INDIA

NATIONAL ANTHEM OF INDIA:

Jaana Gaana Maana Adhinayaka Jayehe
Bharata bhagya vidhata;
Punjaba Sindhu Gujarata Maratha,
Dravida Utkala Banga,
Vindhya, Himachala, Jamuna, Ganga,
Ucchhala Jaladhitaranga;
Taba Shubha Naame Jaage
Taba Shubha Ashish Maage
Gaye taba jaya gaatha.
Jana gana mangala dayaka jaya he
Bharata bhagya vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

LIST OF STATES AND THEIR CAPITALS:

State List	Name of Capital	Languages
Andra Pradesh	Hyderabad	Telugu and Urdu
Arunachal Pradesh	Itanager	Miji, Apotanji, Merdukpen, Tagin,Adi, Honpa, Bangini-Nishi.
Assam	Dispur	Assamese
Bihar	Patna	Hindi
Chhattisgarh	Raipur	Hindi
Goa	Panaji	Marathi and Konkani
Gujarat	Gandhinagar	Gujarati
Haryana	Chandigarh	Hindi
Himachal Pradesh	Shimla	Hindi and Pahari
Mizoram	Aizawl	Mizo and English
Jammu & Kashmir	Srinagar (Summer) Jammu (Winter)	Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Ladakhi, Pahari,Punjabi and Dadri
Jharkhand	Ranchi	Hindi
Karnataka	Bangalore	Kannda
Kerala	Trivandrum	Malayalam
Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal	Hindi
Maharashtra	Mumbai	Marathi
Manipur	Imphal	Manipuri
Meghalaya	Shillong	Khasi, Jaintia and Garo
Nagaland	Kohima	Ao, Konyak, Angami, Sema and Lotha
Orissa	Bhubaneswar	Oriya
Punjab	Chandigarh	Punjabi
Rajasthan	Jaipur	Rajasthani and Hindi
Sikkim	Gangtok	Bhutia, Hindi, Nepali, Lepcha, Limbu
Tamil Nadu	Chennai	Tamil
Tripura	Agartala	Bengali, Tripuri, Manipuri,
Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow	Hindi
Uttaranchal	Dehra Dun	Hindi
West Bengal	Kolkata	Bengali

RELIGIONS IN INDIA:

· HINDUISM - about 82%

· ISLAM - about 12%

· CHRISTIANITY - about 2.5%

· SIKHISM - about 2%

· BUDDHISM - about 0.7%

· JAINISM - about 0.5%

· ZOROASTRIANISM - about 0.01%

· JUDAISM - about 0.0005%

INFORMATION ON INDIA:

India known as the land of spirituality and philosophy, was the birthplace of some religions, which even exist today in the world.

The most dominant religion in India today is Hinduism. About 80% of Indians are Hindus. Hinduism is a colorful religion with a vast gallery of Gods and Goddesses. Hinduism is one of the ancient religions in the world. It is supposed to have developed about 5000 years ago. Later on in ancient period other religions developed in India.

Around 500 BC two other religions developed in India, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. Today only about 0.5% of Indians are Jains and about 0.7% are Buddhist. In ancient times Jainism and specially Buddhism were very popular in India. Indians who accepted Buddhist philosophy spread it not only within the Indian sub-continent but also to kingdoms east and south of India.

These three ancient religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, are seen as the molders of the India philosophy. In 'modern' period new religions were also established in India.

One comparatively new religion in India is Sikhism and it was established in the 15^th century. About 2% of Indians are Sikhs. There were other attempts to create new religions in India but they did not always succeed. For example, a Moghul emperor, Akbar, who reigned between 1556 - 1605, tried to establish a new religion, Din- E- Elahi, but it did not survive. There are other religious philosophies whose believers see themselves as a separate religion, but they do not always get this recognition. For example Lingayat of south India see themselves as a different religion, while others see them as a sect of Hinduism. There are also some tribal communities who demand to be recognized as separate religion from Hinduism. In the 19^th century some Hindu reformers tried to remodel Hinduism to adjust it to modern period.

Along with the religions that developed in India, there are followers of non- Indian religions. The largest non-Indian religion is Islam. They are about 12% of India's population. Christians are more then 2% of India's population. There are also Zoroastrians who even though make less then 0.01% of India's population, are known around India. There are also a few thousand Jews in India. Judaism and Christianity might have arrived in India before they arrived in Europe.

