Special Notes Social Science Class VIII Ch- 8 (Modern Period)

     Special Notes Social Science Class VIII CH- 8 (Modern Period)

         Chapter- 8 The Modern Period  
    
♦️History- The story of human development from ancient period to modern period is called History.

♦️ Pre-history- The period of history when art of writing was unknown, is known as pre-history.

♦️ Medieval Period- The part of history where we study about the rise of various empires in North and South India, Turkish Invasions, Delhi Sultanate, Regional Powers, and The Mughal empire is called Medieval period in Indian history.

· 🔷  Medievalperiod in European history- 5^th to 15^th century AD.

· 🔷 Medieval period in Indian history- 8^th to 18^th Century AD.

🔷 Modern period of Indian history- The history of India which starts after the declination of Mughal period till the achievement of our Independence is called modern period of Indian history. This history continues till now. It is generally said, “History past Politics and Politics present History”. It means Past politics is called history and present history is called politics. History and Politics are co-related to one another. Without history the existence of politics is impossible. Similarly without politics the existence of history is impossible.

·                   Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal ruler who passed away in 1707.

·                   
Britishers established trading companies in India after the death of Aurangzeb because later Mughal rulers were incompetent, worthless and having no ability to control and co-ordinate the so vast and extended Mughal empire.

·      Britishers took advantage of the political instability and gradually, took over the control of a large part of India.

·      The Revolt of 1857 could not get success to achieve India’s Independence but as the result of this revolt the power of British east India Company went to the British crown in 1858.

·      Indian National Congress was established in 1885 by A O Hume.

·      India achieved its independence in 1947 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

·      The major events of the twentieth century India were the partition of Bengal, Formation of Muslim league, Home Rule League, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, etc.

·      The British government introduced a series of reforms to pacify Indians and to weaken the freedom struggle.

·      Unfortunately India was divided into two countries- India and Pakistan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

🔷  Sources of Information to know the history of modern India:

·      ♦️ BritishDocument- India has been rule over by British for almost 200 years. Several British documents such as Morley-Minto Reforms(1909), Report of Simon Commission (1929), The government of India Act (1935), etc. are the important source of information to know the history of modern India.

·     ♦️ Books- Many books were written and printed during this period. They are preserved in public and private libraries. Most books like Anandmath by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, My Experiment with Truth and Hind Swaraj by Mahatma Gandhi, Unhappy Indian by Lala Lajpat Rai, etc. are available even now. They are also the important source to know the history of Modern India.

·     ♦️ Letters, Writings, Speeches, etc. – The above mentioned sources also provide us the information to know the history of Modern Period. Collection of writings of Gandhiji at the Gandhi Smriti near Rajghat, Which is one of the biggest museum on Gandhiji, has a library with around 60000 books it also has about 6000 original Photographs of Gandhiji.

“Freedom is our birth right”, the slogan given by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the call given by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, “You give me blood and I will give you freedom” and several others slogans tell us about the patriotic feelings and the national fervour during our struggle for independence.

·     ♦️ Newspapers- The London Times, Bombay Times and vernacular papers like Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s Kesari in Marathi, Amrita Bazar Patrika in Bengali are important source of the history of the modern period.

·    ♦️ Administrative reports of the Government- Administrative reports of the government on tribes, castes and land revenue settlements are also the important sources of information to know the history of modern period. Report on the survey and settlement operations in the district of Champaran (1913-19) in Bihar also gives us the information about the history of the modern period.

·   ♦️  Internetor Database- Internet or Database like Digital South Asia Library and the British Library’s oriental and Indian office collection provide us a lot of information about the history of modern period.

·   ♦️ Old buildings, artifacts and people- Architectural style of old buildings, artifacts and people of that period also tell us the tales of the past. Many people who participated in the freedom struggle and saw the important change share their experiences which throw light on the life of the people and the conditions that existed. Some of the old buildings like (Victoria Terminus, Mumbai), (Victoria Memorial, Kolkata), (Gateway of India, Mumbai), (Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi) also give us a lot of information about the modern history of India.