India were referred to as Prakrits. By

the time of Siddhartha Gautama these sixteen kingdoms had reduced to four

- Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and, Magadha 500 b.c. probably due to infighting.

Hindu rituals at that time were complicated and conducted by the priestly

class. It is thought that the Upanishads, late Vedic texts were composed in

the later Vedic Age and early in this period of the Mahajanapadas.

Upanishads had a huge effect on Indian philosophy, indicating a golden age

of thought in this period. It was in 537 b.c., that Siddhartha Gautama

attained the state of awakenedness – "enlightenment", and became known as

the 'Buddha' – the awakened one. Around the same time period, in 510 b.c.,

Mahavira founded Jainism. The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had simple

doctrines, and were preached in Prakrit, which helped them gain acceptance

amongst the masses. While the geographic impact of Jainism was limited,

Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to

Central Asia, East Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka and South East Asia.

Persian & Greek Invasion Alexander's conquests reached the northernmost

edge of India, around the Indus river in modern day Pakistan. Much of the

northwestern Indian Subcontinent (present day Eastern Afghanistan and

Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in 520 b.c.

during the reign of Darius the Great, and remained so for two centuries

thereafter. In 334 b.c., Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and the

Achaemenid

Empire, reaching the north-west frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There,

he defeated King Puru in the Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day

Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab. However, due to

exhaustion, Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Hyphases (Beas)

river near modern day Jalandhar, Punjab. Alexander left many Macedonian

veterans in the conquered regions; he himself turned back and marched his

army southwest

The Persian and Greek invasions had important repercussions on Indian

civilization. The political systems of the Persians were to influence future

forms of governance on the subcontinent, including the administration of the

Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of Gandhara, or present-day eastern

Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan, became a melting pot of Indian,

Persian, Central Asian and Greek cultures and gave rise to a hybrid culture,

Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th century AD and influenced the

artistic development of Mahayana Buddhism.

The Magadha Empire Amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas, the kingdom of

Magadha rose to prominence under a number of dynasties. According to the

tradition, the Haryanka dynasty founded the Magadha Empire in 684 b.c.

whose capital was Rajagriha, later Pataliputra, near the present day Patna.

This dynasty was succeeded by the Shishunaga dynasty which, in turn, was

overthrown by the Nanda dynasty in 424 b.c. The Nandas were followed by

the Maurya dynasty

Maurya Dynasty

In 321 b.c., exiled general Chandragupta Maurya, under direct patronage of

the genius of Chanakya, founded the Maurya dynasty after overthrowing the

reigning king Dhana Nanda. Most of the subcontinent was united under a

single government for the first time under the Maurya rule. Mauryan empire

under Chandragupta spread its boundaries into Persia and Central Asia,

conquering the Gandhara region. Chandragupta Maurya is credited for the

spread of Jainism in South Indian region.

Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara, who expanded the

kingdom over most of present day India, barring Kalinga, and the extreme

south and east, which may have held tributary status. Bindusara's kingdom

was inherited by his son Ashoka the Great. In the aftermath of the carnage

caused in the invasion of Kalinga, he renounced bloodshed and pursued a

policy of non-violence or ahimsa after converting to Buddhism. The Edicts

of Ashoka are the oldest preserved historical documents of India, and from

Ashoka's time. The Mauryan dynasty under Ashoka was responsible for the

proliferation of Buddhist ideals across the whole of East Asia and South-East

Asia. Ashoka's grandson Samprati adopted Jainism and helped spread

Jainism.

Post Mauryan Magadha Dynasties

The Sunga Dynasty was established in 185 b.c., about fifty years after

Ashoka's death, when the king Brihadratha, the last of the Mauryan rulers,

was murdered by the then commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces,

Pusyamitra Sunga. The Kanva dynasty replaced the Sunga dynasty, and

ruled in the eastern part of India from 71 b.c. to 26 b.c.. In 30 b.c., the

southern power swept away both the Kanvas and Sungas. Following the

collapse of the Kanva dynasty, the Satavahana dynasty of the Andhra

kingdom replaced the Magadha kingdom as the most powerful Indian state.

Early middle kingdoms – the golden age

Badami Chalukya territories

The middle period was a time of cultural development. The Satavahanas,

also known as the Andhras, were a dynasty which ruled in Southern and

Central India starting from around 230 b.c.. Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the

Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga dynasty of North India. Gautamiputra

Satakarni was another notable ruler of the dynasty. The Kushanas invaded

north-western India about the middle of the 1st century from Central Asia,

and founded an empire that eventually stretched from Peshawar to the

middle Ganges and, perhaps, as far as the Bay of Bengal. It also included

ancient Bactria (in the north of modern Afghanistan) and southern Tajikistan.

The Western Satraps (35-405 CE) were Saka rulers of the western and

central part of India. They were the successors of the Indo- Scythians and

contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian

subcontinent, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India.

Different empires such as the Pandyan Kingdom, Early Cholas, Chera

Dynasty, Kadamba Dynasty, Western Ganga Dynasty, Pallavas and Chalukya

dynasty dominated the southern part of the Indian peninsula, at different

periods of time. Several southern kingdoms formed overseas empires that

stretched across South East Asia. The kingdoms warred with each other and

Deccan states, for domination of the south. alabhras, a Buddhist kingdom,

briefly interrupted the usual domination of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas

in the South.

Roman trade with India

Roman trade with India started following the reign of Augustus and his

conquest of Egypt, theretofore India's biggest trade partner in the West. The

trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 b.c. kept increasing by the time

of Augustus when upto 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos

Hormos to India.

Gupta Dynasty

In the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Dynasty unified northern India.

During this period, known as India's Golden Age of Hindu renaissance,

Hindu culture, science and political administration reached new heights.

Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II were the most notable

rulers of the Gupta dynasty. The Vedic Puranas are also thought to have been

written around this period. The empire came to an end with the attack of the

Huns from central Asia. After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th

century, India was again ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. A minor line

of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the

empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by the Vardhana king Harsha,

who established an empire in the first half of the seventh century. The White

Huns, established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the fifth

century, with their capital at Bamiyan. They were responsible for the

downfall of the Gupta dynasty. Nevertheless, much of the Deccan and

southern India were largely unaffected by this state of flux in the north.

Late Middle Kingdoms – the Classical Age

The classical age in India began with the resurgence of the north during

Harsha's conquests around the 7th century, and ended with the fall of the

Vijayanagar Empire in the South, due to pressure from the invaders to the

north in the 13th century. This period produced some of India's finest art,

considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of the

main spiritual and philosophical systems, which continued to be in Hinduism,

Buddhism and Jainism. King Harsha of Kannauj succeeded in reuniting

northern India during his reign in the 7th century, after the collapse of the

Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death. From the 7th to the

9th century, three dynasties contested for control of northern India: the

Pratiharas of Malwa and later Kannauj; the Palas of Bengal, and the

Rashtrakutas of the Deccan. The Sena dynasty would later assume control of

the Pala kingdom, and the Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These

were the first of the Rajputs, a series of kingdoms, which managed to

survive in some form for almost a millennium until Indian independence

from the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in Rajasthan

in the 6th century, and small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern

India. One Rajput of the Chauhan dynasty, Prithviraj Chauhan, was known

for bloody conflicts against the encroaching Islamic Sultanates. The

Chalukya Empire ruled parts of southern and central India from 550 to 750

from Badami, Karnataka and again from 970 to 1190 from Kalyani,

Karnataka. The Pallavas of Kanchi were their contemporaries further to the

south. With the decline of the Chalukya empire, their feudatories, Hoysalas

of Halebidu, Kakatiya of Warangal, Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri and a

southern branch of the Kalachuri divided the vast Chalukya empire amongst

themselves around the middle of 12th century. Later during the middle

period, the Chola kingdom emerged in northern Tamil Nadu, and the Chera

kingdom in Kerala. By 1343 a.d., all these kingdoms had ceased to exist

giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire. Southern Indian kingdoms of the time

expanded their influence as far as Indonesia, controlling vast overseas

empires in Southeast Asia. The ports of southern India were involved in the

Indian Ocean trade, chiefly involving spices, with the Roman Empire to the

west and Southeast Asia to the east. Literature in local vernaculars and

spectacular architecture flourished till about the beginning of the 14th century

when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll onthese

kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar dynasty [Karnata Rajya] came into

conflict with Islamic rule (the Bahmani Kingdom) and the clashing of the

two systems, caused a mingling of the indigenous and foreign culture that

left lasting cultural influences on each other. The Vijaynagar Empire

eventually declined due to pressure from the first Delhi Sultanates, who had

managed to establish themselves in the north, centered around the city of

Delhi by that time.

Medieval Indian History

The Muslim Invasion

After the Arab-Turkic invasion of India's ancient western neighbour Persia,

expanding forces in that area were keen to invade India, which was the

richest classical civilization, with a flourishing international trade and had

the only known diamond mines in the world. After resistance for a few

centuries by various north Indian kingdoms, the Islamic empires (Sultanates)

got

established and spread across the northern subcontinent over a period of a

few centuries.

Delhi Sultanate

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Arabs, Turks and Afghans invaded parts of

northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate at the beginning of the

13th century, from former Rajput holdings. The subsequent Slave dynasty of

Delhi managed to conquer large areas of northern India, approximate to the

ancient extent of the Guptas, while the Khilji Empire was also able to

conquer most of central India, but were ultimately unsuccessful in

conquering most of the subcontinent. The Sultanate ushered in a period of

Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures

left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, and

religion. It is surmised that the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde"

or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Delhi Sultanate

period as a result of the inter-mingling of the local speakers of Sanskritic

prakrits with the Persian, Turkish and Arabic speaking immigrants under the

Muslim rulers. The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to stake

a claim to enthroning one of the few female rulers in India, Razia Sultan

(1236-1240).

Informed about civil war in India, a Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur began a

trek starting in 1398 to invade the reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of

the Tughlaq Dynasty in the north Indian city of Delhi. The Sultan's army was

defeated on December 17, 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was

sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins.

The Mughal Empire

Approximate extent of the Mughal dynasty in the 17th century

In 1526, Babur, a Timurid (Turco-Persian) descendant of Timur and Genghis

Khan, swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire,

which lasted for over 200 years. The Mughal Dynasty ruled most of the

Indian subcontinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707 and was

finally defeated during the 1857 war of independence also called the Indian

rebellion of 1857. This period marked vast social change in the subcontinent

as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the Mughal emperors, some of

whom showed religious tolerance, liberally patronising Hindu culture, and

some of whom destroyed historical temples and imposed taxes on

non-Muslims. During the decline of the Mughal Empire, which at its peak

occupied an area slightly larger than the ancient Maurya Empire, several

smaller empires rose to fill the power vacuum or themselves were

contributing factors to the decline. The Mughals were perhaps the richest

single dynasty to have ever existed. In 1739, Nader Shah defeated the

Mughal army at the huge Battle of Karnal. After this victory, Nader captured

and sacked Delhi, carrying away many treasures, including the Peacock

Throne. The Mughals, while often employing brutal tactics to subjugate their

empire, had a policy of integration with Indian culture, which is what made

them successful where the short-lived Sultanates of Delhi had failed. Akbar

the Great was particularly famed for this. Akbar declared "Amari" or

non-killing of animals in the holy days of Jainism. He rolled back the Jazia

Tax for non-Muslims. The Mughal Emperors married local royalty, allied

themselves with local Maharajas, and attempted to fuse their Turko-Persian

culture with ancient Indian styles, creating unique Indo-Saracenic

architecture. It was the erosion of this tradition coupled with increased

brutality and centralisation that played a large part in their downfall after

Aurangzeb, who unlike previous emperors, imposed relatively

non-pluralistic policies on the general population, that often inflamed the

majority Hindu population.

The post-Mughal era was dominated by the rise of the Marathas and also by

the increasing activities of European powers. The Maratha Kingdom was

founded and consolidated by Shivaji. By the 18th century, it had transformed

itself into the Maratha Empire under the rule, of the Peshwas. By 1760, the

Empire had stretched across practically the entire subcontinent. This

expansion saw its end when the Marathas were defeated by an Afghan army

led by Ahmad Shah Abdali at the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). The last

Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-

Maratha War. Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, which was founded

around 1400 AD by the Wodeyar dynasty. The rule of the Wodeyars was

interrupted by Hyder Ali and his son Tippu Sultan. Under their rule Mysore

fought a series of wars sometimes against the combined forces of the British

and Marathas, but mostly against the British with some aid or promise of aid

from the French. Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi dynasty of

Golconda in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule, Asif Jah, a Mughal

official, seized control of Hyderabad declaring himself Nizam-al-Mulk of

Hyderabad in 1724. It was ruled by a hereditary Nizam from 1724 until 1948.

Both Mysore and Hyderabad became princely states in British India. The

Punjabi kingdom, ruled by members of the Sikh religion, was a political

entity that governed the region of modern day Punjab. This was among the

last areas of the subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The Anglo-

Sikh wars marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire. Around the 18th century,

modern Nepal was formed by Gorkha rulers, and the Shahs and the Ranas

very strictly maintained their national identity and integrity.

Modern Indian History

Invasion European

Vasco da Gama's discovery of a new sea route to India in 1498 paved the

way for European commerce with India. The Portuguese soon set up

trading-posts in Goa, Daman, Diu and Bombay. The next to arrive were the

Dutch, the British (who set up a trading-post in the west-coast port of Surat

in 1619) and the French. Although the continental European powers were to

control various regions of southern and western India during the ensuing

century, they would eventually lose all their Indian dominions to the British,

with the exception of the French outposts of Pondicherry and Chandernagore,

the Dutch port of Travancore, and the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman,

and Diu.

The East India Company

The British East India Company had been given permission by the Mughal

emperor Jahangir in 1617 to trade in India. Gradually their increasing

influence led the de-jure Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar to grant them

dastaks or permits for duty free trade in Bengal in 1717. The Nawab of

Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah, the de facto ruler of the Bengal province, opposed

British attempts to use these permits. This led to the Battle of Plassey in

1757, in which the East India Company army, led by Robert Clive, defeated

the Nawab. This was the first political foothold that the British acquired in

India. Clive became the first Governor of Bengal in 1757. After the Battle of

Buxar in 1764, the Company acquired the civil rights of administration in

Bengal from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, beginning its formal rule in

India. The East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. They

introduced a land taxation system called the Permanent Settlement, which

introduced a feudal like structure in Bengal. By the 1850s, the East India

Company controlled most of the Indian sub-continent, which included

present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their policy was sometimes summed

up as Divide and Rule, taking advantage of the enmity festering between

various princely states and social and religious groups. The first major

movement against British rule resulted in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, also

known as the "Indian Mutiny" or "Sepoy Mutiny" or the "First War of

Independence". After a year of turmoil, and reinforcement of the East India

Company's troops with British soldiers, the British emerged victorious. In

the aftermath, all power was transferred from the East India Company to the

British Crown, which began to administer most of India directly. It

controlled the rest through local rulers. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur

Shah Zafar, was exiled to Burma and his line abolished.

Indian Independence Movement

The term "Indian independence movement" is diffused, incorporating

various national and regional campaigns, agitations and efforts of both

Nonviolent and Militant philosophy and involved a wide spectrum of Indian

political organizations, philosophies, and movements, which had the

common aim of ending the British colonial authority as well as other

colonial administrations in the Indian subcontinent. The initial resistance to

the movement can be traced back to the very beginnings of colonial

expansion

by the British East India Company, as early as the middle and late 1700s.

