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LECTURE 2
Q. Name the ancient janapadas and their present locations.

Vanga: Southern and South-eastern districts of present day Bangladesh. A major portion of
Bangladesh.
Pundra: Northern parts of present day Bangladesh, Also parts of North Bengal of the Indian province
of West Bengal.
Radha: Southern part of West Bengal.
Gauda: Parts of mid-West Bengal
Samata: Parts of trans-Meghna region of Bangladesh, i.e. Comilla or Noakhali region.
Harikela: Chittagong region with some of its adjacent areas
Q. What is “Aryanisation”?

The Aryans were the second wave of settlers in Bengal. They were not native to this land – they came
from regions that are present day Europe. They came here around 5th century B.C. When they came
here, they deemed the natives of this place as uncultured and barbarians. To deal with this problem,
they started to push their culture and ways onto the natives of this land. This process took place over
the next millennia and became known as Aryanisation.
Q. Were the native Bengals really barbarians before Aryanisation?

From the Aryan literature and text recovered, the Aryans described the people they met in Bengal to
be uncultured and illiterate “barbarians”. However, archaeological discoveries in this region during
1960s say otherwise. The discoveries at “Pandu Rajar Dhibi” in the valley of the Ajay river in the
Burdwan district, represent the ruins of a trading township, which traded not only with the interior
regions of India, but also with some Mediterranean reasons. This along with other similar discoveries
in these parts, clearly show that the people of this region were reasonably advanced, educated and
civilized. Thus it can be concluded that they weren’t complete barbarians like the Aryans mentioned
in their texts.
Q. Key contributions and achievements of the Gupta rule era.

The era of the Imperial Guptas is considered to be the golden age of Indian history. During this era,
India and Bengal were unified under a strong benevolent government, that brought peace, wealth
and prosperity for a considerable amount of time. This era was remarkable for its trade and
commerce along with its tolerance towards all religion. They also excelled at art and heavily
influenced the artistic style of the Bengali Culture.
Q. Who was Sasanka?

Sasanka is the first known king of Bengal to extend his leadership and influence over territories for
beyond the geographical boundaries of that province. There is no definite evidence of the
circumstances under which Sasanka occupied the throne of Gauda, but it is very clear that Sasanka
ruled over a vast territory. His capital was called Karnasuvarna (Kornoshuborna in Bengali) and it is
located in present day Rangamati.

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Q. What is “Matsyanyayam”? Who ended this era?

In Sanskrit, the word ‘Matsyanyayam’ means kingdom of fishes – a kingdom where the big fish eats
the small fish. Similarly, after the death of Sasanka, the next century (650-750 A.D.) was a period of
complete anarchy and lawlessness in this region. With not proper leader uniting the people,
everyone only cared for themselves – everyone fought against everyone else and the powerful kings
dominated every king that was weaker than them. This is why the word matsyanyayam is used as an
analogy to describe this period. It was ended by Gopala who then founded the Pala Dynasty.
Q. Who was Dharmapala?

Dharmapala was one of the notable rulers of Bengal during the Pala Dynasty. He was a pious
Buddhist. During his rule, there were two phases of his three-way struggle. He suffered some
setbacks during both the first and second part of his struggle, but during the interval in between he
had success. He successfully extended the Pala empire beyond Bengal and to as far as Kanauj (Konoj)
and he held onto that kingdom for quite some time.
Q. What were the contributions and achievements of the Pala Dynasty?

The Pala Dynasty can be considered the most glorious period in the early history of Bengal. It is well
known for the establishment of the Vikramasila (Bikromsila) monastery at Patharghata and the
Somapura Mahavihar at Paharpur. The latter is included in the ‘Heritage of Man’ of UNESCO – it is
the largest Buddhist monastery in the Indian subcontinent. The Pala’s were also well known for their
terracotta work – in fact the terracotta art in Bengal was at its peak in this period. The terracotta
plaques decorating the walls of Paharpur are of exquisite quality and display the everyday lives of the
people of Bengal alongside religion. Though literary works form that period have not survived in
large numbers, the Ramacharitam by Sandhyakara Nadi is a testimony to the quality composition of
that time. The Pala’s were very tolerant about religion as well.
Q. Who were the rulers during the Sena Dynasty? What was the most notable thing they did? What is
the most notable difference of this dynasty compared to the Pala Dynasty?

