NCERT Class 10 History notes – ORACLE

IAS
The Rise of Nationalism in Europe -Chapter
1
Nation (State):
A large number of people of mainly common descent, language, history,
inhabiting a territory bounded by defined limits and forming a society under one
government is called a nation.

Frederic Sorrieu and his visualization:

In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four prints,
visualizing his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic and social republics’, as
he called them.

1. The first print shows the people of Europe and America marching in a long
train, and offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass by it. A
female figure carries a torch of enlightenment in one hand and the Charter
of the Rights of Man, in the other hand.
2. On the earth lies the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist
institutions.
3. In Sorrieu’s Utopian vision, the people of the world are grouped as distinct
nations, identified through their flags and national costumes.
4. Leading the procession are USA and Switzerland, followed by France and
Germany. Following Germany are Austria, Kingdom of the two Sicilies,
Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary and Russia.
5. From the heavens above, Christ, saints and angels gaze at the scene. The
artist symbolizes fraternity among the nations of the world.

The French Revolution and the idea of Nation:

1. Growth of nationalism in France.

2. Introduction of various measures and practices created sense of collective
identity among the people of France.
3. Change of monarchy and establishment of republic, creation of new
assembly.
4. Rise of Napoleon and his reforms. Revolutionaries help other people of
Europe to become nation.

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The making of Nationalism in Europe:

 Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into Kingdom, duchies and
cantones these divisions were having their autonomous rulers.
 Uses of different languages.
 Rise of middle class.
 Industrialization in England, emergence of a working class and liberalism.
 New conservation after 1815 and preservation of traditional institution.
 After the defeat of Napoleon, the European government follows the spirit
of conservatism. Conservative regimes were autocratic Revolutionaries at
that time fought for liberty and freedom.
Example, Mazzini’s young Italy and Young Europe.

Unification of Italy:
Giuseppe Mazzini had played an important role in the unification of Italy. He
formed a secret society called ‘Young Italy’ in Marseilles, to spread his goals. He
believed Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of small states and had to be
forged into a single unified republic. During 1830’s, Mazzini sought to put
together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. As uprisings in 1831
and 1848 had failed, the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler
Emmanuel II to unify Italy.

Under Chief Minister Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in destroying the

Austrian forces in 1859. Even Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into
South Italy and the kingdom of the two Sicilies and with the help of the local
peasants, drove out the Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was
proclaimed as King of United Italy.

Unification of Germany:
In the 18th century, Germany was divided into a number of states. Some of these
states ceased to exist during the Napoleonic wars. At the end of the war, there
were still 39 independent states in Germany. Prussia was most powerful,
dominated by big landlords known as Junkers.

 Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle class Germans who had
tried to unite the different regions of the German federation into a nation-
state governed by an elected Parliament.

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 In May 1848, a large number of political associations came together to vote
for an all-German National Assembly. Their representatives met at
Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Assembly proposed the unification of Germany
as a constitutional monarchy under the King of Prussia as emperor
 The King of Prussia rejected the offer and the liberal initiative of nation
building was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy, the
military and the ‘Junkers’.
 Then on, Prussia under its Chief Minister Otto Von Bismarck led the
movement for unification of Germany. Bismarck carried out this process
with the help of the Prussian army and the bureaucracy. He fought three
wars over seven years with Denmark, Austria and France. Prussia was
victorious in all these wars and the process of unification was completed as
a result of Prussia’s victory over France.
 Consequently, on 18th January 1871, an assembly comprising of princes of
German States, representatives of the army, important Prussian ministers
and Bismarck gathered in the Palace of Versailles and proclaimed the
Prussian King, Kaiser William, the new German Emperor.

Visualizing the Nation:

Marianne and Germania were both female allegories used by artists in the 19th
century to represent the nation.

1. In France she was named Marianne, a popular Christian name, which

underlined the idea of a people’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn
from those of liberty and republic—the red cap, the tri-colour, the cockade.
Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares as a national symbol of
unity. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.
2. Instead of just having the idea of father land, they wanted to implant a
suitable image in the minds of the people. They invariably chose the mother
figure symbolizing nations—Britannia, Germania and Marianne reminding
us of our concept of Matribhumi.
3. Germania became the allegory of the German nation. Germania wears a
crown of oak leaves as German oak stands for heroism. It was hung from
the ceiling of St. Paul’s Church, where Frankfurt Parliament was convened,
to symbolize the liberal revolution.

Napoleonic Code:

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1. The first major change was doing away with all privileges based on birth,
establishing equality before law and securing the right to property.
2. Administrative divisions were simplified.
3. Feudal system was abolished and peasants were freed from serfdom and
manorial dues (abuse of manorial lords).
4. In towns, guild restrictions were removed.
5. Transport and communication systems were improved.
6. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new found
freedom.
7. Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods in particular began to
realize that uniform laws, standardized weights and measures and a
common national currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of
goods and capital from one region to another.

Nationalism and Imperialism:

Last quarter of the 19th century nationalism became a narrow creed with limited
ends, Intolerance Balkan became the sense of big power rivalry Nationalism,
aligned with imperialism cause of World War I. Idea of a Nationalism was now
same everywhere . But concept of National State was accepted universally.

The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China -

Chapter 2
INDO-CHINA:
Comprises of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia — French colony.

Views of Paul Bernard:

Paul Bernard was an influential writer and policy-maker who strongly believed
that the purpose of acquiring colonies was to make profits.

 According to him, the development of economy will raise the standard of

people and people would buy more goods. The market would consequently
expand, leading to better profit for French business.
 According to him, there were several barriers to economic growth in
Vietnam, such as large population, low agricultural productivity and
extensive indebtedness.

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 To reduce the poverty and increase agricultural productivity, it was
necessary to carry out land reforms.
 Industrialization was also essential for creating more jobs as agriculture was
not likely to ensure sufficient employment opportunities.