NATIONAL FLAG:

Born on July 22, 1947 in the Constituent Assembly on the eve of the Independence, the Indian national Flag is a horizontal tricolor. When the adhoc Committee on the Flag adopted it as the National Flag of free India, Jawaharlal Nehru made a memorable speech and concluded saying :

"...this flag that I have the honor to present to you is... a flag

of freedom,
not only for ourselves, but to all people, who may see it.."

A band of deep saffron is at the top, white in middle, and dark green is at the bottom. The three bands of colors are in equal proportions. While in the center of the white band is a wheel in navy blue. This wheel is an adaptation from the sculpted wheel, called Chakra, the wheel of law, appearing on the abacus of Sarnath Capital of Asoka, the ancient Indian emperor. It has 24 spokes and the diameter approximates the width of the white band.

With all these things the width and length of the Tricolor is supposed to be in the proportion of 2 to 3. The design of the Tricolor has been adopted by the constitutional Assembly of India on 22nd July, 1947. The flag was designed as a symbol of freedom. Its use and display are, however, regulated by a code.

Significance of the Tricolor:
Each of the three colors in our Tricolor has a special significance. The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation. The white, is meant for purity and truth. While the green is for faith and fertility. The navy blue wheel in the center of the white band signifies which denotes continual progress of the country and its blue wheel signifies the continuity of the nation's progress which is deemed to be as boundless as the blue sky above and as fathomless as the deep blue sea that keeps its hands and feet washed.
NATIONAL EMBLUM:

The National Emblem of India has an origin steeped in the culture and myriad colors of India. A symbol of the modern Indian republic, the emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion, capital of Emperor Ashoka the Great as preserved in the Sarnath Museum situated near Varanasi in the north Indian province of Uttar Pradesh

The National Emblem of India is a near-replica of the Lion Capital of Sarnath. The Lion Capital was erected atop a Pillar in around 250 BC by Emperor Ashoka the Great to mark the spot where Buddha first preached his Dharma (gospel of peace and emancipation) and where the Buddhist Sangha was founded.

In the original Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka, there stand four Asiatic lions, back to back, mounted on a circular abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. These wheels stand for the "Ashoka Chakra" or "Dharmachakra" or the "Eternal wheel of law" as mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. The whole of the Lion Capital was carved out of a single block of polished sandstone.

The Indian National Emblem, modeled on the Lion Capital, features 3 lions. The fourth lion is hidden from sight since it is positioned at the rear end; so is the bell-shaped lotus flower situated beneath. The frieze beneath the lions is shown with a wheel in the center, a bull on the right, a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left. The wheel at the centre of the abacus symbolizes the "Dharma Chakra".

The three lions (the one hidden from the front view excluded) represent power, courage and confidence, and rest on a circular abacus girded by four smaller animals that are separated by intervening wheels. These four animals are the guardians of the four directions:
the lion of the north,
the elephant of the east,
the horse of the south and
the bull of the west.

The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom, instancing the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. Inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script is the motto 'Satyameva Jayate' meaning "Truth Alone Triumphs". It is a quote from the Mundaka Upanishad, the concluding part of the sacred Hindu Vedas.

The Lion Pillar was adopted as the National Emblem of India on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic.

The National emblem is used only for official purposes and commands the highest respect and loyalty. It is the official seal of the President of India and Central and State Governments. It forms a part of the official letterhead of the Government of India. It also appears prominently on all Indian currency as well as on the diplomatic and national Passport of the Republic of India. The wheel on it, known as "Dharma Chakra" or popularly "Ashoka Chakra", has even been placed onto the center of the modern National Flag of India.

In the contemporary times, the national emblem of India stands as a symbol of modern India's reassertion of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill. To the 1 billion Indians, it serves as an inspiration and is a matter of pride. To the world, it stands as glowing symbol of independent India's identity and sovereignty.

BACK TO 15^TH AUGUST:

It was August 15, 1947, the nation woke up breathing in the air of freedom to herald a new beginning. It is the freedom that gave India a new Identity as a sovereign country after 300 years of colonial rule. Since then it has become a day of special significance - celebrated with the Tricolor, the parades, the patriotic speeches and songs, the remembrance... Make sure to be a part of it.