The rulers were Vijayasena, Vallalasena, Laksmanasena, Visvarupasena, Kesavasena. During their
rule, Bengal was under one unified rule for about a century. The main difference of this dynasty
compared to the previous is their religious intolerance. They attempted to establish orthodox Hindu
social order and their lack of religious tolerance led to a sharp decline of Buddhism in Bengal. This
also indirectly helped the cause of Islam in Bengal.
Q. What were the contributions of the Sena Dynasty?

This dynasty led to significant developments in Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature. Among the many
extraordinary poetic literatures from that era the most distinct one is Gitagovinda by Jayadeva. The
Sena’s also excelled in the field of sculptural art. The Bengal school of sculptural art reached its peak
during this era.
Q. Give a short description of the Firuz Shah Dynasty.

The Firuz Shah Dynasty was started through the conquest of Sonargaon, Mymensingh and Sylhet, by
Sultan Shams-ud-Din Firuz Shah. He was helped by Hazrat Shah Jalal and the ghazis (volunteers for
jihad) in his conquest.

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Q. What were the contributions and achievements of the Firuz Shah Dynasty?

During the Firuz Shah Dynasty, important centers were established at Satgaon and Sonargaon. The
city of Firuzabad-Padua was also established – this later became the capital of Bengal. During this
dynasty, the Muslim rule expanded beyond the Meghna River, upto the Chittagong district.

Q. Who was Shams-ud-Din Ilyas Shah? What were his contributions and achievements?

Ilyas Shah was the first Sultan who brought the whole of Bengal under a unified rule. He was known
as ‘The Just Sultan’ and ‘The Second Alexander’. He was a patron of the Bengali language and
literature. He built the famous Adina mosque at Pandua in 1375 – it was the largest mosque ever
built in the Indian subcontinent. Under his rule, the Muslim arts and sciences flourished and
commerce in the textile and cusine of Bengal was encouraged.

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Q. Who was Ala ud-Din Husain Shah? What were his contributions and achievements?

Ala ud-Din Husain Shah was one of the most popular rulers of medieval Bengal. He established the
Husain Shahi Dynasty, which is looked upon as the golden age of the Sultanate of Bengal. He
extended his empire to Cooch Bihar, Kamrup, Orissa and Tripura. He was very tolerant about religion.
During his rule, all the key posts were held by Hindus – Chief Minister, chiefs of bodyguards, private
physician, etc. The Chhota Sona Masjid was built at Gaur during his time as well. His army consisted
of two hundred thousand Muslim soldiers.
Q. Who was Sher Shah Sur? What was his most notable contribution?

He was a landlord in Bihar who defeated Sultan Mahmud Shah in 1538. The Grand Trunk Road from
Bengal to Peshawar was constructed under his rule. Sher Shah also introduced administrative
reforms and modernized the collection of revenues.
Q. Who were the Bara Bhuiyan?

The Bara Bhuyyans were former independent governors, chieftains and zamindars of Bengal
Sultanate. They put up a strong resistance against the Mughals (Akbar and Jahangir at that time)
because they wanted independence from the Mughals and also wanted to stop paying them taxes.
The most notable chieftain was Isa Khan of Sonargaon, Kedar Rai of Vikrampur, Raja Pratapadityya of
Jessore and Kandarpanarayan of Chandravipa.
Q. Who was Sirajuddaulah?

Sirajuddaulah was the grandson of Alivardi Khan. He was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. He
ruled Bengal from 1756 to 1757, after which he was defeated by English general Robert Clive in the
Battle of Plassey.
Q. What was the Battle of Plassey?

The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over Sirajuddaulah and
his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The battle consolidated the
Company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred
years.

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LECTURE 3

Q. What was the first major effect that the British rule had on Bengal?

Unlike the Mughals who wanted only to extract the riches of Bengal, the British wanted to transform
Bengal and make it yield much more than income. So they started experimenting with its economy.
Some were successful, but most were disastrous. The early introduction of a system of tax collection
led to a serious famine in Bengal. This is remembered to this day as the ‘Great Famine of 1176 –
Chhiyattarer Manbantar’. It is estimated that over 10 million people perished during this time, which
was about one-third of the population of Bengal.
Q. What impacts did the British Rule have on Bengal? (Broad Question for Mid/Finals – 10 Marks)