Ho Chi Minh Trail:

 The trail symbolizes how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to
great advantage.
 The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads was used to
transport men and material from North to South.
 It was improved in late 1950s and from 1967 about 20,000 North
Vietnamese troops came south each month. The trail had support bases
and hospitals along the way.
 Mostly supplies were carried by women porters on their backs or on their
bicycles.
 The US regularly bombed this trail to disrupt supplies but efforts to destroy
this important supply line by intensive bombing failed because they were
rebuilt very quickly.

Influence of Japan:
In 1907-08, around 300 students from Vietnam went to Japan to acquire modem
education.

1. The primary objective was to drive out the French from Vietnam, overthrow
the puppet emperor and reestablish the Nguyen dynasty that had been
deposed by the French. For this, they needed foreign help.
2. Japan had modernized itself and had resisted colonization by the West. It
had defeated Russia in 1907 and proved its military strength. The
Vietnamese nationalists looked for foreign arms and help and appealed to
the Japanese as fellow Asians.
3. Vietnamese students established a branch of Restoration Society in Tokyo
but, in 1908, the Japanese Ministry of Interior clamped down on them.
Many, including Phan Boi Chau, were deported and forced to seek exile in
China and Thailand.

Scholars Revolt, 1868:

It was an early movement against French control and spread of Christianity. It was
led by officials at the imperial court angered by the spread of Catholicism and

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French power. There was an uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces where the
Catholic missionaries had been active in converting people to Christianity since
the early 17th century. By the middle of the 18th century, nearly 3,00,000 people
had got converted. This had angered the people of these provinces and led to the
uprising. Though this uprising was crushed by the French, it had inspired the
people of other regions to rise against the French colonialism.

Hoa Hao Movement:

It began in 1939 and gained popularity in Mekong delta area. The founder of Hoa
Hao was Huynh Phu So. He performed miracles and helped the poor. His criticism
against useless expenditure, opposition to the sale of child brides, gambling and
the use of alcohol and opium had a wide appeal. The French tried to suppress the
movement led by Huynh Phu So and declared him mad, called him the Mad Bonze
and put him in a mental asylum. Interestingly, the doctor, who had to certify him
insane, became his follower and finally, in 1941, the French doctors declared that
he was sane. The French authorities exiled him to Laos and sent his many
followers to concentration camps.

Major problems in the field of education for the French in Vietnam:

1. The French needed an educated local labor force, but they feared that once
the Vietnamese got educated, they may begin to question colonial
domination.
2. French citizens living in Vietnam (called ‘colons’) feared that they might lose
their jobs as teachers, shopkeepers, policemen to the educated
Vietnamese. So they opposed the policy of giving the Vietnamese full access
to French education.
3. Elites in Vietnam were still powerfully influenced by Chinese culture. So the
French carefully and systematically dismantled the traditional Vietnamese
education system and established French schools for the Vietnamese.
4. In the battle against French colonial education, schools became an
important place for political and cultural battles. Students fought against
the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from
qualifying for white-collared jobs.
5. There was a protest in Saigon Girls School on the issue of racial
discrimination. The protest erupted when a Vietnamese girl sitting in the
front row was asked to move back to allow a local French student to occupy
the front seat. The girl refused and was expelled along with other students

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who protested. The government was forced to take the expelled students
back in the school to avoid further open protests.

‘Rat Hunt’:

1. The modem city of Hanoi got infested with rats in 1902 and was struck by
bubonic plague. The large sewers in the modem part of the city served as
breeding grounds for rats.
2. To get rid of the rats, a ‘Rat Hunt’ was started. The French hired Vietnamese
workers and paid them for each rat they caught. This incident taught the
Vietnamese the first lesson of collective bargaining. Those who did the dirty
work of entering sewers found that if they came together they could
negotiate a higher bounty.
3. They also discovered innovative ways to profit from the situation. The
bounty was paid when a tail was given as a proof that a rat had been killed.
So the rat catchers began clipping the tails and releasing the rats, so that
the process could be repeated over and over again.
4. Defeated by the resistance of the Vietnamese, the French were forced to
scrap the bounty programme. Bubonic plague swept through the area in
1903 and in subsequent years. In a way, the rat menace marks the limits of
French power and contradiction in their civilizing mission.

U.S. entry into the war:

 US entry into the war proved costly to the Vietnamese as well as to

Americans. The phase of struggle with the US was brutal.
 From 1965-1972, many (over 403100) US personnel served in Vietnam out
of which 7484 were women. Many died in battle and a large number of
people were wounded.
 Thousands of US troops arrived equipped with heavy weapons and tanks
backed by most powerful bombers of the time—B52s. The widespread
attacks and use of chemical weapons — Napalm, Agent Orange and
Phosphorous bombs destroyed many villages and decimated jungles.
Civilians died in large numbers.

Effect of the US involvement on life within the US:

Most of the people were critical of the government’s policy of war. When the
youths were drafted (forced recruitment) for the war, the anger grew.
Compulsory service in the armed forces could be waived only for university

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graduates. US media played a major role in both supporting and criticizing the
war. Hollywood made films in support of the war. (Example: John Wayne’s Green
Berets; 1968). Other films were more critical.
(Example: John Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now 1979 reflected the moral
confusion that the war caused in the US).

Role of women:

 In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as

brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting down planes.
Women were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated.
 Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers. They
were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other.
 Many women joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the
wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the
enemy.
 Of the 17,000 youth who worked on the trail, 70 to 80 per cent were
women.

Nationalism in India- Chapter 3

Mahatma Gandhi and the idea of Satyagraha:
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 from South Africa. Gandhiji’s
novel method of mass agitation is know as ‘Satyagraha’. Satyagraha
emphasized truth. Gandhiji believed that if the cause is true, if the
struggle is against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight
the oppressor. A satyagrahi can win the battle through non-violence.
People, including oppressors, had to be persuaded to see the truth. Truth
was bound to ultimately triumph.

In India the first was at Champaran in 1916 to inspire plantation workers

to struggle against oppressive plantation system. In 1917 Satyagraha at
Kheda to support peasants.

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In 1918 Satyagraha at Ahmadabad:
Among the cotton mill workers.

