NCERT History — Complete Summaries

Key Concepts

• History is the study of the past using sources — manuscripts, inscriptions, archaeology
• Manuscripts: hand-written texts on palm leaves or bark (birch/bhojpatra). Found in temples, monasteries. Written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil, Arabic
• Inscriptions: writing on hard surfaces (stone, copper plates). More reliable than manuscripts
• Archaeology: study of objects (pottery, tools, buildings) from excavations
• India's history divided: Ancient (up to 700 CE), Medieval (700–1750), Modern (1750 onwards)
• Earliest people lived near rivers — food, water, transport. Ganga, Indus, Narmada civilisations

Stone Age Periods

• Bhimbetka (MP): Rock shelters with paintings — UNESCO World Heritage Site PYQ
• Earliest humans: hunter-gatherers — moved for food, did not settle
• Fire discovered in Palaeolithic age
• Neolithic: First farmers, first domesticated animals (dog, cattle, sheep)
• Mehrgarh: Oldest farming settlement in Indian subcontinent (~7000 BCE)

Key Features

• Also called Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) or Harappan Civilisation — discovered 1921
• Spread: Pakistan (Harappa, Mohenjodaro), India (Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Banawali)
• Town Planning: Grid pattern, burnt brick houses, covered drainage system PYQ
• Great Bath at Mohenjodaro — probably ritual bathing
• Granary at Harappa — central storage of grain
• Script: Not yet deciphered (Indus script)
• Trade: with Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) — seals found there
• No evidence of temples or palaces — possibly priest-rulers
• Decline: ~1900 BCE — causes debated: floods, climate change, Aryan invasion (now disputed)

The Vedas

• Rigveda (~1500–1000 BCE): Oldest text — hymns to gods (Indra, Agni, Varuna). 1028 hymns. IMP
• Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda — other Vedas
• Sanskrit was the language of the Vedas
• Early Vedic Society: Pastoral (cattle herders), no rigid caste system
• Later Vedic Society: Agriculture more important, caste system hardening (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras)

Megalithic Burials

• Megaliths: Large stone structures used as burial markers (South India, Northeast)
• Buried with iron tools, pottery, and sometimes horses — suggests belief in afterlife
• Found at: Brahmagiri (Karnataka), Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu)

Janapadas & Mahajanapadas (600 BCE)

• 16 Mahajanapadas mentioned in Buddhist texts — powerful kingdoms
• Important ones: Magadha, Kosala, Vajji, Kuru, Panchala, Avanti, Gandhara
• Vajji — republic (gana-sangha), capital Vaishali. Women could attend sabhas
• Magadha — most powerful; became base for Maurya Empire
• Used iron tools → better agriculture → surplus → stronger states

Key Rulers

• Bimbisara (Haryanka dynasty): First important Magadha king; used diplomacy + conquest
• Ajatashatru: Son of Bimbisara; used catapult (war machine); conquered Vajji
• Chandragupta Maurya (~321 BCE): Founded Maurya Empire with Chanakya's help
• Ashoka (~268–232 BCE): Greatest Maurya king; embraced Buddhism after Kalinga War (261 BCE) PYQ

• Period: 700–1750 CE — huge diversity in rulers, cultures, trade
• Cartography: Al-Idrisi (12th c Arab) made India map — but South was at top!
• New foods, crops introduced: potatoes, chillies, tea, coffee, maize (from Americas via traders) IMP
• Persian language dominated court culture in Sultanate and Mughal periods
• New administrative terms: Sultan (ruler), Zamindar (landowner), Mahal (district)

• Alauddin Khalji's Reforms: Price control markets (4 markets in Delhi), land revenue reforms, paid army in cash
• Qutb Minar — started by Aibak, completed by Iltutmish. UNESCO site PYQ
• Sultans used Persian as official language; introduced iqta (land grant) system

• Mansabdari System: Military-administrative ranking — Mansab (rank) determined salary and soldiers to maintain PYQ
• Akbar's Land Revenue: Todar Mal's Ain-i-Dahsala — 10-year average, paid in cash
• Din-i-Ilahi: Akbar's new syncretic religion — accepted by only ~18 people including Birbal
• Mughal painting: Combined Persian + Indian styles; Hamzanama (Akbar), Badshahnama (Shah Jahan)

