1.
Mahar (tribe)
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The Mahar are a Sindhi Muslim Rajput tribe found among both the Seraiki people of South Punjab, Pakistan as well as being found in Sindh, Pakistan. The tribe claims descent from Mahar, who was a Rajput, in Lilla Thal, they are Jethals The tribe mostly resides in rural Sindh. Mahar Tribe living in Sindh, Pakistan is entirely different from the Mahar living in Maharashtra, both the Mahar Tribe and Mahar Caste have different origins and historical backgrounds. Mahar is also a used by the Lali, Lak, Jauhri
2.
M. V. Dhurandhar
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Mahadev Vishwanath Dhurandhar was a noted Indian painter and postcard artist. He was a painter during British rule in India. His illustrations of women in their life are especially popular. M. V. Dhurandhar was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and he went to Rajaram High School, Kolhapur, and from 1890–95, studied under John Griffiths, at the J. J. M. V. Dhurandhar taught art at J. J, in 1910, he became the Head Master and from 1918-31 Inspector of Drawing and Craft. He was the Vice-Principal for two years and then retired and his popular works include documenting the city of Bombay and its people, as well as painting scenes from Hindu mythology and Omar Khayyam series. He also made religious illustrations published by the Ravi Varma Press and he wrote an autobiography in Marathi about his years at the J. J. Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850-1922, Occidental Orientations, Dhurandhar, Scenes and Types of India-with a Difference, in Visual Resources. Dhurandhar, M. V. Kalamandirantil Ekechalish Varsham Bombay,1940, paintings of M. V. Dhurandhar Works by M. V. Dhurandhar at Project Gutenberg Works by or about M. V. Dhurandhar at Internet Archive
3.
Maharashtra
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Four Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is Indias second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. It is the wealthiest Indian state and it is also the worlds second-most populous sub-national entity. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million, Nagpur is Maharashtras second capital as well as its winter capital. Maharashtras business opportunities along with its potential to offer a standard of living attract migrants from all over India. Ancient and medieval Maharashtra included the empires of the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Mughals, the major rivers of the state are Godavari, and Krishna. The Narmada and Tapti Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Maharashtra is the second most urbanised state in India. The state has several popular Hindu places of pilgrimage including Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi, other places that attract pilgrims from other parts of India and beyond include Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi and Dikshabhumi at Nagpur. Maharashtra is the wealthiest and one of the most developed states in India, as of 2011, the state had a per capita income of ₹1.0035 lakh, more than the national average of ₹0.73 lakh. Its GDP per capita crossed the ₹1.20 lakh threshold for the first time in 2013, however, as of 2014, the GDP per capita reduced to ₹1.03 lakh Agriculture and industries are the largest parts of the states economy. Major industries include chemical products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum, Jai Maharashtra The modern Marathi language developed from the Maharashtri Prakrit, and the word Mahratta is found in the Jain Maharashtri literature. The terms Maharashtra, Maharashtri, Marathi and Maratha may have derived from the same root, however, their exact etymology is uncertain. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the most widely accepted theory among the linguistic scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derived from a combination of Maha and rashtrika. The word rashtrika is a Sanskritized form of Ratta, the name of a tribe or dynasty of petty chiefs ruling in the Deccan region. Another theory is that the term is derived from Maha and ratha / rathi, an alternative theory states that the term derives from the word Maha and Rashtra. However, this theory has not found acceptance among scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers. Maharashtra was ruled by the Maurya Empire in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, around 230 BCE Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty for 400 years. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni, in 90 CE Vedishri, son of the Satavahana king Satakarni, the Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty, made Junnar, thirty miles north of Pune, the capital of his kingdom. The state was ruled by Western Satraps, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara, Vakataka, Kadambas, Chalukya Empire, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, and Western Chalukya before finally
4.
Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, nicknamed the heart of India due to its geographical location in India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state in the country by area. With over 75 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-largest state in India by population and it borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Its total area is 308,252 km², subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. By the early 18th century, the region was divided into small kingdoms which were captured by the British and incorporated into Central Provinces and Berar. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, in recent years, the states GDP growth has been above the national average. Rich in mineral resources, MP has the largest reserves of diamond, more than 30% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. Isolated remains of Homo erectus found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the Middle Pleistocene era, painted pottery dated to the later mesolithic period has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Chalcolithic sites belonging to Kayatha culture and Malwa culture have been discovered in the part of the state. The city of Ujjain arose as a centre in the region. It served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom, other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics — Malava, Karusha, Dasarna and Nishada — have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India around 320 BCE, establishing the Mauryan Empire, ashoka the greatest of Mauryan rulers brought the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the Sakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas, Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the first century BCE, the Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni inflicted a defeat upon the Saka rulers and conquered parts of Malwa. Subsequently, the region came under the control of the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion, later, Harsha ruled the northern parts of the state
5.
Chhattisgarh
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Chhattisgarh is one of 29 states located in central India. It is the 10th largest state in India, with an area of 135,194 km2, with a population of 28 million, Chhattisgarh is the 17th most-populated state in the country. A resource-rich state, it is a source of electricity and steel for the country, Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. The state was formed on 1 November 2000 by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh, currently the state comprises 27 districts. The following are the list of the districts of Chhattisgarh State, There are several opinions as to the origin of the name Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh was popularized later during the time of the Maratha Empire and was first used in an official document in 1795. It is claimed that Chhattisgarh takes its name from the 36 ancient forts in the area, however, experts do not agree with this explanation, as 36 forts cannot be archaeologically identified in this region. Another view, more popular with experts and historians, is that Chhattisgarh is the form of Chedisgarh which means Raj or Empire of the Chedis. In ancient times, Chhattisgarh region had been part of the Chedi dynasty of Kaling, in the medieval period up to 1803, a major portion of present eastern Chhattisgarh was part of the Sambalpur Kingdom of Odisha. The northern and southern parts of the state are hilly, while the part is a fertile plain. The highest point in the state is the Bailadila Range, deciduous forests of the Eastern Highlands Forests cover roughly 44% of the state. The state animal is the van bhainsa, or wild water buffalo, the state bird is the pahari myna, or hill myna. The state tree is the Sal found in Bastar division, in the north lies the edge of the great Indo-Gangetic plain. The Rihand River, a tributary of the Ganges, drains this area, the eastern end of the Satpura Range and the western edge of the Chota Nagpur Plateau form an east-west belt of hills that divide the Mahanadi River basin from the Indo-Gangetic plain. The outline of Chhattisgarh is like a sea horse, the central part of the state lies in the fertile upper basin of the Mahanadi river and its tributaries. This area has extensive rice cultivation, the upper Mahanadi basin is separated from the upper Narmada basin to the west by the Maikal Hills and from the plains of Odisha to the east by ranges of hills. The southern part of the lies on the Deccan plateau, in the watershed of the Godavari River and its tributary. The Mahanadi is the river of the state. The other main rivers are Hasdo, Rihand, Indravati, Jonk, Arpa and it is situated in the east of Madhya Pradesh
6.
