History – Medium Level – GK Questions

The Civil Disobedience Movement began on March 12, 1930, with Gandhi's Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha). He walked 240 miles from Sabarmati to Dandi to make salt, defying the British salt monopoly. [[30]]

The Rowlatt Act (1919), officially the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, was called the 'Black Act' by Indians. It allowed detention without trial and sparked nationwide protests leading to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. [[30]]

The Kheda Satyagraha (1918) in Gujarat was led by Sardar Patel under Gandhi's guidance. Peasants demanded remission of land revenue due to crop failure. It established Patel's leadership in the nationalist movement. [[30]]

The Deccan Riots (1875) in Maharashtra were peasant uprisings against exploitative moneylenders (sahukars) who charged exorbitant interest rates. The government responded with the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act, 1879. [[30]]

The Indigo Revolt (1859-60) was a peasant uprising in Bengal against European planters who forced farmers to grow indigo under exploitative conditions. It was documented in Dinabandhu Mitra's play 'Nil Darpan'. [[30]]

The Santhal Rebellion (1855-56) was led by brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu against British exploitation and zamindari oppression in present-day Jharkhand. It was one of the largest tribal uprisings in colonial India. [[30]]

Bal Gangadhar Tilak started 'Kesari' (in Marathi) and 'Mahratta' (in English) in 1881. These newspapers became powerful tools for mobilizing public opinion against British rule. [[30]]

The Vernacular Press Act (1878), introduced by Lord Lytton, allowed the government to confiscate printing presses and seize publications of Indian language newspapers deemed seditious. It was repealed by Lord Ripon in 1881. [[30]]

The Hunter Commission (1882), chaired by William Wilson Hunter, reviewed the progress of education since Wood's Despatch. It emphasized expanding primary education and encouraging private enterprise in education. [[30]]

The University of Calcutta was established in 1857, along with universities in Bombay and Madras. These were modeled after the University of London and focused on affiliated colleges. [[30]]

Macaulay's Minute (1835) advocated for English education to create 'a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste and opinions'. This led to the English Education Act of 1835. [[30]]

Lord William Bentinck, with support from Raja Ram Mohan Roy, abolished Sati through Regulation XVII of 1829, prohibiting the immolation of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres. [[30]]

Lord Dalhousie (1848-56) introduced the Doctrine of Lapse, annexing princely states like Satara, Jhansi, and Nagpur that lacked a natural male heir. This policy fueled resentment leading to the 1857 Revolt. [[30]]

The Battle of Wandiwash (January 22, 1760) saw British forces under Sir Eyre Coote defeat the French under Comte de Lally. This victory effectively ended French military ambitions in India. [[30]]

The Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the Seven Years' War globally and the Third Carnatic War in India. France regained its trading posts but agreed not to fortify them, effectively ending French political ambitions in India. [[30]]

The First Carnatic War (1746-48) was the Indian theatre of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48) in Europe. It saw French forces under Dupleix capture Madras from the British. [[30]]

The French East India Company was founded in 1664 during the reign of Louis XIV, under the guidance of Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Pondicherry became their main settlement in India. [[30]]

Though Vasco da Gama first landed at Calicut (1498), the Portuguese established their first factory at Cochin (Kochi) in 1503. Calicut's Zamorin was hostile to Portuguese trade ambitions. [[30]]

Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb in 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam and for defending the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits. His martyrdom is commemorated at Gurdwara Sis Ganj in Delhi. [[30]]

Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) compiled the Adi Granth (later Guru Granth Sahib) in 1604, installing it at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar. He was the first Sikh Guru to be martyred. [[30]]