1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
3.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
4.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
5.
Farrukhsiyar
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Abul Muzaffar Muin ud-din Muhammad Shah Farrukh-siyar Alim Akbar Sani Wala Shan Padshah-i-bahr-u-bar was the Mughal emperor between 1713 and 1719, after murdering Jahandar Shah. Noted as a ruler he was easily swayed by his advisers, he lacked the ability, knowledge. He was the son of Azim-ush-Shan—the second son of emperor Bahadur Shah I—and Sahiba Nizwan and his reign witnessed the primacy of the Sayyid Brothers who became the effective powers of the land, behind the façade of Mughal rule. His constant plotting eventually led the Sayyid Brothers to officially depose him, Muhammad Farrukhsiyar was born on 11 September 1683 at the city of Aurangabad in the Deccan region. He was the son of Azim-ush-Shan. In 1696, he accompanied his father in his campaign to Bengal, in 1707, the then Mughal emperor Aurangzeb recalled his son Azim-ush-Shan from Bengal, instructing Farrukhsiyar to take charge of the province. Initially, he spent his years in the city of Dhaka and during the reign of Bahadur Shah I. In 1712, Azim-ush-Shan anticipated Bahadur Shah Is death and a struggle for accession, as he was marching past Azimabad when he heard of the Mughal emperors death. Consequently on 21rst March, Farrukhsiyar proclaimed his fathers accession to the throne, issued coinage in his fathers name, on 6 April, Farrukhsiyar heard of his fathers defeat. The prince becoming distressed contemplated suicide, but was dissuaded by his friends from Bengal, in 1712, Jahandar Shah ascended the throne of the Mughal empire by defeating his father Azim-ush-Shan. However, he wanted to avenge for his fathers death and he was joined by Hussain Ali Khan the subahdar of Bengal. They were also joined by Abdullah Khan, his brother who was the subahdar of Allahabad, as they reached Allahabad from Azimabad, Jahandar Shahs military general Syed Abdul Ghaffar Khan Gardezi with 12,000 troops clashed with Abdullah Khan. Abdullah Khan retreated to the Allahabad Fort, however, with the news of Gardezis death, his army fled. After he came to know of his defeat, Jahandar Shah sent another general Khwaja Ahsan Khan, on reaching Khajwah, they came to know that Farrukhsiyar was accompanied by Hussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan. With Abdullah Khan in command of the vanguard, Farrukhsiyar started the attack, after an artillery fight for a whole night, Aazuddin and Khwaja Ahsan Khan fled. The camp consequently fell to Farrukhsiyar, on 10 January 1713, the forces of Farrukhsiyar and Jahandar Shah met at Samugarh. Jahandar Shah was defeated and imprisoned and on the next day, on 12 February, Farrukhsiyar marched to the Mughal capital of Delhi and captured Red Fort and the citadel. The head of Jahandar Shah was put at the end of a bamboo and carried by an executioner on an elephant
6.
Hooghly River
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The Hooghly River or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, called Ganga traditionally, is an approximately 260-kilometre-long distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, India. It splits from the Ganges as a canal in Murshidabad District at the Farakka Barrage, the town of Hugli-Chinsura, formerly Hooghly, is located on the river, in the Hooghly. The origins of the Hooghly name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first, the Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into a canal near the town of Tildanga in Murshidabad district. This supplies the Hooghly with adequate water even in the dry season and it parallels the Ganges, past Dhulian, until just above Jahangirpur where the canal ends and the river takes its own course. Just south of Jahangirpur it leaves the Ganges area and flows south past Jiaganj Azimganj, Murshidabad, the river then flows south past Katwa, Navadwip and Kalna. At Kalna it originally formed the border between Nadia District and Hooghly District, and then further south between Hooghly District and North 24 Parganas District and it flows past Halisahar, Chinsurah, Serampore, and Kamarhati. Then just before entering the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganges and turns south to empty into the Bay of Bengal through the estuary of about 20 mi wide, two of its primary tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan. The tide runs rapidly on the Hooghly, and produces an example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a tidal bore. This consists of the head-wave of the tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly into the river. It is felt as high up as Kolkata, and frequently destroys small boats, the difference from the lowest point of low-water in the dry season to the highest point of high-water in the rains is reported to be 20 ft 10 in. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 ft, takes place in March, April or May - with a declining range during the season to a mean of 10 ft. In its upper reaches the river is known as the Bhāgirathi. In 1974, the Farakka Barrage began diverting water into the Hooghly during the dry season so as to reduce the difficulties at Kolkatas port. Like the rest of the Ganges, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly is considered sacred to Hindus, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly river system is an essential lifeline for the people of West Bengal. It was through this river that the East India company sailed into Bengal and established their settlement, Calcutta. People from other such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese. The river provides a supply of water to the plain of West Bengal for irrigation
7.