THE VOICE OF FREEDOM:

Speech by Jawaharlal Nehru:

'Awake to freedom' "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.

At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, then an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her successes and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.

The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. That responsibility rests upon this assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now.

Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we might fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labor and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagines that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.

To the people of India whose representatives we are, we make appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell."

NATIONAL SONG OF INDIA:

"Vande Mataram", the National Song of India, eulogizes India as a Goddess and glorifies Indian patriotism in a beautiful manner. Originally designated as the Indian National Anthem, the song, rather its first paragraph, was later given the status of the Indian National Song. Penned originally in Sanskrit by Shri Bankimchandra Chattyopaddhay, the song was written in 1876 and quickly became an inspiration for the Indian freedom fighters following its appearance in the ace novelist's Bengali novel 'Anand Math' (published in 1882). With 15th August nearing once more, it's time again to go through the timeless verses of Vande Mataram and celebrate the occassion. Scroll down and read the lyrics of Vande Mataram in Sanskrit as well as its English rendering by Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, whose English translation of the song is generally considered to be the best. If you like our article on the National Song of India,

GENERAL PLEDGE IN ENGLISH:

India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I love my country. I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders, respect, and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness.

NATIONAL BIRD:

The Peacock, Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), is the national bird of India. The peacock symbolizes qualities like beauty, grace, pride and mysticism. Peacock is a colorful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colorful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers they spread out in display at the onset of the monsoons. The female is brownish in color, slightly smaller than the male, and lacks the train. Peacocks have a harsh voice, which is a stark contrast to their beauty. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a beautiful sight. Peacock is the sacred bird of the India, protected not only by the religious sentiment but also by parliamentary statute.

NATIONAL CALENDER IF INDIA:
The national calendar of India is based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as the first month and a normal year of 365 days. The national calendar of India was adopted on March 22nd 1957. Dates of the Indian national calendar have a permanent correspondence with the Gregorian calendar dates- 1 Chaitra normally falls on 22 March and on 21 March in leap year.

The national Calendar of India is used along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes- (i) Gazette of India, (ii) news broadcast by All India Radio, (iii) calendars issued by the Government of India and (iv) Government communications addressed to the members of the public.

THE INDIAN TRI COLOUR:

The Indian flag is rectangular in shape and is made up of three horizontal breadths of Saffron, White and Green. The Saffron stands for courage and sacrifice, White for purity and Green for fertility. There is a wheel with 24 spokes in the middle of the white colored portion of the flag. The wheel represents the Dharma Chakra.

NATIONAL FLOWER:

Lotus (Nelumbo Nucifera) is the National Flower of India. On the virtue of being a sacred flower, it occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial. The Lotus symbolizes divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and enlightenment. The flower grows in murky waters and rises on a long stalk above the surface to bloom. It represents long life, honor, and good fortune.

Lotus is also symbolic of the purity of heart and mind. The lotus holds additional significance for Hindus, as it is a symbol of God and used often in religious practices. According to the popular Indian thought, there is the last and final lotus - Charan Kamal or lotus feet of the Almighty. It was this depth of thought that made the founding fathers of modern India enshrine the lotus in the Constitution as the National Flower. National Fruit of India Mango (Mangifera Indica) is the National fruit of India. In India, mango is cultivated almost in all parts, except the hilly areas. Mango is a rich source of Vitamins A, C and D. In India, we have hundreds of varieties of mangoes. They are of different sizes, shapes and colors. Even in our mythology and history there are stories of mangoes- the famous Indian poet Kalidasa sang its praise. Alexander the great, along with Hieun Tsang savored the taste of mangoes. The great Mughal king, Akbar is said to have planted over 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga (modern Bihar). The mango is eaten ripe and is also used to make pickles.

THE NATIONAL TREE OF INDIA:

The National tree of India is the banyan. This huge tree towers over its neighbors and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree regenerates and beats all other tree in its longevity. It is thought to be the immortal tree. Its size and leafy shelter are valued in India as a place of rest and reflection, not to mention protection from the hot sun! India has a long history of honoring this tree; it figures prominently in many of the oldest stories of the nation.

