Glimpses of the Past

It provides a glimpse of how the British East India Company expanded its power in
India and exploited Indians, how they robbed landlords and farmers of their land,
created situations that led to famines and pushed patriots to launch widespread
massacres.

SUMMARY ONLY FOR REFERENCE. DONOT WRITE

1.The Martyrs -
The lesson "Glimpses of the Past" is written by S.D.Sawant. The first scene depicts
a function that was held in Delhi. In the function, Lata Mangeshkar was singing
a Hindi song, "Ae mere watan ke logon". The central theme of the song speaks
about the life of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the welfare of the nation.
Martyrs are people who face challenges and undergo great sufferings in order to
save the lives of others or the country from evil forces. Lata Mangeshkar sang the
song in remembrance of people who lost their lives in the First War of Indian
Independence. The famous personalities sitting by her side were Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Indira Gandhi.
While listening to the heart-melting song, Nehru's eyes filled with tears. Likewise,
the audience was listening to her song with tears in their eyes. Some of the great
leaders who gave their lives for our nation were Bhagat Singh, Mahatma
Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, and Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai. The freedom
fighters are the reason we are living in an independent India.
Their blood and sacrifices saved our country from the crooked Britishers. From her
song, it was clear how many struggles our martyrs faced in bringing up our India as
an independent one.

2.Explanation:the Company’s Conquests (1757-1849)

The year 1757 was marked as an important year in Indian History because it was
the entry of the East India Company in India. The East India Company is also known
as the British East India Company. The East India Company was a private
company owned by stockholders and reporting to the administration in London.
Later on, the East Indian Company came to India and set up a few factories in
different places.

Slowly and gradually, the East India company began expanding and extending their
power in India. One of the primary reasons the Britishers were able to survive in
India was that they possessed superior weapons.
Secondly, they took advantage of the weakness of Indian princes. The Britishers,
however, considered Indian princes as “short-sighted”, because of the inability to
see the long term plans of the Britishers. The Indian princes themselves felt that
they were not strong enough to fight with Raja Bah. Moreover, the people had no
peace due to such constant fights. So, they took help from the Britishers and
thought that the Britishers would help them defeat their enemies. Later on, the
Britishers started to take all the powers and controls from the Indian rulers. The
Britishers considered Indians as weak ones.

Compared to the other Indian princes, one ruler of Mysore called Tipu Sultan,
understood the British policy and fought against them until his last breath.
Unfortunately, due to his fate, Tipu Sultan got defeated and died in the battlefield.
Among all the Indian princes, Tipu Sultan was a brave man who fought for
the goodness of the people, and he thought to save the country from British rule.

During 1765, Indian territories were ruled by the Indian princes, and only a few
regions were under British control. But after the entry of the Britishers and
their powerful weapons, everything started to change.

3.British Rule -
During1765 , Indian territories were ruled by the Indian princes, and only a few
regions were under British control. But after the entry of the Britishers and
their powerful weapons, everything started to change.
After the conquest or British rule in Indian territories, a few people
were satisfied with their rule, and a few were against their conquest. The Indians
had varied opinions and reactions about the British rule. The royal people brought
the Britishers inside India so they were pleased with the Britishers and were
also grateful because they thought that due to the arrival of Britishers they put an
end to the enemies. The royal men felt the British rule put an end to the constant
wars and struggles with their enemies. The royal people believed that God had
sent them in the form of saviours, and their fate was connected with them.

On the other hand, the common people noticed the dishonest behaviour of
the Britishers. They thought that the English man had arrived here for killing
the kings or taking away the throne from them. The Indians knew that even if
some of the princes were unfit, they belonged to their country. They thought that
the decision of the Indian princes turned them into slaves of the Britishers.
The years from 1765 to 1836, led to the wide spread of superstitious
beliefs like untouchability, child marriage, and the inferiority of women. The
religious leaders taught the people about the idea of untouchability.
Untouchability refers to rejecting a group of people from important places in the
name of custom, caste and religion. They were not allowed to come near those
who considered themselves superior (higher castes), not allowed
in temples and functions. The religious leaders even preached that people who
"cross the seas" will no longer belong to their religion. Women were considered
the major cause for all the problems like poverty and other miseries. This is the
reason why young girls were forced to marry, thereby leading to Child Marriage.
These practices were not only being done but were also being promoted by
the superior people.
The Britishers started looking down upon Indians and initiated brainwashing the
rulers against them. It was the primary strategy of the Britishers to bring
the Indians under their control. They believed that Indians were not worthy
of trust and "incapable of honesty". This was a way of making the Indian people
as their slaves and they took power over them.