‘Hind Swaraj’:
The famous book written by Mahatma Gandhi, which emphasized non-
cooperation to British rule in India.

New economic situation created in India by the First World War:

1. Manchester imports into India declined as the British mills were

busy with war production to meet the needs of the army paving the
way for the Indian mills to supply for the huge home market
2. As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply
war needs. As a result new factories were set up, new workers
were employed and everyone was made to work longer hrs.
3. Cotton production collapsed and exports of cotton cloth from
Britain fell dramatically after the war, as it was unable to modernize
and compete with US, Germany, Japan. Hence within colonies like
India, local industrialists gradually consolidated their position
capturing the home market.

The Rowlatt Act of 1919:

It gave the British government enormous power to repress political
activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two
years.

Jallianwala Bagh incident:

On 13th April 1919, a crowd of villagers who had come to attend a
Baisakhi fair, gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh. Being
from outside the city, many were not aware of the martial law that had
been imposed as a repressive measure. General Dyer with his British
troops entered the park and closed the only exit point without giving any
warning to the assembled people and ordered the troops to fire at the
crowds, killing hundreds. This brutal act of General Dyer provoked

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unparalleled indignation. As the news of Jallianwala Bagh spread, crowds
took to the streets in many North Indian towns. There were hartals,
clashes and attacks on government buildings.

Non-cooperation programme was adopted at Nagpur in Dec. 1920.

Effects of the Non-cooperation Movement on the economy of India:

Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops were picketed and foreign
cloth was burnt. The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921-1922.
Its value dropped from Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore. Many merchants and
traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. People
began discarding imported clothes and wearing Indian ones. The
production of Indian textile mills and hand looms went up. Use of khadi
was popularized.

Non-cooperation Movement in the countryside:

 In Awadh, the peasants’ movement led by Baba Ramchandra was

against talukdars and landlords who demanded extremely high
rents and a variety of other ceases from the peasants. Peasants
were forced to work in landlords’ farms without any payment
(beggar). Peasants had no security of tenure, thus being regularly
evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land.
The demands of the peasants were— reduction of revenue,
abolition of beggar and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
 In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh a militant guerrilla movement
spread in the early 1920s against the closure of forest areas by the
colonial government, preventing people from entering the forests
to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel wood and fruits. They felt
that their traditional rights were being denied.
 For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move
freely in and out of the confined space in which they were
enclosed. It meant retaining a link with the village from which they
had come. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation

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workers were not permitted to leave tea gardens without
permission. In fact the permission was hardly granted. When they
heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers
defied the authorities and left for their homes.

Slowing down of Non-cooperation Movement in cities:

 Khadi cloth was more expensive than mill cloth and poor people
could not afford to buy it. As a result they could not boycott mill
cloth for too long.
 Alternative Indian institutions were not there which could be used
in place of the British ones.
These were slow to come up.
 So students and teachers began trickling back to government
schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.

Khilafat movement:
Khilafat movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi and the Ali Brothers,
Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali in response to the harsh treatment given
to the Caliph of Ottoman empire and the dismemberment of the
Ottoman empire by the British.

Chauri Chaura incident:

In February 1922, Gandhiji decided to launch a no tax movement. The
police opened fire at the people who were taking part in a
demonstration, without any provocation. The people turned violent in
their anger and attacked the police station and set fire to it. The incident
took place at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh.

When the news reached Gandhiji, he decided to call off the Non-
cooperation movement as he felt that it was turning violent and that the
satyagrahis were not properly trained for mass struggle.

Swaraj Party was founded by C.R. Das and Moti Lai Nehru for return to
council Politics. Simon Commission 1928 and boycott. Lahore Congress
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session and demand for Puma Swaraj in 1929. Dandi march and the
beginning of civil Disobedience movement.
Features of Civil Disobedience Movement:

 People were now asked not only to refuse cooperation with the
British but also to break colonial laws.
 Foreign cloth was boycotted and people were asked to picket liquor
shops.
 Peasants were asked not to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes.
 Students, lawyers and village officials were asked not to attend
English medium schools, colleges, courts and offices.

‘Salt March’:
On 31st January, 1930 Mahatma Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin
stating eleven demands, one of which was the demand to abolish Salt
Tax. Salt was one of the most essential food items consumed by the rich
and poor alike and a tax on it was considered an oppression on the
people by the British Government. Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was an
ultimatum and if his demands were not fulfilled by March 11, he had
threatened to launch a civil disobedience campaign. So, Mahatma Gandhi
started his famous Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted
volunteers. The march was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in
Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi. The volunteers walked
for 24 days, about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma
Gandhi wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by Swaraj
and urged them to peace-fully defy the British. On 6th April, he reached
Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling
sea water. This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience
Movement.

Who participated in the movement?

Civil Disobedience Movement came into force in various parts of the
country. Gandhiji led the salt march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi
with his followers starting the Civil Disobedience Movement. In the
countryside, the rich Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh were

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active in the movement. As rich communities were very hard hit by the
trade depression and falling prices, they became enthusiastic supporters
of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Merchants and industrialists
supported the movement by giving financial assistance and also by
refusing to buy and sell the imported goods. The industrial working class
of Nagpur region also participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Railway workers, dock workers, mineral of Chhota Nagpur, etc.
participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns.

Limits of the movement

less participation by untouchables—Ambedker for separate electorate
and Poona pact of 1932, Luke warm response by some Muslim Political
Organization.

Provisions of Poona pact of 1932:

Signed between Dr. Ambedkar and Gandhiji. It gave depressed classes
reserved seats in central provincial councils but they were to be voted by
the general electorate.

The sense of collective belonging:

Though nationalism spread through the experience of united struggle but
a variety of cultural processes captured the imagination of Indians and
promoted a sense of collective belonging:

1. Use of figures or images: The identity of India came to be visually

associated with the image of Bharat Mata. Devotion to the mother
figure came to be seen as an evidence of one’s nationalism
2. Indian folklore: Nationalists started recording and using folklore’s
and tales, which they believed, gave a true picture of traditional
culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. So
preservation of these became a way to discover one’s national
identity and restore a sense of price in one’s past.