Bhakti Movement

• Devotional movement emphasising personal relationship with God, cutting across caste PYQ
• Saints: Kabir (weaver, Hindi/Urdu dohas), Mirabai (Rajput princess, devotee of Krishna), Tukaram (Maharashtra), Chaitanya (Bengal), Guru Nanak (Punjab — founded Sikhism)
• Tamil Bhakti: Alvars (Vishnu devotees), Nayanars (Shiva devotees) — ~600–900 CE
• Challenged caste hierarchy, accepted women saints

Sufi Movement

• Islamic mystical movement emphasising love of God, service to humanity
• Silsilas (orders): Chishti (most popular in India — Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer), Suhrawardi, Qadiri, Naqshbandi
• Khanqahs (hospices) where Sufis lived and taught
• Music (qawwali), poetry (ghazal) important in Sufi practice

• East India Company: Founded 1600, got trading rights. Initially traded cotton, silk, spices
• Battle of Plassey (1757): Clive defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah → British political control began PYQ
• Battle of Buxar (1764): Defeated combined forces of Awadh + Bengal + Mughal emperor → got Diwani rights (revenue collection)
• Diwani Rights: Right to collect revenue from Bengal, Bihar, Orissa — key to British power
• British used Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse to annex princely states
• Doctrine of Lapse (Dalhousie): If ruler dies without natural heir, state annexed — Satara, Nagpur, Jhansi, Awadh

• Causes: Greased cartridges (pig/cow fat), Doctrine of Lapse, economic exploitation, social reforms (widow remarriage, etc.)
• Immediate cause: New Enfield rifle cartridges — sepoys had to bite them
• Started: Meerut, May 10, 1857
• Major centres and leaders:
  • Delhi — Bahadur Shah Zafar (last Mughal)
  • Lucknow — Begum Hazrat Mahal
  • Jhansi — Rani Lakshmibai PYQ
  • Kanpur — Nana Sahib
  • Bareilly — Khan Bahadur Khan
• Suppressed by: British brought troops from Punjab, used railways/telegraphs
• Aftermath: Company rule ended → British Crown took over (1858); Bahadur Shah exiled to Rangoon

• Indian National Congress: Founded 1885 by A.O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha
• Moderates (1885–1905): Petitions, prayers — Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta
• Extremists (from 1905): Boycott, Swadeshi, self-rule — Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai (Lal-Bal-Pal)
• Partition of Bengal (1905): Curzon divided Bengal → massive Swadeshi movement
• Muslim League: Founded 1906 at Dhaka — Separate electorate demanded
• Lucknow Pact (1916): Congress + Muslim League agreed on separate electorates
• Gandhi's arrival: 1915 — Champaran Satyagraha 1917, Khilafat + Non-Cooperation 1920
• Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22): Boycott of schools, courts, British goods; ended after Chauri Chaura (1922)
• Civil Disobedience (1930): Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha) March 12 – April 6, 1930 PYQ
• Quit India (1942): "Do or Die" — August 8, 1942; underground movement led by Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia
• Independence: August 15, 1947; Partition into India and Pakistan

• Nationalism: Idea that people sharing language/culture/history form a nation deserving self-rule
• French Revolution (1789): Liberty, Equality, Fraternity — spread nationalist ideas across Europe
• Napoleon Bonaparte: Spread revolutionary ideas through conquest; Napoleonic Code
• Italian Unification (1861): Mazzini (Young Italy), Cavour (diplomat), Garibaldi (military) PYQ
• German Unification (1871): Bismarck ("Blood and Iron" policy); Franco-Prussian War
• Romanticism: Cultural movement that stirred nationalist feelings through art, music, folklore
• 1848 Revolutions: Uprisings across Europe for liberal/nationalist demands — mostly failed but accelerated change