Siraj ud-Daulah
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Mirza Muhammad Siraj ud-Daulah, more commonly known as Siraj ud-Daulah, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of British East India Company rule over Bengal, Siraj succeeded his maternal grandfather, Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 23. Betrayed by Mir Jafar, then commander of Nawabs army, Siraj lost the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, the forces of the East India Company under Robert Clive invaded and the administration of Bengal fell into the hands of the Company. Siraj was born to Zain ud-Din Ahmed Khan and Amina Begum in 1733, accordingly, he was raised at the Nawabs palace with all necessary education and training suitable for a future Nawab. Young Siraj also accompanied Alivardi on his military ventures against the Marathas in 1746, Siraj was regarded as the fortune child of the family. Since birth Siraj, had special affection from his grandfather, in May 1752, Alivardi Khan declared Siraj as his successor. Alivardi Khans died on 10 April 1756 at the age of eighty, Siraj succeeded Alivardi Khan as the Nawab in April 1756 at the age of 23, under the titles of Mansur-ul-Mulk, Siraj ud and Hybut Jang. Siraj-ud-Daulahs nomination to the Nawabship aroused the jealousy and enmity of his aunt, Ghaseti Begum, Mir Jafar. Ghaseti Begum possessed huge wealth, which was the source of her influence, apprehending serious opposition from her, Siraj ud-Daulah seized her wealth from Motijheel Palace and placed her under confinement. The Nawab also made changes in government positions giving them his own favourites. Mir madan was appointed Bakshi in place of Mir Jafar, mohanlal was elevated to the rank of peshkar of his Dewan Khana and he exercised great influence in the administration. Eventually Siraj suppressed Shaukat Jang, governor of Purnia, who was killed in a clash and he was annoyed at the companys alleged involvement with and instigation of some members of his own court in a conspiracy to oust him. His charges against the company were mainly threefold, hence, when the East India Company started further enhancement of military preparedness at Fort William in Calcutta, Siraj asked them to stop. The Company did not heed his directives, so Siraj-ud Daulah retaliated and captured Kolkata from the British in June 1756. The Nawab gathered his forces together, a British account of the number who died may be overstated. The Nawab was infuriated on learning of the attack on Chandernagar and his former hatred of the British returned, but he now felt the need to strengthen himself by alliances against the British. The Nawab was plagued by fear of attack from the north by the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani, therefore, he could not deploy his entire force against the British for fear of being attacked from the flanks. A deep distrust set in between the British and the Nawab, as a result, Siraj started secret negotiations with Jean Law, chief of the French factory at Cossimbazar, and de Bussy. The Nawab also moved a division of his army under Rai Durlabh to Plassey
8.
Alipore
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Alipore is the headquarters of South 24 Parganas district and a neighbourhood in South Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area is the most posh and costliest locality in Kolkata, the postal code of Alipore is Kolkata 700027. One of the most historical, eventful and elite localities of the city of Kolkata and it was in the middle parts of the 18th century that the British began exploring the areas outside their settlements of Fort William and the Dalhousie Square area beyond the Race Course. The Belvedere Estate was one of the oldest establishments in Alipore, the then Governor General Warren Hastings built it for himself and it became the Governors residence until the Government House came up later. It was about this period of time that Alipore started attracting more and more British settlers who built their mansions and bungalows with gardens. In 1820, William Carey built the Agri Horticultural Gardens behind the Belvedere Estate, also, the Alipore Zoological Gardens was thrown open to the public in 1875. The locality was also witness to the Alipore bomb case and a spectator to the struggle of the Indian revolutionaries. Post independence of India, Alipore became popular among the elite of the city. The Pauls, the Birlas, the Goenkas, the Dalmiyas, the Jalans, the Kotharis, in 1952, the Imperial Library shifted to its present premises on Belvedere Estate. The Alipore Mint was also inaugurated the same year, several consulates like those of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and residences of Hon. Consul General of Canada, Denmark, Greece, Peru, etc. are located in Alipore, by the late eighties and nineties other places like New Alipore and Ballygunge competed with Alipore as the most elite areas of Kolkata. Alipore is located at 22. 53°N88. 33°E /22.53,88.33 and it has an average elevation of 14 metres. Alipore area is bordered by the following roads - AJC Bose Road to the north, D L Khan Road to the East, Diamond Harbour Road to the West, Alipore is connected to all parts of the city by extensive bus services. Alipore is served by the Majherhat and New Alipore railway stations on the Budge Budge section of Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kalighat metro station of the Kolkata Metro as well as the Jatin Das Park station is close to Alipore. Some of the best healthcare options in the city are located in Alipore Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Alipore Road CMRI, Diamond Harbour Road B. M
9.