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3. Use of icons and symbols in the form of flags: Carrying the tricolor
flag and holding it aloft during marches became a symbol of
defiance and promoted a sense of collective belonging.
4. Reinterpretation of history: Indians began looking into the past to
rediscover the glorious developments in ancient times in the field
of art, science, mathematics, religion and culture, etc. This glorious
time was followed by a history of decline when India got colonized,
as Indian history was miserably written by the colonizers.

The Making of Global World -Chapter 4

Trade:
The activity of buying selling or exchanging goods or services between people
firms or countries.

Global inter contentedness:

As early as 3000 BCE (Before the Christian Era), an active coastal trade linked the
Indus Valley civilization with present day West Asia. Thus, trade, migration of
people, movement of capital, goods, ideas, inventions and many more have
helped in creating a global world in ancient times.

Christopher Columbus:
Christopher Columbus was the explorer who discovered the vast continent of
America. He took the sea route to reach there.

First World War:

The war which broke out in 1914 engulfed almost the entire world. The war was
fought in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Because of the unprecedented
extent of its spread and its total nature, it is known as the First World War.

‘Chutney music’:
‘Chutney music’, popular in Trinidad and Guyana is a creative contemporary
expression of the post-indenture experience. It is an example of cultural fusion
between Caribbean islands and India.

Role of the ‘Silk route’:

The routes on which cargoes carried Chinese silk to the west were known as ‘Silk
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routes. Historians have discovered several silk routes over land and by sea,
covering vast regions of Asia and connecting Asia with Europe and Northern
Africa. Even pottery from China, textile and spices from India and South Asia also
traveled the same route. In return, precious metals like gold and silver flowed
from Europe to Asia. Culturally, Buddhism emerged from Eastern India and spread
in several directions through the silk route.

Indentured labour is a bonded laborer under contract to work for an employer

for a specific amount of time, to pay for his passage to a new country or home.
Reasons why it can be described as new system of slavery:

 Many migrants agreed to take up work to escape poverty and oppression in

their home villages. They were cheated and were provided false
information by the agents regarding their destination, modes of travel, the
nature of work and working conditions.
 Often migrants were not even told that they were to go on long sea
journeys.
 The tasks allotted to them on plantations were extremely heavy and could
not be completed in a day. They were beaten or imprisoned.
 Deductions were made from wages if the work was considered
unsatisfactory.
 Living and working conditions were harsh and there were few legal rights to
protect them.

Com laws:
A Com Law was first introduced in Britain in 1804, when the landowners, who
dominated Parliament, sought to protect their profits by imposing a duty on
imported com. This led to an expansion of British wheat farming and to high
bread prices.
Effects of Abolition of Corn Laws:
This allowed the merchants in England to import food grains from abroad at lower
costs —

 It led to widespread unemployment in the agricultural sector.

 It also resulted in the rise of a prosperous capitalist class in the urban areas.
 Unemployment in the rural sector forced the movement of labor from
agricultural to industrial sector.

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Europeans were attracted to Africa because:
Africa had vast resources of land and minerals. Europeans came to Africa hoping
to establish plantations and mines to produce crops ‘and minerals which they
could export to Europe. The loss of cattle disease destroyed African livelihoods.
Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolized
what scare cattle resources remained to force Africans into the labor market.
African countries were militarily weak and backward. So they were in no position
to resist military aggression by European states.

‘Food offers many examples of long distance cultural exchange’:

 Traders and travelers introduced food crops to the lands they traveled.
Many of our common foods, such as potatoes, maize, soya, groundnuts,
tomatoes, chilies and sweet potatoes came from America.
 It is believed that noodles traveled West from China to become ‘Spaghetti’
or perhaps Arab traders took pasta to fifth century Sicily (an island in Italy).
Indian ‘Rotis’ have become ‘tortillas’ in Mexico, America and western
countries.
 Europe’s poor people began to eat better and live longer with the
introduction of potato.

Economic effect of the First World War on Britain:’

1. To finance war expenditure, Britain had borrowed liberally from US. This
meant that at the end of the war, Britain was burdened with huge external
debts,
2. The war had disturbed Britain’s position of dominance in the Indian market.
In India, the nationalist movement had gathered strength and anti-British
feeling had become stronger among common people. Promotion of Indian
industries had become one of the objectives of the nationalist leaders,
which adversely affected industries in Britain.
3. There was widespread increase in unemployment coupled with decrease in
agricultural and industrial production. Cotton production collapsed and
export of cotton from Britain fell dramatically.
4. Unable to modernize, Britain was finding it difficult to compete with U.S.,
Germany and Japan internationally.

Rinderpest (cattle plague).

An infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, etc.
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Opium trade, the traffic that developed in the 18th and 19th centuries in which
Great Britain, exported opium grown in India to China.

The Great Depression.

An economic situation in which most parts of the world experienced catastrophic
declines in production, employment, incomes and trade. Began around 1929 and
lasted till the mid-1930s.

Great Depression in the US between 1929-30:

1. Agricultural Overproduction. Falling of agricultural prices had made it even

worse. As the prices fell, the agricultural income declined. To meet this
situation, farmers brought larger volume of produce to the market to
maintain their small income. The excessive supply couldn’t be sold due to
lack of buyers and farm produce rotted.
2. US Loan Crisis. In the mid-1920s, many countries financed their investments
through loans from the US. The overseas lenders panicked at the first sign
of trouble. Countries that depended crucially on US loans faced an acute
crisis due to the withdrawal of US loans. It led to the failure of major banks
and collapse of currencies.

NIEO:
Although there was unprecedented economic growth in the West and Japan,
nothing was done about the poverty and lack of development in countries which
were earlier colonies. Thus, there arose a need for the developing nations to
organised themselves into the G-77 group to demand a New International
Economic Order (NIEO). NIEO meant a system that would give them control over
their own natural resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for raw
materials and
and better access for their manufactured goods in developed markets.