NATIONAL GAME OF INDIA:

Hockey, which has been played in India since time immemorial, is the National Game of India. There was a golden period of Indian hockey when hockey stalwarts of India ruled the game. On the international scenario there were no competitors to match the magic of Indian hockey players. The unmatched excellence and incomparable talent of Indian players became folklore. The ball-juggling feats of players like Major Dhyanchand made people think that Indian players used some underhand means. The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 successive gold medals in the Olympic Games.

NATIONAL FRUIT OF INDIA:

The Mango is the national fruit of India. A favourite of most Indians, this fruit has been cultivated in the country since ancient times. There are over 100 types of mangoes in India, of various colors, sizes, and shapes. Common in the tropical part of the world, mangoes are liked hugely and relished for their sweet juice and bright colors. Rich in vitamin A, C, and D, mangoes are also useful for health.

Indians eat mangoes ripe, or prepare them green as pickles or chutneys (condiments). The poet Kalidasa sang its praises in his immortal works. Akbar planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, known as Lakhibagh. Even well-known visitors to India, like Alexander and Hieun Tsang, were generous in their appreciation for Indian mangoes.

NATIONAL ANIMAL OF INDIA:

The National animal of India is the magnificent creature called The Royal Bengal Tiger, whose scientific name is "Tiger Panthera tigris". A bright yellow-coloured well-striped animal with a short coat, the Bengal Tiger occupies a variety of habitats from dry open jungles, humid ever-green forests to mangrove swamps. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. It stands as a symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The Royal Bengal Tiger is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

QUOTES OF INDIA:

"GEETANJALI" -Rabindranath Tagore:

The mystic aura of India and the enigma that she is has captured the imagination and fancy of great minds. Take a look at what they have to say about India.
"Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from
the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches
its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary
desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is lead forward by thee
into ever-widening thought and action-
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
let my country awake."

Albert Einstein:
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

Max Mueller (German scholar):
If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.)

Mark Twain said:
India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

French scholar Romain Rolland said:
If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.

Mark Twain:

The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.

Albert Einstein:
When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.

Wheeler Wilcox (American poet):
India - The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas.

ADDRESS OF THE NATION:

At midnight, on August 15, 1947, as India strode to freedom amidst ecstatic cheers and revelry, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as the first Prime Minister of India, delivered a memorable and moving speech to the nation and the world on India's historic attainment of freedom. The tradition continues to this day with each Indian Prime Minister making an address to the nation from Red Fort, New Delhi

on the eve Independence Day every year. TheHolidaySpot brings to you a series of Independence Day Addresses in English by Indian Prime Ministers since the year 2000. Know what Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh said about Indian Independence Day and Indian freedom in their inspiring and prospicient Independence Day Addresses. If you want to pass these on to your friends, just click here and refer this page to them. Share the spirit of Indian freedom to your near ones and have the pride of being an Indian. Happy Independence Day!

FACTS ABOUT INDIA:

Here are some amazing facts that will make you more proud to be an Indian. Read on ...
India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software, according to a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.

The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects there. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our
civilization.India was the richest country on earth until the British invaded in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.

Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun in the 5th century - 365.258756484 days. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians. According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world.

Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).

Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community, that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindh Valley, known as the Indus Valley Civilization.

The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. Spiritual science, Yoga and most of the religions were found in India and the teachings spread all over the world by Indian Mystics and the Saints.

The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola

India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

HISTORY OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE:

The history of Indian Independence is a long and chequered one. It was on 15th August, 1947, that the country was officially announced to be an independent nation but it took a seemingly endless struggle, the blood, sweat and endurance of popular as well as millions of faceless Indians who fought unitedly to liberate their nation after suffering British reign for about 200 years.

The 1857 Sepoy mutiny was an important landmark in the history of Indian freedom struggle. This act of rebellion on 29th March 1857 by Indian soldiers in the British army at Barrackpore was the result of various factors. Low wages than their British counterparts, racial discrimination, cultural misunderstanding and above all the news (later dismissed as a rumour) that the packings of the latest cartridges were to be greased with cow and pig fat - the combination of all these issues and more led to the violent Barrackpore uprising. Though the British government suppressed the rebellion, the flame of discontent had been kindled. The hanging of Mangal Pandey, a Hindu soldier of the 34th Native Infantry who participated in the oppositive movement and had shot at his sergeant major on the parade ground, further fanned the fire. On 10th May of the same year, enraged Indian soldiers and even common civilians in Meerut joined hands to protest against the maltreatment meted out to some native soldiers and killed many Britishers living in the cantonment. This war took on a big form which was eventually put down by effective British military might.