The early days of the British rule brought a lot of sorrow to Bengal. Unlike the Mughals who were
after the riches of Bengal only, the British people wanted to make it yield much more than income.
They combined the experiences they had from Britain, Ireland and other South Asian practices and
subjected the people of Bengal to an endless series of administrative and economic experiments.
While a few of these were successful, mist were disastrous. (INCOMPLETE)
The British rule bought improved upon the already existing administrative laws that were introduced
by the Mughals. They added new ideas about law and property rights. They removed Persian which
was the state’s official language during the Mughal Rule. They introduced English language schools
and colleges. They established the Kolkata University (1857) and Dhaka University (1921). They
improved the sense of hygiene of the people and gave them better access to medicine and hospitals.
They improved roads, railway, highways, bridges, etc – so that the people of this delta would have to
rely less on the water ways. They introduced telephone, telegraph and radio to make the exchange
of info and communication easier. They improved the police force by giving them better funds and
training.

Q. What is the ‘Permanent Settlement Act’?

The most significant decision of the early colonial period was introducing a new system of land
taxation which was known as the ‘Permanent Settlement Act’. It was introduced in 1790. Its
importance was due the fact that it was much more than just a system of taxation. The core of the
colonial system of control was formed around this act. In this act, instead of the farmers, the land
owners would be local wealthy and powerful people called Zamindars. These zamindars would be in
charge of collecting taxes form the farmers who now would work for them. Then the zamindars
would pay the taxes to the Brits by the clock – if they failed to do so, their land would be auctioned
off to the highest bidder.

Q. What was the objective of the ‘Permanent Settlement Act’?

The objective of this act was that, over time, the zamindars would become improving landlords who
would invest in agricultural development – fixed government taxes and rising product prices meant
that the zamindars would have more than enough capital to do so. But this didn’t work out all that
well. The lack of government support for agricultural development was one of the reasons. The other
one was that the zamindars realized that there were other ways to get more money from the
peasantry like increasing rent, etc.

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Q. What is the “Sunset Law”?

This law is a part of the “Permanent Settlement Act”. This law states that the taxpayers (Zamindars),
would have to pay all the taxes before the last sunset on the last day of each Bengali year. If the
Zamindars failed to do so, their land would be taken away from them and auctioned off.
Q. What is ‘Sub-Infeudation’?

As the zamindars grew more wealthy due to the ‘Permanent Settlement Act’, they started to distance
themselves from the agriculture and tax collecting. They started hiring people to do the tax-collecting
for them. The tax-collecting generated a lot of wealth, to these intermediaries could also afford to
start hiring their own intermediaries and so on. This system got to be known as sub-infeudation
(pattanidari).
Q. What other impacts did the ‘Permanent Settlement Act’ have?

Another major effect this act had was that Bengal became dominated by zamindars. Prior to this act,
the cultivators were usually the land owners and had various property rights, but after it was started,
the cultivators became mere tenants. They’d have to pay rent to the zamindars for as long as they
wished to continue working on the land – if they missed a payment, they’d be removed from the
land anytime the landlord wanted. In fact, if the landlord could do anything he wanted with the land
and no one would stop them. If the tenants payed the rent regularly, they could transfer their
occupancy right by inheritance only, but they could never sell this right.
Q. What is cash cropping? What impacts did it have?

Due to the fertile nature of Bengal’s soil, it has always been a place where the Europeans massively
commercialized agriculture – cotton, rice, sugarcane, betel nut, etc. However, during the colonial
period, a bunch of new highly profitable crops were introduced to this land for large scale production
– opium, indigo, tea, silk and jute. Some of these crops (like opium and indigo) were often grown
under systems of coerced labor because the cultivators didn’t want to produce them – they were
paid less and they lost a stable source of food for their family and themselves, which was from
cultivating crops like rice. This was cash cropping. The impact this had was that it forged new ties
between the rural economy of Bengal and European and Asian markets.
Q. How did the British rule transform Bengal?

The Mughal rule brought in many important administrative changes to Bengal and the British took it
further. They introduced new rules and laws, property rights, English language schools and colleges.
They made two modern universities that quickly established excellent academic reputations –
Kolkata University (1857) and Dhaka (1921). They introduced a better sense of hygiene and gave the
people better access to medicine and hospitals. They dramatically improved the roads and highways,
introduced a good railway system, bridges, etc. – this made the delta less dependent on the
waterways. With the introduction of radio, telegraph and telephones they made the delta more
connected and made the exchange of information much easier. The police force was better funded
and now more organized and better trained. Signs of these changes are still visible in this
subcontinent.

