knows what their nation's history is; but do you know how brutal, cruel as well as captivating and compelling its history is? In this article, we will cover a very detailed history of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or basically "The Subcontinent".Although the subcontinent's history dates back to thousands of years ago, I will just start from a quarter of its history and for instance, 1498; this year is when for the first time the Europeans came here, in the subcontinent for trading purposes. Firstly, in 1498, there came a Portuguese explorer named "Vasco da Gama", who was the first Portuguese as well as the first European to enter this land. He reached here successfully with the help of "Ibn Majid", an Arab sailor. Ibn Majid helped Vasco da Gama through his journey from Africa to the subcontinent. His journey was historic and momentous as it opened the gates of opportunities for the rest of the world, or at least the Europeans to explore the subcontinent. People from different parts of the world started their journey to explore India. However, in 1602, Dutch became the 3rd nation to enter India, the second was the British, but I will mention them lastly. The Dutch then established "The Dutch East India Company" in the same year of 1602. French were the last nation to enter India. In 1664, they also established a company named, "Compagnie Des Indes Orientales" which in English translates into "The French East India Company". Let's go back 65 years ago to mention the villains of our story, the British. In 1599, the British arrived in the subcontinent, I call the year 1599 "The Inception of Slavery" for the most obvious reason! However, just like other nations, they established a company which they named "The British East India Company" with the permission of Queen Elizabeth I when she gave a proclamation charter under which exclusive rights for trading in the subcontinent were given to the country. Then on 18th September 1615, Sir Thomas Roe, who was an English diplomat**, arrived in India and on 10th January 1616, in the court of Jahangir, (who was the Mughal emperor at that time) to ask for permission to trade in there and Jahangir permitted him as he saw it as a great opportunity for the people of India as well as the emperor himself. However, everything was going well until 1757, when war broke between the British and a Nawab of Bengal and his French allies; this battle is called "the battle of Plassey" because it was fought in a village named "Palashi", which means the abundance of Palash trees***. This battle consolidated the company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to much of India over the next century. Just after 7 years of this bloody clash, another war emerged between the British and again the Nawabs of Bengal, unfortunately, this war also ended with the victory of the British. After this battle, the British further expanded their empire, but this time violently. The British were almost ruling the subcontinent now. As everyone knows that the British were so atrocious to the people of India, but let me tell you something that puts them in my good books as well as in the bad books of many people at that time. The British introduced many reforms that in my view are the reason behind the development of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh today. Let's put those points in categories:
1. Political
2. Economical
3. Social
Political reforms or policies
1. Doctrine of Lapse:This policy refused to accept the concept of an adopted child of a ruler without any natural heir.
2. Nana Sahib's pension:
Baji Rao II was a Hindu ruler, who didn't have a natural heir therefore he adopted Nana Saheb. After the death of Baji Rao, the British stopped giving Nana Saheb his father's pension as he was not his natural son.
3. On the 7th of February, 1856, Lord Dalhousie ordered to, depose the ruler of Oudh or Awadh because of the doctrine of lapse.
Economic reforms
The British introduced the income tax system and the right of ownership in India. They also introduced a single currency and are numerous other policies related to the Economy.Social reforms
In the 1980s, under the rule of Lord William Bentinck, the vicious and sadistic Hindu ritual of "Suttee" was banned. In this custom, Hindu widows were burnt at their husband's funerals. There was another callous ritual of killing the daughters, which is also a Hindu practice.As I already mentioned that many people opposed these policies, these became one of the major reasons for the "Revolt of 1857", because these policies repudiated their religious beliefs. However, in 1857, the war broke and killed hundreds of people on both sides, Indians as well as the British. The British got victory once again just because pf their heavy equipment. After winning the war, the British were now directly ruling India, which was obviously not good for both committees, Hindus, and Muslims, that's why they exhibited patriotic sentiment and as a result, the movement and the struggle for freedom started. The British thought that the Muslims were the real rebels for the rebellion of 1857, therefore they adopted hostility against the Muslims. Some people said that it was just a misunderstanding of the British while others thought it was a conspiracy of Hindus because Hindus were given good jobs and were at least not in a miserable condition like the Muslims, moreover, when the Congress was established in 1885, Muslims realized that it only focused on Hindu aspirations and ideologies, therefore just after 21 years, "all India Muslim League" was established, which represented the Muslims of the subcontinent. Now let's jump to 1928 when there came the "Nehru Report" this report was given by Jawaharlal Nehru who was India's PM at that time. This report was not accepted by the Muslims because it somehow opposed the Muslims and mainly focused on Hindus that's why just a year later, Quaid-e-Azam, famous 14 points rose, those points included:
1. Federal system
2. Provincial autonomy
3. Representation of minorities
4. Number of Muslim representatives
5. Separate electorates
6. Muslim majority provinces
7. Religious liberty
8. Three-fourth representation
9. Separation of Sindh
10. Introduction of Reforms in N.W.F.P**** and Balochistan.
11. Government services
12. Protection of Muslim culture and language
13. One-third of Muslim ministers
14. Constitution
These 14 points made it crystal clear what the Muslims really wanted. In the annual session of the Muslim League at Lahore on the 23rd of March 1940, the famous resolution known as "the Pakistan resolution" was passed. It was presented by Molvi Fazl-ul-Haq. In this session, Quaid-e-Azam said "By all means, Muslims are one nation, and they need a separate homeland where they could live their spiritual, cultural, economic, social, and political lives independently" from this speech we can say it was a proper demand for a separate state.
3rd June plan
After the huge struggle, Lord Mountbatten finally prepared the plan for partition. Muslim league and Congress both accepted this plan and finally......... Finally, on the 14th and 15th of August, Pakistan, and India both nations were partitioned and made independent!
*It took me around 5 minutes to type that word
**an official representing a country abroad
***this tree is also called sacred tree and Butea monosperma
****it stands for "north-west frontier province"
**an official representing a country abroad
***this tree is also called sacred tree and Butea monosperma
****it stands for "north-west frontier province"
Bingo!!!
ReplyDeleteYou have discovered the secret of writing.
You are on your way.👍
thank you sir
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