Bretton Woods Agreement:

Tire main aim of the post-war international economic system was to preserve
economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. A framework of
the scheme was prepared. The famous economist John Maynard Keynes directed
the preparation of the frame-work and it was agreed upon at the United Nations
Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New
Hampshire in USA. According to the Bretton Woods Conference, the International

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Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were set up. IMF was set up to deal
with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations and the World Bank
was to finance post-war reconstruction. These two are referred to as Bretton
Woods institutions or, sometimes, ‘Bretton Woods twins’. Decision making in
these institutions was controlled by the Western industrial powers and the US
even had Veto over their key decisions. The post-war economic system is often
described as the Bretton Wood system.

The Age of Industrialisation- Chapter 5

Key Concepts:

 An association of craftsmen or merchants following same craft to protect

the members interest and supervise the standard of the work.
 Tanning. Convert raw hide into leather by soaking in liquid containing
tannic acid.
 Food processing. Technique of chopping and mixing food for making jam,
juices, etc.
 Victorian Britain. Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria.
 Brewery. A place where beer etc. is brewed commercially. Brewing is a
process of infusion, boiling and fermentation.
 Vagrant. A person without a settled home or regular work.
 Bourgeois. The upper middle class.
 Gomastha. An Indian word meaning an agent, a middle man between the
merchant and weavers.
 Stapler. A person who staples or sorts wool according to its fiber.

Industrialisation:
Production of goods with the help of machines in factories. The first industrialized
Nation-Britain.
Features:
Handmade goods to machine made goods in factories, cottage to factory, large
scale production, started in England in later parts of 18th Century. In course of
time, it affected all systems of production.

Before Industrial Revolution

Proto-Industrialisation:
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 Production in 17th century, artisans worked for merchants to produce
goods, artisans took raw material from merchants for production. Their
cottages functioned as a factory.
 Association of producers, trained craft people maintained control over
production, restricted entry of new traders. This period saw the coming of
factories.

Coming up of factories:

 Early factories in England came up by the 1730s.

 First symbol of new era-cotton mill
 Many factories sprang up in England
 A series of inventions took place in the form of carding, twisting, spinning
and rolling.

The pace of Industrial change:

 Cotton and iron and steel industries were the most dynamic industries.
 New industries could not displace traditional ones.
 Technological changes occurred slowly.
 Steam engine invented by James Watt had no buyers for years.
 New technologies were slow to be accepted.

Hand labor and stream power:

 In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of human labor.

 In many industries the demand for labor was seasonal.
 Range of products could be produced only with hand labor.
 There was a demand for intricate designs.
 Upper classes preferred things produced by hand.

Life of the worker:

 Abundance of labor affected the life of workers badly.

 Labour was seasonal.
 Fear of unemployment made workers hostile to new technology.
 Women labors protested against the introduction of the Spinning Jenny.
 Introduction of railways opened greater opportunities.

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Industrialisation in the colonies:

 Textile industry was the center of industrialization in India.

Age of Indian textiles

 Finer varieties of cotton from India were exported.

 A vibrant sea trade operated through pre-colonial ports.

What happened to weavers?

 East India Company appointed “gomasthas” to collect supply from weavers.

 Weavers lost bargaining power and lost lands for settling loans.

Gomasthas:
The Gomasthas were paid servants whose job was to supervise weavers, collect
supplies and examine the quality of cloth.

 The aim of the East India Company behind appointing gomasthas was to
work out a system of management and control that would eliminate
competition, control costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk.
 Soon there were clashes between the weavers and the gomasthas who
began ill-treating the weavers.
 They did not allow the company weavers to sell their produce to other
buyers. Once an order
was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material.
Weavers who had accepted loans from the company had to hand over the
cloth they produced to the gomasthas only.
 The weavers were forced to sell their goods to company’s officials.
When the American Civil War broke out and cotton supplies from the US
were cut off, Britain’s demand for raw cotton from India increased.

Manchester comes to India:

 By 1950s, India began to import Manchester cotton from Britain.

 With the rise in Manchester imports, Indian export and local market
declined.
 Supply of raw cotton in India decreased.
 Weavers were forced to buy cotton at high prices.
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Factories come up:

 Industries were set up in different regions.

 First cotton mill came in Bombay in 1854.
 The first jute mill came up in Bengal in 1855.
 1830s-1840s—Dwarakanath Tagore setup six-joint stock companies in
Bengal.
 Capital was accumulated through other trade networks.
 Till the First World War European managing agencies in fact controlled large
sectors of Indian industries.

Where did the workers come from?

 Most of the workers came from Indian villages.

Peculiarities of industrial growth:

 Early Indian cotton mills made coarse cotton yam.

 During the First World War Manchester imports to India declined.
 Indian factories supplied goods for war needs.

Small scale industries predominated:

 Most of the Industries were located in Bengal and Bombay.

 A small portion of total industrial labor worked in factories.
 Use of fly shuttle increased handicraft.

Market for goods:

Advertisements helps in creating new consumers.

 When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels
on the cloth bundles, to make the place of manufacture and the name of
the company familiar to the buyer. When buyers saw ‘Made in
Manchester’, written in bold on the label, they felt confident to buy the
cloth.
 The labels carried images and were beautifully illustrated with images of
Indian gods and goddesses. The printed image of Krishna or Saraswati was
also intended to make the manufacture from a foreign land, appear familiar
to Indians.
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 Manufacturers also printed calendars to popularize their products.
 When Indian manufacturers advertised, the nationalist message was clear
and loud. If you care for the nation,. then buy only ‘Indian’ products.
Advertisements became a vehicle of the nationalist message of Swadeshi.

Work, Life and Leisure- Chapter 6

Role of industrialization in shaping of the modem cities in England:
The early industrial cities of Britain such as Leeds and Manchester attracted large
numbers of migrants to the textile mills set up in the eighteenth century.