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Q. Describe the rise of Kolkata.

During the colonial rule, the British established Calcutta (now Kolkata) to be the center of all the
political power – the Capital of colonial Bengal. This is where the government of India resided from
1757 to 1931 – it was the nerve center of this region. All the modern facilities were available here.
This led to a rapid development of this region. All the wealthy families took up professions or
possessions here – these people were mostly upper-caste Hindus and historians later labelled this
group as ‘Bhadralok - Gentlefolk’. These people led very lavish lives and set the cultural tone for the
people of this region.

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LECTURE 4
Q. Why did the nationalist agitation start? (1760s – 1900s)?

Religiously inspired revolts challenged the British and made them highly challenged. This
basically started for the economic crisis, oppression, increased tax. Although these started
but the landlords and the upper classes didn’t support the general people for which it got
fizzled out.
1. Fakir Sannyasi Resistance: (1760s- 1790s): Fakir and Sannyasi are the Muslim and Hindu
religious men which was widely spread in Bengal and Bihar. This revolt was against the ill tax
collection policy, protection of community rights and the ruling system of British. It was a
communal movement which was done following guerrilla technique and revolts.
2. Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah Revolt (1831): Titumir started it after spending 5years in Mecca. It
was against the landlords for oppressing the minor Muslims. Titumir built the famous
‘baasher kella’ at Narikelbaria for the protection of the Muslims. It was also a communal
movement. He was killed by the British in the war in 1831.
3. Faraizi Revolt (1837): Hazi Shariatullah came back after 19years from Mecca and also took
lead in the movement. He found Muslims in ill practices. Later his son Dudu Miah continued
the movement.
4. Sepoy Mutiny (1857): Led by Mangal Pandey. This movement started for the discrimination of
salary, religious belief attacks, etc. This was against the landowners and the middle class
people as they had economic interests for the British rule. To some it was the first war of
independence which created near collapse of the british rule in central and northern india.
5. Indigo Mutiny: Indigo production as a cash crop was made forced in the early 19th century.
General people were forced to produce indigo. This led to create normal food provision
problems. And at the end ultimately various reports got posted by raiyats. After that the
Government prohibited indigo production. It was a non-communal movement.

Q. What do you understand by the “First Partition of Bengal”?

In 1905 Bengal was divided into two provinces namely Western part (Bengal) and Eastern part (East
Bengal and Assam). The division led to the Swadeshi Movement.

Q. Why and Who started the Swadeshi Movement?

The movement was created by the This movement started using two strategies:

1. Non-violence: Most of the upper class people lived in Kolkata but most of the jute was
produced in current Bangladesh. This led them to worry that jutes might now get exported
using the Ctg port instead of Kolkata. Apart from that the other reason was they feared the
decreasing in the use of Kolkata court and judiciary system which would create loss. This lead
to boycott British goods, educational administration and created own Indian owned
industries, setting up of national schools, etc.
2. Violence: The political assassination or ‘Bengal Terrorism’ was the public display of violence
against high ranked British people. This was done by Khudiram Basu (hanged in 1908), Surja
Sen (made an attack in the Ctg armory in 1930 and hanged in 1934), Pritilata Waddadar (who
helped in the Ctg armory raid and suicide in 1932 when she got surrounded by police).

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Q. How did the Swadeshi movement create this tension among the Hindus and Muslims?

This movement for the first time created the Hindu and Muslim class segregation. The
violence strategy sort of made it more effective. The reasons for this tension are:
1. Muslims were majority in the East Bengal and Assam region. This created the Muslims to
move to Dhaka, the new capital of the Eastern Part for better jobs. During this time, Curzon
Hall, Governor’s residence got built. This created a Muslim-Hindu segregation mentality.
2. The muslims initially joined the protest but their protest waned because of the cultural
politics imposed on their protests. The bhordholok class being the High class Hindus in
Kolkata set the socio religious tone for the Swadeshi movement. They also included the
poetry, romance in the anti-colonial movement. Bande Mataram was the song created at that
time to consider Bengal as Goddess Kali and it can’t be divided.