• First World War impact: India contributed 1.4 million soldiers; wartime taxes increased poverty; Rowlatt Act 1919 (detention without trial)
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919): Brigadier Dyer ordered firing on unarmed crowd — 379+ killed PYQ
• Khilafat Movement: Muslims protest against treatment of Ottoman Caliph; Gandhi joined to forge Hindu-Muslim unity
• Non-Cooperation Movement: Surrender of titles, boycott of civil services, courts, schools, foreign cloth
• Simon Commission (1927): No Indian members → nationwide protests → Lala Lajpat Rai killed in lathi charge
• Round Table Conferences: 1930 (Gandhi absent), 1931 (Gandhi-Irwin Pact), 1932 (Gandhi attended, walked out over Poona Pact)
• Poona Pact (1932): Gandhi fasted against separate electorate for Dalits; Ambedkar agreed to reserved seats in general electorate

• Industrial Revolution: Britain first (~1760s); steam engine, factories, child labour, urbanisation
• India's textile industry: hand-woven Indian cloth destroyed by cheap machine-made British cloth
• Bombay textile mills: First cotton mill 1854; workers migrated from villages
• Print Culture in India: First printing press (Goa, 1556 by Portuguese); Vernacular Press Act 1878 (British censored Indian language press)
• Famous newspapers: Kesari (Tilak — Marathi), Al Hilal (Maulana Azad), Amrita Bazar Patrika
• Books that spread reform: Anandamath (Bankim), Nil Darpan (Dinabandhu Mitra — indigo peasants)

• Mesopotamia (Iraq): Tigris-Euphrates; Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians; cuneiform script; Code of Hammurabi (first law code) PYQ
• Roman Empire: Latin language, Roman law, Christianity spread; fell 476 CE (Western); Eastern (Byzantine) fell 1453 CE
• Chinese Civilisation: Mandate of Heaven, Confucianism (ethical governance), silk road trade
• Islamic Caliphates: Arab expansion after Prophet Muhammad (622 CE); four caliphs → Umayyad → Abbasid dynasties; Baghdad as centre of learning

• Feudalism: European social system — King → Lords → Knights → Serfs. Manors were self-sufficient units
• The Church: Catholic Church most powerful — Pope claimed authority over kings; Crusades (wars to capture Jerusalem) 1096–1291
• Renaissance (14th–17th c): Rebirth of Greek/Roman learning; art (Leonardo, Michelangelo), science (Copernicus, Galileo), humanism PYQ
• Reformation: Martin Luther (1517) challenged Church → Protestant Christianity
• Age of Exploration: Columbus (1492 — Americas), Vasco da Gama (1498 — India), Magellan (circumnavigation)
• Colonisation of Americas: Spanish destroyed Aztec (Mexico) and Inca (Peru) civilisations; brought diseases that killed 90% of indigenous population

• Industrial Revolution (~1760–1840, Britain): Steam power, factories, railways, urbanisation; spread to Europe and USA
• Colonialism: Europeans colonised Asia, Africa, Americas for raw materials and markets; "Scramble for Africa" (Berlin Conference 1884)
• World War I (1914–1918): Trigger — assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; Allied Powers vs Central Powers; Treaty of Versailles (1919) — humiliated Germany PYQ
• Russian Revolution (1917): February (Tsar overthrown) and October (Bolsheviks under Lenin took power); first communist state; impact on Indian nationalists
• Great Depression (1929): US stock market crash → global unemployment → rise of fascism
• World War II (1939–1945): Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini), Japan vs Allies; Holocaust (6 million Jews killed); Hiroshima-Nagasaki atomic bombs (Aug 1945) → Japan surrendered
• Post-WW2: UN formed (1945); Cold War (USA vs USSR); decolonisation of Asia and Africa

• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI): Found Harappan sites through excavation
• Marshall: First Director-General of ASI to excavate Mohenjodaro
• IVC economy: Agriculture (wheat, barley, cotton), craft production, long-distance trade
• Seals: Steatite (soapstone) seals with animals and undeciphered script — used as merchant IDs
• Weights and measures: Standardised across IVC — shows centralised control
• No clear evidence of temples — possible priest-king system
• Skeletal analysis: Diet was varied; no evidence of massive violence at Mohenjodaro