The mainstream movement from the latter part of the 1800s was increasingly

led by the Indian National Congress with prominent moderatist leaders

seeking Dominion status within the commonwealth. Beginning of early

1900s saw a more radical approach towards political independence proposed

by leaders like the Lal Bal Pal and Sri Aurobindo. Militant nationalism also

emerged in the first decades, culminating in the failed Indo- German Pact

and Ghadar Conspiracy during the World War I. The end of the war saw the

Congress adopt the policies of nonviolent agitation and civil disobedience

led by Mahatma Gandhi. Other leaders, such as Netaji Subhash Chandra

Bose, later came to adopt a military approach to the movement. The World

War II period saw the peak of the movements like INA movement led by

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from East Asia and Quit India movement. India

remained a dominion of the Crown till 26 January 1950, when it adopted its

Constitution to proclaim itself a Republic. The Pakistani Civil War

culminating in the 1971 War saw the splintering-off of East Pakistan into the

nation of Bangladesh.

European Rule

European traders came to Indian shores with the arrival of the Portuguese

explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 at the port of Calicut in search of the

lucrative spice trade. After the 1757 Battle of Plassey, the British East India

Company established itself. This is widely seen as the beginning of the

British Raj in India. The Company gained administrative rights over Bengal,

Bihar, and Orissa in 1765 after the Battle of Buxar. They then annexed

Punjab in 1849 after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839 and the

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846) and then the Second Anglo-Sikh War

(1848–49). The British parliament enacted a series of laws to handle the

administration of the newly-conquered provinces, including the Regulating

Act of 1773, the India Act of 1784, and the Charter Act of 1813; all

enhanced the British government's rule. In 1835 English was made the

medium of instruction. Western-educated Hindu elites sought to rid

Hinduism of controversial social practices, including the Varna (caste)

system, child marriage, and sati. Literary and debating societies initiated in

Bombay and Madras became fora for open political discourse. The

educational attainment and skilful use of the press by these early reformers

created the growing possibility for effecting broad reforms, all without

compromising larger Indian social values and religious practices.

As the British increasingly dominated the continent, they grew increasingly

abusive of local customs by, for example, by staging parties in mosques,

dancing to the music of regimental bands on the terrace of the Taj Mahal,

using whips to force their way through crowded bazaars and mistreating

sepoys. In the years after the annexation of Punjab in 1849, several mutinies

among sepoys broke out; these were put down by force.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a period of uprising in the northern and

central India against British rule in 1857–58. The rebellion was the result of

decades of ethnic and cultural differences between Indian soldiers and their

British officers. The indifference of the British towards Indian rulers like the

Mughals and ex-Peshwas and the annexation of Oudh were political factors

triggering dissent amongst Indians. Dalhousie’s policy of annexation, the

doctrine of lapse or escheat, and the projected removal of the descendants of

the Great Mughal from their ancestral palace to the Qutb, near Delhi also

angered some people. The specific reason that triggered the rebellion was the

rumoured use of cow and pig fat in rifle cartridges. Soldiers had to break

the cartridges with their teeth before loading them into their rifles. So if there

was cow and pig fat, it would be offensive to Hindu and Muslim soldiers,

respectively. In February 1857, sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British army)

refused to use their new cartridges. The British claimed to have replaced the

cartridges with new ones and tried to make sepoys make their own grease

from beeswax and vegetable oils, but the rumour persisted. In March 1857,

Mangal Pandey, a soldier of the 34th Native Infantry in Barrackpore,

attacked his British sergeant and wounded an adjutant. General Hearsay,

who said Pandey was in some kind of "religious frenzy," ordered a jemadar

to arrest him but the jemadar refused. Mangal Pandey was hanged on 7 April

along with the jemadar. The whole regiment was dismissed as a collective

punishment. On May 10, when the 11th and 20th Cavalry assembled, they

broke rank and turned on their commanding officers. They then liberated the

3rd Regiment, and on 11 May the sepoys reached Delhi and were joined by

other Indians. The Red Fort, the residence of the last Mughal emperor

Bahadur, was attacked and captured by the sepoys. They demanded that he

reclaim his throne. He was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to the

demands and became the leader of the rebellion. Soon, the revolt spread

throughout northern India. Revolts broke out in

places like Meerut, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow etc. The British were slow to

respond, but eventually responded with brute force. British moved regiments

from the Crimean War and diverted European regiments headed for China to

India. The British fought the main army of the rebels near Delhi in Badlke-

Serai and drove them back to Delhi before laying siege on the city. The

siege of Delhi lasted roughly from 1 July to 31 August. After a week of street

fighting, the British retook the city. The last significant battle was fought in

Gwalior on 20 June 1858. It was during this battle that Rani Lakshmi Bai

was killed. Sporadic fighting continued until 1859 but most of the rebels

were subdued. Some notable leaders were Ahmed Ullah, an advisor of the

ex-King of Oudh; Nana Sahib; his nephew Rao Sahib and his retainers,

Tantia Tope and Azimullah Khan; the Rani of Jhansi; Kunwar Singh; the

Rajput chief of Jagadishpur in Bihar; Firuz Saha, a relative of the Mughal

Emperor, Bahadur Shah and Pran Sukh Yadav who along with Rao Tula Ram

of Rewari fought with Britishers at Nasibpur, Haryana.

Aftermath

The war of 1857 was a major turning point in the history of modern India.

The British abolished the British East India Company and replaced it with

direct rule under the British crown. A Viceroy was appointed to represent the

Crown. In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to "the Princes, Chiefs, and

Peoples of India," Queen Victoria promised equal treatment under British

law, but Indian mistrust of British rule had become a legacy of the 1857

rebellion. The British embarked on a program in India of reform and

political restructuring, trying to integrate Indian higher castes and rulers into

the government. They stopped land grabs, decreed religious tolerance and

admitted Indians into the civil service, albeit mainly as subordinates. They

also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native ones and

allowed only British soldiers to handle artillery. Bahadur Shah was exiled to

Rangoon, Burma where he died in 1862, finally bringing the Mughal

dynasty to an end. In 1877, Queen Victoria took the title of Empress of India.

Rise of Organized Movements

The decades following the Sepoy Rebellion were a period of growing

political awareness, manifestation of Indian public opinion and emergence of

Indian leadership at national and provincial levels. Dadabhai Naoroji formed

East India Association in 1867, and Surendranath Banerjee founded Indian

National Association in 1876. Inspired by a suggestion made by A.O. Hume,

a retired British civil servant, seventy-three Indian delegates met in Bombay

in 1885 and founded the Indian National Congress. They were mostly

members of the upwardly mobile and successful western-educated provincial

elites, engaged in professions such as law, teaching, and journalism.

The influences of socio-religious groups such as Arya Samaj (started by

Swami Dayanand Saraswati) and Brahmo Samaj (founded, among others, by

Raja Ram Mohan Roy) became evident in pioneering reform of Indian

society. The inculcation of religious reform and social pride was

fundamental to the rise of a public movement for complete nationhood. The

work of men

like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Sri Aurobindo,

Subramanya Bharathy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Syed Ahmed

Khan,Rabindranath Tagore and Dadabhai Naoroji spread the passion for

rejuvenation and freedom. By 1900, although the Congress had emerged as

an all-India political organization, its achievement was undermined by its

singular failure to attract Muslims, who felt that their representation in

government service was inadequate. Attacks by Hindu reformers against

religious conversion, cow slaughter, and the preservation of Urdu in Arabic

script deepened their concerns of minority status and denial of rights if the

Congress alone were to represent the people of India. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

launched a movement for Muslim regeneration that culminated in the

founding in 1875 of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh,

Uttar Pradesh (renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1921). Its objective

was to educate wealthy students by emphasizing the compatibility of Islam

with modern western knowledge. The diversity among India's Muslims,

however, made it impossible to bring about uniform cultural and intellectual

regeneration.

Rise of Indian Nationalism

Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in

governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. This trend was

personified by Dadabhai Naoroji, who went as far as contesting, successfully,

an election to the British House of Commons, becoming its first Indian

member. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian nationalist to embrace

Swaraj as the destiny of the nation. Tilak deeply opposed the British

education system that ignored and defamed India's culture, history and

values. He resented the denial of freedom of expression for nationalists, and

the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their nation.

For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution. His

popular sentence Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it" became the

source of inspiration for Indians. In 1907, the Congress was split into two.

Tilak advocated what was deemed as extremism. He wanted a direct assault

by the people upon the British Raj, and the abandonment of all things British.

He was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala

Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. Under them, India's three great

states - Maharashtra, Bengal and Punjab shaped the demand of the people

and India's nationalism. The moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale,

Pherozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji held firm to calls for negotiations

and political dialogue. Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of

violence and disorder. But the Congress of 1906 did not have public

membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the party.

The Congress lost credit with the people, while Muslims were alarmed with

the rise of Tilak's Hindu nationalism, and formed the All India Muslim

League in 1906, considered the Congress as completely unsuitable for Indian

Muslims. A Muslim deputation met with the Viceroy, Minto (1905–10),

seeking concessions from the impending constitutional reforms, including

special considerations in government service and electorates. The British

recognised some of Muslim League's petitions by increasing the number of

elective offices reserved for Muslims in the Government of India Act 1909.

The Muslim League insisted on its separateness from the Hindu-dominated

Congress, as the voice of a "nation within a nation."

Partition of Bengal

In 1905, Curzon, the Viceroy and Governor-General (1899–1905), ordered

the partition of the province of Bengal for improvements in

administrativeefficiency in that huge and populous region, where the Bengali

Hindu intelligentsia exerted considerable influence on local and national

politics. The partition outraged Bengalis. Not only had the government failed

to consult Indian public opinion, but the action appeared to reflect the British

resolve to divide and rule. Widespread agitation ensued in the streets and in

the press, and the Congress advocated boycotting British products under the

banner of swadeshi. People showed unity by tying Rakhi on each other's

wrists and observing Arandhan (not cooking any food). During the partition

of Bengal new methods of struggle were adopted. These led to swadeshi and

boycott movements. The Congress-led boycott of British goods was so

successful that it unleashed anti-British forces to an extent unknown since

the Sepoy Rebellion. The British tried to mitigate the situation by

announcing a series of constitutional reforms in 1909 and by appointing a

few moderates to the imperial and provincial councils. In what the British

saw as an additional goodwill gesture, in 1911 King-Emperor George V

visited India for a durbar (a traditional court held for subjects to express

fidelity to their ruler), during which he announced the reversal of the

partition of Bengal and the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to a newly

planned city to be built immediately south of Delhi, which later became New

Delhi. However, ceremony of transfer on 23 December 1912 was marked by

the attempt to assassinate the then Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, in what came to

be known as the Delhi-Lahore conspiracy.

World War I

World War I began with an unprecedented outpouring of loyalty and

goodwill towards the United Kingdom from within the mainstream political

leadership, contrary to initial British fears of an Indian revolt. India

contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and

resources. About 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe,

Africa, and the Middle East, while both the Indian government and the

princes sent large supplies of food, money, and ammunition. However,

Bengal and Punjab remained hotbeds of anti colonial activities. Terrorism in

Bengal, closely linked with the unrests in Punjab, was significant enough to

nearly paralyse the regional administration. Also from the beginning of the

war, expatriate Indian population, notably from United States, Canada, and

Germany, headed by the Berlin Committee and the Ghadar Party, ttempted

to trigger insurrections in India on the lines of the 1857 uprising with Irish

Republican, German and Turkish help in a massive conspiracy that has since

come to be called the Hindu-German conspiracy. This conspiracy also

attempted to rally Afghanistan against British India. A number of failed

attempts were made at mutiny, of which the February mutiny plan and the

Singapore mutiny remains most notable. This movement was suppressed by

means of a massive international counter-intelligence operation that lasted

nearly ten years.

In the aftermath of the WW I, high casualty rates, soaring inflation

compounded by heavy taxation, a widespread influenza epidemic, and the

disruption of trade during the war escalated human suffering in India. The

Indian soldiers smuggled arms into India to overthrow the British rule. The

pre-war nationalist movement revived as moderate and extremist groups

within the Congress submerged their differences in order to stand as a

unified front. In 1916, the Congress succeeded in forging the Lucknow Pact,

a temporary alliance with the Muslim League over the issues of devolution

of political power and the future of Islam in the region. The British

themselves adopted a "carrot and stick" approach in recognition of India's

support during the war and in response to renewed nationalist demands. In

August 1917, Edwin Montagu, the secretary of state for India, made the

historic announcement in Parliament that the British policy for India was

"increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and

the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the

progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part

of the British Empire." The means of achieving the proposed measure were

later enshrined in the Government of India Act 1919, which introduced the

principle of a dual mode of administration, or diarchy, in which both elected

Indian legislators and appointed British officials shared power. The act also

expanded the central and provincial legislatures and widened the franchise

considerably. Diarchy set in motion certain real changes at the provincial

level: a number of non-controversial or "transferred" portfolios, such as

agriculture, local government, health, education, and public works, were

handed over to Indians, while more sensitive matters such as finance,

taxation, and maintaining law and order were retained by the provincial

British administrators.

Arrival of Gandhi in India

Mahatma Gandhi had been a prominent leader of the anti-Apartheid

movement in South Africa, and had been a vocal opponent of basic

discrimination and abusive labour treatment as well as suppressive police

control such as the Rowlatt Acts. During these protests, Gandhi had

perfected the concept of Satyagraha, which had been inspired by the

philosophy of Baba Ram Singh (famous for leading the Kuka Movement in

the Punjab in 1872). The end of the protests in South Africa saw oppressive

legislation repealed and the release of political prisoners by General Jan

Smuts, head of the South African Government of the time. Gandhi, a

stranger to India and its politics after twenty years, had initially entered the

fray not with calls for a nation-state, but in support of the unified

commerce-oriented territory that the Congress Party had been asking for.

Gandhi believed that the industrial development and educational

development that the Europeans had brought with them were required to

alleviate many of India's problems. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a veteran

Congressman and Indian leader, became Gandhi's mentor. Gandhi's ideas

and strategies of non-violent civil disobedience initially appeared impractical

to some Indians and Congressmen. In Gandhi's own words, "civil

disobedience is civil breach of unmoral statutory enactments." It had to be

carried out non-violently by withdrawing cooperation with the corrupt state.

Gandhi's ability to inspire millions of common people became clear when he

used satyagraha during the anti-Rowlatt Act protests in Punjab.

The Rowlatt Act and its Aftermath

The Rowlatt Act, also known as the Black Act, vested the Viceroy's

government with extraordinary powers to quell sedition by silencing the

press, detaining the political activists without trial, and arresting any

individuals suspected of sedition or treason without a warrant. In protest, a

nationwide cessation of work (hartal) was called, marking the beginning of

widespread, although not nationwide, popular discontent. The agitation

unleashed by the acts culminated on 13 April 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh

massacre (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) in Amritsar, Punjab. The

British military commander, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, blocked the

main entrance, and ordered his soldiers to fire into an unarmed and

unsuspecting crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children. They had

assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled in courtyard in defiance of the ban.

A total of 1,651 rounds were fired, killing 379 people (as according to an

official British commission; Indian estimates ranged as high as 1,499) and

wounding 1,137 in the episode, which dispelled wartime hopes of home rule

and goodwill in a frenzy of post-war reaction.

The first Non-Cooperation Movement

The first Satyagraha movement urged the use of Khadi and Indian material

as alternatives to those shipped from Britain. It also urged people to boycott

British educational institutions and law courts; resign from government

employment; refuse to pay axes; and forsake British titles and honours.