Bengali renaissance
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This movement questioned existing orthodoxies, particularly with respect to women, marriage, the dowry system, the caste system, and religion. The parallel socio-religious movement, the Brahmo Samaj, developed during time period. Future leaders like Keshub Chunder Sen were as much devotees of Christ, as they were of Brahma and it must also be acknowledged that many of the later Brahmos were also leaders of the freedom movement. The renaissance period after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 saw a magnificent outburst of Bengali literature, while Ram Mohan Roy and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar were the pioneers, others like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee widened it and built upon it. The first significant nationalist detour to the Bengal Renaissance was given by the writings of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, later writers of the period who introduced broad discussion of social problems and more colloquial forms of Bengali into mainstream literature included Saratchandra Chatterjee. The Tagore family, including Rabindranath Tagore, were leaders of this period and had a particular interest in educational reform and their contribution to the Bengal Renaissance was multi-faceted. Indeed, Tagores 1901 Bengali novella, Nastanirh was written as a critique of men who professed to follow the ideals of the Renaissance, in many ways Rabindranath Tagores writings can be seen as imbued with the spirit of the Upanishads. His works repeatedly allude to Upanishadic ideas regarding soul, liberation, transmigration and—perhaps most essentially—about a spirit that all creation not unlike the Upanishadic Brahman. Tagores English translation of a set of poems titled the Gitanjali won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and he was the first Asian to win this award. That was the example at the time but the contribution of the Tagore family is enormous. A serious comparison was started by the dramatis personae of the Bengal renaissance like Keshub Chunder Sen, Bipin Chandra Pal, for about a century, Bengals conscious awareness and the changing modern world was more developed and ahead of the rest of India. The role played by Bengal in the awakening of India is thus comparable to the position occupied by Italy in the European renaissance. Very much like the Italian Renaissance, it was not a mass movement, there were, nevertheless, examples of Muslim intellectuals such as Syed Ameer Ali, Mosharraf Hussain, Sake Dean Mahomed, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Roquia Sakhawat Hussain. The Freedom of Intellect Movement sought to challenge religious and social dogma in Bengali Muslim society, sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a polymath, a physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist, and writer of science fiction. He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made significant contributions to plant science. He is considered one of the fathers of science, and is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction. He was the first from the Indian subcontinent to get a US patent, anil Kumar Gain and Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis were leading mathematicians and statisticians of their time. Gain went on to found Vidyasagar University, while Mahalanobis laid the foundation of the Indian Statistical Institute, satyendra Nath Bose was a physicist, specializing in mathematical physics
10.