Q. Who were the Ashraf and Atrap people?

Ashraf people were the Arab, Persian, Central Asian descendants and were considered as the
pioneers and guardians of the Islamic culture. They wanted to make the culture of the Bengal
Muslims much more well-constructed. Atrap people were the low born Muslims who were around
95% of the Muslims in Bengal.
Q. What were the impacts of the First Partition?

1. The Muslim League was formed by the Muslim members of the Indian National Congress, and it
created a clear-cut political category of the Hindu and Muslims.
2. When Dhaka was made the capital, it sorts of created the scope of development which includes
Curzon Hall, Governor’s residence.
3. Brought very impactful revival of handloom silk and crafts.
4. Sir Salimullah was appointed as the leader of Dhaka who later on established the Muslim League.
Q. What were the reasons of the Annulment of the First Partition?

The first partition was annulled in 1911. The reason was:

1. The number of Hindus were in majority and they asked for the annulment.
2. Royal class Jamindars, Lawyers, Businessmen all of them were opposing it.
Q. Why did the British allow Indian representation? (Montagu report)
In 1917, Edward Montagu announced the participation of Indians in the governing sectors so that
they can follow the legislative system of the dominions of the British Empire and shape the country
in that fashion. He devised the diarchy system where the government split its function. The central
government was in New Delhi under the British who maintained the main control. In the provinces
the main responsibilities were agricultural, education, tax raising under Indian ministers. At that time
the legislative bodies contained 1/10th of the adult male population.

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Q. What do you know about the Khilafat movement?

Q. What do you know about the Simon Commission?

In 1927, anticipating by 2 years of the revision of the Montagu reforms, the British Government
appointed a commission under Liberal Sir John Simon to suggest the reform of the Indian
Constitution. Even though of this wide spread of INC and Muslim league, the commission reported
that India is incapable of its own fate and were still children. They need all knowing parents for
legislation. This commission was formed by all British Parliament members. This created the 2nd
cycle of Gadhian non-cooperation from 1930-1934.

Q. What do you know about the Montagu Reforms?

Lord Irwin was the viceroy from 1927-1931. During this turmoil for the Simon commission he was
supported by a Labour government and he declared that India will get a Dominion status according
to Montagu report of 1917. They said that India can’t stay as a dominion for long. At that time British
Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald was driven in 1930 and set various round table conferences in
London to hear from the Indian political opinions and bring a reform in the constitution.

Q. What do you know about the Nehru Report?

In 1928, Indian nationalists produced a common front so that they could present their rulers. They
called it the Nehru Report. It was made my Motilal Nehru. They demanded immediate home rule.
They told for a separate communal electorates for the scheme of federal India which worked out as a
plan in later 1947. They also said that there won’t be any reserved seats for the Muslims. This
conflicted Nehru and his report as well as they had a plan to build a stronger central government
considering policies for the whole country.

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LECTURE 6
Q. What’s the background of the Language movement?
In 14th August, 1947 the Islamic state of Pakistan was formed. There were two wings namely the
East and West Pakistan. But only after 3 months of independence, the two wings started having
issues regarding language, autonomy, food, security, economic policy. In November 1947 Urdu was
proposed as the state language in the Pakistan Education Conference. Before that in July 1947
linguist Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah demanded Bangla to be the state language. At that time 56% of
Pakistanis spoke in Bangla whereas only 3% only spoke Urdu.
Now let’s talk about how Urdu came to rise as the prospectus state language for newly independent
Pakistan. In the North India region there used to live the elite class of Muslims who were considered
as the guardian of the Muslims in the sub-continent. After Pakistan was formed they migrated to
West Pakistan and thus got the title ‘Muhajirs’. These Muhajirs were a high number of Urdu speaking
people who got the hold of all the upper administrative power in no time. Although the Punjab’s
outflanked the Muhajirs and made Punjab the capital earlier but still when Pakistan got formed, they
got that upper hand of control. Even though the people of Bengal had the most population which
implies the state language is to be Bangla but still the Muhajirs gave the notion that Bangla was
derived from Sanskrit which is the language of the religious language of the Hindus. On the other
hand Urdu was derived from Arabic which portrays a better image to build an Islamic state. The west
wing had the idea to build an Islamic state but the East wing had the idea to build a state having full
autonomy of their own land.

Apart from that the Muhajirs and West Pakistanis considered the East Pakistanis as just Muslims by
name as they had various cultural practices and traditions. According to them they didn’t have that
level of belief to be ‘pure Pakistanis’.
Thus in 1948 during a large conference at Dhaka, Governor-general Mohammad Ali Jinnah said that
Bengali can be used as a language in East Pakistan but the state language will be only Urdu and that
is final. This declaration gave rise to the language movement of 1952.