Although this came too late to influence the framing of the new Government

of India Act of 1919, the movement enjoyed widespread popular support,

and the resulting unparalleled magnitude of disorder presented a serious

challenge to foreign rule. However, Gandhi called off the movement

following the Chauri Chaura incident, which saw the death of twenty-two

policemen at the hands of an angry mob. In 1920, the Congress was

reorganized and given a new constitution, whose goal was Swaraj

(independence). Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to

pay a oken fee, and a hierarchy of committees was established and made

responsible for discipline and control over a hitherto amorphous and diffuse

movement. The party was transformed from an elite organization to one of

mass national appeal and participation. Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922 for

six years, but was released after serving two. On his release from prison, he

set up the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, on the banks of river Sabarmati,

established the newspaper Young India, and inaugurated a series of reforms

aimed at the socially disadvantaged within Hindu society – the rural poor,

and the untouchables.

This era saw the emergence of new generation of Indians from within the

Congress Party, including C. Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru,

Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and others- who would later on

come to form the prominent voices of the Indian independence movement,

whether keeping with Gandhian Values, or diverging from it. The Indian

political spectrum was further broadened in the mid-1920s by the emergence

of both moderate and militant parties, such as the Swaraj Party, Hindu

Mahasabha, Communist Party of India and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh. Regional political organizations also continued to represent the

interests of non-Brahmins in Madras, Mahars in Maharashtra, and Sikhs in

Punjab. However, brahmin like Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi,

Vanchinathan and Neelakanda Brahmachari played a major role from Tamil

Nadu in both freedom struggle and fighting for equality among all castes and

communities.

Purna Swaraj

Following the rejection of the recommendations of the Simon Commission

by Indians, an all-party conference was held at ombay in May 1928. This

was meant to instil a sense of resistance among people. The conference

appointed a drafting ommittee under Motilal Nehru to draw up a

constitution for India. The Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress

asked the British government to accord dominion status to India by

December 1929, or a countrywide civil disobedience movement would be

launched. By 1929, however, in the midst of rising political discontent and

increasingly violent regional movements, the call for complete independence

from Britain began to find increasing grounds within the Congress

leadership. Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru at its historic Lahore

session in December 1929, The Indian National Congress adopted a

resolution calling for complete independence from the British. It authorised

the Working Committee to launch a civil isobedience movement

throughout the country. It was decided that 26 January 1930 should be

observed all over India as the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) Day.

Many Indian political parties and Indian revolutionaries of a wide spectrum

united to observe the day with honour and pride.

Salt March and Civil Disobedience

Gandhi emerged from his long seclusion by undertaking his most famous

campaign, a march of about 400 kilometres from his commune in

Ahmedabad to Dandi, on the coast of Gujarat between 12 March and 6 April

1930. The march is usually known as the Dandi March or the Salt

Satyagraha. At Dandi, in protest against British taxes on salt, he and

thousands of followers broke the law by making their own salt from

seawater.

In April 1930 there were violent police-crowd clashes in Calcutta.

Approximately over 100,000 people were imprisoned in the course of the

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-31), while in Peshawar unarmed

demonstrators were fired upon in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre. The

latter event catapulted the then newly formed Khudai Khidmatgar movement

(founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Frontier Gandhi) onto the National

scene. While Gandhi was in jail, the first Round Table Conference was held

in London in November 1930, without representation from the Indian

National Congress. The ban upon the Congress was removed because of

economic hardships caused by the satyagraha. Gandhi, along with other

members of the Congress Working Committee, was released from prison in

January 1931.

In March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, and the government

agreed to set all political prisoners free (Although, some of the key

revolutionaries were not set free and the death sentence for Bhagat Singh

and his two comrades was not taken back, which further intensified the

agitation against Congress not only outside it but within the Congress it self).

In return, Gandhi agreed to discontinue the civil disobedience movement and

participate as the sole representative of the Congress in the second Round

Table Conference, which was held in London in September 1931. However,

the conference ended in failure in December 1931. Gandhi returned to India

and decided to resume the civil disobedience movement in January 1932.

For the next few years, the Congress and the government were locked in

conflict and negotiations until what became the Government of India Act of

1935 could be hammered out. By then, the rift between the Congress and the

Muslim League had become unbridgeable as each pointed the finger at the

other acrimoniously. The Muslim League disputed the claim of the

Congress to represent all people of India, while the Congress disputed the

Muslim League's claim to voice the aspirations of all Muslims.

Elections and the Lahore Resolution

The Government of India Act 1935, the voluminous and final constitutional

effort at governing British India, articulated three major goals: establishing a

loose federal structure, achieving provincial autonomy, and safeguarding

minority interests through separate electorates. The federal provisions,

intended to unite princely states and British India at the centre, were not

implemented because of ambiguities in safeguarding the existing privileges

of princes. In February 1937, however, provincial autonomy became a

reality when elections were held; the Congress emerged as the dominant

party with a clear majority in five provinces and held an upper hand in two,

while the Muslim League performed poorly. In 1939, the Viceroy Linlithgow

declared India's entrance into World War II without consulting provincial

governments. In protest, the Congress asked all of its elected representatives

to resign from the government. Jinnah, the president of the Muslim League,

persuaded participants at the annual

Muslim League session at Lahore in 1940 to adopt what later came to be

known as the Lahore Resolution, demanding the division of India into two

separate sovereign states, one Muslim, the other Hindu; sometimes referred

to as Two Nation Theory. Although the idea of Pakistan had been introduced

as early as 1930, very few had responded to it. However, the volatile

political climate and hostilities between the Hindus and Muslims

transformed the idea of Pakistan into a stronger demand.

Revolutionary Activities

Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British

rulers was not organized before the beginning of the 20th century.

Particularly notable movements arose in Bengal, especially around the

Partition of Bengal in 1905, and in Punjab. In the former case, it was the

educated, intelligent and dedicated youth of the urban Middle Class

Bhadralok community that came to form the "Classic" Indian revolutionary,

while the latter had an immense support base in the rural and Military

society of the Punjab. Organisations like Jugantar and Anushilan Samiti had

emerged in the 1900s. The revolutionary philosophies and movement made

their presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal. Arguably, the initial

steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his

brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta etc. when they formed the

Jugantar party in April 1906. Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the

Anushilan Samiti, which was already present in Bengal mainly as a

revolutionary society in the guise of a fitness club. The Anushilan Samiti,

and Jugantar opened several branches throughout Bengal and other parts of

India and recruited young men and women to participate in the revolutionary

activities. Several murders and looting were done, with many revolutionaries

being captured and imprisoned. The Jugantar party leaders like Barin Ghosh

and Bagha Jatin initiated making of explosives. Amongst a number of

notable events of political terrorism were the Alipore bomb case, the

Muzaffarpur killing tried several activists and many were sentenced to

deportation for life, while Khudiram Bose was hanged. The founding of the

India House and the The Indian Sociologist under Shyamji Krishna Varma in

London in 1909 took the radical movement to Britain itself. On 1 July 1909,

Madan Lal Dhingra, an Indian student closely identified with India House in

London shot dead William Hutt Curzon Wylie, a British M.P. in London.

1912 saw the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy planned under Rash Behari Bose, an

erstwhile Jugantar member, to assassinate the then Viceroy of India Charles

Hardinge. The conspiracy culminated in an attempt to Bomb the Viceregal

procession on 23 December

1912, on the occasion of transferring the Imperial Capital from Calcutta to

Delhi.

During the First World War, the revolutionaries planned to import arms and

ammunitions from Germany and stage an armed revolution against the

British. The Ghadar Party operated from abroad and cooperated with the

revolutionaries in India. This party was instrumental in helping

revolutionaries inside India to catch hold of foreign arms. After the First

World War, the revolutionary activities began to slowly wane as it suffered

major setbacks due to the arrest of prominent leaders. In the 1920s, some

revolutionary activists began to reorganize. Hindustan Socialist Republican

Association was formed under the leadership of Chandrasekhar Azad.

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the Central

Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 protesting against the passage of them

Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill. Following the trial (Central

Assembly Bomb Case), Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in

1931. Allama Mashriqi founded Khaksar Tehreek in order to direct,

particularly the Muslims towards the independence movement. Surya Sen,

along with other activists, raided the Chittagong armoury on 18 April 1930

to capture arms and ammunition and to destroy government communication

system to establish a local governance. Pritilata Waddedar led an attack on a

European club in Chittagong in 1932, while Bina Das attempted to

assassinate Stanley Jackson, the Governor of Bengal inside the convocation

hall of Calcutta University. Following the Chittagong armoury raid case,

Surya Sen was hanged and several others were deported for life to the

Cellular Jail in Andaman. The Bengal Volunteers started operating in 1928.

On 8 December 1930, the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio of the party entered the

secretariat Writers' Building in Kolkata and murdered Col. N. S. Simpson,

the Inspector General of Prisons.

On 13 March 1940, Udham Singh shot Michael O'Dwyer, generally held

responsible for the Amritsar Massacre, in London. However, as the political

scenario changed in the late 1930s – with the mainstream leaders

considering several options offered by the British and with religious politics

coming into play – revolutionary activities gradually declined. Many past

revolutionaries joined mainstream politics by joining Congress and other

parties, especially communist ones, while many of the activists were kept

under hold in different jails across the country.

The Climax: War, Quit India, INA and Post-war Revolts

Indians throughout the country were divided over World War II, as

Linlithgow, without consulting the Indian representatives had unilaterally

declared India a belligerent on the side of the allies. In opposition to

Linlithgow's action, the entire Congress leadership resigned from the local

government councils. However, many wanted to support the British war

effort, and indeed the British Indian Army was one of the largest volunteer

forces during the war. Especially during the Battle of Britain, Gandhi

resisted calls for massive civil disobedience movements that came from

within as well as outside his party, stating he did not seek India's freedom

out of the ashes of a destroyed Britain. However, like the changing fortunes

of the war itself, the movement for freedom saw the rise of two movements

that formed the climax of the 100-year struggle for independence.

The first of these, the Azad Hind movement led by Netaji Subhash Chandra

Bose, saw its inception early in the war and sought help from the Axis

Powers. The second saw its inception in August 1942 led by Gandhi and

began following failure of the Cripps' mission to reach a consensus with the

Indian political leadership over the transfer of power after the war.

The Indian National Army

The arbitrary entry of India into the war was strongly opposed by Subhash

Chandra Bose, who had been elected President of the Congress twice, in

1937 and 1939. After lobbying against participation in the war, he resigned

from Congress in 1939 and started a new party, the All India Forward Bloc.

When war broke out, the Raj had put him under house arrest in Calcutta in

1940. However, at the time the war was at its bloodiest in Europe and Asia,

he escaped and made his way through Afghanistan to ermany to seek Axis

help to raise an army to fight the shackles of the Raj. Here, he raised with

Rommel's Indian POWs what came to be known as the Free India Legion.

This came to be the conceptualisation in embryonic form of Bose's dream of

raising a liberation Army to fight the Raj. However, the turn of tides in the

Battlefields of Europe saw Bose make his way ultimately to Japanese South

Asia where he formed what came to be known as the Azad Hind

Government as the Provisional Free Indian Government in exile, and

organized the Indian National Army with Indian POWs and Indian

expatriates at South-East Asia, with the help of the Japanese. Its aim was to

reach India as a fighting force that would build on public resentment to

inspire revolts among Indian soldiers to defeat the Raj. The INA was to see

action against the allies, including the British Indian Army, in the forests of

Arakan, Burma and Assam, laying siege on Imphal and Kohima with the

Japanese 15th Army. During the war, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were

captured by the Japanese and handed over by them to the INA; Bose

renamed them Shahid (Martyr) and Swaraj (Independence).

The INA would ultimately fail, owing to disrupted logistics, poor arms and

supplies from the Japanese, and lack of support and training. The supposed

death of Bose is seen as culmination of the entire Azad Hind Movement.

Following the surrender of Japan, the troops of the INA were brought to

India and a number of them charged with treason. However, Bose's

audacious actions and radical initiative had by this time captured the public

imagination and also turned the inclination of the native soldiers of the

British Indian Forces from one of loyalty to the Crown to support for the

soldiers that the Raj deemed as collaborators.

After the war, the stories of the Azad Hind Movement and its army that came

into public limelight during the trials of soldiers of the INA in 1945 were

seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings – not just in

India, but across its empire – the British Government forbade the BBC from

broadcasting their story. Newspapers reported the summary

execution of INA soldiers held at Red Fort. During and after the trial,

mutinies broke out in the British Indian Armed forces, most notably in the

Royal Indian Navy, which found public support throughout India, from

Karachi to Bombay and from Vizag to Calcutta. Many historians have

argued that it was the INA and the mutinies it inspired among the British

Indian Armed forces that were the true driving force for India's

Independence.

Quit India

The Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan) or the August

Movement was a civil disobedience movement in India launched in August

1942 in response to Gandhi's call for immediate independence of India and

against sending Indians to the World War II. At the outbreak of war, the

Congress Party during the Wardha meeting of the working-committee in

September 1939, passed a resolution conditionally supporting the fight

against fascism, but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in

return. In March 1942, faced with an increasingly dissatisfied sub-continent,

only reluctantly participating in the war, and deteriorations in the war

situation in Europe and South East Asia, and with growing dissatisfactions

among Indian troops especially in Europe- and among the civilian

population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to

India under Stafford Cripps, in what came to be known as the Cripps'

Mission. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian

National Congress a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in

return to get progressive devolution and distribution of power from the

crown and the Viceroy to elected Indian legislature. However, the talks failed,

having failed to address the key demand of a timeframe towards

selfgovernment, and of definition of the powers to be relinquished,

essentially

portraying an offer of limited dominion-status that was wholly unacceptable

to the Indian movement. To force the Raj to meet its demands and to obtain

definitive word on total independence, the Congress took the decision to

launch the Quit India Movement.

The aim of the movement was to bring the British Government to the

negotiating table by holding the Allied War Effort hostage. The call for

determined but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi

foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do or Die, issued

on 8 August at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, since re-named August

Kranti Maidan (August Revolution Ground). However, almost the entire

Congress leadership, and not merely at the national level, was put into

confinement less than twenty-four hours after Gandhi's speech, and the

greater number of the Congress leaders were to spend the rest of the war in

jail. On August 8, 1942, the Quit India resolution was passed at the Bombay

session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The draft proposed

that if the British did not accede to the demands, a massive Civil

Disobedience would be launched. However, it was an extremely

controversial decision. At Gowalia Tank, Mumbai, Gandhi urged Indians to

follow a non-violent civil disobedience. Gandhi told the masses to act as an

independent nation and not to follow the orders of the British. The British,

already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese army to the India–Burma

border, responded the next day by imprisoning Gandhi at the Aga Khan

Palace in Pune. The Congress Party's Working Committee, or national

leadership was arrested all together and imprisoned at the Ahmednagar Fort.

They also banned the party altogether. Large-scale protests and

demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent en

masse and strikes were called. The movement also saw widespread acts of

sabotage, Indian under-ground organisation carried out bomb attacks on

allied supply convoys, government buildings were set on fire, electricity

lines were disconnected and transport and communication lines were severed.

The Congress had lesser success in rallying other political forces, including

the Muslim League under a single mast and movement. It did however,

obtain passive support from a substantial Muslim population at the peak of

the movement.The British swiftly responded by mass detentions. A total over

100,000 arrests were made nationwide, mass fines were levied, bombs were

airdropped and demonstrators were subjected to public flogging. The

movement soon became a leaderless act of defiance, with a number of acts

that deviated from Gandhi's principle of non-violence. In large parts of the

country, the local underground organisations took over the

movement.However, by 1943, Quit India had petered out.