• Sangam Age (South India, ~300 BCE–300 CE): Tamil literature — Purananuru, Akananuru; trade with Rome PYQ
• Ashoka's Dhamma: Non-violence, religious tolerance, compassion; edicts in Prakrit/Brahmi
• Gupta Empire (320–550 CE): "Golden Age" — Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya)
• Achievements in Gupta period: Kalidasa's Shakuntala, Aryabhata (mathematics, zero concept, heliocentrism), Varahamihira (astronomy), iron pillar at Delhi (no rust!) PYQ
• Land grants to Brahmins → zamindari system began
• Post-Gupta: Harsha (606–647 CE); Hiuen Tsang visited; last great North Indian empire before Sultanate

• Varna system: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra — based on birth by Gupta period
• Manusmriti: Text on social norms; justified caste hierarchy; discriminatory treatment of women and Shudras; critiqued by Ambedkar
• Gotra system: Clan-based marriage rules (no marriage within same gotra)
• Jati (sub-caste): Endogamous groups — more rigid than varna
• Women's position: Declined over time — sati, child marriage emerged in post-Gupta period
• Buddhism and Jainism challenged caste — open to all regardless of birth

• Gautama Buddha (~563–483 BCE): Born Lumbini (Nepal); enlightenment at Bodh Gaya; first sermon at Sarnath; death (Mahaparinirvana) at Kushinagar
• Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering; desire causes suffering; end desire to end suffering; follow Eightfold Path
• Eightfold Path: Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration
• Theravada vs Mahayana Buddhism: Theravada = original austere form; Mahayana = Buddha as divine, spread to China/Japan PYQ
• Mahavira (599–527 BCE): 24th Tirthankara; Jainism — ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, aparigraha (5 vows)
• Buddhist Architecture: Stupa (Sanchi), Chaitya (prayer hall), Vihara (monastery), rock-cut caves (Ajanta, Ellora)
• Sanchi Stupa: Built by Ashoka; torana (gateways) with Jataka stories — UNESCO site PYQ

• Ramanuja (11–12th c): Vishishtadvaita — God is personal (Vishnu); devotion over ritual
• Basavanna (12th c): Lingayat movement (Karnataka) — rejected caste, temple worship; Vachanas (prose-poetry)
• Kabir: Dohas (couplets) rejected idolatry, caste, both Hindu and Muslim orthodoxy
• Mirabai: Composed bhajans to Krishna; defied Rajput norms; went to Vrindavan
• Tukaram: Maharashtra; Abhangas; Varkari movement (annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur)
• Shankaradeva: Ekasarana Nama Dharma — Vaishnavism in Assam; founded sattras (monasteries) PYQ
• Sufi orders: Chishti (most India-friendly, accepted music), Suhrawardi (wealth-accepting), Qadiri (Punjab)

• Founded: 1336 CE by Harihara and Bukka (Sangama dynasty)
• Capital: Hampi on Tungabhadra river (UNESCO World Heritage) PYQ
• Greatest king: Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) — Telugu poet, patron of arts; Amuktamalyada
• Economy: Trade in cotton, spices; Arab/Portuguese traders visited Calicut and Hampi
• Architecture: Virupaksha Temple, Vitthala Temple (stone chariot), Lotus Mahal, elephant stables
• Battle of Talikota (1565): Defeated by Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar) → Hampi sacked
• Water system: Elaborate canal network — tanks, aqueducts

• Ain-i-Akbari (Abul Fazl): Documents Mughal revenue system — Todar Mal's Zabt system
• Zabt system: Land measured, average yield calculated over 10 years, revenue fixed in cash
• Zamindars: Intermediaries between state and peasants; collected revenue; had hereditary rights
• Peasants (raiyats): Faced high revenue demands; indebted to moneylenders; many revolts in 17th-18th c
• Women in agriculture: Women worked in fields; had property rights in some communities

• Mughal chronicles written by court historians (paid to glorify emperor)
• Key texts: Akbarnama/Ain-i-Akbari (Abul Fazl — Akbar's reign), Badshahnama (Shah Jahan), Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Jahangir — his own autobiography)
• Baburnama: Babur's autobiography — considered literary masterpiece in Chagatai Turkish
• Mughal court culture: Persian language, formal durbars, jharoka darshan (king showing himself at window)
• Women of the harem: Gulbadan Begum wrote Humayunnama; Nur Jahan issued farmans, had coins struck in her name