Every day the Britishers introduced

new rules and regulations to torture the Indians. The Britishers needed quick
profits in their business. They increased heavy taxes on the poor farmers. As a
result, the farmers had to give up their lands. When the poor farmers tried to
raise question against the Britishers, they would threaten the farmers. The
Britishers said they would put the poor farmers in jail if they did not pay
their arrears.
The Britishers continuously found many ways to exploit the people and to earn
profits. For instance, the goods manufactured in England were being imported to
India, and they won't be charged for importing. The England products were sold at
high prices in India, whereas the products made in India were taken away at lower
prices by the Britishers. As a result, there was an increase in poverty, and one
could see the farmers' struggle. Not only this, such policies of the British East India
Company destroyed the Indian industries too. The rule of the Britishers
destroyed small businesses and individual artisans. Artisans lost their job because
of the arrival of British East India Company.

Finally, the rule of the Britishers resulted in an extreme shortage of food and death.
Between 1822 and 1836, fifteen lakhs of Indians died because of the scarcity of
food.

4. Ram Mohan Roy -

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a well-known educated man and a great social reformer.
He came from Bengal. Roy understood there was something wrong with
the country, and it was due to the arrival of the Britishers. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
informed to fellow member that they must not consider themselves inferior or
look down upon themselves. He believed that the ancient culture of Indians was
great and the people were capable of more remarkable achievements. Raja Ram
Mohan Roy thought that the first step was to change the society by destroying the
false belief that the Britishers came to India to save them. It was the leading cause
of all the problems.

One day, while Raja Ram Mohan Roy was having a conversation with his wife Uma,
he told her that, "Cows are of different colours, but the colour of their milk is the
same. So likewise, different teachers might have different opinions, but the
essence of each religion remains the same." From these two statements, Raja Ram
Mohan Roy conveyed that even though peoples are of different colours, their
blood remains the same. The religions are compared to teachers here because
both believes in imparting wisdom and knowledge. Though there are several gods
and religions around us, Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that the essence remained
the same in all of them.

Later on, Raja Ram Mohan Roy took a great interest in learning
science and modern technology. According to him, learning should
be practical and scientific. So Raja Ram Mohan Roy started to publish newspapers
in India. Roy's newspapers were considered an important tool to criticize the anti-
Indian and anti-people policies of the East India Company government. He also
raised various demands to the government through his newspapers. However,
the suspicious Britishers came to know about Roy's newspaper, and so they put an
end to the newspaper in 1823.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was very interested in knowing what made
the Britishers more powerful, so he travelled across the seas and visited England.
There, he met the Britishers and said that the Indians had accepted
the Britishers as their rulers, and so they must accept the Indians as
their subjects (followers or citizens). He added the point that the Britishers could
not forget their responsibility and duty towards their country people. And also,
Roy stated that the Britishers should know their subjects' goodness rather
than destroying them.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is mainly known for his efforts to abolish the practice of child
marriage and Sati. Sati or suttee was a historical Hindu practice in which
a widow sacrifices herself by sitting at the top of her husband's funeral pyre.

5. Oppression -
The Britishers continued to trouble Indians in different ways by putting them in jail.
They gave sufferings and struggles for Indians by passing a new law
called Regulation III. The Regulation III act was passed in the year 1818. The main
motive of implementing this law was to put the Indians in jail without producing
them in front of the court. The Regulation act was taken place illegally
to torture the Indians. The Britishers knew that if the Indians were brought before
the court, they would escape in the form of justice. So the
Britishers cunningly passed the Regulation III act.escape in the form of justice. So
the Britishers cunningly passed the Regulation III act.
The Britishers were exporting goods in huge quantities from Britain. By 1829, they
were importing goods worth seven crore rupees to India. As a result, the Britishers
grew richer and more prosperous, leaving the Indian industries poor. In the end,
the Indian industries collapsed entirely and started to fall.

Later on, governor-general Bentinck stated to Britain that "The bones of cotton
weavers are bleaching the plains of India". This means that the cotton
weavers were forced to starve because of the Britishers' cotton mills. They
produced much cheaper cloth with the help of machines that led the traditional
Indian handicrafts to extinction. This was the reason behind
the traditional workers losing their weaving jobs.

6. Dissatisfaction -
Earlier all the teachings of Indians were in the form of Persian and Sanskrit
language. Later on, a British officer named Macaulay suggested to Bentinck that
the Indians must follow only the English language and so all
other Persian and Sanskrit languages to be translated into English. So that
the education is thoroughly delivered in their language. The fellow member agreed
with the idea of Macaulay.The British people taught English to the Indian people
who did clerical tasks and administrative duties like answering
the phone and typing the documents. By introducing the English language, the
Britishers produced a whole new generation of masterminds. A few of the
Indians were on the side of Britishers desired that they wanted to improve
their peoples' lifestyle by educating them. They tried to strengthen their financial
prospects that could lead to a promising future. But they needed to convey this to
the British Parliament. Britishers, on the other hand, never cared about the needs
of the Indian people.