RIN Mutiny

The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (the RIN Mutiny or the Bombay Mutiny)

encompasses a total strike and subsequent mutiny by the Indian sailors of the

Royal Indian Navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay

(Mumbai) harbour on 18 February 1946. From the initial flashpoint in

Bombay, the mutiny spread and found support through India, from Karachi

to Calcutta and ultimately came to involve 78 ships, 20 shore establishments

and 20,000 sailors. The RIN Mutiny started as a strike by ratings of the

Royal Indian Navy on the 18th February in protest against general

conditions. The immediate issues of the mutiny were conditions and food,

but there were more fundamental matters such as racist behaviour by British

officers of the Royal Navy personnel towards Indian sailors, and disciplinary

measures being taken against anyone demonstrating pro-nationalist

sympathies. The strike found immense support among the Indian population

already in grips with the stories of the Indian National Army. The actions of

the mutineers were supported by demonstrations, which included a one-day

general strike in Bombay. The strike spread to other cities, and was joined by

the Air Force and local police forces. Naval officers and men began calling

themselves the Indian National Navy and offered left handed salutes to

British officers. At some places, NCOs in the British Indian Army ignored

and defied orders from British superiors. In Madras and Pune, the British

garrisons had to face revolts within the ranks of the British Indian Army.

Widespread riotings took place from Karachi to Calcutta. Famously the ships

hoisted three flags tied together – those of the Congress, Muslim League,

and the Red Flag of the

Communist Party of India (CPI), signifying the unity and demarginalisation

of communal issues among the mutineers.

Independence and Partition

Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and

Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always

been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made

them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as

they were to resist the Raj. In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came

onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an astonishing

display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence.

The profound impact Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain

independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one

of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by

example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry

and orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to

make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave

him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul. The British promised that they would

leave India by 1947. India gained independence in 1947, after being

partitioned into the Republic of India and Pakistan. Following the division,

rioting broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in several parts of

India, including Punjab, Bengal and Delhi, leaving some 500,000 dead. Also,

this period saw one of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern

history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving

between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan.

Unit-2

Religions

India is a melting pot of cultures and religions. Of all the religions of the

world, four of them have their origins in India, namely, Hinduism, Sikhism,

Jainism and Buddhism. India has also been influenced by other world

religions. Islam was brought in by the Arab traders and Mughal rulers,

Christianity, by the European powers and St. Thomas and Zoroastrianism by

the Persians

Hinduism Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma a Sanskrit phrase meaning

"the eternal path" or "the eternal law" by its practitioners. Hinduism is the

world's oldest major religion that is still practised. Its earliest origins can be

traced to the ancient civilization. A conglomerate of diverse beliefs and

traditions, Hinduism has no single founder. It is the world's third largest

religion following Christianity and Islam, with approximately a billion

adherents, of whom about 905 million live in India and Nepal. Other

countries with large Hindu populations, include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,

Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana,

Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and Canada. Hinduism contains a

vast body of scriptures. Divided as Śruti (revealed) and Smriti (remembered)

and developed over millennia, these scriptures expound on theology,

philosophy and mythology, and provide spiritual insights and guidance on

the practice of dharma (religious living). In the orthodox view, among such

texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads are the foremost in authority, importance

and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Tantras, the sectarian

Agamas, the Purāṇas and the epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. The

Bhagavad Gītā, a treatise excerpted from the Mahābhārata, is sometimes

called a summary of the spiritual teachingsof the Vedas.

Etymology

The Persian term Hindū is derived from Sindhu, Sanskrit for the Indus

River. The Rig Veda mentions the land of the Indo-Aryans as Sapta Sindhu

(the land of the seven rivers in northwestern South Asia, one of them being

the Indus). Beliefs Hinduism is an extremely diverse religion. Prominent

themes in Hindu beliefs include Dharma (ethics/duties), Samsāra (The

continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action and

subsequent reaction), Moksha (liberation from samsara), and the various

Yogas (paths or practices). Concept of God Most Hindus believe that the

spirit or soul – the true "self" of every person, called the ātman – is eternal.

According to the monistic/pantheistic theologies of Hinduism it is ultimately

indistinct from Brahman, the supreme spirit. Brahman is described as "The

One Without a Second;" hence these schools are called "non-dualist." The

goal of life according to the Advaita school is to realize that one's ātman is

identical to Brahman, the supreme soul. The Upanishads state that whoever

becomes fully aware of the ātman as the innermost core of one's own self,

realizes their identity with Brahman and thereby reaches Moksha (liberation

or freedom).

Devas and Avatars

The Hindu scriptures refer to celestial entities, called Devas (or dev墨 in

feminine form; devat膩 used synonymously for Deva in Hindi), "the shining

ones", which may be translated into English as "gods" or "heavenly beings".

The devas are an integral part of Hindu culture and are depicted in art,

architecture and through icons, and mythological stories about them are

related in the scriptures, particularly in the Indian epic poetry and Puranas.

Hindu epics and the Puranas relate several episodes of the descent of God to

Earth in corporeal form, in order to restore dharma in society and guide

humans to moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth). Such an incarnation

is called an avatar. The most prominent avatars are of Vishnu, and include

Rama (protagonist in Ramayana) and Krishna (a central figure in the epic

Mahabharata).

Karma and Samsara

Karma translates literally as action, work or deed and can be described as

the "moral law of cause and effect". According to the Upanishads, an

individual, known as the jiva-atma, develops samskaras (impressions) from

actions, whether physical or mental. This cycle of action, reaction, birth,

death, and rebirth is a continuum called samsara. Samsara provides

ephemeral pleasures, which lead people to desire rebirth to enjoy the

pleasures of a perishable body. However, escaping the world of samsara

through moksha (liberation) is believed to ensure lasting happiness and

peace. It is thought that after several reincarnations, an atman eventually

seeks unity with the cosmic spirit (Brahman/Paramatman).

Yoga

In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods

(yogas) that sages have taught for reaching that goal. A practitioner of yoga

is called a yogi. Texts dedicated to Yoga include the Bhagavad Gita, the

Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and, as their philosophical and

historical basis, the Upanishads. Paths one can follow to achieve the spiritual

Rāja Yoga

History

The earliest evidence for elements of Hinduism date back to the late

Neolithic to the early Harappan period (5500–2600 BC). The beliefs and

practices of the pre-classical era (1500–500BC) are called the "historical

Vedic religion". Modern Hinduism grew out of the Vedas, the oldest of

which is the Rigveda, dated to 1700–1100BC. The Vedas center on worship

of deities such as Indra, Varuna and Agni, and on the Soma ritual. They

performed fire-sacrifices, called yajña and chanted Vedic mantras but did not

build temples or icons. The oldest Vedic traditions exhibit strong similarities

to Zoroastrianism and with other Indo-European religions. During the Epic

and Puranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems Ramayana and

Mahabharata were written roughly from 500–100BC, although these were

orally transmitted for centuries prior to this period. The epics contain

mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are

interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas

recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their

battles against demons. Hinduism underwent profound changes in large part

due to the influence of the prominent teachers Ramanuja, Madhva, and

Chaitanya. Followers of the Bhakti movement moved away from the abstract

concept of Brahman, which the philosopher Adi Shankara consolidated a

few centuries before, with emotional, passionate devotion towards the more

accessible avatars, especially Krishna and Rama. Hinduism has no central

doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to belong to any

particular denomination. However, academics categorize contemporary

Hinduism into four major denominations: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism

and Samarthism. The denominations differ primarily in the God worshipped

as the Supreme One and in the traditions that accompany worship of that

God.

Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God; Shaivites worship Shiva as

the supreme; Shaktas worship Shakti (power) personified through a female

divinity or Mother Goddess, Devi; while Samarthists believe in the essential

oneness of five deities There are movements that are not easily placed in any

of the above categories, such as Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Arya Samaj,

which rejects image worship and veneration of multiple deities. It focuses on

the Vedas and the Vedic fire sacrifices (yajña). As in every religion, some

view their own denomination as superior to others. However, many Hindus

consider other denominations to be legitimate alternatives to their own.

Ashramas

Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four Āshramas (phases or

stages. The first part of one's life, Brahmacharya, the stage as a student, is

spent in celibate, controlled, sober and pure contemplation under the

guidance of a Guru, building up the mind for spiritual knowledge. Grihastha

is the householder's stage, in which one marries and satisfies kāma and artha

in one's married and professional life respectively. The moral obligations of

a Hindu householder include supporting one's parents, children, guests and

holy figures. Vānaprastha, the retirement stage, is gradual detachment from

the material world. This may involve giving over duties to one's children,

spending more time in religious practices and embarking on holy

pilgrimages. Finally, in Sannyāsa, the stage of asceticism, one renounces all

worldly attachments to secludedly find the Divine through detachment from

worldly life and peacefully shed the body for Moksha. Hindu society has

the Brahmins: teachers and priests;

the Vaishyas: farmers, merchants, and business

the Shudras: servants and labourers.

Buddhism

Buddhism is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dhamma, which means

roughly the "teachings of the Awakened One" in Sanskrit and Pali, languages

of ancient Buddhist texts. Buddhism began around the 5th century BC with

the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly referred to as "the Buddha".

Some Teachings All traditional Buddhists agree that Shakyamuni or

Gautama Buddha was not the only Buddha: it is generally taught that there

have been many past Buddhas and that there will be future Buddhas too. If a

person achieves this awakening, he or she is called an arahant. Siddhartha

Gautama, the Buddha, is thus only one among other buddhas before or after

him. His teachings are oriented toward the attainment of this kind of

awakening, also called liberation, or Nirvana

Middle Way

An important guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way,

which was said to have been discovered by the Buddha prior to his

enlightenment (bodhi). The Middle Way or Middle Path has several

definitions:

1. It is often described as the practice of non-extremism; a path of

moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and opposing

self-mortification.

2. It also refers to taking a middle ground between certain metaphysical

views, e.g. that things ultimately either exist or do not exist.

3. An explanation of the state of nirvana and perfect enlightenment where

all dualities fuse and cease to exist as separate entities.

Refuge in the Three Jewels

Traditionally, the first step in most forms of Buddhism requires taking

refuge, as the foundation of one's religious practice, in Buddhism's Three

The Buddha (i.e.,Awakened One). This is a title for those who attained

Awakening similar to the Buddha and helped others to attain it. The Buddha

could also be represented as the wisdom that understands Dharma, and in

this regard the Buddha represents the perfect wisdom that sees reality in its

The Dharma: The teachings or law as expounded by the Buddha. Dharma

also means the law of nature based on behavior of a person and its

consequences to be experienced (action and reaction). It can also (especially

in Mahayana Buddhism) connote the ultimate and sustaining Reality, which

is inseverable from the Buddh

The Sangha: This term literally means "group" or "congregation," but when

it is used in Buddhist teaching the word refers to one of two very specific

kinds of groups: either the community of Buddhist monastics (bhikkhus and

bhikkhunis), or the community of people who have

attained at least the first stage of Awakening. According to some modern

Buddhists, it also consists of laymen and laywomen, the caretakers of the

monks, those who have accepted parts of the monastic code but who have

not been ordained as monks or nuns.

The Four Noble Truths According to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of

Buddhism (2004), these are

1. "the noble truth that is suffering"

2. "the noble truth that is the arising of suffering"

3. "the noble truth that is the end of suffering"

4. 4. "the noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering"

According to the scriptures, the Four Noble Truths were among the topics of

the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment which was

given to the five ascetics with whom he had practised austerities. The Four

Noble Truths were not in the form of a religious or philosophical text, but in

the manner of a medical diagnosis and remedial prescription in a style that

was common at that time.

The Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth

part of the Four Noble Truths.

Śīla is morality – abstaining from unwholesome deeds of body and speech.

Within the division of sila are three parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

1. Right Speech – One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way

2. Right Actions – Wholesome action, avoiding action that would do harm

3. Right Livelihood – One's way of livelihood does not harm in any way to

oneself or others; directly or indirectly

Samadhi is developing mastery over one’s own mind. Within this division

are other three parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

4. Right Effort/Exercise – One makes an effort to improve

5. Right Mindfulness/Awareness – Mental ability to see things for what they

are with clear consciousness

6. Right Concentration/Meditation – Being aware of the present reality

within oneself, without any craving or aversion.

Prajñā is the wisdom, which purifies the mind. Within this division fall two

more parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

7. Right Understanding – Understanding reality as it is, not just as it appears

to be.

8. Right Thoughts – Change in the pattern of thinking.

On one hand, the Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a progressive series of

stages through which the practitioner moves, the culmination of one leading

to the beginning of another, whereas others see the states of the 'Path' as

requiring simultaneous development.

History and Origins

Gautama, whose name according to later sources was Siddhartha, was born

in the city of Lumbini and was raised in Kapilavastu. The traditional story of

his life is as follows. Born a prince, his father, King Suddhodana, was said to

have been visited by a wise man shortly after Siddhartha was born. The wise

man said that Siddhartha would either become a great king (chakravartin) or

a holy man (Sadhu). Determined to make Siddhartha a king, the father tried

to shield his son from the unpleasant realities of daily life. Despite his

father's efforts, at the age of 29, he discovered the suffering of his people,

first through an encounter with an elderly man. On subsequent trips outside

the palace, he encountered various sufferings such as a diseased man, a

decaying corpse, and a monk or an ascetic. These are often termed 'The Four

Sights.'

Gautama was deeply depressed by these four sights and sought to overcome

old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic. Gautama escaped

his palace, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant.

After abandoning asceticism and concentrating instead upon meditation and,

according to some sources, Anapanasati (awareness of breathing in and out),

Gautama is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way – a

path of moderation that lies mid-way between the extremes of

self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted a little milk and rice

pudding from a village girl and then, sitting under a pipal tree or Sacred fig,

also known as the Bodhi tree, in Bodh Gaya, he vowed never to arise until

he had found the Truth. His five companions, believing that he had

abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After 49 days

meditating, at the age of 35, he attained bodhi, also known as "Awakening"

or "Enlightenment". After his attainment of bodhi, he was known as Buddha

or Gautama Buddha and spent the rest of his life teaching his insights. He

died at the age of 80 in Kushinagara (Pali Kusinara) (India).

Buddhist Symbols

the Golden F

the Dharma wheel

Jainism

Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is a spiritual, religious and

philosophical tradition of Indian origin dating back at least as far as the 9th

century BC but believed by Jains to stretch back many centuries into the

very distant past. A Jain is a follower of Jinas, spiritual 'victors' (Jina is

Sanskrit for 'victor'), human beings who have rediscovered the dharma,

become fully liberated and taught the spiritual path for the benefit of beings.

Jains follow the teachings of 24 special Jinas who are known as Tirthankars

('ford-builders'). The 24th and most recent Tirthankar, Lord Mahavira, lived

in 6th century BC, contemporaneously with Gautama Buddha.

One of the main characteristics of Jain belief is the emphasis on the

immediate consequences of one's physical and mental behavior. Because

Jains believe that everything is in some sense alive with many living beings

possessing a soul, great care and awareness is required in going about one's

business in the world. Jainism is a religious tradition in which all life is

considered to be worthy of respect and Jain teaching emphasises this

equality of all life advocating the non-harming of even the smallest creatures.

Jainism encourages spiritual independence (in the sense of relying on and

cultivating one's own personal wisdom) and self-control, which is considered

vital for one's spiritual development. The goal, as with other Indian religions,

is moksha which in Jainism is realization of the soul's true nature, a

condition of omniscience (Kevala Jnana).

Jains have significantly influenced the religious, ethical, political and

economic spheres in India for over two millennia. By ancient and

contemporary usage, as well as dictionary definitions, a follower of Jain

Dharma, or Jainism, is called a Jain.

Jains have an ancient tradition of scholarship. The Jain community has the

highest degree of literacy among all the religious communities in India, and

the Jain libraries are India's oldest.