Q. What were the events that led to the Language movement?

-BEFORE 1947: Abul Hashim(Sec. Gen. of Provincial M.League) proposed imparting education
through mother tongue

-JUNE 3, 1947: Lord Mountbatten declared the Partition Scheme

-JULY, 1947: Formation of Peoples Freedom League which raised the topic to make Bangla as the
medium of education (By Oli Ahad, Tazuddin Ahmed, Kamruddin Ahmed and others).
-SEPTEMBER 2, 1947: Tamaddun Majlish(Cultural organization formed by DU students) formed for
making Bangla a medium of education, legal proceedings.
-SEPTEMBER 6-7, 1947: Conference in Dhaka to propose Bangla as the state language, medium of
legal affairs and state instructions.
-SEPTEMBER 15, 1947: Brought a pamphlet ‘Should Pakistan’s state language be Urdu or Bengali?’
demanding Bangla to be the legal affairs, education language. It also mentioned that each unit of
Pakistan should be independent according to Lahore resolution which also told about the right to
choose own state language.

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-LATE SEPTEMBER, 1947: Abul Kashem was made the leader of Tamaddun Majlish
-OCTOBER, 1947: Tamaddun Majlish formed te NATIONAL LANGUAGE ACTION COMMITTEE. It was
formed with the members of Tamaddun Majlish and Students Muslim League under Nurul Haque’s
lead. This committee printed statements, interviewed government officials to protest.
-DECEMBER 11,1947: Habibullah Bahar gave a press release that his review about the state language
had been misinterpreted.
-DECEMBER, 1947: Some of the Sylhet people of Muslim Youth Federation spoke in favor of Urdu to
be the state language and told that Bangla can never be the suitable state language of an Islamic
state and it will be a denial of national identity. Also apart from that Dr. Ziauddin (VC of Aligarh
University) and Fazlur Rahman(Central cabinet member) spoke in favor of the Muslim Youth
Federation.
-EARLY 1948: Dhirendranath Dutta in the Pakistan Legislative Assembly raised the demand of Bangla
along with English and Urdu to be a language of the Assembly. Liaquat Ali Khan(PM OF PAKISTAN)
said it was a big mistake by Dutta to put this up as an issue in the assembly as it would create
disunity among the people. Khwaja Nazimuddin(Chief minister of East Pakistan) told that majority of
the East wing people wanted Urdu to be the state language.
-FEB 26, 1948: Students of all universities and colleges boycotted classes and brought out strikes
protesting their demand at Ramna area.

-MARCH 2, 1948: Students of DU and Tamaddun Majlish called a meeting presided by Kamruddin
Ahmed to give and organizational form to the language movement. Thus formed the committee
comprising of DEMOCRATIC FREEDOM LEAGUE, DEMOCRATIC YOUTH LEAGUE, TAMADDUN
MAJLISH.

-1949: Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani left the Muslim League and formed Awami Muslim
League. He rejected the offer to make Urdu the state language and use of Arabic dialects to write
Bangla.
-FEB 21, 1952: Decision made for putting out a general strike. The government imposed Section 144.
Some individuals decided to stay silent but students defied that and went to the strike. There was a
fight with the students and police causing 5 deaths including a 9 year old boy. This continued till 23rd
February.
-FEB 23, 1952: Martyr’s memorial built respecting the killed ones on 21st. Although broken down by
the police. Later a permanent one was built.
-1999: Given international recognition by UNSECO.

Q. What were the impacts of the Language Movement?

1) Realization of the upcoming West Pakistani Oppression and domination
2) Bangla becoming the second official language of the then Pakistan in 1956
3) Working as an inspiration for the upcoming movements specially 1971 war
4) Bangla Achieving the recognition as international mother language day by UNESCO in 1999.
5) Reuniting Bengalis irrespective of their caste and religion to fight for their rights and voice.

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Q. What do you know about the Jukto Front Government?

