Question : “The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60 holds a very significant place in our history of national liberation movement. For the first time in the history of our anti-colonial struggle, its two independent currents- spontaneous peasant resistance and constitutional agitation in defence of the peasantry-came into mutual contact.”
(2015)
Answer : The Indigo revolt (Nilbidraha) that arose in Bengal was directed against British planters who forced peasants to take advances and sign fraudulent contracts which forced the peasants to grow Indigo under terms which were the least profitable to them.
The revolt as a non-violent revolution (except in few instances) and gives this as a reason why the indigo revolt was a success compared to the Sepoy Revolt.
Historically, the Indigo Rebellion can be termed the first form ....
Question : “The very idea of the bomb and the secret society and of propaganda through action and sacrifice were imports from the west”.
(2015)
Answer : There is a remark regarding revolutionary terrorism to be an almost natural result of strong political discontent.
Some even consider it merely imitative. Writing to Morley after the Muzaffarpur attempt, Minto had declared that the conspirators aimed ‘’at the furtherance of murderous methods hitherto unknown in India which have been imported from the West, and which the imitative Bengali has childishly accepted’’.
There were to be sure some foreign influences on Bengali terrorism. Members of early ‘’secret ....
Question : To characterize the quit India Movement as ‘Spontaneous revolution’ would be partial interpretation, so also would be to look up at it as the culmination of Gandhian Satyagraha movements” Elucidate.
(2015)
Answer : Partially Quit India Movement was a natural corollary of the failure of the Cripps Mission. But at the same time various reasons were there for the outbreak of the Quit India Movement.
Gandhi’s was desperate and wanted to call for “do-or-die” after the failure of the individual Satyagrnha. Due to failure & Rejection of the Cripps Proposals, there was a general demoralization of the Congress leaders. There was a growing demand for separate land among the ....
Question : The Royal Indian Navy Revolt was seen as an event which marked the end of the British rule almost as finally as Independence Day.” Explain.
(2015)
Answer : Between March 1942 and the beginning of 1946 there were nineteen uprisings in the Royal Indian Navy alone. The most important was the RIN revolt of 1946 which rang the death-knell of the mighty British Empire and paved the way for freedom.
The RIN Mutiny started as a strike by ratings of the Royal Indian Navy on 18 February in protest against general conditions.
The immediate issue of the mutiny was conditions and food, but there were ....
Question : Analyze the nature of peasant movements during the nationalist phase and bring out their shortcomings.
(2015)
Answer : The peasants suffered from high rents, illegal levies, arbitrary evictions and unpaid labour in Zamindari areas. In Ryotwari areas, the Government itself levied heavy land revenue.
The overburdened farmer, fearing loss of his only source of livelihood, often approached the local moneylender who made full use of the former’s difficulties by extracting high rates of interests on the money lent.
The peasants often resisted the exploitation, and soon they realized that their real enemy was the colonial ....
Question : “… instead of rejecting the plan (Cabinet Mission Plan), they (the Congress Leadership) resorted to a half-baked legalistic stratagem to reserve their position on its long-term arrangements and accepted its short-term provisions.” Critically examine.
(2014)
Answer : The attitude of the Labour Party government towards India was sympathetic and it wanted to solve the Indian problems. On February 19, 1946, the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee announced a Cabinet Mission to India to resolve the Indian deadlock.
The Mission consisted of three cabinet ministers- Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander. They arrived in Delhi on March 24, 1946. Despite sincere efforts of the Mission, no unanimity could be achieved by ....
Question : “The military, feudal and traditional overtones of the Revolt of 1857 were overshadowed by its nationalist or proto-nationalist character.”
(2014)
Answer : Revolt of 1857 has been labeled time and again as a revolt with inward looking approach with military feudal and traditional character. But it is half truth. The national character of this revolt has been downplayed. This revolt was much comprehensive which spread far and wide seen never before in the history of revolt in India against British rule. The composition of this mass revolt comprising people from almost every walk of like except ruling ....
Question : “Many of us who worked for the Congress programme lived in a kind of intoxication during the year 1921. We were full of excitement and optimism.... We had a sense of freedom and a pride in that freedom.”
(2013)
Answer : The Non-Cooperation Movement was pitched in under of leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress from September 1920 to February 1922, marking a new awakening in the Indian Independence Movement. After a series of events including the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Gandhiji realised that there was no prospect of getting any fair treatment at the hands of British, so he planned to withdraw the nation’s co-operation from the British Government, thus launching the Non-Cooperation ....
Question : “The Santhal movement began in July 1855. The core movement was economic and the basic cause of the uprising was agrarian discontent.” - Elucidate.
(2012)
Answer : The Santhal rebellion of 1855-56 was marked by some of the worst features of elemental tribal passions and open denunciation of British rule. The rebellion, covering the districts of Birbhum, Singbhum, Bankura, Hazaribagh, Bhagalpur and Monghyr in Orissa and Bihar, was precipitated mainly by economic causes. The moneylenders and colonial administration, both exploited them. The diku (outsider) merchants charged interest on loans, ranging from 50 to 500 per cent and exploited and cheated the tribals ....
Question : “The peasant movements of the second half of the nineteenth century lacked a positive conception of an alternative society - a conception which would unite the people in a common struggle on a wide regional and all-India plane and help develop long term political developments.”