Main points in Jainism

Every living being has a soul

Every soul is potentially divine and has the innate qualities of infinite

knowledge, infinite perception, infinite power, and infinite

Therefore, regard every living being as yourself and harm no one. In

other words, have benevolence for all living beings

Every soul is born as a celestial, human, sub-human or hellish being

Every soul is the archit

When a soul becomes freed from karmas, it gets God-consciousness

(infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite power, and infinite bliss)

Right View, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct (triple gems of

Non-violence (Ahimsa) is the basis of right View, the condition of right

Limit your possessions and lead a pure life of usefulness to yourself and

others. Ownership of an object by itself is not possessiveness; however

attachment to an object is possessiveness.

Enjoy the company of the holy and better qualified, be merciful to those

who are afflicted and be tolerant towards those who are perversely

Four things are difficult to attain by a soul: human birth, knowledge of

the law, faith in it and the pursuit of the right path.

It is important not to waste human life in evil ways. Instead, we should

strive to rise up on the ladder of spiritual evolution.

History

Parshvanatha was the twenty-third Tirthankara in Jainism and is the earliest

Jain leader that can be reliably dated. According to scholars he probably

flourished in 9th Century b.c.

Kalinga (Modern Orissa) was home to many Jains in the past. Rishabh, the

first Tirthankar, was revered and worshipped in the ancient city Pithunda,

which was destroyed by Mahapadma Nanda when he conquered Kalinga and

brought the statue of Rishabhanatha to his capital in Magadh. Rishabhanatha

is revered as the 'Kalinga Jina'. Ashoka's invasion and his Buddhist policy

also subjugated Jains greatly in Kalinga. However, in the 1st century b.c.,

Emperor Kharvela conquered Magadha and brought Rishabhanatha's statue

back and installed it in Udaygiri, near his capital, Shishupalgarh. The

Khandagiri and Udaygiri caves near Bhubaneswar are the only stone

monuments dedicated to Jainism surviving in Orissa. Many of the earlier

buildings were made of wood, and were destroyed.

Geographical Spread and Influence Jainism has been a major cultural, philosophical, social and political force

since the dawn of civilization in Asia, and its ancient influence has been

noted in other religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

The Hindu influence on Jain rituals may be observed in certain Jain sects, for

instance, the very concept of Puja is Jain. The Vedic Religion prescribed

yajnas and havanas for pleasing god. Puja is a specifically Jain concept,

arising from the Tamil words, "pu" (flower) and "ja" (offering).

Jains live throughout India; Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat have the

largest Jain population among Indian states. Karnataka, Bundelkhand and

Madhya Pradesh have relatively large Jain populations. There is a large

following in Punjab, especially in Ludhiana and Patiala, and there were

many Jains in Lahore (Punjab's historic capital) and other cities before the

Partition of 1947, after which many fled to India.

Digambara and Svetambara Traditions

It is generally believed that the Jain sangha divided into two major sects,

Digambar and Svetambar, about 200 years after Mahāvīra's nirvana. Some

historians believe there was no clear division until the 5th century. The best

available information indicates that the chief Jain monk, Acharya

Bhadrabahu, foresaw famine and led about 12,000 Digambar followers to

southern India. Twelve years later, they returned to find the Shvetambar sect

and in 453, the Valabhi council edited and compiled traditional Shvetambar

scriptures. Differences between the two sects are minor and relatively

obscure.

In Sanskrit, ambar refers to a covering like a garment. 'Dig', an older form of

'disha', refers to the cardinal directions. Digambar therefore means those

whose garment is only the four directions, or "sky-clad". 'Svet' means white

Digambar Jain monks do not wear clothes because they believe clothes

are like other possessions, increasing dependency and desire for material

things, and desire for anything ultimately leads to sorrow.

Svetambar Jain monks wear white seamless clothes for practical reasons

and believe there is nothing in Jain scripture that condemns wearing

clothes. Sadhvis (nuns) of both sects wear white. These differing views

arise from differen

Digambars believe that women cannot attain moksha in the same birth,

while Svetambars believe that women may attain liberation and that

Mallinath, a Tirthankar, was female. The difference centers on the fact

that Digambar ascetism requires nudity. As nudity is not "feasible" for

Digambars believe that Mahavir was not married, whereas Shvetambars

believe the princely Mahavir was married and had a daug

In the first Jain prayer, the Namokara Mantra, Sthanakavasis and

Digambars believe that only the first five lines are formally part of the

Namokara Mantra, whereas Svetambaras believe all nine form the

mantra. Other differences are minor and not based on major points of

doctrine.

Excavations at Mathura revealed many Jain statues from the Kushana

period. Tirthankaras, represented without clothes and monks, with cloth

wrapped around the left arm, are identified as 'ardhaphalaka' and mentioned

in some texts. The Yapaniya sect, believed to have originated from the

Ardhaphalaka, follows Digambara nudity, along with several Shvetambara

beliefs.

Svetambaras are further divided into sub-sects, such as Sthanakavasi,

Terapanthi and Deravasi. Some are murtipujak ( revering statues) while

non-murtipujak Jains refuse statues or images. Most simply call themselves

Jains and follow general traditions rather than specific sectarian practices. In

1974, a committee with representatives from every sect compiled a new text

called the Samana Suttam

Those who have rediscovered the dharma are called in Jainism as

Tirthankara. The literal meaning of Tirthankar is 'ford-builder'. Jains, like

Buddhists, compare the process of becoming a pure human being to crossing

a swift river - an endeavour requiring patience and care. A fordbuilder is

someone who has himself already crossed the river and is therefore able to

guide others. Such a person is called a 'victor' because he has achieved

liberation by his own efforts. A Jain is a follower of a Jina. It is worthy of

note that the Buddha Gautama was also sometimes referred to as Jina. The

purpose of Jain dharma is mental and physical purification by which the

negative effects of karma are undone. The end of this process is the

experience of liberation, which is accompanied by a great natural inner

peace.

A tirthankar is considered omniscient, a role model but not a God. There

have been 24 tirthankars. However, history records about only the last two

Tirthankars remain: Parshvanath and Mahavir (the 23rd and 24th).

Beliefs

Jains believe that every human is responsible for his/her actions and all

living beings have an eternal soul, jīva. Jains believe all souls are equal

because they all possess the potential of being liberated and attaining

Moksha. Tirthankaras are role models only because they have attained

Moksha. Jains insist that we live, think and act respectfully and honor the

spiritual nature of all life. Jains view God as the unchanging traits of the

pure soul of each living being, chiefly described as Infinite Knowledge,

Perception, Consciousness, and Happiness (Ananta Jnāna, Ananta Darshana,

Ananta Chāritra, and Ananta Sukha). Jains do not believe in an omnipotent

supreme being, creator or manager (kartā), but rather in an eternal universe

governed by natural laws.

Jains hold that this temporal world is full of miseries and sorrow and hence

in order to attain lasting bliss, one must transcend the cycle of transmigration.

Otherwise, one will remain eternally caught up in the neverending cycle of

transmigration. The only way to break out of this cycle is to practice

detachment through rational perception, rational knowledge and rational

conduct.

Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to Jainism. History

suggests that various strains of Hinduism became vegetarian due to strong

Jain influences. Jains run animal shelters all over India.

Jainism's stance on nonviolence goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse

food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Devout Jains do not eat, drink, or

travel after sunset and prefer to drink water that is first boiled and then

cooled to room temperature. Many Jains abstain from eating green

vegetables and root vegetables one day each week.

Customs and Practices

The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolizes the Jain Vow of Ahimsa,

meaning non-violence. The word in the middle is "Ahimsa." The wheel

represents the dharmachakra, to halt the cycle of reincarnation through

relentless pursuit of truth.

Jain monks and nuns practise strict asceticism and strive to make their

current birth their last, thus ending their cycle of transmigration.

The strict Jain ethical code for both laity and monks/nuns is:

1. Ahimsa (Non-violence)

2. Satya (truth)

3. 'Achaurya Or Asteya' (non-stealing)

4. Brahmacharya (Non-Sexuality)

5. Aparigraha (Non-attachment to temporal possessions)

For laypersons, 'brahmacharya' means confining sexual experiences to

marriage. For monks/nuns, it means complete celibacy.

Jain Fasting

Fasting is common among Jains and a part of Jain festivals. Most Jains fast

at special times, during festivals, and on holy days. Paryushana is the most

prominent festival, lasting eight days in Svetambara Jain tradition and ten

days in Digambar Jain tradition during the monsoon.

Some Jains revere a special practice, where a person who is aware that they

may die soon, and feels that they have completed all of their duties, ceases to

eat or drink until death. This form of dying is called santhara. It is

considered to be extremely spiritual and creditable.

Jain Symbolism

The fylfot (swastika) is among the holiest of Jain symbols. Worshippers use

rice grains to create a fylfot around the temple altar

The holiest symbol is a simple swastika. Another important symbol

incorporates a wheel on the palm of a hand, symbolizing ahimsa. Other

Triratna and Shrivatsa symbols

Dharmacakra and Siddha-cha

Eight auspicious symbols (The Asta Mangalas)

1. Svastika – Signifies peace and well-being

2. Shrivatsa – A mark manifested on the centre of the Jina's chest, signifying

the Jina's pure soul.

3. Nandyavartya – Large svastika with nine corners

4. Vardhamanaka – A shallow earthen dish used for lamps. This symbol is

suggestive of increase of wealth, fame and merit due to the grace of the Jina.

5. Bhadrasana – Throne. It is considered auspicious because it is sanctified

by the feet of the blessed Jina

6. Kalasha – Pot filled with pure water signifying wisdom and completeness

7. Minayugala – A fish couple. It signifies Cupid's banners coming to

worship the Jina after defeating of the God of Love

8. Darpana – The mirror reflects one's true self because of its clarity.

Jain Contributions to Indian culture

While Jains represent less than 1% of the Indian population, their

contributions to culture and society in India are considerable. Jainism had a

major influence in developing a system of philosophy and ethics that had a

major impact on all aspects of Indian culture in all ages. The scholarly

research and evidences have shown that philosophical concepts that are

considered typically Indian – Karma, Ahimsa, Moksa, reincarnation and like

– either have their origins in the sramana school of thought or were

propagated and developed by the Jaina teachers. These concepts were later

assimilated in Hinduism and other religions, often in a different form and

sometimes having a different meaning.

Jains are both among the wealthiest of Indians and the most philanthropic.

They run numerous schools, colleges and hospitals and are some of the most

important patrons of the Somapuras, the traditional temple architects in

Gujarat. Jains have greatly influenced Gujarati cuisine. Gujarat is

predominantly vegetarian (as is Jainism; see Jain vegetarianism), and its

food has a mild aroma as onions and garlic are omitted.

Jains encourage their monks to do research and obtain higher education. Jain

monks and nuns, particularly in Rajasthan, have published numerous

research monographs. This is unique among Indian religious groups and

parallels Christian clergy. The 2001 census states that Jains are India's most

literate community and that India's oldest libraries at Patan and Jaisalmer are

preserved by Jain institutions.

Jain Literature

Jains have contributed to India's classical and popular literature. For example,

almost all early Kannada literature and Tamil literature was authored by

Some of the oldest known books in Hindi and Gujarati were written by

Jain scholars. The first autobiography in Hindi, [Ardha-Kathanaka] was

written by a Jain, Banarasidasa, an ardent follower of Acharya

Kundakunda who lived in Agra.

Several Tamil classics are written by Jains or with Jain beliefs and values

Practically all the known texts in the Apabhramsha language are Jain

works.

Jain Monks and Nuns (Sadhu or Muni Maharaj) In India there are thousands

of Jain Monks, of which categories have been defined like Acharya,

Upadhyaya and Muni. Trainee ascetics are known as Ailaka and Ksullaka in

the Digambar tradition.

Sikhism

Sikhism, founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in

fifteenth century Northern India, is the fifth-largest religion in the world.

This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally

known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma.

Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the

Sanskrit root śiya meaning "disciple" or "learner", or śika meaning

"instruction."

The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in Vāhigurūe. The followers of

Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or

enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Gurū Granth

Sāhib, which includes selected works of many devotees from diverse

socio-economic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Gobind

Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth.

Philosophy and Teachings

The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Nanak and his successors. His

life and teachings challenged many of the religious beliefs and practices of

his time. The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these

words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful

living". Sikhism believes in equality of all humans and rejects caste system.

The living of life while carrying on the responsibilities of worldly life, and

not withdrawing from it, is encouraged. For Sikhs, initiation into the Khalsa

strengthens their identity and also signifies the Sikh teaching of equality. The

Sikhs are required to follow the teachings of their Guru and serve him, with

weapons if necessary.

Nanak's teachings are founded not on a final destination of heaven or hell,

but on a spiritual union with God, which results in salvation. The chief

obstacles to the attainment of salvation are social conflicts and an attachment

to worldly pursuits, which commit men and women to an endless cycle of

birth – a concept known as reincarnation.

The Ten Gurus and Religious Authority The term guru comes from the

Sanskrit ‘gurū’, meaning teacher, guide or mentor. The traditions and

philosophy of Sikhism were established by ten specific gurus from 1507 to

1708. Each guru added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous,

resulting in the creation of the Sikh religion. Nanak was the first guru and

appointed a disciple as successor. Gobind Singh was the final guru in human

form.

Name Date of birth Guruship on Date of ascension

Age

1 Nanak Dev 15 April 1469 20 August 1507 22

September 1539 69

2 Angad Dev 31 March 1504 7 September 1539 29 March 1552

48

3 Amar Das 5 May 1479 26 March 1552 1 September

1574 95

4 Ram Das 24 Sept 1534 1 September 1574 1 September

1581 46

5 Arjan Dev 15 April 1563 1 September 1581 30 May 1606

43

6 Har Gobind 19 June 1595 25 May 1606 28 February

1644 48

7 Har Rai 16 January 1630 3 March 1644 6 October

1661 31

8 Har Krishan 7 July 1656 6 October 1661 30 March

1664 7

9 Tegh Bahadur 1 April 1621 20 March 1665 11 November

1675 54

10 Gobind Singh 22 Dec 1666 11 November 1675 7 October 1708

41

11 Guru Granth Sahib n/a 7 October 1708 Eternity n/a

After Nanak's passing, the most important phase in the development of

Sikhism came with the third successor, Amar Das. Nanak's teachings

emphasised the pursuit of salvation; Amar Das began building a cohesive

community of followers with initiatives such as sanctioning distinctive

ceremonies for birth, marriage and death. Amar Das also established the

manji (comparable to a diocese) system of clerical supervision.

History

Nanak (1469–1538), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village called

Nankana Sahib, near Lahore (in what is present-day Pakistan). His father,

Mehta Kalu was a Patwari (an accountant of land revenue in the

government). Nanak's mother was Tripta Devi and he had one older sister,

Nanaki. His parents were Khatri Hindus of the Bedi clan. As a boy, Nanak

was fascinated by religion, and his desire to explore the mysteries of life

eventually led him to leave home.

Sikh tradition states that at the age of thirty, Nanak went missing and was

presumed to have drowned after going for one of his morning baths to a

local stream called the Kali Bein. Three days later he reappeared and would

give the same answer to any question posed to him: "There is no Hindu,

there is no Muslim" (in Punjabi, "nā kōi hindū nā kōi musalmān"). It was

from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of what

was then the beginning of Sikhism. Nanak was married to Sulakhni. They

had two sons. The elder son, Sri Chand, was an ascetic, and he came to have

a considerable following of his own, known as the Udasis. The younger son,

Lakshmi Das, on the other hand, was totally immersed in worldly life.