Burrabazar
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Burrabazar is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Burrabazar expanded from a yarn and textile market into the nucleus of Kolkata. Burrabazar is a Hindi word meaning big market, in Bengali, it is called Barobazar, the meaning remaining same. The neighbourhood was named after ‘Buro’, the popular name of Shiva. The Hindi-speaking merchants who ousted the local merchants, made it ‘Bara’. Before the British came the most powerful families in the region were Sett and Bysacks, with the arrival of the British these families flourished with renewed vigour. Janardan Sett was an agent of the British. Shobharam Bysack became a millionaire by supplying textiles to British East India Company, one of the earliest names floating around is that of Mukundaram Sett, who lived in the earlier part of sixteenth century and moved from Satgaon to Gobindapur. Sutanuti haat has been traced back to 1738 by Orme, in the siege of 1756, troops of Siraj ud-Daulah set fire to the market and took possession of Jorabagan and Kumortuli, neighbourhoods further north where the merchants lived. In between Sutanuti haat made way for Bazar Kolkata, some time in the 18th century, the market was spread over nearly 500 bighas and the residential area covered another 400 bighas. Apart from the Seths and Basaks, there were the gold merchants Mullicks and their affluence and pomp are legends even in their days. There also were merchants of comparatively lesser affluence, as for example, the area around what is now Kalakar Street was known as Dhakapatty, as it was home to the Sahas, cloth merchants from Dhaka. The Sheths and Basaks had close links with such cloth producing centres as Dhaka, Murshidabad, burrabzar is bounded by Posta and Jorabagan on the north, Jorasanko and Kolutola on the east, B. B. D. Bagh on the south and Hooghly River on the west. Lalbazar and Bowbazar are at the south-west corner of Burrabazar, the neighbourhood is adjacent to Howrah Bridge. One description of its boundaries puts it as follows, from Posta in the north to Canning Street in the south, within this rough boundary it is a world in itself. Cutting right across Burrabazar is Harrison Road, which runs straight from Howrah Bridge to Sealdah railway station and it was constructed between December 1889 and 1892, sweeping away many an overcrowded tenement and festering lane. It is of the breadth of 75 feet and named after Sir Henry Harrison, chairman of the corporation. It has been renamed after Mahatma Gandhi, Burrabazar is served by the Mahatma Gandhi Road station of Kolkata Metro
11.
Subhas Chandra Bose
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Bose had been a leader of the younger, radical, wing of the Indian National Congress in the late 1920s and 1930s, rising to become Congress President in 1938 and 1939. However, he was ousted from Congress leadership positions in 1939 following differences with Mahatma Gandhi and he was subsequently placed under house arrest by the British before escaping from India in 1940. In November 1941, with German funds, a Free India Centre was set up in Berlin, a 3, 000-strong Free India Legion, comprising Indians captured by Erwin Rommels Afrika Korps, was also formed to aid in a possible future German land invasion of India. By spring 1942, in light of Japanese victories in southeast Asia and changing German priorities, a German invasion of India became untenable, adolf Hitler, during his only meeting with Bose in late May 1942, suggested the same, and offered to arrange for a submarine. During this time Bose also became a father, his wife, or companion, Emilie Schenkl, identifying strongly with the Axis powers, and no longer apologetically, Bose boarded a German submarine in February 1943. In Madagascar, he was transferred to a Japanese submarine from which he disembarked in Japanese-held Sumatra in May 1943, with Japanese support, Bose revamped the Indian National Army, then composed of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore. To these, after Boses arrival, were added enlisting Indian civilians in Malaya, the Japanese had come to support a number of puppet and provisional governments in the captured regions, such as those in Burma, the Philippines and Manchukuo. Before long the Provisional Government of Free India, presided by Bose, was formed in the Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Bose had great drive and charisma—creating popular Indian slogans, such as Jai Hind, —and the INA under Bose was a model of diversity by region, ethnicity, religion, however, Bose was regarded by the Japanese as being militarily unskilled, and his military effort was short-lived. In late 1944 and early 1945 the British Indian Army first halted, almost half the Japanese forces and fully half the participating INA contingent were killed. The INA was driven down the Malay Peninsula, and surrendered with the recapture of Singapore and he died from third degree burns received when his plane crashed in Taiwan. Some Indians, however, did not believe that the crash had occurred, with many among them, especially in Bengal, Indian National Congress, the main instrument of Indian nationalism, praised Boses patriotism but distanced itself from his tactics and ideology, especially his collaboration with Fascism. Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa Division, Bengal Province, to Prabhavati Devi and Janakinath Bose and he was the ninth in a family of 14 children. He was admitted to the Protestant European School, like his brothers and sisters and he continued his studies at this school which was run by the Baptist Mission up to 1909 and then shifted to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School. The day Subhas was admitted to school, Beni Madhab Das. After securing the position in the matriculation examination in 1913. His nationalistic temperament came to light when he was expelled for assaulting Professor Oaten for the latters anti-India comments and he later joined the Scottish Church College at the University of Calcutta and passed his B. A. in 1918 in philosophy. Bose left India in 1919 for England with a promise to his father that he would appear in the Indian Civil Services examination and he went to study in Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and matriculated on 19 November 1919
12.
University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
India
Kolkata/South travel guide from Wikivoyage