 During the 18th and 19th centuries, London became a center for
international trade and commerce and attracted a large number of traders
and merchants from all over the world.
 London was a powerful magnet for migrant population even when it did not
have large factories.
 Apart from the dockyard, five major types of industries employed large
number of workers:
(i) clothing and footwear,
(ii) wood and furniture,
(iii) metals and engineering,
(iv) printing and stationery and
(v) precision products such as surgical instruments, watches and objects of
precious metal.

Impact of industrialization and urbanization on the family life in Britain:

The family life transformed in terms of function and shape. The family as an
institution had broken down as the ties between members of households
loosened, and among the working class the institution of marriage tended to
break down.

Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain faced increasingly higher levels
of isolation, although their lives were made easier by domestic maids who
cooked, cleaned and cared for young children on low wages. Women lost their
industrial jobs and were forced to withdraw into their homes. The public space
became increasingly a male preserve.
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Steps taken by the British State to provide housing for working classes between
1919-1939:
Between the two World Wars, the responsibility for housing the working classes
was accepted by the British State and a million houses, most of them single family
cottages, were built by local authorities. Meanwhile, the city had extended
beyond the range where people could walk to work, and the development of
suburbs made new forms of mass transport, absolutely necessary, which led
ultimately to the setting up of railways.

Steps taken to clean up London:

1. Demands were made for new ‘lungs’; efforts were made to bridge the
difference between the city and the countryside through a Green Belt
around London. Attempts were made to decongest localities, green the
open spaces, reduce pollution.
2. Large blocks of apartments were built and rent control was introduced in
Britain during the First World War to ease the impact of a severe housing
shortage.
3. Architect and planner Ebenezer Howard developed the principles of the
‘Garden City’, a pleasant space full of plants and trees.
4. Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker developed the Garden suburb of New
Earswick based on Howards idea.

Benefits of London Tube railway:

The London underground railway partially solved the housing crisis by carrying
large masses of people to and from the city. The population in the city became
more dispersed. Better-planned suburbs and a good railway network enabled
large numbers to live outside Central London and travel to work.

Air pollution—nuisance for the Londoners:

The congestion in the 19th century industrial city of London led a yearning for
clean country air. Because of widespread use of coal in homes and industries, air
pollution led to bad tempers, smoke-related illnesses and dirty clothes. Demands
were made for new ‘lungs’ for the city.

1. Factory owners and steam engine owners were told invest on technologies
that would improve their machinery. Despite hurdles and opposition from
the industries, the Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853 were passed.

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2. Attempts were made to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce
pollution and landscape the city. Large blocks of apartments were built and
rent control was introduced. Architect and planner Ebenezer Howard
developed the ‘Garden City’.

Sources of entertainment for the common people of London:

 ‘London Season’ was an annual feature for the wealthy Britishers. Several
cultural events such as the opera, the theater and classical music
performance were organized for an elite group of 300-400 families in the
late 18th century.
 The working class met in pubs to have drinks, exchange news or to discuss
politics.
 In the 19th century some libraries, art galleries and museums were
established to provide people with a sense of history.
 Music halls were popular among the lower classes. By the early 20th
century, cinema became the great mass entertainment for mixed
audiences.
 Holidaying by the sea became popular among the industrial workers.

Transformation of Bombay into an industrial city:

At first, Bombay was the major outlet for cotton textiles from Gujarat. Later, in
the 19th century, the city functioned as a port through which large quantities of
raw materials, such as cotton and opium, would pass. Gradually, it also became
an important administrative centre in Western India, and then, by the end of the
19th century, a major industrial centre. Bombay became the capital of the
Bombay Presidency in 1819 after the Maratha defeat in the Anglo-Maratha war.
With the growth of trade in cotton and opium, large communities of traders and
bankers as well as artisans and shopkeepers came to settle in Bombay. The
establishment of textile mills led to a fresh surge in migration. Bombay had its
first cotton textile mill established in 1854. By 1921, there were 85 cotton mills
with about 1,46,000 workers.

‘Chawls of Bombay’:
The working people who migrated from various parts lived in thickly populated
Chawls. Chawls are multi-storeyed structures built in the native parts of the town.
Each Chawl was divided into smaller one room tenements which had no private
toilets. The homes being small, streets and neighborhoods were used for a variety
of activities such as working, washing, sleeping and various types of leisure

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activities. The magicians, monkey players and acrobats used to regularly perform
their act in an open space in the middle of four Chawls. Liquor shops and akharas
came up in any empty spot.

Rent Act (Bombay):

The Rent Act was passed in Mumbai (Bombay) in the year 1918.
To solve the problem of housing, the Rent Act was passed with the aim of keeping
the rents reasonable. It had the opposite effect of producing a severe housing
crisis, since landlords withdrew houses from the market.

Bombay—a city of dreams:

Despite massive overcrowding and difficult living conditions, Bombay (Mumbai)
appears to many as mayanagari—a city of dreams.

 Many films of Bombay deal with the arrival in the city of new migrants and
their pressures of daily life. Even some songs from films like CID (1956) and
Guest House (1959) speak of the contradictory aspects of the city. By 1925,
Bombay had become India’s film capital, producing films for a national
audience.
 Most of the people in the film industry were themselves migrants who
came from cities like Lahore, Calcutta, Madras. Bombay films have
contributed greatly to produce an image of the city as a blend of dreams
and reality of slums and star bungalows.

Land reclamation process in Bombay:

1. Seven islands of Bombay were joined into one landmass over a period of
time. The need for additional commercial place in mid-19th century led to
the formulation of several plans for the reclamation of more land from sea.
Both private companies and government were involved.
2. In 1864, the Black Bay Reclamation Company won the right to reclaim the
western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hills to the end of Colaba.
3. By 1870, the city had expanded 22 square km.
4. A successful reclamation project was undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust,
which built a dry dock between 1914 and 1918 and used the excavated
earth to create the 22 acre Ballad Estate. Subsequently the famous Marine
Drive of Bombay was developed.

