History – GK Questions

The Poona Pact (September 24, 1932) was signed between Gandhi and Ambedkar, ensuring reserved seats for Depressed Classes in legislative councils. It replaced the Communal Award's separate electorates for Dalits. [[1]]

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]]

Gandhi suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident, where protesters burned a police station killing 22 policemen. Gandhi believed the movement had turned violent. [[1]]

On April 13, 1919 (Baisakhi day), General Dyer ordered troops to fire on an unarmed crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, killing hundreds. This brutality galvanized the Indian independence movement. [[1]]

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]]

During the Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918), Gandhi undertook a fast to pressure both mill owners and workers to negotiate. This was one of the earliest uses of fasting as a tool of moral persuasion in India's freedom struggle. [[1]]

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]]

Gandhi's first satyagraha in India was the Champaran Satyagraha (1917) in Bihar, where he supported indigo farmers against exploitative plantation systems. This marked the beginning of his mass movement strategy. [[1]]

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]]

Alluri Sitarama Raju led the Rampa Rebellion (1922-24) in the Godavari agency area of present-day Andhra Pradesh against the Madras Forest Act, which restricted tribal access to forest resources. [[1]]

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]]

Birsa Munda (1875-1900) led the Munda Rebellion (Ulgulan) in the Chotanagpur region against British land policies and missionary activities. He is revered as 'Dharti Aba' (Father of the Earth) by tribal communities. [[1]]

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]]

The Indian Press Act of 1910, enacted during Lord Minto's tenure, empowered authorities to demand security deposits from newspapers and confiscate presses publishing 'seditious' material. [[1]]

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]]

Raja Ram Mohan Roy started 'Sambad Kaumudi' (The Moon of Intelligence) in Bengali in 1821 to propagate social reforms and rational thinking. He also published 'Mirat-ul-Akbar' in Persian. [[1]]

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]]

James Augustus Hickey started 'Hickey's Bengal Gazette' in 1780, the first newspaper in India. It was critical of the East India Company and was eventually suppressed by Governor-General Warren Hastings. [[1]]

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]]

Hindu College was founded in 1817 by Scottish philanthropist David Hare with support from Raja Ram Mohan Roy and other Bengali intellectuals. It became a center for Western education and social reform. [[1]]