United Front was formed by Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani which consisted of 4 parties:

1. Krishak Sramik Party under A.K Fazlul Huq

2. Awami Muslim League under Maulana Bhashani
3. Gonotontri Dol under Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
4. Nizam-e-Islami
The main objective was to defeat the Muslim League in the provincial election in 1954. The
government introduced the 21 points demand which included Jute sector nationalization, Bangla as
the state language, to start salt industry, to industrialize the country, etc. AK Fazlul Huq became the
Chief minister of East Pakistan. Suhrawardy and Abul Mansur became the Federal ministers. The
government lost its power within 6 weeks when the Governor General of Pakistan Ghulam
Muhammad accused Bhashani for secession.

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LECTURE 5

• Lahore Resolution:

o Discuss the situation that had risen due to the outbreak of the second world war.

o Govt of India joining the war without taking opinion of the Indian leaders.

o Discuss the reason that led to the defeat of Muslim league in the general election

• Role of Sher-E-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq

o Was hailed as “Sher-E-Bangla” (Tiger of Bengal) due to his speech in Patna – Though

he was leading a Coalition Govt in Bengal. He was Muslim first and Bengali afterwards,

so he would take revenge if the Muslims were hurt in congress ruled provinces

o Bengali Muslim League led by him reached Lahore on the 22nd of March, 1940.

o He presented the Lahore Resolution in 1940.

• Two-Nation Theory

o This theory was introduced by Muhammad Ali Jinnah which states that British India

will be divided according to the majority of Hindu & Muslims. They demanded for the

homeland of Muslims.

• North – India Muslim activity – Aligarh Movement

o Interested in only Muslim Reformation Movement

o Leadership was taken over by the graduates of Aligarh College

o Goal was to safeguard the religious, cultural and political rights of Indian Muslims,

especially in the Muslim minority provinces of India.

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• The leaders of the Bengal Muslim League, Fazlul Huq and Suhrawardy, were not Aligarh

graduates and they didn’t even have support from the British. They were not interested in

reformation Movement and not very much concerned about safeguard.

• Reaction of Muslims of Bengal to the Lahore Resolution

o Gave them a sense of nationality (got their identity)

o Younger generation, especially, the Muslim student community of Bengal, welcomed

it.

o Their knowledge about political science which they acquired from university textbooks

was different from what they heard from their elders (until 1940).

o Wanted to take full part in the struggle for independence along with the younger

generation of Asian countries

o Their theme was not complaint against Hindu injustice but a demand for separate

political existence

o Inspired by reading about freedom fighters

o They felt ashamed and confused

o Since adoption of the Lahore Resolution, a tendency to rebel against the Muslim

League High Command, a small body of All India League became visible among the

leaders of the Muslim majority provinces

• Speech of A. K. Fazlul Huq

o Bengal should be democratic

o Even though democratic country, they were exercising autocracy

o As long as the ministers have the approval of Jinnah, they don’t have to care about

anything else.

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o Minister should have been responsible to the legislature but instead they are

responsible to Jinnah as the head of the Muslim League.

• Mindset of Muslims of Bengal

o A distrust was created in the mind of Muslims of Bengal against All India Muslim

League and its leaders.

• Mindset of Hindus for Lahore resolution

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• Reaction of Bengali Hindus about 2 nations

o They became angry when they lost their leadership in Bengal (1937).

o They were trying to discredit the Muslim League ministry in Bengal.

o They became desperate due to declined interests in land and capital.

o They did not like the analysis of Nehru.

o They were angry on losing their leadership.

o They were trying all means to discredit the Muslim League ministry in Bengal.

o The abolition of landlordism and nationalization of the holding

o Lahore resolution was clearly unaccepted.

o They made this resolution a communal issue, using religion to achieve their end.

o Newspapers in Calcutta began to hurl abuses and highly insulting remarks upon the

Muslim League leaders just to provoke the Muslim community and drag them into a

civil war in India.

o The Hindus were confident that they’d win as they were 75% of the population.

• Pakistan Movement was by the Muslim middle class people against the middle class Hindu

people. Muslim wanted improved opportunities of employment in government, commerce,

trade and industry.

• Neither Jinnah nor Fazlul Huq or Surhrawardy were communal minded people. Nor were

they believers in Pan-Islamism. They were exponents of Western Liberal Democracy.

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• Quit India Movement – call upon British to leave India.

o Was led by Gandhi and it was the third and last movement by Gandhi.

o Due to this movement, he was imprisoned.

o How it became stronger?

▪ Entry of Japan in the war, swift victory in South East Asia

▪ Asians were inspired by the effective and daring attacks on the British on

Singapore and simultaneous attacks on U. S. naval bases in Pacific to fight

against the colonial powers.