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Causes of air-pollution in Calcutta:
City development everywhere occurred at the expense of ecology and
environment. Kolkata (Calcutta) was also not an exception.

1. High levels of pollution were a consequence of the huge population that

depended on dung and wood as fuel in their daily life.
2. The main polluters were the industries and establishments that used steam
engines run on coal. The city was built on marshy land the resulting fog
combined with smoke generated thick block fog.
3. The railway line introduced in 1855 brought a dangerous new pollutant into
the picture—coal from Raniganj. The high content of ash in Indian coal was
a problem.
4. In 1920, the rice mills of Tolly gunge began to bum rice husk instead of coal
leading to air filled with black soot falling like drizzling rain.

Print Culture and Modern World- History

Chapter 7
Printing in the early days:
Invention of Printing Press had a very lasting effect on the social and cultural life
of man. Print initially developed in East Asia and later developed through Europe
and India. Before the era of print or invention of Printing Press, writing of books
was purely manual affair. Books were handwritten and even illustrated.
Calligraphy developed as an art during that era. Calligraphy means the art of
beautiful and stylish writing.

Printed matter Chinese tradition.

Chinese were the first to have a system of recruitment of civil service personal
through open examination. Printing remained confined to examination materials
till around the 16th century. Trade information was circulated among the traders
through printed materials. By 19th century mechanical printing press made its
appearance in China.

The First Printing Press was invented in 1430s by Johann Gutenberg. Johann
Gutenberg’s Bible was the most beautiful books ever printed. Germany took the
lead in revolutionizing printing all over Europe.

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Features of handwritten manuscripts:

 They were copied on palm leaves or on handmade papers. Pages were

beautifully illustrated.
 They were pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure
preservation.
 Manuscripts were available in vernacular languages. They were highly
expensive and fragile. They could not be read easily as script was written in
different styles. They were not widely used in everyday life.

Woodblock method became popular in Europe:

Production of handwritten manuscripts could not meet the ever increasing
demand for books. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming
business. The manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be
carried around or read easily. By the early 15th century, woodblocks started being
widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with
simple, brief texts.

Visual culture:
In the end of 19th century a new visual culture had started. With the increasing
number of printing presses visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple
copies. Painters like Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation. Cheap
prints and calendars were brought even by the poor to decorate the walls of their
houses.

Print popularized the ideas of the idea of the enlightenment thinkers:

 Collectively the writings of thinkers provided a critical commentary on

tradition, superstition and despotism.
 Scholars and thinkers argued for the rule of reason rather than custom and
demanded that everything to be judged through the application of reason
and rationality.
 They attacked the sacred authority of the church and the despotic power of
the state thus eroding the legitimacy of a social order based on tradition.
 The writing of Voltaire and Rousseau were read widely and those who read
these books saw the world through new eyes, eyes that were questioning
critical and rational

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Development of reading mania in Europe:
A new forms of popular literature appeared to target new readers. There were
ritual calendars along with ballads and folk tales. In England penny chapbooks
were carried by petty peddlers known as chapmen and sold for a penny. In France
these low priced books were called Bibliotheque Bleue as they were bound in
cheap blue covers. Periodical presses developed to combine information on
current affairs with entertainment. The idea of scientists and scholars had now
become more accessible to the common people.

Impact of print on Indian women:

Writers started writing about the lives of women and this increased the number
of women readers. Women writers began to write their own autobiographies.
They highlighted the condition of women, their ignorance and how they were
forced to do hard domestic labor. A large section of Hindu writing was devoted to
the education of women. In the early 20th century the journals written by women
became very popular in which women’s education, widowhood, widow
remarriage were discussed.

Print culture created the conditions within which the French Revolution:
The print popularized the ideas of the enlightened thinkers who attacked the
authority of the church and the despotic power of the state. The print created a
new culture of dialogue and debate and the public become aware of reasoning.
They recognized the need to question the existing ideas and beliefs. The literature
of 1780s mocked the royalty and criticized their morality and the existing social
order.

India and Print Culture:

Print culture came to India with the coming of Portuguese missionaries. Konkani
was the first Indian language in which books were printed. The first Tamil book
printed was printed in 1579 and Malayalam book in 1713. English printing in India
commenced with the publication of Bengal Gazette in 1780. Printed tracts played
a very significant role in the spread of social reform movement in India.

The Vernacular Press Act:

 In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed by the British Government to
impose restrictions on vernacular press, which was responsible for
spreading nationalist ideas.
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 The government started to keep a regular track of the vernacular
newspapers and had extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the
vernacular press.
 When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned, and if
the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the printing
machinery confiscated.

Novels, Society and History- Chapter 8

The Rise of the Novel:
Novel is a modem form of literature. It is born because of print which is a
mechanical invention. Novels could reach a larger audience because of
print. Novels began to be written from the 17th century and flowered in
the 18th century. New groups of lower-middle-class; along with the
traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France
formed the new readership of novels.

The Publishing Market:

Initially, novels did not come cheap and were out of reach for the poor
classes. With the introduction of circulating libraries in 1740; people
could get easier access to books. Apart from various innovations in
printing, innovations in marketing also helped in increasing the sales and
bringing down the prices.

The worlds created by novels were more realistic and believable. While
reading a novel, the reader was transported to another person’s world.
Novels allowed individuals the pleasure of reading in private. It also
allowed the joy of publicly reading and discussing stories.

In 1836, Charles Dicken’s Pickwick Papers was serialized in a magazine.

Magazines were cheaper and illustrated. Moreover, serialization allowed
readers to relish the suspense. They could live for weeks in anticipation of
the next plot of the story.

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The World of the Novel:
In the 19th century, Europe entered the industrial age. While
industrialization created new opportunities of growth and development,
it also created new problems for the workers and the city life. Many
novelists created stories around the problems of ordinary people in the
new cities. Charles Dickens and Emile Zola were the notable authors of
this period.