Karnataka
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Karnataka is a state in south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is Bangalore, the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the seventh largest Indian state by area, with 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the languages of India, is the most widely spoken. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal, though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. Karu nadu may also be read as karu, meaning black, the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient, the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, Karnatakas pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed, allowing them to large areas of Karnataka. The decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas, the Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi, the Western Ganga Dynasty was formed with Talakad as its capital. These were also the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription, the Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of 11th century, the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it eventually came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region, literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, and the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh, in the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district. The empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, in 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota
7.
Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162,968 km2, as per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of not exceeding 10 years. The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA, the Gross State Domestic Product of the state in the 2016–2017 financial year at current prices stood at ₹6,800.3 billion. The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters, the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat. It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions, Coastal Andhra, located along the Bay of Bengal, and Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the worlds most visited religious sites, a tribe named Andhra has been mentioned in the Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India, archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE, the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jatiya and Andhra-bhrtya in the Puranic literature, Dharanikota along with Amaravathi was the capital of the later Satavahanas. Amaravathi became a trade and pilgrimage centre during the Satavahana rule. According to the Buddhist tradition, Nagarjuna lived here, possibly in second, Andhra Ikshvakus were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of the Guntur-Krishna regions of Andhra Pradesh. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the half of the second century CE. Puranas called Andhra Ikshvakus Shri Parvatiya Andhras, archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley
8.
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
9.
Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
10.
Goa
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Goa /ˈɡoʊ. ə/ is a state in India within the coastal region known as the Konkan in western India. It is bounded by Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and it is Indias smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Goa is Indias richest state, with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country, Panaji is the states capital, while Vasco da Gama is its largest city. The historic city of Margao still exhibits the influence of the Portuguese. Goa is a former Portuguese province, the Portuguese overseas territory of Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961. Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year for its beaches, places of worship and it has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, a biodiversity hotspot. In ancient literature, Goa was known by names, such as Gomanchala, Gopakapattana, Gopakapattam, Gopakapuri, Govapuri, Govem. In the 3rd century BC, Goa was known as Aparantha and is mentioned by the Greek geographer Ptolemy, in the 13th century, the Greeks referred to Goa as Nelkinda. Other historical names for Goa are Sindapur, Sandabur, and Mahassapatam, Goas history goes back 20, 000–30,000 years. The rock art engravings exhibit the earliest traces of life in India. Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic rock art engravings have been found on the bank of the river Kushavati at Usgalimal. Petroglyphs, cones, stone-axe, and choppers dating to 10,000 years ago have been found in places in Goa, such as Kazur, Mauxim. Evidence of Palaeolithic life is seen at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigao, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, difficulty in carbon dating the laterite rock compounds poses a problem for determining the exact time period. Early Goan society underwent radical change when Indo-Aryan and Dravidian migrants amalgamated with the aboriginal locals, in the 3rd century BC, Goa was part of the Maurya Empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor, Ashoka of Magadha. Buddhist monks laid the foundation of Buddhism in Goa, between the 2nd century BC and the 6th century AD, Goa was ruled by the Bhojas of Goa. The rule later passed to the Chalukyas of Badami, who controlled it between 578 and 753, and later the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed from 753 to 963, from 765 to 1015, the Southern Silharas of Konkan ruled Goa as the feudatories of the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas. Over the next few centuries, Goa was successively ruled by the Kadambas as the feudatories of the Chalukyas of Kalyani, in 1312, Goa came under the governance of the Delhi Sultanate. The kingdoms grip on the region was weak, and by 1370 it was forced to surrender it to Harihara I of the Vijayanagara empire, the Vijayanagara monarchs held on to the territory until 1469, when it was appropriated by the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga
11.
Marathi language
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Marathi is an Indian language spoken predominantly by the Marathi people of Maharashtra. It is the language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively. There were 73 million speakers in 2001, Marathi ranks 19th in the list of most spoken languages in the world, Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu in that order. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, the major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi dialect. Malvani Konkani has been influenced by Marathi varieties. Marathi has several features that set it aside from most other Indian languages, Marathi distinguishes inclusive and exclusive forms of we and possesses a three-way gender system that features the neuter in addition to the masculine and the feminine. In its phonology it contrasts apico-alveolar with alveopalatal affricates and, in common with Gujarati, Marathi is primarily spoken in Maharashtra and parts of neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, union-territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The cities of Baroda, Surat, and Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Karwar, Nipani, Indore, Gwalior, Adoni, Hyderabad, Marathi is also spoken by Maharashtrian emigrants worldwide, especially in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Mauritius, and Canada. Marathi is the language of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra. In Goa, Konkani is the official language, however. Marathi is included among the languages which stand a part of the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India, the contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and the rules give special status to tatsamas. This special status expects the rules for tatsamas to be followed as in Sanskrit and this practice provides Marathi with a large treasure of Sanskrit words to cope with demands of new technical words whenever needed. Jawaharlal Nehru University has announced plans to establish a department for Marathi. Marathi Day is celebrated on 27 February, the birthday of poet Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, Indian languages, including Marathi, that belong to the Indo-Aryan language family are derived from early forms of Prakrit. Marathi is one of languages that further descend from Maharashtri Prakrit. Marathi literature began and grew owing to the rise of the Seuna dynasty of Devgiri, further growth and usage of the language was because of two religious sects – the Mahanubhava and Varkari panthans – who adopted Marathi as the medium for preaching their doctrines of devotion. Marathi had attained a place in court life by the time of the Seuna kings
12.
