HISTORY ASSIGNMENT

SEMESTER – II (2020-21)

Name: Lakshita Jain

Class: V-I-C
Roll No.: 10
Table of Contents
DIFFERENT HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1757 AND 1857...................................2
 IN 1757......................................................................................................................................2
 IN 1760......................................................................................................................................2
 IN 1764......................................................................................................................................2
 IN 1765......................................................................................................................................2
 IN 1772......................................................................................................................................3
 IN 1773......................................................................................................................................3
 IN 1784......................................................................................................................................3
 IN 1813......................................................................................................................................3
 IN 1829......................................................................................................................................3
 IN 1833......................................................................................................................................4
 IN 1848......................................................................................................................................4
 IN 1853......................................................................................................................................4
 IN 1857......................................................................................................................................4
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS....................................................................................5
a) Arya Samaj.....................................................................................................................................5
b) Brahmo Samaj...............................................................................................................................5
c) Theosophical Society.....................................................................................................................6
d) Rama Krishna Mission...................................................................................................................7
e) Syed Ahmed Khan..........................................................................................................................7
 DIFFERENT HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE
BETWEEN 1757 AND 1857

There were a number of events that happened in the years 1757 to 1857. Some of which are
the following.

 IN 1757
Battle of Plassey was held on 23rd June 1757 between the Nawab of Bengal (Siraj-Ud-
daulah) and the British led by Robert Clive at Palashi, on the banks of the Hooghly River.
This Battle became famous because it was the first major victory the Company won in India,
the main reason for which was that the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of Siraj-ud-daulah’s
commanders, never fought the battle as Clive had managed to secure his support by
promising to make him Nawab after crushing Siraj-ud-daulah.
After the defeat at Plassey, Siraj-ud-daulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar was made the
Nawab with conditions which later when Mir Jafar failed to fulfil, the Company deposed him
and installed Mir Qasim as the new Nawab of Bengal.

 IN 1760
The Battle of Wandiwash was held in 1760 in Vandavasi in present day Tamil Nadu
between the French and the British with the British being victorious.

 IN 1764
Battle of Buxar in 1764, was between the combined armies of the Nawab of Bengal (Mir
Qasim), the Nawab of Awadh, the Mughal emperor (Shah Alam-II) on one side and English
East India company on other side.
In which, Mir Qasim was defeated and driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was
reinstalled. This battle brought Bengal under the direct control of British

 IN 1765
The British got Diwani rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa under Governor Robert Clive.

Page 2|8
  IN 1772
Warren Hastings was appointed as the Governor of Bengal. He introduced the annual lease
system of auctioning and under his governorship Calcutta became the capital.
He reorganized the judicial system by establishing the highest civil court of appeal- Sadr
Diwani Adalat and the highest appellate criminal court- Sadr Nizamat Adalat

 IN 1773
Regulating Act was passed by the British Parliament to regulate the actions of the company.
It changed the designation from governor of Bengal to the Governor General of Bengal.
As per this act, Supreme Court was established in Calcutta in 1774 following which Sir
Elijah Imphay became the first Chief justice of British India.

 IN 1784
Pitt's India Act came into effect, the main purpose of the act being addressing the
shortcomings of the regulating act.
For the first time, this act differentiated the company’s political functions and commercial
functions and the company’s territories in India were first time called as the British
Possessions in India.

 IN 1813
Charter Act was enacted which permitted Christian missionaries to propagate English and
preach their religion.
The Company's commercial monopoly was ended, except for the tea trade and the trade with
China.

 IN 1829
Lord William Bentinck became the first Governor-General of India.
He promulgated his Regulation XVII on 4 December 1829 prohibiting the practice of sati.
The introduction of English Education was a significant event of his administration.

Page 3|8
  IN 1833
The Charter Act of 1833 was passed according to which the English East India Company
ceased to be a commercial agency in India. Along with the abolition of slavery throughout the
British Empire.

 IN 1848
Lord Dalhousie was made the youngest Governor General of India.
At the end of the second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, Punjab was annexed by Dalhousie.
He introduced the concept of Doctrine of Lapse which was applied to Satara in 1848, to
Jhansi and Nagpur in 1854 and therefore all of them were annexed.
He introduced the process of modernization of India. Hence, he is hailed as “the maker of
modern India”.

 IN 1853
The first Railway Line connecting Bombay with Thane was opened in 1853. The foundation
of Modern Postal System was also laid down by Lord Dalhousie

 IN 1857
The Company became a political power in India after the battles of Plassey and Buxar and
ruled till 1857, in which the first war of Indian Independence was fought which is also known
as the Sepoy Mutiny or The Revolt of 1857.