• Permanent Settlement (1793) — Lord Cornwallis: Zamindars fixed as landowners; fixed revenue to British; peasants became tenants PYQ
• Ryotwari Settlement (Munro, Madras): Direct settlement with peasants; no zamindar intermediary
• Mahalwari Settlement (NW India): Village community collectively responsible for revenue
• Indigo Rebellion (1859–60): Bengal peasants refused to grow indigo for British planters; Nil Darpan play exposed exploitation
• Deccan Riots (1875): Maharashtra peasants attacked moneylenders; burned debt records

• Sepoy perspective: Loss of caste when crossing seas; new cartridge issue; low pay; British disrespect
• Civilian perspective: Loss of land (Doctrine of Lapse), economic hardship, threat to religion
• Nature of revolt: Local leaders, no unified command — why it failed
• British reprisals: Brutal — blowing rebels from cannons; mass hangings; Delhi sacked
• Aftermath: Government of India Act 1858 — Company rule ended; Queen Victoria's Proclamation promised respect for native customs and religions
• Impact on army: Indian regiments reorganised — fewer high-caste soldiers; more Gurkhas, Sikhs, Pathans (divide and rule)

• Three Presidency Towns: Bombay, Calcutta, Madras — grew around British trading posts (forts)
• Calcutta: Fort William (1700); Black Hole of Calcutta (1756)
• Social changes: New middle class (lawyers, doctors, teachers); Victorian architecture mixed with Indian
• Hill Stations: Shimla (summer capital), Darjeeling, Ooty — built for British to escape heat
• Railway impact: Connected cities, moved troops, boosted trade, created new social mixing (caste barriers weakened)
• Urban poverty: Chawls in Bombay (workers' housing); slums emerged alongside grand colonial buildings

• Gandhi's philosophy: Satyagraha (truth-force), Ahimsa (non-violence), Swaraj (self-rule)
• South Africa (1893–1915): Championed rights of Indian workers; developed Satyagraha method
• Champaran (1917): First Indian Satyagraha — indigo farmers' cause
• Kheda (1918): Farmers' revenue relief during famine
• Ahmedabad (1918): Mill workers' strike — first urban Satyagraha
• Non-Cooperation (1920–22): Hartals, boycotts; 30,000 arrested including Gandhi
• Civil Disobedience (1930–34): Salt March; women's large participation; Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931
• Quit India (1942): "Do or Die"; Gandhi arrested; underground movement
• Partition: Gandhi opposed it; worked for Hindu-Muslim unity till assassination Jan 30, 1948

• Two-Nation Theory: Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations (Jinnah's argument)
• Cabinet Mission (1946): Proposed united India with 3 groups; Congress accepted, League's interpretation differed
• Direct Action Day (Aug 16, 1946): Muslim League called for — Calcutta riots, 4,000+ killed
• Mountbatten Plan (June 3, 1947): Partition accepted; Radcliffe Line drew the border (Punjab + Bengal divided)
• Human cost: 1–2 million killed; 10–15 million displaced — largest migration in history PYQ
• Women particularly victimised — abductions, violence; later recovery efforts

• Constituent Assembly: Met Dec 9, 1946; 299 members; Dr Rajendra Prasad as President; Dr B.R. Ambedkar as Drafting Committee Chair
• Key debates: Separate electorates (rejected), cow slaughter, medium of instruction, President's powers
• Objective Resolution: Moved by Nehru (Dec 13, 1946) — proclaimed India as sovereign democratic republic; basis for Preamble
• Dr Ambedkar's contribution: Drafted Constitution; included fundamental rights to protect minorities/Dalits PYQ
• Constitution adopted: November 26, 1949 (Constitution Day); came into effect January 26, 1950 (Republic Day)
• Constitution borrowed from: UK (parliamentary system), USA (fundamental rights, judicial review), Ireland (DPSP), Canada (federation), Australia (concurrent list), Germany (emergency provisions)