Modern History

 Development of Railway:- The romance of train travel in India is legendary, but the task of constructing the railways in the first place was daunting. There were huge problems in dealing with such a vast and inhospitable country. The idea of introducing railways to India had been mooted as early as the 1830s. In May 1845, when the East India Company's Court of Directors finally and formally approved the project of establishing the railways in India, they also impressed upon the current Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, the enormity of the task, enumerating the following six reasons Periodical rains and inundations. Continued ... Read more

 Development of Press, Railway, Press and Telegraph, Industries in British India   Development of Press:- The first press in India was established by the Portuguese in 1550, first book was published by Portuguese missionaries (1557). The next was established by British in 1684. James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he started the first Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the 'Bengal Gazette' or the 'Calcutta General Advertise' in January 1780.  "The Bengal Gazette” newspaper is also sometimes known as Hickey's Gazette. This paper attacked both Warren Hastings and Chief Justice E Impey. It criticized government policies and the ... Read more

 Development of Posts and Telegraph:-   Posts Britain’s involvement in the postal services of India began in the eighteenth century. Initially the service was administered by the East India Company who established post offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta (now Kolkata) between 1764 and 1766. East India Company and the British Post Office in India:- Warren Hastings (Governor General of British India from 1773-1784) opened the posts to the public in March 1774. Prior to this the main purpose of the postal system had been to serve the commercial interests of the East India Company. Serving economic and political ... Read more

 Development of Industries:- Industrial Development in India during the British Rule:- 1. Subject Matter of Industrial Development 2. Early Efforts of Industrialization 3. Industries in the Inter-War Period (1919-38) 4. Industries during 1939-47 5. Reasons for Low Industrial Development in India.   Subject Matter of Industrial Development: Underdeveloped countries are greatly handicapped by shortage of capital for industry and enterprise. Finance is the prime maker of growth. Anyway, capital for industry and entrepreneurial zeal were severely and conspicuously scarce in India when the East India Company (1600-1874) stepped into this country. It was very difficult to raise capital on private initiative in ... Read more

 Depressed Classes Mission, Non-Brahmin movement and Justice Party   One, of the earliest lower caste movements, which became the torch bearer for the future caste movements, was founded in Maharashtra in the 1870s by Jyotibha Phule, who with his books Gulamgiri (1872) and Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak and his organisation Satya Shodhak Samaj, proclaimed the need “to save the lower castes from the hypocritical Brahmins and their opportunistic scriptures”. His main work was to rouse the masses and lead them to an organized resistance against the unreasonable claims of the priestly class. He made no distinction between non-Brahmins and untouchables. ... Read more

 Jyotirao ‘Jyotiba’ Govindrao Phule was a prominent social reformer and thinker of the nineteenth century India. He led the movement against the prevailing caste-restrictions in India. He revolted against the domination of the Brahmins and struggled for the rights of peasants and other low-caste people. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule was also a pioneer for women education in India and fought for education of girls throughout his life. He is believed to be the first Hindu to start an orphanage for the unfortunate children. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was born in Satara district of Maharastra in 1827. His father, Govindrao was a ... Read more

 : Struggle for supremacy The Portuguese From time immemorial India had commercial relations with countries of the west. The commercial route then was not direct by sea. The merchants sailed over the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea and reached Europe through Arabia. But in the seventh cen­tury when Arabia became very strong as a power it dominated the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The commerce of India and her neighbouring countries in the South-East was dominated by the Arab merchants from whom the merchants of Venice, Genoa and other Italian cities purchased the Indian goods, mainly spices ... Read more

 “Two-Nation” theory and Islamic revivalism “Two-Nation” theory Two Nation Theory's phenomenon basically sprigged up with the advent of Islam in the Sub-Continent. The sense was very unique about Pakistan's creation that it was generally based on ideological commitments in the light of Islam. The basic concept behind Two Nation Theory was Muslims and Hindus was two separate nations from every expects, So It was the right of Muslim to had their own homeland in the Muslims majority areas of Sub-Continent, where they can live their life according the majestic teachings of Islam. And this concept was merely adequate in ... Read more

Paramountcy of the British Crown over the Princely States in India did not conform to any of the constitutionally recognized models of relationship between two powers, one dominant (British) and the other dominated (Princely States). It is pertinent to mention that Paramountcy was not an international relationship. However, Henry Maine did claim for the States quasi-international status. The reality that under Paramount power the States had no international life stood well established and none of them enjoyed an independent status. The princely States of India and their relations with the British Government offer no parallel or analogy to any institution ... Read more

It is often believed that the colonial administration encouraged the commercialization of agriculture that improved the position of peasants in many areas of the Indian colony. From the 1860s onwards, the nature of agricultural production was determined by the demands of the overseas markets for Indian primary products. The items exported in the first half of the nineteenth century included cash crops like indigo, opium, cotton and silk. Gradually raw jute, food grains, oil seeds and tea replaced indigo and opium. Raw cotton remained the most in demand item. This expansion in cash crop production was accompanied by the building ... Read more