The next few decades saw various big and small wars being fought against the Empire. Prominent among these were the Battle of Kanpur led by Nana Sahib of Bithur, the Battle of Jhansi by Rani Laxmibai and Tantia Tope, the fight at Arrah in Bihar by the landlord of Jagdishpur Kunwar Singh and the war at Lucknow led by Hazrat Begum. These wars took place in isolated areas of the country and hence, met with little success. But these battles were indicative of the simmering discontent of the Indians against their European rulers and served to keep the torch of the Indian freedom struggle burning.

By the 20th century, the dissatisfaction with the British government had begun to take a concrete shape. The beginning of the 1900s saw the springing up of a number of revolutionary groups in several parts of the country such as Bengal, Punjab, Gujrat, Assam and the southern states of India. Extremist organizations began to spring up in many parts of the country all of which tied to arm-twist the British government into submission through violent activities. Such strategies and their executions were not without reason. The natives of India were neither given equal social opporunities nor treated with leniency even for small crimes while their British counterparts were let off easily even after being found guilty of murder. In all walks of life, Indians (even the highly educated ones) found themselves to be discriminated against. Political groups such as the Congress were formed to counter the Britishers in a peaceful way and voice the dissent of millions of Indians who were unsatisfied with the double standards of the government and its preferential treatment to the Britishers. Iconic leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and Lala Lajpat Rai tried to attain liberty through peaceful means while personalities like Mastarda Surya Sen, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and others strived to snatch freedom forcefully from the uncompromising British empire.

Mahatma Gandhi's famous "Salt March" in 1930 and the "Quit India Movement" in 1942 saw a wave of public support and the expression of common remonstration like never before. All things Western were publicly burnt and thrown away while the use of "khadi", the homemade cloth, was propogated. The great leader demaded "Purna swaraj" (total freedom" from the British Government. But the Empire was unrelenting and it imprisoned and beat up thousands of Congress leaders as well as civilans who took part in the protests. Even Gandhi himself was not spared. The appeals of the moderate leaders met with little response. Disillusioned at Mahatma Gandhi's ideals and frustrated at the condescending manner in which the British authority dealt with the Congressmen, Subhas Chandra Bose eventually floated a seperate party, the All India Forward Bloc and launched his own outfit, the Indian National Army(INA), which attempted to use military might against the Empire with grat initial success. The sudden death of Netaji (as Subhas Bose was known to his countrymen) saw the decline and eventual evanescing of his army.

The two successive world wars eventually drained the resources of the British Government to the extent that it found it difficult to manage India. Added to this was the huge popular discontent being expressed repeatedly through words and actions of Indians who wanted to drive the foreigners away from their soil at any cost. Extremist activities as well as non-violent protests and processions were being carried out almost on a daily basis. The wave of popular sympathy that the trial of three INA officers saw, made the British realize that their days in India were numbered.

At last on June 3 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, declared that the British would leave the Indian subcontinent but the British Indian Empire was to be split up into a secular India and a Muslim Pakistan. This was because the Muslims felt that their demands were not being represented adequately by the Congress and they feared that they would not be able to enjoy equal opportunities after independence as the Congress, which was supposed to lead the independent nation, was being seen by them as a Hindu political party that would show preference to members of the Hindu community once the country attained liberty. The Muslim League demanded a seperate nation for themselves with the result that the Indian subcontinent was divided into a Muslim Pakistan and a secular India. Pakistan was officially announced to be a seperate nation and given an independent status on 14 August 1947. At midnight, on 15 August 1947, India was declared to be an independent

LIST OF INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS:

INDIA FACTS:

RIVERS IN INDIA:

Brahmputra

Narmada
Ganga
Kaveri
Yamuna
Sangam
Godavri
Krishna
Mahanadi
Satluj
Sindhu
Tapti

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

INDIA