Konkani language
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Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages and is spoken along the South western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution, the first Konkani inscription is dated 1187 A. D. It is a minority language in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Konkani is a member of the southern Indo-Aryan language group. It retains elements of Old Indo-Aryan structures and shows similarities with both western and eastern Indo-Aryan languages and it is quite possible that Old Konkani was just referred to as Prakrit by its speakers. Among the inscriptions at the foot of the statue of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka are two lines reading thus, Sri Chamundaraje Karaviyale and Sri Ganga raje sutthale karaviyale. The first line was inscribed circa 981 AD and the line in 116-17 AD. The language of these lines is Konkani according to Dr. S. B, considering these arguments, these inscriptions at Sravanabelegola may be considered the earliest Konkani inscriptions in Devanagari script. Reference to the name Konkani is not found in prior to 13th century. The first reference of the name Konkani is in Abhanga 263 of the 13th century Marathi saint poet, Konkani has been known by a variety of names, Canarim, Concanim, Gomantaki, Bramana, and Goani. It is called Amchi Bhas by native speakers, and Govi or Goenchi Bhas by others, learned Marathi speakers tend to call it Gomantaki. Konkani was commonly referred to as Lingua Canarim by the Portuguese, the Portuguese later started referring to Konkani as Lingua Concanim. The name Canarim or Lingua Canarim, which is how the 16th century European Jesuit and it is possible that the term is derived from the Persian word for coast, kinara, if so, it would mean the language of the coast. The problem is that this term overlaps with Kanarese or Kannada, All the European authors, however, recognised two forms of the language in Goa, the plebeian, called Canarim, and the more regular, called Lingua Canarim Brámana or simply Brámana de Goa. The latter was the choice of the Europeans, and also of other castes, for writing, sermons. There are different views as to the origin of the word Konkan, the word Konkan comes from the Kukkana tribe, who were the original inhabitants of the land Konkani originated from. According to some Hindu legends, Parashurama shot his arrow into the sea, the new piece of land thus recovered came to be known as Konkan meaning piece of earth or corner of earth, kōṇa + kaṇa. This legend is mentioned in Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana, Konkan is synonymous with Konkani, but it is today divided into three states, Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka. Olivinho Gomes in his essay Medieval Konkani Literature also mentions the Mundari substratum, Goan Indologist Ramakrishna Shenvi Dhume identified many Austroloid Munda words in Konkani, like mund, mundkar, dhumak, goem-bab
13.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
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Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
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Sikhism
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Sikhism, or Sikhi, is a panentheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the world religions. Sikhism has 25-28 million adherents worldwide and is the ninth-largest religion in the world, Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten successive Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak established Kartarpur around 1520 and gathered the original core of the Sikh Panth there, an Indian religion, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel Gods presence, hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. He also established the system of the langar, or communal kitchen, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent. The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement, however, Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī – a saint-soldier, the majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means students or disciples of the Guru, the anglicized word Sikhism is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, and Sikhi connotes the temporal path of learning. Sikhism is a religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. This entity is referred to as Ik Onkar, the basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanaks words, Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles encourage living life as a householder, Sikhism is a monistic form of monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, the concept of God is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible, niraṅkār, akaal, the beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Gods hukam. God in Sikhism is known as Ik Onkar, the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit and this spirit has no gender in Sikhism, though translations may present it as masculine. It is also Akaal Purkh and Nirankar, in addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which it has created life
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Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as 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, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
17.
B. R. Ambedkar
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He was Independent Indias first law minister and the principal architect of the Constitution of India. In his early career he was an economist, professor, in 1956 he converted to Buddhism, initiating mass conversions of Dalits. In 1990, the Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian award, was conferred upon Ambedkar. Ambedkars legacy includes numerous memorials and depictions in popular culture, Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 in the town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces. He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal, an officer who held the rank of Subedar. His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade in Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra, Ambedkar was born into a poor low Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination. Ambedkars ancestors had long worked for the army of the British East India Company, although they attended school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segregated and given little attention or help by teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class, when they needed to drink water, someone from a higher caste had to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. He was required to sit on a sack which he had to take home with him. Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkars mother died, the children were cared for by their paternal aunt and lived in difficult circumstances. Three sons – Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao – and two daughters – Manjula and Tulasa – of the Ambedkars survived them, of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar passed his examinations and went to high school. His original surname Ambavadekar comes from his native village Ambavade in Ratnagiri district and his teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from Ambavadekar to his own surname Ambedkar in school records. In 1897, Ambedkars family moved to Bombay where Ambedkar became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School, in 1906, when he was about 15 years old, his marriage to a nine-year-old girl, Ramabai, was arranged. In 1907, he passed his examination and in the following year he entered Elphinstone College. This success evoked much celebration among untouchables and after a ceremony, he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by Dada Keluskar, the author. By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay University and his wife had just moved his young family and started work when he had to quickly return to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913. In 1913, Ambedkar moved to the United States at the age of 22, soon after arriving there he settled in rooms at Livingston Hall with Naval Bhathena, a Parsi who was to be a lifelong friend
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History of Buddhism in India
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Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama who was deemed a Buddha. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddhas lifetime, in modern times, two major branches of Buddhism exist, the Theravāda in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and the Mahāyāna throughout the Himalayas and East Asia. Except for Himalayan region and south India, Buddhism almost became extinct in India after the arrival of Islam in late 12th century, remains have also been found in Andhra Pradesh, the origin of Mahayana Buddhism. According to the 2001 census, Buddhists make up 0. 8% of Indias population, Buddha was born in Lumbini, in Nepal, to a Kapilvastu King of the Shakya Kingdom named Suddhodana. After asceticism and meditation which was a Samana practice, the Buddha discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence, Siddhārtha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as The Perfectly Self-Awakened One, Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisāra. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist Vihāras and this eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, for the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northern India and other regions. Buddha died in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Saugata. Other terms were Sakyans or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India, sakyaputto was another term used by Buddhists, as well as Ariyasavako and Jinaputto. Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez states they also used the term Bauddha, the Buddha did not appoint any successor, and asked his followers to work toward liberation. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral traditions, the Sangha held a number of Buddhist councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice. Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of the Buddha, presided over the first Buddhist council held at Rājagṛha and its purpose was to recite and agree on the Buddhas actual teachings and on monastic discipline. Some scholars consider this council fictitious, the Second Buddhist Council is said to have taken place at Vaiśālī. Its purpose was to deal with questionable monastic practices like the use of money, the drinking of wine, and other irregularities. What is commonly called the Third Buddhist Council was held at Pāṭaliputra, organized by the monk Moggaliputta Tissa, it was held in order to rid the sangha of the large number of monks who had joined the order because of its royal patronage. Most scholars now believe this council was exclusively Theravada, and that the dispatch of missionaries to various countries at about this time was nothing to do with it and it is generally believed to have been a council of the Sarvastivāda school. The Early Buddhist Schools were the schools in which pre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha
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Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
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The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are various officially designated groups of historically disadvantaged indigenous people in India. The terms are recognised in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. During the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes, the percentage of people in scheduled castes is essentially the percentage of people in the lower part of Indian society. In modern literature, the Scheduled Castes are sometimes referred to as adi dravida or Dalits, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, of Indias population. The Constitution Order,1950 lists 1,108 castes across 29 states in its First Schedule, since independence, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation. The Constitution lays down the principles of affirmative action for SCs. Since the 1850s these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, the early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in the Raj assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. The Morley–Minto Reforms Report, Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Report and the Simon Commission were several initiatives in this context, a highly contested issue in the proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures. In 1935, Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1935, designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule, the reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. This discretionary definition was clarified in The Government of India Order,1936, the complete list of castes and tribes was made via two orders, The Constitution Order,1950 and The Constitution Order,1950, respectively. According to the Constitution Orders Act,1990, Scheduled Castes can only belong to Hindu or Sikh or Buddhist religions, there is no religion bar in case of Scheduled Tribes. The Sachar Committee report of 2006 revealed that scheduled castes and tribes of India are not limited to the religion of Hinduism, a number of laws were enacted to implement the provisions in the Constitution. Affirmative action, Provide positive treatment in allotment of jobs and access to education as a means to accelerate the integration of the SCs. Affirmative action is known as reservation. Development, Provide resources and benefits to bridge the gap between the SCs and STs and other communities. Major part played by the Hidayatullah National Law University, the chairpersons of both commissions sit ex officio on the National Human Rights Commission. Seventeen regional offices of the Commissioner were established throughout the country, there was an initiative to replace the Commissioner with a committee in the 48th Amendment to the Constitution, changing Article 338. While the amendment was being debated, the Ministry of Welfare established the first committee for SCs and these functions were modified in September 1987 to include advising the government on broad policy issues and the development levels of SCs and STs
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Untouchability
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Untouchability is a status of certain social groups confined to menial and despised jobs. It is associated with the Hindu caste system, known as Dalits, but similar groups exist outside Hinduism, for example the Burakumin in Japan and the Hutu and Twa in Rwanda. At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were over 160 million untouchables on the Indian subcontinent, the earliest of the Hindu books, written by scholars, envisage a society divided into four theoretical varnas, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudras. The idea is developed in the Laws of Manu. The first three varnas are known as the twice-born, all of whom undergo a ceremony in their youth admitting them formally as students of the Vedas, which was the foundation for a later high status. While the varnas were theoretical, idealistic categories, jatis, meaning by birth were the thousands of tribal, post-tribal and occupational groupings that actually existed, a jati is an endogamous group, sharing many customs and often an occupation, usually based in one language area. Some scholars believe that Jatis were a social division of society which. Beliefs about pollution generally regulated relations between all the castes, violations of these rules entailed purificatory rites, penalties and sometimes expulsion from the caste. This differentiated society was often justified with traditional Hindu religious beliefs about samsara, a persons position in this life was determined by his or her actions in previous lives. Persons who were born in a Brahman family must have performed good deeds in their earlier lives, being born a Shudra was punishment for the sinful acts committed in previous lives. Shudras were confined to menial labour and despised or polluting jobs, working as laborers, handlers of unclean animals such as pigs. Burning ghat workers and executioners are two of the occupations considered most polluting, the seventh century Chinese traveler Xuanzang listed butchers, fishermen, public performers, executioners, and scavengers as marked castes living outside the city. Anything to do with a cow or its hide is the work only of untouchables. A caste of ritual drummers in the known as the Parayan contributed the word pariah to English. In many parts of the country Untouchables Marriages are generally arranged between persons of the same caste, toward the end of the nineteenth century, the British began recording and codifying caste, and more untouchable castes based usually on occupation emerged. However, occupation is not always a reliable guide, laundrymen may be untouchables in the south, where even the Pariahs looked down on them, but not in the state of Maharashtra. For the 1931 Census, another terminology Exterior Castes was applied to this group, in 1935, the new term scheduled castes, those on a list or schedule, was applied to 429 castes. By 1993, in independent democratic India, the number had grown to 4,635, including subcastes, harijan became the most popular word for the general public, replacing the terms depressed classes, exterior castes, outcastes, and untouchables
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Bhakti
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Bhakti literally means attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith or love, devotion, worship, piety. Bhakti, in Hinduism, refers to devotion and the love of a god or a representational god by a devotee. Bhakti in Indian religions is emotional devotionalism, particularly to a god or to spiritual ideas. The term also refers to a movement that arose between the 7th century and 10th century CE in India, focused on the gods Vishnu and Shiva, the Bhakti movement reached North India during the Delhi Sultanate era and grew throughout the Mughal era. It evolved the characteristics of Hinduism as the religion of the population as dhimmi under the Islamic rulers in parts of the Indian subcontinent. Bhakti-like movements also spread to other Indian religions during this period, the term bhakti, in the modern era, is used to refer to any tradition of Hindu devotionalism, including Shaivism, Vaishnavism, or Shaktism. The Bhagavata Purana is a associated with the Bhakti movement which elaborates the concept of bhakti as found in the Bhagavad Gita. Along with Hinduism, nirguni Bhakti is found in Sikhism, the Sanskrit word bhakti is derived from the root bhaj, which means divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to. The word also means attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, the meaning of the term Bhakti is analogous to but different from Kama. Kama connotes emotional connection, sometimes with sensual devotion and erotic love, Bhakti, in contrast, is spiritual, a love and devotion to religious concepts or principles, that engages both emotion and intellection. Karen Pechelis states that the word Bhakti should not be understood as uncritical emotion, one who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. It may refer to devotion towards a teacher as guru-bhakti, or to a personal god. The term Bhakti also refers to one of several alternate spiritual paths to moksha in Hinduism, the other paths are Jnana marga, Karma marga, Rāja marga. The term bhakti has been translated as devotion in Orientalist literature. The colonial era authors variously described Bhakti as a form of mysticism or primitive religious devotion of lay people with monotheistic parallels, however, modern scholars state devotion is a misleading and incomplete translation of bhakti. Bhakti in Indian religions is not a ritualistic devotion to a god or to religion and it involves, among other things, refining ones state of mind, knowing god, participating in god, and internalizing god. Increasingly, instead of devotion, the participation is appearing in scholarly literature as a gloss for the term bhakti. David Lorenzen states that bhakti is an important term in Sikhism and Hinduism and they both share numerous concepts and core spiritual ideas, but bhakti of nirguni is particularly significant in Sikhism
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Chokhamela
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Chokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste considered untouchable in India in that era and he was born at Mehuna raja, a village in Deulgaon Raja Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedha in Maharashtra and he was one of the first Dalit poets in India. Chokhamela lived with his wife Soyarabai and son Karmamela in Mangalvedha, chokhamelas task was to guard and work in farms of uppercast people. As a lower-caste person, Chokha was forced to live outside the town in a settlement for members of the untouchable caste. His family also followed varkari cult, Soyarabai - Wife Nirmala - Sister and her husband Banka Karmamela - Son He was initiated into bhakti spirituality by the poet-saint Namdev. Once when he visited Pandharpur, he listened to Sant Namdevs kirtan, already a devotee of Vitthal alias Vithoba, Chokha was moved by Namdevs teachings. The traditional story is that the upper castes here did not allow him to enter the temple, so he built a hut on the other side of the river Chandrabhaga. While working on construction of a wall in mangalvedha near pandharpur and his tomb is in front of the Vitthal temple, Pandharpur, where it can be seen to this day. According to a legend the bones of the dead Chokhamela were still chanting Vitthal, Vitthal, the bones were buried at the footsteps of the Vitthal temple. In early 20th century, the Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar, while attempting to visit the temple, was stopped at the site of Chokhamela. On the Threshold, Songs of Chokhamela, translated from the Marathi by Rohini Mokashi-Punekar, B. R. Ambedkar dedicated his book The Untouchables, Who are They and Why They Became Untouchables to the memory of Chokhamela, Nandanar and Ravidas. Chokhamela by Punekar Chokhamela and Eknath, Two Bhakti Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change - Zelliot Chokhamela, The Pioneer of Untouchable movement in Maharashtra - Prof. Nimavat
23.