Growth of the Sikh Community

In 1538, Nanak chose his disciple Lahinā, a Khatri of the Trehan clan, as a

successor to the guruship rather than either of his sons. Lahinā was named

Angad Dev and became the second guru of the Sikhs. Nanak conferred his

choice at the town of Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi, where Nanak

had finally settled down after his travels. Angad continued the work started

by Nanak and is widely credited for standardising the Gurmukhī script as

used in the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.

Amar Das, a Khatri of the Bhalla clan, became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at

the age of 73. Goindval became an important centre for Sikhism during the

guruship of Amar Das. He preached the principle of equality for women by

prohibiting purdah and sati. Amar Das also encouraged the practice of langar

and made all those who visited him attend langar before they could speak to

him. In 1567, Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of

Punjab to have langar. Amar Das also trained 146 apostles of which 52 were

women, to manage the rapid expansion of the religion. Before he died in

1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law Jēhā, a Khatri of the Sodhi clan,

as the fourth Sikh guru.

Jēhā became Ram Das and vigorously undertook his duties as the new guru.

He is responsible for the establishment of the city of Ramdaspur later to be

named Amritsar, in 1581.

Arjan Dev – youngest son of the fourth guru – became the fifth guru of the

Sikhs. In addition to being responsible for building the Harimandir Sahib

(often called the Golden Temple), he prepared the Sikh sacred text known as

the Ādi Granth (literally the first book) and included the writings of the first

five gurus. In 1606, for refusing to make changes to the Granth and for

supporting an unsuccessful contender to the throne, he was tortured and

killed by the Mughal ruler, Jahangir.

Har Gobind, became the sixth guru of the Sikhs. He carried two swords –

one for spiritual and the other for temporal reasons (known as mīrī and pīrī

in Sikhism). Sikhs grew as an organised community and always had a

trained fighting force to defend their independence. In 1644, Har Rai became

guru followed by Har Krishan, the boy guru, in 1661. No hymns composed

by these three gurus are included in the Sikh holy book.

Tegh Bahadur became guru in 1665 and led the Sikhs until 1675. Tegh

Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb for helping to protect Hindus, after a

delegation of Kashmiri Pandits came to him for help when the Emperor

condemned them to death for failing to convert to Islam. He was succeeded

by his son, Gobind Rai who was just nine years old at the time of his father's

death. Gobind Rai further militarised his followers, and was baptised by the

Pañj Piārē when he formed the Khalsa in 1699. From here on he was known

as Gobind Singh.

Shortly before his death, Gobind Singh ordered that the Gurū Granth Sāhib

(the Sikh Holy Scripture), would be the ultimate spiritual authority for the

Sikhs and temporal authority would be vested in the Khalsa Panth – The

Sikh Nation/Community.

The Sikh community's embrace of military and political organisation made it

a considerable regional force in medieval India and it continued to evolve

after the demise of the gurus. After the death of Banda Bahadur, a loose

confederation of Sikh warrior bands known as misls formed. With the

decline of the Mughal empire, a Sikh empire arose in the Punjab under

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with its capital in Lahore and limits reaching the

Khyber Pass and the borders of China. The order, traditions and discipline

developed over centuries culminated at the time of Ranjit Singh to give rise

to the common religious and social identity that the term "Sikhism"

describes.

After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh kingdom fell into disorder and was

eventually annexed by Britain after the hard fought Anglo-Sikh Wars. This

brought the Punjab under British rule. Sikhs formed the Shiromani

Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and the Shiromani Akali Dal to preserve

the religious and political organisation of Sikhs. With the partition of India in

1947, thousands of Sikhs were killed in violence and millions were forced to

leave their ancestral homes in West Punjab. Sikhs faced initial opposition

from the Government in forming a linguistic state that other states in India

were afforded. The Akali Dal started a non-violence movement for Sikh and

Punjabi rights. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale emerged as a leader of a faction

which did not agree with the Akali Dal's approach on the matter. In June

1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army to launch

Operation Blue Star to remove Bhindranwale and his armed followers from

the Golden Temple. Hundreds of militants, including Bhindranwale, and a

number of innocent civilians were killed during the army's successful

operation. In October, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh

bodyguards. The assassination was followed by the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots

massacre and Hindu-Sikh conflicts in Punjab, as a reaction to the

assassination and Operation Blue Star.

Religions of Non-Indian Origin

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of

Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. The word

Islam means "submission", or the total surrender of oneself to God. An

adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits (to

God)". There are between 1 billion to 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the

second-largest religion in the world after Christianity.

Almost all Muslims belong to one of the two major denominations, the

Sunni (85%) and Shi'a (15%). As a historical phenomenon, Islam originated

in Arabia in the early 7th century. Islamic texts depict Judaism and

Christianity as prophetic successor traditions to the teachings of Abraham.

The Quran calls Jews and Christians "People of the Book" (ahl al-kitāb), and

distinguishes them from polytheists. Muslims believe that parts of the

previously revealed scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospels),

had become distorted – either in interpretation, in text, or both.

Muhammad

Muhammad (c. 570 – July 6, 632) was an Arab religious, political, and

military leader who founded the religion of Islam as a historical

phenomenon. Muslims view him not as the creator of a new religion, but as

the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith of Adam,

Abraham and others. In Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last

and the greatest in a series of prophets – as the man closest to perfection, the

possessor of all virtues. For the last 23 years of his life, beginning at age 40,

Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God. The content of these

revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his

companions.

Mosques

A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its

Arabic name, masjid. The word mosque in English refers to all types of

buildings dedicated to Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in

Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger,

"collective" mosque (masjid jāmi`). Although the primary purpose of the

mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also important to the Muslim

community as a place to meet and study. Modern mosques have evolved

greatly from the early designs of the 7th century, and contain a variety of

architectural elements such as minarets.

Family Life

The basic unit of Islamic society is the family, and Islam defines the

obligations and legal rights of family members. The father is seen as

financially responsible for his family, and is obliged to cater for their

wellbeing. The division of inheritance is specified in the Qur'an, which states

that most of it is to pass to the immediate family, while a portion is set aside

for the payment of debts and the making of bequests. The woman's share of

inheritance is generally half of that of a man with the same rights of

succession. Marriage in Islam is a civil contract, which consists of an offer

and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two

witnesses. The groom is required to pay a bridal gift (mahr) to the bride, as

stipulated in the contract. A man may marry up to four wives if he believes

he can treat them equally, while a woman may marry one man only. In most

Muslim countries, the process of divorce in Islam is known as talaq, which

the husband initiates by pronouncing the word "divorce". Scholars disagree

whether Islamic holy texts justify traditional Islamic practices such as

veiling and seclusion (purdah).

Denominations

Islam consists of a number of religious denominations that are essentially

similar in belief but which have significant theological and legal differences.

The primary division is between the Sunni and the Shi'a, with Sufism

generally considered to be a mystical inflection of Islam rather than a

distinct school. According to most sources, approximately 85% of the

world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi'a, with a small

minority who are members of other Islamic sects.

Others

The Kharijites are a sect that dates back to the early days of Islam. The only

surviving branch of the Kharijites is Ibadism.

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of

Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. As of the early 21st

century, it has between 1.5 billion and 2.1 billion adherents, representing

about a quarter of the world's population. It is the state religion of at least

sixteen countries.

Its followers, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and

the Messiah (or Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament, the part of their

scriptures they have in common with Judaism. The "good news" of Jesus'

ministry is called the Gospel.

The Trinity is often regarded as an essential doctrine of mainstream

Christianity. The most common understanding of the Holy Trinity, as

espoused in the Nicene Creed, is one God who exists in three Persons

–Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – who are coequal, co-eternal, of the

same substance.

The disciples were first called Christians, meaning "followers of Christ".

Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is classified as an Abrahamic religion.

Through missionary work and colonisation, Christianity spread firstly in the

Middle East, North Africa, Europe and parts of India and subsequently

throughout the entire world.

Beliefs Inspite of important differences of interpretation and opinion, Christians

share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. Christians

categorise many forms of human behaviour as "sin"; this term is used to

describe any action that violates a rule set out in the Bible, and is also used

to refer to the state of having committed such a violation. In some Christian

sects, sin can refer to a state of mind rather than a specific action - any

thought, word, or act considered immoral, shameful, harmful, or alienating

might be termed "sinful".

Jesus Christ

The focus of a Christian's life is a firm belief in Jesus as the Son of God

and the "Messiah" or "Christ". The title "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew

word (m膩拧i谩魔) meaning anointed one. The Greek translation (Christos)

is the source of the English word "Christ".

Christians believe that, as the Messiah, Jesus was anointed by God as ruler

and savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of

messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the

Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept. The

core Christian belief is that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus,

sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation

and the promise of eternal life

Scriptures

Christianity regards the Bible, a collection of canonical books in two parts

(the Old Testament and the New Testament), as authoritative. It is believed

by Christians to have been written by human authors under the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit, and therefore for many it is held to be the inherrant Word of

God. Protestant Christians believe that the Bible contains all revealed truth

necessary for salvation.

Symbols

The cross, which is today one of the most widely recognised symbols in the

world, was used as a Christian symbol from the earliest times. Although the

cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix, did not appear in use

until the fifth century.

Among the symbols employed by the primitive Christians, that of the fish

seems to have ranked first in importance. Other major Christian symbols

include the chi-rho monogram, the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), the

sacrificial lamb (symbolic of Christ's sacrifice), the vine (symbolising the

necessary connectedness of the Christian with Christ) and many others..

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings

ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). Mazdaism is the

religion that acknowledges the divine authority of Ahura Mazda, proclaimed

by Zoroaster.

While Zoroastrianism was once the dominant religion of much of Greater

Iran, the number of adherents has dwindled to not more than 200,000

Zoroastrians worldwide, with concentrations in India and Iran.

Terminology

The term Mazdaism is a typical 19th century construct, taking Mazda- from

the name Ahura Mazda and adding the suffix -ism to suggest a belief system.

In the English language, an adherent of the faith commonly refers to him- or

herself as a Zoroastrian or, less commonly, a Zarathustrian. An older, but still

widespread expression is Behdin, meaning "follower of Daena", for which

"Good Religion" is one translation. In the Zoroastrian liturgy, the term

Behdin is also used as a title for an individual who has been formally

inducted into the religion

Distinguishing Characteristics

The symbol of fire: The energy of the creator is represented in

Zoroastrianism by fire and the Sun, which are both enduring, radiant, pure

and life sustaining.

Religious Texts

The Avesta is the collection of the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. Although

the texts are very old, the compendium as we know it today is essentially the

result of a reaction that is thought to have occurred during the reign of

Shapur II (309–379 CE). However, some portions of the collection have

been lost since then, especially after the fall of the Sassanid empire in 651

CE, after which Zoroastrianism was supplanted by Islam. The oldest existing

copy of an Avestan language text dates to 1288 CE.

In the Indian Subcontinent

Following the fall of the Sassanid Empire in 651 many Zoroastrians

migrated. Among them were several groups who ventured to Gujarat on the

western shores of the Indian subcontinent, where they finally settled. The

descendants of those refugees are today known as the Parsis. The year of

arrival on the subcontinent cannot be precisely established and Parsi legend

and tradition assigns various dates to the event.

On the Indian subcontinent these Zoroastrians enjoyed tolerance and even

admiration from other religious communities. From the 19th century onward

the Parsis gained a reputation for their education and widespread influence

in all aspects of society, partly due to the divisive strategy of British

colonialism, which favored certain minorities. Parsis are generally more

affluent than other Indians and are stereotypically viewed as among the most

‘Anglicised’ and "Westernised" of the various minority groups. They have

also played an instrumental role in the economic development of the region

over many decades; several of the best-known business conglomerates of

India are run by Parsi-Zoroastrians, including the Tata, Godrej, and Wadia

families.

Unit 3

Fairs and Festivals of India and Indian Cuisine

India being a land of diversity, is an amalgamation of many states and each

state acts as a country of its own. Many religions, languages, cultures blend

seamlessly into each other. Each region, state and district has an identity

within an identity. Even though there are celebrations and festivals that are

celebrated nationally, there are a multitude of them which are restricted to

states, cultures and communities.

Fairs and Festivals of India and Indian Cuisine

No land celebrates life like India. With festivals like Holi, and fairs like

Pushkar, people drench themselves in the days and moments that glorify

harvests, seasons, triumphs, joys, sorrows, battles, Gods, and kings. This is

the land with 365 days of sound and 360 degrees of colour.

Amarnath Yatra

In the month of Shravan , thousands of pilgrims make an arduous trek up to

the Amarnath cave in the Kashmir Himalayas. They come to worship the

sacred ice lingam – a symbol of Lord Shiva, which is a natural phenomenon.

Buddha Purnima

Buddha Purnima, which falls on the full moon night in the month of

Vaisakha (either in April or May), commemorates the birth anniversary of

Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world.

Notwithstanding the summer heat (temperatures routinely touch 45 degrees

C), pilgrims come from all over the world to Bodh Gaya, the place where the

Buddha attained enlightenment. The day is marked with prayer meets,

sermons on the life of Buddha, religious discourses, recitation of Buddhist

scriptures, group meditation, processions, worship of Buddha's statue and

symposia. The Mahabodhi Temple wears a festive look and is decorated with

colourful flags and flowers. Celebration of this festival has been recorded by

the Chinese scholar, Fa-Hien.

Chetichand

This is the main festival of the Sindhi community, and celebrates the birth

of their household deity. It is celebrated for forty days every year, generally

from the 16th of July to the 24th of August. During these days, Sindhis

perform the ritual of jyot jagana (lighting the lamp) on a big plate of bronze.

There is a procession on the 40th day. Fairs are held and lots of people are

invited for the celebrations.

Christmas

Christmas, the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, is celebrated by Indian

Christians on December 25th, in much the same way as it is celebrated by

Christians worldwide. The day is ushered in with midnight mass, sounds of

carols fill the air, Christmas trees are brought home and decorated, gifts are

exchanged with friends and family. All the major Indian cities wear a festive

look. Shops and bazaars are decorated for the occasion and offer attractive

bargains. Christmas sets off a week of festivities, culminating with New Year

celebrations on Jan 1st .

Diwali

Diwali also known as Deepavali, perhaps the best-known Hindu festival,

marks the end of the festival season that opens with Ganesh Chaturthi.

Diwali is celebrated throughout India, as well as in the Indian diaspora

worldwide. It usually takes place eighteen days after Dussehra in

October/November. Diwali is called the "festival of lights", and the name

itself means an array of lamps. Illumination is characteristic of Diwali –

even the humblest of households lights small oil lamps or diyas, and places

them around the house. The diyas are symbolic of the welcome given to

Lord Rama, Prince of Ayodhya, on his return after 14 years of exile. Homes

are given a thorough cleaning and rangoli designs (intricate patterns made of

coloured powders or flowers on the floor) adorn the entrance. Everyone

feasts on mithai (traditional Indian sweets) and as night falls, children

celebrate with fireworks. South Indians start their day with an oil bath. In

South India and in the business community, Diwali is associated mainly with

the Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth. In rural areas, it is celebrated mainly as a

harvest festival. Diwali has the same importance for Hindus as Christmas

does for Christians.

Dussehra

Dussehra, or Vijay Dashmi, is celebrated in September/October, to

commemorate the victory of Lord Rama, virtuous Prince of Ayodhya, over

ten-headed Ravana, the evil king of Sri Lanka who abducted Rama's wife,

Sita, and was subsequently vanquished in the battle. Dussehra thus

celebrates the victory of Good over Evil. The nine days preceding Dussehra

are known as Navaratri. During this period, the Mother Goddess (“Devi Ma”)

is worshipped in all her forms - as Saraswati (consort of Brahma, the creator,

and goddess of knowledge), Lakshmi (consort of Vishnu, the preserver, and

granter of wealth), and Parvati (consort of Shiva, the destroyer, and the most

powerful and complex of all the goddesses). People also worship the tools of

their trade. During the ten days of celebrations, Ramlilas (dance dramas

enacting the story of Lord Rama) take place all over North India . On the last

(tenth) day, effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkaran, and his son,

Meghnath, are packed with firecrackers and burnt at sunset. In Mysore,

Dussehra is a grand occasion. The Mysore palace is illuminated for a month.