▪ Movement became stronger when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose escaped his

house in Calcutta and reached Saigon at last to direct the war against the

British India.

▪ The entire Indian Army stationed in South-East-Asia surrendered and Netaji

Bose converted it into, “Azad Hind Fauj”.

• Cripps Mission

o The threat to India for the Azad Hind Fauj and Japanese army produced new pressures
for political settlement and the pressures were strengthened by the declaration of
four freedoms by president Roosevelt.
o On 11th March 1942, British government announced the dispatch of Sir Stafford
Cripps, a cabinet minister.

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o A new offer promising an Indian dominion with the right to quit from the
Commonwealth and proposing a Constituent Assembly elected by provincial
legislatures to frame the constitution.
o Clause provided for protection of the interests of Muslims was the right of any
province not to join the said Constituent Assembly and remain satisfied either with
the Constitution as of 1935 or to have a new Constituent assembly with the same
status as the Indian Constituent Assembly.
o Nehru was sympathetic but Gandhi was not.
o Maulana Abul Kalam Azad told this offer meant opening the door to separation.

• Socio-economic condition after WWII

o War came to end, and the people gradually settled down.

o Tragedy was forgotten but the former structure of the society was destroyed.
o Common men lost confidence in the old semi-feudal society.
o They found that at the end of the day, man is an animal, and the talk of honesty, truth,
charity, justice by so called leaders of the society and so called intelligence led by
Caste Hindu, were mere nonsense.
o Black marketers, contractors, executives made immense money during the war.
o They acquired new cars, house, mistresses, etc. However, they didn’t even bother to
pay a few coins to the starving people.
o The hungry men were fighting with the dogs for the discarded foodstuff from rich
men’s house.
o Cinema houses were filled to capacity, and new clubs came into existence everyday
where the soldiers and their friends enjoyed life.

• Cabinet Mission

o The cabinet mission left England on March 19th and arrived at Karachi on March 23rd.

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o The third June plan announced by Lord Mountbatten after it was accepted by both
Congress and Muslim League emphasized only on the formation of the second
Constituent Assembly for the Muslim majority provinces.
o Held for long time and discussed with almost all the leaders representing communal,
functional, political and professional organization in India.
o Members unable to advise British Government that the power which in British hand to
be bestowed to two entirely sovereign states.
o One of the main reasons they could not agree is the idea of Pakistan’s geographical
factor – the two halves of the proposed Pakistan state were to be separated by some
seven hundred miles and communication between them both in war and in peace
would be dependent on the goodwill of Hindustan.
o The Pakistan demanded by the Muslim League would contain a non-Muslim minority
of 37% in the west and 48% in the east.

• Kolkata Riot

o On August 8 1946, Nehru was called upon to form government which he did but the

Muslim refused.

o Muslim League decided to observe August 16th as the direct Action Day.

o The day was marred by horrible communal riots in Calcutta.

o Thousands of men, women and children were killed and burnt alive.

o Major section of the Caste Hindu led by extremists like Hindu Mahasavites were

certainly responsible for creating this situation and choose Bengal as the only province

in India which had a Muslim League ministry.

• Division of Bengal and Punjab

o Mid of March, Bengal became an important political question.

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o Acharya Kripalani, the president of the congress demanded partition of Bengal in a

statement to press in Madras.

o Gandhi refused as it would cause communal problems permanently.

o Tragic aspect was that it was Nehru who played into the hands of Mountbatten.

o Suhrawardy stated that partition was unavoidable but Bengal would remain

indivisible.

o Abul Hashim appealed to the Hindus not to be misled by reactionary and extremist

Hindu leaders.

o Abul Hashim and Sarat Chandra Bose was dropped from the Interim Govt and jointly

called Gandhi on 12th May and discussed the sovereign Bengal issue and received his

blessings.

o Bose gave a dinner on May 20 to the member of Congress-League joint committee

where a formal tentative Agreement was signed.

• Final Partition

o 3rd June Mountbatten announce that the British Govt had accepted the principle of

partition and had resolved to withdraw its authority from India on 14th August or

within ten weeks’ time.

o Partition would be done based on two nation theory.

o Mountbatten was sure that if the partition was indeed done according to the two

nation theory, then the congress would reject it and so he proposed a scheme which

would not follow two nation theory.

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