Community and Society:

The novels reflected the contemporary developments in the society.
Thomas Hardy’s Mayor of Caster bridge (1886) is novel written in the
rural backdrop. The novel by Hardy has use of vernacular language which
is the language spoken by common people. Use of vernacular helped
Hardy in correlating with the common people who lived in that period.

Women and the Novels:

During the 18th century Britain, the middle class became more
prosperous. Women could get more spare time which they utilized to
read and write novels. That is how the novels began to explore the world
of women. Many novels were about domestic life. A woman writer could
write about domestic life with more authority than a male writer. Many
women novelists also began to raise questions about the established
norms of society.

Novels for the Young:

Novels for the young boys were based on heroism. The hero of such
novels used to be a powerful, assertive, independent and daring person.
As this was the period of expansion of colonialism, most of the novels
tried to glorify colonialism. Books; like R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island
(1883) and Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book (1894) became great hits. G. A.
Henry’s historical adventure novels for boys were very popular at the
height of the British Empire. These novels were always about young boys
who witness grand historical events and get involved in some military
action.

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The Novel Comes to India:
The modem novel developed in India in the 19th century, once the
Western novels were introduced. Many Indian authors initially tried to
translate the English novels but they apparently did not enjoy doing that.
Later many of them decided to write novels in their own language and on
their own social background.

Some of the earliest novels in India were written in Bengali and Marathi.
Baba Padmanji’s Yamuna Paryatan (1857) was the earliest Marathi novel.
This was followed by Miiktamala by Lakshman Moreshar Halbe (1861).

Leading novelists of the nineteenth century wrote to develop a modem

literature of the country. They wanted to produce a sense of national
belonging and cultural equality with their colonial masters.

Novel in South India:

O. Chandu Menon wrote the first Malayalam novel Indulekha in 1889.
Kandukuri Viresalingam (1848-1919) wrote the Telugu novel Rajasekhara
Caritamu in 1878.

The Novel in Hindi:

Bharatendu Harishchandra was the pioneer of modern Hindi literature.
The first proper novel in Hindi was written by Srinivas Das of Delhi. It was
titled Pariksha Gum and was published in 1882. This novel highlights the
pitfalls of blind copying of the western culture and advocates preserving
the traditional Indian culture. The characters in this novel attempt to
bridge the western and the eastern world and try to make a balance
between the two cultures. The writings of Devaki Nandan Khatri created a
novel-reading public in Hindi. Chandrakanta was his best-seller. This novel
is believed to have immensely contributed in popularizing the Hindi
language and the Nagari script among the educated classes of that time.

Premchand and his writings:

The Hindi novel achieved excellence with the writing of Premchand. He
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began to write in Urdu and later shifted to Hindi. He took a leaf from the
traditional art of kissa- goi (storytelling). Simple language was the
hallmark of his writings. Moreover, he portrayed people from all sections
of the society. In many of his writings, the main character belonged to
oppressed classes.

Novels in Bengal:
Durgeshnandini (1865) was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
and this novel was much appreciated for its literary excellence. The initial
Bengali novels used a colloquial style associated with urban life. Meyeli,
the language associated with women’s lingo was also used in those
novels. But Bankim’s prose was Sanskritised and contained a more
vernacular style.

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay became a novelist of universal appeal in all

parts of India. He was a straight forward supporter of armed rebellion
against British in his novel Pather Dabi (1926).

Uses of Novel:
For the colonial administrators, novels provided a good source to under-
stand about the life and social hierarchy in India. They could understand
different aspects of the Indian society through novels. Some of the novels
were translated into English; by British administrators or Christian
missionaries. Many novels highlighted the social ills and suggested
remedies. Many novels told stories about the past so that people could
establish a relationship with the past. People from all walks of life could
read novels. This helped in creating a sense of collective identity on the
basis of one’s language. Novels also helped people to understand about
the culture of other parts of the country.

Pleasures of Reading:
Novels became a popular medium of entertainment among the middle
class. Detective and mystery novels often had be sent for reprints to meet
the demand of readers. Many novels were printed as many as twenty two

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times. The novel also helped in spreading the silent reading. As late as the
nineteenth century and probably in the early twentieth century, people
often read out a text for several people to hear. But gradually, people
adapted to read in silence.

Women and the Novel in India:

Women were singled out and advised to stay away from immoral
influence of novels as they were seen as easily corruptible. Old women
listened with fascination to popular Tamil novels. But women did not
remain mere readers of stories written by men, they also began to write
novels. In some languages, the early creations of women were poems,
essays or autobiographical. Stories of love showed women who could to
some extent control their lives. Some women authors also wrote about
women who changed the world of both men and women. Rokeya
Hossein, a reformer, wrote a fantasy in English called ‘Sultana’s Dream’
showing a world in which women take the place of men. In the south,
women and girls were often discouraged from reading novels.

Caste Practices:
Many authors began to highlight the plight of lower caste people in their
novel. In some of the novels, conflicts arising out of marriage between a
lower caste and an upper caste were highlighted. Some people from the
lower caste also became authors; like Potheri Kunjambu from Kerala,
wrote a novel called Saraswati Vijayam in 1892 mounting a strong attack
on caste oppression.

National pride and novels:

In India, many novels were written for glorification of India’s past. Many
novels were written in all the main Indian languages in different parts of
the country that helped in the growth of national feelings among the
readers. Some of the greatest novelists of modem India were
protagonists of the national movement like Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay. He infused the ideas of nationalism and freedom from
colonial rule in novels like ‘Anandmath’ and ‘Kapalkundala’. In Bengal,
many historical novels were about Marathas and Rajputs. These novels
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 NCERT Class 10 History notes – ORACLE
IAS
portrayed the nation to be full of adventure, heroism, romance and
sacrifice. Bankim’s Anandmath is a novel about secret Hindu militia which
fights Muslims to establish a Hindu kingdom. This novel inspired many
kinds of freedom fighters. Several other novelists wrote for the same
cause. The novels also helped in the nation building process by taking up
the cause of the poor and downtrodden people, women and such
sections of society who were being exploited by rich aristocratic people.
Novels also attacked the racial superiority of the English people.

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