Caparisoned elephants lead a colourful procession through the streets of the

city. A torch light parade and many musical / dance events round off the

celebrations.

In Gujarat, Navaratri is a community affair. Young girls, resplendent in

traditional finery, dance away the night doing the traditional Garbha dance or

Dandiya Raas. In Bengal, Dussehra is celebrated as Pujo . Each locality

erects a pandal with beautifully decorated idols of Goddess Durga. In

Himachal Pradesh, Dussehra is celebrated with a week-long fair in the hill

town of Kullu. Deities are brought, in procession, from the little temples in

the hills to Kullu, to pay homage to the reigning deity, Raghunathji.

Easter

The Sunday marking the resurrection of Christ is celebrated by Christians

all across India. It is preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer

from February to March that begins with Ash Wednesday and culminates in

Good Friday, the day of mourning when Jesus Christ was crucified. Easter

eggs and hot cross buns are some of the goodies distributed on Easter.

Eid-Milad-ul-Nabi

The birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad is celebrated all over India

with the reading of the Quran and religious discourses in the mosques.

Cultural Festivals

Baisakhi

A rural festival celebrated in Punjab on 13th April, Baisakhi signifies the

beginning of a New Year for the Punjabi community. It was on this day in

1699 that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa

Panth. Prayer meetings and kirtans (singing of devotional songs) are

organized in gurdwaras (Sikh temples) across the country. After the prayer,

karah prasad is served to the congregation. The function ends with langar,

the community lunch made and served by volunteers. In the rural areas,

Baisakhi signifies the harvest of the (main) wheat crop. Farmers give thanks

for Mother Nature's bounty and pray for a better crop next year.

Bihu

Actually a collection of 3 festivals, Bihu marks distinctive stages in the

cultivation of paddy, the principal crop of the state of Assam. Bohag Bihu is

also called Rongaali Bihu, the Festival of Merriment. True to its name, it

ushers in a period of enjoyment. The festival lasts for several days. The first

day, Goru Bihu, is reserved for cattle – cows' feet are washed, their horns

and hooves are rubbed with oil, and they are garlanded. The next day,

Manuh Bihu, sees homage paid to elders, relatives and friends, with a special

meal of chira, curds and sweets. The third day, Gosain Bihu, is dedicated to

religious services. Games, sports, special Bihu songs, dances, “Bihu

Kunwori” contests (dancing competitions) and fairs are all part of Bihu

celebrations

Bikaner

Festival This festival, held in January, in Bikaner, Rajasthan, is dedicated to

the ship of the desert – the camel. The festival starts with a magnificent

procession of beautifully decorated camels.

Chapchar Kut

"Kut" means festival in Mizo parlance, and the state of Mizoram celebrates

three of them: Chapchar Kut, Mim Kut and Pawl Kut. All are connected with

agricultural activities, and all are celebrated with feasts and dances.

Chennai Dance & Music Festival

Started back in 1927 to commemorate the anniversary of the Madras Music

Academy, this month-long festival is held from mid December to mid

January in the city of Chennai to celebrate (classical) Carnatic music and the

dance traditions of South India.

Desert Festival

This three-day extravaganza of colour, music and festivity is held on the

stretches of sand around the desert citadel of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, in

February each year. The fun and frolic includes fire dancers swaying to

traditional tunes, a turban-tying competition and a Mr. Desert contest. The

grand finale is a trip to the sand dunes to watch folk dancers and musicians

perform under the stars. A camel ride is a must!

Dover Lane Music Conference

Kolkata's largest Indian classical musical event, the Dover Lane Music

Conference is held in January every year at Nazrul Mancha. It has been

taking place for the last 25 years.

Elephant Festival

Elephants are the centre of attraction at this festival held every Holi, in

Jaipur, Rajasthan. They stride majestically, parading their decorated trunks

and tusks. The festival begins with a procession of elephants, camels and

horses, painted and gaily decorated with glittering ornaments and

embroidered velvets. The elephants greet visitors, offer garlands to guests

and walk past a jury of experts and tourists, vying for the "Best Decorated

Elephant" shield. The animals are followed by lively folk dancers. Elephant

races and elephant polo matches are special attractions. The highlight of the

festivals is a hilarious tug of war between elephants and men. The Gaj

Shringar exhibition displays everything connected with the elephant –

ornaments, textiles (jhoo), howdahs and carriages, paintings, medicines and

food. Tourists are encouraged to join in the dances, mount the elephants and

play Holi.

Elephanta Festival

Nine nautical miles from the megapolis of Mumbai, just across the harbour,

is the Elephanta Island, home to the Elephanta Caves, that date back to the 2

nd and 6th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This turns into a

huge open-air auditorium during the Elephanta Festival held every year. The

feast of dance and music, celebrated under the stars is surely not to be

missed.

Ellora Festival

This festival of dance and music is organised in the splendid surroundings

of the magnificent Ellora caves in Maharashtra, a UNESCO World Heritage

site.

Garden Festival

If you love flowers, you should be at this spectacular flower show, held in

the capital city, Delhi, each year. A humongus variety of flowers and exotic

plants are on display.

Goa Carnival

February heralds the carnival at Goa. For three days and nights, the

legendary king Momo takes over the state and the streets come alive with

colour. The Carnival is a truly Goan celebration. That means it has a

Portuguese flavour with continuous singing, dancing, lively music, lots to

eat, floats and processions. The week long festivity marks the period

February-March before the beginning of the austerities of Lent.

Guru Purnima

India pays homage to all teachers (gurus) on the full moon (purnima) day of

the month of Ashadh (July). Students visit their elders, teachers and guides,

and show their appreciation and respect with gifts of coconuts, clothes and

sweets.

Hampi Festival

The ruins of the magnificent city of Hampi, Karnataka, once the capital of

the Vijayanagar Empire (and now a UNESCO World Heritage site), come

alive during this extravaganza, held in the first week of November. Dance,

drama, music, fireworks, puppet shows and spectacular processions, all

combine to recreate the grandeur of a bygone era. The ruins of stone temples,

elephant stables, barracks and palaces offer a fascinating glimpse into the

lives of the people who once resided there.

Holi

The most lively of all Hindu festivals is observed on the day after full moon

in the month of Phagun (sometime in March) according to the Hindu Lunar

calendar. It heralds the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring.

North India, in particular, with people smearing brightly hued powders on

each other and squirting each other with coloured water from ‘pichkaris’.

Hoysala Mahotsava

The splendidly sculpted Hoysala temples of Belur and Halebid in

Karnataka, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are the venue for this dance

festival.

Independence Day

India's battle for freedom from British Rule was long and arduous, and every

year the country celebrates Independence Day (15th August) with an

outpouring of patriotism. The Prime Minister gives a speech from the

ramparts of the historic Red Fort in Delhi, flag hoisting ceremonies and

cultural programmes are held in all the state capitals, restaurants serve

special menus done in the colours of the flag (saffron, white, green and blue)

and little children sell flags to raise funds for charity.

Island Tourism Festival

This ten-day long festival of dance, drama and music showcases the arts and

crafts, flora and fauna and marine life of Port Blair, capital of the Andaman

& Nicobar Islands. Aqua sports, tele-games and parasailing are added

attractions.

Jahan-Khusrau

Only Sufi music is played at this music festival associated with Hazrat Amir

Khusrau, one of the great followers of Hazrat Nizamuddin. Performers from

all over the world perform. The festival takes place in Delhi in the last week

of February.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

The spotlight of this festival, held in the megapolis of Mumbai in January,

is on fine, folk and performing arts and ethnic cuisines. Events include

movies, concerts, competitions, exhibitions, food courts, street performances,

workshops.

Khajuraho Dance Festival

This is a week-long festival of classical dances, held in February/March

each year. All the classical dance traditions – Kathak, Bharathanatyam,

Odissi, Kuchipudi, Manipuri and Kathakali are on show, against the

spectacular backdrop of the magnificently lit temples, a UNESCO World

Heritage site. Modern Indian dance has also been added recently. The dances

are performed by some of the best exponents in the field, in an open-air

auditorium, usually in front of the Chitragupta Temple dedicated to Surya

(the Sun God) and the Vishwanatha Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. They

bring alive the former religious capital of Chandela dynasty, one of the

powerful Rajput dynasties of Central India.

Konark Dance Festival

The floodlit Sun Temple of Konark in Orissa, a UNESCO World Heritage

site and one of India's greatest architectural sights often described as a poem

in stone, is the backdrop for this festival of classical dance held every

December. Eminent dancers present their interpretations of various classical

dance forms - Odissi, Bharat Natyam, Manipuri, Kathak and Chhau as the

sound of ghungroo bells, flute and pakhawaj fill the air. A marvellous crafts

mela and delectable cuisine add to the festive mood.

Lohri

Celebrated in Punjab on 13th January, Lohri celebrates the successful harvest

of the Rabi crops - an extremely important event in a predominantly

agricultural community. It is a community festival, and celebrated as one.

Children go from door to door to collect funds for community bonfires that

are lit up in the evening. The villagers gather around the bonfires and offer

sweets, puffed rice, til (sesame) and popcorn to the flames. The evening is

spent singing, dancing, and exchanging greetings with family and friends.

Lucknow Festival

Held in November-December, in Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar

Pradesh, this festival perfectly captures the undying elegance and splendours

of the ancient city formerly known as Awadh. The arts, crafts, and above all,

heavenly cuisine, are yours to savour for 10 memorable days, bringing alive

Lucknow's Nawabi past. Colourful processions, traditional dramas, Kathak

dances in the Lucknow gharana style, music concerts (sarangi / sitar recitals,

ghazals, qawalis, thumri), traditional village games (ekka races, kite flying

competitions, cock fights) all add to the festivities.

Makar Sankranti

This is celebrated in the month of Magh, on 14th January, when the sun

enters Makar Rashi (the zodiac sign of Capricorn, the goat), starting its

northward journey. Makar Sankranti is the day of the equinox, when day and

night are equally long. Hindus believe that those who die on this day attain

moksha, escaping from the cycle of birth and re-birth. In Maharashtra,

people eat til-gul, sweets made of til (sesame) and jaggery. In Gujarat,

thousands of colourful kites dot the skies as people vie with each

other to win community as well as National Kite Festival, the kite-flying

competitions. In Punjab, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Lohri, and in

South India as Pongal. In West Bengal, the devout converge at the Ganga

Sagar Island in the Ganges delta, to take a holy dip at the confluence of the

sea and the river Ganga. A large fair is held for three days during this period.

Mamallapuram Dance Festival

Dancers and musicians from across the country participate in this festival

held at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, in

December-January, with Arjuna's Penance as its backdrop.

Natyanjali Festival

This 5 day festival, which takes place in the premises of the ancient Nataraja

temple of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, pays special tribute to Lord Nataraja,

the dancing Shiva. It is held in Feb / March and begins on the auspicious

occasion of Mahashivratri. Leading dancers from all parts of India

congregate and dance in the temple as an offering to Nataraja, while

the carved pillars depicting Lord Nataraja in 108 poses of Bharatanatyam

look silently on. The festival promotes the message of "Unity in Diversity",

conveyed in the universal language of music and dance.

Nehru Cup Boat Races

Kerala's backwaters at Aranmula and Kottayam, are the picturesque setting

for the annual snake-boat races held on the second Saturday of August every

year. Tranquil Lake fronts are transformed into a sea of humanity, as over

100 oarsmen in each huge (over 100 feet long) snake boat vie for the

prestigious Nehru Trophy, named after independent India's first Prime

Minister. An estimated 2 lakh people watch, while the beating of drums and

cymbals, and songs add to the festive mood. Preparations for the event begin

several weeks in advance, and celebrations continue long after, for the

winning teams.

Pattadakkal Dance Festival

The delicately carved temples at the UNESCO World Heritage site of

Pattadakkal (the ancient capital of the Chalukyan kings) in the state of

Karnataka form the backdrop for this festival of dance, held to celebrate this

marvellous heritage.

Thrissur Pooram

"Pooram", the two-century-old festival held at the Vadakkunnathan temple in

Thrissur, Kerala, in Apr / May, is the most colourful of all the temple

festivals held in the state. All the temples in the state send their best

elephants to participate. Bedecked with golden headpieces coming down

over the trunk, the elephants go round the temple in a splendid procession to

the accompaniment of drums, pipes and trumpets. Carrying ceremonial

umbrellas and fanned by white whisks, 30 of these gentle giants amble out

majestically through the temple gate, to line up in 2 rows, facing each other,

in the open ground. An elephant in the center carries the image of Lord

Shiva. Each "team of elephants" has its own Panchavadyam (literally "five

instruments", i.e., conch, cymbals, trumpet and two kinds of drums)

orchestra. The umbrellas are unfurled to the beating of the drums and

cheering of the assembled crowds. Specially appointed judges award a prize

for the most spectacular display. The festival ends with a magnificient

display of fireworks that continues till dawn. Truly, you can call it a

mammoth spectacle!

Qutub Festival

Veterans of Indian classical music and folk dance hold audiences enthralled

at this festival held in Nov / Dec each year, in Delhi, against the historic

ruins of the Qutb Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kuchipudi, Odissi,

Manipuri, Ghazals, Qawalis, Sarangi, Sitar.

Raksha Bandhan

"Rakhi", as it is popularly called, is celebrated in the month of Shravan

(August) on the day of the full moon. Literally meaning "ties of protection",

it commemorates the bond between brothers and sisters. On the morning of

the festival, women of all ages put a tikka of vermilion on their brother's

foreheads, tie a ceremonial rakhi (this may be a colorful thread, a simple

bracelet, a decorative string or something really fancy, made of silver and

crystals) on their brothers' wrist(s), and offer them mithai (sweets) after an

aarti (prayer). The brothers, in return, promise to love and protect their

sisters, and gift them some money as a token of their affection. The practice

often extends more generally to people of the opposite sex who are not

biologically related. It has also been interpreted as a pledge by the strong to

protect the weak.

Republic Day

All of India celebrates 26th of January, the day the constitution of India

came into force. The evening before, the President addresses the nation.

Medals are conferred to recognise feats of exceptional bravery, on the part of

members of the armed forces in the field, as well as civilians, in everyday

life. Then comes the grand parade, from Rajghat to Vijaypath, at Delhi, with

regiments from the armed services marching in all their finery, followed by

folk dancers, school children who have won awards for bravery and floats

with tableux from different states. A foreign Head of State is invited to be the

Chief Guest at this impressive display of India's finest. The parade ends with

a fabulous flypast. The "Beating the Retreat" ceremony held at sunset the

next day, at Vijay Chowk, marks the end of celebrations.

Sharad Purnima

Is a harvest festival when Laxmi, the Goddess of prosperity, visits all homes

to bring fortune and good luck to all. Kojagiri, the special night, is celebrated

with ice-cold, saffron-flavoured sweet milk, shared in the cool moonlight.

The newly harvested rice is offered to the gods and lamps are lit before the

full moon in November.

Taj Mahotsav

This ten day event, held at Agra, Uttar Pradesh, the city of the Taj, in

February, is a celebration of the arts, crafts, culture and traditions of Uttar

Pradesh. Folk music, shayari (poetry), classical dance performances,

elephant and camel rides, games and a food festival are the highlights of the

festivites.