(2012)
Answer : The above statement explains the nature of peasant movements in later 19th C. At that time, peasant movements’ nature became changeable with passage of time and place. Its character was quite regional based. These peasant movements being of regional character lacked national perspective. Therefore could not be
organized at national level. Some of the peasant movements were Moplah, Pabna, Deccan peasant etc. These peasant movements were regional and changeable. These movements were started with regional ....
Question : “Tribals revolted more often and far more violently than any other community including peasants in India.” Elaborate.
(2011)
Answer : Tribals revolted so as to safeguard their honour protect their cherished freedom and to get redressal against the money lenders. Also their religious beliefs were scoffed at, when their freedom was attacked and thier traditional beliefs and customs, civil rights, judicial system standards and etiquettes, prestige and code of honour was brushed aside. Coping all the above miseries was the policy that was adopted by the British Raj towards them. The government primarily concentrated in ....
Question : “In 1857, the rebel sepoys showed a remarkable centripetal tendency to congregate at Delhi.” Do you agree? Substantiate.
(2011)
Answer : On 11th of May 1857, the Sepoys from Meerut entered the Red Fort and appealed to Bahadur Shah II to become their ruler.The Mughal Emperor, who had actually been a weak ruler with little powers,
suddenly became the rallying point of all those who wanted to put an end to foreign rule. Even in regions where there was no large-scale uprising, unrest prevailed, causing panic in the British ruling circles. The provisional government was set ....
Question : “The Revolt of 1857 seemed to call the very presence of the British into question. What it did not do was reverse these changes.”
(2007)
Answer : A mighty popular revolt broke out in Northern and Central India in 1857 and nearly swept away the British rule. It began with the mutiny of sepoys but soon engulfed wide regions and involved the masses. Millions of peasants, artisans and soldiers fought heroically for over a year and by their exemplary courage and sacrifice wrote a glorious chapter in the history of the Indian people.
The revolt broke out at Meerut on the 10th May ....
Question : “Whatever might have been its original characters it (Rebellion of 1857) soon became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India”.
(2005)
Answer : A mighty popular revolt broke out is Northern and Central India in 1857 & nearly swept away the British rule. It began with the mutiny of sepoys but soon engulfed wide regions & involved the masses. Millions of peasants, artisans and soldiers fought heroically for over a year and by their exemplary courage wrote a glorious chapter on the history of Indian people.
The revolt of 1857 marked that it was a challenge to the mighty ....
Question : ‘The tribal and peasant rebellion laid the foundation of the revolt of 1857’.
(2001)
Answer : ‘The tribal and peasant rebellion laid the foundation of the revolt of 1857.’ The British rule and its accompanying commercialization strengthened tendencies towards penetration of tribal areas by outsidersfrom the plains. Christian missions were active in many tribal areas, bringing education and some promise of social ascent but often provoking an interesting variety of reaction which included hostility as well as attempts to use some Christian tenants in antiforeign ways.
The resentment of tribals against the ....
Question : The 1921 Moplah rebellion was 'in essence an expression of long-standing agrarian discontent which was intensified by the religious and ethnic identity'.
(2000)
Answer : The Mappilla (Muslim) tenants of Malabar rebelled in August 1921 against high rents, oppressive landlords, lack of any security of tensure and renewal fees, the impetus of which first came from the Malabar district Congress Conference held at Manjeri in April 1920. This conference was followed by the formation of a tenants association of Kozhikode, and soon tenants associations were set up in the region. This was supported by the Khilafat committee also. However, the ....
Question : Do you believe that the uprising in 1857 was nationalist in nature? If not, what was its character?
(1999)
Answer : Scholars have held divergent views about the nature of the revolt of 1857. British scholars like Kaye, Trevelyan, Lawrence in addition to many eye witnesses like Munshi Jiwan Lal, Durgadas Bandopadhya, Syed Ahmad Khan etc. have held that it was ‘a mutiny’. Other described it as a ‘racial struggle’. Still others doubt it as a clash of civilization, while the nationalists call it as the first War of Indian Independence. Early national leaders like V.D. ....
Question : Examine the nature of the Revolt of 1857 and indicate the manifold changes in British civil and miliitary administration of India after 1857.
(1998)
Answer : Scholars have held divergent views about the nature of the revolt of 1857. British scholars like Kaye, Trevelyan, Lawrence in addition to many eye witnesses like Munshi Jiwan Lal, Durgadas Bandopadhya, Syed Ahmad Khan etc. have held that it was ‘a mutiny’. Other described it as a ‘racial struggle’. Still others doubt it as a clash of civilization, while the nationalists call it as the first War of Indian Independence. Following are the major views ....
Question : Tribal movements should be viewed as 'History from below'. Discuss the objects and nature of the movements in 19th century India.
(1997)
Answer : Tribal movements were basically directed to preserve the tribal identity which was thought to be in danger due to intrusion of external people affecting the social, political and geo-economical position of the tribes. These movements were mostly violent, isolated and frequent. There were about seventy tribal movements from 1778 to 1947. These movements can be broadly divided into two parts i.e., movements of the frontier tribes and movements of the non-frontier tribes depending upon the ....