Peshwa
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A Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati, but later, they became the de facto leaders of the Marathas, and the Chatrapati was reduced to a nominal ruler. During the last years of the Maratha Empire, the Peshwas themselves were reduced to titular leaders, and remained under the authority of the Maratha nobles, all the Peshwas during the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrapati Sambhaji belonged to Deshastha Brahmin family. The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan by Chhatrapati Shivaji, the initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha confederacy, under the Chitpavan Brahmin Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwas office was most powerful under Baji Rao I, under Peshwa administration and with the support of several key generals and diplomats, the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling most of the Indian subcontinent. However, after the Peshwa Raghunathrao allied with the British, the Peshwas power declined substantially, later on many provinces were controlled and administered either by the Maratha nobles such as Daulat Rao Sindhia, or by the East India Company. During this period, the Maratha confederacy came to its end through its formal annexation into the British Empire in 1818, clever Deshasthas were happy with the downfall as they were kept away from power by talented Chitpavans for a long time. The word Peshwa is from Persian پیشوا pēshwā, meaning foremost, after the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1674, he appointed Moropant Trimbak Pingle as the first Peshwa. Shivaji Maharaj renamed this designation as Pantpradhan in 1674 but this term is commonly used. The first Peshwa was Moropant Trimbak Pingale who served the monarch and his son, Nilopant Pingale, was appointed Peshwa by the second Chhatrapati Sambhaji after Moropants s death in 1683. The second Peshwa, Ramchandra Amatya, received royal status from Chhatrapati Rajaram as Hukumatpanha from 1689 to 1699 and he was a sound administrator who rose from the level of a local Kulkarni to the ranks of Ashta Pradhan due to guidance and support from Shivaji. Amatya is a Sanskrit term denoting counselor, guide, supervisor or overseer of both personal and governmental affairs and he recaptured many forts from the Mughals between 1690 and 1694, some in person, as well as personally conducting guerilla war techniques. When Chhatrapati Rajaram fled to Jinji in 1689, before leaving from Maharashtra, Ramchandra Pant managed the entire state under many challenges such as the Mughal influx, the betrayal of Vatandars, and scarcity of food. With his help, Sachiv kept the Maratha State on an economic footing. Pant got tremendous military help from Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav, in 1698, he happily stepped down from the post of Hukumatpanha and Rajaram offered this post to his wife Tarabai. Tarabai gave an important position to Pant in the administration of Maratha State and he wrote a book called Adnyapatra मराठी, आज्ञापत्र which explained different techniques of war, maintenance of forts and administration etc. The concepts in Adnyapatra and the wisdom and leadership of ] greatly helped the Maratha empire in building the foundation of state, as he was more loyal to Tarabai than Shahu, he was sidelined after the arrival of Chhatrapati Shahu
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Jyotirao Phule
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Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields including eradication of untouchability and the system, womens emancipation. In September 1873, Phule, along with his followers, formed the Satyashodhak Samaj to attain rights for peasants. Phule is regarded as an important figure of the Social Reform Movement in Maharashtra and he and his wife, Savitribai Phule, were pioneers of womens education in India. He is most known for his efforts to educate women and the lower castes and he opened the first school for girls in India in August 1848. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was born into a virtually illiterate family that belonged to the Mali caste of gardeners, the original surname of the family had been Gorhay, and they hailed from Katgun, a village in Khatav taluka of Satara District. Phules grandfather, Shetiba Gorhay, had settled in Pune and prospered after starting a business of selling flowers, garlands and flower arrangements for religious, the family owned some farmland as well as a shop in the city. Since Phules father and two uncles served as florists under the last of the Peshwas, whose patronage they enjoyed, Phules father, Govindrao, carried on the family business along with his brothers. His mother, Chimnabai, died when he was nine months old. The Mali community did not set much store by education, and after attending school to learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. He joined the menfolk of his family at work, both in the shop and the farm, Jyotirao completed his English schooling in 1847. As per custom, he was married young, at the age of 13, to a girl of his own community, the turning point in his life was in 1848, when he attended the wedding of a friend, who was a Brahmin. Phule participated in the marriage procession, but was later rebuked and insulted by his friends parents for doing that. They told him that he being from a lower caste should have had the sense to keep away from that ceremony and this incident profoundly affected Phule on the injustice of the caste system. In the same year he visited the first girls school in Ahmadnagar run by Christian missionaries. It was also in 1848 that Young Jyotiba read Thomas Paines book Rights of Man and he realized that lower castes and women were at a disadvantage in Indian society, and also that education of these sections was vital to their emancipation. By the age of 22, Jotirao Phule had taught his wife, Phule believed in overthrowing the social system in which people had been deliberately made dependent on others, illiterate, ignorant and poor, with a view to exploiting them. To him blind faith eradication formed part of a broad socioeconomic transformation and this was his strategy for ending exploitation of human beings
25.
Ritual purification
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Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a type of activity. This ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as stains, nevertheless. Most of these rituals existed long before the theory of disease. Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health, while these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems to be dramatic. Others have described a dimension of purity that is universal in religions that seeks to move us away from disgust, away from uncleanliness to purity, and away from deviant to moral behavior. In the Baháí Faith, ritual ablutions should be done before the saying of the obligatory prayers, as well as prior to the recitation of the Greatest Name 95 times. Menstruating women are obliged to pray, but have the alternative of reciting a verse instead, if the choice is taken. Baháulláh, the founder of the Baháí Faith, prescribed the ablutions in his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. If no water is available or if an illness would be worsened by the use of water, one may repeat the verse In the Name of God, the Most Pure. Apart from this, Baháulláh abolished all forms of ritual impurity of people and things and stressed the importance of cleanliness, in Japanese Buddhism, a basin called a tsukubai is provided at Buddhist temples for ablutions. It is also used for tea ceremony, the Bible has many rituals of purification relating to menstruation, childbirth, sexual relations, nocturnal emission, unusual bodily fluids, skin disease, death, and animal sacrifices. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal. Baptism, as a form of purification, occurs in several religions related to Judaism. In traditional liturgical churches a laver, often embedded in the wall, exists for the priest, many ancient churches were built with a large fountain in the courtyard. It was the tradition for Christians to wash before entering the church for worship. This usage is also legislated in the Rule of St. Benedict, as a result of which, the churching of women is still performed in a number of Eastern Christian churches. For Catholics, this is required at least once a year, in Reformed Christianity, ritual purity is achieved though the Confession of Sins, and Assurance of Forgiveness, and Sanctification
26.
Shivaji
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Shivaji Bhonsle, also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian warrior king and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire, in 1674, he was formally crowned as the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad. Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a disciplined military and he revived ancient Hindu political traditions and court conventions and promoted the usage of Marathi and Sanskrit, rather than Persian, in court and administration. Particularly in Maharashtra, debates over his history and role have engendered great passion and sometimes even violence as disparate groups have sought to characterise him and his legacy. Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar in Pune district on 6 April 1627 or 19 February 1630, per legend, his mother named him Shivaji in honour of the goddess Shivai, to whom she had prayed for a healthy child. Shivaji was named after this local deity, Shivajis father Shahaji Bhonsle was a Maratha general who served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed, at the time of Shivajis birth, the power in Deccan was shared by three Islamic sultanates, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda. Shahaji often changed his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, the Adilshah of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir at Pune, Shivaji was extremely devoted to his mother Jijabai, who was deeply religious. This religious environment had a impact on Shivaji, and he carefully studied the two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, these were to influence his lifelong defence of Hindu values. Throughout his life he was interested in religious teachings, and regularly sought the company of Hindu. Shahaji, meanwhile had married a wife, Tuka Bai from the Mohite family. He left Shivaji and Jijabai in Pune in the care of his jagir administrator, Dadoji has been credited with overseeing education and training of young Shivaji. Shivaji as a boy was an outdoorsman and, though he received little formal education and most likely could neither read nor write. Shivaji drew his earliest trusted comrades and a number of his soldiers from the Maval region, including Yesaji Kank, Suryaji Kakade, Baji Pasalkar, Baji Prabhu Deshpande. However, Shivajis association with the Maval comrades and his independent spirit did not sit well with Dadoji who complained to Shahaji to no avail in making him compliant. At the age of 12, Shivaji was taken to Bangalore where he, his elder brother Sambhaji and he married Saibai from the prominent Nimbalkar family in 1640. Around 1645–46, the teenage Shivaji first expressed his concept for Hindavi Swarajya, in 1645, the 15-year-old Shivaji bribed or persuaded the Bijapuri commander of the Torna Fort, Inayat Khan, to hand over the possession of the fort to him. Firangoji Narsala, who held the Chakan fort professed his loyalty to Shivaji, on 25 July 1648, Shahaji was imprisoned by Baji Ghorpade under the orders of Mohammed Adil Shah, in a bid to contain Shivaji
27.