Page 4|8
 SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS

a) Arya Samaj

o Arya Samaj was founded in the year 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati at
Bombay and later on shifted its centre of activities to Lahore.

o It basically worked upon ten principles, some of which are:

 Opposition to idol worship

 Faith in the theory of Karma
 Chanting of Mantras or Vedic hymns
 Opposition of the theory of God-incarnation
 Polygamy, child marriage and
 Propagation of Sanskrit language etc.

o Dayanand Saraswati also gave a clarion call – “Go back to Vedas”.

o He promoted the recognition of equal rights for men and women in all spheres of life.
o His ideological tenets later on resulted in the establishment of D.A.V. Colleges,
Gurukuls and Girls’ Gurukuls by his disciples Lala Hansraj, Pandit Guru Dutta and
Lala Lajpat Rai in his memory, in which the curriculum taught was an amalgamation
of traditional Indian teachings and Western scientific knowledge.

o With his Arya Samaj, Dayanand came forward to reform the orthodox Hindu society.
He raised voice against the predominance of the Brahmins, rigidity of the caste
system, untouchability and so on.

b) Brahmo Samaj

o The Brahmo Samaj, a prominent socio-religious movement, was founded by Raja

Ram Mohan Roy, who was born in a well-to-do family in Bengal, probably in 1772,
and Debendranath Tagore and others on August 20, 1828.
o The Brahmo Samaj forbids idol-worship and advocated belief in a universal religion
based on the principle of one supreme God.
o In all fields of social reform, including abolition of the caste system and of the dowry
system, emancipation of women, and improving the educational system, the Brahmo
Page 5|8
 Samaj reflected the ideologies of the Bengal Renaissance which began in the 19th
century.
o The Brahmo Samaj discards Hindu rituals and adopts some Christian practices in its
worship therefore, influenced by Islam and Christianity, it denounces polytheism,
image worship, and the caste system.
o Its Trust Deed was made in 1830, formalizing its inception and it was duly and
publicly inaugurated in January 1830 by the sanctification of the first house of prayer,
now known as the Adi Brahmo Samaj.

c) Theosophical Society

o A group of Western thinkers led by madam H P Blavatsky (1831 to 1891) and

Colonel M S Olcott, who were inspired by Indian thought and culture, founded
Theosophical society in United States in 1875.
o They shifted their headquarters to Adayar, in Madras in India
o Mrs. Annie Besant was a prominent member of the Theosophical society.
o The prime objective of Theosophical society was to propound an organization of the
people on the basis of brotherhood, to study ancient religion, science and philosophy
available to any part of the world.
o The Theosophists advocated the revival and strengthening of the ancient religions
of Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. They believed in the transmigration of
soul, theory of Karma, rebirth and liberation.
o This society immensely contributed to the socio-cultural, socio-political and socio
religious life of the nation and had its branches all over the world and through these
centres the world recognized the spiritual greatness of India and the value of the
Hidden Treasures of the Eastern religions- Hinduism and Buddhism.

d) Rama Krishna Mission

o The Ramakrishna Mission was established in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda, the chief
disciple of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Page 6|8
o The Mission has drawn all into ideals and principles from the life and teachings of Sri
Ramakrishna who was born in a poor Brahmin family and his childhood name
was Gadadhar Chattopadhyay.
o His message of spiritualism contributed remarkably towards strengthening not only
Hindu religion and society but also Indian nationalism.
o The first “Math” was established at Baranagar.
o In 1899, another ‘math’ was started at Belur, which became the central ‘math’. It is
the educational centre of the saints of the Ramakrishna Mission.
o The mission worked to help the poor, improve the conditions of women, and fight
against untouchability and superstition and to overhaul the education system.
o They wanted that the Indian youth should rise, awake and work to eradicate hunger
and ignorance among the masses.

e) Syed Ahmed Khan

o Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a well-known Muslim reformer, educator and politician
who was born on 17th October 1817 in Delhi.
o When the war of independence broke out in 1857, he was working as a chief judge in
Bijnaur.
o This revolt was one of the turning points in his life.
o He foresaw the imperative need for Muslims to acquire proficiency in English and
modern sciences for the community to maintain its social and political clout,
particularly in Northern India.

o He was one of the early pioneers who recognized the critical role of education in the
empowerment of the poor and backward Muslim community.

o He started a movement in order to give respectable position to Muslims in society,

this movement is known as the Aligarh Movement, which was a systemic movement
aimed at reforming the social, political and educational aspects of the Muslim
community.

Page 7|8
o He also founded the Scientific Society in 1863 to translate major works in the
sciences and modern arts into Urdu and is known as the founder of Two Nation
Theory in the modern era.
o In 1886, he set up the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Education Congress to bring
together education and culture as he emphasised on the need for an autonomous
Muslim institution free of any government funding.

Page 8|8