GK COMPLETE STUDY NOTES ON HISTORY

Indus Valley Civilization	This is the oldest civilization of India which flourished on the banks of the river Indus. Some important sites associated with this civilization are Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, Lothal etc.
Vedic Period (1500 – 600 BC)	i. There were four Vedas – i. Rig Veda (oldest Veda) ii. Sama Veda (deals with music) iii. Yajur Veda (deals with sacrifices, rituals) iv. Atharva Veda (deals with medicines) Upanishads were the source of Indian philosophy and theology. Manu smirti was the book written by the great law giver, Manu and it dealt with laws of inheritance, duties of the kings and the subjects etc.
Alexander	Alexander, the son of Philip of Macedonia (Greece) invaded India in 326 BC.
The Mauryan Empire (321- 289 BC)	It was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, who was succeeded by his son Bindusara. Kautilya/ Chanakya was a minister of Chadragupta who wrote Arthashastra, a brilliant treatise on statecraft. Megasthenes was a Greek Ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya’s court who wrote the book Indica describing the Mauryan dynasty.
Gupta Dynasty (320-550 AD)	Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chadragupta II were important rulers during this dynasty. Fahein, the Chinese traveler visited India during the rule of Chandragupta II.
Harshavardhana (606-647 AD)	He was the last Hindu king of northern India. The Chinese traveler, Hieun Tsang visited India during his reign. Banabhatta was a court poet of Harshavardhana who wrote Harshacharita.

 

This was the beginning of Muslim rule in India.

Slave Dynasty as founded by Qutub-ud-din Aibak and Iltutmish was a prominent ruler of this dynasty. Razia Sultan, the only woman ruler of India acceded to the throne of Delhi in 1236 AD.

Khilji Dynasty (AD 1290-1320) was established by Jalal-ud-din Khilji. This was followed by the Tughlak Dynasty founded by Ghiasuddin Tughlak. The famous African traveler, Ibn Batuta visited India during this period. The Lodhi Dynasty was founded by Bahlol Lodhi.

With the decline of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Dynasty was established in India. Some of the important rules of Mughal Dynasty are –
 

Babur	Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the first Battle of Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal Dynasty.
Humayun	He was succeeded by his son, Humayun. Humayun lost to Sher Shah Suri.
Sher Shah Suri	Sher Shah Suri issued the coin ‘Rupia’ and built Grand Trunk Road linking Peshawar to Calcutta.
Akbar	Akbar, son of Humayun consolidated the Mughal Empire. His tutor Bairam Khan was his regent. Akbar started a new religion Din-e-Ilahi. The second battle of Panipat was fought between Bairam Khan / Akbar and Himu. Akbar defeated Rana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighati in 1576.
Jehangir	Jehangir was the son of Akbar (named Salim). He married Mihru-un-nisa and she was given the title ‘Nur Jahan.’ The East India Company established its first factory in India during the reign of Jahangir.
Shah Jahan	The Mughal Empire reached the pinnacle of its glory during Shah Jahan's reign and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest Mughal emperors.
Aurangzeb	He imprisoned his father, Shahjahan and was crowned under the title Alamgir. He was a Muslim fanatic and destroyed several Hindu temples during his reign.
Bahadur Shah Zafar	He was the last ruler of the Mughal Empire.

Year	Event
1780	First Newspaper published in India - Bengal Gazette by James Augustus Hickey.
1857	First War of Independence. An Indian sepoy, Mangal Pandey killed two British officers on parade.
1885	Formation of Indian National Congress by A.O Hume. First session held in Bombay First President– W.C Banerjee First Muslim President – Badruddin Tyabji First woman President – Annie Besant First Indian female President – Sarojini Naidu First European President – George Yule
1905	Partition of Bengal to create a new province of East Bengal. Launch of the Swadeshi Movement were foreign goods were burnt in bonfires.
1906	Muslim League formed.
1909	Morley Minto reforms introduced separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims for the first time
1911	Capital of India shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi
1915	Annie Besant started a Home Rule Movement in India inspired by Irish rebellion.
1919	Rowlatt Act was passed giving government unbridled powers to arrest and imprison suspects without trial. Jalliyawallah Bagh massacre in Amritsar on the orders of General O'Dwyer
1920	Khilafat Movement – During the first world war, two brothers Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali launched an Anti-british movement. Mahatma Gandhi launched the non-co-operation movement – surrender of titles, refusal to attend government work etc.
1922	After Gandhiji called off the civil disobedience movement, Motilal Nehru, C R Das and N C Kelkar organized the Swaraj Party to enter into legislative councils by contesting elections.
1929	Indian national Congress, Lahore session adopted the resolution for Poorna swaraj / Complete Independence under the presidentship of Jawahar Lal Nehru.
1930	Mahatma Gandhi launched the salt Satyagraha / Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram.
1935	Government of India Act
1942	Quit India Movement Subash Chandra Bose formed the Azad Hind Fauj/ Indian National Amery in Singapore to force Britishers out of India.
1947	Mountbatten Plan and Partition of India
1948	Sir C Rajagopalachari became the first and only Indian Governor General of India

 

Name	Title/ Nickname
Adolf Hitler	Fuehrer
C F Andrews	Deenabandhu
Dadabhai Naoroji	Grand Old Man of India
Erwin Rommel	Desert Fox
Florence Nightingale	Lady with the Lamp
Jayaprakash Narayan	Loknayak
Napoleon Bonaparte	Little Corporal
Otto von Bismark	Man of Blood and Iron
Sarojini Naidu	Nightingale of India
T Prakasam	Andhra Kesari
Tenzing Norgay	Tiger of Snows
Sir Walter Scott	Wizard of the North
William Gladstone	Grand Old Man of Britain
William Shakespeare	Bard of Avon