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
28.
British Raj
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The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small
29.
Battle of Koregaon
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The Battle of Koregaon was fought on 1 January 1818 between the British East India Company and the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy, at Koregaon Bhima. The 28, 000-strong Marathas, led by Peshwa Baji Rao II intended to attack Pune, on their way, they were met by an 800-strong Company force that was on its way to reinforce the British troops in Pune. The Peshwa dispatched around 2,000 soldiers to attack the Company force stationed in Koregaon, led by Captain Francis Staunton, the Company troops defended their position for nearly 12 hours. The Marathas ultimately withdrew, fearing the arrival of a larger British force led by General Joseph Smith, the Company troops included predominantly Mahar Dalit soldiers belonging to the Bombay Native Infantry, and therefore the Dalit activists regard the battle as a heroic episode in Dalit history. The British had subjugated and signed treaties with these factions. This treaty of Pune formally ended the Peshwas titular overlordship over other Maratha chiefs, soon after this, the Peshwa burnt down the British Residency at Pune, but was defeated in the Battle of Khadki near Pune on 5 November 1817. The Peshwa then fled to Satara, and the Company forces took control of Pune. Pune was placed under Colonel Charles Barton Burr, while a British force led by General Smith pursued Peshwa, Smith feared that the Marathas might escape to Konkan and overpower the small British detachment there. Therefore, he instructed Colonel Burr to send reinforcements to Konkan, meanwhile, the Peshwa managed to escape beyond Smiths pursuit, but his southward advance was constrained by the advance of a Company force led by General Theophilus Pritzler. He then changed his route, marching eastwards before turning north-west towards Nashik, realizing that General Smith was in a position to intercept him, he suddenly turned southwards towards Pune. Towards the end of December, Colonel Burr received news that the Peshwa intended to attack Pune, the troops dispatched from Shirur came across the Peshwas forces, resulting in the Battle of Koregan. The Peshwas army comprised 20,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry, out of these, around 2,000 men were deployed in the action, constantly reinforced during the battle. The force that attacked the Company troops consisted of three parties of 600 soldiers each. These soldiers included Arabs, Gosains and Marathas, the majority of the attackers were Arabs, reputed to be the finest among the Peshwas soldiers. The attackers were supported by a cavalry and two pieces of artillery, the attack was directed by Bapu Gokhale, Appa Desai and Trimbakji Dengle. Trimbakji was the only among these to enter the Koregaon village, the Peshwa and other chiefs stayed at Phoolsheher near Koregaon. The titular Maratha Chatrapati, Pratap Singh of Satara, also accompanied the Peshwa, the Company troops dispatched from Shirur comprised 834 men, including, Around 500 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, led by Captain Francis Staunton. Besides Chisholm, Assistant-Surgeon Wyllie was the officer in the artillery
30.
Indian independence movement
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The Indian independence movement encompassed all activities and ideas aiming to end the East India Company rule and the British Indian Empire in the Indian subcontinent. The movement spanned a total of 190 years, the early part of the 20th century saw a more radical approach towards political self-rule proposed by leaders such as the Lal, Bal, Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai. The last stages of the struggle from the 1920s onwards saw Congress adopt Mohandas Karamchand Gandhis policy of nonviolence and civil resistance. Nationalist like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar preached armed revolution to achieve self-rule, feminists such as Sarojini Naidu and Begum Rokeya promoted the emancipation of Indian women and their participation in national politics. Babasaheb Ambedkar championed the cause of the sections of Indian society within the larger self-rule movement. The period of the Second World War saw the peak of the campaigns by the Quit India Movement led by Congress, the Indian self-rule movement was a mass-based movement that encompassed various sections of society. It also underwent a process of constant ideological evolution, in 1971, East Pakistan declared independence as the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. European traders first reached Indian shores with the arrival of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 AD at the port of Calicut, in search of the lucrative spice trade. Just over a century later, the Dutch and English established trading outposts on the subcontinent, the decline of the Mughal empire in the first half of the eighteenth century provided the British with the opportunity to establish a firm foothold in Indian politics. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, most of South India came either under the Companys direct rule, the Company subsequently gained control of regions ruled by the Maratha Empire, after defeating them in a series of wars. The Punjab was annexed in 1849, after the defeat of the Sikh armies in the First, in 1835, English was made the medium of instruction in Indias schools and many Indians increasingly disliked British rule. With the British now dominating most of the subcontinent, many British increasingly disregarded local customs, Puli Thevan was one of the opponents of the British rule in India. He was in conflict with the Nawab of Arcot who was supported by the British and his prominent exploits were his confrontations with Marudhanayagam, who later rebelled against the British in the late 1750s and early 1760s. Nelkatumseval the present Tirunelveli Dist of Tamil Nadu state of India was the headquarters of Puli Thevan, kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja was one of the earliest freedom fighters in India. He was the regent of the princely state of Kottiyur or Cotiote in North Malabar, near Kannur. He fought a war with tribal people from Wynad supporting him. He was caught by the British and his fort was razed to the ground, Rani Velu Nachiyar, was a queen of Indian Sivaganga in 1760–1790. She was the first queen to fight against the British in India, Rani Nachiyar was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam, horse riding and archery
31.