Vasant Panchami

The ceremonial welcome of spring, this festival is celebrated in North India

and West Bengal (especially in the University town of Shanti Niketan), in

the month of Magh (February). The mustard flowers are in bloom, and

people dress in yellows, sing, dance, make merry and worship Saraswati, the

Goddess of learning.

Cuisine of India

Cuisine of India is characterized by its sophisticated and subtle use of many

spices and herbs. Considered by some to be the world's most diverse cuisine,

each family of this cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes

and cooking techniques. Though a significant portion of Indian food is

vegetarian, many traditional Indian dishes also include chicken, goat, lamb,

fish, and other meats. Beef is not eaten by most Hindus. Food is an

important part of Indian culture, playing a role in everyday life as well as in

festivals. In many families, everyday meals are usually sit-down affairs

consisting of two to three main course dishes, varied accompaniments such

as chutneys and pickles, carbohydrate staples such as rice and roti (bread), as

well as desserts.

Diversity is a defining feature of India's geography, culture, and food. Indian

cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of

the ethnically diverse subcontinent. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split

into four categories: North Indian, South Indian, East Indian, and West

Indian. Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge in the art of

Indian cuisine. Varied uses of spices are an integral part of food preparation,

and are used to enhance the flavor of a dish and create unique flavors and

aromas. Cuisine across India has also been influenced by various cultural

groups that entered India throughout history, from regions as diverse as West

Asia, Central Asia and Europe.

History and Influences

As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling

through many millennia, the subcontinent has benefited from numerous food

influences. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to

alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily

available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has

become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and

preferences, which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with

the food sources that are deemed acceptable. One strong influence over

Indian foods is the longstanding vegetarianism within sections of India's

Hindu and Jain communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are

vegetarians. Around 7000 BCE, sesame, eggplant, and humped cattle had

been domesticated in the Indus Valley. By 3000 BC, turmeric, cardamom,

black pepper and mustard were harvested in India. Many recipes first

emerged during the initial Vedic period, when India was still heavily forested

and agriculture was complemented with game hunting and forest produce.

In Vedic times, a normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy

products and honey. Over time, some segments of the population embraced

vegetarianism. This was facilitated by advent of Buddhism and a cooperative

climate where variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains could easily be grown

throughout the year. A food classification system that categorized any item

as saatvic, raajsic or taamsic developed in Ayurveda. Each was deemed to

have a powerful effect on the body and the mind. mLater, invasions from

Central Asia, Arabia, the Mughal empire, and Persia, and others had a deep

and fundamental effect on Indian cooking. Influence from traders such as the

Arab and Portuguese diversified subcontinental tastes and meals. As with

other cuisines, Indian cuisine has absorbed the new-world vegetables such as

tomato, chilli, and potato, as staples. These are actually relatively recent

additions. Islamic rule introduced rich gravies, pilafs and non-vegetarian fare

such as kebabs, resulting in Mughlai cuisine (Mughal in origin), as well as

such fruits as apricots, melons, peaches, and plums. The Mughals were great

patrons of cooking. Lavish dishes were prepared during the reigns of

Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The Nizams of Hyderabad state meanwhile

developed and perfected their own style of cooking with the most notable

dish being the Biryani, often considered by many connoisseurs to be the

finest of the main dishes in India.

During this period the Portuguese introduced foods from the New World

such as potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and chilies and cooking techniques like

baking. The staples of Indian cuisine are rice, atta (whole wheat flour), and a

variety of pulses, the most important of which are masoor (most often red

lentil), chana (bengal gram), toor (pigeon pea or yellow gram), urad (black

gram) and mung (green gram). Pulses may be used whole, dehusked, for

example dhuli moong or dhuli urad, or split. Pulses are used extensively in

the form of dal (split). Some of the pulses like chana and "Mung" are also

processed into flour (besan). Most Indian curries are fried in vegetable oil. In

North and West India, groundnut oil is traditionally been most popular for

frying, while in Eastern India, Mustard oil is more commonly used. In South

India, coconut oil and Gingelly Oil is common. In recent decades, sunflower

oil and soybean oil have gained popularity all over India. Hydrogenated

vegetable oil, known as Vanaspati ghee, is also a popular cooking medium

that replaces Desi ghee (clarified butter). The most frequently used spices in

Indian cuisine are chilli, pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera),

turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asafoetida (hing), ginger (adrak), and

garlic (lassan). Popular spice mixes are garam masala, which is usually a

powder of five or more dried spices, commonly comprised of cardamom,

cinnamon and clove; and Goda Masala, a popular spice mix in Maharashtra.

Some leaves are commonly used like tejpat (cassia leaf), coriander leaf,

fenugreek leaf and mint leaf. The common use of curry leaves is typical of

all Indian cuisine. In sweet dishes,cardamom, nutmeg, saffron, and rose petal

essence are used. The term "curry" is usually understood to mean "gravy" in

India, rather than "spices."

Beverages

Tea is a staple beverage throughout India;the finest varieties are grown in

Darjeeling and Assam. It is generally prepared as masala chai, tea with a

mixture of spices boiled in milk. The second popular beverage, coffee, is

largely served in South India. One of the finest varieties of Coffe, ‘Arabica’

is grown around Mysore, Karnataka, and is marketed under the trade name

"Mysore Nuggets". Other beverages include nimbu pani (lemonade), lassi,

badam dood (milk with nuts and cardamom) & Chaach (made from

curd/yogurt), sharbat and coconut water. India also has many indigenous

alcoholic beverages, including palm wine, fenny, bhang and Indian beer.

However, the practice of drinking a beverage with a meal, or wine and food

matching, is not traditional or common in India.

Etiquette

Several customs are associated with the manner of food consumption.

Traditionally, meals are eaten while seated either on the floor or on very low

stools or cushions. Food is most often eaten without cutlery, using instead

the fingers of the right hand. However, these traditional ways of dining are

losing popularity as modernization has modified these customs. Silverware

and Western-style seating arrangements are becoming the norm in urban

areas of India. Traditional serving styles vary from region to region in India.

A universal aspect of presentation is the thali, a large plate with samplings of

different regional dishes accompanied by raita, breads such as naan, puri, or

roti, and rice. In South India, a cleaned banana leaf is often placed under the

food as decoration.

The different aspects of Indian Cuisine:

Indian Cuisine is becoming popular due to its exotic flavors and healthful

preparations. The repertoire of Indian Cuisine is vast and the following are

interesting aspects of the cuisine. Cooking according to tastes: In India, there

really aren't actual written

recipes, so the person cooking is encouraged to orchestrate a dish by using

fresh, seasonal and local vegetables. Spices are used sparingly, and Indian

dishes are not always hot. Other than spices, herbs and other natural

seasonings offer the sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent senses.

Cultural Influences: Many Indians are vegetarians, having been influenced

by Buddha, Mahavir and King Ashoka. Our cuisine has been influenced by

the Aryans settlers, the Arab and Chinese traders and conquerors such as the

Persians, Mongolians, Turks, the British and the Portuguese. Ayurveda:

Created by India, this ancient science system is comprehensive of health,

diet and nutrition. India's cuisine has been shaped by this science. Ayurveda

is the common thread that runs through the various sub cultures/regions of

India. Otherwise, the cuisine can be vastly different from region to region.

Diversity: India is slightly smaller than Europe, but has a greater diversity of

people, language, climate, cultures and religion than almost any country in

the world. Consequently, Indian cuisine is also diverse.

Royal Kitchens of India: Under the patronage of the Kings, or rajahs of India,

the art of food was elevated to a high level of advancement and

professionalism. The royal chefs understood the finer points of food, the art

of presentation and created exquisite preparations.

North Indian Cuisine

A typical North Indian meal will consist of an assortment of items. They

include chappatis, paratha or pooris (unleavened flat breads), pilafs, dals,

mild curries made in ghee, thick, creamy dals, vegetables seasoned with

yogurt or pomegranate powder, greens such as spinach and mustard greens

cooked with paneer, North Indian pickles, fresh tomato, mint, cilantro

chutneys and yogurt raitas. Hot, sweet cardamom milk is very common

before going to bed. North Indian desserts and sweets are made of milk,

paneer, lentil flour and wheat flour combined with dried nuts and garnished

with a thin sheet of pure silver. Nimbu pani (lemonade), and lassi (iced

buttermilk) are popular drinks of the North. Tandoori cooking is a

NorthIndian specialty.

South Indian Cuisine

South Indian cuisine is rice based. Rice is combined with lentils to make

wonderful dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams. These items are glorious and

delicious besides being nourishing and digestible (due to the fermenting

process). They are combined with sambhar (dal), rasam (tamarind dal), dry

and curried vegetable and pachadi (yogurt). Their rice preparations are also

masterpieces like biryani from Hyderabad, lemon rice and rice seasoned

with coconut peanuts, tamarind, chilies, curry leaves, urad dal and fenugreek

seeds. South Indian chutneys are made of tamarind, coconut, peanuts, dal,

fenugreek seeds, and cilantro. Meals are followed by coffee. South Indian

dals and curries are more soupy than North Indian dals and curries. South

Indian cuisine is also hotter.

Coconut milk straight from the nut is a common beverage in South India.

Coffee is very popular and Madras coffee is popular in South Indian

restaurants throughout the world. The South Indian food is a brilliant blend

of flavors, colors, seasoning, nutritional balance, fragrance, taste, and visual

appeal. Parimaral is the South Indian style of serving a traditional Meal.A

typical traditional meal in South India is served on a "vazhaillai", a

freshlycut plantain leaf. The sappad or food that is served on a banana leaf

(even the size of the leaf varies from one community to another) is displayed

like an identity card. One look and a guest will know the community, the

status, the exact wealth of the family, and from where they originate. The top

half of the leaf is reserved for accessories, the lower half for the rice, and in

some communities, the rice will be served only after the guest has been

seated. The lower right portion of the leaf may have a scoop of warm sweet,

milky rice payasam, which should be lapped up quickly. While the top left

includes a pinch of salt, a dash of pickle and a thimbleful of salad, or a

smidgen of chutney. In the middle of the leaf there may be an odd number of

fried items like small circles of chips, either banana, yam or

potato, hard round discs of spiced, ground dal known as VADA, thin papads,

or frilly wafers.The top right hand corner is reserved for the heavy artillery,

the curries, hot, sweet, or sour, and the dry items. If it is a vegetarian meal,

the vegetables are carefully chosen, between the country ones – gourds,

drumsticks, brinjals/eggplants – and the ‘English’ ones, which could be

carrot, cabbage, and cauliflower. If it is a non-vegetarian meal, in some cases,

a separate leaf is provided for the fried meats, chicken, fish, crab, and so on.

But again, the variations are presented carefully, dry next to a graviy one.

There may be a side attraction such as a puran poli, or sweetened dal stuffed

into a pancake, puris, sweet rice or any one of the famed rice preparations

such as pulisadam, or bisibele bath. After having worked through the

preliminaries, the long haul starts with the rice, which is generously doused

with ghee. Sambhar, the highly spiced dalbased dish containing whatever

appropriate vegetable there is in season, follows and this is succeeded by

rasam. After a final round of rice and curds, or buttermilk or both, a

traditional meal concludes with a small banana, a few betel leaves and nuts.

South Indian cuisine has the following culinary schools – Karnataka, Andhra,

Hyderabadi, Tamil, Chettinad, and Kerala.

East Indian Cuisine

The traditional society of Eastern India has always been heavily agrarian;

hunting, except by some local clans men, was ncommon. The rearing of

animals was also not popular. This is reflected in the cuisine, which relies on

staples like rice and đal, with little place for game or meat. Fish is the

dominant kind of meat, cultivated in ponds and fished with nets in the

freshwater

rivers of the Ganges delta. More than forty types of mostly freshwater fish

are common, including carp varieties like rui (rohu), katla, magur (catfish),

chingŗi (prawn or shrimp), as well as shuţki (small dried sea fish). Salt water

fish (not sea fish though) Ilish (hilsa ilisha) is very popular. Almost every

part of the fish (except fins and innards) is eaten; the head and other parts are

usually used to flavor curries.

Courses in a daily meal

The starting course is bitter. The bitter changes with the season but common

ones are kôrolla (bitter gourd) which is available nearly throughout the year,

or tender nim leaves in spring. Bitters are mostly deep fried in oil, or

steamed with cubed potatoes. Portions are usually very small - a spoonful or

so to be had with rice - and this course is considered to be both a

palatecleanser

and of great medicinal value. Another bittersweet preparation usually eaten

in summer, especially in West Bengal, is a soupy mixture of vegetables in a

ginger-mustard sauce, called shukto. This usually follows the dry bitters, but

sometimes replaces it, and is eaten in much bigger portions. This is followed

by shak (leafy vegetables) such as spinach, palong (chard), methi

(fenugreek), or amaranth. The shak can be steamed or cooked in oil with

other vegetables such as begun (eggplant). Steamed shak is sometimes

accompanied by a sharp paste of mustard and raw mango pulp called

Kasundi. The đal course is usually the most substantial course. It is eaten

with a generous portion of rice and a number of accompaniments. A

common accompaniment to đal is bhaja (fritters). Bhaja literally means

'deep-fried'; most vegetables are good candidates but begun (aubergines),

kumra (pumpkins), or alu (potatoes) are common. Machh bhaja (fried fish)

is also common, especially rui (rohu) and ilish (hilsa) fishes. Another

accompaniment is a vegetable preparation usually made of multiple

vegetables stewed slowly together without any added water. Labra,

chorchori, ghonto, or chanchra are all traditional cooking styles. Then

comes the meat course. The divide among the Bengalis of Bangladesh and

West Bengal is most evident when it comes to the meat course. Meat is

readily consumed in urban parts of Bangladesh and some consider it the

meal's main course. Khashi (mutton or goat meat) is traditionally the meat of

choice, especially West Bengal, but murgi (chicken) and đim (eggs) are also

commonly consumed. Although it is debatable as to whether chicken is more

popular than khashi in West Bengal today, the proliferation of poultry farms

and hatcheries makes chicken the cheaper alternative. Finally comes the

chutney course, which is typically tangy and sweet; the chutney is usually

made of mangoes, tomatoes, pineapple, tamarind, papaya, or just a

combination of fruits and dry fruits. Papoŗ (papadum), a type of wafer, thin

and flaky, is often made of đal or potatoes or shabu (tapioca) and is a usual

accompaniment to the chutneys.

West Indian Cuisine

West Indian Cuisine consists mainly food from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa

Maharashtrian Cuisine: Maharashtrian (or Marathi) cuisine is the cuisine

of those people from the state of Maharashtra in India. Western Indian

cuisine covers a wide range from being extremely mild to very spicy dishes.

Wheat, rice, jowar, egetables, lentils and fruit form important components.

The staple dishes of the cuisine are based on bread and rice:

The bhaji is typically a vegetarian dish made from a vegetable, with some

masala essentially consisting of some combination of onion, garlic, ginger,

red chilli powder, green chillies and mustard. A particular variant of bhaji is

the rassa. Vegetarians prepare rassa or curry of potatoes and or caulifower

with tomatoes or fresh coconut kernel and plenty of water to produce a more

fluid behaviour than bhaji.

Non-vegetarian dishes mainly consist of chicken, mutton (lamb, sheep or

goat), fish and other sea food. The coastal regions of Konkan are more

famous for the fish and seafood dishes.

A typical lunch or dinner usually starts with bread, accompanied by oneor

more bhaji(s) and a salad along with some side (usually pickles). This is

usually followed by a second course of curry or rasa with rice. As with most

of Indian cuisine however, each region has its own quirks, preferences and

variations of the above general format