History

August offer was the proposal from Viceroy Lord Linlithgow to seek the cooperation from the INC during the second world war. It was announced in August 1940. Major proposals of August offer were: 1)     Dominion status as the objective for India. 2)     Expansion of viceroy executive council 3)     No future constitution to be adopted without … Read more

The government had taken the adamant position that no constitutional advance could be made till the Congress came to an agreement with the Muslim leaders. It issued ordinance after ordinance taking away the freedom of speech and that of the press and the right to organise associations. Towards the end of 1940, the Congress once … Read more

The British government, not prepared to part with or even share its power with the Indians, once again resorted to the policy of ‘carrot and stick’. The carrot was represented by the insubstantial Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, while measures such as the Rowlatt Act represented the stick. The reforms had many drawbacks: Franchise was very limited. The … Read more

( Intro)   Negatives: Narrow social base, need of the vast masses and peasantry was ignored. Sometimes exaggeration in glorification of ancient past. It became the cause of giving communal colour to the history by neglecting the Medieval history. Other aspect of culture like art, architecture, language etc. got less relevance as compared to the … Read more

The contribution of Mughals to the art of painting was remarkable. The foundation for the Mughal painting was laid by Humayun when he was staying in Persia.  He brought with him two painters – Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdal Samad to India. These two painters became famous during Akbar’s reign. Akbar commissioned the illustrations of … Read more

The Indian handicrafts that had made the country famous, collapsed under the colonial rule. There was a sudden and quick collapse of the urban handicrafts which had for centuries made India’s name a byword in the markets of the entire civilised world. During the first half of 18th century, India was the biggest manufacturing nation … Read more

. The Gandhi-Irwin pact was criticised by radical nationalists, for Gandhiji was unable to  obtain from the Viceroy a commitment to political independence for Indians; he could obtain merely an  assurance of talks towards that possible end. It was organised even as many Congress leaders opposed  the Gandhi-Irwin pact, for the government had not accepted … Read more

The real contribution of Ambedkar is reflected in the protective discrimination scheme or the reservation policy of the government envisaged under some provisions of Part III and many of Part IV dealing with the constitutional mandate to ameliorate the condition of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the other backward classes. Provisions like Article … Read more

The Regulating Act was passed in the British Parliament in June 1773. It was the first parliamentary ratification and authorization defining the powers and authority of the East India Company with respect to its Indian possessions.   This act permitted the company to retain its territorial possessions in India but sought to regulate the activities … Read more

Administrative and Judicial Reforms: The administrative structure of British India had been given shape by Cornwallis. But since the days of Cornwallis the company had made great advances, and defects in that structure became apparent as it had not kept pace with the advance. The judicial system especially suffered from the three great evils of … Read more