Indian Rebellion of 1857
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The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against British rule. For nearly 100 years, that rule had been presided over by the British East India Company, the rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Companys army in the garrison town of Meerut,40 miles northeast of Delhi. It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east. The rebellion posed a threat to British power in that region. On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities formally to have ended until 8 July 1859. The rebellion is known by names, including the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection. Many Indians did rise against the British, however, very many also fought for the British, after the outbreak of the mutiny in Meerut, the rebels very quickly reached Delhi, whose 81-year-old Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar, they declared the Emperor of Hindustan. Soon, the rebels had captured large tracts of the North-Western Provinces. The East India Companys response came rapidly as well, with help from reinforcements, Kanpur was retaken by mid-July 1857, and Delhi by the end of September. However, it took the remainder of 1857 and the better part of 1858 for the rebellion to be suppressed in Jhansi, Lucknow. Other regions of Company controlled India—Bengal province, the Bombay Presidency, in the Punjab, the Sikh princes crucially helped the British by providing both soldiers and support. In some regions, most notably in Awadh, the took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against European presence. However, the rebel leaders proclaimed no articles of faith that presaged a new political system, even so, the rebellion proved to be an important watershed in Indian- and British Empire history. India was thereafter administered directly by the British government in the new British Raj, on 1 November 1858, Queen Victoria issued a proclamation to Indians, which while lacking the authority of a constitutional provision, promised rights similar to those of other British subjects. In the following decades, when admission to these rights was not always forthcoming, the victory was consolidated in 1764 at the Battle of Buxar, when the East India Company army defeated Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. After his defeat, the granted the Company the right to the collection of Revenue in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar. The Company soon expanded its territories around its bases in Bombay and Madras, later, the Anglo-Mysore Wars, in 1806, the Vellore Mutiny was sparked by new uniform regulations that created resentment amongst both Hindu and Muslim sepoys. After the turn of the 19th century, Governor-General Wellesley began what became two decades of accelerated expansion of Company territories and this was achieved either by subsidiary alliances between the Company and local rulers or by direct military annexation
32.
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
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His term as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General, in 1914, at the start of the First World War, Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. Kitchener died on 5 June 1916 when HMS Hampshire sank west of the Orkney Islands and he was making his way to Russia in order to attend negotiations when the ship struck a German mine. He was one of more than 600 killed on board the ship, Kitchener was born in Ballylongford near Listowel, County Kerry, in Ireland, son of army officer Henry Horatio Kitchener and Frances Anne Chevallier. His father had recently bought land in Ireland under a scheme to encourage the purchase of land after selling his commission. They then moved to Switzerland where the young Kitchener was educated at Montreux, then at the Royal Military Academy, pro-French and eager to see action, he joined a French field ambulance unit in the Franco-Prussian War. His father took him back to England after he caught pneumonia after ascending in a balloon to see the French Army of the Loire in action. Commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 4 January 1871, his service in France had violated British neutrality, and he was reprimanded by the Duke of Cambridge, the commander-in-chief. He served in Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus as a surveyor, learned Arabic, Sir Walter Kitchener, had also entered the army, and was Governor of Bermuda from 1908 to 1912. In 1874, at age 24, Kitchener was assigned by the Palestine Exploration Fund to a mapping-survey of the Holy Land, replacing Charles Tyrwhitt-Drake, who had died of malaria. Conder and Kitchener’s expedition became known as the Survey of Western Palestine because it was confined to the area west of the Jordan River. The survey collected data on the topography and toponymy of the area, as well as local flora, the results of the survey were published in an eight-volume series, with Kitchener’s contribution in the first three tomes. This survey has had an effect on the Middle East for several reasons, The ordnance survey serves as the basis for the grid system used in the modern maps of Israel. The collection of data compiled by Conder and Kitchener are still consulted by archaeologists, the survey itself effectively delineated and defined the political borders of the southern Levant. For instance, the border between Israel and Lebanon is established at the point in upper Galilee where Conder and Kitchener’s survey stopped. In 1878 having completed the survey of Western Palestine, Kitchener was sent to Cyprus to undertake a survey of newly acquired British protectorate. Then in 1879 he became vice-consul in Anatolia, in 1883 Kitchener became a Freemason. On 4 January 1883 Kitchener was promoted to captain, given the Turkish rank bimbashi, Egypt had recently become a British puppet state, its army led by British officers, although still nominally under the sovereignty of the Khedive and his nominal overlord the Sultan of Turkey
33.
Martial race
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Martial race was a designation created by Army officials of British India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, where they classified each caste into one of two categories, martial and non-martial. The concept already had a precedent in Indian culture as one of the four orders in the Vedic social system of Hinduism is known as the Kshatriya, in their attempts to assert control in India, the British faced fierce resistance in some regions while easily conquering others. British officials sought martial races accustomed to hunting, or from agricultural cultures from hilly or mountainous regions with a history of conflict, others were excluded due to their ease of living or branded as seditious agitators. The British recruited heavily from the races for service in the colonial army. Sensing the inequalities and fierce loyalty to ones tribe or group of the native peoples of the subcontinent. These already wide divides were a breeding ground to inculcate pride in ones identity based on race. This served the British in two ways, on the one hand it made sure that there was no repetition of the Indian rebellion of 1857 by ensuring there was no unity among the different subjects of the Raj. On the other hand, it encouraged a sense of competition among the different races, according to Jeffrey Greenhut, The Martial Race theory had an elegant symmetry. Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated, the British regarded the martial races as valiant and strong but also intellectually inferior, lacking the initiative or leadership qualities to command large military formations. They were also regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority, for these reasons, the martial races theory did not lead to officers being recruited from them, recruitment was based on social class and loyalty to the British Raj. Winston Churchill was reportedly concerned that the theory was abandoned during the war and wrote to the Commander-in-Chief, India that he must, after Indian Independence, the Indian Army abandoned this theory and recruitment took place without discrimination. Critics of the state that the Indian rebellion of 1857 may have played a role in reinforcing the British belief in it. During this event the troops from the Bengal Native Infantry led by sepoy Mangal Pandey mutinied against the British, the Bengal troopers were recruits drawn from the martial stock of Bhumihars and Rajputs of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. However, the loyal Pashtuns, Punjabis, Gurkhas, Kumaoni/Kumaunis and Garhwalis did not join the mutiny, richard Schultz, an American author, has claimed the martial race concept as a supposedly clever British effort to divide and rule the people of India for their own political ends. Kumaonis had helped the British in their efforts against the Gurkhas in the Nepal War and it is interesting to note that the 3rd Gorkha Rifles was known as the Kumaon battalion when it was formed, and included Kumaonis and Garhwalis along with the Gorkhas. These terms were considered to be synonymous when the compiled a list in 1925. The Nairs of Kerala were initially included in the list, however after the Nairs of Travancore rebelled against the British under Velu Thampi Dalawa, since then, the martial race theory has rarely, if ever, been used by Pakistan. Criminal Tribes Act Historical definitions of races in India Cohen, Stephen P, the Untouchable Soldier, Caste, Politics, and the Indian Army
34.
Chamar
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Chamar is one of the untouchable communities, or dalits, who are now classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern Indias system of positive discrimination. As untouchables, they were considered outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. They are found mainly in the states of India and in Pakistan. Ramnarayan Rawat posits that the association of the Chamar community with an occupation of tanning was constructed. The term chamar has also used as a pejorative word for anyone whom the describer considers to be of low standing. According to the 2001 census of India, the Chamars comprise around 14 per cent of the population in the state of Uttar Pradesh and 12 percent of that in Punjab. The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh combined the Chamar, Dhusia, Jhusia, Jatava Scheduled Caste communities and they believe that leatherwork is degrading when compared to weaving. The 1st Chamar Regiment was a regiment formed by the British during World War II. Officially, it was created on 1 March 1943, as the 27th Battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment was converted, the Chamar Regiment which was involved in the Pacific War Japanese front and was awarded the Battle Honor of Kohima for theirs distinguished role in the Battle of Kohima. The Regiment was disbanded in 1946, recently, several politicians have demanded that The Chamar Regiment be revived. Kanshi Ram, founder of Bahujan Samaj Party and mentor of Mayawati Kumari Hindu Mochi Muslim Mochi Briggs, the Religious Life of India — The Chamars. Rawat, Ramnarayan S. Reconsidering Untouchability, Chamars and Dalit History in North India, a Bibliographic Essay on Hindu and Christian Dalit Religiosity
35.