7. The Sparks -
Later on, the Indians had become more worried about their kings. Several
people were sitting under the tree and discussing how to drive the Britishers out.
Their Kings were being treated like puppets. They were unable to raise their power
against the Britishers.

The poor people had lost their old jobs and land. Britishers were forcing some of
them to change their religion. Indians were tired of talking and wanted to do
something. Few of them were angry due to the British rule, and one of the fellow
members started to tell the other like 'You only talk! Do something to drive them
out!' Later on, by the year 1856, the Britishers had acquired all regions of India.

The ever-increasing taxes started to destroy the peasants. The increased

tax continued to pressure the people and worsen their financial situation.
The Santhals in Bengal became worried and hopeless after losing their land to the
Britishers under the new land laws. The Santhals are the member of a
large indigenous group living mainly in Eastern India. Due to anger, the
Santhals protested through a terrific war against the Europeans in 1855. They killed
the Europeans and those who supported the Europeans.

The soldiers working under the Britishers were highly dissatisfied because of
the Britishers. The reason for hating Britishers was they gave good pay for the
Englishmen, big houses to stay, and other help. But for Indians, they offered
only less money and slow promotions. The Indian soldiers cannot
afford running their family with that income. So they hated the Britishers for
showing partiality among people.
The Indian soldier's felt terrible because the people of England urged them to
move out from their land to cross the sea and work for them. Crossing the sea was
considered to be against their religion and as per their religious leaders. So the
Indian soldiers were angry with the English leaders. The Indian soldiers argued that
who had given them the rights to speak about their old customs and traditions.
After hearing that, an Indian soldier serving under British or European
orders named Sepoy Mangal Pande thought to himself that he
must drive the Britishers out from India. Later on, Mangal Pande attacked the
British military forces, and so he was executed (killed). After that, thousands of
other sepoys like Mangal Pande took violent action against the Britishers, but the
Britishers took away their weapons and uniforms, and they put the sepoys in jail.
The reason behind putting the sepoys behind bars was they were fighting against
the English men.

8. Revolt -
The revolt of 1857 is otherwise known as India’s First War of
Independence and Sepoy Mutiny. The revolt started on May 10, 1857, at Meerut.
Sepoys initiated the revolt in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers. The
leading cause for the first war of Indian independence was that the Britishers made
the Brahmin soldiers to bite the cartridge before loading it into the gun. Indian
sepoys believed that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or made from
cow fat. This was against their sentiments. This was believed to be the primary
factor for the revolt of 1857.
The urge to free the nation from the Britishers continued to grow among
the Indian soldiers. The city of Meerut also experienced the violent attack of
the Britishers. The sepoys marched towards Delhi to see Emperor Bahadur Shah.

The revolt continued to spread and grow all over India. Many landlords had also
lost their land due to the new land rules, and they were eagerly waiting to
take revenge on the Britishers. People all over the place had the common motto to
destroy the British government in India. All the Indians joined together for
the goodness of the nation. The landlords outburst in anger and said that the
British rule must end in India. The other landlords joined together, and they agreed
to help further.

9. The Fight for Freedom -

Many former rulers like Begum Hazrat Mahal of Lucknow was very angry
with the Britishers because the Englishmen had taken control over her kingdom.
Leaders like Maulvi Ahmedulla of Faridabad called out his people and said, "Rise,
brothers, rise! The Angrez is ruining our land!" He motivated his country people
that they are going to free the country from the hands of the Englishmen. To save
the country, they need the support of the Indian soldiers. After hearing that,
the people of Bareilly, Kanpur and Allahabad came forward in the protest
against Britishers.
Entire North India came together in large numbers to fight against the Britishers.
At that time, Azimulla Khan expressed his thoughts to Tatya Tope that they should
have Peshwa Nana Saheb as their leader in this war of Indian Independence. Later
on, the patriots fought against the Britishers and the war spread all over North
India.
In this revolt, an eighty-year-old warrior named Kunwar Singh of Bihar was
attacked by the enemies. Kunwar Singh got hit by a bullet on his wrist during
the fight. So he cut of his hand in order to avoid more damage to his health
and dedicated it to Mother Ganga (river) as an offering.

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NOTES TO BE WRITTEN IN LITR NOTEBOOK

Glimpses of the Past

Q1. Who said to whom?

1. “The bones of cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of

India.”
Ans - General Bentinck said this to the people of Britain.

2. “India must follow only the English Language.”

Ans - Macaulay said this to Bentinck.

3. “Rise, brothers, rise!” The Angrez is ruining our land!”

Ans - Maulvi Ahmedulla said this to his people.

4. “We should have Peshwa Nana Saheb as our leader in this

war of Indian Independence.”
Ans - Azimulla Khan said this to Tatya Tope.

5. “Mother Ganga! This is my last offering to you!”

Ans - Kunwar Singh said this to Mother Ganga.

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