Mang (caste)
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Their origins lie in the Narmada Valley of India. In the modern day they are listed as a Scheduled Caste, in the early 20th century, the Mang began to form caste associations to advocate their cause, such as the Matang Samaj and Matang Society. Annabhau Sathe, Maharashtra social reformer, Poet, writer Lahuji Raghoji Salve, Maharashtra social reformer Constable, the Marginalization of a Dalit Martial Race in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Western India
36.
Mahar Regiment
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The Mahar Regiment is an Infantry Regiment of the Indian Army. The Mahars were recruited by the Maratha king Shivaji as scouts and they were also heavily recruited by the British East India Company, at one part forming one-sixth of the Companys Bombay Army. The Bombay Army favoured Mahar troops for their bravery and loyalty to the Colours and they achieved many successes, including in the Battle of Koregaon, where Mahar-dominated Company troops defeated a much larger led by Peshwa Baji Rao II. This battle was commemorated by an obelisk, known as the Koregaon pillar, Mahar troops of the Bombay Army also saw action in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and two regiments joined the revolt under the British. War cry of this regiment is Bolo Hindustan Ki Jay. After the Revolt, the British officers of the Indian Army, particularly those who had served in the First and Second Afghan Wars and this theory was that some races and communities among Indians were naturally warlike, and more suited to warfare than others. A major proponent of this theory was Lord Roberts, who became Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army in the November 1885, there was a gradual Punjabisation of the Indian Army to the detriment of the other communities. The final blow for the Mahar troops came in 1892, when it was decided to institute class regiments in the Indian Army. The Mahars were not included in these regiments, and it was notified that the Mahars. The Mahar troops, who included 104 Viceroys Commissioned Officers and a host of Non-commissioned officers and this event was regarded by the Mahars as a betrayal of their loyalty by a government they had served for over a hundred years. After the demobilisation of the Mahar troops, there were attempts by the leaders of the Mahar community to persuade the Government to let them serve in the Army once again. Petitions to this effect were drafted by such as Gopal Baba Walangkar in 1894. These petitions were supported in principle by the politician and social reformer Gopal Krishna Gokhale and they were also supported by the Indian National Congress, who were also opposed to the recruiting policies of the Army. The recruitment policies of the British Indian Army continued until the beginning of the First World War in 1914, the War forced the Government to begin more broad-based recruiting, and the Mahars were at last allowed to enlist in the Army. One battalion of Mahar troops, the 111th Mahars was raised in the June 1917, however, the battalion did not see much service during the War, and in 1920 it was merged with the 71st Punjabis. Finally, the battalion was disbanded in March 1921, and the Mahars were once again demobilised, the period between the wars saw increased efforts by the Mahars to persuade the government to let them enlist in the Army. One proponent of Mahar recruitment was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, whose father, maj. Ramji Maloji Sakpal had been a soldier in the British Indian Army. However, the reorganisation of the Indian Army that was to occur in the 1930s was postponed because of a lack of funds in the Great Depression. In 1939, the Second World War broke out, and once again, in the July 1941, B. R. Ambedkar was appointed to the Defence Advisory Committee of the Viceroys Executive Council
37.
Arunachal Pradesh
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Arunachal Pradesh /ˌɑːrəˌnɑːtʃəl prəˈdɛʃ/ is one of the twenty-nine states of India. Located in northeast India, it holds the most north-eastern position among the states in the north-east region of India. Arunachal Pradesh borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, Itanagar is the capital of the state. Arunachal Pradesh has territorial disputes with both the PRC and ROC due to its cultural, ethnic and geographic proximity to Tibet. A major part of the state, formerly called the North-East Frontier Agency, is disputed by China as the legality of the Simla Accord is not recognized by it, China claims most of the state as South Tibet. The state is seen to have potential for hydropower development. Arunachal Pradesh, whose name means Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains in Sanskrit, is known as the Orchid State of India or the Paradise of the Botanists. Geographically, it is the largest among the North-east Indian states commonly known as the Seven Sister States, as in other parts of Northeast India, the people native to the state trace their origins to the Tibeto-Burman people. In recent times, large number of migrants from parts of India and other lands have built extensive economic. No reliable population count of the migrant population exists, and the percentage estimating the actual population accordingly. Arunachal Pradesh has the highest number of languages in the Indian subcontinent, enriched with diverse culture. Neolithic tools found in Arunachal Pradesh indicate that people have living in the Himalayan region for at least eleven thousand years. The history of pre-modern Arunachal Pradesh is unclear, oral histories possessed to this day by many Arunachali tribes of Tibeto-Burman stock are much richer and point unambiguously to a northern origin in modern-day Tibet. Recorded history from an outside perspective only became available in the Ahom, the Monpa and Sherdukpen do keep historical records of the existence of local chiefdoms in the northwest as well. Northwestern parts of this came under the control of the Monpa kingdom of Monyul. This region then came under the control of Tibet and Bhutan. The remaining parts of the state, especially those bordering Myanmar, were under the control of the Sutiya Kings until the Ahom-Sutiya battle in the 16th century, the Ahoms held the areas until the annexation of India by the British in 1858. However, most Arunachali tribes remained in practice largely autonomous up until Indian independence, recent excavations of ruins of Hindu temples such as the 14th century Malinithan at the foot of the Siang hills in West Siang were built during the Sutiya reign
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Assam
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Assam (English pronunciation, /əˈsæm/ listen is a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya, is one of the Seven Sister States. Geographically, Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a 22 kilometres strip of land in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, and its culture, people. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk, the first oil well in Asia was drilled here. The state has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger. It provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant, the Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism, centred around Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are World Heritage Sites. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, Assam receives more rainfall compared to most parts of India. This rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment, the precise etymology of Assam came from Ahom Dynasty. In the classical period and up to the 12th century the region east of the Karatoya river, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, in medieval times the Mughals used Asham and Kamrup, and during British colonialism, the English used Assam. Though many authors have associated the name with the 13th century Shan invaders the precise origin of the name is not clear. It was suggested by some that the Sanskrit word Asama was the root, which has been rejected by Kakati, among possible origins are Tai and Bodo. Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of settlements from all the periods of the Stone ages. The hills at the height of 1, 500–2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making. According to a text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna, narakas son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. Samudraguptas 4th century Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire, ruled by three dynasties Varmanas, Mlechchha dynasty and Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from Narakasura, an immigrant from Aryavarta, in the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels
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